Zhou Qingfeng's exhibition dinner was a success, at least he thought so. The invitees were all powerful businessmen in Goa, and a lot of intentional business orders were given on the spot. Specific transactions naturally need to be followed up by follow-up personnel.

It's just that after the dinner, the businessmen who have returned to Goa one after another are very worried. Not only did the Portuguese frown one by one, but even the Arabs who wanted to make a big splash like Lord Mohammed were reflecting. After a glitzy display of merchandise, they all fell silent.

No one can easily turn down a huge commercial interest, but anyone with a little wisdom will understand that the 'Emperor Majesty' from the East has unimaginable ambitions. He is transforming the balance of power throughout the Near East and South Asia through commerce. As for the Far East, it is about to face a major change.

After returning to his merchant hall, Lord Muhammad gathered a vote of Arabs to convey what he had seen at the banquet. When they learned that they could buy sophisticated weapons from the emperor of the East, and could even send people for military training, they were all shocked, rejoicing, pondering, and worried.

In the Near East and northern Africa, there are many ethnicities following the Green Religion. But they are not monolithic, and even have deep hatred and contradictions with each other. In the past, Europeans did not pay attention to these infidels at all, and only blindly suppressed them, but suppressed the wars between various enemies. And now......

"Since the Emperor of the East is willing to buy our horses and sell us weapons, he will also be able to do business with our enemies. In the past, everyone couldn't fight, or the scale of the fight was not large, because the strength was limited. I'm afraid it won't be the same in the future. "Lord Muhammad could have foreseen that the whole of the Near East would soon be in flames.

"How many weapons can the Orientals sell?" Someone asked the question of quantity, "What if we could buy all the weapons he has in his hands?" ”

"He said he could deliver about 30,000 high-quality arquebuses right away." Master Muhammad took a sample of an arquebus presented by Zhou Qingfeng and passed it on to everyone - the gun was very light and the grip was very good. The barrel is jet black and shiny, smooth and cool to the touch. The matching arquebuses and lead shots have a very good consistency, which is not possible in the handicraft industry.

"There is another trouble, the king of Goa also sent someone to contact the emperor of the east. We probably won't be able to make a profit from it in the future. "The second news from Lord Muhammad is fatal. The Arabs are not producing, but are good at being robbers and doing business. If they lose the customer of the Indian king, they will have a hard time.

Although there are many native kings in India, who can be strong and flexible with the emperors of the East, the market here will be robbed sooner or later. If it were someone else, the Arabs might have been able to play some tricks. But in the face of Zhou Qingfeng, who had just cleaned up the Portuguese, they were not bold.

"Are we really going to have to live by raising horses in the future?" Someone shouted unwillingly.

"You can also catch slaves, and the emperor of the East needs horses and female slaves. In addition, he wants us to bring goods from Africa, such as cotton, wheat, and palm oil from Egypt. He said he had an extreme thirst for produce. As long as it can be shipped, he is willing to buy it. Lord Muhammad said.

Hearing this, the Arab merchants fell silent again. This is tantamount to blocking one trade route and opening another trade route at the same time, which is nothing more than a change of trade varieties and objects. But this feeling is always unreassuring......

"How many horses do we have now?" Lord Muhammad asked.

The merchants next to him all shook their heads, "There aren't many left, the previous ones were sold to the Portuguese." ”

"Then let's start stockpiling again tomorrow. At least we are now the first to know the news, at least half a year's advantage. Lord Muhammad sighed and went to rest with hope and anxiety.

The Arabs were worried, and the Portuguese in Goa were even more worried. The short and fierce war deprived them of their high status, and the raging tide of trade was about to suppress them to an equal footing with the untouchables—in the eyes of the emperor of the East, those who could provide him with trade goods were the good ones, and the bad ones who stood in the way.

If the Arabs had access to a large number of weapons, this was within the psychological tolerance of the European colonizers. It would be an absolute nightmare that the Indian king wanted to arm himself as well. The Portuguese were well aware of what they had done in India for the past 100 years, and they were now afraid of reprisals.

Although Zhou Qingfeng has said that no force will be allowed to start a war near Goa, it is still unknown whether this promise will be fulfilled. While the Arabs were gathering to conflate, European merchants, led by the Portuguese, also gathered to talk about the form in front of them. The party was attended not only by the released young master Anthony, but also by the escaped governor of Cordino, who sent his cronies.

"This is the Oriental arquebus I bought." Although Anthony was not happy, he went to the dinner as a representative of the residents. When Zhou Qingfeng was selling his arms, he asked the other party for a sample, and he bought it easily. "The other party quoted ten silver dollars, which is about the same as the Spanish silver dollar."

