The price of copper in Daming is about eight cents a catty, and 20,000 catties of copper are worth 1,600 taels according to the price of Daming.

Chen Xin and Song Wenxian looked at each other, and the two of them had a discount on their plans to make a fortune, Li Guozhu looked at the two of them and explained: "Most of Japan's copper comes from Ishimi Yinshan, commonly known as Japanese copper, which has not been refined, and contains some silver. Even the silver two are the same, the original blowing of the southern ruthenium is the most pure color, but the silver two outflow too much, a few years ago in Nagasaki to open a silver furnace to recast Ding silver, now mostly for Ding silver payment, the fineness is a little worse. ”

Chen Xin listened, guessing that Li Guozhu was probably refining by himself, and refused to sell too much, so he changed his tone and asked him, "Then does Li Gongzi have any other goods here?" ”

Li Guozhu said with a smile: "Since Brother Chen has hundreds of soldiers, he needs lead, gunpowder, and Japanese knives, so he can buy some back, and the sulfur of the Japanese country is really better than the Ming Dynasty." Although the profit is not much, fortunately, there are many of them, and they are also possible. ”

Li Guozhu still wants to sell the goods, Chen Xin has no interest in this goods, the goods bought back last year, although Mrs. Zhao said that they were sold out in January, but the selling price is very low, there is almost no profit, if you sell it slowly, the profit may only be a little more, Chen Xin is not much interested. The Japanese knife is even more cost-effective, at least a few taels of silver, and even if the Ming Dynasty uses a big knife made of steel, it does not exceed ten taels of silver.

However, lead and sulfur are available, Chen Xin lowered his head and calculated, if his musket bullets are heavy, ten rounds are one or two, if there are hundreds of birds and guns in the expansion of the army, ten shots per person is dozens of catties, and his own plan is to train often, preferably with bullets, so that the consumption of lead is also a lot. In addition, a large amount of lead should be added to make private money, and there are many things in the Ming Dynasty, but since there is nothing to buy, I have to buy some back, but it is best to have more copper, not only can I make fake money, but I can also use it to make cannons in the future, after all, copper cannons are much lighter than iron cannons, and they are more malleable.

Thinking of this, I discussed a few words with Song Wenxian, and then said to Li Guozhu: "In this way, I will buy more lead and sulfur, buy 20,000 catties of lead, and 5,000 catties of sulfur." ”

Li Guozhu said: "In this way, there are 40,000 catties of goods, less than 10,000 taels of silver, Brother Chen's two boats, in addition to loading silver, still have a lot of vacancy, whether to buy some goods." ”

Chen Xin was really bored with this object, shook his head with a smile, and began to attack in a roundabout way, "In the next two days, let's take a look at other goods, and if there is no suitable one, then look at the goods." Then he lowered his voice and said to Li Guozhu: "I read the imperial court newspaper last month, saying that Zheng Yiguan is becoming more and more rampant, and he captured the Zhongzuo Institute last year, I don't know if he hurt your friends?" ”

Li Guozhu heard Zheng Yiguan's three words, a cold light flashed in his eyes, and in a blink of an eye, he eased his face again, and said to the two: "Thanks to Brother Chen's reminder last year, as soon as the two left, I sent my servant Xinyouweimen to Fujian, Zheng Yiguan captured the Zhongzuo Institute in October last year, and sure enough, I searched for my friend in the whole city, and my servant left with his friend in advance, otherwise it would ......" Li Guozhu breathed a sigh of relief, Xu Xinsu is very important to him, he calls Xu Xinsu as an elder, Xu Xinsu can provide him with a lot of goods with a broad network of relationships and channels, Although Zheng Yiguan is making trouble at sea now, he can still come over some boats every year, which is an important source of income for Li Guozhu, if there is no such way, his strength will be greatly affected.

Chen Xin had a relieved expression, "So I can rest assured, after reading the Di newspaper a few days ago, I have not been worried about Li Gongzi, and when I went to Beijing this year, I heard that some officials mentioned the matter of recruiting Zheng Yiguan, and Li Gongzi should let you be more careful and retreat to a place farther away from the sea." ”

Song Wenxian knew that Chen Xin had not gone to Beijing, but he just wanted to talk about it, increase his trading chips, and said on the side: "I also heard about this, that Yu Zhigao was defeated by Zheng Yiguan last year, and it is certain that he will be imprisoned for questioning, and he can't even beat Zheng Yiguan after the general, and there are no other good generals in Fujian at the moment, and Zheng Yiguan is already very difficult to control." ”

Li Guozhu said helplessly: "Now I have to let my friend stay away for a while, although he is deeply rooted in Fujian, but the affairs of the court cannot be influenced." Since Brother Chen once said that Zheng Yiguan's foundation is not solid, I will wait for him to show his flaws before killing. ”

Chen Xin shook his head and said: "Brother Li, don't blame you for talking too much, you don't care at all, it's not a good policy, Fujian officialdom has your friends to contain you, and someone has to help you in the court, and a sentence can determine the life and death of Zheng Yiguan at a critical moment, now I am already on a path in Beijing, this person will soon be in an important position, and it is also possible to enter the cabinet as a university scholar,"

Song Wenxian pretended to be and said suddenly: "Brother Chen is talking about that person." He knew that what Chen Xin said was Wen Tiren, but he didn't think that Wen Tiren could enter the cabinet to worship the prime minister, his expression just wanted to increase Chen Xin's persuasiveness.

