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

Da Vinci was choked and immediately said that the small French country was not a good ally, saying that they were greedy for profit and so on.

Zhang Shikang just treated it as fart and didn't believe even a single punctuation mark in his competitor's words.

The General Manufacturing Bureau currently has the ability to cast 24-pound copper cannons, and currently, 18-pound cannons used on warships are considered quite powerful. The maximum caliber of the Zheng family's main warships is only about 12 pounds.

Considering that it would take considerable time for the warships to arrive, and Zhang Shikang had already ordered 100 24-pound copper cannons and 200 18-pound copper cannons from the French Empire, he did not plan to purchase any more.

Da Vinci pondered for a moment, seemingly concluding on a price quote.

"Your Excellency the Duke, if you only want the Galleon warships, I can give you the best discount, one hundred and six thousand taels for each Galleon warship."

"What if the quantity is large?" Zhang Shikang said.

Zhang Shikang was actually a little surprised at the offer. The size of a galleon was a whole circle larger than a silk ship, and it could naturally carry more artillery, yet it was only 6,000 taels more expensive than a silk ship.

But he understood it after a little thought. The Netherlands is known as the Coachman of the Sea and has the most advanced shipbuilding industry. It is said that there are dozens or even hundreds of shipyards alone.

It is estimated that most of the warship orders in Europe are taken by the Dutch. Once economies of scale are achieved, costs will naturally come down.

Da Vinci seemed to have guessed this would happen a long time ago. After all, the size of the Ming Empire was more than ten times larger than that of the Netherlands, and the demand for warships was naturally greater than that of ordinary countries.

“How many ships do you want to order?”

"That depends on how long it takes you to transport the ship over. If it takes two years, then there will be little point in me buying your ship." Zhang Shikang spread his hands.

The Tianjin Shipyard will be completed by the beginning of next year at the latest, and Mo Wu has already issued a military order that once the shipyard is completed, the mass production of Zeng ships will begin immediately.

The drawings of the galleon have basically been reverse-engineered, and once the shipyard is completed, we can start trying to replicate it immediately.

The Tianjin Shipyard is very large and is currently recruiting and training shipbuilders in large numbers. Once shipbuilding begins, taking the silk ships as an example, if full power is used, the annual number of silk ships built will reach more than 40.

Although the silk ship is inferior to the galleon, it is at least sufficient for use in the East and South Seas.

Moreover, according to Mo Wu's estimation, the period from the development to the mass production of a galleon would not exceed one year. If it took too long to wait for the order from the Netherlands, it would be better for the company to be self-reliant.

Of course, the construction cost is also different. For example, the Zheng family’s silk ship cost 100,000 taels each.

Mo Wu estimated that even if the Tianjin Shipyard started production, the cost of building a single ship would be at least 120,000 taels.

This is partly because the shipwrights are not skilled enough and a ship requires the cooperation of more shipwrights, but more importantly, it is the raw materials.

The larger the warship, the stronger the wood required. A considerable portion of the wood needed to build the warship had to be purchased from overseas through the Zheng family.

The Zheng family will also make a profit from the price difference, so the cost will naturally go up.

But even so, Zhang Shikang still firmly believed that all industries related to national defense must be self-sufficient as much as possible.

Da Vinci thought about it for a moment and said:

“Our nearest shipyard is in Batavia, where there are two shipyards with a combined annual capacity of 40 ships.

If Your Excellency the Duke needs it, I can apply to the Governor-General to put the Ming Dynasty's orders at the top of the list, and I can reduce the price by another 3,000 taels.

This is my sincerity to His Excellency the Duke, and also the East India Company's respect to the Ming Dynasty."

"I want thirty ships, to make it a round number, one hundred thousand taels each."

The reason why Da Vinci offered a price of 106,000 taels was actually to give Zhang Shikang room to bargain.

This was not the first time he had done business with the Ming people. Those smugglers were more cunning than each other and always tried to lower their prices.

Therefore, he had learned to be smart and would deliberately offer a high price before the negotiation, and then lower it during the negotiation, so that the other party would think they were getting an advantage.

But Da Vinci did not dare to treat Zhang Shikang, a Ming noble, carelessly, because he was very clear about the power behind Zhang Shikang.

The offer of 106,000 taels was not high. The offer he made to the Indian region was always over 110,000 taels.

Zhang Shikang asked for a price of 100,000 taels, which almost reached the cost, but Da Vinci gave it a little consideration and agreed.

“That’s no problem, the earliest delivery can be by the end of this year.

But how to transport it here will be a big problem. In fact, if the Zheng family knew about this deal, you should know the consequences. "

Da Vinci said with a worried look on his face.

"Aren't you occupying the Dongfan Island of my Ming Dynasty? Transport it there. I will take care of the rest." Zhang Shikang stared at Da Vinci and said.

"This..." Da Vinci hesitated.

The Netherlands has been operating on Dongfan Island for decades. Although there are Japanese, French and a large number of indigenous people on the island, there are no officials from the Ming Dynasty.

Da Vinci originally wanted to say that Dongfan Island belonged to the Netherlands, but he hesitated for a moment, and considering the temper of the young Ming noble in front of him, he did not say it out loud.

"According to your Excellency the Duke's wishes, our East India Company will transport thirty ships to Dongfan before the end of this year.

The risks before this will be borne by our East India Company. If there is damage or other risks, such as failure to arrive on time, our East India Company will provide double compensation.

However, once the warship arrives in Dongfan, our East India Company will be deemed to have fulfilled its order obligations, and the risks after you ship it away will be borne by the Ming Dynasty.

Do you think this is reasonable?" Da Vinci said, looking at Zhang Shikang very seriously.

"No problem." Zhang Shikang agreed immediately.

It must be said that the Dutch are much more thoughtful in doing business than the Chinese, and they deserve to be the first country in the world to establish joint-stock companies.

Seeing that Zhang Shikang agreed, Da Vinci took out a few pieces of paper as if by magic. It was a standard contract of the East India Company.

He then found some ink, wrote a few words with a quill pen, and then handed the contract to Zhang Shikang.

"Thirty galleons, total cost three million taels, advance payment three hundred thousand taels.

The specific construction period and division of responsibilities are all here, please review it, Your Excellency the Duke."

Zhang Shikang took it and looked at it. Wow, this was almost the same as the contract in later generations. He thought to himself that the Dutch were awesome and indeed so advanced.

The contract was actually bilingual, which showed that the Dutch had indeed traded with Ming Dynasty smugglers a lot before.

Zhang Shikang read the contracts carefully and found no obvious loopholes. He then signed both contracts neatly and stamped them with his seal as the Marshal of the Army.

But when he got to Da Vinci, he put the two contracts aside and didn't sign them immediately.

"My Lord Duke, I think you have already felt the sincerity of the Netherlands.

But I don't think I have sensed your sincerity yet." Da Vinci smiled like a profiteer.

Damn it! I knew you didn’t hold your fart in! Zhang Shikang cursed inwardly.

……