[Chapter 461] Someone came to the distant Guangzhou Prefecture (Part 2)

(0461)

【Today's second update is delivered!】

Xu Xingxia said curiously: "Boss Li, you came here from Lingnan. The journey is long, with thousands of mountains and rivers. There are many levels in the middle. Even if I give you some of the glass, I'm afraid you will find it difficult to transport it to export it? What if there is any accident along the way..."

Li Hongxin laughed and said, "This is my problem."

While speaking, Li Hongxin had a strong sense of confidence. Obviously, he did not take the checkpoints along the way seriously. Although he did not reveal his background, Xu Xingxia also understood that behind him, there must be high-ranking officials in the court supporting him. The characteristic of the Ming Dynasty was that behind every big business, there must be one or more high-ranking officials. If there were no tough backstage, even the bones would have been eaten up in commercial trade.

It is absolutely impossible to get Glass out of Ningxia Town and walk to Lingnan safely without a powerful person to support it. Such a powerful person needs to be at least a civil servant of the third rank or above, and also needs to master important positions and have real power, not the kind of person who stands aside. However, such a powerful person cannot even reach the Lin family, but I don’t know which high official is it? Which high official in the court has a close relationship with Lingnan?

For a moment, Xu Xingxia was really curious about how the officials in the court used their power to seek benefits for the big business behind them. Since the other party was a real power figure in the court and was interested in his own glass, can everyone sit down, have a cup of tea and negotiate slowly? For the sake of money, nothing is wrong! Of course, this idea is indeed a bit naive. I don’t know that people’s hearts are sinister!

Since Li Hongxin is responsible for transportation, there is naturally no problem with Xu Xingxia. The more money, the better, and it is best to fill all the warehouses of the White-Clothed Army. The White-Clothed Army now needs money. The expansion of the army requires money, the production of weapons and equipment requires money, the improvement of infrastructure requires money, and the improvement of people's livelihood requires money, and research on advanced technology requires money... Lin Xiaoniang was warning him of the fiscal deficit, and now there is the opportunity to make money that is actively delivered to the door, so Xu Xingxia will naturally not let it go.

In fact, the glass factory under the supervision of Xu Fuqing can continue to increase its output. After all, glass does not have much technical content. As long as there are enough raw materials and sufficient technology, it is completely the production of assembly lines, and it needs as much as possible. If necessary, you can build a few more glass factories to continuously double the output. As for the cost, compared with the sales price, it is almost negligible.

While increasing the glass output, it is not impossible to split a part of it and hand it over to Li Hongxin to sell it specifically for overseas markets. After all, the sales network of the Lin family cannot be extended to the overseas market. This is not a violation of the agreement. When we agreed with the Lin family, it did not include overseas markets at all. Two different markets will not conflict. With the current strength of the Lin family, it is already very good to be able to control both sides of the Yellow River.

Xu Xingxia estimated that the rise of the Lin family would definitely be suppressed by the Jiangnan Business People Group. This idea has been around for a long time. Although Xu Xingxia was not very clear about how the Lin family was squeezed out of the Jiangnan market at the time, and Mrs. Lin did not disclose it. However, it is certain that the hatred between the Lin family and the Jiangnan merchants will not be small. Now that the Lin family is trying to rise, the Jiangnan merchants will never be on the sidelines. Because the sales of glass have really violated their interests. In the face of naked interests, everything else is useless.

Of course, necessary warnings are still required. Xu Xingxia cannot let Li Hongxin break the rules. Since the Lin family promised the right to sell glass on the mainland, it must be maintained. On land, no one can continue to compete with the Lin family for the sales of glass. Most merchants must be trustworthy. Without trust, they will not stand. Xu Xingxia said cautiously: "Boss Li, the premise for you to do business with me is that these glasses will definitely not be sold in China, right?"

Li Hongxin hurriedly said, "Sir, please rest assured! I can only sell it to markets in various parts of Nanyang, or to Dongfan Island, *** and North Korea."

Xu Xingxia nodded and said, "How much does it cost to buy every month?"

Li Hongxin had measured this number countless times. After hearing this, he said without thinking: "Let's get 300,000 taels of silver every month! If you need it, add some more. I estimate that it will soon increase to 500,000 taels of silver."

