Chapter 1120
The Gap of Reality
Chapter 1120 The Gap of Reality
"After the food delivered to you has been transferred, we will immediately set off and return to Dengzhou." Wang Tom invited Shen Zhixiang to take a seat, and then let the guards serve tea.
Shen Zhixiang thanked Wang Tom, pretending to be casual and asked: "I don't know how many days it takes for your country's fleet to sail from here to Dengzhou?"
On the one hand, he asked this question because he wanted to know the actual speed of the Haihan ship, and on the other hand, he wanted to see if the other party really came from Dengzhou. This voyage cannot be faked. If the other party has not planned this route, then probably I can't answer it.
Wang Tom replied: "Based on Daming's mileage, the distance from Phi Island to Zhifu Bay in Dengzhou is about [-] miles. If everything goes well, it will take one and a half days."
The straight-line distance from Phi Island to Dengzhou is about [-] nautical miles. If it is a flagship with full power, it will take less than a day to reach it. However, considering that there are still many ships powered by pure sails in the fleet, they must not be able to keep up with full speed. For the advancing flagship, the overall speed of the fleet will be slower, so Wang Tom's estimated time is relatively loose.However, judging by the level of the Daming Navy, it can be regarded as a first-class fast boat that can travel from Phi Island to Zhifu Bay in one and a half days.
Shen Zhixiang asked another question that he was very concerned about: "Master Wang, I heard that your army has recently fought against the Dengzhou navy who defected to Liaodong?"
Wang Tom nodded and said, "Not only did we fight, but we also captured more than 40 prisoners. If General Shen is interested, I will ask Xie Li to take you to meet him later."
Shen Zhixiang said: "Then it's time to work! I have a few old friends in the Dengzhou Navy who disappeared during the Denglai Rebellion. I have been looking for a chance to find out their whereabouts, but I can't get in touch with the old department of the Dengzhou Navy. "
Tom Wang has traveled all over the past few years, and has accumulated a lot of experience in dealing with officials of the Ming Dynasty in this era. He can naturally hear Shen Zhixiang's implication - don't just find a few people to pretend to be prisoners of war in the Dengzhou Navy. There are people I know in the old department, and when the time comes, I will know if it is true or not.
Wang Tom didn't say anything at the moment, and said unhurriedly: "We went to Jinzhou Bay a few days ago and found that the old troops of the Dengzhou Navy are concentrated there, and maybe the friends of General Shen are also there. After we are settled in Shandong, we will slowly free up our hands and feet to clean up the Jinzhou side, and hope that the officers and soldiers of Dongjiang Town will also send troops together to recover Liaodong."
Shen Zhixiang said some polite words, but he didn't really believe Tom Wang's words in his heart.After the Dengzhou navy defected to Liaodong, it also encountered the navy of Dongjiang Town several times. Judging from the record, Dongjiang Town suffered a little bit, but the Dengzhou Navy was stronger.Shen Zhixiang believes that although the Haihan Fleet seems to have some strength, fighting such a thing is not only determined by weapons and equipment, but more importantly by the fighting will and military accomplishment of those who participate in and command the battle.The Dengzhou navy is the elite of the northern seas of the Ming Dynasty. Their strength is not vegetarian, and they will suffer losses in a fight. Haihan, a foreigner from the south, has no reason to work for the Ming Dynasty and take the initiative to go to Liaodong. Gold battle?
As for agreeing to send troops together and fight in coordination, Shen Zhixiang thinks that this is just a polite word from the other party.If they really send troops together, how will the military expenses be calculated?Where do food supplies come from?If the time comes to recapture Lushun, who will get the credit?Who owns the land?It's easy to say, but to implement it, you have to face many practical problems, and Shen Zhixiang doesn't think the other party has the ability and willingness to solve these problems.These are problems that the Ming court couldn't care less about solving. Why should Haihan rush to take the lead? In Shen Zhixiang's view, this is of no practical benefit to Haihan.
Shen Zhixiang didn't place his hopes on Haihan to send troops, but he remembered the naval guns he saw on the deck just now, and immediately asked politely: "I just saw the artillery on the ship after boarding the ship, it seems that the power is not small. The art of cannon is very sophisticated! I wonder if you and Frangji came from the same school?"
Wang Tom laughed and said, "We made more than half of the cannon sold by the Frangji people to the north of Daming in recent years. It's just that according to their requirements, our name is not engraved on the cannon."
