Xinshun 1730

Chapter 159 Long-term Cooperation
After sitting down, Liu Yu looked at Duplex. He had heard of this character, and in a sense he was the one who decided that India should speak English instead of French.

Ambitious, capable, and strategic, it doesn't matter.

Too bad he's French.

The French navy was insufficient to support his ambitions and strategies in India.

Even if you win in India then, you will lose later.

The British navy could easily cut off the links between the French colonies and the mainland.

This is also one of the reasons why Liu Yu chose the French as his ally.

If the French navy cannot beat the British, India will never be French. No matter how many changes in history, as long as the fact that the navy is inferior to the British exists, there is no need to worry.

And if the French navy is stronger than the British... there is no need to worry.Europe must be in chaos first. If the French can cross the English Channel, an anti-French alliance will definitely be formed. Of course, there is no time to pay attention to Asia.

With this in mind, Liu Yu and Duplex felt very relaxed when communicating.

Both can speak Latin, no need for translation.

Duplex politely sent a list to Liu Yu, which included the goods carried this time and the unit price of the goods.

The list has been translated.

In addition to the inventory, there is a new style flintlock.

"General Liu, this batch of muskets was originally going to be sold to India. But your asking price is higher, and for the sake of longer-term interests, the French East India Company decided to ship this batch of guns here."

"This is the latest model from the arsenal in the Saint-Etienne area. It was just finalized the year before last. But most of them are not from the 28th year, but from the 17th year. But they all meet your requirements, and they are all bayonet bayonets. "

Duplex explained, and Liu Yu looked at the flintlock gun, and was generally satisfied.

The flintlock gun has not been popular in Europe for a few years. The 1717 model is regarded as the earliest standard equipment of the French Army. It is not too late to equip Dashun now.

Although France had flintlock guns before, they were either used by the navy or issued to grenadiers by the army.

Let the grenadiers throw grenades with flintlock guns on their backs. After all, matchlock guns are inconvenient.

It took only a dozen years for Europe to fully replace flintlock guns, and this batch of muskets fully met Liu Yu's needs.

Looking at the price list, it is quite suitable.A flintlock gun with a bayonet is only 14 taels of silver, and the estimated cost price is only seven or eight taels. Considering that people traveled all the way to deliver it, it is acceptable to earn some.

It's just that the models are messy, there are 1717 infantry models, 1695 navy models, 1716 navy models... It is estimated that they are all ready to be packaged and sold to the princes of the disintegrated Mughal Empire to fight the civil war.

Fortunately, the caliber of guns in France is still relatively uniform, theoretically 0.69 inches, of course, this is only theoretical, including tolerances and clearances, a difference of a few millimeters is normal.

There are a total of 13 flintlock guns and bayonets, in addition to some cannons, gun mounts, gun carriages and the like. The total price is about [-] taels of silver.

The price is not expensive, and the French advantage of the cannon is not great, but the cannon carriage is better, and some precision screw rods and other designs are still lacking in Dashun.

The French made cannons very luxurious in this era. The back of the eight-pound cannon must be poured into the shape of a chicken head, the 12-pound cannon must be poured into a monkey head, and the 24-pound cannon must be poured into a lion. It looks good, but it is useless. , but it shows the luxurious style of the Bourbon era.

These are secondary. The new army is compiled and trained for the emperor and courtiers to convince them that this thing really saves money, spends less money, and fights big battles.

What Liu Yu really wanted to cooperate with the French was not these ships of arms.

After collecting the list, Liu Yu said with a smile: "Mr. Duplex, I accept this list. After the count is correct, I will pay the silver as agreed, or I can exchange it for gold for you."

"What follows, I hope, will be a private conversation between myself and the East India Company, or you personally."

Duplex nodded, indicating that he was open to such a private conversation.

"I know that the East India Company has quite extensive contacts in France and even in Europe. I hope to facilitate a cooperation."

"I pay money, I send people. The East India Company is responsible for recruiting technicians for me. For each technician, you can get the same rebate as their half-year salary."

