Along the mouth of the town of Confucius home in the middle of the Sichuan trade pass, in the past Tiannan Haibei business travel to see a lot. Especially when the Confucian family became the leader of the important commercial house in eastern Sichuan, the number of merchants who visited and delivered names along the way increased day by day. Lu Qiqing spent about three or four months in Yankou Town, and through Kong Qingnian, he also got acquainted with many businessmen from all over the world, including several pharmacists who came to Sichuan to collect materials from Liangguang.

"There were seven or eight merchants in that group, all of whom were Cantonese, and there was a man surnamed Liang who opened several pharmacies in Zhaoqing Mansion, and his business was quite large, and he had a close relationship with the Confucian family." Lu Qiqing said, "At that time, Kong Qingnian and I happened to talk about the purchase of various materials in central Sichuan to prepare firearms, and the person surnamed Liang immediately said, 'Why bother, there are ready-made ones.'" ”

"There are people selling firearms in Zhaoqing Prefecture?"

When his subordinates asked him what he meant, he was afraid that he would have joked at first, but when he heard his subordinates really ask, he was hesitant. The subordinates and Kong Dangjia kept asking questions, and he told the truth. Listening to him, there are more than 20 Yi cannons in Yangjiang County, Zhaoqing Prefecture, and more than 20 guns in Leizhou Prefecture near the left. This is only what he knows, let alone what he doesn't know. ”

"Yi cannon, what system?"

"The surname Liang is not very clear, but after reading the inscriptions carved by the government later, there are basically four or five thousand catties, and there are a few or even nearly ten thousand catties."

"Four or five thousand catties ......" Zhao Dangshi tapped his fingers and thought for a while, "The small ones in our camp are more than 100 catties, and the big ones are only 1,000 catties." If what this surnamed Liang said is true, the cannons in these county towns are indeed big artillery. "In the Ming Dynasty, there were many types of imitation Franc cannons from No. 1 to No. 5, which were used in field battles or attacking and defending walled cities. Most of the Franc machine guns in Zhao Yingli came from the official treasury and were mostly light artillery for field use, with only one or two large Franc machine guns of about 1,000 catties, and the actual combat effect was not good.

"The subordinates also think so, and after asking a few more questions, they basically believe that those big artillery pieces are Hongyi cannons."

"Well, you can forgive a small county town, why are there so many Hongyi cannons? Guangdong near the trench mirror Macao, could it be cast by the Francophone man? ”

"Not really. The county town is small and poor, and there is no need to buy so many cannons. Moreover, as far as his subordinates know, most of these cannons are cast in iron, and the Francophiles in Entrenchment Mirror Ao will not cast iron cannons. ”

"Oh yes. Zhao Hudao once wrote a letter saying that the people of the Buddha Lang set up a large factory to cast cannons in Entrenchment Jingao, and most of them took copper from the Japanese country, and the casting was also a large bronze cannon. The red-haired people will cast iron cannons, and these cannons are not evenly protected from the red-haired people. ”

"The Lord is wise. These cannons were not purchased by the county town or cast by the Francophiles, but were salvaged from the sea by local officers and soldiers. ”

"Salvage?"

"Exactly. The surnamed Liang said that in the second year of the Apocalypse, the red-haired man and the Franc machine man fought in the trench Jingao, and the red-haired man was defeated and sank many ships. Later, the Francophile salvaged a few ships and became impatient and ignored them. It wasn't until it was discovered by the coastal fishermen of Guangdong, the government fished a few doors, and asked the Franco machine to debug it, and found that it was all available, so it took a lot of effort to get all these iron lumps. ”

"I see."

"These cannons are incomparably powerful, and they can crack stone holes and shake miles away."

"Haha, but guarding a few insignificant small counties is also a tyrannical thing."

The man surnamed Liang said the same thing, these cannons have been placed at the city gate for more than ten years, and they have not been fired again. The county officials have changed repeatedly, and the latecomers have mostly forgotten about them. The government did not want to go to any lengths to dispose of them, so they let them go, and many of them are now even used by the locals for drying clothes and vegetables. ”

"It's really useful, it's wonderful."

The lord laughed. The subordinates made a note of this, but because the person surnamed Liang was just selling medicine, and there was no way, he gave up for the time being. Hearing the lord mention the lack of artillery, he thought about it. ”

"Lao Lu, your words are not trivial."