A few years ago, when Sun Yuanhua, Governor of Denglei, was in office, he established a new type of firearms unit in Dengzhou, and managed to establish a relationship with Macau through Portuguese missionaries, purchased weapons from the Portuguese, and hired a group of Western instructors to teach soldiers artillery tactics.At that time, the Portuguese had already reached a cooperative relationship with Haihan, and some of the arms purchased from Haihan also flowed into the north of Ming Dynasty, but there were no inscriptions on the cannons, and the Ming army did not know the true origin of these cannons.
Of course, Haihan was aware of these practices of the Portuguese, but at that time his own range of maritime activities was limited, and he did not have such arms sales channels, so this kind of sales could only be completed by Portuguese agents.Some of these artillery sold to the north of Ming Dynasty in the early years were equipped in the Denglai garrison, and a small part flowed into the jurisdiction of Dongjiang Town by sea.However, after the Denglai Rebellion, more than half of these artillery were taken away by the rebels and sent to Houjin, and thus became one of Houjin's weapons to suppress Ming on the battlefield.
For Haihan, these cannons lost to Houjin had no direct impact, and the money from selling the cannons had already been pocketed. The weapons purchased with a lot of money became cheaper to the opponent within a few years, and the strength of the enemy and the enemy in some areas immediately reversed, and they retreated steadily on the Liaodong battlefield.The Ming army in Dongjiang Town wanted to purchase similar weapons and equipment to counterattack Liaodong, but there was no such channel at all. Therefore, after seeing the naval guns on the Haihan battleship, Shen Zhixiang immediately moved to inquire.
As soon as Shen Zhixiang heard Wang Tom's answer, he immediately asked: "Master Wang, can you sell a few cannons to Dongjiang Town?"
Wang Tom said: "Then, can Dongjiang Town come up with enough cash to settle the settlement?"
"This..." Shen Zhixiang couldn't help showing embarrassment on his face. The current situation in Dongjiang Town was already very embarrassing. There was basically no income on the island, and he could only rely on the occasional relief from Ming and North Korea to survive.Although the governor Shen Shikui still has some money in his hands, it is a special fund reserved for emergency. If it is taken out in advance and used elsewhere, I am afraid that there will be no military expenses for counterattacking Liaodong in the future.
But the opportunity is rare, Shen Zhixiang gritted his teeth, and decided to ask for a price first, in case the Haihan people show kindness and offer a less scary price, everyone can discuss it slowly.
"Lord Wang, money is not a problem, but I don't know how much the artillery produced in your country costs?" Of course, Shen Zhixiang couldn't show his timidity at this time, so he forced his face to ask.
Seeing that he was asking seriously, Tom Wang held back his smile and replied, "Then, does General Shen want to buy the ones for the land or the ships?"
"It's for land." Shen Zhixiang thought to himself that with the existing ships in Dongjiang Town, even if they were equipped with marine cannons like Haihan, it would be of no practical significance. Just look at the size of the cannons, and you would know that your own ship's hull structure would not be able to handle it. The recoil force of this kind of artillery fire, I am afraid that before the opponent is sunk during the battle, the own ship will be shaken to pieces first.
Tom Wang took out a large notebook from under the desk, opened it and put it in front of Shen Zhixiang, and explained to him: "This is the information on the country's arms export, and this page is about artillery. General Shen can see what kind of Useful."
Shen Zhixiang leaned over and took a few glances, and suddenly his heart became restless.This information is a picture book, each artillery has a three-inch square drawing, which clearly depicts the front and side views of the artillery, with text descriptions beside it, the artillery range, the size of the gun body, the weight of the shell, and the caliber of the barrel , related accessories, firing methods, artillery life, number of people operating the artillery, etc., all have detailed data. This page alone has introductions of ten different types of artillery, which makes Shen Zhixiang's eyes a little dizzy.
Of course, what caught his attention the most was the artillery price marked at the end of the information.The most expensive single gun costs more than 5000 taels of silver, while the cheapest small-caliber gun costs 600 taels of silver each. It is also marked on the back that it includes projectiles, special propellant packs, and a total of [-] rounds of waterproof fire tubes.
"Master Wang, this quotation...is too high, even if it is supervised by the Ministry of War of the Ming Dynasty, it is not so expensive!" Shen Zhixiang was secretly dumbfounded when he saw it, and immediately questioned Tom Wang.
