Three years after entering Chongzhen, various contradictions in the Ming Dynasty began to erupt fiercely.

The last time Jianlu was defeated in Beijing, he did not loot enough money and food, people and animals, and suffered a lot of losses, and now he can only lick his wounds silently, and he is powerless to pose an urgent threat to the Ming Dynasty in a short time.

However, the internal contradictions in the Ming Dynasty have a tendency to blow out, and the Northwest Rebellion has the potential to burn the prairies, and the government and the opposition are all shocked, and they have already put their attention from Liaodong to Shaanxi.

With the killing of Yuan Chonghuan and the succession of Zhou Yanru as the first assistant, it seems that it has been suppressed, but in fact, there is still a dark tide in the interior. Liang Tingdong, the secretary of the military department, was counterattacked and was already crumbling.

Zhou Zheng pursued speed while completing the control and development of his basic disk, while keeping a close eye on the movements of the entire Ming Dynasty.

At the beginning of October, Dagu.

The port is busy, and many ships are flying the flag of the Ming Dynasty, but at a glance, you can tell that it is the ships of Xiyi, busy loading and unloading goods.

The imperial court resumed shipping, and Zhou Zheng took advantage of this reason to quietly start sea trade.

In a restaurant not far from the port, Zhou Zheng and others stood at the window and could see the busy scene of the port.

Behind Zhou Zheng stood more than a dozen tall and blue-eyed Xiyi people, who were talking about something with a smile on their faces.

Yao Tongshun and others were accompanied, and there were a few translators.

After a while, a tall man stepped forward and muttered something to Zhou Zheng.

The interpreter immediately said: "Your Excellency, this viscount said that he greatly appreciates your lordship's spirit of trade, and hopes that our cooperation will continue and be further expanded. ”

This person is the little Franco, that is, the Portuguese.

Zhou Zheng put his hands behind his back, looked at the port, and said without looking back: "I hope their appreciation can become their credit." ”

The translator immediately paraphrases the past.

Little Francophile muttered a long list of things.

The translator said: "My lord, the viscount said, their little Franc machine people have always believed in the spirit of the contract, and we are paying money with one hand and delivering goods with the other, if the adults can't believe it, they can take out a part of it as collateral, hoping that the adults can allow them to stay in Tianjinwei, and choose their own trade partners......"

Zhou Zheng's expression remained unchanged and said, "This needs to be considered in the long run." ”

It is now the beginning of the Age of Discovery, although the merchant ships of the Xiyi people have spread all over the world, but the strength of the caravan is very weak, and it is okay to bully some uncivilized natives.

Daming is indeed the richest in the world, Xiyi is extremely eager to start trade with Daming, but Daming is very vigilant to the outside world, rejection, once forbidden to the sea, which makes Xiyi people very helpless.

Seeing that Zhou Zheng tore open a hole, even if it was a grandiose 'smuggling', their eyes were still blood-red, like bloodthirsty beasts pounced.

The tall man heard the interpreter's words, smiled and said a lot.

The translator hurriedly relayed it to Zhou Zheng and said: "My lord, they want to sign an agreement to purchase a lot of goods from Daming, and there will be a list of names for adults, worth more than one million, if adults have things they need, they can also sell them to adults, including arms ......."

Zhou Zheng listened to the movement in his heart, turned his head, looked at this group of Xiyi people, and said, "I have a school martial arts field, I can take you to see it in a few days." ”

The Xiyi people looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders.

Zhou Zheng smiled, talked with this group of people for three days, set a detailed transaction catalog, and took a boat to the north to Xiangyun Island.

Xiangyun Island is east of Yongping Mansion, northeast of Xinqiao Haikou, where Zhou Zheng's Ordnance Bureau is placed.

A group of people wandered on the sea and finally arrived at Xiangyun Island.

It was Liu Liuzhen who greeted Zhou Zheng and the others, one arm was half useless, and when he saw Zhou Zheng coming ashore, he stepped forward with great joy and said, "Second young master, is it okay at sea?" ”

Zhou Zheng nodded, looked at his right arm, and said, "Okay?" ”

Liu Liuzhen smiled, raised it and shook it twice, and said, "Except that you can't work too hard, it's okay to eat and write." ”

Zhou Zheng nodded lightly and said, "You are one of the seven directors of the Chamber of Commerce, so you don't have to do everything yourself." ”

Liu Liuzhen knew that Zhou Zheng was very concerned about his injury this time, and said with a smile: "I just ran an errand for the second young master, and I didn't do anything." ”

Zhou Zheng smiled, grabbed his shoulders, walked forward, and said in a low voice, "Ready?" ”

Although this is a bit unruly with the master, but listening to Zhou Zheng's question, Liu Liuzhen hurriedly whispered: "It's all ready, artillery, bird guns, a collection of our Ming and Xiyi people's technology, those craftsmen said, even if they sell it to the Xiyi people, they can't imitate it, and they have to buy it from us." ”

Zhou Zheng wanted this and asked, "How many are there now?" ”

Liu Liuzhen stretched out his head and glanced at those Xiyi people, and said in a low voice: "There are only fourteen gates, and there are only about twenty firearms, mainly because many things are not easy to handle, for fear that others will notice." ”

Zhou Zheng snorted and groaned.

Firearms involve too much, iron ore, gunpowder, etc. are very sensitive, even if there is a legal ordnance bureau, if it is too frequent or large, it is definitely a troublesome thing to be noticed, and then find Xiangyun Island, it is a big disaster.

Zhou Zheng thought for a while, and said in a low voice: "In this way, let the economy be separated, the amount is small, it takes a little effort, get on the ship in different places, cover it with merchant ships, and transfer it to the island in a centralized manner in the canal or at sea." ”

Liu Liuzhen said: "Shopkeeper Cheng also thinks so, and is thinking of a way, but the output will not come up for a while and a half, and the court is also staring, so we can't use it." ”

Zhou Zheng looked at the wall in front of him and said, "Try it first, sell it, make some money, and you will definitely use it in the future." ”

Liu Liuzhen responded, took out Zhou Zheng's arm, and deliberately said loudly: "Second young master, get ready." ”

Zhou Zheng smiled and said to the Xiyi people behind him.

These Xiyi people seemed to be curious, looking at the tall wall, and muttering something.

Everyone entered the compound and found that it was scattered, warehouses, dormitories, school martial arts grounds, weapon workshops, people coming and going, all kinds of voices gradually came out, and ping-pong resounded.

Liu Liuzhen led everyone and came directly to the school martial arts field, which was in an open space, except for some decorations in front, and there was wasteland in the distance.

There were more than a dozen artillery pieces neatly placed on the stone bricks, and the muzzles of the black holes were aimed in the distance.

A platoon of artillerymen stood, quietly waiting for orders.

Zhou Zheng looked at it and said to the viscount from the little Francophone beside him: "This is what I want to show you, cover your ears." ”

The interpreter immediately conveyed the past, and the Xiyi people looked at each other, glanced at each other, and slowly covered their ears.

After Zhou Zheng signaled, Liu Liuzhen waved his hand and said in a deep voice: "Open the cannon!" ”

Liu Liuzhen gave an order, and more than a dozen cannons were ignited in unison.

Bang bang bang

The huge roar was like thunder in their ears, and everyone was startled.

Before they could react, a few miles away, there was another series of explosions, the ground trembled, smoke billowed and several small mounds were blown away.

The eyes of the Xiyi people were wide open, and their faces were horrified.