Li Guozhu looked at the two of them, half-convinced, of course he couldn't just ask who this person was, besides, he didn't know a few officials in Beijing, it was difficult to believe them all, it was possible for Chen Xin to have a few hundred soldiers, but if he could change from an account room to influence the opinions of the court in just one year, it was really hard to believe.

Song Wenxian sighed, patted his head and explained: "I forgot to tell Li Gongzi about it, last year, Brother Chen was able to be promoted to a thousand households, all because of the eunuch party." ”

Wei Zhongxian fell, Li Guozhu still knew, after all, there were some other maritime merchants to Nagasaki and Heheto, and this kind of major event spread quickly, Li Guozhu was a little surprised and said: "Could it be that Brother Chen still contributes to it?" ”

Chen Xin nodded with a smile and said, "It's just a coincidence, it's not worth mentioning." ”

Song Wenxian talked in detail about Chen Xin's scolding of Cui Chengxiu next to him, Li Guozhu laughed after listening to it, and said to Chen Xin after laughing: "Brother Chen is really very human, but it's a pity that you are a military attaché, otherwise all the factions in this court will be attracted to you." ”

Chen Xin smiled and did not speak, looking modest, after Li Guozhu listened, his evaluation of Chen Xin was a higher level, since he has such a reputation, and it happens that at the time of liquidating the eunuch party and redistributing the interests, it is possible for officials in Beijing to make friends with the eunuch vanguard to show their attitude.

Song Wenxian saw that his attitude was loose, and he took the hot iron to blow nonsense: "Brother Chen is not only famous, at the beginning of this year, he exterminated the bandits, more than 60 soldiers beheaded more than 100 levels, and now there are seven or eight hundred soldiers and horses, and he will soon be promoted to the garrison of Wendeng Battalion. There is also one more way to make money. ”

Li Guozhu was finally moved, he saw a few soldiers around Chen Xin, it was indeed different from ordinary bodyguards, if seven or eight hundred soldiers were like this, they would be able to deal with Zheng Yiguan in the future.

As for going to Wendeng trade, he will not go for the time being, in terms of sea trade, the profits in the southeast are higher, such as sugar, deer skin and tea, the profit of sugar can be doubled, but at present, Zheng Yiguan is tossing in the southeast, and the sea route is interrupted, Zheng Yiguan is specifically targeting Li Guozhu, he has lost some cargo in the past two years, in case Zheng Yiguan can really cut off the open sea one day, his ship can only be idle, and there is a local snake like Chen Xin to provide convenience, even if the profit is poor, it is also an acceptable choice.

Li Guozhu held his teacup and slowly sipped it on his lips, thinking in his heart, what Chen Xin and Song Wenxian didn't know was that it was not only the Dutch and Zheng Yiguan who took root in the sea off Fujian, but also the Spaniards who occupied the chicken coop and freshwater in northern Taiwan, and there were more related stakeholders, including the Ming Dynasty, pirates, Spain, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and Portugal, all of which had conflicts with each other, and also traded, and the relationship was very complicated. Even Japan wanted to get a foot in Xiaoliuqiu (Taiwan) to occupy a piece of territory, and the place they were looking at happened to be the big part of the Dutch now.

As far as Li Guozhu knows, Nagasaki Acting Governor Sue Heizou is the person who most wants to go to Oto to occupy a piece of territory, he is both a Nagasaki Acting Official and a businessman, instructed a samurai named Hamada Yabei, to search for more than a dozen natives near Oto, and then went to the Edo Shogunate to sue the Dutch, and the reason for finding it is also bullshit, he thinks that the Dutch arrived at Oto later than the Japanese, so they should not occupy Oto Port, Dayuan Port should be Japanese, he captured more than ten natives and swore that they would give Dayuan sovereignty to Japan.

The Dutch's trade interests were dominated by Japan, and the last Heizou wanted the Edo shogunate to put pressure on the Dutch to cede the port of Oyonyu (Taiwan). Relying on the strong influence of the last Heizou on the Edo shogunate, the shogunate had refused to receive the trade representative of the Dutch East India Company, but did not accept the indigenous gift of sovereignty from the daikan, and the last Heizou continued to toss. Although Li Guozhu reconciled in it, he obviously did not have Li Dan's original energy.

