The artillery base has begun to operate, the development of artillery technology, relatively mature, Bi Maokang took everyone to Yantai, after a short rest, began the development of artillery, this time they focus on the development of the need to develop, is the artillery needed on the warship, although this is a new technology, but for Bi Maokang and William and others, it is just a piece of cake.

There are two types of artillery on the warship, one is fixed on the warship, it is impossible to move, for example, the guns on the side of the warship are completely fixed and cannot be moved, as for the redcoat cannons, general cannons and furlong cannons on the deck, etc., they can basically be moved, but on the deck, there are special brackets for fixing the artillery, once the guns are removed from these brackets, they can also be used on land, which makes the warships and patrol ships the best means of transportation for transporting artillery.

The focus of artillery is power and range, the farther the range, the more powerful the artillery, the more advanced the artillery, which also depends on two aspects, on the one hand, the design of the artillery itself, and the other aspect is the power of the cannonball.

William and others, who have been in the Ming Dynasty for a long time, have long changed their identities, have a wife and children in the Ming Dynasty, their lives have stabilized, they have also registered in the government, and they belong to the people of the Ming Dynasty, so there is no problem with keeping things secret, besides, foreigners pay attention to their own credit, which is the education they received when they were young, and they think that dishonesty is the greatest shame. I can't forgive.

According to the requirements of the drawings, after studying with David and others in the shipyard, the artillery base was fully engaged in production, and a kind of shells specially used for warships were also engaged at sea during the development process. The range and power of artillery play a decisive role, Su Tiancheng asked to build a new type of warship, the artillery on both sides reached twelve, these are powerful artillery, if you fire at the same time, basically no warship can resist.

The artillery base was very busy, and despite their skill, the production of artillery. It's always been a secret, it's impossible to recruit so many craftsmen, and the skills can't be leaked, so the control of personnel is very strict, and the craftsmen are happy, and they have something to do every day. The remuneration is naturally very high, if there are more people. They don't have so many things to do, and the remuneration they get is naturally lower, you must know that the Lu Dao family needs them to support, and when they come to Dengzhou, they want to live a good life, and their current life is very good. Everyone wants to maintain.

Su Tiancheng decided to build such a large artillery base in Yantai, and invested so many silver taels, of course, he also had to make money, it was impossible to always produce it for his own use, and he also needed to sell some of it. The arms trade accounted for about half of Song Sijun's profits, and the artillery produced by the Jiangning battalion was in short supply, and there was no market for it, and the Mongolian tribes looked at it with their eyes, hoping to get artillery, but unfortunately Song Sijun mainly sold arquebuses and some flintlock guns, and rarely sold artillery.

A red-clothed cannon, the cost is about 6,000 taels of silver, sold to the Xibe tribe and the Daurian tribe, the price reached 30,000 taels of silver, people are still very happy, hope that Song Sijun will sell them more red-coated cannons, as for the Houjin, the thirst for the red-coated cannon, to the point of no return, when in the Anning Fort, there are Houjin merchants, out of the price of 50,000 taels of silver, but unfortunately it can't be bought.

Houjin's thirst for red-coated cannons is also very normal, the battle of the Daling River, Houjin suffered the heaviest loss, that is, he lost twenty red-coated cannons, Houjin will not produce red-coated cannons, there is no military factory, and there is no refined iron, it can only be to look at dry eyes, the firearms they have, and they also brought a large number of firearms when Kong Youde and others surrendered, but some firearms, after a long time, were scrapped, especially some arquebuses, which basically have no effect, and the problem of ammunition, Kong Youde and others once tried to make ammunition, As a result, the number of blowings was staggering, and I gave up.

Huang Taiji has mentioned the importance of buying firearms to a very high height, and the merchants of Houjin flocked to Anning Fort, many of them went to the firearms, and bought arquebuses and flintlock guns, which was not too much of a problem, but they just couldn't buy artillery.

The profit of arms is amazing, this Su Tiancheng is very clear, so he will not stubbornly think that selling artillery to the opponent is to make trouble for himself, sometimes, in order to maintain your own operation, you must trade arms, silver needs to be earned, there is always input but no output, no matter how big the family property can be defeated, without silver, it is difficult to maintain anything, this is the simplest truth.

Song Sijun has been secretly trading firearms in Anning Fort, which is also allowed by Su Tiancheng, and making money is also a major task, especially in the construction process of Dengzhou, Laizhou and Qingzhou, which requires silver.

