If Xiao Wu and the others wanted to see it, they had to jump up and split this East India merchant.

Fortunately, Xiao Wu took the Three Towns Navy Division to the northern waters of Luzon to encircle and suppress the pirates.

"The Ming army is not leasing the northern part of Luzon, why should we pay taxes and rents to Manila, and at the same time, a paper agreement can be exchanged for thousands of prisoners, how can there be such a good thing in the world." Liu Yu categorically refused.

"What does the lord mean......" Gore sighed, knowing that this marquis was not easy to deal with.

"The northern part of Luzon belongs to the Chinese, and the southern part belongs to Spain, we do not invade each other, and at the same time, the Ming army released hundreds of Spanish merchants, officials, and sailors in Laoag, but their assets and merchant ships in Laoag are for our Ming court to keep on their behalf, and the Spaniards need to release the Chinese businessmen in Manila, and at the same time we will not release 500 Spanish soldiers." Liu Yu said his conditions.

"Aren't you afraid of Manila's real attack?" Gore asked.

"We are not afraid, it is a big deal to die with thousands of Spaniards, it is a big deal that the governor of Manila is hanged by the angry senate."

"Let the Spanish merchants leave and keep their assets, so that Manila will be grateful for the mercy of the Ming army, which is important for the Ming army to gain a foothold in Luzon in the future, and at the same time the Ming army will ensure the survival of the Spanish soldiers, for which Manila will give the Ming army the right to settle in Vigan, Laoag, Tulaugega, etc."

Seeing that Liu Yu was unmoved, Gore continued,

"We all know very well why the Ming army went south to Luzon, Manila gave the Ming army the right to settle in northern Luzon, the term is three years, within three years the Ming army must return to Taiwan, return northern Luzon to the Manila authorities, during this period Manila and the natives under its control will not be enemies of the Ming army, and can even carry out trade, Manila and Laoag for trade, the Ming army buys palms, spices and leather firearms in Manila and other places, and the Ming army exports porcelain for Manila at low prices through the Chinese mainland channels, Tea and cotton cloth and other items. ”

Sir Gore's words were quite attractive, and they really moved Liu Yu's heart, but Liu Yu still pretended to be calm as if he was thinking.

"My lord, this is already Manila's greatest sincerity." Gore continued to add oil.

"I will consult with the other generals, and it just so happens that they are not in Laoag, so I hope that Sir Gore will be able to stay in Laoag for a few days, and that he may also take this opportunity to see how the Spaniards live in the city, so that Manila can be reassured."

Liu Yu's words Gore naturally couldn't ask for it, he really wanted to see the situation in Laoag City under the rule of the Ming army.

This time, the East Indian merchants came to the city of Laoag naturally to continue their business, especially the trade in firearms.

However, compared to the last sky-high military purchase, this time the East India Company was obviously much more honest.

The twelve-and-a-half-pounder cannons urgently needed by the Ming army were transported, although there were only four, but they also made the Ming artillerymen love it.

The Hongyi cannon of the Ming army was actually a long cannon in the West, with a bullet weight of 12 to 18 pounds, etc., and it could reach one or two miles out.

The four guns were apparently dismantled from an East Indian merchant ship, and some rust on the barrel was evident as a result of the sea-salt climate.

Liu Yu glanced at Gore, who smiled awkwardly.

"It will take a long time to get back and forth to the East India Company, and at present, many of the technologies we can make cannons come from the East India or even the mainland, so it is impossible to make heavy cannons for you in a short period of time."

Liu Yu understands this.

These four twelve-pounder cannons were bought by the East Indies to the Ming army for two thousand taels of silver each.

Liu Yu was acceptable, after all, it was much more sincere than the previous price of two thousand taels of silver for a six-pounder gun.

"If I could, I would need the East India Company to produce twelve-pound and above cannons for the Ming army, and the price would not be a problem." Liu Yu said to Gorti.

"Of course, we believe in your sincerity, after all, we also had firearms dealings with Taiwan's Zheng Group, and I remember that at that time, the price of selling a Hongyi cannon to Taiwan was more than 2,000 taels of silver." Gore thought carefully of the Far Eastern accounts he had consulted when he was in the East Indies.

"Okay, the price is within three or four thousand taels of silver, and the Ming army is acceptable." Liu Yu nodded, not doubting the price Gore said.

In fact, even the European craftsmen of this period were very expensive to make heavy artillery.

The most difficult process technology for long cannons such as the red coat cannon is the long barrel, the caliber of a Hongyi cannon is often between 4.6 inches and 5.2 inches, and the barrel length even reaches more than nine inches (that is, about 2 meters to three meters), and the length of the barrel determines that the wall of the barrel from the muzzle to the barrel to the bore is getting thicker and thicker.

