Howard felt particularly aggrieved.

Even if Ke Zhiming had not come to blackmail him, Howard originally planned to purchase a batch of these flintlocks and artillery equipment equipped by the Ming army, so that he could bring them back to the British Empire and hand them over to the Ordnance Directorate in the Tower of London for reverse imitation.

But when Ke Zhiming took the initiative to come to the door to blackmail him, the nature of the matter completely changed.

When has the British Empire ever suffered such grievances?

Of course, Howard also knew in his heart that he had no other choice but to accept the blackmail from the Ming people.

Because no one can guarantee whether those despicable frogs in France will buy the firearms of the Ming Dynasty.

Even if those despicable French frogs came to his door and offered to join forces with the British Empire to attack the Ming Dynasty, Howard could not believe the lies of those French frogs.

No one can afford to bet on this kind of thing.

So in the end, Howard could only pinch his nose, resist the urge to kill, and forced out a smile that was uglier than crying, and said: "Master Ke, now we can talk about flintlocks and artillery.

price.”

Howard's heart bleeds when he mentions the word price.

Howard knew very well that since Ke Zhiming, a high-ranking official from the Ming Dynasty, could take the initiative to come to blackmail, it meant that the price of these flintlock guns and artillery was definitely not cheap.

I don’t know how many artillery pieces I can afford with the money in my hand?

Sure enough, when Howard asked about the price, Ke Zhiming smiled and said: "A flintlock gun costs thirty taels of silver, a bullet costs one hundred taels of silver, an artillery costs ten thousand taels of silver, and a cannonball costs five taels of silver.

.”

When Howard heard the price, he immediately became furious like a cat whose tail was stepped on: "This is impossible, my dear friend, this price is impossible, it is too unreasonable."

After working in the Guangdong Thirteenth Bank for so many years, Howard is not a novice who knows nothing about arms prices.

Under normal circumstances, a flintlock gun costs about ten taels of silver, and it will not exceed fifteen taels of silver at most.

As for the artillery, even the most advanced artillery in Europa now only costs about three thousand taels of silver. If it is mass-produced, the price can be even lower, and the price of one artillery shell will not exceed three thousand taels of silver.

.

Now it's better, Ke Zhiming opened his mouth and asked for thirty taels of silver for a flintlock gun, ten thousand taels of silver for a cannon, and even the price of the cannonballs has almost doubled.

Even if it's just blackmail, the price is too ridiculous.

However, Ke Zhiming said with a smile: "Mr. Howard, today you have seen the power of our Ming Dynasty's flintlock guns and artillery. Believe me, the flintlock guns and artillery produced by our Ming Dynasty are definitely worth the price."

Howard said: "Yes, I have seen the power of your Ming Dynasty's flintlock guns and artillery. The flintlock guns have a higher range and higher accuracy, and the same goes for artillery. Even if the shells fired do not explode, they are just smashed out."

The pit must also be one square meter."

"But, this is not the reason why you can sell it so expensively - even if it is for profit. God will not stand a profit exceeding 300%."

Ke Zhiming smiled nonchalantly and said, "Can God understand that it seems to have nothing to do with me?"

"As I said, you don't have to accept it, but I don't know if those French people will accept the price."

When Ke Zhiming said this, Howard immediately lost his temper again.

It’s not because Ke Zhiming is disrespectful to God in his dialogue. After all, the only truly devout believers in Europa are those civilians who hope to go to heaven after death, like the archbishops of the church or the real nobles, but they are not so devout.

What really made Howard dumbfounded was Ke Zhiming's mention of France again.

Yes, the British Empire cannot accept this offer. Who knows if those despicable French frogs will accept this offer? What if they accept it?

If those despicable frogs in France cannot accept this offer, but the British Empire accepts it, then only a hundred such artillery pieces are needed for the Chinese army, and only 20,000 such flintlocks are needed for the Ming army.

With enough bullets and cannonballs, the British Empire can avenge all the humiliation it has suffered since the Hundred Years' War.

The same is true on the other hand. If the British Empire cannot accept this offer, but those despicable frogs in France accept this offer, will France just besiege the British Empire in the British Isles as it is now?

Even if you think about it with your heels, you know that this is absolutely impossible.

After a long moment of silence, Howard finally slumped down in his chair, tugged on the swallowtail knot on his collar, and said, "Okay, you win."

"Now it's time for us to talk about the number of cannon and flintlock muskets."

"Of course, there's also the issue of delivery time."

…

Compared to Howard, Pierre was treated much better.

The point is that Pierre's and Howard's situations are completely different.

In the Hundred Years' War between England and France, the final winner was France. The victory in the war allowed France to complete its national unification. In the future, it would gradually expand on the European continent, while England lost almost all of its French territory.

As the saying goes, those who are barefoot are not afraid of wearing shoes. England is now the kind of poor people who don't even have shoes, but France is now the aristocratic gentleman who wears leather shoes, so there is no need for the people sent by Zhu Jinsong to say anything, just say what England wants.

