During this period, the Ming army had actually been equipped with firearms on a large scale, especially the arquebuses and various firearms and rockets of the infantry units, and the soldiers who used firearms accounted for about one-third of the total number of establishments. And the coastal areas of Fujian have always been the hardest hit areas of pirates, and the Ming army here is also relatively well-equipped, which is far better than the troops in remote areas such as Yazhou Shuizhai when Luo Shengdong raided the people in Yulin Fishing Village, if it were not for the fact that the muskets equipped were too old and could only use cold weapons to fight, then maybe they could kill a few traversers.

The regular Ming army against the pirates of the "Eighteen Zhi" may indeed be unable to defeat the opponent with many ships at sea, but on land it can rely on equipment superiority to maintain an undefeated situation. But Xu Xinsu suffered a loss because he accepted Zhao'an too late, until the battle situation had begun to tighten up before he remembered to take refuge in the imperial court, and he would not be able to receive the firearms equipped by the Ming army for the regular army for a while, and although the quality of the limited firearms in his own hands was not worse than that of "Eighteen Zhi", the quantitative gap was too large, so he would always be in a situation of being passively beaten.

Xu Xinsu also asked the Dutch for help after the war, but because the "Eighteen Zhi" and the Dutch also had zài trade dealings, the Dutch finally chose to remain neutral and not help each other. If it weren't for the emergency rescue of this batch of munitions from Guangdong, Xu Xinsu's territory would only get smaller and smaller, and it would eventually be wiped out by the "Eighteen Zhi" in the following year.

Xu Xinsu had a small number of firearms of the Ming army, and according to the feedback information obtained by "Fu Ruifeng" from Fujian, it can be basically determined that the monkey version of the arms currently exported by the group is still superior to the current standard firearms of the Ming army in terms of performance, and the price at which "Fu Ruifeng" sells them is basically the same as the black market price of the Ming army's firearms. The only thing that made Xu Xinsu's side dissatisfied was that the quantity of this batch of arms was too small, especially the first batch of only 150 of the 200 guns that the musket "Fu Ruifeng" had bought last time, while the 50 guns that were transported to Guangzhou by the second echelon of the Guangzhou Office were intercepted by the "Fu Ruifeng" and prepared to be used for their own militia equipment.

Although Xu Xinsu was not as powerful as the "Eighteen Zhi" people, he still had several thousand people under his command, and how could these only 100 or so muskets be enough? After the two high-intensity battles, the new guns had already begun to have sporadic breakdowns, and there were no local craftsmen who were familiar with the repair of firearms, so once there was a slight problem, there was no way to repair it at all. The worst thing is that the ammunition for these guns is very limited, and they are now running out.

The muskets were fine, with thirty rounds of ammunition per round, while the ammunition of the artillery was nothing short of a pit man, only ten rounds. Xu Xinsu was not even willing to use the original ammunition in the first battle, and it was not until the second battle that he had to use the original ammunition, which was said to be very powerful, because of too much pressure.

This kind of high-priced ammunition did not disappoint Xu Xinsu, not only the range is one-third farther than that of home-made ammunition, but also the weight-based subcontracted propellant is easy to load, and the firing method of pulling the fire tube is also smoother and safer. But after this battle, the original ammunition allotted was used up. As long as the cannonball is measured in size, it can be made by itself, but the powerful gunpowder is a rare thing, Xu Xinsu convened craftsmen in Zhangzhou, Quanzhou, Fuzhou and many places to study together, and finally did not understand what the components of this unique gunpowder are, and how to make this uniform fine particles, you must know that the gunpowder of the same era is powdered. The craftsmen tried out a variety of recipes, but none of them could reach the same level of power, and the tense situation left Xu Xinsu with not so much time to slowly engage in scientific research, so the only solution left for him was to continue to buy, buy, buy.

The arms deal between "Fu Ruifeng" and Xu Xinsu was very secretive, and only a very small number of high-level personnel on both sides knew about it. This is not because "Fu Ruifeng" wants to monopolize Fujian's arms market and eat alone, but once the news leaks out, it is very likely to bring great trouble to "Fu Ruifeng" More than half of the coastal areas in Fuguang are currently under the control of "Eighteen Zhi." If these pirates know that "Fu Ruifeng" is selling arms to their opponents, the consequences can be imagined. (Baidu search update is the fastest and most stable dìng) (.)

