Li Zhaoji nodded, his mind immediately turned, this time the great wizard came, and did not tell whether he agreed to sell Tamsui City to him, obviously, there was no clear attitude, indicating that this matter was still negotiable.

Although the natives have a low level of civilization, they must also know the truth of asking for money to pay back, and this time to entertain the great wizard and his party, in addition to the necessary greetings and etiquette, the only topic is firearms, Li Zhaoji boldly guessed, the great wizard agreed to give Tamsui City to himself, but he needed firearms.

After thinking about this, Li Zhaoji immediately said: "Yes, that chief is a very generous and friendly person. It's just that Atta is wrong about one thing, the arquebus is not a sale, but an exchange, but it just happens to be exchanged for the golden sands.

In fact, arquebuses were scarce in trading houses, a rare and expensive weapon, and that arquebus, like the axe I gave you that day, was a gift, a product of friendship. ”

Speaking of which, there is only one point, that is, firearms trading companies do not sell arquebuses.

Of course, Li Zhaoji did not want to sell, but wanted to sell at a high price, and what he wanted was not only money, but things that money could not buy.

The reason is simple: most of the trading company's firearms came from three ships of William's fleet, and a few were purchased from Macao. Especially on the English ships, there were not many firearms, and even William's fleet came this time, and among the goods sold were seventy brand-new European Sur arquebuses.

Almost every person in a trading company can do one, but not in terms of equipment.

This is because arquebuses are not the same as flintlock pistols, which have a rate of fire more than three times that of arquebuses, and good training combined with skilful coordination, as well as reasonable bayonets, can make an army a pure firearms unit.

But arquebuses were not good, and only half of Li Zhaoji's reorganized 200-man escort team had arquebuses, and the rest were armored spearmen.

In the warehouses of Tamsui City, there are still more than a hundred arquebuses lying there as backups.

Seeing Li Zhaoji talking about friendship here, Atta immediately grinned: "Of course, friendship, friendship, you Fu Lao and our Keda Gran are already friends. ”

"Yes, but we haven't even negotiated who Freshwater City belongs to, and you haven't sold it to us yet." Li Zhaoji pretended to be dissatisfied and said slightly resentful words.

Atta waved his hand: "The Great Wizard has decided to sell Tamsui City to you Oriental Trading Company, precisely because you are our most precious friend, and we don't want to lose you." ”

Obviously, Atta is not a good negotiator, and easily loses the most important bargaining chips.

Luckily, the Lee Siu Ki he met was just a cunning man, not a cunning and brutal guy like the colonizers, so Atta wouldn't suffer a big loss.

"Well, I think this news will make everyone at the trading company thank the people of Kaida Gran." Li Zhaoji said, he looked at the Great Wizard again, and said, "Dear Great Wizard, I think we also need to do something for the Kaida Gran people that our friends should do." ”

The Grand Wizard nodded slightly, but remained silent.

After Atta consulted with the Grand Wizard, he no longer concealed it, but went straight to the point, saying, "What I want to tell you, Master Li, is that the people of Kaida Gran are now facing an unprecedented crisis, and we need your help. ”

Li Zhaoji sat upright and put on the most serious posture, he said: "Please be more detailed, as friends, we will definitely not sit idly by." ”

Li Zhaoji's attitude made Atta and the others very satisfied, and the chieftains of the Kaida Gran people talked nonsense, which made the scene messy, and Li Zhaoji keenly found that most of the chiefs who came today were unfamiliar faces, and what was even more puzzling was that most of the chiefs I saw last time could speak Hokkien, but most of the chiefs who came today couldn't.

"Atta, so I don't understand anything, we should communicate quietly." Lee Siu Kee said.

Atta dismissed the rest, and he and the Great Wizard sat side by side with Li Zhaoji and Liu Mingde, detailing the crisis facing the Kaidagrans.

To put it simply, this crisis is an attack by the Gaoshan tribe, mainly the Atayal people.

As mentioned above, the ripe fan represented by the Kaida Gran people is a combination of fishing, hunting and farming, while the raw fan represented by the Atayal people is almost entirely hunting for a living, which leads to the survival of the Atayal people when winter comes.

Li Zhaoji was a little puzzled at first, after all, this is Taiwan, and this is a subtropical monsoon climate zone in junior high school geography, and the winter should not be very difficult, but according to Atta, this is not the case, and it will even rain and snow in the Tamsui area in winter.

Only then did Li Zhaoji remember that it was the era of the Xiaoice River, which affected not only northern China, but also the southeast coast.

Obviously, if it snows in winter, a purely hunting shoban would need a lot of hides or fabrics, which they obviously don't have.

Although in terms of civilization, raw fan is lower than cooked fan, but in terms of army formation and tribal form, raw fan is far stronger than cooked fan, which is also a general law in the feudal era, and the mobilization ability of nomadic and fishing and hunting peoples always exceeds that of feudal dynasties.

Take the Atayal people, for example, although their population is smaller than that of the Kaidagran, but they are a unified tribe. The chieftain of the tribe, Kalau, was also the commander of the army, and was called the Grand Commander.

As for the Kaida Gran, they are independent, and the army is not unified and hinders each other.

