Smuggling Daming

The beautiful scene that Zhou Zhong described to Father John really moved them. Although Father John and Priest Nader clearly knew that Zhou Zhong didn't just want to help them, the most important thing was to use their power to recruit some craftsmen, but They don't mind, after all, this matter is good for both of them, everyone gets what they need.

This is exactly the case. After listening to Zhou Zhong's words, Father John and Priest Nader discussed in low voice for a long time, and finally nodded in agreement and said, "Master Zhou, your missionary method is indeed better than ours. You are much smarter, although some places violate our teachings, but in order to spread the glory of the Lord, everything is worth it, so we are willing to cooperate with you to help the Nanyang Chamber of Commerce find needed craftsmen!"

When Father John was speaking, he deliberately emphasized the word "cooperation", Zhou Zhong didn't care about it, and immediately continued: "Father John is worthy of being the president of the Dominican Society. For the purpose, it is necessary to make some small modifications, but I just want to ask, how confident are you in recruiting craftsmen to build ships?"

"This is not a problem. In the past few years, many grape people have arrived in India and other places. Many of them know a craft. It is not difficult to find people who know how to build ships, and most of these people are pregnant. Dreaming of making a fortune in the East, as long as we tell them that we are coming to work in the legendary Ming Dynasty, they will surely wish for it, after all, in the eyes of us Europeans, Daming is a rich land full of gold!" Father John said Said with a very relaxed expression.

Zhou Zhong also nodded when he heard this, now that Europe has passed through the darkest period in history.It was in the early stage of the Renaissance. Influenced by books such as "Marco Polo's Travels", Europeans at this time had infinitely beautiful fantasies about the Central Plains. In their view, the Central Plains was an ancient country with prosperous civilization, where everyone wore Precious silk, pure white porcelain is used, and the country's military power is extremely powerful. It can be said that it is a paradise in the minds of many Europeans.It is also driven by this beautiful fantasy.Spain and Portugal will spare no effort to open up a route to Daming.

In addition, Zhou Zhong also knows that no matter how beautiful the fantasy is, it is impossible to become a reality. In the next few hundred years, the footsteps of Europeans spread all over the world, but the Central Plains area is standing still, and when the Europeans see the true face of the Central Plains area, .Immediately, under the disillusionment of many Europeans, they reported infinite hostility and contempt for the Central Plains region, so later European powers invaded China, which led to nearly a hundred history of humiliation in China.

Thinking of this, Zhou Zhong couldn't help sighing, but he immediately stood up with a smile.Facing Father John and Priest Nader, he said: "Okay, that's it. Next, I will send someone to discuss with you which craftsmen we need and how these craftsmen will be treated. As long as you can recruit them back, I will Immediately have people build the first church in Ming Dynasty in Shuangyu Port!"

Hearing Zhou Zhong's promise, Father John and Priest Nader also showed excited expressions, but at this moment Priest Nader suddenly said: "Young Master Zhou, I have done a lot of work before I became a priest. I also know a lot of technology. Do you think this is good? I will contribute my technology now, and then let Father John recruit people alone, and you will help us build the church now, so that when Father John recruits people Now, the church is almost ready for use!"

Hearing Priest Nader's suggestion, Zhou Zhong was also very interested. He found that this priest who doesn't like to talk is really his lucky star. He gave him pepper seeds before, and now he still knows a lot of technology. Will the things that the German priests know be useful to me?

Thinking of this, Zhou Zhong asked Priest Nader to explain what he understood, but Zhou Zhong found out that the other party was also a hard-working person who had no parents since he was a child. In order to support himself, Priest Nader worked as a barber, blacksmith, Shoemaker, farmer, etc. He even joined the mercenary army before, and it was during that time that he went to America and stayed for a long time, and he almost died there in the end.

When Zhou Zhong heard that Priest Nader was a blacksmith and also a mercenary, he couldn't help but ask, "Reverend Nader, besides ships, what our chamber of commerce needs most is weapons. I don't know Will you rely on muskets or artillery?"

Hearing that Zhou wanted to build muskets and cannons, Priest Nader was also taken aback, but he still replied very honestly: "I can build muskets. When we were blacksmiths, we were drafted into the army to make weapons, but at that time I am mainly responsible for the manufacture of guns, although I know a little about the manufacture of artillery, but I have not really participated in it, and the casting of artillery cannot be completed by one or two people."

Hearing that the other party can only make muskets, Zhou Zhong couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. The muskets now are at best arquebus guns, which are not very convenient to use on board, and are not even as reliable as cold weapons. What he needs most now is to be able to threaten the safety of the ship. It is a pity that although Priest Nader knows a little, he has no practical experience.

