Chapter 1,23 Early Work

Although Ouyang Chengmu's method was a bit clumsy, Liang Xiaoyue finally forgave him. He said that his mother-in-law was also sent away, which made Liang Xiaoyue feel a little better. Of course, Liang Xiaoyue could not be in love with her. In her eyes, all this was her own fault!

On the other hand, Ouyang Chengxu also came to the Ministry of Works to report that he is currently in the Ministry of Works. After all, these weapons are largely manufactured by the Ministry of Works, and at this time there are no special departments, such as the emergence of the trade department.

The officials of Ouyang Chengxu were very sincere to the arrival of the Ministry of Works. On the one hand, Ouyang Chengxu was the candidate recommended by Jiang Lang. In terms of the background, the backend was still very tough. The so-called "not looking at the monk's face and the Buddha's face," he could not express any dissatisfaction with Ouyang Chengxu. Friendship is the best weapon, and these officials of the Ministry of Works are very clear. On the other hand, everyone is completely closely related now. The court takes this matter very seriously. Everyone in the Ministry of Works is clear in their hearts, and there is naturally some oil and water to make money!

Ouyang Chengxu was somewhat surprised by the fact that these people showed considerable friendship to themselves, but at the same time they also knew that many people were thinking under these smiling faces. It doesn’t matter if they don’t become officials. Once they become officials, they can be called walking on thin ice. No matter who they are, they are actually the same!

As a yamen in the court, the Ministry of Works did not cover a large area. After all, many officials were not here. There were only a dozen officials from the Ministry of Works. After meeting these people one by one and remembering their names, Ouyang Chengxu was not polite at noon and invited everyone to dinner, but these officials did not refuse.

For Ouyang Chengxu, there are actually so many things happening now. He has a complete understanding of the entire process of weapon production, but this is not enough. He must also know the maximum output of this weapon in a day!

Weapons such as artillery are related to the lifeline of the Ming Dynasty and are also the most basic thing to maintain the entire Ming army forever, so all manufacturing is carried out in the capital, which is also to prevent leakage. However, the various raw materials must be transported from other places. The transportation network spread across the Ming Dynasty can solve this problem well, but the cost of producing a cannon is still very high. So if an agreement is signed with others, when can the goods be delivered is very important. With only the only weapon in the Ming family, Daming itself is the largest seller. For this seller, reputation is very important. If the delivery period is limited in the agreement, Ouyang Chengxu himself must be very clear in his heart, when will this batch of goods be produced, and when will the goods be delivered at the latest, etc. The business is actually about making good fortune. Being arrogant will not make money!

In addition, there are a series of related programs and the like!

The Ming Dynasty gave Ouyang Chengxu a lot of power, but this is very big but has many restrictions. Ouyang Chengxu's main purpose is to negotiate with these countries, and then obtain information on how much goods they want from them, and then feed it back to the Ministry of Industry. The Ministry of Industry then retrieves the same number of weapons and arrives at the delivery location through the special transport ships of the Chamber of Commerce. On the other hand, the payment for the goods from these countries that purchased weapons will not pass through Ouyang Chengxu. They can choose to deliver the goods to their doorsteps by the Ming Dynasty. Of course, this requires a transportation fee, and the other is to come to receive the goods themselves.

However, for the Ming Dynasty, the second way of delivery is naturally to pay the money and deliver the goods. The payment they gave directly to the personnel from the Ministry of Industry who came to deliver the goods. After inventory and verification, the payment will be directly transported to the treasury and managed by the treasury. Of course, the expenses such as the cost of manufacturing weapons by the Ministry of Industry are also paid by the treasury. In other words, the Ministry of Industry does not have the power to manage these payments, and this is also to imitate corruption. As for Ouyang Chengxu and others who are responsible for the negotiations, they can set prices for this weapon, but they cannot be lower than the most

Low prices, as for a series of expenses, management points, etc., are all paid by the treasury! Of course, there will also be some rebates involved, and there are some regulations on this point, that is, it can only account for 5% of the total payment. Of course, everyone knows that this is a fat position, and even those accompanying officials have a lot of oil and water to make. The court will definitely not recommend this, but it is also known that it is completely impossible to eliminate it. Just like in the shopping mall, there are many things to do with respect, so this prerequisite is to ensure the Ming Dynasty.

