On May 10, Li Zhi went to Wangjiawan to inspect his two ships under construction. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

Wangjiawan is located 40 miles south of Dagukou, a sparsely populated bay that recesses from the outer coast. The bay is surrounded by a few small mounds and is relatively secluded. The seaside soil in Tianjin is salinized, uncultivateable, and the population density is very low. If you don't look for it, you won't be able to get into such a bay.

There were more than a dozen fishermen living in the bay, all of whom were hired by Boss Wang to build ships at this time. The boss Wang bought off the local officials of thousands of households, and no one took care of the shipbuilding affairs of the boss Wang.

Li Zhi and Cha Yunke took a few guards, rode lightly for two hours, entered Wangjiawan, and saw the shipbuilding site of Boss Wang.

On the construction site, a ship has already built dense ship ribs and laid two decks, and already has the appearance of a ship. The other one had just been laid with a keel, and had not yet begun to frame the ribs.

Cha Yunke looked at Li Zhi and said, "Zuo Dudu, when you said that you wanted to build a ship, I was afraid that you would misunderstand and it would be inconvenient to say, but now I still have to tell you." Now the profits of this sea-running trade are not comparable to those of the Apocalypse! ”

Li Zhi asked, "Oh? How so? ”

Cha Yunke said: "Ten years ago, at that time, one tael of silver was one tael of silver, and a load of good Dengzhou white silk was only about one hundred taels of silver, and it could be sold for two hundred taels of silver when sold to the Wa country. Loading a boatload of raw silk to the Wa country, it is often tens of thousands of taels of profits, it is really a good day to run the sea. ”

"Even six or seven years ago, one tael and five coins of silver could be used as one tael of silver, and the purchase price of a load of raw silk was about one hundred and forty taels, and there was still a profit of sixty taels. A boatload of raw silk sold to Japan also has a profit of more than 10,000 taels. With the return cargo, a ship can get 20,000 taels a year. ”

"But now, the war is in chaos, and the prices of my Ming Dynasty are expensive, and two taels of silver can only be used as one or two silver. The purchase price of a load of Dengzhou Baisheng silk in Tianjin has reached 170 taels, and it can only be sold for 200 taels when sold to the Wa Kingdom, and the profit is only 30 or 40 taels! This trip to the Wa Kingdom will only make a profit of a few thousand taels of silver. Even if the ship comes back and pulls some Japanese knives or something to sell, it will be less than 10,000 taels of profit once and again, which is really not as good as before! ”

"Not to mention that as soon as the Fujian sea ban was opened last year, dozens of more ships ran to the country, and the selling price of raw silk was even lowered."

Li Zhi looked at Cha Yunke and knew that what he said was true.

During the Chongzhen period, the supply of goods was insufficient due to the war, and the silver from the Americas and Japan continued to flow into China, resulting in a very rapid rise in prices, which can be said to be serious inflation. In the year of the Apocalypse, one stone of rice and one tael of silver, and in the twelfth year of Chongzhen, two taels of silver could not be bought.

The price of goods in the Ming Dynasty is so expensive, and the profits of the goods shipped to the Wa Kingdom are naturally low. If Li Zhi also runs the raw silk business like everyone else, it is estimated that he will not make much money.

Li Zhi looked at Cha Yunke and said, "What I sell to Japan is not necessarily raw silk, but it may also be a specialty produced by my Fanjiazhuang." ”

Cha Yunke's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he said with a smile: "If Zuo Dudu manages his own specialty, he can make more profits." ”

Cha Yunke was actually afraid that Li Zhi's two big ships would compete with him for the sale of raw silk, and raise the purchase price of raw silk in Tianjin to dilute his profits. He was very happy to hear Li Zhi say that he was operating his own specialty, and said: "Zuo Dudu's glass mirrors and transparent glass are sold in Japan, and they can sell a lot. ”

Li Zhi nodded and said, "I can sell more things." ”

Cha Yunke was very happy when he heard this, and took Li Zhi to find Boss Wang, and found the craftsman on the ship that was about to be built.

Boss Wang was standing on the second deck, discussing something with Zheng Kaida. Seeing Li Zhi coming over, he hurriedly greeted him and bowed down: "Boss Wang has seen the Metropolitan Governor." ”

Li Zhi picked up Boss Wang and asked, "Boss Wang, how is my ship built?" ”

Boss Wang said: "In another month and a half, the first one will be built." Now that the ribs of the first keel have been installed, the position of the paddle wheel has been built, and the paddle wheel can be installed at any time, just waiting for the bearings and steam engines you said. ”

"The other one can be built in less than four months."

Li Zhi nodded, looked around, and felt that the ship was well worked.

Cha Yunke patted around, and also said to Li Zhi: "Zuo Dudu, this Wang boss has put his heart into it this time, and the materials for the boat built are solid, and it will be no problem to use it for seven or eight years." ”

Boss Wang accompanied Li Zhi to look around, and asked curiously, "General, is your ship a business?" How can you fit so many cannons? ”

Li Zhi said: "Install a cannon to fight devils!" ”

Boss Wang was stunned and asked, "What is a devil?" ”

"Oriental people and Western people, but anyone who has a different heart is a devil! I'll shoot them! ”

Boss Wang thought for a moment and said, "My lord, this is to be a pirate and rob those foreign ships!" ”

Li Zhi smiled and said, "You can also understand it like that. ”

Boss Wang grinned and said, "It's still an adult, but there is no royal law on the sea." The cargo of this ship is tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of taels, and you will get rich by grabbing a few! ”

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After returning from Wangjiawan, Li Zhi found five craftsmen who made rifles and took them to the artillery workshop to find Cao Yu, the leader of the gunsmiths.

"Cao Yu, I want you to cast forty heavy cannons in the past four months."

Cao Yu grinded his palm and said, "Okay, my lord, the artillery workshop hasn't opened the furnace for a long time. ”

Li Zhi's artillery workshop uses the iron billet method to cast cannons, which can be used repeatedly, and the speed of casting cannons is very impressive, and a copper cannon with an iron core can be cast in three days. Previously, after Li Zhi had built enough 140 light guns, he asked the artillery workshop to stop production and cast dragon tail cars instead. Cao Yu and a few other gunsmiths have been casting dragon tail cars for more than half a year, and as soon as they are cast, they will be sent to the warehouse for storage, and they don't want to cast that thing anymore.

Li Zhi nodded and said, "However, the cannon cast this time is used on the ship, and when the waves are turbulent on the ship, the cannon ignited by the arquebus will be fired after a long time, and the aim is not accurate." I'm going to change all the cannons to flintlock ignitions. I'll give you these gunsmiths, and you'll work together on how to load the flintlock bolt to the cannon. ”

Cao Yu was stunned and looked at the five gunsmiths behind Li Zhi.

Li Zhi thought for a while, and then said: "You don't have to make a trigger to come out, it's also good to make a rope that ignites as soon as you pull it, in short, it's to fire the cannon immediately after aiming at the sea, you think about one that can be used." ”

Li Zhi said again: "The research has come out, and each of the six of you will be rewarded with a month's monthly money." ”

Those gunsmiths have made I don't know how many flintlock guns, and they are familiar with them, and they are also full of confidence in transplanting flintlock guns to cannons. At this time, when he heard Li Zhi say that there was a silver reward, he patted his chest one by one and said:

"Don't worry, Shogun, leave it to us!"

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