In order to ensure the security of future arms transactions, the two sides are already planning to change the trade route from sea to land. While this change would significantly increase the cost and duration of transport, it would also significantly reduce the risk of arms in transit. No matter how much the "Eighteen Zhi" can fight, it will only be at sea, and their forces will not be able to penetrate deep into the inland areas. And Xu Xinsu believed that as long as his firepower was strong enough to a certain extent, it would be a matter of time before he regained the initiative on the battlefield.

After listening to Li Nai's account, Tao Donglai muttered: "Have the arms currently sold to Fujian attracted the attention of the local authorities?"

Li Nai shook his head and said, "There's no need to worry. Xu Xinsu was probably also worried that his large purchase would be misunderstood by his boss Yu Zongbing, so he claimed that he had purchased these firearms from his own pocket, and pushed our prices up a lot, and the Ming army probably would not be interested in such high-priced weapons. ”

In a year or two, I will be interested! Tao Donglai thought maliciously in his heart that when the northeast direction was tight again and the Ming military department wanted to buy weapons, the coastal areas of Fujian, which were fighting vigorously, would naturally attract their attention. Having said that, even if the Ming army wants to purchase weapons from the crossing group now, the order will have to be scheduled until next year, and the existing arms production capacity supply to Fujian and Vietnam is still tight, and it is impossible to consider other large customers for the time being.

Yan Chujie asked, "Mr. Li, based on your understanding of Fujian, is it possible for Xu Xinsu to buy a large number of weapons from us in the future?"

Li Nai said solemnly: "According to my father's prediction, the existing number of purchases is just the beginning, Xu Xinsu and the 'Eighteen Zhi' are already an endless situation, but the 'Eighteen Zhi' side controls the territory, manpower, and ships are several times that of Xu Xinsu, and if he wants to win this battle, he can only rely on the fast guns and sharp cannons produced by Haihan." ”

Tao Donglai said: "If Xu Xinsu wants to buy a large number of our arms in the future, then we need to put forward an additional condition. ”

Li Nai was stunned and said, "Do you want to raise the price?"

"Price increase?" Tao Donglai shook his head with a smile and said, "What we lack now is not silver. ”

Li Nai has been to Shengli Port twice, and he has a good understanding of the situation of crossing the group, and he already understands what Tao Donglai means with a little brain: "Boat?"

"That's right, it's a ship!" Tao Donglai nodded approvingly: "Xu Xinsu, as the largest maritime merchant along the coast of Fujian, should have a lot of sea ships under his command, right?"

"I don't know the exact number, but there are always three or four hundred boats. Li Nai responded.

"Among them, there are many big ships that can cross the ocean, right?" Tao Donglai then asked.

"There should be dozens of them. Li Nai had already vaguely guessed the conditions that Tao Donglai was going to put forward next.

"Whether it's renting or selling, within two months, let him provide us with a batch of 400 seagoing ships, and if he is not willing to cooperate, then we will limit the subsequent supply of arms. Tao Donglai unabashedly put forward the conditions.

"A batch?" Li Nai was a little puzzled by the vague number.

"One batch means no less than ten. Yue Zhiyun of the Ministry of Shipping took over and said: "Don't fool us with that kind of disposable cargo ship that runs to the South Seas." ”

The so-called one-time cargo ship is because the foreign trade of the Ming Dynasty at that time exceeded the inflow, and the ships that went to the South Seas for trading often came back with a state of emptiness. In order to reduce transportation costs, many maritime merchants use extremely cheap miscellaneous wood to build ships, simplifying the hull structure as much as possible, just hoping to run a one-way trip. When he arrived in Batavia or Manila, he sold the ship with the goods and returned on another ship. The cost of such ships is extremely low, and there is basically no quality.

