Take the warehouse back to the end of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 215 Imitation of 56 and a half flintlock guns

"My lord, I want to introduce you to a powerful man."

Early the next morning, Liu Wenzhong came directly to Zhao Wen's study.

He looked at Zhao Wen who was lying on the desk drawing the planning map of Xuan Town, and said slowly.

Zhao Wen put down the charcoal pencil in his hand, and looked at Liu Wenzhong with a puzzled expression, "A powerful man? What a powerful man?"

"My lord, the powerful man I want to introduce to you is not ordinary. This powerful man is named Zhang Helang. He used to work in the household department. He is very capable. Especially his financial management ability, even the household All ministers have to praise a few words.

If it wasn't for His Majesty's request to investigate the death of the former emperor, he would at least be able to become the servant of the household department now.Isn't your lord going to open a bank now?In my opinion, our bank is in great need of such talents. "

Liu Wenzhong walked slowly in front of Zhao Wen and explained in detail for Zhao Wen.

Zhao Wen packed up all the things on the desk, leaned back on the chair, and asked in a deep voice, "Is this person as powerful as you said?"

"My lord, I don't care if it's great or not. You'll know it when you see it?" Liu Wenzhong shook his goose feather fan and smiled slightly.

"Okay then, I'll see you then. How about this, you take him to the living room first, and I'll go there right away."

Zhao Wen stood up from the chair and stretched.

After a while, Zhao Wen came to the living room.

He looked at Zhang Helang who was sitting in the hall respectfully, and said loudly, "Are you the one Mr. Liu recommended to me?"

Zhang Helang looked at Zhao Wen who walked in, and hurriedly stood up from his chair, and saluted, "I have seen Mr. Chief Soldier!"

Zhao Wen waved his hand casually and said, "You don't have to be polite, just sit down."

Zhao Wen sat in the main seat, looked at Zhang Helang sitting on the chair, and said to the maids beside him, "Come here, serve tea."

After a short while, the maid brought the hot tea up.

Holding the teacup, Zhao Wen took a sip, and then asked slowly, "I heard that you used to work in the household department. I would like to ask you, what do you think of such things as ticket numbers?"

Zhang Helang drank the tea on the first floor and pondered for a while, "My lord, I don't know what to say about this ticket number. Anyway, I think this ticket number should be under the control of the imperial court, and there are as few private things as possible. "

Zhao Wen put down his teacup and asked, "Why do you think so? Why should this ticket number be managed by the imperial court while the private sector can have as few as possible?"

"My lord, the ticket number is mainly a department for storing depositors' money. At the same time, it also has the function of lending, and after having a ticket number, those businessmen who go to other places do not need to bring a large amount of silver, they only need to bring the ticket number to issue The flying money, after arriving at the place, can be exchanged at the local ticket number.

However, I always feel that the function of this ticket number should not be limited to this. "

Zhang Helang looked at Zhao Wen and said slowly.

"Why do you think that the function of this ticket number should not only be this? What do you think? This ticket number has more functions than that, so what else can it have?" Zhao Wen asked.

To be honest, in this era, people who can say such things must not be the kind of scholars who die hard.It is not common to have such insight.

"My lord, have you ever wondered why my Daming banknotes decayed so quickly? During the Hongwu period, Yitongbao banknotes could be used as consistent copper coins.

During the Yongle period, it could still be used as a half guan.But in the years of Hongzhi and Zhengde, the Yiguanbao banknotes were not even worth fifty copper coins.

The common people did not recognize the treasure banknotes at all, so that the treasure banknotes shrank so badly that the imperial court had to stop issuing them.By the time of Wanli, the treasure banknotes were directly replaced, and the silver system was implemented.

In my opinion, the reason why the value of treasure banknotes has dropped so much is because treasure banknotes are just treasure banknotes, and they cannot be used as silver, that is, they are not linked to silver.

At that time, Chen Ying, Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, promoted the banknote salt method, which was to link treasure banknotes with table salt, so as to control the price drop of treasure banknotes.It's a pity that this can only slow down the shrinking speed of the treasure banknotes, but cannot prevent the treasure banknotes from falling in value. "

As soon as Zhang Helang mentioned his field of expertise, he talked eloquently and non-stop.

Zhao Wen looked at the eloquent Zhang Helang, his eyes brightened.

This is a talent, this really is a talent.

To be able to recognize the reasons for the depreciation of banknotes is really worthy of serving in the Ministry of Accounts.

In fact, it is not that no one has noticed this aspect during the long period of time when the Daming Treasure banknotes have shrunk.

