Under the gaze of hundreds of pairs of eyes at the same time, Zhou Lao, who took a deep breath, spoke directly.

"The musket is so powerful, and it is a free-fire musket without an arquebus, it must have been very expensive. However, our commander said that in order to thank everyone, all these muskets will be auctioned at the starting price at cost price. ”

"In addition, in order to prevent this auction from being delayed too long, five thousand muskets are divided into five hundred parts, and every ten muskets are auctioned for one ......"

"Now the official announces that the auction has officially begun. The starting price of ten muskets was 1,500 taels of silver...... You can take a picture of ten muskets, or you can take multiple copies at once, hundreds of muskets. In a word, the highest bidder knows...... In addition, I would like to remind you that there are only 5,000 muskets, and I hope you will cherish the opportunity. ”

Rare things are expensive, coupled with the powerful power of the musket, as soon as Zhou Lao's words were finished, the powerful people in the hall were like wolves that had preyed on their prey, and they directly began to scramble.

"I will pay 30,000 taels of silver to buy 200 Suifa muskets at one time......"

"I paid 100,000 taels to buy 600 muskets at one time......"

"I'll give 100,000 taels, and I only need 500 guns to fire......"

"One hundred thousand taels of silver, only four hundred and fifty muskets...... 100,000 taels of silver, only 400 muskets......"

In the end, 5,000 muskets, all of which were sold to the dignitaries and merchants of the capital at a price of two hundred and fifty taels of silver.

The price of a musket is two hundred and fifty taels of silver, and as far as I know, the cost of the production of muskets by the Armament Division. Only twenty taels of silver...... That's it. The profit of a musket. There are more than two hundred taels......

Thinking of this, Zhou Lao couldn't help but sigh with emotion: "Dashuai is right...... Firearms are indeed one of the most profitable commodities. If the various firearms produced by the Haw Par Army can be sold to all parts of the Ming Dynasty. Not to mention, the profit generated by selling 100,000 muskets a year is enough to cover the salary of the Haw Par Army for more than half a year. ”

Of course, at this time, some people may ask, the consumption of the entire Ming Dynasty market is so large, calculated according to 100,000 muskets a year. In a few years at most, all the armies of the entire Ming Dynasty can be equipped with this kind of fire-fired musket. At that time, the Haw Par Army's firearms advantage in front of the imperial court officials and soldiers will not disappear.

In fact, on the surface, these muskets auctioned by Zhou Lao are not much different from the short-barreled firing muskets used by the cavalry. But in reality, there is a world of difference......

The reason why I say this is because this batch of muskets was specially produced by Wei Zheng for the Equipment Division.

It does not matter the raw materials for the production of muskets, or the caliber of flintlock muskets. There is a huge gap between them and the muskets equipped by the Haw Par Army.

In terms of raw materials. Because of the use of ordinary steel. The barrels of the Haw Par Army's guns, which can withstand up to 150 shots, will explode for various reasons, or become unusable.

And the musket created by the Haw Par Army can withstand 300 shots in a row without the slightest problem.

And this means that the muskets sold by the Haw Par Army will be scrapped after a maximum of half a year. In the case that the imperial court and the local government could not make such a good firearm, after the muskets purchased from the Haw Par Army were scrapped, they were used to using this kind of musket, and their only choice was to continue to buy muskets from the Haw Par Army.

In this way, the specially created muskets of the Haw Par Army will have a steady market. The Haw Par Army, on the other hand, can also earn a steady stream of silver through the arms trade.

As for the difference in caliber, there are two purposes.

First, in the case of different calibers, the Haw Par Army can distinguish the two muskets very well. In this way, the flintlock muskets equipped in the Haw Par Army will not have any quality problems.

Second, the finer the caliber of the flintlock muskets sold by the Haw Par Army, the less likely it was that the imperial court would want to imitate them. Of course, in the case of a thin caliber, the charge of the musket will be less. If the charge is less, the effective range of the flintlock musket will be much lower...

And this, leading to such a result.

On the surface, there was no difference between the flintlock muskets sold by the Haw Par Army and the short-barreled muskets equipped by the cavalry. However, in terms of range, there is a gap of about fifteen paces......

When it comes to the battlefield, the difference in fifteen steps of range is very deadly......

Under such circumstances, the Haw Par Army will not only not restrict the trade in this musket, but will further expand this trade in a certain way.

Because, no matter how much this musket is equipped, it is unlikely to have an impact on the Haw Par Army. However, after this kind of musket is equipped with more, it has a very good impact on the security of the entire Ming Dynasty. Not only that, but when you encounter a Tartar one day in the future, you won't be out of room to fight back......

Just when Zhou Lao smiled and counted the harvest in the back hall of the HSBC restaurant.

The news of the Haw Par Army's auction of flintlock muskets at HSBC restaurants spread quickly through Beijing like a gust of wind.