Wang Tom asked calmly: "Is the price of the Flang cannon bought by the Ming army cheaper than this? As far as I know, Mr. Sun Yuanhua was not picky about the price at that time."
Shen Zhixiang's face flushed, and he thought that he forgot about this.The Haihan export-type artillery purchased by the Ming army from the Portuguese was indeed more expensive, but at that time the imperial court supported Sun Yuanhua to carry out military reform pilots in Dengzhou, and gave a lot of support in terms of military budget. I also recognized the expensive points, and besides, there was no other choice at that time.However, the artillery made by the Ministry of War of the Ming Dynasty is indeed far behind the imported "Western artillery" in terms of performance.
Wang Tom had said before that these artillery pieces were all made by Haihan, so of course he couldn't hide the secret from Haihan.
Shen Zhixiang could only argue forcefully: "Master Sun's situation was a little different at that time, it is not the same as it is now."
Tom Wang smiled and said, "No matter it's the range, accuracy, firing frequency, service life, maintenance difficulty, as long as General Shen can find an equivalent weapon that is better than our artillery, then I will sell it to you at half the price. gone."
Wang Tom has extremely high confidence in the quality of his own exported arms. These weapons have been continuously improved in performance over the years of war. Although they are only export-oriented, their overall performance must have surpassed that of the artillery manufactured by Ming Dynasty.It is precisely because of this that Haihan Ordnance Industry dared to set a high price for sale.
How could Shen Zhixiang find a better cannon? If he had that ability, he wouldn't need to inquire here.Judging from the paper data alone, the performance of the Haihan artillery is probably far higher than that of the artillery made by Daming itself, and this is also consistent with the conclusion drawn by Dongjiang Town in the past few years of actual combat, that is, the high-priced imported artillery is indeed better than that of Daming. Self-produced artillery is stronger in terms of performance.You get what you pay for, and there is a reason why Haihan artillery is expensive.
Shen Zhixiang saw that he couldn't get over it, so he could only say tactfully: "To tell you the truth, according to the price you quoted, I'm afraid my governor will find it hard to accept."
Wang Tom said: "If it's not convenient for you to have at hand, we actually have other settlement methods, which should make it easier for you to accept."
Shen Zhixiang quickly responded: "I would like to hear the details!"
Tom Wang raised two fingers and said: "It's very simple, there are two ways, either barter or buy from us in the form of a loan."
Shen Zhixiang frowned and said, "It's just that Phi Island has no property, so how can we barter?"
"Then the second method." Tom Wang said: "We will lend you money, but this money is earmarked for your own use and can only be used to buy arms and equipment from us."
"That's credit." Shen Zhixiang immediately understood Tom Wang's meaning.Haihan said it was a loan, but in fact it was only a nominal loan. The money returned to Haihan's pocket without going through the hands of Dongjiang Town Mingjun, which was no different from credit.Of course, since it is a formal transaction, this IOU must be written.
Tom Wang nodded and said, "There's nothing wrong with saying it's on credit, but the credit is also conditional. You have to take something out as collateral."
At this time, Shen Zhixiang had been brought into Wang Tom's rhythm unknowingly. Hearing this, he didn't feel that there was anything wrong, and continued to ask: "What do you want to mortgage?"
"Of course it needs to be something valuable, such as real estate, land and the like are the best." Wang Tom induced calmly: "We in Shandong also agree, but forget about the ones on Phi Island, which are of no value to us. .”
Shen Zhixiang made some calculations, shook his head and said, "Most of the real estate owned by Dongjiang Town is located in various counties and counties in eastern Liaodong. I'm afraid it will be difficult to take it back for a while. Even if we are willing to mortgage it, Lord Wang will not accept it."
Wang Tom was very honest when he heard what he said, and immediately proposed a solution: "With the current situation in Dongjiang Town, it is probably true that there is no ready-made real estate. I think otherwise, Yidongjiang Town How does General Shen feel about the fact that the Ming army in the town borrowed money from us as collateral?"
"Using the Ming army as collateral? How can this living person be mortgaged?" Shen Zhixiang asked in puzzlement after hearing this.
"Of course living people can be mortgaged." Tom Wang saw that the other party had begun to take the bait, so he continued to persuade: "You work for Ming Dynasty, so will the imperial court give you military salaries as reward?"
Shen Zhixiang nodded subconsciously to express his acknowledgment of this statement.
Wang Tom then continued: "Then we, Haihan, will pay for your employment, and the military salary during your service will be used to repay the loan for buying weapons. What do you think?"
