Cutting 1719

Chapter 288 New Firearms
Contrary to what many people imagined, the number of foreigners during the Kangxi and Yongnian years was actually not small. In the current Qing Dynasty, there are tens of thousands of Westerners. Even the Qintian Supervisor in the Qing Dynasty often let foreigners come. Serving as a foreign supervisor is almost a major feature of the Qing Dynasty.

The most famous of these is Tang Ruowang, who came to China as early as the Ming Dynasty, and later experienced the entry of the Qing Dynasty into the customs. He was also appreciated by Emperor Shunzhi, and became the first foreign supervisor of Qintianjian in the Qing Dynasty.

At that time, Tang Ruowang also became the master of Shunzhi, and allowed Tang Ruowang to submit memorials at any time, and also exempted him from the etiquette of kneeling and worshiping. He also gave Tang Ruowang the title of "Teacher Tongxuan", which can be said to be very valuable.

Because of this reason, almost all the later Qintian Supervisors were held by foreigners. During the Kangxi period, Belgian missionary Nan Huairen came to China and served as the Qintian Supervisor of Kangxi.Later, after Nan Huairen passed away, the position of Qintian Supervisor fell to the German Dai Jinxian.

This bearded German has a deep research on astronomy, and compiled a book "Zodiac General Star Atlas" a few years ago. The content is very detailed and accurate, so he was also appreciated by Yongzheng.

"The emperor Sheng'an, long live the emperor, long live, long live!"

Dai Jinxian didn't have the so-called self-esteem at all, just lay down on the ground and kowtowed to the emperor three times and nine times. He has been in China for many years, and now he can speak Chinese fluently.

Yongzheng had a smile on his face, and said softly: "Dai Jinxian, after I finish my government affairs every day, I will also look through your "Zodiac General Star Atlas". Compared with "Zhi", it is much more detailed."

When Dai Jinxian heard Yongzheng mentioning his pride, he burst into laughter immediately, and then said loudly: "Your Majesty, this "Zodiac General Star Atlas" compiled by me is much better than the "Lingtai Yi Xiangzhi" back then." The two stars of 'Nan Zeng San' and 'Nan Zeng Si' are indeed more accurate than Nan Huairen's book."

Prince Yi Yunxiang, who was following him, frowned. He was quite familiar with Nan Huairen, and he had studied with Nan Huairen when he was young. Seeing that this Westerner is so rude now, he felt a little displeased. comfortable.

"In this way, I should take a good look at Mr. Dai's book."

Hearing the irony in Yunxiang's words, ordinary people can naturally feel it, but no matter how good Dai Jinxian's Chinese is, he is still a foreigner at heart, so naturally he didn't notice Yunxiang's irony, and kept saying thank.

This time, Yun Xiang had nothing to say, and he stopped talking to this ignorant Westerner.

Yongzheng watched coldly, but smiled lightly, "Master Dai is here as an interpreter, let's go and have a look first."

The two Westerners on the side didn't understand Chinese, but they listened helplessly to the people talking for a long time, and couldn't intervene.When he was depressed, Dai Jinxian heard what Yongzheng said, and immediately said it in Portuguese, and the two of them understood it, and said it quickly.

Dai Jinxian quickly translated to Yongzheng: "They said that they should take the emperor to see the muskets first, and then the cannons."

These two Westerners were both Frenchmen and proficient in guns, so they were recommended by Dai Jinxian to Yongzheng and became the supervisors of the firearms battalion, which can be regarded as eating the emperor's food.

Yongzheng was noncommittal, with a faint smile on his face, and motioned for the other party to lead the way.

Everyone then went to the firearms battalion review ground, which is the daily training ground of the firearms battalion, so many straw figures were tied inside as targets, and some of the targets were still wearing iron armor, covered with various bullet marks, which looked like long-term training The result left behind seems to be quite similar.

After Yongzheng arrived, Dai Jinxian walked over with a beautifully decorated matchlock gun. From the appearance, it was much more delicate than ordinary shotguns, and it was extraordinary at first glance.

Yongzheng took the shotgun, but frowned slightly when he saw the matchlock on it. Although he had never been on a battlefield, he knew that Chu Ni's guns had no matchlock, and the rate of fire was much faster. The musket that comes out is still made of matchlock technology, which shows that there is not much difference in essence.