It's that these people think too simply. These people think that the reason why the treasure banknotes have shrunk so severely is because the circulation of treasure banknotes is too large.As the saying goes, rare things are more expensive, and precious banknotes are cheap because of their large circulation.

Of course, this is only the superficial reason.The deeper reason is that the banknotes are not linked to silver, so they have no value in themselves.Just because the court enforced it.

At the beginning of the issuance, the imperial court was able to control the speed, but later on, the imperial court issued less and less treasured banknotes, and the treasured banknotes became less and less valuable.

Zhao Wen looked at Zhang Helang and expressed his vision for the bank.

Zhang Helang fell into deep thought when he heard Zhao Wen's words.

After a while, he looked at Zhao Wen with bright eyes. "My lord, your method is simply wonderful. If your method could have appeared more than 100 years earlier, then my Daming's treasure banknotes would not have shrunk so badly, and even stopped issuing them directly later.

If this bank really has these functions, it only needs to link the silver with the bank note.As long as the people trust the bank notes, we only need to issue bank notes in the future.Even if there is not enough silver, as long as the issuance speed is grasped, it is completely possible. "

"Yes, as long as you grasp the speed, you can do it. However, at present, I don't want to issue such banknotes. The reason is that the whole world is scared by the Daming Banknotes. The sudden issuance of banknotes again will inevitably make people Associate it with treasure notes.

So, I thought about casting the silver deposited by depositors into silver coins. At that time, each silver coin will weigh one or two, seven cents for silver, and three cents for copper and lead.In this way, wouldn't it mean that every silver coin earned three cents of silver. "Zhao Wen said slowly.

Zhang Helang looked at Zhao Wen with shock in his eyes.

Originally, I thought that I had been immersed in this way for decades, and I couldn't find anyone who knew better than me in the entire Daming territory. But when I saw Zhao Wen today, I realized that I was wrong.

What I have pondered over most of my life is not as good as a general soldier in his 20s.

Zhao Wendao: "As long as the silver coins are promoted, when the time is right, paper money can be promoted."

"My lord, this is a good idea. I'm sure that when the people of Ming Dynasty accept silver coins, they will accept banknotes.

When first issuing banknotes, you can first issue as many banknotes as there are silver coins.After the banknotes are completely trusted by the people, they can be issued more, or even without silver, as long as the speed of issuance can be grasped, then it will be no problem to rely solely on banknotes in the future. "Zhang Helang said slowly.

"Haha, you are not bad, you are a real talent."

Zhao Wen looked at Zhang Helang with a smile on his face, and said slowly: "Well, you can be the principal of this bank. I will give you 20 taels of silver per month. What do you think? And, This is just a basic salary, as long as you do a good job, you will get a bonus every month. At the same time, I will give you a house in Xuanzhen City. "

"Thank you sir."

Zhang Helang hurriedly stood up and saluted Zhao Wen.

……

Not long after Zhang Helang left, Li Xiaosan rushed in.

He looked at Zhao Wen, cupped his hands and said, "My lord, a man named Sun Yuanhua came outside, and he said he wanted to see you."

"Sun Yuanhua? Why did he come here? Isn't he the governor of Denglai? He is not his governor in Dengzhou, why did he come to me?"

Zhao Wen stood up from the chair, muttered a few words, and then walked outside.

Sun Yuanhua stood at the gate of the General Military Mansion, with two carriages behind him.

The carriage is filled with his salute and his family.

As soon as Zhao Wen walked out of the General Military Mansion, he saw Sun Yuanhua standing beside the carriage.

Zhao Wen rushed to meet him, cupped his hands and said, "Why did Master Sun come to my place?"

Sun Yuanhua bowed back and said with a smile: "I have already resigned, and now I have nowhere to go. I want to make a living with you. I wonder if you would like to take me in?"

"What are you talking about? Whether you take it in or not, you can just treat this place as your home. If I, Zhao Wen, eat by mouthful, I will eat by mouthful."

Zhao Wen looked at the smiling Sun Yuanhua and said with a slight smile.

"Okay, Mr. Sun, go in first. I'll arrange for someone to move your luggage for you, and I'll take care of your family as well. You can stay with me first."

Zhao Wen called a few guards over, and invited Sun Yuanhua's luggage and Sun Yuanhua's family into the general's mansion.

"Please!"

Zhao Wen stretched out his right hand and welcomed Sun Yuanhua in.

"I want to congratulate you on being promoted to the chief soldier of Xuan Town first. It's been a long time since I saw you. You have already been promoted from a garrison to a chief soldier of a town, and you are also the chief soldier of the hanging seal. You have jumped several levels in a row."