(End of this chapter)
"After the food delivered to you has been transferred, we will immediately set off and return to Dengzhou." Wang Tom invited Shen Zhixiang to take a seat, and then let the guards serve tea.
Shen Zhixiang thanked Wang Tom, pretending to be casual and asked: "I don't know how many days it takes for your country's fleet to sail from here to Dengzhou?"
On the one hand, he asked this question because he wanted to know the actual speed of the Haihan ship, and on the other hand, he wanted to see if the other party really came from Dengzhou. This voyage cannot be faked. If the other party has not planned this route, then probably I can't answer it.
Wang Tom replied: "Based on Daming's mileage, the distance from Phi Island to Zhifu Bay in Dengzhou is about [-] miles. If everything goes well, it will take one and a half days."
The straight-line distance from Phi Island to Dengzhou is about [-] nautical miles. If it is a flagship with full power, it will take less than a day to reach it. However, considering that there are still many ships powered by pure sails in the fleet, they must not be able to keep up with full speed. For the advancing flagship, the overall speed of the fleet will be slower, so Wang Tom's estimated time is relatively loose.However, judging by the level of the Daming Navy, it can be regarded as a first-class fast boat that can travel from Phi Island to Zhifu Bay in one and a half days.
Shen Zhixiang asked another question that he was very concerned about: "Master Wang, I heard that your army has recently fought against the Dengzhou navy who defected to Liaodong?"
Wang Tom nodded and said, "Not only did we fight, but we also captured more than 40 prisoners. If General Shen is interested, I will ask Xie Li to take you to meet him later."
Shen Zhixiang said: "Then it's time to work! I have a few old friends in the Dengzhou Navy who disappeared during the Denglai Rebellion. I have been looking for a chance to find out their whereabouts, but I can't get in touch with the old department of the Dengzhou Navy. "
Tom Wang has traveled all over the past few years, and has accumulated a lot of experience in dealing with officials of the Ming Dynasty in this era. He can naturally hear Shen Zhixiang's implication - don't just find a few people to pretend to be prisoners of war in the Dengzhou Navy. There are people I know in the old department, and when the time comes, I will know if it is true or not.
Wang Tom didn't say anything at the moment, and said unhurriedly: "We went to Jinzhou Bay a few days ago and found that the old troops of the Dengzhou Navy are concentrated there, and maybe the friends of General Shen are also there. After we are settled in Shandong, we will slowly free up our hands and feet to clean up the Jinzhou side, and hope that the officers and soldiers of Dongjiang Town will also send troops together to recover Liaodong."
Shen Zhixiang said some polite words, but he didn't really believe Tom Wang's words in his heart.After the Dengzhou navy defected to Liaodong, it also encountered the navy of Dongjiang Town several times. Judging from the record, Dongjiang Town suffered a little bit, but the Dengzhou Navy was stronger.Shen Zhixiang believes that although the Haihan Fleet seems to have some strength, fighting such a thing is not only determined by weapons and equipment, but more importantly by the fighting will and military accomplishment of those who participate in and command the battle.The Dengzhou navy is the elite of the northern seas of the Ming Dynasty. Their strength is not vegetarian, and they will suffer losses in a fight. Haihan, a foreigner from the south, has no reason to work for the Ming Dynasty and take the initiative to go to Liaodong. Gold battle?
As for agreeing to send troops together and fight in coordination, Shen Zhixiang thinks that this is just a polite word from the other party.If they really send troops together, how will the military expenses be calculated?Where do food supplies come from?If the time comes to recapture Lushun, who will get the credit?Who owns the land?It's easy to say, but to implement it, you have to face many practical problems, and Shen Zhixiang doesn't think the other party has the ability and willingness to solve these problems.These are problems that the Ming court couldn't care less about solving. Why should Haihan rush to take the lead? In Shen Zhixiang's view, this is of no practical benefit to Haihan.
Shen Zhixiang didn't place his hopes on Haihan to send troops, but he remembered the naval guns he saw on the deck just now, and immediately asked politely: "I just saw the artillery on the ship after boarding the ship, it seems that the power is not small. The art of cannon is very sophisticated! I wonder if you and Frangji came from the same school?"
Wang Tom laughed and said, "We made more than half of the cannon sold by the Frangji people to the north of Daming in recent years. It's just that according to their requirements, our name is not engraved on the cannon."
