In order to return to Houjin, for the sake of his own future, Lord Tartar Belle is ready to gamble hard.

In the HSBC restaurant, Zhang Qianshu, the head of the household who had met with Zhou Lao many times and had traveled to Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces many times to negotiate with the Tiger and Leopard Army, once again stood in front of Zhou Lao.

may know that his position in the imperial court is high and powerful, and in front of Zhou Lao, the deputy prime minister of the Haw Par Army, it is nothing at all. After seeing Old Zhou, not only did he not put the shelf of the imperial court's household book, but instead called Old Zhou with a humble face......

Zhang Qianshu opened an HSBC restaurant at this time, and Zhou Lao, who was born in business, knew with his eyes closed that Zhang Qianshu must have come here for the 5,000 muskets he had just sold.

Since the other party is asking for himself, Zhou Lao must put the score that should be placed. Otherwise, there will be no way to grasp the initiative in the entire negotiation in the following negotiations.

Therefore, in the face of Zhang Qianshu's humility, Zhou Lao directly turned a blind eye and waved his hand and said: "It turned out to be Lord Zhang, you call the old man like this, the old man doesn't dare to be a ...... According to the grade of the imperial court, Lord Zhang, your grade is much higher than that of the old man...... If you call the old man like this, if the officials of the court hear it, the old man will not be able to escape from a crime of dignity and inferiority...... Therefore, it is better for Lord Zhang to call the old man Lord Zhou......"

Hearing this, Zhang Qianshu directly showed a smile full of embarrassment on his face.

However, with a heavy responsibility, he could only continue with embarrassment: "Old Zhou, you are laughing...... You're my senior, and you definitely can't stand calling you that......"

After finishing speaking, Zhang Qianshu no longer hesitated, and said bluntly: "Old Zhou." I was in such a hurry to see you. There is only one purpose. That's the musket that your ministry just auctioned off here......"

"As far as I know, these muskets are all equipped by the cavalry of the Haw Par Army...... Don't know if that's the case? ”

Although the two muskets are very different in nature, in front of Zhang Qianshu, a possible buyer, Zhou Lao still nodded in affirmation without hesitation......

"Yes, these muskets are the ones we took from the equipment that the Haw Par cavalry is using...... Mr. Zhang. Could it be that our Haw Par Army auctioned off the equipment produced by itself, and the imperial court also had to intervene? ”

Under a series of rhetorical questions from Zhou Lao, Zhang Qianshu, who was afraid of offending Zhou Lao in front of him, quickly shook his head and denied: "No, the imperial court will never interfere...... Not only would it not interfere, but the imperial court was also very interested in this musket. Therefore, the court hopes that the Haw Par Army can sell the court some muskets at a suitable price......"

"The court also wants these muskets, and the old man still thinks that the court is here to trouble my tiger and leopard army?" After listening to Zhang Qian's words, a mocking smile appeared directly on Zhou Lao's face. asked rhetorically at Zhang Qianshu.

After an embarrassed smile appeared on his face again, Zhang Qianshu had to face the scalp and replied: "Old Zhou said he was laughing." In order to defend against the Houjin Tartars from outside the Guan, and to clear the increasingly fierce bandits in the Ming Dynasty, the imperial army also needed to be equipped with better weapons...... Therefore, I hope that the Haw Par Army can sell some of these sophisticated muskets to the imperial court for the sake of the Ming Dynasty and the people of the Ming Dynasty, and equip the imperial court officers and soldiers......"

Under Zhang Qianshu's eyes full of worry, Zhou Lao did not speak immediately.

As Zhou Lao fell into contemplation for longer and longer, the worry on Zhang Qian's face had been unconsciously replaced by solemnity. In the cold winter, beads of sweat the size of beans appeared on his forehead.

Just when a trace of despair began to appear on Zhang Qianshu's face, the contemplative Zhou Lao finally spoke.

"Lord Zhang, you must know that once these muskets are given to the imperial court, equip the imperial court officers and soldiers...... Our cavalry unit of the Tiger and Leopard Army will fall into an embarrassing situation where there are no guns available......"

As soon as Zhou Lao's words were finished, the expression on Zhang Qianshu's face seemed to be frost, and he instantly became solemn. At this moment, Old Zhou's words changed and continued.

However, in order to support the imperial court to eliminate the bandits in the Ming Dynasty, defend against the Houjin Tartars outside the Guan. The Haw Par Army is still willing to take out a part of the muskets and sell them to the imperial court to equip the imperial officers and soldiers......"

"However, in this process, I, the Haw Par Army, have to take very big risks. After all, today's Tiger and Leopard Army is bordered by the two provinces of Shanxi and Liaodong and Houjin. Once the Houjin Tartars take advantage of this opportunity to attack our Tiger and Par Army, the Haw and Par Army, which is not even fully equipped with muskets, will definitely pay a great price. ”

"Therefore, if the imperial court wants to buy this batch of muskets, it must bear the losses that our Haw Par Army may bear..."

"Of course, my Haw Par Army will not make a price indiscriminately, as long as the imperial court is willing to bear the auction price of this short-barreled flintlock musket at today's auction, I can promise the imperial court on behalf of the Haw Par Army to allocate 20,000 muskets to the imperial court in a short period of time..."