"It's better to have sailors attached, you know, our sailors here are a scarce resource. Tao Donglai added: "As for the cost of the ship, it can be deducted from the arms purchased in the future." ”

Li Nai hesitated and asked, "Then if Xu Xinsu agrees to this condition, what benefits can he get?"

"We guarantee that he will be able to procure at least two hundred muskets a month, five each of six and five 12-pounder guns, from Port Victory, or from you, and that the supply of ammunition can be increased by a little more than what is already available. The "preferential" conditions given by Tao Donglai are also very limited, and compared with the additional conditions proposed to the other party, they can be described as mean.

But Li Nai knew that Xu Xinsu, who was far away in Fujian, had no choice at all, whether he wanted it or not, he would eventually have to accept the conditions of the Haihan people. Because apart from here, it is impossible for Xu Xinsu to find a second seller who can supply him with arms on a large scale for a long time, even the Dutch, who have already established a stronghold in Taiwan. Xu Xinsu wanted to continue to fight with the "Eighteen Zhi", so he could only obey the arrangements of the Haihan people and provide them with sea capacity.

And what the Haihan people want so many ships to do, Li Nai also has a little idea in his heart, with their ability, it is purely a matter of time to make business to several trading ports along the coast of the mainland and even in the South Seas, and now the measures of the Haihan people are trying to shorten the time required in the middle.

After a long period of contact with the Haihan people, Li Nai has also learned a little bit of the way the Haihan people look at problems, they have a clear purpose in everything they do, but this purpose is not just for the moment, but is likely to be out of a longer-term and deeper consideration, in the words of the Haihan people, this is called "looking at the problem from a macro perspective".

When Li Nai now thinks back on the entire process of the arms trade, he admires the "macroscopic" vision of the Haihan people all the more. From the very beginning, the Haihan people had already made a plan to sell the arms to Xu Xinsu's side, and at that time, Li Nai really thought that things were just as the Haihan people said, and the choice of the sale object was to keep the balance of power in Fujian's war, so as to sell more arms and earn more profits during a longer period of engagement. But now Li Nai thinks that in addition to this reason, the Haihan people actually have other plans to use the arms trade to tie Xu Xinsu up, so that he has to provide sea transportation capacity for the Haihan people for a long time, and Xu Xinsu's ships there are ready-made, which is much faster than the Haihan people themselves trying their luck to buy second-hand ships in Guangzhou and placing orders with the shipyard to schedule shipbuilding.

Of course, this kind of calculation must also be based on the accurate prediction of the shape shì, if it was not Xu Xinsu but "Eighteen Zhi" who was tight at that time, then the threat of out-of-stock put forward by the Haihan people now may be useless. Or he sold the weapon to the "Eighteen Zhi" at the beginning, so maybe now the Zhongzuo Institute has changed its name and surname, and Xu Xinsu's head is also hung on the wall of Zhangzhou City. And this kind of accurate prediction ability of the Haihan people is not the first time that it has come out.

Just before Li Nai left Guangzhou and set off, the Emperor of the Apocalypse died, and the news of King Xin's succession had been rushed to Guangzhou from 800 li. And the one who was most stimulated by this news was not the local officials, but Li Jifeng, the big manager of "Fu Ruifeng", who had received Schneider's spoiler information in advance. Although when the news reached Guangzhou, King Xin had not yet officially held the enthronement ceremony, Li Jifeng no longer doubted the prediction ability of the Haihan people. It was only at this time that Li Jifeng informed his two sons who rushed back from other places about the prediction of the Haihan people, and this terrible prediction ability also left a deep imprint in Li Nai's heart.

Li Nai believes that in the two-month arms trade process, the development of the shape shì has also confirmed the correctness of the Haihan people in making these decisions step by step, and almost every step is moving forward in accordance with the wishes of the Haihan people, especially the additional requirements put forward by the Haihan people this time, which fully proves that they have a comprehensive plan for the follow-up development.

For these conditions, Li Nai can only agree unconditionally, anyway, it is not "Fu Ruifeng" who wants to go out of the ship, and his own family will not have any actual economic losses in the process, as for the Fujian side, I believe that Xu Xinsu, who is currently in an unfavorable war situation, should be very "happy" to act as this unjust boss after learning the news, anyway, now a considerable number of sea ships under his command are blocked in the coastal waters and cannot get out, it is better to exchange some more useful arms on the Haihan side.