For this problem, Qu Qingze once had different ideas, thinking that Houjin bought arquebuses and flintlock pistols, which would inevitably pose a huge threat to Jiangning, but Su Tiancheng said very bluntly, these firearms, if they are sold to the guards in various provinces, or to the Beijing camp, whether they can get so much silver is still unknown, and these firearms, in the hands of the guards sergeant, I am afraid that someone will use them to make a transaction, and Houjin can also find a way to buy them, which is equivalent to Jiangning Camp making a contribution and doing things now, need a lot of silver, the court is impossible to satisfy, what to do, do you want to rob the people, I'm afraid to rob the people are not enough, what to do, the profits of the mutual market are fixed, grain, tea, salt, cloth and other transactions, although the profits are amazing, can be compared with the firearms trade, but it is a small thing, besides, in the firearms trade, the Jiangning battalion has mastered the most critical thing, that is, ammunition, if it is a battle, the Jiangning battalion does not provide ammunition, the firearms are a pile of scrap iron, and it is useless to hold the gold.

Qu Qingze's understanding has reluctantly changed, but Su Tiancheng is still very cautious, the situation in Liaodong may change, in this case, if a large-scale firearms transaction is launched with Houjin, it will undoubtedly be asking for trouble, or even self-destruction of the Great Wall, and the border army will pay huge casualties in the fight with Houjin Tartars.

Therefore, at present, it can only be produced at full capacity, as for the matter of trading, for the time being, the artillery needed by the Xibe tribe and the Daurian tribe can be provided, but it needs ready-made silver.

The price of the red-coated cannon and the general's cannon has been raised to 40,000 taels of silver, but the cost of production has been reduced, and after disdainful research, the cost of each red-coated cannon and the general's cannon has now dropped to about 5,000 taels of silver.

After Song Sijun made a request, Su Tiancheng personally made a decision, giving the Xibe tribe and the Dauria tribe thirty red-coated cannons and thirty general cannons, each artillery is equipped with five shells, there is no more, in fact, Su Tiancheng and Song Sijun both know that the Xibe tribe and the Dauria tribe are also doing business, and selling these cannons to some tribes in the grassland, this is not a big deal, the artillery is scattered, the power is naturally reduced, and selling it to the Mongolian tribe artillery is in line with the interests of the Ming Dynasty. Let the Mongol tribes fight each other and weaken their strength, so that the areas around Datong, Yulin and Ningxia will be safer.

Sixty pieces of artillery, the price is 2.4 million taels of silver, and the Xibe tribe and the Daurian tribe sent people themselves, or commissioned a transport team, to Yantai to transport, the cost paid by the Jiangning battalion is only 300,000 taels of silver, such a huge profit, even Qu Qingze shut up and did not speak.

Su Tiancheng also warned Song Sijun that these artillery pieces were absolutely not allowed to go to Houjin, otherwise the Jiangning battalion would stop trading artillery, and even the Xibe tribe and the Daurian tribe would not be able to buy artillery from the Jiangning battalion.

The profits of arquebuses and flintlock pistols are as huge, this is the main source of Su Tiancheng's income, an arquebus, Su Tiancheng can get a profit of twenty taels of silver, the transaction volume of arquebuses is huge, about 100,000 per year, the probability of scrapping arquebuses is very high, and the situation of exploding often occurs, but the Mongolian tribes have a soft spot for arquebuses, and they don't care about scrapping, they have to buy a large number of them every year, and the gold has also come in, so this is also one of Su Tiancheng's main sources.

The supply of flintlock pistols is not large, but the price is very high, and the profit of each flintlock pistol is about one hundred taels of silver, but Su Tiancheng stipulated that the flintlock pistol traded every year is not allowed to exceed five thousand pieces, and the flintlock pistol is durable and will not be damaged easily.

Another huge profit comes from ammunition, and according to the data obtained from Song Sijun, the annual profit of ammunition is more than 1.5 million taels of silver.

There are too many places that need money, the cost of maintaining the Jiangning camp, the construction of Dengzhou, Laizhou and Qingzhou, including shipyards, Weihaiwei wharf, artillery base, Penglai City Naval Division station, etc., although the annual income is huge, but the expenses are greater, Su Tiancheng sometimes feels that he is simply an out-and-out businessman, always calculating the amount of silver, the possibility of reaching out to the court to ask for silver is too small, the huge Dengzhou and Laizhou, the court only gave two million taels of silver, there is no whereabouts, this bit of silver, It's impossible to accomplish anything.

Reality forced Su Tiancheng to do arms trading, but with the completion of Weihaiwei Wharf, the situation will definitely get better, and then there will be no need to rack his brains so much to make money, sometimes, Su Tiancheng also feels funny, he is a person who travels through and has worked hard to establish a great feat, but there is not much silver available. (To be continued......)