"The auction price... Two hundred and fifty taels of muskets....This is not the sky-high asking price....Old Zhou, as far as this official knows, the cost of producing a musket in the imperial court is only thirty or forty taels of silver at most...."After listening to what Zhou Lao said, the hope that had just ignited on Zhang Qianshu's face was once again covered with despair. Then, subconsciously let out an exclamation.

Under Zhou Lao's gaze, with the last glimmer of hope, he asked rhetorically: "Old Zhou, this price is really too expensive....Is it possible to be cheaper?...as long as the price is right, the imperial court can buy 40,000 muskets at one time, or even 50,000 muskets is not a problem......

After a short period of contemplation, a sigh full of helplessness came directly from Zhou Lao's mouth. Then, he replied to Zhang Qianshu in front of him: "Lord Zhang, if the old man gives you a lower price....The 5,000 muskets that the old man sold here today are not all to return the difference....otherwise, the reputation of my tiger and leopard army will not be ruined because of this incident.......

Zhang Qianshu, who suddenly saw hope, replied without thinking: "The difference in the price of 5,000 muskets will be paid by the imperial court....as long as the tiger and leopard army can give the court a suitable price, the tiger and leopard army will return as much silver as the imperial court will bear, and the tiger and leopard army will definitely not let the tiger and leopard army suffer..."

Hearing this, the corners of Zhou Lao's mouth flashed directly with an imperceptible sneer.

Under Zhang Qianshu's gaze, he pretended to hesitate and replied: "If this is the case, it is not impossible to 7....... but if the bid of the imperial court is too low, the old man has no way to explain to the marshal." Therefore, the court's bid must satisfy the marshal..."

"I don't know if Lord Zhang can bid on behalf of the imperial court, and what is the price that the imperial court intends to offer?"

Under the gaze of Zhou Lao's pair of clever eyes, Zhang Qianshu, who looked uneasy, hurriedly replied: "Old Zhou, the idea of the imperial court is to buy 30,000 muskets from the Tiger and Leopard Army at a price of one hundred and fifty taels of silver... A total of 4,5,400,000 taels of silver, if you count the difference between less than 5,000 muskets in the imperial court, that is, 5 million taels of silver, which is exactly the 5 million taels of silver that the Haw Par Army is about to deliver to the imperial court. ”

Regarding this whimsical result, Zhou Lao refused without thinking about it.

"No, the price of one hundred and fifty taels of silver is too low... The musket made by the imperial court was only thirty or forty taels of silver in cost. However, there is no way to compare the musket created by the imperial court with the musket created by our Haw Par Army..."

"Master Zhang, the old man is not afraid to sue you, every musket built by the Haw Par Army costs about one hundred and thirty taels of silver. If you are a novice in building the barrel of a musket, the cost of a musket can even reach a staggering one hundred and sixty taels of silver. Therefore, the price offered by the imperial court is not even the cost..."

"Not only the handsome, but also the old man, I can't get through it..."

Speaking of this, Zhou Lao waved his hand directly at Zhang Qianshu in front of him and said: "Since Lord Zhang and the imperial court are not sincere, then there is no need for this negotiation to continue, anyway, my Tiger and Leopard Army has cavalry equipped with these muskets, and there is no need to worry about no one using them after the muskets are built..."

The cost of a musket is more than one hundred and thirty taels, and if it were anyone else, he would definitely be fooled by Zhou Lao, who was born as a businessman. However, Zhang Qianshu is not an ordinary person, as a household secretary, even if he calculates, he can calculate the cost of building a musket, no matter how complicated the construction process of this musket is.

However, in the absence of any evidence, what Zhang Qianshu can do is to admit what Zhou Lao said.

After taking a deep breath, he asked Zhou Lao: "In this case, Zhou Lao, this official wants to know the lowest price that the Haw Par Army may sell....as long as the imperial court can accept it, this official will definitely agree to this price..."

After listening to what Zhang Qian said, Zhou Lao directly stretched out two fingers and replied.

"Two hundred taels of silver for a musket....as long as the court bids two hundred taels of silver, and bears the difference of five thousand muskets for a total of two hundred and fifty thousand taels of silver. As many muskets as the court wants, the Haw Par Army can sell as many muskets as the court wants....pay the money with one hand and deliver the goods with the other......"

Even if all the silver used by the imperial court to make muskets is extracted, plus the five million taels of silver that the Haw Par Army is about to deliver to the imperial court, the silver that the imperial court can mobilize is only 7.5 million taels...

However, of the 7.5 million taels of silver, at least 2.5 million taels must be set aside to increase the salaries of the officers and men of the border army. In this way, the silver that the court can use is only five million taels.

According to the price of two hundred taels of silver, even if all the five million taels of silver are used up, they can only buy more than 20,000 muskets, which is completely insufficient to meet the requirements of the imperial court for themselves.

However, when the current predicament faced by the imperial court, it is like a picture, constantly appearing in front of and behind. Zhang Qianshu was directly ruthless and decided.

"The official agreed, two hundred taels of silver and one musket, and first purchased 20,000 muskets from the Haw Par Army........."