A few years ago, when Sun Yuanhua, Governor of Denglei, was in office, he established a new type of firearms unit in Dengzhou, and managed to establish a relationship with Macau through Portuguese missionaries, purchased weapons from the Portuguese, and hired a group of Western instructors to teach soldiers artillery tactics.At that time, the Portuguese had already reached a cooperative relationship with Haihan, and some of the arms purchased from Haihan also flowed into the north of Ming Dynasty, but there were no inscriptions on the cannons, and the Ming army did not know the true origin of these cannons.
Of course, Haihan was aware of these practices of the Portuguese, but at that time his own range of maritime activities was limited, and he did not have such arms sales channels, so this kind of sales could only be completed by Portuguese agents.Some of these artillery sold to the north of Ming Dynasty in the early years were equipped in the Denglai garrison, and a small part flowed into the jurisdiction of Dongjiang Town by sea.However, after the Denglai Rebellion, more than half of these artillery were taken away by the rebels and sent to Houjin, and thus became one of Houjin's weapons to suppress Ming on the battlefield.
For Haihan, these cannons lost to Houjin had no direct impact, and the money from selling the cannons had already been pocketed. The weapons purchased with a lot of money became cheaper to the opponent within a few years, and the strength of the enemy and the enemy in some areas immediately reversed, and they retreated steadily on the Liaodong battlefield.The Ming army in Dongjiang Town wanted to purchase similar weapons and equipment to counterattack Liaodong, but there was no such channel at all. Therefore, after seeing the naval guns on the Haihan battleship, Shen Zhixiang immediately moved to inquire.
As soon as Shen Zhixiang heard Wang Tom's answer, he immediately asked: "Master Wang, can you sell a few cannons to Dongjiang Town?"
Wang Tom said: "Then, can Dongjiang Town come up with enough cash to settle the settlement?"
"This..." Shen Zhixiang couldn't help showing embarrassment on his face. The current situation in Dongjiang Town was already very embarrassing. There was basically no income on the island, and he could only rely on the occasional relief from Ming and North Korea to survive.Although the governor Shen Shikui still has some money in his hands, it is a special fund reserved for emergency. If it is taken out in advance and used elsewhere, I am afraid that there will be no military expenses for counterattacking Liaodong in the future.
But the opportunity is rare, Shen Zhixiang gritted his teeth, and decided to ask for a price first, in case the Haihan people show kindness and offer a less scary price, everyone can discuss it slowly.
"Lord Wang, money is not a problem, but I don't know how much the artillery produced in your country costs?" Of course, Shen Zhixiang couldn't show his timidity at this time, so he forced his face to ask.
Seeing that he was asking seriously, Tom Wang held back his smile and replied, "Then, does General Shen want to buy the ones for the land or the ships?"
"It's for land." Shen Zhixiang thought to himself that with the existing ships in Dongjiang Town, even if they were equipped with marine cannons like Haihan, it would be of no practical significance. Just look at the size of the cannons, and you would know that your own ship's hull structure would not be able to handle it. The recoil force of this kind of artillery fire, I am afraid that before the opponent is sunk during the battle, the own ship will be shaken to pieces first.
Tom Wang took out a large notebook from under the desk, opened it and put it in front of Shen Zhixiang, and explained to him: "This is the information on the country's arms export, and this page is about artillery. General Shen can see what kind of Useful."
Shen Zhixiang leaned over and took a few glances, and suddenly his heart became restless.This information is a picture book, each artillery has a three-inch square drawing, which clearly depicts the front and side views of the artillery, with text descriptions beside it, the artillery range, the size of the gun body, the weight of the shell, and the caliber of the barrel , related accessories, firing methods, artillery life, number of people operating the artillery, etc., all have detailed data. This page alone has introductions of ten different types of artillery, which makes Shen Zhixiang's eyes a little dizzy.
Of course, what caught his attention the most was the artillery price marked at the end of the information.The most expensive single gun costs more than 5000 taels of silver, while the cheapest small-caliber gun costs 600 taels of silver each. It is also marked on the back that it includes projectiles, special propellant packs, and a total of [-] rounds of waterproof fire tubes.
"Master Wang, this quotation...is too high, even if it is supervised by the Ministry of War of the Ming Dynasty, it is not so expensive!" Shen Zhixiang was secretly dumbfounded when he saw it, and immediately questioned Tom Wang.
Wang Tom asked calmly: "Is the price of the Flang cannon bought by the Ming army cheaper than this? As far as I know, Mr. Sun Yuanhua was not picky about the price at that time."