To purchase a batch of flintlock muskets and artillery, France could only place an order for the same number or even more.

This is similar to being a flower grower.

When the flower grower had no mushrooms, he also shouted slogans such as moving to the bear's house, and saying that unsigned paper is shit in the toilet. When the rabbit had mushroom eggs, the daily newspaper on the day of the test exploded.

The title is that the explosion was successful, and the subtitle is that it is solemnly recommended to convene a world summit to discuss the issue of comprehensive ban and complete destruction of mushroom eggs.

When the Rabbit family was poor, they would fight with each other. One Rabbit beat seventeen families in a row, and even used mushrooms to scare each other with the bears. But when the Rabbit family became rich, look at Rabbit.

Are you still fighting?

This is the difference between going barefoot and wearing shoes.

However, the only problem facing Pierre now is that France has no money.

Of course, we cannot say that France as a whole has no money, because it is France’s finances that have no money.

In France at this time, Louis XVI, the nominal king of the Bourbon dynasty, did not really hold real power. The real power rested with Queen Marie Antoinette. Unfortunately, Louis XVI and his daughter-in-law Marie Antoinette

Vanette does not have the sense of responsibility and mission that a queen should have.

On the contrary, Marie Antoinette, who did not understand politics, was only interested in balls, fashion, having fun, dressing up and having balls, renovating villas, and decorating gardens every day, which put the whole of France into a serious crisis.

Palace ministers competed with each other for power, social conflicts were acute, the treasury was empty, and debts were high.

Marie Antoinette was also known as "Madame Deficit"

Therefore, even if Peel wanted to immediately purchase a large number of flintlock muskets and artillery, France's finances would not be able to afford such a large amount of money.

But who is Zeng Cheng who was sent by Zhu Jinsong? Before he took refuge with Zhu Jinsong, Zeng Cheng served as a master of the imperial court of the Qing Dynasty.

When it comes to the right way to govern the country, Zeng Cheng and Zeng Futai may not be so brilliant, but when it comes to these messy and crooked ways, one Zeng Futai can be better than ten Zhu Jinsong.

So after listening to Pierre's concerns, Zeng Cheng and Zeng Futai slapped his thigh directly and said, "Why do I think it's because of this? It turns out it's just about money?"

Hearing what Zeng Futai said, Pierre was stunned.

No, can money be considered a trivial matter? You know, although money is not everything, in this world, nothing is impossible without money.

If I, the French treasury, had enough money, why would I, Pierre, have a headache here?

You know, the French treasury has a national debt of up to 2 billion francs, you bastard!

However, Zeng Cheng and Zeng Futai smiled indifferently and said, "It's just some yellow and white things. This matter is easy to handle."

Just when Pierre looked confused, Zeng Cheng and Zeng Futai asked again inexplicably: "I heard that France is also quite turbulent and the people seem to be quite dissatisfied?"

Pierre nodded and replied with a confused look on his face: "What's so strange about this? If your Lord Zeng's expenditure on bread accounts for half or more of your family's total income, I guess you, Lord Zeng, would also be dissatisfied.

.”

Zeng Cheng chuckled and then asked: "I heard that Mr. Pierre is related to your King of France?"

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Pierre nodded, hummed and said, "According to you Ming people, His Majesty King Louis XVI of France and I should be considered cousins. However, I don't have any formal title, nor do I have a fief to inherit."

Hearing what Pierre said, Zeng Cheng and Zeng Futai felt confident.

Why doesn't he have a formal title or a fief to inherit? He's just an illegitimate child.

Zeng Cheng and Zeng Futai chuckled and said: "Our sages from the Central Plains once said a saying: A real man does not ask where he comes from."

"It means that, as to what height a person can reach, his background does not determine everything. The most important thing is his hard work."

"Although Mr. Pierre does not have a formal title or land yet, I believe that as long as Mr. Pierre can contribute to France and the French King, then the land and title are nothing to Mr. Pierre.

Something within reach.”

Pierre continued to be confused, even wondering if Zeng Cheng's mind was broken.

As long as you contribute to France and the French King, you can get a fief and a title. How big is your contribution?

If the two billion franc national debt of the French treasury can be solved, then Pierre has full confidence that he will be able to obtain a formal title and fief.

However, the crux of the matter is that it is a national debt of two billion francs, not a national debt of twenty francs, nor a national debt of two hundred thousand francs.

If Pierre could lead the army to conquer a large area of ​​land for France, then it would not be impossible to obtain titles and fiefs. The question is, if Pierre had that ability, would he still need to go to sea to do business?

A man doesn’t care about the source. This kind of statement may be acceptable in the Central Plains, but in Europe, this is the biggest joke in the world.

However, while Pierre continued to be confused, Zeng Cheng and Zeng Futai said with a smile: "If you want to contribute to France and the King of France, it is actually quite simple."

Pierre asked in confusion: "What contribution? How simple?"
Chapter completed!