Among the Ming maritime merchants in this period, the only person who had an official license to do foreign trade business with the Dutch was Xu Xinsu. Since 1626, when Xu Xinsu accepted Zhao'an and obtained official status, all the business between the Dutch East India Company and Daming was monopolized by Xu Xinsu, and the benefits in it can be imagined. If the Dutch don't have access to the channel, they almost don't even want to buy a piece of silk from Daming, and this kind of monopoly operation naturally attracts the eyes of others, such as the "Eighteen Zhi" pirate group that has long been staring at Zhangzhou and Quanzhou.

Just the raw silk that is transported from the coast of Fujian to Taiwan and traded with the Dutch every year is worth 100,000 taels, and it would be strange if this kind of big deal did not attract competition. "Eighteen Zhi" desperately attacked Xu Xinsu's territory, and the ultimate goal was to monopolize the foreign trade rights of Fujian's coastal ports. In the original history, after Zheng Zhilong defeated Xu Xinsu and controlled the coastal areas of Fujian, he also chose the same path as his predecessors, quickly accepted the Ming Dynasty's Zhao'an, and continued to monopolize foreign maritime trade after obtaining the official status.

Relying on this kind of monopoly operation, Xu Xinsu has accumulated a huge net worth, and it may be an exaggeration to say that he is rich enough to rival the country, but the wealth he has must be far greater than that of the current crossing group, and maybe richer than the North Vietnamese regime that was dragged to death by the civil war. Hundreds of thousands of taels of silver, without saying hello in advance, directly transported by ship, this style is really a local tyrant who has never seen before.

The three of them on the Haihan side quickly exchanged glances, and Tao Donglai spoke: "Mr. Dong, regarding the arms trade, I think the Guangzhou Office has already explained to you in detail. The arms we export are not something that can be bought casually with silver. ”

Dong Yanyun nodded and said: "I also understood before coming down, local transactions need to exchange the cash silver for the silver issued by your bank, there is no problem with this, and I will send someone to handle this matter later." ”

"You're mistaken, it's not the problem. Tao Donglai shook his head and said: "There are many restrictions on our export of weapons. Who to sell to, and how much to sell, this must be decided after collective discussion. Mr. Dong, let me put it this way, the weapons you bought through Guò 'Fu Ruifeng' are basically the quantities we can sell to you. ”

This Dong Yanyun's mind was not slow, and he immediately said, "So you deliberately sold these weapons to us?"

"That's right. Tao Donglai nodded and did not deny the other party's speculation: "We know that before this, the 'Eighteen Zhi' suppressed you very badly, if it weren't for the fact that there was still a fortress to defend in the center and left, I am afraid that the sea off Zhangzhou would have been occupied by the 'Eighteen Zhi' a long time ago." We don't want the coastal areas of Fujian to be controlled by pirate gangs like 'Eighteen Zhi', so we have chosen to sell weapons to provide you with some assistance. ”

"Since you are willing to provide assistance, why do you want to restrict the sale of weapons? All you bring is cash in full color, and the three of you can send someone to the ship to check the authenticity!" Dong Yanyun was about to be confused by Tao Donglai's roundabouts, and he could only think that the problem might be money: "If you think that the price is negotiable, then you can also put forward conditions and discuss slowly." ”

Out of stock, limited quantity, in Dong Yanyun's opinion, these kinds of excuses should be all tricks by the Haihan people to try to raise the price of weapons, and he had already prepared before he came. If the Haihan people want to knock on the bamboo pole, this is not a big deal, and the money spent on purchasing weapons now can be quickly earned back after defeating the "Eighteen Zhi". However, judging from the previous contacts with the Guangzhou Office, it seems that it is not so easy to get the Haihan people to open this opening, and the Guangzhou Office said that the decision must be made by the Shengli Harbor side, and it seems that there is no way to solve the problem after arriving at Shengli Port.