"Including shipbuilders, cannonmakers, gunsmiths, fine blacksmiths, etc. I can guarantee wages higher than those in Europe."

"If I can meet my requirements and put it into production within a fixed time, the French East India Company will receive a 5% dividend of future profits, and the other [-]% will be privately awarded to you, the director of the East India Company at this time and other members. And some mechanical instruments needed in the future will also be entrusted to the French East India Company to purchase.”

"I hope you can understand that a large country with hundreds of thousands of troops cannot be maintained by purchasing arms all the time. And once the new army shows its advantages on the battlefield, the purchase of hundreds of thousands of troops will be a huge deal .This can make up for the poor financial situation of the East India Company."

"A war is about to break out between us and the Tatars in the northwest. I am eager to prove the value of the new army in this war. For my personal future, it means a title; for my personal wealth, it means order from the arsenal."

"So, I hope you can seriously consider it, and search for such talents as soon as possible."

It sounded like a candid conversation, one that hit Duplex's soft spot.

The East India Company was first and foremost a company.

As a company, you have to find a way to make a profit.

Including Duplex's adventurous policy in India afterwards, they are all for one purpose: profit.

Just like the Cossacks who expanded from the north to the east, there is no such thing as the great belief of the tsar, what the motherland does is the profit of fur.

Duplex was very tempted by Liu Yu's proposal.

China is huge and has a lot of troops.

Now China's army is a 30-year war-level army, about 50 years behind.Flintlocks and bayonets have been tested in the War of Spanish Succession, and arquebuses have been completely eliminated in Europe. Practice is the best proof.

As Liu Yu said, if the Chinese emperor was really ready to make military changes, the annual purchases of rifles, artillery, and warships would be staggering.

The 5% profit dividend is high enough, not to mention the remaining 2% rebate will be privately awarded to the company's top figures.

Indeed, it is impossible for a big country to rely on foreign procurement of armaments, and must have its own military factories.

Besides, even if you purchase, you don’t necessarily have to choose French ones. British rifles are not expensive, and Austrian artillery is better.

Duplex believes that the reason for choosing France is more due to political considerations.At least in Southeast Asia, the conflict between China and France is not that big for the time being.

Liu Yu is actually partly due to laziness.

A shipyard needs all kinds of carpenters, some who can steam ship ribs, some who can lay decks, and some who can weave cable canvas, and Liu Yu is too lazy to find them one by one.

The contacts of the East India Company can recruit a complete system of craftsmen, at least shipbuilding cannot be built by just a few shipwrights, and the same is true for casting cannons.In addition, there is a complete set of equipment to purchase and various tools.

The East India Company knew about this kind of thing. After all, they started from scratch, building houses and building shipyards in places where they could not understand the language. The East India Company knew better than him what kind of talents they needed.

Packing and renting to the East India Company and letting them be responsible for finding someone is easier and faster than finding someone by yourself.

Another one, although the French navy is not good, but the design idea is really leading the trend.

Whether it is an excellent Frigate cruiser or a formal and practical 74-gun battleship, the French design is very good, but it is not the same...Naval battles cannot be won.

It is often the British who drag it back and take a look, hey, the French design is very good, but it will belong to the Royal Navy from now on.

The British have to consider the safety of the English Channel, and their thinking has always been to pile up battleships.

But it is impossible for Liu Yu to learn from the British.

The situation in East Asia is very special, and what is needed is mainly cruise ships.

The main opponent is the Netherlands. It needs to be able to rob ships, track, attack merchant ships, blockade seaports, and make surprise raids. Therefore, battleships are not suitable. When they expel the Netherlands and monopolize Japan's trade, then consider battleships.

Cruise ships naturally have to learn from France, and even the design of British cruise ships is learned from captured French warships. Liu Yu can't think of any reason not to learn.

There is nothing that cannot be sold, and if enough money is given, others will do things.I don't have any contacts in Europe, so I might invite a mathematician like Euler to meet friends in literature, which is not the same thing as a shipbuilder.

In the short term, it is definitely better to buy than to make.In the long run, it is better to buy than to build.

