Back at Yashu, Guo Dan had forgotten that he was on vacation, so he couldn't help but go to his office and sat in the office thinking.

If this matter is really something Fang Fengshi wants to use me to promote the improvement of bird guns, then there are only two reasons.

First, he thought I must be eager to take over more arms deals, so he used this to tempt me.

The second is that he had seen the real purpose of the Lu Wang’s relocation of the vassal state, so he knew that I was eager to obtain approval for the production of firearms.

It shouldn't be the latter, even Shen Shixing and others didn't notice it, so how could Fang Fengshi think about it?

I think the former is the most common one.

Take a step back and say that even if he sees through it, his actions mean that he supports me. At least we are using each other and will not pose too much threat to me for the time being, but I have to be on guard against him.

Dongdongdongdongdongdong!

A knock on the door interrupted Guo Dan's thoughts. He looked at the back door with his eyes wide open, then hurriedly got up, walked forward, and opened the door, "Madam, you... a layman."

Generally speaking, only Kou Weisha would go in to the back door. He thought it was Kou Weisha, but who knew that it was Aunt Xu who knocked on the door.

Aunt Xu didn't care either. She knew that Guo Dan did not mean it, and it was not the first time she called out, and asked, "When did you come back?"

"Just come back."

Guo Dan hurriedly turned to the side and said, "Please ask."

After Aunt Xu sat down, Guo Dan asked, "How is my wife's situation?"

Aunt Xu smiled and said, "You can feel at ease when you are healthy."

Guo Dan said sincerely: "Thank you so much for the layman."

Aunt Xu just nodded slightly and suddenly asked, "How are you talking to the Ministry of War?"

“It’s quite smooth.”

Guo Dan pondered for a moment and said, "But some accidents happened during this period."

"Accident?" Aunt Xu said in surprise.

Guo Dan nodded, told Aunt Xu about the bird gun again, and asked, "I haven't decided yet, whether to win this deal. I wonder what suggestions do lay people have?"

Aunt Xu shook her head and said, "If you are in business, I don't really recommend that you take on this deal."

Guo Dan said, "How do you say this?"

Aunt Xu said: "The bird guns are equipped with relatively few bird guns in our army. The main reason is that the ministers in the court all believe that bird guns are useless, and this is also because bird guns require extremely high production technology. If you want to produce excellent bird guns, the cost will definitely be higher than the current cost of the court.

If you can't get a higher price, it will be difficult for you to make a profit. However, if you try to get a higher price, the court will definitely not agree, because they think it is not worth it. This is a thankless thing, let alone you."

"What lay people say is reasonable."

Guo Tan nodded with a smile and said curiously: "If you put aside this cost issue, what suggestions do you have?"

Aunt Xu smiled and said, "Of course I support it. Not only bird guns, but I support it very much, because the imperial court's military is now in absent, and many soldiers and armors cut corners. This is a huge hidden danger for my Ming Dynasty. If you contract it, I believe it will be better than the one produced by the imperial court. I remember when we were in Weihui Mansion, we discussed that if this skin is gone, where will the hair be attached?"

Guo Dan sighed: "After that being said, if there is no profit, it will naturally not last long. I will try my best to get a reasonable price. I can make a little less, but I can't let me lose money."

Aunt Xu smiled and said, "I won't show off my skills when it comes to price negotiations."

Guo Tan smiled and said, "The layman has helped me enough. If you can make money, you can make money. If you can't make money, it only means that the time is not ripe enough."

But in fact, he is determined to win. No matter what purpose Fang Fengshi is for, there is no reason not to eat the meat delivered to the door. What capitalists are best at is eating the meat and then spitting the bones back.

Fang Fengshi was really not saying that. He quickly submitted a memorial to the emperor, explaining the role of bird guns on the Ming army. The court should pay attention to it. It also pointed out that the court's craftsmanship was not yet mature and had no progress over the years, so he asked to contract it to Guo Dan for production.