It can be said that the larger the muzzle, the more powerful, but the barrel is also longer, resulting in a heavier and thicker barrel.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, it was quite difficult to use brittle pig iron as a manufacturing technology, and the increase in the length and thickness of the barrel led to a large gap between the internal and external cooling rates, which often led to cracking of the barrel due to thermal expansion and contraction during cooling. Often casting barrels, two out of ten, three can succeed, are masters.

This is also the reason why whenever the imperial court made large-caliber heavy artillery during the Ming and Qing dynasties, the barrel cracking often occurred during the test firing after the artillery was manufactured, and the hole with a large bowl mouth appeared in the pipe wall.

It's just that in many cases, later generations will attribute one reason or another to the corruption of the imperial court.

Such a high failure rate also led to the cost of heavy guns, and the production time was much higher than that of small and medium-caliber guns, which is also the reason why heavy guns are difficult to popularize.

Therefore, Liu Yu did not expect that the current Luzon Ming army would be able to produce and manufacture such a large-scale killing weapon as the Hongyi cannon with the financial support of East Indian merchants.

Instead, they began to produce field artillery of small and medium-sized pounds such as three pounds and six pounds.

The craftsmen of the Ming army had such technical prowess, and together with the firearms workshop of Laoag and the artillery craftsmen sent by the East India Company, the Ming army had the ability to manufacture three-pounder eagle cannons and Franc cannons.

The Franc machine was actually a kind of rear-loading artillery brought into China by the Portuguese.

This gun was also the first rear-loading type of artillery in the world.

Because of its simplicity and lightness, and the rapid replenishment of gunpowder, it was very popular in medieval Europe.

In the Battle of Xicaowan in 1522, the Ming Dynasty captured several small Franc cannons.

This small Franc cannon was generally intended for anti-personnel only, similar to the rear-loading guns used by the Spanish Navy.

But in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, the red-haired ghosts of Nanyang no longer used a large number of Franc cannons.

Due to early technical problems, the rear-loading artillery was flawed in terms of air tightness, etc.

Since the 16th century, Europe has focused on the development and equipment of front-loading artillery.

Yes, Europe already had reloading artillery as early as the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, but for various technical reasons it had to return to the era of frontloading artillery.

The Hongyi cannon is a product of this time.

However, the current Liu Yu is quite interested in rear-loading artillery.

After all, the Ming army, which is now in dire need of artillery talents and funds, is most suitable to manufacture such small and medium-sized rear-loading artillery with an extremely high rate of fire.

Despite a series of problems such as air tightness, the prestige of the Franc machine also made Liu Yu determined to make the Franc cannon first.

The Franc cannon that the Ming army was now manufacturing was mainly for Lu Zhen, so two different Franc cannons were chosen, six-pounder and three-pounder.

The three-pounder Franc cannon, Liu Yu called it the Little Franc cannon.

The 2.5-pounder guns deployed on the Spanish battleships in the previous naval battles left a deep impression on the Ming naval divisions.

When the Ming army used arson boats to attack, these 2.5-pound rear-loading cannons inflicted great losses on the Ming army, leaving a deep impression on the Ming army's officers and men.

Therefore, Liu Yu ordered the Firearms Department to imitate this kind of rotary cannon and improve it, expand the chamber of the cannon, and reach a bullet weight of about three pounds, which is more powerful and has a longer range than the previous rotary cannon.

This small Franc cannon was quickly produced, although the output was only twenty pieces, but it was a reflection of the Ming army's ability to manufacture artillery.

In the future, this small Franc cannon will be equipped with a large area on the warships of the Ming army's land town and sailor town.

The six-pounder reloading gun was called the Great Buddha Lang machine gun by the Ming army, but due to the technical equipment of the Ming army in Luzon, it had to turn to the English for help.

For the sake of business, the English were also willing to assist the Ming artillery craftsmen in the manufacture of artillery, and by providing craftsmen and equipment, these years have also made long-term progress.

Of course, although the Luzon Ming army is now vigorously producing small and medium-sized Franc machine guns, it does not mean that the Ming army does not develop heavy and long artillery.

In the future, whether it is against Shi Lang's Fujian Navy Division or the counterattack against the Qing Dynasty, heavy artillery will be needed.

In particular, the mainland is full of walled cities and towns, especially large cities like Nanjing.

Dozens of six-pounder guns bombarded for more than half a month, how many shallow craters could be left on the strong city wall, and if you want to collapse the city wall, you still need heavy artillery such as Hongyi cannons.

Now the Ming army can only entrust the East India Company to purchase and produce a few more Hongyi cannons.

Thinking about the future development of the Luzon Ming Army, Liu Yu gritted his teeth and placed an order for twenty-four twelve-and-a-half-pounder cannons and twelve eighteen-pounder cannons.

Directly delivered 30,000 taels of silver to Gore as a deposit, promising to pay 70,000 taels of silver after the artillery production was delivered to the Ming army.

As for the previous arrears, Liu Yu naturally chose to pay on credit, after all, the business is still very long, isn't it?