Xu Xingxia nodded and said it was acceptable. The monthly sales of 300,000 taels of silver are not very large, less than half of the Lin family. But if it stabilizes, it will be a good income, which is conducive to the steady development of the white-clothed army. The main reason is that glass production is almost zero cost, and every tael of silver earned is almost pure profit. Now, there are people taking over in the domestic and overseas markets, and there is only one Western Regions market.

Soon, the two sides reached an agreement. Li Hongxin sent someone to set up a store in Ningxia City, and Xu Xingxia would send someone to deliver the glass to the store on time every month. He handed in one hand and delivered the goods. As for the matter after delivery, Xu Xingxia didn't need to pay attention to it. Of course, as Xu Xingxia's personal moral help, the white-clothed army would escort the glass out smoothly.

After the agreement was reached, Xu Xingxia asked someone to bring wine to entertain Li Hongxin. Li Hongxin traveled to the Nanyang market all year round and naturally did not know wine. After tasting a few glasses, Li Hongxin praised the quality of the wine. Unfortunately, the profit of the wine cannot be compared with glass. Otherwise, he would be moved. During the meal, Li Hongxin suddenly said, "Sir, I still have some words, I don't know if I should say it?"

Xu Xingxia had a good impression of Li Hongxin and said casually: "Please speak."

Li Hongxin lowered his voice and said with a little nervous expression: "I heard that there are some magical drawings in the hands of the adults... I wonder if there is anything about shipbuilding?"

Xu Xingxia said in a little surprised: "Shipbuilding drawings? What are you going to do?"

Li Hongxin said with great anticipation: "The trade in South China Sea cannot do without ships. However, our Ming Dynasty's lucky ships are not conducive to combat and can only be used for transportation trade. Once we encounter other people's warships, we will be very passive. I have always wanted to build a batch of large warships to fight against those warships from the West. Unfortunately, we have been struggling to implement them without drawings."

Xu Xingxia put down the wine glass and thought carefully.

Li Hongxin mentioned a very important issue, that is, the continuous decline of the strength of the Ming Navy. The Ming Navy during the Zheng He period was undoubtedly the most powerful, and it was voyages to the West for seven times! It was so powerful that it was invincible in the world. Whoever dared to say no, the army would arrive at your doorstep. Unfortunately, after being closed down, the Ming Navy gradually became deserted. The warships with displacement of thousands of tons were all hit by wind and rain on the beach, and the sun was exposed to rain, and slowly decayed.

When the Western powers continued to explore the ocean and gain benefits from the ocean, all the warships of the Ming Dynasty had rotted, and even the relevant shipbuilding drawings were destroyed. In the 26th year of Wanli, Chen Lin, the navy admiral of the anti-Japanese and aided Korea, worked hard to gather hundreds of small and medium-sized warships and set out for North Korea to fight. Fortunately, the warships of the *** people were also garbage, and the Ming Navy finally killed the *** navy in the Lulianghai Battle.

However, the Ming Navy commanded by Chen Lin was purely a return to the warships he owned were incomparable to the warships of the Western powers. By the 45th year of Wanli (1617 AD), the displacement of the largest warships of the Western powers had exceeded 1,000 tons, and the number of artillery exceeded 100. The combat power of such a giant warship was incomparable to the blessing ships of the Ming Navy, and it was incomparable to the battle power. Especially in terms of combat power, there was a big gap.

During the Zheng He period, the largest treasure ship of the Ming Navy had a displacement of more than 1,000 tons. According to research, it may even exceed 2,000 tons. However, the treasure ship was a flat-bottomed ship, suitable for marine transportation, but it was not suitable for combat, especially not suitable for installing too many artillery. Only pointed-bottomed ships could install a large number of artillery. However, even so, the drawings and information of the treasure ship were basically gone. After Zheng He, there were no treasure ships.

The largest Fu Ship has a displacement of only 500 tonnes. In terms of displacement alone, it is actually not far from the warships that came to East Asia by Western powers. At that time, the largest warships arrived in East Asia by Spain, the Netherlands, and Portugal, had a displacement of about 800 tonnes. However, the warships of the Western powers had a large number of artillery! Generally, there were more than fifty guns. The number of artillery of the Fu Ship was less than twenty. In a short while, the gap was widened.