Because of Li Dan's relationship, Li Guozhu has a good relationship with the Dutch, in the early years, Li Dan was punished by Spain as a slave for a few years, so he was like fire and water with the Spaniards, and the European rookie Dutch was the enemy of Spain, so Li Dan has always had a good relationship with the Netherlands, and has been following it, Li Guozhu has a lot of cooperation with the resale of Dutch goods, and many of Xu Xinsu's goods are also transferred through their ships, so the Dutch are his important partners and sources of goods.

According to the information that Li Guozhu now has, that Hamada Yabei was not only a samurai, but also a merchant, and even more so a bold man, and the supportive attitude of the shogunate and the last Heizou seemed to have aroused his courage, this man had already organized more than 400 men and a few ships in Nagasaki this year, bought a large number of weapons, and had just set out for the Daguan in April, intending to kill the Dutch.

After learning of Hamada Yabei's movements, Li Guozhu reported to the Dutch through the Dutch Hirado Shokan, hoping that it would not get out of control.

But this matter is far from within the scope of Li Guozhu's control, after Japan joined the dog-eat-dog, the shape of the sea off Fujian became more and more complicated, if the Netherlands was at odds with Japan because of this, and the shogunate restricted Dutch trade, its own source of goods would be cut off, and the larger background in Japan was that the shogunate began to ban Catholicism, and the relationship with the red-haired ghost has been declining. Coupled with Zheng Yiguan's hob meat that may be recruited at any time, it makes him feel like he can't sleep well.

Chen Xin naturally didn't know anything about these small branches of history, he and Song Wenxian just hit the nail on the head, and gave Li Guozhu a choice that was not too good, but could also be considered, and more importantly, Chen Xin's table made Li Guozhu believe that Chen Xin had great development prospects, so he had to make some investments.

Of course, Li Guozhu would not tell the two of them the reason behind it, so as not to elevate the other party's status in the conversation, he looked at Chen Xin with a calm expression, and said lightly: "Thank you two so much, I can't say that I want to trouble Brother Chen at that time." ”

Chen Xin thought that he had moved Li Guozhu, so he was modest and agreed.

As a transaction, Li Guozhu naturally wanted to give some benefits, and he asked the two: "Since I saw Brother Chen, I knew that it must not be something in the pool, but I didn't expect it to be so fast, and I and the two of them are familiar at first sight, if there is anything that can help you, you are welcome." ”

Chen Xin had been waiting for him to say this, what he took out was all false goods, all relying on Zheng Yiguan to fish Li Guozhu, now that he has taken the bait, he can take more benefits, and he made up a little lie in his heart, so he arched his hand to Li Guozhu and said: "Brother Li has been a maritime merchant for a long time, you should know why I buy copper, the adult above the court just said, it is not enough for me to make friends with him by reputation alone, it just so happens that he also has a rich bank, this private money business is the best way, if you can have more, and have a closer relationship with him in the future, you can speak in the future." ”

As soon as he said this, he combined buying copper with dealing with Zheng Yiguan, Li Guozhu looked at Chen Xin for a while, and finally said: "Then I'll go and raise it again, Brother Chen will have to wait a few more days." ”

"Thank you Li Gongzi, it's best to have more than 100,000 catties this year."

Li Guozhu looked like a businessman, and said with a smile: "But Brother Chen also wants to buy some of this thing." ”

Chen Xin scolded secretly in his heart, Li Guozhu never forgot to give less silver, this thing is not profitable, and he has to get rid of it once, but if he asks for someone, he will buy some more, and then find Lao Cai to find some old customers to sell.

Song Wenxian also breathed a sigh of relief when he saw this result, and promised on behalf of Chen Xin: "When we want to deal with Zheng Yiguan in the future, the two of us will definitely help each other." ”

Li Guozhu looked at Chen Xin, and Chen Xin also issued a blank check: "As long as Brother Li speaks, my two boats will arrive." ”

Li Guozhu smiled and nodded, picked up the cup and tasted a sip of tea with the two, and personally poured it for the two of them, but Chen Xin couldn't drink it at all, and he didn't know how this Song Wenxian could taste the big red robe.

Chen Xin finished talking about the goods, and he was still thinking about Xu Xinsu's cargo network, but Li Guozhu may not be so happy to build a bridge, he thought about the wording, and carefully said to Li Guozhu: "Then Zheng Yiguan is now occupying the open sea, if your friend's goods can't be shipped, they can be sent to Tianjin, and they also intend to do some canal business." ”

Li Guozhu thought for a while, as long as Chen Xin did not cross the sea and the seal, there would be no conflict with his business interests, Xu Xinsu's goods naturally had his channels, he thought that Chen Xin wanted to buy some sugar and tea from Fujian, nodded and agreed: "I will tell my friend about this matter, this matter is not mine, if he agrees, I will tell you how to proceed." However, the distance is long, and I don't know when I will get a reply. ”

Chen Xin saw that he agreed, and finally had the opportunity to get on the line with Xu Xinsu, and said to Li Guozhu: "Thank you Li Gongzi for your success." ”