It was not expensive, but the same exclamation sounded among the European colonists, for Anthony had spent a considerable sum of money on five. The five arquebuses were almost identical. Knowledgeable gunsmiths soon began to measure calibers, check the quality of the barrel, and even disassemble the gun body to see the internal structure. The final conclusion is ......, perfect!

"The caliber is the same, and the projectile is the same." The gunsmith performed a complete reload, testing all the lead pellets in his possession in full view. "The projectiles are all slightly larger than the chamber, but they can be easily poked through the bar. It's hard to imagine that if all Oriental arquebuses were like this, I don't know how the Orientals did it. ”

All five arquebuses were disassembled, and all parts were common. Any set can be assembled and can be used smoothly. The gunsmith even opened fire on the spot in the courtyard of the party, easily piercing a thick plank at close range. He exclaimed again: "This gun has achieved the same power with only half the weight of our heavy 'Muscot', which is very remarkable." ”

The sixteenth century, which had passed, and the seventeenth century, which was beginning, was the time when Europe was in full swing. One war after another has greatly promoted the development of European military civilization and brought about tremendous progress in weapons and equipment. The bloody 'Thirty Years' War was about to begin, the first war in which the whole of Europe was involved, and the brains of men were to be beaten into dogs' brains.

At present, flintlock pistols are not yet widely used in Europe, and arquebuses are still the main equipment of warfare. Moreover, the arquebuses now used in Europe are very heavy, and a dozen kilograms is a common phenomenon. If there is a light arquebus of five or six kilograms, it is definitely a hot item. This was needed not only by Arabs and Indian kings, but also by Europeans.

"This arquebus is very well made, and it has the same projectile and accessories, which has an unimaginable logistical advantage." The gunsmith assembled the five arquebuses again, sighed, and said, "If we can buy these guns in large quantities and ship them to Europe, they will definitely be snapped up by the princes who are busy preparing for war." ”

Although Zhou Qingfeng provided silk, porcelain, tea, medicine and many other goods, it was no surprise that arms became the focus of everyone. While everyone was wondering whether they should also be in the arms business, the cronies sent by the governor of Cordino said: "This is not the musket that the Orientals themselves use, they have better ones." ”

What the?

"And a better arquebus?" The gunsmith stood up from his desk and asked in surprise.

The Doge's cronies, who seemed to have come specifically for the Goan gunsmith, grabbed a package he had brought with him and spread it out on the table, and a beautiful and simple gun appeared in the glow of the candles. Everyone gathered at the table and stood up one after another, curious to see its distinctive appearance.

"I don't know what to call it, it's not an arquebus anyway. We had always thought that the Orientals were armed with spring-wheel flintlock pistols, but apparently they had mastered a flint-fired technique. This terrible weapon was created. ”

The Governor's cronies said: "In the battle the night before, we suffered heavy casualties, but we also killed some Eastern soldiers. Although they took the bodies with them, we were able to clean up the battlefield afterwards and find the three muskets they had lost. His Excellency the Governor wonders if it is possible to imitate this firearm? ”

Fixed ammunition and flintlock rifled guns.

The gunsmith immediately began to study, but he quickly said in a dejected voice: "This is steel, this is the best steel." This firearm uses a very simple hammer bolt, but this elastic steel ....... The gunsmith pulled the bolt, and the hammer clicked and jammed. Pulling the trigger again, the hammer hit the lid of the medicine pool with the flint very forcefully, and sparks appeared.

The principle can be understood at a glance, but the material is ......

"I have to admit that this design is very amazing, and it is exactly the perfect weapon that our firearms designers dream of. I can now name its many advantages. But I can't make it unless I can get the steel for this bolt. Ah......, and this kind of bullet. I haven't used it yet, but I think it's better than what we use. ”

After sighing, the gunsmith could only shake his head and said in frustration: "I have to admit that we were not surprised at all to lose the day before yesterday." God will not bless us in the face of such enemies. ”

Zhou Qingfeng wasted so much effort in order to obtain high-quality spring steel, and even melted his 'road rage' with outstanding achievements. In the later stage, it was also possible to get the fire phoenix to be mass-produced, which also included the credit of Zhao Ze and Shi Dong using a lot of black technology to improve the production process. Without this series of pre-technology, it would be a dream to get high-quality steel.

At that time, the Turkish Communist Party engaged in large-scale iron and steel smelting, and the technical conditions were higher than those of Zhao Ze and Shi Stone. But in the end, most of what came out was scrap metal, not steel. Nothing was gained but a lot of fuel and labor wasted – steelmaking is really not an easy task and requires science and rigor.

The Governor's cronies asked, "Is there no one in the world who can make such a perfect musket?" ”

The gunsmith smiled bitterly: "This question can only be asked to God, at least not in Europe at present." ”

The mood of the crowd sank again, and they even felt that it was difficult to breathe. The bitter fruit seems to have been swallowed.