The Ministry of Shipping then proposed to let ships from Fujian carry migrants and supplies in Guangzhou before heading south to Shengli Port. At present, the crossing group is facing the two major tasks of immigrating and increasing production capacity, and the amount of materials required will also be greatly increased, especially the local production of cloth, saltpeter, sulfur, copper, etc., which must be purchased mostly from the mainland. For this reason, the Executive Committee has long intended to establish a direct shipping route between Shengli Port and Guangzhou, but has been suffering from a shortage of sea capacity, and now it seems to have seen a glimmer of hope to solve the problem.

Tao Donglai said: "Since Mr. Li agrees, then we regard it as 'Fu Ruifeng' has already expressed its attitude. In order to save time, we will notify the GDETO and Mr. Schneider will contact your bank for follow-up matters. ”

If we had waited for the ship of "Fu Ruifeng" to return to Guangzhou and then slowly contacted the Fujian side, it would have been at least ten days late, and the Executive Committee would certainly not be willing to waste so much time on needless waiting. At that moment, someone took the minutes of the meeting and went to the communications center, sent a telegram to contact the Guangzhou Office, and if it was a good idea, Schneider would visit Li Jifeng tomorrow at the latest to discuss the matter of asking the Fujian side for a ship.

After the deal is negotiated, the two ships will return to Guangzhou with the purchased Haihan goods, while he will stay in Shengli Port to supervise the construction of the merchant inn and other facilities invested here. Of course, the so-called supervision of the construction is just a reason, the real reason is that Li Jifeng hopes to have a deeper understanding of the daily operations of the Haihan people, and Li Nai, who has established a relatively harmonious relationship with the Haihan people, is definitely the most suitable person.

Tao Donglai heard that Li Nai was going to live in Shengli Port for a while, and he didn't care, the last time Li Nai came to Shengli Port, he also stayed for more than ten days. Moreover, the Executive Committee did not intend to ban Li Nai, because his scope of activities was actually only in the area from Victory Port to Base No. 1. At present, there are only two production units, the shipyard and the carpentry factory, and there are not many secrets to speak of, and the Executive Committee believes that with Li Nai's level, there will be no division from these two places. As for the Tiandu Industrial Zone and the military camp that were classified as forbidden areas, if they were not led by the traverser, Li Nai would not be able to enter either.

At the beginning of the landing, several charcoal kilns built near Base 1 were all shut down with the resolution of the fuel problem, not because charcoal is no longer needed, but because the place is too close to the residential area, and the people who cross it react that the dust is too large. At present, there are several charcoal kilns in operation in the Tiandu area, and most of the charcoal produced is used in chemical production rather than being burned as fuel, for example, gunpowder, which is currently in great demand, requires a large amount of charcoal as a raw material.

However, the size of the carpentry factory and shipyard has expanded a lot compared to a few months ago, and the timber drying room has grown from one to five, and the timber processed at the same time can be used to build four Chinese sailing ships with a displacement of about 200 tons. The actual wooden ship on the slipway of the shipyard had basically taken shape, and Li Nai had already noticed the existence of the ship when he entered the port by boat, and he wanted to take this opportunity to take a good look at what kind of ship the Haihan people with so many skilled craftsmen could build.

At the routine reception banquet that day, Li Nai was drunk again by a group of unscrupulous mouth cannons. After getting up the next day, Li Nai packed up and had breakfast, first went to the construction site of the Shengli Port Business Zone, and saw that his own supervisors and craftsmen had already entered the site to start construction, so he was relieved. The Executive Committee allocated an area of five acres to "Fu Ruifeng" in one go, where a commercial inn with a warehouse, a restaurant and a ** will be built. Because "Fu Ruifeng" was the first foreign merchant to invest here, it also obtained the right of priority to choose the location, at that time, Li Nai and He Qiang did not choose the closest place to the wharf, but chose the closest piece of land to the gate of the No. 1 base.