In May and June of the tenth year of Chongzhen, Emperor Chongzhen accepted the opinions of Yang Sichang and other ministers, decided to change the suppression of bandits to recruitment, and ordered Xiong Wencan to preside over the matter.

However, Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong, as well as the Henan People's Army in Shaanxi, are still wandering around Shaanxi, Jin, Sichuan, Henan, and Nanzhili, and they have won and lost each other with the official army, and they don't see the slightest intention of being surrendered.

The Eastern Jurchens outside the gate focused on the grassland, and the Eastern Mongolian tribes were either co-opted or defeated by the Emperor Taiji, and the strength of the Jurchens was strengthened, and the so-called Mongolian iron cavalry was not as good as the Ming army in front of the Jurchen Eight Banners.

These are all big things, but for Li Meng, the biggest big thing at the moment is the cargo unloaded from the ship not far away.

The difference between time and space for hundreds of years, not only the difference in food and clothing, but also the difference between ancient and modern times, is in an extremely subtle place, but Li Meng saw something that surprised him on the boat not far away.

Looking through the clairvoyant mirror, you can see that on the big ship not far away, the sailors gathered together to hoist a cannon with a pulley, and slowly put it down, there are several sampans outside the big ship, and there are also a few sailors on the sampan, carefully adjusting the direction of the lowered cannon body.

Beside Li Meng stood a leading figure of the Zheng family, who was also a person who had stayed in Meilou together in Nanjing that day, and he was beside Li Meng with a smile on his face, explaining:

"So that the general knows that these six cannons were made by those ghost craftsmen in Macao, and the so-called red-coated cannons of the imperial court may not be much stronger than these."

"How big is this?"

Hearing Li Meng's sudden question, the leader of the Zheng family was stunned for a moment, and then reacted, and couldn't help but admire in his heart, thinking that this General Li is really extraordinary, what a big statement, if it weren't for the fact that he had dealt with ghosts many times in Fujian back then, he really didn't know how to answer. He replied with a smile at the moment:

"Two thousand catties, our boss has already used this kind of cannon on the ship, and there is no one to beat at sea, the villain uncle said, since the adult wants, the Zheng family will buy the best for the adult. Each of these cannons costs nearly four hundred taels of silver! ”

After saying this, the leader of the Zheng family laughed and said:

"It's a joke for the adults, but the villain used to be in charge of the accounts, and I think it's a lot of thousands of taels of silver, so I have to take it out and talk about it."

Li Meng smiled at him, put down the clairie mirror in his hand, a cannon had already been transported to the shore, and nearly 100 people under Li Meng had all been piled up on the shore. Some people put ropes on the cannon lugs, others used wooden box carts that had been prepared long ago to pad underneath, and dozens of sailors from the Zheng family were there to help.

There was a shout, and six bullocks were attached to the end of the rope, and the cannon rolled onto the wooden box cart, and the bullock was driven, but the cannon did not move. Chen Liuzi, who was standing on the shore, gave a loud order, and more than two dozen people stepped forward to push the cannon, the bullock neighed, and the strong man shouted, and the cannon slowly began to move.

The leader of the Zheng family observed Li Meng's face and wanted to see what Li Meng thought of these cannons, these six cannons The Zheng family thought they were the best artillery they had found, and those foreigners in Macao also said that the best artillery in Europe at present was also a cannon of this grade.

These six cannons are all cast by foreign craftsmen, and the quality is naturally assured. Moreover, the Zheng family has a great face in these ports in Nanyang, and the other party is also dedicated to it.

But this "best cannon" didn't get any smile on Li Meng's face, and the leader couldn't help but feel a little depressed in his heart, but he saw Li Meng holding the clairglass and looked in the direction of the ship a few times, turned his head and asked:

"Are these six guns all of the same size?"

After getting an affirmative answer, Li Meng sighed in his heart, the 2,000 catties of cannon in front of him are much thicker than the ground artillery seen in the army now, but the manpower of six cows and dozens of people can only be dragged step by step. The degree is extremely slow, what can it do on the battlefield.

When this gun is unloaded from the ship, there is no such thing as an attached shelf wheel, and it has to be configured on its own side, which is estimated to be this wooden box car at the moment. Also bulky stuff.

On the battlefield. Mobility is the key, and this cannon is powerful. But if it moves so slowly, it can only be a burden, this kind of cannon seems to be only suitable for fortresses, but he has no plans to build a fortress in Jiaodong at all, Li Meng shook his head, thinking that he is also to blame for this matter, only saying that he bought a cannon, but there are no specific parameters, and the Zheng family is doing their best, and it cannot be said that it is wrong.

