Cutting over the end of the Ming Dynasty: a dog-leg knife at the beginning

Chapter 732 Something Happened

Catherine has basically been floating at sea for more than a year.First of all, she purchased a large amount of arms and goods from Nanyang last year, and then set sail, and it took more than six months to return to Europe, and non-stop transported the goods she purchased to various colonial strongholds and major European cities for sale, waiting for her busy After all this, eight months have passed.Then they went to the Adriatic Sea with the Governor to test the 130mm rear-loading smoothbore gun purchased from Yang Menglong. After seeing the power of this new type of rear-loading smoothbore gun, the Venetians were very excited and asked her to go to China immediately. While other countries have not yet realized the great power of this new type of artillery, they have increased their procurement efforts and purchased as many rear-mounted smoothbore guns as possible. Poor Miss Catherine had no choice but to cheer up and bring a lot of gold coins, gems, ivory, etc. Departing from Venice, I rushed to China through the waves... One can imagine the hardships on the way, and it is no wonder that she will be seriously ill after arriving in Nanyang. With such a tossing method, anyone will get sick!

After knowing this, Xiao Yufang sighed a little, took Catherine's hand and asked, "Are all the women in Europa working so hard? Such hard work should be done by men."

Catherine smiled wryly: "This is the responsibility that the descendants of the Dandolo family must bear, and it cannot be shirked." She looked a little sad, and said helplessly: "Our city-state has always been in a dangerous situation, the French, the British, the Dutch, the Austrians Turks, Turks, Swedes...these savages all covet our wealth, and have invaded Venice more than once, forcing us to be strong or perish! Now we may break out with the Turks and French at any time, they The population and army are a hundred times that of Venice, and we must use every ounce of strength to ensure the safety of our city-state and citizens!" As he spoke, he looked at Yang Menglong pitifully, his beautiful blue eyes almost Can talk: Hey, I'm in such a miserable situation, shouldn't you help me! ?
Yang Menglong shrugged his shoulders and said, "You've worked hard on this journey, so take a good rest for a while, and when you've regained your energy, we'll talk about buying cannons... By the way, when will the big European horses I want arrive?" ?”

Catherine said: "It will be here in half a month, let your subordinates get ready, but don't make a fuss when the time comes."

Yang Menglong said: "Just don't worry, I even built a stable!"

The efficiency is really not generally high...

After chatting for a few more words, Yang Menglong saw that the other two wives never showed up, so he asked a little puzzled, "Where are they? Aren't they at home?"

Xiao Yufang said: "Zi Yan is still taking classes at school, learning Portuguese by the way, and Cheng Qi is helping out at the stock exchange. She is so busy every day that she seldom comes back several times a month."

Yang Menglong was dissatisfied: "Why are they working so hard? It's not that I can't afford them!"

Xiao Yufang said: "They just can't take it easy. When they have children, they will naturally stay at home."

Yang Menglong let out an "uh..." Married for more than a year, he spent half a year running back and forth between Wuhan and Guangzhou, and half a year staying in Lushun, the time he stayed here was so little, so Liu Ziyan and Cheng Qi They have no children until now, although they don't say it, they must be quite disappointed in their hearts.

After a woman has a child, she will devote all her attention to the child, leaving much less time for men, and Xiao Yufang is no exception.After everyone had a home-cooked meal together, Xiao Yufang went to put the child to bed, leaving Yang Menglong and Catherine chatting while drinking tea.These two haven't seen each other for more than a year. There must be a lot to say, and she doesn't want to be a light bulb.

Yang Menglong sipped tea comfortably and asked, "Miss Catherine, how are the silk, tea, porcelain and other goods you bought last time sold in Europe? Are they popular?"

Catherine smiled: "Welcome, very welcome! After I returned to Europe, I sent two bolts of silk, three pots of black tea and two pieces of porcelain to the Pope. The Pope praised these precious gifts more than giving him a hundred catties of gold Still excited! Our governor presented several tea bricks and a piece of porcelain to the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. The emperor was equally excited and wrapped the porcelain in silver and kept it in his own treasury. He usually didn’t let others see it , only a few confidant ministers have the honor to appreciate this art treasure with the emperor."

Yang Menglong curled his lips: "Is it necessary to be so exaggerated? There are many such things in China!"

Catherine said: "Tea, silk, porcelain, and spices are of course very common to you, but to Europe, they are luxuries that even nobles may not be blessed to enjoy. By the way, that cement is the same in Venice. It is very popular, and the governor has made up his mind to purchase [-] bags for the construction of forts and roads."

Yang Menglong said: "Thirty thousand bags? No problem! I'm afraid you don't have so many ships to transport it back!"

Catherine said: "We have nothing else in Venice. We have a lot of ships. Let alone 30 bags, even [-] bags can be shipped back!" After a pause, she said: "Actually, we hope to be able to buy cement. Production formula..."

Yang Menglong refused straight away: "You should give up on this idea, even if I give you the formula, you still can't produce it!"

Catherine was not convinced: "You can produce it, but we can't produce it?"

Yang Menglong said: "I really don't underestimate you, just a ball mill can stump you... Don't even think about the formula, because we are friends, I will give you a [-]% discount, the more you buy The more discounts, the better!"

Catherine really wanted to draw out her bayonet and stab him to death!

