"Big brother said he laughed!" Liu Cheng laughed: "If it is forbidden, there are too many people to build big ships privately on the southeast coast, and there are too many of them to say that they have a few bird guns on the ship, even if they are as many as a cow's hair, I am a military attache of the imperial court, sell you a few bird guns to my brother to guard against thieves, what is the prohibition." ”

Hearing Liu Cheng say this, Xu Hecheng's heart became active again, doing such a long-distance land trade like him, the most afraid is to encounter thieves, with Liu Cheng's elite firearms, not only can you reduce your own risks, but also provide protection to other small caravans, not only can you make money, over time, those small caravans will rely on him, and at that time, from the top and bottom, the benefits will not be comparable to those few protection fees.

"If you want to buy it for my brother, I don't know how much you can buy?" Xu Hecheng kept an eye on it, and did not ask how much it was, but directly asked how many could be bought, the price was not the most important thing for him, anyway, when the wool came out of the sheep, it could be fished back from other small caravans, but the quantity was very important, after all, the grassland is not like the Guannei, horse thieves with four or five hundred people and horses are commonplace, if it is only twenty or thirty, it will not be of much significance.

"If it is less than a hundred, brother, you can take it immediately, but you must pay it immediately; If you want more, you have to wait, I asked the workers to step up the system, and I can give you fifty sticks a month. ”

"So much!" Xu Hecheng was taken aback by Liu Cheng's tone, it must be known that although the Mongols at that time were once famous for riding and shooting, after coming into contact with the arquebus, they also immediately chose this powerful weapon with a longer range, but due to the relatively backward technical level on the grassland, they had to buy it from the outside. Those who can equip his army with bird guns are powerful princes, such as the Batur Khan of Erlut Mongolia, who has a musket team of about 1,000 people, and Liu Cheng can sell one-tenth of the bird guns to himself at once, so how can Xu Hecheng not be surprised.

"Could it be that my brother doesn't have that much money? Anyway. I can also use wool or the goods I need! Liu Cheng was afraid that Xu Hecheng would not buy it, and in order to speed up the production of weapons during this time, he almost drove all the blacksmiths on the construction site to work in the arsenal, although there were a lot of weapons, but it also slowed down the construction of irrigation canals. Zhao Laosan, who entered the Pitang Bureau, used this as a reason to delay the payment of money and food, which made Liu Cheng very tight in his hands these days and continued to find a way to make money.

"That's not necessary!" Xu Hecheng came back to his senses and said with a smile: "Why are you embarrassed to owe your brother the payment for your goods, naturally you pay in cash, but I don't know how much this bird gun is." “

"Fifteen taels of silver!" Liu Cheng gritted his teeth. Quoted a rather black-hearted price, according to his own cost accounting, a bird's iron materials, wages, charcoal, etc. add up to about four taels and five cents, and the outside is about five taels to six taels, but Liu Chenghua spent a lot of money on the hydraulic forging machine and hydraulic drilling machine, and the advantage is that the labor cost is low, the production efficiency is improved, and there is room for improvement; The disadvantage is that the fixed investment is frighteningly high, and if the production is not enough, the cost of each bird gun is much higher. As soon as the words came out. Liu Cheng regretted it a little, and hurriedly added: "If you buy more, it doesn't hurt to be cheaper!" ”

Xu Hecheng is used to doing business, how can he not guess the truth after listening to Liu Cheng's words: "Brother is a sincere person." How can there be a business like you in the world, before others open their mouths, you will bargain yourself. Fifteen taels is fifteen taels, but I only have a thousand taels of silver on hand. You give me a hundred first, and if it's not enough, I'll let Mr. Yu transfer it to you in a few days. ”

When Xu Hecheng said this, Liu Cheng's face was slightly red. was a little embarrassed, and said with a smile: "Brother doesn't know, I have stepped up the production of weapons and armor in the past few months, and the iron wages used up are really a lot, and there are a few people in the main bureau who have not dealt with me and have been struggling with me all day long, and they are very tight on hand." In this way, I have made some cotton armor these days, which is really good, so I gave my brother twenty collars, just to add my head! Xu Hecheng picked it up and said that it was cotton armor, but it was made of several layers of tough coarse woolen cloth, and the front chest and abdomen were sandwiched with iron sheets, fixed with copper nails, Liu Cheng asked a sergeant to wear cotton armor, stood thirty meters away and shot several arrows with a strong bow, but none of the arrows penetrated, Xu Hecheng was also very happy to see it, so he accepted it and did not mention it.