Shen Zhixiang's face flushed, and he thought that he forgot about this.The Haihan export-type artillery purchased by the Ming army from the Portuguese was indeed more expensive, but at that time the imperial court supported Sun Yuanhua to carry out military reform pilots in Dengzhou, and gave a lot of support in terms of military budget. I also recognized the expensive points, and besides, there was no other choice at that time.However, the artillery made by the Ministry of War of the Ming Dynasty is indeed far behind the imported "Western artillery" in terms of performance.
Wang Tom had said before that these artillery pieces were all made by Haihan, so of course he couldn't hide the secret from Haihan.
Shen Zhixiang could only argue forcefully: "Master Sun's situation was a little different at that time, it is not the same as it is now."
Tom Wang smiled and said, "No matter it's the range, accuracy, firing frequency, service life, maintenance difficulty, as long as General Shen can find an equivalent weapon that is better than our artillery, then I will sell it to you at half the price. gone."
Wang Tom has extremely high confidence in the quality of his own exported arms. These weapons have been continuously improved in performance over the years of war. Although they are only export-oriented, their overall performance must have surpassed that of the artillery manufactured by Ming Dynasty.It is precisely because of this that Haihan Ordnance Industry dared to set a high price for sale.
How could Shen Zhixiang find a better cannon? If he had that ability, he wouldn't need to inquire here.Judging from the paper data alone, the performance of the Haihan artillery is probably far higher than that of the artillery made by Daming itself, and this is also consistent with the conclusion drawn by Dongjiang Town in the past few years of actual combat, that is, the high-priced imported artillery is indeed better than that of Daming. Self-produced artillery is stronger in terms of performance.You get what you pay for, and there is a reason why Haihan artillery is expensive.
Shen Zhixiang saw that he couldn't get over it, so he could only say tactfully: "To tell you the truth, according to the price you quoted, I'm afraid my governor will find it hard to accept."
Wang Tom said: "If it's not convenient for you to have at hand, we actually have other settlement methods, which should make it easier for you to accept."
Shen Zhixiang quickly responded: "I would like to hear the details!"
Tom Wang raised two fingers and said: "It's very simple, there are two ways, either barter or buy from us in the form of a loan."
Shen Zhixiang frowned and said, "It's just that Phi Island has no property, so how can we barter?"
"Then the second method." Tom Wang said: "We will lend you money, but this money is earmarked for your own use and can only be used to buy arms and equipment from us."
"That's credit." Shen Zhixiang immediately understood Tom Wang's meaning.Haihan said it was a loan, but in fact it was only a nominal loan. The money returned to Haihan's pocket without going through the hands of Dongjiang Town Mingjun, which was no different from credit.Of course, since it is a formal transaction, this IOU must be written.
Tom Wang nodded and said, "There's nothing wrong with saying it's on credit, but the credit is also conditional. You have to take something out as collateral."
At this time, Shen Zhixiang had been brought into Wang Tom's rhythm unknowingly. Hearing this, he didn't feel that there was anything wrong, and continued to ask: "What do you want to mortgage?"
"Of course it needs to be something valuable, such as real estate, land and the like are the best." Wang Tom induced calmly: "We in Shandong also agree, but forget about the ones on Phi Island, which are of no value to us. .”
Shen Zhixiang made some calculations, shook his head and said, "Most of the real estate owned by Dongjiang Town is located in various counties and counties in eastern Liaodong. I'm afraid it will be difficult to take it back for a while. Even if we are willing to mortgage it, Lord Wang will not accept it."
Wang Tom was very honest when he heard what he said, and immediately proposed a solution: "With the current situation in Dongjiang Town, it is probably true that there is no ready-made real estate. I think otherwise, Yidongjiang Town How does General Shen feel about the fact that the Ming army in the town borrowed money from us as collateral?"
"Using the Ming army as collateral? How can this living person be mortgaged?" Shen Zhixiang asked in puzzlement after hearing this.
"Of course living people can be mortgaged." Tom Wang saw that the other party had begun to take the bait, so he continued to persuade: "You work for Ming Dynasty, so will the imperial court give you military salaries as reward?"
Shen Zhixiang nodded subconsciously to express his acknowledgment of this statement.
Wang Tom then continued: "Then we, Haihan, will pay for your employment, and the military salary during your service will be used to repay the loan for buying weapons. What do you think?"
(End of this chapter)