Dai Jinxian saw the subtle expression on Yongzheng's face, and immediately explained: "Your Majesty, although flintlock guns are the most advanced muskets in Europe today, flintlock guns are not stable enough and have many faults. Arquebus."

Yongzheng snorted coldly, "The flintlock gun is unstable? But I see that the flintlock gun used by Chu Ni is quite stable." Thinking about spending so much money, the matchlock gun was finally made. , This made Yongzheng feel a little disappointed, and he even began to wonder if he was wrong.

In fact, last year, when Yongzheng was still the fourth prince and was in charge of the firearms battalion, someone had already recommended Dai Zi to build firearms.

But Dai Zi is already over 70 years old, old and frail, but it is difficult to return to the capital from Shengjing.In addition, Dai Zi was framed by Nan Huairen back then, and was labeled as "fornicating with the East", so he was exiled to Shengjing by Kangxi.

In this case, if Prince Yong, who was still only the prince, wanted to use Dai Zi, he would have to take the risk of the emperor's wrath to summon him. After some consideration, Yongzheng chose to give up this idea and appointed these Westerners as the supervisors of the firearms battalion.

The situation on the field was rather serious at this time, and even the Francobot standing by seemed to feel something was wrong. They looked at each other, and then they took the initiative to speak, chattering about Francophone.

Dai Jinxian then translated: "Your Majesty, only countries in Europe have flintlock guns. This kind of firearm is mainly ignited by the sparks generated by the impact of flint on the hammer. The stability is not high. His Majesty's Mushiket matchlock gun is quite powerful, and it has been equipped throughout Europe."

If these words were heard by an insider, they would laugh half to death. However, for Yongzheng, it was difficult to tell whether it was true or not. Blow, and finally fell on paper.

As a whistle sounded, twenty soldiers of the Qing army walked to the review field, holding a mushket matchlock gun, and then lit the matchlock. With a burst of white smoke rising, the matchlock gun fired a burst of fire Deafening sound.

In the smog, the straw figurines placed a hundred steps away had already been pierced with many holes, and even the iron armor on some straw figurines was completely penetrated.

This power made Yongzheng very happy, so he gave up his prejudice, picked up the Mushiket matchlock gun again, and then loaded the ammo by himself, then aimed at the straw man in the distance, and then lit the matchlock .

"Boom—" This sound was more steady and powerful than the shotgun, and it shocked Yongzheng a bit, but he was very happy in his heart, this thing is much more powerful than the shotgun.

Although Yongzheng still didn't know how powerful the muskets of the Fuhan army were, he had already determined at this time that the Mushiket matchlock gun should be much stronger than the muskets of the Fuhan army.

"This spear is very powerful and very good. It is said that one of the elite of Chu Nizhong is used to wearing heavy armor, and the short bird gun can't penetrate. In the past, it was usually better to draw the enemy's actions and focus on his hands and eyes. But today's The musket made by him is so powerful that it can pierce through iron armor, and it is not inferior to Chu Ni."

"It's just that the name of this gun is hard to say." Yongzheng looked a little embarrassed, and simply said softly: "Since the muzzle of this gun is shaped like an eagle's beak, let's call it an eagle's mouth gun."

In fact, Yongzheng is still unclear, he was actually fooled by these Westerners, this gun is indeed widely equipped in Europe, but it is basically on the verge of being eliminated, and flintlock technology has been popularized in Europe For more than 100 years, it's not really something inaccessible.

It's just that although these two Westerners knew it in their hearts, they still didn't want to just hand over the effort of suppressing the bottom of the box. After all, they also knew in their hearts that if they took out their old background so quickly, how would they slaughter the big family in the future?
The greed of the people is like this. They got tens of thousands of taels of silver from the Qing court, but they only made one kind of matchlock gun, so naturally they could get more silver in the future.

However, since there was already an example of guns, Yongzheng also had a bit of desire for guns, but when he actually saw the guns, he was greatly disappointed.

It turns out that the artillery that the two Westerners tossed out is actually a replica of the heavy-duty mother-child artillery. Speaking of which, the Qing army was equipped with heavy-duty mother-child artillery a few years ago. They are not very unfamiliar with this weapon, so even Yongzheng also saw it. Get out of the tricks.

The two Frangbots looked at each other, and then started chattering again.