When this memorial was drafted by the cabinet, the cabinet ministers unanimously opposed the suggestion that firearms were very important to the Ming Dynasty and how could they be easily contracted to merchants? They also listed the disadvantages of bird guns.

Then present it to the emperor.

Because they only have the right to vote and write suggestions, the emperor only needs to look at it. He doesn't need to think about everything, but it can also be seen that the emperor always has to do the decision. If the emperor has certain habits, such as doing carpenter work, he can also throw it to the eunuch.

The biggest harm to the Ming Dynasty was that Wanli's slackness in history was that there were many problems that could not be solved, because while he was negligent, he did not delegate his power to eunuchs. Although he would still deal with some major problems, such as the three major strife, he just let him go and left them all to Tianqi and Chongzhen.

If it were normal times, Wanli would probably have thrown aside. He would not do such a thankless thing, but he already knew in advance that Fang Fengshi would give such a memorial. After seeing this memorial, he immediately convened a cabinet meeting and invited Fang Fengshi to the East Pavilion for a meeting.

When Shen Shixing and the others saw Fang Fengshi, they knew why Wanli had a meeting, but they were not surprised, because it involved Guo Dan. For money, Wanli was very hardworking, which was very understandable.

"I have carefully read the memorials from Fang Qing's family and think that the Fang Qing's family is very reasonable."

As expected, Wanli pointed out the topic and said: "Since the Qin Dynasty, the war between our Central Plains and the northern ethnic groups has never stopped. Although both sides have their own victory or defeat, our Central Plains has always been passively defended. The ancestors used all kinds of methods, but they all failed. Fang Qing's family mentioned the strategic significance of bird guns to the northern ethnic groups, which I thought was very reasonable."

Shen Shixing immediately said: "Your Majesty, the court has long concluded the role of the bird gun. This bird gun can only be used as an auxiliary, not to replace bows and arrows. Not to mention its complex production process, its disadvantages are also very obvious. Its operation is complicated, it cannot be used on rainy days, and it is easy to expose the target when igniting, etc. Therefore, our court did not equip each army with a large number of bird guns, but only used for assistance."

Fang Fengshi immediately said: "Although the bird gun is cumbersome, it can be used by anyone who is healthy, and at most it can be done after ten or half a month of training. If you want to practice archery well, it will take at least one year, and you will also get the talent level. Not everyone can become an archer.

As for the disadvantages that Shoufu Shen mentioned, they do exist at present, but the officials thought that these could be solved through improvements, but they were afraid that the court would not pay attention to them and would never make progress."

Wang Xijue said: "If those disadvantages can be solved, it will be solved long ago. This empty talk is unreasonable and it will be difficult to convince the public! It takes a lot of money to produce bird guns in large quantities. We cannot let the court invest a lot of financial resources, material resources and manpower just by just Shangshu Fang. What if it cannot be solved?"

Fang Fengshi said: "For thousands of years, our Central Plains dynasty has tried every means to deal with the northern nations, but no matter which method, the manpower, financial resources and material resources it consumes are unimaginable. In comparison, what is this little money?

We cannot always use bows and arrows to compete with them. It is difficult for us to win. Even if we win, they will make a comeback soon, because their people will be soldiers on horseback, and starting a war is just a matter of one word. If we want to fight a war, we will have to hurt our muscles. If the bird gun can succeed, then we all will be soldiers in the Central Plains, and we will no longer need to worry about the northern nations."

Wanli nodded repeatedly and said, "It's reasonable to say it, it's reasonable to say it!"

Shen Shixing and the others glanced at Wanli at the same time, thinking in their hearts that you are too biased.

Please pay attention to your eating habits.

Wang Xijue suddenly said: "Even so, you don't need to contract it to a merchant. Most of the weapons used by the Shenji Camp are produced by military weapons."

