lcionline Chapter 379 The Battle Between Black Market Merchants
Chapter 379 The Battle Between Black Market Merchants
Seeing that his son had inadvertently revealed his secret, Wu Xiang immediately coughed a few times as a reminder. Wu Sangui then realized what had happened and shut his mouth.
However, Liu Ye had already heard the market price of warhorses and had a better understanding of the situation. Whether Wu Sangui was deliberately being mysterious or had genuinely let it slip, the price was still a reliable reference. All he needed to do next was focus on the price of "sixty taels per horse."
He said calmly, "The cost price of five taels and five mace of silver that General Wu mentioned is probably from the Wanli and Tianqi eras. Even if the Ministry of War supervises the production of arquebuses that cost ten taels each, would you dare to use them now?"
Wu Xiang and his son were speechless.
It was only a matter of time before the matchlock muskets manufactured by the Ministry of War exploded. Perhaps it would explode after three or five shots, or perhaps only after the very first shot; it all depended on luck. Even if they were paid to use them, let alone provided them to the Guan-Ning Army for free, probably few would be willing to be musket operators. However, the Qiongzhou Camp's matchlock muskets fired over a dozen shots without a single explosion, a fact witnessed by all the Guan-Ning Army generals. Wu Sangui, a keen observer, also noticed that the Qiongzhou Camp's musket operators dared to press their faces against the musket to aim, indicating they weren't worried about explosions and had absolute confidence in their weapons. In contrast, the other Ming army's musket operators would extend their arms to the farthest point of the gun to avoid facial injury in the event of an explosion, without any aiming action whatsoever.
Liu Ye continued, "The matchlock guns manufactured by my Qiongzhou camp are made by first selecting the purest iron ore, refining it into the finest wrought iron, and then double-rolling and forging it into a composite barrel, seamless and without any weld seams, so there's no need to worry about it exploding. Next, a completely different bolt mechanism is meticulously crafted, ignited not by a matchlock but by flint, allowing for continuous fire. Finally, the spearhead is forged using the technique of tempering steel a hundred times, for close combat. How could such a matchlock gun be made for just five taels and five mace?"
Wu Xiang and his son listened in a daze. They seemed to understand each sentence, but they didn't quite understand them when put together. What were compound gun barrels, gun bolt structures, and quenching techniques? They were completely confused.
Wu Sangui couldn't help but ask, "General Liu, you've revealed all the secrets. Aren't you afraid I'll overhear you and go back to Liaodong to find skilled craftsmen to copy it?"
Liu Ye confidently said, "Even if you find skilled craftsmen, without my guidance, the imitation will only be superficially similar; it will still explode. Just like the cannons the imperial court copied from the Western barbarians—they still exploded." He was joking, of course. The Patriot rifle's prototype was the Brownbees flintlock musket, the standard British weapon used from the early 18th to the early 20th century, until it was replaced by a breech-loading rifle. It underwent several improvements during that time, and the final short Brownbees embodied the essence of two centuries of British combat experience. Thanks to his time-traveling advantage, Liang Xiaoming stood on the shoulders of giants and took a shortcut, resulting in the Patriot rifle we know today. For Wu Sangui to be able to create an identical gun based on just a few words would be truly unbelievable.
Knowing his own situation best, Wu Sangui was just speaking casually. Even if he could order people to spend a considerable amount of effort and time to replicate one or two muskets with similar performance, what use would it be? He said this simply to gain the upper hand in negotiations by belittling the other party's bargaining chips. His eyes darted around, and he steered the topic back to bayonets: "You say the sharp blade of the spearhead is forged using the technique of tempering steel a hundred times? Isn't that an exaggeration? If every soldier had a hundred-times-forged steel knife, then that hundred-times-forged steel would be worthless."
Liu Ye chuckled, ordered someone to bring in a Patriot rifle, removed the triangular bayonet, and then said to Wu Sangui, "General Wu, please use your sword to forcefully chop at this bayonet."
Puzzled, Wu Sangui drew his sword and, as instructed, slashed forcefully at the spearhead. Sparks flew, and his arm went numb from the impact. Upon closer inspection, he saw a slash mark on the spearhead, but no real damage; however, a small nick appeared on his own blade.
Liu Ye continued, "Please place your sword horizontally on the table."
Wu Sangui obediently laid his sword horizontally. Liu Ye smiled apologetically and said, "I apologize for the intrusion." Then he raised his bayonet high and slammed it into the middle of the blade. With a "clang," the blade bent at an angle close to 90 degrees, looking like a carpenter's square.
"General Wu, please observe this: on the battlefield, if this kind of spear were to clash with swords, the swords and blades would be unable to cut through this thick spear, while the spear could easily bend the swords and blades. General Wu's sword must be a fine one, yet it could not withstand such a blow, let alone the swords and blades of ordinary soldiers?"
Wu Sangui picked up the "carpenter's square" and marveled at it, while Wu Xiang also examined the so-called "bayonet" with great interest. No wonder the Qiongzhou camp dared to form a battle formation against the rebel cavalry with these bayonets stuck in their spearheads; they had real confidence.
"To be honest with you two, this kind of musket is my livelihood. I wouldn't sell it to anyone else for any amount of money. Although Qiongzhou is poor, it has never fallen to the point of having to sell guns for a living. If it weren't for the heroes of the Guan Ning Army, I wouldn't have sat down to discuss this deal."
Wu Sangui and Wu Xiang exchanged a glance, their eyes meeting. Both father and son understood each other's meaning: this musket was a valuable item and they had to acquire it; they were willing to compromise on the price.
Wu Xiang asked, "We sincerely want it, and we also ask General Liu to show his sincerity. If this deal is done, the Guan Ning Army and General Liu will be brothers."
Liu Ye pretended to consider it for a moment, then said, "If I were to use such a musket myself, the cost price would be twenty taels per musket. If I sell it to your army, I'd only make a small profit of twenty-five taels of silver. How about this: two muskets for a warhorse?"
Wu Xiang did the math in his mind: twenty-five taels for a high-performance musket that wouldn't explode, with a sharp blade that could be used as a spear, capable of both ranged and melee combat—essentially combining the roles of archer and spearman—wasn't expensive at all. While a Mongolian horse was currently priced at a sky-high sixty taels, given the Guan Ning Army's influence on the border, acquiring one for around forty taels was no problem. All things considered, it was a good deal.
He asked, "And what about the small cannon?"
"General Wu, are you referring to the mountain guns we use?" Liu Ye waved his hand generously: "We originally sold them for a thousand taels, but since you asked, we can negotiate the cost price to six hundred taels."
Wu Sangui was secretly delighted. In truth, what they most desired were these lightweight cannons. The reason he and his son had spent so much time haggling over the muskets was to mislead the other side, making them believe they valued the muskets more and that the cannons were just a side purchase. This was to prevent Liu Ye from hoarding the cannons and using them to gain the upper hand in the negotiations. In reality, neither side lacked money; what they lacked were rare items that the other possessed but they lacked. The Qiongzhou Camp wanted warhorses but had no means to acquire them, while the Guan Ning Army wanted cannons for field battles but had nowhere to buy them. Both sides wanted to control the negotiation; it was a test of who had the better strategy.