Xu Hecheng lived in Qianhusuo City for two days, and on the third day, he took the bird gun cotton armor he bought to Xi'an, and before parting, he suddenly put aside others and whispered to Liu Cheng: "Brother Xian, do you remember the Great Khan of Batur I told you last time?" “

"Great Khan Batur? The Mongol chief who sold us wool? “

"Yes, this man is the son of the leader of the Dzungar tribe, Harakura, who is very old, and the affairs of the ministry are already in charge of Batur. This man is eloquent and strategic, and after succeeding to the throne, he will inevitably use troops in a big way, and if these firearms are presented to him, he will definitely be able to look at him differently. ”

"Brother, are you going to sell these firearms to this person?" Liu Cheng was stunned when he heard this, the "offering" in Xu Hecheng's mouth was not a simple gift, because a leader like Batur would give back or trade privileges in return after accepting the gift, which was actually a special kind of business.

"Yes, this person has great ambitions, he has the ambition of Hun Yi Erut (Western Mongolia) and Khalkha (today's Outer Mongolia), this firearms trade is just the beginning, since you can make it, why not sell some to him?" Xu Hecheng said in a low voice.

"But this person is a barbarian after all, if you sell him such elite firearms and let him unify the tribes, will it become a harm to the Ming Dynasty?"

"Brother Xian, the territory of Batur's territory is north of the Tianshan Mountains, even if he is allowed to unify Erut and Khalkha, and our Central Plains are still separated from Monan Mongolia, then the Monan tribes will inevitably rely on the Ming Dynasty to resist, what harm is there?"

"Anyway, a hundred bird guns have no impact on the overall situation, so it's good to take this relationship!" Liu Cheng nodded, he still had a thought in his heart: before the Houjin entered the Central Plains, he had already controlled the Mongol tribes in southern Mo, if this Batur controlled Erut and Khalkha, then it would be bordered by Houjin, there was no city to garrison on the grassland, and it was common for the ministries to fight because of pastureland, livestock, and water sources, and it would be good if they could use this Batur to share part of the pressure of Houjin.

Seeing that Liu Cheng accepted his suggestion, Xu Hecheng was also very happy, so he got on the horse and said goodbye to Liu Cheng. After bidding farewell to Xu Hecheng, Liu Cheng rushed to the workshop near Liminpi. After checking the account books for a while, I felt a little sleepy, snorted, and stretched my waist again, but I heard someone outside talking: "Lord Liu! “

Liu Cheng turned around, but the person who came was Ma Rencheng, who was the director of the Pitang Bureau, and the Housing Department was only a few courtyard walls away from Liu Cheng's workshop. After he became the principal, he had a very close past with Liu Cheng, and he discussed things face-to-face almost every day, and the guards outside had already been advised. See it as you go, no need to pass it on.

"It turned out to be Brother Ma Shi, hurry up and bring tea!" Liu Cheng saw that the person who came was Ma Rencheng, and hurriedly called the soldiers outside to send tea, these days Ma Rencheng can be said to be obedient to him, this person is quite curious about new things, and unconsciously, Liu Cheng's perception of this person is also a lot better.

"Poof!" Ma Rencheng took a sip of tea, and spit it out as soon as he entered his mouth, as if he had been burned.

"What's wrong? Is there a problem with this tea? Liu Cheng took a sip: "It's just right." I thought it was too hot. “

"You are also a dignified fourth-grade military attaché, and this kind of inferior tea can also be eaten!" Ma Rencheng looked indignant: "Also, Lord Liu, you are also twenty-six or seventeen, even if you have not achieved your work now." I don't have a home, but I always have to find a few clever girls to wait by my side, get a few rough Qiu Baduan tea and water, make beds and fold quilts. It's really rare in the world. “

"Is this tea bad? I don't know. As for the affairs of the people around you, you have also seen the situation here, it is a mess. Where there is a place for women to stay. ”

"You, you-" Ma Rencheng looked like he hated iron but not steel: "What do you mean that there is no place for women to stay?" No, you're not going to go to the city and get a house? You can't tell the difference between good and bad tea, and you won't find two to understand? I don't believe that you have such a big industry here, and you have thousands of people under your hands, and you don't even have this money. ”

"Nope!" Liu Cheng looked like a dead pig was not afraid of boiling water, and pushed the account book in his hand in front of Ma Rencheng: "Look at it yourself, I spent the money and grain that I just got in the past two months, and the woolen wool and wool yarn spun out will not be able to return until the end of the New Year. ”

