1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 1742 Buy Buy Buy

The overall weight reduction of the new model rifle is the selling point. Whether this is cutting corners or technological innovation, the real conclusion is probably only in Beks' mind.However, this propaganda theory is obviously effective. After listening to his narration, the audience gave applause and encouragement to this technical improvement.For these buyers, only if the performance of the rifle has been significantly improved, then they will consider spending money on upgrading.If, as Beks claims, the weight reduction of weapons can increase the endurance of individual combat, it can indeed be regarded as an upgrade of weapon performance.

Of course, if it is only such a small improvement, it will definitely not be able to meet the requirements of buyers, especially those countries that have purchased the [-]-type rifle for several years. If they want to make them spend more money to buy an upgraded model, the gun alone The selling point of being half a catty lighter is far from enough to impress them.

"Let's talk about the second feature of this new gun." Bex pointed to the prominent word "precision" on the background: "Why is the weapon favored by the armies of various countries? It can accurately kill enemies at a distance, and it is much easier to train soldiers to use rifles than to master bows and arrows. We cannot quickly train a large number of archers, but after a month of training, even farmers who have never been on the battlefield can use it. The rifles have finished killing the enemy! And the most direct way for us to further improve the efficiency of killing the enemy is to make these rifles more accurate!"

Bex took the gun in his hand and gestured for the aiming action, and then continued: "If you want to explain in detail how to make this gun more accurate, there may be too many terms that you don't understand, so I will briefly explain Alright. We have improved the processing technology of the barrel and sights, which has increased the accuracy of bullets within the effective range by at least [-]%! In other words, this improvement can increase the combat effectiveness of soldiers by [-]%. Everyone, this will make your army Get stronger!"

Can a [-]% increase in shooting accuracy be converted into a [-]% increase in combat effectiveness?Of course, this is a trick deliberately played by Beks to change the concept.Not to mention that there are certain human factors in measuring the degree of improvement in accuracy. Even if the performance of the new gun can really reach the level claimed by Beks, many objective factors that affect combat must also be considered during use, and the improvement of weapon performance cannot be achieved. Simple equates to an increase in combat effectiveness.

Of course, this kind of propaganda method is very effective for the generals in charge of arms procurement in various countries. Isn't the rounding up just like what Bex said?As long as the performance of the new gun is so good, then the purchase is over!

As far as he knew, the rifles that Haihan sold to Daming were almost all old models of Type [-] and Type [-], and the Type [-] was an arquebus with a relatively slow firing frequency.As for the relatively new Type [-] rifles, Daming only bought [-] of them in total, so that the Ministry of War was reluctant to deploy them to the front line, and they all stayed in Beijing. One hundred pieces were handed over to Jingying for use, and the remaining [-] pieces were dismantled and studied by artisans, trying to make imitations by themselves.

Among the countries that are eligible to sit here and participate in the activities today, there are quite a few whose individual equipment level is better than that of Ming Dynasty. For example, An Nanguo has purchased far more than two hundred Type [-] rifles in the past few years.Haihan sold these powerful weapons to other countries, but restricted the export to Ming Dynasty. Fei Cexian believed that this practice was obviously deliberately suppressing the level of armed forces of Ming Dynasty.

In fact, Fei Cexian was not the only one who held this view, and Su Keyi, who was not far from him, also felt the same way.The situation of the Dutch is not as good as that of Ming. At least since last year, Haihan has lifted the ban on selling weapons to the Ming court, but the Dutch are still under stricter sales restrictions.Last year, they spent a lot of money to buy a batch of Haihan warships, which is already the highest treatment that the East India Company has received so far.

Of course, the Xu family from Fujian was not treated by Haihan as an official of the Ming Dynasty, or the treatment received by the Xu family has actually surpassed that of the Ming court.Beginning in 1628, Xu Xinsu established a trade relationship with the Haihan people, and began to purchase arms from Haihan to arm his subordinate troops.And so far, Fujian has been one of the largest buyers of Haihan's weapons exports every year, comparable to An Nanguo.