For example, this batch of goods is worth 100,000 taels of silver. You secretly sold 110,000 taels and wrote 100,000 taels when signing the agreement. As for the 10,000 taels that you divided by yourself and some other officials, or they were given to others as kickbacks. The court will not investigate too much. After all, the qualifying silver given by the court cannot satisfy the consumption when you are abroad. However, if you rashly increase the qualifying silver, it will arouse criticism from other officials, so this aspect is also a certain compensation. Besides, they also represent the Ming Dynasty in the country. They cannot be so poor that they will lose the face of the Ming Dynasty.

As for other agreements, these are also very important things. The Ming Dynasty had also had weapons trading before, but at that time, they used Ming weapons to exchange for thorny war horses. I thought that there was barter at that time, and at that time, it was almost Wang Zhen who had the final say, so his power was very great. Although Jiang Lang is now responsible for the foreign trade of this weapon, Jiang Lang only supervised the project on behalf of the court, and the real implementation was the Ministry of Works. Jiang Lang's role was to ensure the overall situation.

The needle will not be wrong. As for the details, it is the affairs of the Ministry of Works. Of course, the negotiations were handed over to Ouyang Chengxu, and the manufacturing was the Ministry of Works. This was a similar enterprise similar to that of later companies. The factory was only responsible for production and the special department was responsible for sales. However, the payment for the goods was handed over to the Finance Department. As for how to use this money, it was decided and approved by the upper level. The current Ministry of Works is the factory, Ouyang Chengxu and others were salesmen, responsible for sales, and the treasury was the Finance Department. The upper level was naturally the Emperor Jingtai and the imperial court!

Only when the division of labor is clear can each perform its own duties without interfering or conflicting with each other!

However, the time the imperial court gave Ouyang Chengxu was very short, because as the most wanted to buy weapons, William was just living a life of his life. He wanted to fly back immediately with the Ming Dynasty weapons to let them see how powerful the Ming Dynasty weapons were and let them know how important their decisions were. In front of these weapons, the cavalry that the country was proud of was just cannon fodder, and their heavy armor could not block the power of these cannons at all.

From the first day to the evening when Ouyang Chengxu took office, he received a notice from Jiang Lang to meet with foreign envoys in the evening and discuss the itinerary in detail. In other words, in a few days, the formal trade group composed of the Ming Dynasty would go abroad for the first time in the name of a formal country. Their first battle was a distant overseas country. Now the country controlled by two roses, as for the one rose, William knew very well!

That night, Ouyang Chengxu came to the restaurant that Jiang Lang notified, and then met Jiang Lang and another foreign envoy in the private room upstairs. The two were talking, and Ouyang Chengxu was not surprised that Jiang Lang could have a fluent conversation with others!

Seeing Ouyang Chengxu come in, Jiang Lang also stood up and introduced: "This is Lord William, the envoy of Great Britain, and this is Lord Ouyang Chengxu, who is about to lead our dynasty to visit your country!"

Ouyang Chengxu naturally stretched out his hand and said, "Hello, Lord William!|

William seemed very surprised, but he still stretched out his hand and said in surprise: "Please forgive my presumption, you are really young!"

You should know that in his opinion, Jiang Lang was already very young, and his power in the Ming Dynasty was equivalent to that of two dukes in his own country. He did not expect that the envoys they sent were also very young. It seemed that he was not in his twenties, so he could not even think about it!

Jiang Lang naturally had to support Ouyang Chengxu, and smiled and said, "Your Excellency William, you don't know that in our court, we should give up talents in a straightforward manner. In other words, as long as you have talent, you will not care about your age and birth. Although Lord Ouyang is young, my emperor and I think he can completely represent my Ming Dynasty to serve on your country!"

Of course, another reason is that the people in the imperial court who are capable of getting to know in their eyes. To a large extent, their bodies cannot withstand the storm. At the same time, they will not say anything else!

William nodded and said, "Of course I believe it, and of course I promise you that you will have a pleasant journey!"

"Thank you, Lord William!"

Ouyang Chengxu also said at this time, "Please sit down!"

The three of them cooked it, and then the wine and food were delivered continuously, and soon the entire table was piled up. For William, this Ming Dynasty food was his favorite thing!

However, it was not just for dinner tonight. After three rounds of wine, Jiang Lang also planned to get to the point, that is, to make a complete plan for the two parties to negotiate this time, and then report it to the court to let the emperor do the purpose. This mission is not simple. There are many things involved, such as how many people to go out, what things to bring, the list of people to meet, and the purchase of gifts, etc., these preparations alone will take a lot of days. As for the other routes, the places where the supplies are replenished on the way will be handed over to the Chamber of Commerce. With years of experience in sailing, they are very clear about these!