Sure enough, Tao Donglai immediately shook his head and said, "It's not a matter of price...... Mainly because our production capacity is limited, we cannot produce a large number of weapons for sale in a short period of time. Mr. Dong, even if you can take out the gold and silver mountains, we can't help it. ”

Tao Donglai naturally could not tell the truth about the fact that the Executive Committee was trying to control the war situation in Fujian through the output of weapons, and Xu Xinsu, who was far away in Fujian, would never have thought that in a small seaport thousands of miles away, there was a group of people who had been quietly calculating themselves and the "Eighteen Zhi" for a long time. (Baidu search update is the fastest and most stable) The truth can't be said, so the best excuse is the lack of production capacity.

But then again, what Tao Donglai said is not entirely an excuse. After the end of the North Vietnamese expedition, the Zheng clan's reaction came faster than expected, and the statistics of the results of the Battle of the River were not over, and the envoys of Thang Long Province had already rushed to the front line and told Qian Tien Dun to increase the amount of weapons purchased. Thang Long plans to train and arm at least 5,000 firearms troops within the year, and then deploy them to the Heng Son Trung River defense line.

This means that the crossing group has obtained a large order for arms at the beginning of the year, and at least 4,000 arquebuses and more than 80 artillery pieces must be exported to North Vietnam within the year to meet the needs of the North Vietnamese army. This may involve a series of other quid pro quo, such as political conditions, military aid cooperation, the number of immigrants, and so on, and it is very likely that the North Vietnamese side will send senior military generals to visit Victory Port in person for this big order to discuss the details of this deal face-to-face with the Haihan high-level officials.

Of course, the North Vietnamese side did not forget to put forward a ship procurement plan to the Haihan side, but the Shengli Port Shipyard is currently in a state of overload, and the orders of the Ministry of Shipping and the Military Police Department have been scheduled for next year, and it is impossible to have the energy to receive outside commercial orders. The only thing that the shipping department can sell is probably only some second-hand ships on hand that are gradually declining. But in any case, if the North Vietnamese regime wants to complete this procurement package this year, it will definitely have to be prepared for a heavy hemorrhage.

Dong Yanyun didn't expect Tao Donglai to say so deadly, and frowned: "Coming all the way down the thousands of miles, sincerely coming to the door to buy, you won't even be able to get a shot, right?"

"It's not that we don't have any inventory at all, it's just that we have an exclusive agency agreement with 'Fu Ruifeng', so it's not convenient to sell it directly to you. Tao Donglai continued to adopt roundabout tactics.

Dong Yanyun said with an unhappy look on his face: "With the reputation of my master in Fuguang Province, 'Fu Ruifeng' is not qualified enough to meddle in the transaction between you and me, Mr. Tao can rest assured!"

Dong Yanyun dared to despise "Fu Ruifeng" so arrogantly, and he was indeed confident. In the past, Fujian could only trade with "Fu Ruifeng", because it did not find a first-hand source of goods, and there was no way to be subject to many restrictions. But now that the producer has been found, how can the Fujian side be willing to let "Fu Ruifeng" interfere with it? Even at the same price, Xu Xinsu naturally prefers to let the producer make the money instead of a middleman like "Fu Ruifeng" who purely relies on hand-to-hand to make profits.

Compared with the ****** businessman Xu Xinsu, the strength of "Fu Ruifeng" is indeed a bit insufficient, in terms of the number of sea ships under his command, the difference between the two sides is more than ten times, although Xu Xinsu is not comparable to the first "Eighteen Zhi" in the East Asian sea, but there are still two or three hundred ships of all sizes. In terms of armed forces, "Fu Ruifeng" already has a militia group equipped with all-arquebuses, but Xu Xinsu has thousands of former pirate members with the signboard of the Ming army, and has also begun to gradually equip the firearms produced by Haihan. In terms of influence in the business world, the gap is even more obvious, Xu Xinsu not only monopolized all the transactions between the Ming Dynasty and the Netherlands, but also controlled part of the trade between the Ming Dynasty and Japan.

Now Dong Yanyun has made it clear, in the area of arms trade, Xu Xinsu has decided to kick "Fu Ruifeng" aside and directly trade with Haihan. If "Fu Ruifeng" is not convinced, then you can also try to challenge Xu Xinsu's authority Of course, this possibility is very small, after all, one side is a pure businessman, and on the other side is a powerful armed force with the triple identity of maritime merchants, pirates, and navy, as long as Li Jifeng does not take the wrong medicine, he will not go to Xu Xinsu for this kind of trouble.