Xu Xinsu already existed in Fujian like a local emperor, almost monopolizing the import and export trade of the entire coast of Fujian. Money is really just a number to him. This is what Xu Xinsu cares most about right now.

Of course, the most important thing is to stabilize his dominance in Fujian, and Xu Xinsu started his career in business and made his fortune in martial arts. He attaches great importance to the armed level of his troops, and his fortune is almost all based on the equipment and tactics provided by Haihan. Therefore, every year in terms of military purchases, he has always spared no expense, must buy the latest and best weapons, and build his troops into the number one army under the Ming Dynasty.

Spending a lot of money to buy the weapons produced by Haihan, in addition to arming himself, this is also a means to show his loyalty to Haihan in exchange for the other party's protection with force.Xu Xinsu knew very well that although Haihan's military strength was far less than that of Daming, the threat he could pose to Daming was far greater than the enemy in the north.If one day the Ming Dynasty wants to rectify the officialdom in Fujian, then I am afraid that only the Haihan people can protect themselves.

Xu Yuzhuo, who came here on behalf of the Fujian Xu family today, understands the truth well. To be honest, what new weapons the Haihan people will launch is secondary. The most important thing is to let the Haihan people see that the Xu family will continue to do business in the arms business join in.Even if he continues to sell Type [-] rifles today, Xu Yuzhuo will still place an order without hesitation. What's more, judging from Beks' introduction, the new guns seem to have improved performance.

As for the price, Fujian Xu has never been a price-sensitive buyer. He only cares about whether he can buy it, how much he can buy, and when he will deliver it.Xu Yuzhuo has already made up his mind, as long as the price of the old model does not increase too much, then he will order [-] new guns first.

But at this time, Beks' introduction was not over yet. He was talking about the third characteristic of the new gun on the stage—reliability.

"As we all know, due to the complex structure of rifles, it is troublesome to maintain and maintain them during combat. Therefore, the reliability of guns will directly affect the combat effectiveness of troops. And the three-three armored rifles have also made corresponding technical improvements in this regard. The gunpowder formula has doubled the frequency of cleaning the barrel and extended the life of the barrel by a quarter. In addition, we will equip more spare parts for bulk orders, so that faulty rifles do not need to be returned to the factory for repairs. can be repaired.”

The maintenance and repair of gunpowder rifles is of course more complicated than that of cold weapons, and the cost of use is also higher. Buyers will take these factors into consideration when purchasing weapons.And a rifle that no longer requires frequent maintenance and has a longer service life is naturally more suitable for soldiers, which also improves the combat effectiveness of the troops from another aspect.

Although the rifles manufactured by Haihan have outstanding performance, they also have maintenance problems. Now that Beks is promoting reliability as a new selling point, it shows that Haihan Ordnance has indeed worked hard in this regard.However, as for whether the actual use effect can reach the level that Beks said, it probably has to wait for feedback from various countries after buying it back and installing it on a large scale.

"...To sum up, the three-three-type rifle has concentrated the latest manufacturing technology of our country, and its combat performance has been significantly improved. I suggest that everyone should consider equipping this latest rifle in their own country." Beks finally started Make a closing statement for the promotion of this new rifle: "If you haven't touched this rifle, don't worry, we will arrange live ammunition shooting demonstrations in the next few days, and you can also go to the field to experience this kind of rifle. performance of the new rifle."

After finishing speaking, Beks handed the rifle to the assistant, and then spread his hands to the audience below: "About this new rifle, if you have any questions, you can ask me now. Well, General Xu from Fujian has raised his hand, may I ask you?" What is the problem?"

"I just have one question, how much can I buy for this gun?" Xu Yuzhuo is worthy of being the representative of the Xu family in Fujian. He showed his rich and powerful demeanor when he opened his mouth. He didn't ask the unit price of the gun at all, but only asked how much he could buy from Haihan .Based on past experience, he knows that new weapons like this one that have just been launched on the market will generally limit the first batch of orders due to limited production capacity, in order to prevent a single customer from directly monopolizing Haihan's supply.