In the past, when the Spaniards occupied Tamsui Fort, it is good to say, because at that time the Kaidagrans were threatened in both sea and land directions, in order to counter the threat, the chiefs of the village chiefs united and transferred the elite to the command of Atta, and this army was stationed in the area of Tamsui City in the spring and summer to guard against the Spaniards, and in the winter and spring to guard the inland to guard against the Atayal.

After Li Zhaoji came, the situation changed, and the village communities in the Tamsui area personally felt the friendliness of the Oriental Trading Company, coupled with the prosperity of trade, many chiefs did not want to hand over the men in the village community to Atta's command.

There is no threat to the villages and communities in the Tamsui area, and there is no motivation to support the inland Kaida Gran villages to guard against the Atayal people.

"Last year, Kalaw conquered the villages to the east, and this year he will inevitably attack. This is the greatest threat to the survival of the people of Kedagran, so, my friend, I need your generous support. I've consulted with the Grand Wizard to exchange the Sands for some of your firearms, which are the most effective weapons against the Atayals. Atta explained the situation of the people of Kedagran and said what he wanted.

He thought that Li Zhaoji would agree immediately, after all, he was still talking about friendship just now, but this was not the case, and Li Zhaoji responded with silence.

"It's September, Atta, when are the Atayals you said are coming?" Li Zhaoji asked when Atta was about to break out.

"Kalaw is a sinister and cunning man, maybe half a month later, maybe on his way now," Atta said. ”

Li Zhaoji's face was full of helplessness: "Then it must be too late." ”

"What do you mean?" Atta and the Grand Wizard were a little puzzled.

Li Zhaoji turned around and greeted Zhao Dahe, who hurriedly ran over.

Li Zhaoji said: "Dahe, dismantle your musket. ”

Zhao Dahe sat cross-legged on the ground, took off his clothes, and placed them side by side on the grass as a cushion with the gun suit, and then dismantled them little by little.

Zhao Dahe put all the parts on the ground, and Li Zhaoji introduced it little by little: "This is a bullet belt, a belt that straddles the shoulder, and there are twelve bottles of pre-loaded bamboo tubes on it, of which the first nine bottles are filled with fire and medicine, the small leather bag in the middle is filled with lead bullets, and the last three are filled with ignition powder."

This wooden pole is a gun carriage, which is used to stabilize when shooting, and this thin wooden pole is a ram lever .......... ”

Li Zhaoji introduced a little bit, and said many terms that Atta didn't know, the purpose was to make Atta think that the arquebus was very complicated.

Of course, this thing is very complicated, Li Zhaoji is not lying, but he used a little means, such as the bullet belt, the configuration of the nine plus three plus lead bullet bag he said is the European-style Twelve Saints, not only the combination is complicated, but also the loading is complicated, and Li Zhaoji's improved fixed ammunition is similar to the Japanese-style 'early closure' wooden bottle.

It is filled with lead bullet and projectile, and there is a hole in the buttocks of the gun, which can be pushed along with the pusher lever along with the lead bullet and the projectile after being aimed at the muzzle.

Li Zhaoji introduced more than twenty kinds of parts in a row, many of which were very small, and Li Zhaoji asked Zhao Dahe to assemble them and demonstrate the steps of shooting, and more than forty steps dazzled Atta and the Great Wizard.

The two of them didn't need Li Zhaoji to explain the words, they already understood that this kind of complex weapon, before the Atayal attack was launched, the warriors in their tribe couldn't master it at all.

And if it can't be fired, the musket is not as useful as a sharpened wooden spear.

"It's complicated, it's not something that just one person can master, and it's also dangerous, and if you don't master it well, you can kill yourself. If I weren't your friend, I'd raise the price and cheat you out of all the gold and gold with an arquebus, but I'm your friend, and even if I can't help you, I can't hurt you. Li Zhaoji said.

Atta's face was as dead as ashes, and the great wizard did not speak, and could not maintain his mysterious and indifferent image, and fell into sorrow.

Li Zhaoji sat there drinking tea, looking at the two without speaking, he waved his hand to let Zhao Dahe leave.

After a long while, Li Zhaoji said leisurely: "Friendship is precious, and when my friend generously sold this city to me, I can't sit idly by and watch you being bullied by the savage Atayal, so we should choose another way." ”

"In what way?" Atta asked.

Lee said: "Forge an alliance. ”

"Alliance?" The Great Wizard, who had not spoken all this time, suddenly spoke, and it was obvious that as Li Zhaoji had expected, this Great Wizard could understand and speak Chinese.

Li Zhaoji nodded: "Yes, respected Great Wizard, if the Eastern Trading Company and the Kaida Gran people form an alliance to deal with foreign enemies, then these soldiers under my command who are proficient in firearms can be stationed in the villages where the Kaida Gran people are at the forefront to provide protection, they can carry muskets, and even bring artillery."

When the Atayal attack, they will assist you in defending the village and punish those who dare to provoke with their power of thunder and fire. ”

Atta nodded heavily, and he almost blurted out the word "agree" when the Grand Wizard stopped him, and the two argued in the language of the tribe.

Li Zhaoji smiled and said to Liu Mingde: "Old Liu, it is obvious that when we were sleepy, a friend sent a soft pillow. ”

Liu Mingde covered his mouth and tried his best not to laugh out loud, his admiration for Li Zhaoji became deeper and deeper, because just yesterday, he had not had a headache from the shortage of manpower in the trading company, and now it has to be solved.