In addition, the caliber of the artillery is very different. The caliber of the Western powers has reached or exceeded 120 mm. At that time, the most powerful 80-pound heavy artillery in the world was even close to 150 mm. The most powerful red-clothed cannon in the Ming Dynasty had a caliber of about 120 mm. These red-clothed cannons were salvaged from the sunken British warships by the Portuguese, repaired them briefly, and sold them to the Ming Dynasty. It can be seen that the caliber of the British warships at that time was already very large.

The size of the cannon caliber was directly related to the range and power of the cannon. At that time, the largest artillery equipped by the Ming army navy was the Portuguese Flang machine cannon, with a caliber of only about 60 mm. Obviously, in naval battles, such small-caliber artillery was not the opponent of large-caliber artillery. What's more, even small-caliber artillery was not as many as others! Cannons were not as good as people, and it was naturally inevitable to be beaten in naval battles.

Xu Xingxia said slowly: "What kind of combat ship do you need? How much displacement does it cost? How many artillery pieces are needed?"

Li Hongxin said with a wry smile: "The size of the combat ship is of course the bigger the better, and the number of artillery is of course the more, the better. To be honest, on land, I still have some connections. I can safely escort glass to Lingnan, and there will be no accidents on the road. However, when you get to the ocean, you don't have such ability. The Nanyang region, Spain, Portugal, Netherlands, France, Italy, and the British are fighting for each other, and it is turbulent. Some people who don't know what to call try to get a kick, and the situation is very chaotic."

After pausing slightly, Li Hongxin said bitterly: "In the past, the Nanyang region was the most powerful of the Spanish. Later, the Dutch came and kept eroding the Spanish territory. Now, the Spanish and the Dutch fought almost every day. Sometimes our fleet would be injured by accident when they met them. Adults may not know that the cargo of a ship is worth at least thousands of taels of silver, and some may be worth tens of thousands of taels of taels of gold. If it was glass, it would be even more valuable. Without strong ships and powerful guns, it would be difficult to walk on the sea."

Xu Xingxia was a little lost. What Li Hongxin said was naturally the clearest. The competition between the Dutch and the Spaniards would last for a long time. Soon after, the British would join the war group. This was a mess and could not be clarified for the time being. What he thought of was a completely different thing. When it comes to the Dutch, he thought of Taiwan Island. Taiwan Island was occupied by the Dutch and was later snatched back by Zheng Chenggong. He subconsciously said: "Have the Dutch arrived at Dongfan Island?"

Li Hongxin said in surprise: "Do you Dongfan Island? It seems that there isn't yet!"

Xu Xingxia subconsciously said: "That's good! Find a way to control Dongfan Island!"

Li Hongxin was stunned for a moment and didn't know how to answer. He heard Xu Xingxia clearly, but he didn't know what to do. He was just a businessman and did not have his own army, so how could he control Dongfan Island? Fortunately, he also knew where Dongfan Island was. Otherwise, if someone else had changed to him, Xu Xingxia probably wouldn't know what he was talking about.

Xu Xingxia came to her senses and felt that she was playing the piano against a cow. Isn’t this nonsense about a businessman who said he wanted to control Taiwan Island? How can a merchant control such a large island? The White-Clothed Army is almost the same as when it is dispatched. However, no matter how long the White-Clothed Army's hands are, it cannot extend to Taiwan Island! This is really a problem to be troubled! Since you have traveled through this world, you can’t watch the Dutch seize Taiwan Island, right?

After pondering for a moment, Xu Xingxia said deeply: "Well, I do have some shipbuilding techniques here, which should be of some help to you. However, you also know that shipbuilding techniques are a systematic project and involve many aspects. It is impossible to improve by relying solely on one or two drawings. If you want to learn these techniques, send some trustworthy and more sensible craftsmen to come over and let's study them together."

Li Hongxin was immediately overjoyed and said hurriedly: "Thank you so much! I don't know the charge..."

Xu Xingxia waved her hand casually and said generously: "Free, no money is charged! As long as you are careful not to let these technologies fall into the hands of Westerners!"

Li Hongxin hurriedly said, "No, absolutely not! Please rest assured sir!"

Xu Xingxia nodded and picked up the teacup. It was about to see off the guests. Li Hongxin understood and hurriedly stood up and said goodbye, turning around and leaving. Xu Xingxia was about to pick up a document to review it, but Liu Chuang stepped in and said anxiously: "Sir, the Vulture Cavalry Army urgently reported in front of him that a large number of official troops from Gansu Town were captured near the Jinglu Guard. Zhang Yi asked what to do!"
Chapter completed!