Although it is not known what the purpose of the Haw Par Army auctioned the muskets at the HSBC Restaurant, the court is also very jealous of the flintlock muskets equipped by the Haw Par Army. Otherwise, it would not have cost so much to send craftsmen from all over the country to imitate the flintlock muskets equipped by the Haw Par Army.

However, due to the huge gap in production materials and production technology, although the flintlock musket imitating the Haw Par Army was created, the effective range of the flintlock musket has not exceeded 60 steps, which is only 10 steps more than the old arquebus.

Under such circumstances, the imperial court was equipped with a large number of such flintlock muskets, and there was no way to fight against the longbow with a range of more than 60 paces from the Tartars on the battlefield, let alone against the tiger and leopard army on the battlefield.

Therefore, when several important officials of the imperial court heard that the Haw Par Army had actually sold its own flintlock muskets equipped with cavalry, and the range of this flintlock musket reached 80 paces, far exceeding the muskets made by the imperial court itself.

These important ministers of the court couldn't sit still.

With a hint of heaviness and incomprehension, he entered the palace as soon as possible and reported the matter to Emperor Chongzhen.

"Could it be that the Haw Par Army has created more advanced firearms, otherwise, how could it be possible to take out the muskets they are equipped with and sell them, so that the advantage of the Haw Par Army's firearms is not gone......" After listening to the minister's report, Emperor Chongzhen directly asked with a puzzled face.

The head of the cabinet, who was standing at the front of the main hall, directly stood up and replied: "Your Majesty, the old minister has not received any news in this regard...... Jinyiwei has sent a large number of intelligence officers to the Haw Par Army, and if the Haw Par Army is equipped with better firearms, these intelligence officers will definitely have news back......."

Emperor Chongzhen, who has been in the Tiger and Leopard Army several times, at this moment, as long as he encounters something about the Tiger and Leopard Army, he has to ask several whys, and he will definitely not believe what he sees so lightly.

Therefore, as soon as the words of the cabinet chief assistant fell, Emperor Chongzhen's rhetorical question sounded in the main hall.

"In that case, what is the purpose of the Haw Par Army in doing this....Isn't selling this sharp firearm to outsiders to destroy its own corner and weaken its own advantages?"

Under the gaze of Emperor Chongzhen, several ministers showed gloomy expressions on their faces.

As for the cabinet chief assistant standing at the front of the main hall, he directly shook his head and denied: "Your Majesty, the old minister doesn't know the specific reason. However, Lao Chen believes that no matter what the purpose of the Haw Par Army is doing this, we should seize this opportunity..."

"Chance, what do you mean?" Emperor Chongzhen's brows furrowed, and he subconsciously asked.

The first assistant of the cabinet replied without the slightest hesitation: "Your Majesty, until now, the musket created by the imperial court has not completely surpassed sixty steps in terms of range...."

"The range of the muskets sold by the Haw Par Army this time is more than 80 paces to support. Although this short-barreled musket is not as good as the long-barreled musket equipped by the Haw Par Army's replenishment equipment in terms of range. But with this musket against the post-gold Tartar archers, there were no problems ...

"You must know that in Houjin, the best archers can shoot arrows eighty paces away. As for the average archer, being able to shoot an arrow sixty or seventy steps away is already very remarkable. So, in front of the Tartars, as long as we can equip ourselves with this short-barreled musket, we can defeat the Tartars on the battlefield..."

"And the muskets we built ourselves, even if they are equipped with troops, will not be able to gain much advantage against the Houjin Tartars, and they will not even be able to suppress the Tartar archers."

"Therefore, the old minister thought that the imperial court should immediately take out the silver that was going to be used to make the musket, and even take some of the five million taels of silver that had just arrived, and go to the HSBC restaurant to negotiate with the Haw Par Army to buy this flintlock musket from the Haw Par Army..."

"As long as we have more than 100,000 garrisons stationed at the border gates, 50,000 soldiers can be equipped with this kind of musket. When we encounter the invasion of the Houjin Tartars, we will be able to keep them out of the pass..."

"Of course, when the imperial court gathered the power of the imperial court and raised money to buy flintlock muskets from the Haw Par Army. The imperial court's study of muskets and artillery could not be stopped. ”

"Because, only when the imperial court develops sharper firearms in the case of self-protection, will the military strength of the imperial court become stronger and stronger......"

Hearing this, the puzzled expression that appeared on Chongzhen's face just now had been replaced by relief. Not only that, but a hint of heat and recognition also appeared on Emperor Chongzhen's face.

After some contemplation, Emperor Chongzhen said directly: "Since this is the case, then do it....... I just heard from you, the price of the tiger and leopard army to sell this musket is two hundred and fifty taels of silver. In my opinion, such a price is too expensive. Therefore, when negotiating with the Haw Par Army, the price of the musket must be reduced......" (To be continued......