"Your Majesty, although the shape of this cannon is the same as that of a heavy-duty cannon, the quality and range of the cannon have been greatly improved, and it will no longer be as easy to explode as before."

Yongzheng sighed. He knew that it was unrealistic to catch up with the Fuhan army's firearms all at once, but now he found that even this little improvement has become so difficult. How can he compete with the Fuhan army in the future?
Then I started to test the cannons. After bursts of rumbling cannons, I saw that the distance shot by those projectiles was indeed about twice as high as that of the current Qing army's mother and child cannons. In addition, the artillery did not explode. , This relieved Yongzheng's disappointment a lot, which is better than nothing.

Thinking of this, Yongzheng hurriedly asked: "What is the cost of the eagle-billed gun and this heavy-duty cannon?"

After Dai Jinxian translated it, it took a while to translate it back, but his forehead was sweating.

"To His Majesty the Great Emperor, the cost of this eagle-billed blunderbuss is 45 taels of silver, and the cost of this heavy-duty cannon is about 3000 taels of silver."

The price was so high that Dai Jinxian felt it was an exaggeration, but for Yongzheng and the officials of the Qing Dynasty who were present, it felt that it was an acceptable price.The reason is simple. Their original shotguns and sub-cannons were not cheap, and a shotgun cost 20 taels of silver at every turn.

Of course, this is also based on the fact that Yongzheng didn't know the price of the Fuhan Army's firearms. If he knew that the current price of a Hanyang-made flintlock gun in the Fuhan Army was only ten taels, his eyes would pop out.The reasons for this, besides the technology itself, are more insignificant.

For Yongzheng at this time, he has repeatedly reduced the cost of going to the palace, in order to re-establish a strong army of the Qing Dynasty, so as to achieve a decisive battle with the Fuhan army in the future, with this idea After that, I now have a plan in my heart.

From the military aircraft department to the formation and training of the new army, when Yongzheng was carrying out the so-called reforms in full swing, Prince Lian Yunxu presented a booklet and wanted to come to meet the saint.

When Yongzheng had done such great things, he was very proud of himself, so he naturally stopped blocking Yunhu and let him go directly to Dong Nuan Pavilion to face the saint.

After Yunhu entered the main hall, she looked at her nose with her eyes and her heart with her nose. She knelt down on the ground and kowtowed a few times before she said softly: "Your slave, Yunhu, kowtowed to the emperor."

Yongzheng sat on the brocade couch above, but he was in a good mood. After glancing at Yunhu, there was a smile on his face, and he didn't know if it was sarcasm or sincerity.

Yunhu kowtowed again, and said softly: "Thanks to the emperor's favor, I promoted this slave to be a military officer, but the slave has been weak and weak all these years, depressed and restless. I am really afraid that I will miss the emperor's important event, and I am even more afraid that I will miss it." Qing, I implore the emperor to choose another worthy person."

In this matter, Yunhu can see clearly, from the so-called prime minister at the beginning, to the military plane now, it seems that he was promoted by Yongzheng, but in fact he was chained in front of his eyes by Yongzheng. He will follow the cause of the military and state affairs to violently attack himself, but in the end he is the one who suffers.

But what Yunhu didn't expect was that Yongzheng took advantage of his resignation at this time, and once again angered himself severely.

"The former Emperor Kao entrusted the country to me, but he also entrusted it to all the brothers. I think you all need to reflect on yourself, instead of pushing back and forth. What do you think in your heart?" , but it is a gloomy murderous intent.

Yunhu was full of grief but couldn't express it, so she knelt down and kowtowed to confess her guilt.

"Hmph, that's all. I really can't bear to be harsh on you. You go home to study by yourself, and you must never go out of the house again." Substantial house arrest.

Yunhu breathed a sigh of relief, and then chose to accept the decree to thank him, but when he knelt down to thank him, he swore in his heart that no amount of revenge would be avenged when the event was settled.

After Yunhu left, Yongzheng could no longer suppress the pride in his heart, and raised his eyes to look at the land in the south of the Yangtze River on the map. There was a complex look in his eyes, and the internal troubles were calmed down for a while, so the external humiliation naturally seemed a little dazzling up.

Fu Han army, Ning Yu.Just wait, wait until I finish sorting out the country, and then I will come to a showdown with you at that time!
(End of this chapter)