Lu Qiqing was stunned for a moment, and hurriedly said: "The will of the lord, this cannon in Guangdong can be ......"

Zhao Dangshi nodded and said, "His shoes, my treasure." It's useless to stay in the county, so it's better to turn into my camp. Randomly, "Take this as a matter of urgency, go back and discuss it with Lao He, and then you can arrange a plan to go to Guangdong to purchase cannons." I will also write to Zhao Hudao here, and he will be able to answer over there. ”

Lu Qiqing said awe-inspiringly: "My subordinates can save it!" ”

Lu Qiqing rushed back to Zaoyang that night, and Zhao Dangshi stayed at the city inn with his accompanying maid Lian Zhi. A trip to Xiangyang not only solved the problem of Chen Hongfan and Lu Zhenguo's stay, but also arranged the manufacture of guns and the purchase of artillery. On the third pole of the next day, you Lian Zhi stood up with service.

Today's day is good, taking advantage of the good mood, and there is nothing important at hand, Zhao Dangshi decided to go to the market on the edge of Xiangyang Mansion to take a walk. There are a total of three large bazaars around Xiangyang Fucheng, and Zhao Dangshilai's one is located near the North Taishan Temple Inspection Division, which is the largest bazaar in Xiangyang, but the government is not often open. It is open five times a month, each time it is open for three days, and today is the first day of the month. Xiangyang Fucheng is close to the Han River, and the waterway traffic is very convenient, and a large amount of trade between Henan, Sichuan and Chu has to be shipped from the north of Xiangyang Fucheng near the river port. Zhao Dangshi led the horse into the market, and while walking, the shouts of the vendors on both sides really gave him the illusion of walking into the farmers' market.

"This Langjun, you see that this orange is really good, buy some, lively!" A hawker has more than a dozen baskets full of fresh oranges next to him. Seeing that Zhao Dangshi stopped for a while, the peddler immediately added: "This is an authentic lingonberry, with thin skin and thick meat!" ”

Zhao Dangshi picked one up, turned to Lian Zhi and said, "Buy a few for you and eat them on the way." ”

Lian Zhi's face flushed, feeling embarrassed, Xiukou opened her mouth slightly, and wanted to say, "How dare you bother your father to break the bill", but Leng Buding Zhao Dangshi had already stuffed a hang of orange meat into her mouth.

"Try it, buy a few more if you like."

"Hmm......" Lian Zhideng was embarrassed, and he didn't dare to spit it out, so he had to blush, carefully chew and swallow the orange meat, and his voice was like a mosquito, "It's delicious." ”

Zhao Dangshi also tasted it, and felt a little shriveled, but the taste was good, so he threw a few grains of water to the vendor and said, "It's okay, just give me a few." ”

The peddler was overjoyed, and diligently helped Zhao Dangshi choose oranges, and also gave a small bamboo basket.

Continuing to walk, Lian Zhijun was silent along the way, Zhao Dangshi knew that she was shy, but he still found it interesting. On both sides, there are also sellers of porcelain, silk and even slaves, and all kinds of special goods are dazzling and strange. Zhao Dangshi bought it while walking, and after a while, he stuffed the small bamboo basket to the brim and said, "Ah Zhi, these are all for you." ”

Lian Zhi looked at the basket full of hairpin jewelry, and her heart was hot, and she snorted: "Daddy, why is Daddy so good to slaves." ”

Zhao Dangshi smiled slightly, stroked Lian Zhi's cheek with his wide hand, felt hot as a furnace, and suddenly felt a little pity, and said: "Ah Zhi, if you follow me, you are my family and my sister-in-law." It's all right to do whatever you do to your sister, so what's good or bad. ”

Since childhood, no one has ever said such intimate words to herself, Lian Zhi's eyes were moist, and she held back her tears and said: "Daddy is good to Lian Zhi, better than Lian Zhi's father." Even Zhi is a cow and a horse in this life, and it is difficult to repay her father's kindness. ”

Zhao Dangshi touched her head again, and said angrily: "What is a cow and a horse, it is also very good, and it is not allowed to say so in the future." If you think Daddy is good, don't cry your nose. ”

Lian Zhi nodded hurriedly, and immediately accepted the sad expression: "Lian Zhi understands. As he spoke, he stretched out his little hand to take the small bamboo basket that Zhao Dangshi was carrying, "Lian Zhi helped Daddy hold the basket." ”

Zhao Dangshi laughed and said, "You little girl, you are clever. ”

The two continued to walk to a shop, the crowd was bustling, and from time to time there were bursts of cheers from the depths of the crowd, driven by curiosity, Zhao Dangshi led the horse, endured the crowding of the spine and shoulders, holding Lian Zhi in one hand and the horse in the other, and squeezed into the inside.

