Wang Zezhi was a little disappointed when he heard that Li Luoke was just selling craftsmen to him.

He also thought that he could buy technology from him at a large price.

Wang Zezhi sighed in disappointment, unwilling to get off the horse, Li Luoke was anxious.

"Honorable General, I would like to give you this cannon and two boxes of shells I brought, I just want to waste a little bit of your time discussing the craftsman's business."

In Li Luoke's eyes, selling artisans has become a business.

"Okay." Wang Zezhi glanced at the mighty cannon, he was really tempted.

In fact, in Li Luoke's eyes, in their artillery factory in Macau, casting cannons has become an assembly line, and it doesn't cost much at all.

As for the craftsmen who cast the cannons, most of them were their slaves, except for the foremen who mastered the core technology.

10,000 taels of slave craftsmen, this is a sure-fire business.

As a businessman, there is no reason why Li Luoke should not make this money, and the most important thing is that he came out on this trip to maintain this cannon with two craftsmen.

For the sake of the cannon given to him by Li Luoke, Wang Ze dismounted, returned to the General Military Department, ordered someone to serve tea, and began to negotiate with him.

Li Luoke brought two craftsmen, and he wanted to sell them to Wang Zezhi at a price of 10,000 taels per person at once.

Wang Zezhi shook his head, because he was not sure if these two people could forge a qualified cannon.

Li Luoke was dumbfounded, he thought that Wang Zezhi would not pay until the two of them cast qualified cannons.

Wang Zezhi told him that the two were going to sign a contract.

The contract stipulates that 30% will be paid first, and the remaining 70% will be paid after the two have cast a qualified cannon.

The original 10,000 taels of people shrank by 70 percent at once, how could Li Luoke agree.

So, he began to bargain with Wang Zezhi.

In the end, the two finalized that they would pay 50 percent upfront, and then pay the remaining 50 percent when they had cast a qualified cannon.

After the two negotiated, they happily signed the contract.

Next, Li Luoke and Wang Zezhi talked about buying cannons.

Li Luoke said that they sold the Ming Dynasty 1,000 taels of ordinary artillery and 6,000 taels of cannons.

Wang Zezhi shook his head, and he told Li Luoke that he had a foundry bureau in his hand.

The cost of casting a redcoat cannon by the Foundry Bureau was less than two hundred taels.

Counting the scrap rate, one of the three cardinal cannons will be qualified.

Wang Zezhi told Li Luoke in a professional tone that the biggest reason why there is a scrap rate of more than 60 percent in cast cannons is the difference in cooling speed between the inside and outside of the barrel.

Due to the difference in cooling speed, the material of the barrel is a little flawed, or a little uneven, and when it cools, cracks occur due to thermal expansion and contraction.

This is also the reason why the cannon casting technology mastered by Wang Zezhi is not advanced, as far as Wang Zezhi knows, the Portuguese cannon factory has solved this problem.

Their scrap rate is definitely not more than fifty percent, so, he thinks that Liroke's offer is too high, and he is killing black.

Wang Zezhi took into account that the materials for the Portuguese to cast artillery needed to be sent from the West thousands of miles across the ocean, counting the cost of materials, freight, processing, and scrap rate, a cannon would cost 1,400 taels at most, and it could not be more.

Li Luoke's face was full of black lines when he heard this, it was the first time he had encountered such a big knife after selling artillery for so long in the Ming Dynasty.

When Ming officials elsewhere heard his offer, they never counteroffered, and even added money themselves.

Let him cooperate with the price of the high, of course, the silver he gets in his hand will not be so high.

That's because the officials of the Ming Dynasty had to misrepresent the price and greed some oil and water.

Li Luoke was stunned when he heard this, he suspected that Wang Zezhi had sneaked into their factory, and then he knew these inside stories.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have pinched the price so accurately.

"No way, you don't know, you don't know how expensive it is for us to cast a cannon.

We brought you artillery from Macau, and you don't know how dangerous it is along the way, and I wouldn't have been able to get here without a big caravan with me. ”

Of course, Li Luoke was unwilling to sell it to Wang Zezhi at such a low price, and he stood up and roared excitedly when Wang Zezhi exposed his old bottom.

He was really stunned by Wang Zezhi's big knife of bargaining.

"Hey, don't get excited, let's talk slowly, business, that's all there is to it." Wang Zezhi took a leisurely sip of tea, he put the teacup down and continued.

"That's it, considering that it's really not easy for you to transport it, I'll add another three hundred taels of freight."

Wang Zezhi stretched out three fingers.

"No, no, no, that's absolutely impossible." Li Luoke stretched out his hands and motioned for him to add another thousand taels.

"No, no, no." Wang Zezhi stretched out a finger and shook it, pressing one of his hands down.

It means that he is only willing to add five hundred taels.

"Oh, you can't be so stingy, you are like this, we can't negotiate business." Li Luoke didn't do it, he spread his hands to show that he didn't want to rip off.

"Okay, okay, let's take a step back, I'll give you two thousand five hundred taels, what about you, each cannon with a hundred solid shells, a hundred flowering shells."

Li Luoke was stunned for a moment when he heard that Wang Zezhi had increased the money to two thousand five hundred taels, instead of two thousand four hundred taels as he thought.

When Wang Zezhi finished speaking, he was full of black lines again.

A cannon with two hundred shells, why didn't he grab it.

"No, 200 shells are too much, I can only match you with 50 solid shells, 50 flowering shells, a total of 100 rounds, no more, no more, we don't even have benevolence and righteousness."

"Deal!"

Before Li Luoke could react after speaking, Wang Zezhi had already shook hands with him and wrote the contract with pen and ink.

"The first cooperation will buy ten first, but let's add an additional condition, I will inspect the cannons you sent, if the bombing is considered a substandard product, I will not pay a tael of silver."

I'll pay if I don't blow it up. ”

The Portuguese were colonizers and robbers, and many of the artillery pieces they sold to the Ming Dynasty were problematic.

When they bought them, they found that many of the guns had exploded in a few shots.

The most important thing is that they can't return it yet, so they can only break their teeth and swallow it in their stomachs.

Wang Zezhi is not as stupid as them.

"Yes, no problem." Li Luoke and Wang Zezhi have cut the price for half a day, and he is already dizzy.

After hearing that Wang Zezhi had increased the price to two thousand five hundred taels, he let down his guard and agreed to Wang Zezhi's additional terms without thinking about it.

After the price is negotiated, it is a matter of putting a deposit.

If he doesn't want the cannon he worked so hard to transport, he will be able to swallow Wang Zezhi's deposit justifiably.

According to the rules of trading with Ming officials, Li Luoke asked Wang Zezhi to give him a deposit of half of the purchase price.

Wang Zezhi disagreed, he was afraid that Li Luoke would take the money and run away, and he would never come again.

He was only willing to pay five percent, and Li Luoke exploded when he heard it.

Five percent is not enough for his journey.

The two bargained and negotiated on the condition that they pay 15 percent of the full price for the goods.

Li Luke was very satisfied with the price and the deposit, and he signed the pledge and stamped the family seal.

The contract is in duplicate, one for each person.

Li Luoke took the silver, handed over the cannons, craftsmen, cannonballs and other things, and returned to Macao with the escort.