Sun Yuanhua sat on a chair in the hall and said with a smile on his face.

Zhao Wen waved his hand and said with a smile: "Mr. Sun, it's just a small contribution, plus His Majesty's favor. It's not worth mentioning, it's not worth mentioning."

"Haha, if you are not worth mentioning, will I, a resigned person, still be alive? By the way, what do you think this is?"

Sun Yuanhua put the box he was carrying on the table and slowly opened it.

From the moment he entered the door, Zhao Wen saw Sun Yuanhua carrying a wooden box.

He thought the wooden box contained Sun Yuanhua's luggage, so he didn't ask.

"What's in your box? Why is it so mysterious?" Zhao Wen stood up and asked curiously.

"Don't you know if you come over and have a look?" Sun Yuanhua pointed to the box and said to Zhao Wen.

"Then I have to take a good look at it, what kind of treasure is worth carrying by your body."

Zhao Wen stood up from the chair and walked to Sun Yuanhua's side.

He craned his neck and looked towards the box.

I don’t know if I don’t read it, but I’m startled when I see it.

I saw a gun inside the box that looked similar to the 56 and a half, but this gun looked much bigger and simpler than the 56 and a half.

Especially with this thick barrel, Zhao Wen even felt that with such a big gun, the soldiers might not be able to fire a few shots, so they would have to stop and rest for a long time.

Sun Yuanhua pointed to the gun in the box, and said slowly: "I copied the firecracker here based on the firecracker you left me. It's just that the firecracker you left me is too precise, and I can't imitate it." It came out exactly the same, but a simple imitation came out.

But don't look at him, it looks ugly, but the power of this firecracker is not small.The effective range of this firecracker is more than 100 steps. Although the range is not as good as the firecracker you left me, it is still much better than ordinary firecrackers. "

"What? Your firecracker can hit more than 100 steps? This is impossible, right?"

In the era of black powder, except for rifled flintlock guns, the effective range of other smoothbore guns basically did not exceed sixty steps.Beyond sixty steps, it depends on luck.

Now when Zhao Wen heard Sun Yuanhua say that this gun can shoot more than 100 steps, he couldn't react for a while.

Sun Yuanhua looked at Zhao Wen's shocked expression, and said, "I have borrowed a lot of ideas from your firecracker for this firecracker. For example, the lead fired by your firecracker is made of copper. The charge is together, which can save a lot of time when firing.

Although my gun can't fire continuously like yours, its rate of fire is not small.I really can't make copper lead, but I found another way to make lead wrapped in paper.

At the same time, I also engraved several rifling lines in the barrel of the firecracker.With these riflings, my gun can hit far and accurately. "

Sun Yuanhua picked up the firecracker from the box, and took out a paper bullet from it.

He stuffed the paper shell into the firecracker, "Although the paper lead is not made of brass, it is similar to your lead."

Zhao Wen took the firecracker from Sun Yuanhua and examined it carefully.

Although this gun is not as advanced as the 56 and a half, it even looks extremely rough and simple, but it is much better than the matchlock guns of this era.And this gun is actually loaded from the rear.

Looking at the gun, Zhao Wen couldn't help thinking of the first firearm in history to use paper shells.

That is the Dresser M1835 invented by Prussia in 1841. Sun Yuanhua's gun is similar to that gun.

Although Sun Yuanhua's gun still has the iconic hammer of the flintlock gun, without exception, this gun is definitely a cross-age gun.

"How do you fire this firecracker? What's the rate of fire?" Zhao Wen weighed the gun. The gun was so heavy that Zhao Wen felt his arms ache after holding it for a while.

I don't know what kind of strength Sun Yuanhua relied on to carry the gun for such a long time with his small body.

Sun Yuanhua said with some embarrassment: "It's not difficult to fire, but it's a bit slow. After the lead in the paper shell is put in, it will be pierced by a small hook inside, so that the gunpowder in the paper shell will be led to the charge in the rear. in the room.

Then break the hammer apart and pull the trigger.The hammer is made of flint. When the flint hits the charge chamber, it will ignite the gunpowder in the charge chamber, thereby igniting the gunpowder in the front paper shell lead, and then it can be fired.

But there is another problem with this firecracker, that is, it will leak air. I don't know how your firecracker is made, but it can be so airtight.But my gun is not good, no matter how skilled the craftsman is, it will still leak air.If there is no leak, I can guarantee that this firecracker can hit more than 200 steps. "

(End of this chapter)