Li Meng looked back at Dunglas, who was called by him, and asked:

"When you were in the West, what kind of artillery did you use in the army?"

Deng Yangren saw this artillery but was not as interested as the people in the Jiaozhou battalion, but this person was very sleek, although he was impatient but did not show it, he also pretended to be quite interested, and when he heard Li Meng ask, he hurriedly bowed down and replied:

"Returning to my lord, it should be used in the army...... Less than 1,000 catties. ”

There must be a difference between the weights and measures of Spain and the Ming Dynasty, and this Deng Yangren obviously converted the specific unit in his heart before giving this vague unit.

If there is no specific unit, then it is not certain that the specific specification of artillery is suitable for 6 battles, and it takes a long time to travel from Shandong to Macao.

This Deng Yangren is at best a mercenary, and it is impossible for him to be proficient in everything, and he was originally very excited and his mood suddenly fell a lot.

The leader of the Zheng family on the side is a human being, and his ability to observe words and emotions is quite strong, although Li Meng's face is faint, but he can also see that his mood is not high, but this Zheng family leader also has remedial means, and he sighed in his heart that the old man Zheng Shark is far-sighted, and a few cannons that don't need money may not be able to please Li Meng, this judgment is really true. But with a smile on his face, he said:

"This artillery is nothing this time, and the Zheng family has prepared a big gift for adults."

Li Meng has no interest in this gift, it is nothing more than a gold and silver woman, and the relationship with the Zheng family must be maintained, so he said with a smile:

"Your heart, this official understands, there has been a lot of salt in the salt field recently, and I will subtract the price of one dollar from each load, which has been the case for the past two months."

Hearing this, the leader of the Zheng family understood that his own artillery did not make the other party feel so moved, he just turned around and greeted his subordinates and said:

"Ask those to come ashore."

Li Meng listened on the side, and sure enough, it was someone who sent him, thinking that Nanjing City is really boundless, and I don't know whose top brand it is this time, Li Meng thinks so, that is, the so-called mindset is also.

Although the big ship carrying artillery could not dock in this humble small port, the small ships were not a big problem, and a few ships had already stopped there, but everyone in the Jiaozhou camp saw it and thought that it was the passenger ship that the Zheng family was taking this time, so they didn't care much.

The third cannon over there was also loaded ashore, Chen Liuzi had already led several officers around him to go down to do it personally, except for Li Meng and Dunglas, the rest of the Jiaozhou battalion was very excited, this cannon was called an "artifact" in the notes of the times, "a cannon shoots out, erodes more than ten miles" powerful weapons, it is the strongest thing in the hearts of the warriors.

Although the Jiaozhou battalion is elite, because there is no comparison with the outside, self-judgment is always low, but after this cannon, the spirit is obviously different, and everyone is high-spirited.

A cavalryman came from afar, wearing the symbol of a herald, and he was also Wang Hai's personal guard, everyone knew each other, and the people on the periphery let him in after a brief inquiry.

The herald cavalry came up to him, and after giving a military salute, he said in a deep voice:

"My lord, it's Jining Qingyan."

Li Meng heard the words "Jining Qingyan", waved at the people on the side, and said a word of accusation to the leader of the Zheng family, whether it was the people of the Jiaozhou camp or the Zheng family, they all knew that Li Meng had something important to talk about, and they all dodged away, and Li Meng's more than ten personal soldiers dodged away and formed a *** guard in the distance.

The cavalryman took out two letters from his bosom and respectfully handed them to Li Meng, who opened them, read them carefully, and asked one of the guards beside him for the envelope, handed them to the cavalryman, and said:

"Hurry up and send the horse to Jining, just do what you said in advance."

The cavalry didn't say much, and after saluting, he got on his horse and hurried away, this time the artillery was sent, it was also a big deal for the Jiaozhou battalion, and the other party had another leader coming now, Li Meng always had to check the door before he had fulfilled the courtesy, he was just about to speak, but he heard a noise at the passenger ship not far away, and the sound of shouting and scolding came:

"Lang Lang Qiankun, what are you going to do with the seamen, aren't you afraid of the king's law?"

"A good man, a good man, I still have some savings in my next family, and I also have a few rich relatives and friends, as long as we are let go back, we will be rewarded heavily."

"It's useless to say this, if you extort money or kill us, you will do it at sea, and it is a joke to be such a woman."

After this sentence, no one shouted at the top of their voices, but the crying of women and children could not be stopped, Li Meng, who heard this voice, was stunned, this is not the so-called beauty he expected, but it is obviously a big family on this passenger ship, it is not a big gift for himself, how to say this.