If the court wants to reverse its thinking up and down, it has to be a blockbuster.Reasoning is far less useful than a bloody battle. I hope that through this battle, the whole court can fully understand that the gap is widening now.This requires a huge short-term investment.

In order to express his sincerity, Liu Yu said again: "I can pay you 1000 taels of gold in advance. I hope your company can set up a special committee to take charge of this matter. For your company, there is no gold and silver investment. This is a long-term investment. effective profit point."

"As for the political considerations, I have made it very clear. The reason why France is chosen is not because France alone can choose."

Duplex nodded, and had to admit that what Liu Yu said was true.

China is not short of money, at least in their view, this silver-swallowing behemoth has more silver than any European country.

The Dutch, the British, the French, the Spaniards, the Portuguese...all want to use something to open up the Chinese market and save their staggering trade balance.

Duplex tried to ask: "General Liu, don't you have any other commodities that are in great demand in your country?"

Liu Yu didn't want to say that the Heavenly Dynasty had a vast land and abundant resources, and he didn't want to say that the small-scale peasant economy under the landlord-tenancy system had a small market and extremely poor consumption capacity, so he said: "I thought about it, and perhaps the most likely bulk commodity is American ginseng. ? You can grow American ginseng on a large scale in your American colonies.”

"Uh……"

Speechless, Duplex could not refute. After all, last year's trade volume is here. A total of 4 taels of goods were shipped to China, but 40 taels of goods were shipped from China. Under the circumstances, the arms sold this time turned out to be the largest export revenue in the entire French trade with China.

A piece that can go down in history.

"Mr. Duplex, I hope you can think carefully about the arsenal and shipyard. The conflict between your country and Britain in India will break out one day."

"Do you think the French navy can beat the English navy?"

There is no need to answer this question. If the French navy can defeat the British navy, the island will be dead in the morning.Now on the head of the King of England, there is still a claim of the King of France.

"So, if there is a conflict between Britain and France in India, and the British navy blocks the route from the mainland to India, you need an ally who will provide you with arms, guns, or even lease you an ally closer to you. fleet."

After finishing painting the big cake, Liu Yu said flickeringly again: "Aurangzeb is dead, and the once mighty Mughal Empire is falling apart. This is where the heroes show their talents. A person with great ambitions should go ahead early. Think about the future. Instead of waiting until it happens and regretting it."

This was in the hands of Duplex, and after pondering for a moment, he knew that he could not make the decision, and now he was not the governor of the East India Company.

"General Liu, I will try my best to lobby the company's top management. They will also be satisfied with the trade this time, and I will try my best to explain things as clearly as possible."

"In addition, since your country wants to buy a warship, the company is also lobbying, and there should be a high probability of success. The two warships are all what you requested, with a single deck, 26 9-pound guns... As for the price... ..."

"If the East India Company is responsible for sinking before arriving at the port, each ship will cost 8 taels."

"If the East India Company is not responsible for the sinking before arriving at the port, the price of each ship is 6 taels."

Liu Yu didn't care about the high "insurance premium", and asked about the displacement and size. After converting it into familiar metric units, he found that the ship was only 500 tons.

However, compared to the two training ships it has today, it is still much larger.

There are so many East India companies, and at least there must be a profit of 1 taels in it, and I admit it even if I pinch my nose. The ghost knows how the French court will react to their winking behavior, and official cooperation cannot be expected.

"In this way, this time I can pay a deposit of 2 taels in advance, and when the warship arrives, I can pay in full after acceptance. If there is an accident midway, the loss will be borne by the East India Company."

After reaching an agreement on this matter, Liu Yu asked again: "Mr. Duplex, I must remind you again. I chose to trade with France not because I can only trade with France. I hope you can accurately convey my information. Pass it to the directors of the East India Company. In any case, when the warship arrives next year, please take the first batch of craftsmen with it."

Duplex assured again and again that Liu Yu had just ended this private conversation and accompanied him out to prepare to unload the ship and count the ammunition.

(End of this chapter)