"We want to add an order for [-] naval guns, what do you agree?" Catherine changed the subject.

Yang Menglong said cheerfully: "Additional orders? Of course I welcome them with both hands. Who would make trouble with money?" He said in his heart: "Damn, it seems that a special arsenal needs to be built to produce rear-loading smoothbore guns and Cannonballs are enough, five hundred, such a large order is rare!"

Catherine tentatively said, "Then can you sell a few doors..."

Yang Menglong refused flatly: "Don't mention a few, none of them are good!" He knew Catherine too well. This foreign girl was unwilling to see the Yellow River. She had been rejected by him N times, and she still wanted to get 120 from him. mm breech-mounted rifled naval gun.What an international joke, this is a powerful weapon for the country, and the processing is extremely difficult. Only more than 100 have been produced so far, which is not enough to equip ten warships. Where is the spare capacity for export?
Catherine glared at him angrily: "Just now I said that I would not be troubled by money, but I changed my tone in a blink of an eye! I am willing to pay three times the price to buy your standard naval gun, but you refuse it outright, isn't that true?" What's wrong with money?"

Yang Menglong said: "This is really not good, let alone three times the price, thirty times the price will not work!"

Catherine sighed helplessly, and temporarily gave up her plan to buy a rear-loading rifled naval gun.In fact, the 130mm breech-loading smoothbore gun that Yang Menglong sold to her is already very powerful. A skilled gunner can easily do three rounds per minute, and the threat of sulfur bombs to the wooden hull is also fatal. If it is fired, it will ignite a fire, quickly lose its combat effectiveness, and even be detonated by the gunpowder magazine, and it will be blown to pieces. If it is placed in Europe, it can be called the number one killer.But after seeing the astonishing rate of fire and accuracy of the breech-loading rifled naval gun, Catherine has always been obsessed with it, and always wants to get two back to play... It can be seen that liking guns is not a patent for men, some female men also I like this kind of sharp weapon for killing people.

"I hope that all five hundred naval guns will arrive within three years. Can you do it?" She made a rather harsh request.

Yang Menglong didn't blink: "All the goods will arrive within three years? No problem at all! This time I plan to use pure steel to cast the cannon. The weight of the cannon produced in this way is much lighter than that of copper cannon, and the barrel can be made thinner. But it can withstand much stronger impact than copper cannons, and it is more than 01:30 points stronger than iron body copper core cannons, but the price has to go up a bit, can you accept it?"

Catherine suddenly became interested: "Making cannons out of pure steel? Is this feasible?"

Yang Menglong said: "In fact, my arsenal successfully manufactured the first pure steel cannon as early as two months ago."

Catherine jumped up excitedly and called, "Really? Take me to see it!"

Yang Menglong Erlang raised his legs: "No!"

Catherine wanted to beat him to death: "Why?"

Yang Menglong said: "I have been riding in a carriage for several days, and my bones are about to fall apart. I must rest for two days...don't worry, I can assure you that the quality of the cannon made of pure steel is absolutely excellent. Compared with the previous batch of iron-bodied copper-core naval guns, it is nearly one-third lighter, but the multiple diameter has increased to thirty times, and the range and accuracy have been greatly improved... Are you still worried? I will take you there in two days Look, if I'm bragging, you'll beat me up!" That's how confident I am!But he also has the capital of self-confidence. As early as five years ago, his group of craftsmen were groping to cast cannons with pure steel. The first cannon made of high carbon steel.In the eyes of people in this era, using steel to make cannons is really crazy. Compared with copper and wrought iron, steel is so much more precious, how can it be squandered like this!However, for the new army of Heluo, which can produce [-] tons of steel every year, and the output is still rising steadily, casting cannons with steel is the choice with the lowest cost and the highest cost-effectiveness... The world of local tyrants is not understandable of!
Catherine was impatient and forced Yang Menglong to see the new cannon immediately, but Yang Menglong's cancer had already struck and refused to move, which made her so angry.While they were fussing, Zaji Chongweng came in and shouted: "Master Marquis, Mr. Li is here!"

Catherine quickly let go, and Yang Menglong said cheerfully, "Li Yan is here? Invite him in!"

The sound of hurried footsteps came, and Li Yan walked in quickly, and bowed his hands to Yang Menglong: "Master, you are back!" He also bowed to Catherine: "Miss Dandolo, nice to meet you!"

Catherine raised her skirt slightly with both hands, and saluted: "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Li!"

Yang Menglong said: "Mr. Li, I haven't seen you for a few months, you are getting more and more energetic! Come, let's drink tea, drink tea!"

Li Yan smiled wryly: "I have been waiting in Nanyang for more than ten days, waiting for Master Hou to come back, not for drinking tea!" Even so, he sat down, poured a cup of tea and sipped slowly.

Yang Menglong was a little surprised: "You mean, you have already arrived in Nanyang and have been waiting for me in Nanyang?" When he launched an army to attack Kyushu last year, he entrusted Li Yan with all the military and political affairs in Guangdong and Guangxi. It is said that Li Yan should be very busy It's right to open a relationship, to leave Guangzhou and run back to Nanyang to wait for him for more than ten days, something must have happened!

Li Yan put down his teacup and said solemnly, "Yes."

The smile on Yang Menglong's face quickly disappeared, and he asked, "What happened?"

(End of this chapter)