"This ...... Since Mr. Dong has said this, it can be regarded as very sincere. Tao Donglai feels that the circle has almost gone around, and it is time to get to the point.

"That is to say, we have to sell? Okay, we will buy as much as you have!" Dong Yanyun was eager to finalize the matter of buying and selling weapons immediately.

"It's okay to buy weapons, but we have some conditions, and of course, as I said before, it doesn't have a direct relationship with the price of weapons. Tao Donglai began to pave the way for the conditions he was going to make next.

"Mr. Tao said that it doesn't matter, as long as we can do something, we can do our best to meet it. Dong Yanyun hurriedly urged. In his opinion, Tao Donglai is just trying to cover up, saying that it has nothing to do with money, it really has nothing to do with money, why have you been in a circle for so long?

"I think Mr. Dong probably knows that there is a shortage of sea vessels on our side...... No, no, no, you don't have to stare at me, we're not asking you to continue to provide sea vessels. Tao Donglai paused and said: "We hope that you can recruit a group of shipwrights in Fujian, and as for the specific treatment, we can discuss with Mr. Ning in detail later." ”

As the coastal province with the most developed maritime trade in the Ming Dynasty in this era, the number of sea ships in Fujian is still quite large, and the corresponding shipbuilding industry is also relatively developed, and the population base of this industry is still very considerable. According to some information that the Executive Committee had learned through various channels before this, there were more than 10,000 people engaged in shipbuilding or related industries in Fujian Province, and although most of them were ordinary laborers who were rough carpentry, there were actually quite a few shipwrights with real skills.

The local shipbuilding industry on Qiongzhou Island is far less developed than that of the mainland, and only Danzhou and Qiongzhou in the north have shipyards. However, since the Ministry of Shipping opened its own shipyard, the Executive Committee began to poach people from other shipbuilding institutions through various channels, and eighty percent of the shipwrights in the north who had some skills had moved to Victory Port. Like Yazhou, which is close at hand, Luo Shengdong even looted all the shipwrights who repaired the warships in the water village and sent them to Shengli Port, so that now when the warships in Yazhou Shuizhai need to be maintained and repaired, they must also go to the Shengli Port Shipyard to schedule.

The shipwrights on the island had almost dug up, and the Executive Committee naturally shifted its attention to the mainland. In addition to the continuous recruitment of the Guangzhou Office, Fujian, which has a very developed shipbuilding industry, has naturally entered the vision of the Executive Committee. Zhang Tiangui, the number one technician among the naturalized people of the shipyard, was recruited only after fleeing from Fujian to Guangzhou to escape the war, and the shipping department was very satisfied with the technical level of the Fujian shipwrights.

Dong Yanyun didn't quite understand Tao Donglai's purpose, and asked hesitantly, "Then I don't know how many shipwrights you want to recruit?"

"The more the merrier, we recruit for a long time, and there is no limit on the number of people. Ning Qi took over the conversation, and he has always been responsible for arranging human resources affairs: "Anyone who is willing to come to Shengli Port to work, we will give a certain amount of settling-in allowance." The family moved in, the young ones studyed, and the old ones were supported, and we will be responsible for all of this. As long as there is real ability, we can guarantee that its income is at least more than double that of the mainland. ”

In fact, the income of the shipwright who moved to Shengli Port to settle down was much higher than that described by Ning Qi, and a shipwright of Zhang Tiangui's level only paid two or three taels of silver a month when he was in Fujian, and when the new ship was launched, he could also get a little red envelope from the shipowner, and there was basically no other income. However, in the Shengli Port Shipyard, just the basic income of his third-level laborers has exceeded 10 yuan in circulation coupons, overtime pay will be given for overtime work on rest days, there are holiday benefits during the New Year's holidays, and he can also get bonuses from the Ministry of Shipping when he proposes to rationalize the construction of the new year, and the actual income is at least five times that of the mainland, and the life of his family is all properly arranged by the civil affairs department, Zhang Tiangui has long given up the idea of moving back to the mainland, and is ready to work in Shengli Port for the rest of his life.

