Steel Dynasty - Chapter 481

[Chapter 481 Tongzhou Pier]

A huge fleet sailed on the sea, and the ships were connected to each other and stretched for several miles.

Three days had passed since their departure from Dengzhou, and they arrived at the first port, the only port in Tongzhou within the fiefdom of King Wei.

Before the fleet arrived in Tongzhou, Xiao Ming had already sent scouts to inform King Wei.

When the warship docked at Tongzhou Pier, King Wei appeared on the dock on time.

“My dear nephew, my uncle has been waiting here for you all day.” King Wei looked at Xiao Ming who got off the battleship and laughed.

With one foot on the ground, Xiao Ming finally felt at ease. Sailing at sea for three consecutive days was really a torture. During these three days, he finally realized the hardships of a naval officer.

When he was on the boat, he saw King Wei. He also smiled and said, “It is a great honor for my nephew to be able to come to Tongzhou in person.

” That’s right.” King Wei’s eyes swept over the huge battleship with strong envy and shock.

Xiao Ming laughed. He noticed the look in King Wei’s eyes. It was a greedy look. King Wei must have valued his warship at a glance. He said: “The emperor’s uncle has great powers. My nephew should rely on the emperor’s uncle.” “This time we stopped in Tongzhou, we need your uncle’s help,” Xiao Ming said calmly.

King Wei was startled for a moment. He remembered what the scout had said. Xiao Ming’s fleet docked in Tongzhou for supplies, not just for a simple stop. The required supplies were also recorded on the list provided by the scout.

“Hahaha, yes, yes, the emperor has remembered it. My dear nephew, please rest assured. The supply has been prepared. You can supply it now.” King Wei said.

Xiao Ming felt relieved, but he was still a little worried, hoping that King Wei would stop passing on small shoes to him, otherwise he would make King Wei’s life difficult in the future.

Instructing the fleet to resupply immediately, Xiao Ming followed the King of Wei into Tongzhou City. Under the warm invitation of the King of Wei, he had no choice but to play along.

After drinking for three rounds, King Wei said: “My dear nephew, my uncle really underestimated you. I didn’t expect you to have such a powerful fleet. This fleet can even compete with the Dutch.”

King Wei said in his tone .

With envy, he knew the Dutch and how powerful the Dutch warships were, and from the information he received, Xiao Ming’s warships were very similar to the Dutch warships.

Now that he suddenly led such a powerful fleet, how could he not be envious.

“Thank you, uncle. These warships are just my nephew’s warships to protect merchant ships. I dare not say that they are fighting against the Dutch.” Xiao Ming said with a smile.

King Wei was very jealous, and he asked tentatively: “How did my nephew build these warships? Oh, now that I think about it, it must be the work of the missionaries. Hey, why didn’t the emperor’s uncle have such luck? But my nephew can How many such warships should be built for the emperor’s uncle?”

Xiao Ming’s expression changed slightly. He did not expect that King Wei would make such a request. He might give the cannons and muskets to King Wei, but he would never give the warships to King Wei.

After all, in such an era, a warship loaded with artillery poses a great threat to the shipping route, and it is also very difficult to hunt it down.

“Uncle Emperor, the construction of these warships is complicated. In three years, my nephew can only build a dozen or so. Moreover, the cost of building these warships is high. Each one costs more than one million taels of silver.”

“One million taels!” King Wei His face turned pale.

“Of course, this smallest warship has about 60 cannons, but the cannons are 1.2 million taels. This does not include the cost of the warship.”

King Wei nodded, he understood this kind of warship The artillery on board is called naval gun, and it is more expensive than ordinary artillery.

“This is indeed a bit expensive.” King Wei rubbed his chin. He already knew that King Chu purchased thousands of naval guns from Xiao Ming and used these guns to build a fleet.

And there was only a river between him and King Chu’s fiefdom. King Chu was taking advantage. He hesitated and said, “In this case, the emperor doesn’t want to embarrass his nephew, so why not sell some naval guns to the emperor. “

Xiao Ming suddenly laughed when he heard this. Now that the steam engine is officially put into production, Qingzhou’s industrial capabilities are about to undergo earth-shaking changes, and the forging technology of this artillery will also be accelerated.

King Wei now proposed to buy artillery to give him money. He said: “Uncle, this is not a problem, it’s just the money…”

According to Xiao Ming, a thousand naval guns are worth 20 million taels of silver. , this was a high fee, but in order not to be overtaken by the King of Chu, he gritted his teeth and said: “No problem, at worst, I will raid the homes of a few wealthy businessmen.”

Xiao Ming suddenly felt sad for these businessmen, no wonder Now many businessmen are thinking of ways to stay in Qingzhou. There is really no human rights in other places.

But he didn’t care about the life or death of Wei’s merchants, all he wanted was the supplies of 20 million taels of silver.

“Your Majesty, how many artillery pieces does your Majesty need?” Xiao Ming asked.

“A thousand gates.” King Wei said.

Xiao Ming understood that this was a competition between the King of Wei and the King of Chu, and he said: “Then how is the emperor going to pay the money?”

“Hey, nephew, it’s not that the emperor is stingy. In this business, one is one and two is two, nephew. Since Tongzhou is going to be used as a supply point, the supplies must be counted as money, and the warship docking at the dock must also be money.” King Wei looked cunning.

There is no free lunch in the world. Xiao Ming naturally knew that King Wei would not use Tongzhou as a supply base for him in vain, so he said: “What the emperor said makes sense. In this case, the supplies of all official ships in Qingzhou will be deducted from this fee.” , But even so, there is still a lot of money to pay.”

“That’s for sure. The supply cost of Tongzhou Wharf is temporarily reduced to two million taels. After all, it only cost the emperor 20,000 taels to supply this time. The money will be more in the future, and we will talk about it again when the money is spent.” King Wei’s eyes shone with shrewdness.

Xiao Ming nodded in agreement. He doubled the price of naval guns. It was already dark enough. It had to give King Wei some psychological comfort.

Then King Wei said: “There are still eighteen million taels left. To be honest with my nephew, the emperor’s uncle also has some large merchant ships. The emperor is willing to use one hundred large merchant ships to offset the remaining ten million taels. The remaining The emperor’s uncle will pay 400,000 taels of gold and 4 million taels of silver to his nephew. How about that?”

Xiao Ming sighed in his heart. The land of Wei is really rich, and the king of Wei is really a rich man.

“Deal.” Xiao Ming nodded heavily. This deal was a good deal. He not only got the supply point in Tongzhou but also made an arms deal.

After a short stay in Tongzhou for one day, Xiao Ming led the fleet to continue to sea the next day. The next place he arrived would be Ningzhou of King Chu.

(End of chapter)