Chapter 481 Tongzhou Wharf

Huge fleets sailed the seas, with ships connected to each other for miles.

It had been three days since they set off from Dengzhou, and they arrived at the first port, the only port of Tongzhou within the fief of the King of Wei.

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

When the battleship docked at Tongzhou Pier, King Wei appeared on the pier on time.

"Nephew, Uncle Huang has been waiting for you here all day." King Wei laughed as he looked at Xiao Ming who got off the battleship.

With one foot on the ground, Xiao Ming's heart finally felt at ease. Navigating the sea for three consecutive days was really a torment. During these three days, he finally realized the hardships of a navy officer.

When he was on the boat, he saw King Wei, and he also smiled, "Uncle Huang is really honored to be able to come to Tongzhou in person."

"Nice nephew is polite, now the uncle has to rely on nephew." King Wei's eyes swept across the huge battleship with deep envy and shock.

Xiao Ming laughed, he noticed King Wei's eyes, it was a greedy look, presumably King Wei valued his battleship at a glance, he said: "Uncle Huang is very powerful, nephew should rely on Uncle Huang. , this time we stopped in Tongzhou and needed the help of Uncle Huang." Xiao Ming said indifferently.

King Wei was stunned for a moment. He remembered what the scout had said. Xiao Ming's fleet was docked in Tongzhou for supplies, not just a stopover. The list of supplies provided by the scouts also recorded the necessary supplies.

"Hahaha, yes, yes, Uncle Huang remembered, nephew is at ease, the supply Uncle has been prepared, you can supply now." King Wei said.

Xiao Ming was relieved, but he was still a little worried, and hoped that King Wei would not pass him small shoes again, otherwise he would make King Wei sad in the future.

Instructing the fleet to supply supplies immediately, Xiao Ming followed King Wei into the city of Tongzhou, and at the warm invitation of King Wei he had no choice but to act on the scene.

After three rounds of drinking, King Wei said, "My nephew, Uncle Huang really underestimates you. I didn't expect you to have such a powerful fleet. This fleet can even be tied with the Dutch."

King Wei's tone was envious. He knew the Dutch and the strength of the Dutch warships. From the information he got, it seemed that Xiao Ming's warships were very similar to the Dutch warships.

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

"Uncle Huang has won the prize. These battleships are just battleships used by my nephew to escort merchant ships, but I dare not speak of fighting against the Dutch." Xiao Ming smiled.

King Wei was very jealous, and he asked tentatively: "How did my nephew build these warships, oh, when I think about it, it must be the work of the missionaries, hey, why did the uncle not have such luck? But the nephew can How many warships will you build for the emperor?"

Xiao Ming's expression moved slightly. He didn't expect King Wei to make such a request. He might give it to King Wei for artillery and muskets, but he would never give it to King Wei for battleships.

After all, in such an era, a warship loaded with artillery is a great threat to the route, and it is very difficult to search.

"Uncle Huang, the construction of these warships is complicated. In three years, my nephew has only a dozen or so, and the cost of these warships is high. One is more than one million taels of silver."

"One million taels!" King Wei's face turned pale.

"Of course, this smallest battleship also has about 60 artillery pieces, but the artillery is 1.2 million taels, and this does not include the cost of the battleship."

King Wei nodded, he understood that the artillery on this kind of warship was called naval gun, and the price was more expensive than ordinary artillery.

"This is indeed a bit expensive." King Wei rubbed his chin. He already knew that the King of Chu had purchased thousands of naval guns from Xiao Ming, and the King of Chu was preparing to build a fleet with these naval guns.

And the fief between him and the King of Chu was only separated by a river. The King of Chu was taking the advantage. He hesitated for a while, and said: "In this case, the uncle does not want to embarrass the nephew, and the nephew might as well sell some naval guns to the uncle. "

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

King Wei now proposes to buy artillery to give him money. He said, "Uncle Huang, this is not a problem, it's just the money..."

According to Xiao Ming's tone, a thousand naval guns are 20 million taels of silver, which is a high cost, but in order not to be overtaken by the King of Chu, he gritted his teeth and said, "No problem, it's a big deal to copy a few. The home of a wealthy businessman."

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

But he didn't care about the life and death of Wei Di's merchants, all he wanted was 20 million taels of silver.

"Uncle Huang is refreshing, so how many artillery pieces does Uncle Huang need?" Xiao Ming asked.

"A thousand doors," said King Wei.

Xiao Ming understood that this was a rivalry between the King of Wei and the King of Chu, and he said, "Then how the uncle is going to pay the money."

"Hey, nephew, it's not that the uncle is stingy. One is one, and the other is two. Since nephew is going to use Tongzhou as a supply point, the supplies must be counted as money. This warship docked at the dock is also money." The King of Wei looked like an old and cunning man.

There is no free lunch in the world, Xiao Ming naturally knew that King Wei would not give him Tongzhou as a supply base for nothing, so he said: "Uncle Huang's words make sense, since that's the case, all supplies from Qingzhou's official ships will be deducted from this fee. , but even so, there is still a lot of money to pay for it.”

"That's for sure. The supply cost of this Tongzhou Wharf will be temporarily reduced to 2 million taels. After all, it only cost 20,000 taels to supply the uncle this time. In the future, the number of times will be more frequent, and the money will be more. We'll talk about it when we're done." King Wei's eyes flashed with shrewdness.

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

Then King Wei said: "There are still 18 million taels left. To be honest with my nephew, the uncle also has some large merchant ships. The 8 million taels of the emperor will pay 400,000 taels of gold and 4,000,000 taels of silver to the nephew, how?"

Xiao Ming sighed in his heart for a while, this Wei land is really rich, and Wei Wang is really a local tyrant.

"Deal." Xiao Ming nodded his head seriously. This business is very cost-effective. Not only did he get the supply point of Tongzhou, but he also made an arms business.

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