So Jiang Lang said, "Hisser William, Lord Ouyang, the main reason I called you two here today is to discuss some of the next things with you, that is, about the mission!"

When they heard Jiang Lang say this, both of them raised their heads. William was a little excited and finally set off. This was something he had been looking forward to for a long time. Ouyang Chengxu's fellow employees also raised their ears and listened carefully to Jiang Lang's words. Although he is now a fourth-rank official in the court, his knowledge about this mission is basically zero, and Jiang Lang gives him the feeling that he has a wide range of knowledge!

Seeing that both of them looked at him, Jiang Lang continued: "We have two main purposes this time. First, we are to establish diplomatic relations with your country, and at the same time express our sincerity to the King of the Dynasty. We hope that the two countries can establish cooperation and friendly diplomatic relations. Second, we are to bring our weapons and show them our weapons. Then, if we are satisfied, the trade of this weapon will also be mentioned in related projects. However, in order to prevent other countries from feeling uneasy, we are the first in name, and the second is to carry out secretly!"

William nodded, you should know that the relationship between the two dukes of the country is becoming increasingly tense, but it is obvious that the other duke did not send envoys to the Ming Dynasty, which means they have no idea that the Ming weapons are so advanced, and they are immersed in the dream of the powerful knight army of their country. They do not know that this mysterious country in the East has the power to destroy any country in the world. Of course, if they want, of course, this weapon is the sharp blade in their hands. With the help of their sharp blade Duke, it should be invincible!

Ouyang Chengxu also had no objection, and of course he also understood the main purpose of this time. He originally thought it was just for the purpose of exporting weapons, but now he realized that there are many unknown things in it!

Jiang Lang continued: "On the other hand, we plan to send ten large ocean-going ships this time, four of which are warships, two of which are merchant ships, and the other four are supply ships. Although the sea is now peaceful, we must be in case, so we still need to escort the fleet. Please understand this with Your Excellency William!"

Now the Ming caravan no longer needs military escort, but this time it is different, because it is the official visit of the Ming Dynasty. The escort of warships is for protection on the one hand, and it is also for the promotion of the Ming Dynasty’s military strength. After all, they do not have such high-standard warships as their own country. On the other hand, in this era, powerful force represents everything, and to a large extent, it is also to make them look down on the Ming Dynasty!

William pondered for a moment and nodded. Unlike Jiang Lang, he also had his ideas. The Ming Dynasty sent a powerful fleet, which was largely to prove that the Ming Dynasty now has powerful forces, and to prove that his words were true, and to support himself, fully let those people realize the gap between their own country and other countries!

William had no objection, and Jiang Lang nodded and said, "Since Lord William has no objection, the matter has been decided like this. The next step is to discuss the candidates and specific routes. After confirming this, we will give Your Excellency William a detailed list. On the other hand, I also hope that Lord William, you can provide us with a very accurate list. It is best to have the names and positions of some important people in your country, as well as the list of their titles and families, so that we can prepare some gifts!"

The so-called "recitation of etiquette" is also considered a traditional virtue of the Chinese nation. Since we go to meet important people from other countries, this gift cannot be missing at all! But this gift naturally has a difference of importance. Different people naturally have to give different gifts. Moreover, William's country is very different from the Ming Dynasty. Their women are not as unrestrained as the Ming Dynasty women. On the contrary, once there is a gathering of nobles, the woman will definitely not be missing. As their etiquette, it is very normal for the Ming envoys to hold a banquet to welcome him when they arrive. It is said that giving gifts at this banquet is only for the most noble host, but those powerful ministers will go to pay homage to each other next, so this gift is naturally indispensable. If you suddenly find that you didn't bring enough gifts after you arrive, it is a very embarrassing and rude thing, and these gifts are naturally not ordinary goods.

When William heard this, the same was true for this matter, and immediately agreed: "Mr. Wang, there is no problem with your request. I will prepare a list for you immediately after I go back and I will give it to you tomorrow."

Jiang Lang smiled slightly and said, "Your Excellency William, you don't have to worry too much. One or two days at night can be done. The key thing is that we need a very accurate list. So I hope you think it clearer and don't have any omissions!"

What Jiang Lang needs now is not time, accuracy, absolutely accurate, and it is best not to miss the slightest omission.

William nodded and said, "Mr. Wang, please rest assured. I will do this matter, of course there will be no missing places!"

If there is anything missing, it will be a dereliction of duty. If the envoys of the Ming Dynasty leave a bad impression on those adults, it will not be of any benefit to him!

Jiang Lang smiled slightly and said, "thank you, thank you!"
Chapter completed!