Fang Fengshi said: "Now, whether it is the number of craftsmen or the level of manufacturing, the military weapon manufacturing is much worse than before. Many weapons are handed over to local production, and some of them are subcontracted to merchant workshops for production. The court also knows this, so it strengthens supervision of firearm production."

As he said that, he said to Wanli, "Your Majesty, I have actually asked Guo Dan. He said that improving this mechat is just a breeze."

"Yeah?"

Wanli nodded with a smile and said, "I still trust Guo Dan very much. He has never disappointed me. The cotton armor sent to Liaodong last time was also deeply loved by the soldiers of Liaodong. I will decide this matter."

Shen Shixing hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, this matter is important, and you cannot make a hasty decision. According to my opinion, you have to make a long-term plan!"

Wanli waved his hand and said, "Don't worry, my dear, I didn't mean to contract all the bird guns to Guo Dan immediately. I will give him a small order first, and try it out. If he does it well, then make a conclusion. Of course, I will personally send someone to closely monitor the production of firearms."

As he said that, he glanced at him and said with a smile: "Although all my dear friends have the wisdom to plan for the country, they may not be as good as Fang Qing's family if they want to lead troops to fight and understand weapons!"

As soon as these words were spoken, Shen Shixing was embarrassed and silent.

The meaning of Wanli is very obvious. Fang Fengshi led troops to fight in his early years, and he was invincible and defeated in every battle. At the same time, he managed the local area very well, and it is no exaggeration to say that he is both civil and military. You may not even touch the bow and arrow, but you will talk about war on paper. Who should you say I should listen to?

With the support of Wanli and the strong praise of Fang Fengshi, it is much easier than cooperating with Guo Dan.

If Guo Dan had said this, he would not have convinced the public at all!

You are a businessman, you know how to play the ball!

When Wanli left, Wang Jiaping and the others also retreated one after another, leaving Shen Shixing and Fang Fengshi in the hall.

"Shen Shou Guard, I'm really sorry."

Fang Fengshi held his fist and bowed.

Although Shen Shixing has been harmonious all year round, those who can hold high positions are not ordinary people. These six ministers are all his people, and Fang Fengshi is no exception.

However, this time, Fang Fengshi did not communicate with Shen Shixing in advance. Instead, he avoided Shen Shixing. This undoubtedly brought some political risks to Shen Shixing. There will definitely be ministers who believe that this would be instructed by Shen Shixing.

Shen Shixing said expressionlessly: "I just want to know why? Do you know that if you do this, you will be despised by your colleagues and you will be unscrupulous in your later years."

Guo Dan is the public enemy of the ministers. Fang did this on time, which was equivalent to cooperating with Guo Dan.

Fang Fengshi sighed: "The lower official is now in his vain year. With His Majesty's favor, he can still be in the position of Shangshu. Since he eats the king's salary, he will be able to share his worries for the king. The lower official does not want to waste the vain year of the vain year."

"Is this bird gun really so important?"

"To be honest, the officials have been studying bird guns, and have discussed it with General Qi and others. We all believe that firearms will be the main weapon for future wars. As long as the production process is improved, our army's combat effectiveness will be improved to a higher level."

He fought south and north, and also commanded Qi Jiguang and others to fight against the Japanese. Even their generals attached great importance to firearms and highly praised bird guns. However, the decision was made by the emperor and civil officials. The court did not pay attention to it, and they had no choice.

However, this time, Fang Fengshi encountered a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Of course, he had to do whatever he wanted to advance the matter. If he missed this opportunity, he might never wait again.

Shen Shixing was silent for a while, suddenly sighed and said, "Since you have decided, I don't want to say anything more, so you can do it yourself."

After saying that, he walked out.

Of course he would not help Fang Fengshi. It would be great if he didn't blame Fang Fengshi, because he could understand Fang Fengshi.

They are all this old, so what else is there to be scary?

Moreover, this incident would not have made him intimidated for thousands of years, at most he was excluded by his colleagues in the court.
Chapter completed!