"General Xu's question really touches my heart. I just like a straightforward buyer like you!" Beks was very happy with Xu Yuzhuo's support, and responded with a smile: "I believe everyone knows that the production capacity of new guns is [-]%. Relatively limited, so we expect only about [-] to [-] triple-A rifles to be produced in the period leading up to the end of the year."

Seeing the expressions of disappointment on the faces of everyone in the audience, Bai Kesi added: "Everyone, don't worry, you can book next year's orders when the autumn fair is held in the second half of the year. Next year's production capacity will definitely be higher than this year's. improved."

"Then, Chief Bai, please tell me directly, how many guns is the limit for each family?" Zheng Ting, as the deputy, asked Bai Kesi on behalf of An Nanguo after receiving Zheng Zuo's nod.Of course, as a loyal supporter of Haihan Military Industry, An Nanguo was not far behind, and would never ask for a price on such an occasion.

"At least [-] pieces to order." Bexby stretched out two fingers, and then left only one index finger upright: "The upper limit is [-] pieces."

In the end, the Portuguese were more practical and raised the question of price: "Can the price continue to be at the level of the Type [-] rifle?"

"Because of the manufacturing cost, the price of the new gun will be a little higher than the Type [-], about [-]% higher... But compared to the improvement in performance, we think this increase is acceptable to everyone. "Bex said the price increase very tactfully, trying not to cause psychological pressure on the buyers.

"Then how do you buy it? Is it still the same as in previous years?" The representative of Champa also asked.

Bai Kesi replied: "Yes, as in previous years, we will still set a base price, and each company will give its own buy-it-yourself price on this basis, and the three companies with the highest prices will give priority to transactions and supply."

Beks has previously said that the number of three-three-armed rifles put on the market this year is limited, and he has also given restrictions on the number of purchases.If there are only [-] guns, it is very likely that the buyers with the top three bids will be divided up directly, and even if there are leftovers, there will not be too many.Therefore, buyers who want to buy this new type of weapon in the first place must offer a competitive price in the next bidding.

It was the first time for Li Xi to participate in this kind of bidding. After asking the staff next to him, he understood the rules.After he figured out the beauty of it, he couldn't help admiring the Haihan people's business acumen. They could come up with such a way to balance the arms race among countries, and at the same time sell cheap weapons at a higher price.

However, North Korea only participated in it as an observation this time, and would not bid directly, otherwise Li Xi would really like to try to operate it himself.He knows the price of Type [-] rifles. Due to the limited military expenditure of North Korea, when buying weapons from Haihan last year, they still chose matchlock guns as the main weapon, while the more advanced Type [-] rifles only bought five Ten go back.The price of the Type [-]A rifle was still more than [-]% higher, and in addition to the fact that there would be a premium in the bidding process, Li Xi felt that in the end it would have to be more than [-]% more expensive than the Type [-] before the transaction could be completed.And such a price is indeed a bit unbearable for the poorer North Korea.

The subsequent bidding was actually not as intense as Li Xi imagined, and it could even be said to be calm.The most generous sellers are still Fujian Xu's and An Nanguo's, each with an order of [-] bottles.The third place in the bidding was not the Portuguese as everyone expected, but the Champa Kingdom, which has only gradually gained international status in the South China Sea in recent years.

The Portuguese Thomas was obviously a little surprised by Champa's active performance. He didn't expect that this kind of competition that he was determined to win would lose to the Champa, and he secretly had a high opinion of the country's financial resources.

But what he didn't know was that it was rare for the Champas to be generous, and there was actually something behind them.Haihan has reached an agreement with the royal family of Champa through telegrams. The Champa Kingdom will reject the Dutch's request for food purchases, and Haihan will give Champa some compensation for the military purchases during the National Day.In other words, the price that Champa offered in the bidding would actually receive a special discount from Haihan at the time of settlement. The secret transaction was abruptly squeezed out.

(End of this chapter)