Late Ming Dynasty: Oops, I am surrounded by the Donglin Party

"What? So expensive?"

Zhang Shikang's face was filled with shock. He looked at Zheng Zhibiao with a frown, as if he was questioning whether this guy was robbing a wealthy man.

If twenty silk ships require so much silver, then how much would it cost for the Zheng family to have three thousand warships?

If this damn bastard dared to bluff him, Zhang Shikang would make sure he knew what regret was.

After all, the money from the court did not fall from the sky; it was all copied by him with great effort.

"Reporting to the commander, the cost of building twenty silk ships is two million taels.

A ship must be equipped with 24 cannons of various types, 60 spray guns, 10 Lumi guns, 300 crossbows, 10 gunpowder crossbows, 200 rockets, 60 fire bricks, and 1,200 cold weapons of various types...

The total cost of building twenty ships equipped with firearms was 1.3 million taels, which was all cost, and the Zheng family did not make any profit.

Each ship requires a total of 115 sailors, gunners, marines, and boatmen, so 20 ships require 2,300 people.

It takes two years for my Zheng family to train a qualified naval soldier, including individual equipment, military pay, and food consumption. The cost per person is about eighty taels, which is nearly two hundred thousand taels.

From the time the shipyard and cannon foundry begin construction, to the time all the ships, cannons and soldiers are in place and transported to the location designated by the Marshal, taking into account all losses and special accidents, according to my humble estimate, it will cost more than 200,000 taels.

Therefore, the total amount required is approximately 3.8 million taels.

Marshal, a silk ship is a large warship. The cost of building it and the requirements for all its equipment, including the number of naval soldiers, are quite high. I dare not deceive you, Marshal."

Zheng Zhibiao was also an honest man, and he immediately started counting on his fingers to settle accounts with Zhang Shikang.

Zhang Shikang was stunned by what he heard. He had never heard of fire bricks, gunpowder crossbows, muskets and cannons with various strange names.

As for the cost, I had no idea. But looking at Zheng Zhibiao's expression, he didn't seem like the kind of person who would tell you without thinking, so I believed it.

However, he did not believe it completely. If he found out in the future that this guy dared to kill him, he would have plenty of ways to find trouble with the Zheng family.

The Zheng family might be invincible at sea, but they were very weak in land warfare. Hearing that Zheng Zhilong spent a huge amount of money to build a mansion in his hometown of Quanzhou, Zhang Shikang was quite interested in the mansion.

"What about the remaining 600,000 taels? How is the rent for such a fleet calculated? It's so expensive!" Zhang Shikang pretended to be dissatisfied.

Zheng Zhibiao was not angry, and immediately started counting on his fingers.

"My fleet consists of one flagship, the No. 1 Fu Ship, 34 silk ships, 12 eagle ships, 6 net shuttle ships, 4 mother-and-child ships, 3 fire dragon ships, 13 red dragon boats, 8 Cangshan ships, and Haicang ships...

One hundred and fifteen warships, equipped with a total of 6,800 soldiers of various types, various artillery, rockets, and muskets..."

"Stop, stop, stop! Stop reading and do as you say. If I find out that you're asking for a random price, you'll have to bear the consequences."

There were these ships and these guns and these guns, I had never heard of them.

But it must be said that the entire fleet coordinated in an orderly manner. Zhang Shikang observed for a long time and found that all the warships, big and small, had their own division of labor and fought quite beautifully.

Zheng Zhibiao shut up embarrassedly, but still explained to Zhang Shikang the things he thought were more important.

“My Zheng family navy has been hired by other countries many times before. To be honest, Marshal, when hiring my Zheng family navy, the cost of warships, weapons, and soldiers are calculated separately.

This fee not only includes maintenance costs and soldiers' salaries, but since they are hired, commissions will naturally be included.

Moreover, my Zheng family has a rule that the employment period is at least three months, and the renewal period is also based on three months. Even if it only exceeds one day, payment must be made based on three months.

Of course, my brother will not be so harsh on the Marshal. If it exceeds one or several days, the Marshal will not be asked to pay more."

After all, the Zheng family had been traveling across the East and South Seas for more than ten years, and they even had routes to Batavia and India.

There were many small countries and constant conflicts over there, so some small countries would hire the Zheng family's navy to defeat the enemy. Therefore, the Zheng family had a mature charging mechanism for mercenaries.

"You are quite generous." Zhang Shikang curled his lips and said unhappily.

"That's the military rule, and I dare not say anything nonsense. In addition, I want to let the commander know that during the employment period, the employer needs to pay for the cost of damaged warships, damaged weapons and firearms, consumed gunpowder, and soldiers killed.

This includes the soldiers’ pensions, which is also the military regulation of the Zheng family navy.”

What the hell...

Zhang Shikang finally saw through it. No wonder the Zheng family was so rich. Not only did they collect protection fees in the East and Southeast Asia, but the Zheng family had 3,000 ships, a considerable number of which were merchant ships for trade. Even the navy could be hired.

This does not include the Zheng family's shipyard and cannon foundry. Needless to say, they can definitely accept orders and sell them for money.

I heard that even if the merchant ships of the mortal enemy, the Dutch, wanted to do business in the East, they could do so as long as they paid protection fees. It can be said that the Zheng family is a ruthless money-making machine.

How much money would that be in a year!

No wonder Zheng Zhilong sent military rations and grain ships to show his goodwill to him.

Compared with the Zheng family's arrogance, he and Brother Chongzhen seemed like beggars.

It would be a lie to say that he was not jealous. It was just that the Ming Dynasty was in a state of disarray and Zhang Shikang had no time to take care of it.

Once we have quelled the rebellion in Jiangnan, we will vigorously develop our navy and also engage in maritime trade.

How can we, a great country like the Ming Dynasty, entrust such important coastal defense to the hands of one family?

They are a merchant family with no loyalty to the imperial court. Merchants value profit, so who knows if they will collude with other countries to cause trouble in the future.

Yes, although the Zheng family’s navy is invincible in East Asia and Southeast Asia, for now, in Zhang Shikang’s eyes, the Zheng family is still positioned as a major sea merchant.

Because according to historical records from later generations, Zheng Zhilong had an army of 200,000 and 3,000 ships, and he was able to dominate the entire East and South Seas, but he did not occupy a piece of land to establish a country.

You have to know that at that time in Southeast Asia, there were still a lot of lands divided into chiefdoms, and these small chiefdoms often had a national military strength of no more than 10,000.

Wouldn't it be great to rely on a huge navy, occupy a fertile land in Southeast Asia, establish a country and become a king?

But apart from doing business, Zheng Zhilong never thought about setting up his base in his hometown of Quanzhou.

After all, fallen leaves return to their roots. Hey, look, Confucianism is at work again.

“Humph, I remember that your Zheng family has officially accepted the imperial court’s offer of amnesty.

Strictly speaking, your Zheng family's navy is the court's navy. Even though they are using your small fleet, they still have to collect a commission from the court.

You are a very good minister of the Zheng family! "

After being choked by this big guy several times, Zhang Shikang finally stood on the moral high ground and launched a counterattack.

Zheng Zhibiao had been talking for a long time and was drinking tea with a dry mouth, but he almost spit it out when he heard the words.

He pretended to be calm and looked at the battlefield not far away, then immediately changed the subject:

"Marshal, the war is over."

……