"Then how many boatwrights are recruited, will it affect the number of weapons you sell?" After going around for so long before he began to put forward conditions, Dong Yanyun certainly understood that the other party was not untargeted, and this matter of recruiting shipwrights was probably not as simple as words.

Sure enough, Ning Qi nodded and said: "In principle, we still focus on quality over quantity, mainly depending on the real technical level of the shipwright recruited." We are not short of labor now, what we want is craftsmen who understand technology, so the recruited shipwrights will first go through a simple skill test to confirm their level, and then we will give you corresponding feedback, for example, for every ten qualified shipwrights recommended, you can exchange for ten Type 27 muskets, or a discount on purchasing a Type 27 gun at a 7% discount. ”

Dong Yanyun's eyebrows twitched, and he couldn't help but be a little shocked by the conditions offered by the Haihan people. According to the price at which Fujian bought arms from "Fu Ruifeng" before, the price paid by the Haihan people for the shipwright was at least 20 taels of silver per person, and this was only the cost of solicitation, and the treatment of the shipwright after arriving at Shengli Port was calculated separately. The strength of this poaching is not small, Dong Yanyun estimates that it is difficult for his boss to resist such a **.

I only heard Ning Qi continue to add: "...... In order to ensure that you are able to do your best in the solicitation process, we will require that the number of shipwrights you recruit reaches a certain level before each arms purchase, and this will be directly linked to the number of weapons sold. ”

"In other words, if you don't recruit enough shipwrights for you, you won't sell us weapons?" Dong Yanyun said in amazement.

That's probably what it means, but it's not quite. As I have already said, as many qualified shipwrights you can recruit, you will be able to get the same number of arquebuses, at least not in vain. But if you want to buy in bulk, you have to do better. Ning Qi succinctly explained: "In particular, if you want to buy the artillery we produce here, you must accumulate a certain number of shipwrights before you can trade!"

"This ...... This is really a bit embarrassing!" Dong Yanyun shook his head and said, "It is possible to recruit one hundred and eighty shipwrights, it just takes some time." But if the amount is large, how can we proceed? Besides, the amount of arms we have to buy is not small, and if we need a large number of shipwrights in exchange for each time, this trade cannot be done!"

Haihan's side had already anticipated the problems that might arise, and as soon as Dong Yanyun's voice fell, Tao Donglai took over and said, "So in addition to the plan to recruit shipwrights, we have also prepared other compromise methods for you. ”

"Oh, I want to hear about it!" Dong Yanyun hurriedly asked.

It is indeed not difficult to recruit shipwrights, there are at least one or two thousand shipwrights in the area controlled by Xu Xinsu, and it is not impossible to give some to the Haihan people in exchange for weapons. But Dong Yanyun is not a stupid person, so naturally he will not expose his actual situation lightly, so he has to bargain first. He didn't expect the Haihan people to be so easy to talk to, and as soon as he complained, there was immediately another turnaround.

Of course, this is not actually a turning point, and it is just a strategy prepared by the Executive Committee in advance. Shipwrights are important, but the power of Xu Xinsu in Fujian Province to obtain some other benefits and conveniences is also the goal pursued by the Executive Committee. Ning Qi just mentioned the boatwright's conditions so high, in fact, it was also to let the other party take the initiative to bargain, and then use this to propose other exchange conditions. Although Dong Yanyun can be regarded as an old maritime businessman who has seen a lot, he may not escape being fooled in the end when he encounters these skillful mouth cannon maniacs of the executive committee.

"As far as we know, Fujian's raw silk production has always been very good, and the trade between Xu Daguan and the Dutch also accounts for a considerable proportion of raw silk. Tao Donglai began to slowly talk about the second quid pro quo.

Dong Yanyun didn't wait for Tao Dong to finish speaking, he shook his head again and again and said: "Mr. Tao, I'm afraid there is no way to trade this raw silk, the raw silk produced in Fujian is all set up a year or half a year in advance, if you want to buy a large amount, it is already a little late at this time." ”