"I'm too lazy to look at your account books, they're dense, and I panic when I look at them!" Ma Rencheng pushed the account book to Liu Cheng's side: "Thousands of people, everyone eats one less bite, don't you have everything here?" Also, you have such a big stall here, and dozens of blacksmiths are busy in the workshop day and night, don't tell me that it's just to fix a few hoes and shovels or something, you don't believe it. “

"They have to dig on the construction site every day, all of which are heavy physical work, not to mention that they eat less, even if they eat poorly, they can't stand it. As for what the blacksmiths are doing, just look at what my sergeants are wearing and what they are holding in their hands. “

"Forget it, I can't talk about you!" Ma Rencheng shook his head: "I don't know how your head grows, you are stupid, you are smarter than anyone else in doing things; You can say that you are smart, but you live like this. Which of the so many officials in the world didn't live comfortably first, and then consider others? Look at that Lu Zhizhou, what did he look like when he came, what did he look like now, and what would he look like when he left in two years? The lands surnamed Lu on both sides of the canal are connected into patches. “

"Huh!" Hearing this, Liu Cheng laughed: "If all the officials are like me, wouldn't the world be peaceful?" “

"Lord Liu, although your words are good, you are not a civil official who studies the imperial examination. Yue Wumu just said, 'Civil officials don't love money, and military officials are not afraid of death.' 'You didn't say that military attachés don't love money, did you? If Qiu Ba doesn't even love money, then how can they not be afraid of death? ”

Liu Cheng only shook his head and smiled bitterly when he heard this, the other party's words said the popular view of ancient society: civil officials hold administrative power, and if they love money, they will be corrupt and pervert the law, which will ruin state affairs; Military attachés are afraid of death, and they will lose the battle, destroy the country and destroy the species. And it is human nature to be afraid of death, so if you want a warrior to charge, you must be rewarded. Therefore, in the ancient society of our country, the public's requirements for warriors and scribes are very different, in a sense, the love of money is not only not a problem, but a virtue, pure heart and few desires, as money as dung The incorruptible man used to govern the people is good, if it is used to lead troops to fight, it may not be.

Seeing this, Ma Rencheng walked to Liu Cheng's side, and whispered in his ear: "It's better to be like this, my family has a small village not far from the city of Qianhusuo, which is the most secluded, and it was used by the ancestors to avoid disasters, and it is only three or four miles away from your current residence." Zhuangzi is full of family-born minions, and they are the most reliable. If you don't dislike it, I will move over there on weekdays, how about I pick a few girls with good eyebrows and eyes to wait for my life? “

When Liu Cheng heard this, he was also a little moved, and he was about to open his mouth to agree, but he suddenly felt that something was wrong, this Ma Rencheng would not come here today to solve the problem of his lower body, right? Then he changed the topic and said: "Don't mention it, you always have something serious to come to me today, right?" ”

"It's not that Zhao Laosan yet!" Ma Rencheng put the teacup on the table: "I don't know why you want to let this guy enter the Pitang Bureau, this guy looks like my opponent in my previous life, I said I wanted to go east, and he said I wanted to go west." No, you quarreled with me again just now, and you insisted on turning the canal to the west, but the west side is a small hill, how to dig it? ”

"Presumably his land to the west?"

"Isn't it!" Ma Rencheng slapped his palms suddenly: "It's all broken, it just doesn't make sense, this guy brought six or seven strong house slaves to occupy the bureau signing room, and even brought the bed, and said that if he didn't promise him, he wouldn't go back, don't you say this is a scoundrel?" ”

"Then what does Ling Zun say?"

"Him?" Ma Rencheng showed a look of shame on his face: "My father has been traveling outside the past few days and is no longer at home, so I asked you to discuss." ”

"Oh." Liu Cheng nodded, he also saw from Ma Rencheng's expression that it was likely that Ma Ziyi did not go out, but he didn't want to tear his face with the local gentry, so he hid behind the scenes and kicked the trouble to Liu Cheng's side, no matter how close his son and Liu Cheng go, he will be able to turn his face as soon as Liu Cheng leaves in the future, and blame everything on his son's back, at most, his son will be executed by a family law, anyway, this is not his only son.

"Master Zhao was also elected by the gentry, since I have already opened my mouth on the selection of the person in charge, it is not good to interfere too much, and I didn't know that he was such a person!" Speaking of this, Liu Cheng smiled slightly: "Then you came today and want me to help you out?" (To be continued.) )