It turned out to be a chicken shop inside. The owner's family sells more than just ordinary chickens, seeing the two chickens stretching their long necks and flapping their wings, jumping up and down and fighting each other, Zhao Dangshi can see at a glance, and dare to love that fighting cocks are being sold here.

I saw that in addition to the two fighting cocks that were fighting fiercely in the round, there were no less than 20 bamboo cages in the master's shop, and there was a fighting in them without exception. Looking back at the two fighting cocks, one black and one white, the black one has already chased the white one and pecked it, and the white one is just running around, with a broken head and bleeding, and there is no power to fight back. The black one seems to be intact, and it is still majestic.

"It's so dark!" Others said enviously.

The style of cockfighting in the Ming Dynasty was extremely prosperous, not only the popular folk cockfighting, but also the princes and nobles and even the army took cockfighting as a pleasure. And especially in Guanzhong, Zhengde, Jiajing during the ordinary people raise a thirty or fifty birds of cockfighting is a normal thing, to this day although the cockfighting industry is not as prosperous as at that time, it is still a popular entertainment project in the people, many people are proud of having a first-class cockfight.

However, the price of a good fighting is generally very expensive, an ordinary chicken is about forty or fifty yuan, but it is not surprising that an expensive fighting is sold for several taels of silver. Rao is a lot of people love cockfighting, but because of the lack of money, when they see their favorite cockfighting, they only have a sense of hope.

At that moment, the master's face was full of red light, and he boasted to the onlookers: "Big guy, look at it, this cockfighting is called 'Turkic Er', it is a famous species of Heshuo, known for its fierce and daring to fight, and so far, all battles have not been defeated." It had one of its brothers, whom had been dedicated to the imperial court earlier, and was highly praised. Now selling this 'Turkic child', we are not greedy, the price is fair, three taels of silver is not the same price. ”

"Three-two?" Obviously, the onlookers present were unable to accept it, and many of them already showed disappointment on their faces.

"Isn't it just a chicken, why is it so expensive?" Zhao Dangshi layman watched the excitement and couldn't help muttering. No, three taels is not a small amount for Zhao Dangshi, who started from a humble beginning. According to his understanding, the monthly salary of a six-grade official of the Beijing Division is less than ten taels of silver, which is almost worth the expenses of an ordinary family of three for half a year.

"This Lang Jun is a layman at first glance. As the saying goes, 'good animals race over people', cough cough, you know that our custom of buying and selling children here is quite prosperous, you go to the shop that sells people to see the price, hey, there are one or two of the cheap selling labels, and this cockfight, and the horse or something, how can it be compared! Someone next to him said disapprerovingly, listening to his tone, he was not surprised.

Zhao Dangshi smiled expressionlessly, but he didn't plan to leave, he really wanted to see if anyone was willing to bid for this fighting named "Turkic".

As if seeing that everyone didn't mean to buy it, the host came up with another idea and looked around at everyone: "It seems that everyone still doesn't believe in the power of this 'Turk'!" Anyway, I have a way to teach you to be convinced. ”

Someone immediately said, "Master, you should talk about it." ”

The owner pointed to the two dozen chicken coops behind him and said: "Everyone has seen it, there are so many fighting cocks behind me, and I have never carefully weighed their strength when I bought these fighting cocks from Heshuo." In other words, I don't know if there is a second 'Turk' among them. The big guy listened carefully, my method is, if you are interested, you can try it, choose one of them, and fight with me, the 'Turk', and win, then the fighting will belong to you, and I will not take a penny. Hehe, if you lose, then I'm sorry, everything must be fair, I can't do that loss-making deal, and I asked that Lang Jun to take out 500 yuan, which can be regarded as a chicken that comforts the defeat. ”