However, Zhou Zhong soon woke up from his disappointment, and at the same time secretly scolded himself for being too greedy. It is very rare for Priest Nader to understand the principle of cannon casting. Pay attention to the talents in this area, I believe that one day the artillery will be able to be built.

Thinking of this, Zhou Zhong immediately agreed with Priest Nader's words, asking him to study the process of casting cannons in the next few days, and he will prepare a few assistants for him, and will fully assist him in casting cannons.Of course, Zhou Zhong also agreed to start the construction of the church immediately, which made Father John ecstatic, and stayed up all night to draw the blueprint of the church.A few days later, the planning of the church was finally completed. At this time, there happened to be a fleet of ships going to Nanyang, so Father John took this fleet and left Shuangyu Port.

A new workshop was built in the south of the Nanyang Chamber of Commerce’s residential area, and the sound of “clinking” iron can be heard from time to time. You don’t need to ask to know that this is a blacksmith’s shop. The Nanyang Chamber of Commerce has indeed declared that this iron shop is used for Those who build weapons in the Chamber of Commerce, after all, weapons used at sea are easily damaged, and it is not worthwhile to buy them alone.

However, this blacksmith shop received Zhou Zhong's attention when it was first built, and in the center of the shop, it was a relatively closed area. Except for some related craftsmen, other people were strictly prohibited from entering and leaving. This place is Zhou Zhong. The area set aside for Priest Nader to study artillery.

Today Zhou Zhong was still the same as usual, he left the residence directly after getting up early in the morning, and then went straight to this newly built iron shop.With the expansion of the chamber of commerce's power, Zhou Zhong felt that it was necessary to increase the armed forces of the chamber of commerce, so as to better maintain the detached position of the chamber of commerce, and to better deal with changes when encountering changes.

After Zhou Zhong came to the iron shop with Wangcai's followers, the blacksmiths outside greeted him frequently when they saw Zhou Zhong. Many of these blacksmiths were from military households, mainly making weapons for the army. The craftsmanship is very good, but it is a pity that all their fields have been embezzled by the officers above. They couldn't survive in their hometown, so they fled overseas in desperation, and they were reused by Zhou Zhong. With their current treatment, one person can They support a large family, so they are all very grateful to Zhou Zhong.

Zhou Zhong also attached great importance to these blacksmiths. He greeted them with a smile, met a few people he knew, and asked them how they were doing in the chamber of commerce. Although this method of buying people's hearts is low-level, it is Very effective, at least Zhou Zhong has been doing this for so long, and this has also won him praise in the Chamber of Commerce for being approachable and unassuming.In addition, Zhou Zhong was not worried that doing so would lose the majesty of the superior. When he first took over the chamber of commerce, he wiped out two medium-sized chambers of commerce in a row, and even chopped off the heads of several important figures of the Jeolla chamber of commerce in front of everyone. This also made many people respect him very much, and some even called him "Miemen Gongzi" secretly.

Passing through the outer periphery of the iron shop, there is an independent area in the center, surrounded by tall earthen walls, and the only entrance and exit gate is guarded by guards, and ordinary people cannot enter at all, except Zhou Zhong.

After entering this independent area, what caught Zhou Zhong's eyes was a tall iron smelting furnace, but the fire was not lit right now. Priest Nader and several people dressed as iron smelting masters were pointing around the iron smelting furnace. , I don't know what is being discussed?

Different from the blacksmiths outside, the few people around Nader are master iron smelters, and there are also a group of young apprentices. These people are all assigned to the priest Nader to make a better steel.This is mainly because artillery has high requirements on the quality of steel, and the steel Zhou Zhong found on the market could not meet the requirements of Priest Nader. Fortunately, Priest Nader knew how to make iron. It is suggested that Zhou Zhong start from scratch and refine a kind of steel that meets the requirements first.

In fact, copper is the best material for casting cannons, because copper cannons are lighter than iron cannons, and they are also safer, but the price of copper in Daming is too high, let alone a small rich man like Zhou Zhong, even Daming's army uses They are all heavy iron cannons.In addition, Zhou Zhong's cast cannons are mainly used on sea ships, and it doesn't matter whether they are bulky or not, so Zhou Zhong never considered copper cannons from the beginning.

Zhou Zhong saw that Priest Nader was having a heated discussion with the iron smelters around him, and it seemed that Priest Nader was arguing with those iron smelters alone, which made Zhou Zhong a little curious. After a while, the result made everyone laugh out loud. They didn't expect this to be what they were arguing about. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my biggest motivation.)