Nanming: I can build wonders

"His Royal Highness, let's just say the simplest thing. The average height of Spanish recruits is much lower than before. This generation of Spanish youths grew up eating corn and sweet potatoes. They are often hungry and skinny. Every time I enter the barracks, I don't see it!"

"If the Spanish people don't get a breather, maybe in a few years, we won't get good and strong soldiers..."

Maria Anna's face darkened.

It turned out that the average height of the miserable Spaniards was also dropping sharply due to the increase in taxes over the past ten years, which had already affected the standards for conscription.

Even more frightening is that the fertility rate will also decline.

Because organisms will stop breeding when the living environment is harsh.

Thinking of this, Maria Anna sighed again.

"Then try to reduce the tax burden as much as possible!"

Speaking of this, the old Maria Anna subconsciously grasped the cross hanging on her chest, and muttered to herself, "It's just, does God really care about us?"

"God won't really abandon us, will he?"

As I get older, it is obvious that what I said in my heart, if I don't pay attention, it will come to my mouth.

The Spanish Minister of Finance said firmly: "His Royal Highness, no, God will not abandon us, and justice will definitely defeat evil."

"Although we have reduced military expenditures, Emperor Shinra and the King of Poland are preparing for a counterattack with the assistance of other countries. It won't take long for us to defeat the heretics..."

The ministers on the side clapped their chests and promised.

It seems that he is very confident in his own beliefs.

Seeing this situation, Prince Regent Maria Anna didn't say anything more, she said to the Minister of Finance. "I'll leave the tax cuts to you, and try to reduce the burden on the people!"

"Your Highness, according to the plan, I plan to cut one-third of the tax, and cancel the recovery of the Philippine tax first!"

"very good!"

Maria Anna finally smiled.

She thought to herself: Already one-third less?Presumably, those common people who caused the uprising would be more honest!

In fact, this is equivalent to putting several sticks on different parts of your body, but only paying one stick for medical expenses.

Even if the tax collected by Spain is reduced by one-third, it is not a small amount. What's more, under the long-term high taxation, the people have already been exhausted.

At this moment, Maria Anna seemed to think of something, and the ordinary people asked them to relax, but what about the nobles and middle class?

The empire has raised them for so long, how can they not make some contributions to the empire.

So Maria Anna backhandedly announced the levy of taxes on tobacco, alcohol, tea, and sugar!
Especially the two items of tobacco and alcohol, Maria Anna excused them as indulgences, and only the rich could afford them.

Maria Anna's logic is that since rich people have money to smoke and drink, why can't the empire donate some money?
Therefore, the tax on tobacco, alcohol, tea and sugar will be increased by one-third!

Maria Anna's operation in one wave is tantamount to angering all classes in the country at the same time.

At the other end of Ming Dynasty, Zhu Kezang is still studying how to develop Mexico!
Mexico has a lot of oil, but now Daming doesn't need oil.

Daming still has a small piece of territory in the Persian Gulf, and there is a treasure mountain in the air!
Thinking that Daming had so many oil fields but could not develop them, Zhu Kezang couldn't help feeling a little bit discouraged.

Until Su Laocheng, who had become a Krupp, entered the palace and told him that the hand-cranked machine gun had been successfully researched!
Moreover, Su Laocheng said: There is also a secret weapon, waiting for His Majesty to inspect it.

Hearing this, Emperor Zhu became interested.

"Secret weapon, more interesting than a machine gun?"

"correct!"

Su Laocheng revealed a confident look.

"Your Majesty, do you want to go to the General Mountain Test Site to see this secret weapon?"

"Of course!"

Zhu Kezang was interested, and he nodded heavily.

He was really curious about what kind of weapon could make Su Laocheng mysterious.

Since the emperor wanted to go, Su Laocheng took Zhu Kezang to the test site on Jiangjun Mountain near Yuhuatai the next day.

The first to appear is the hand-cranked Gatling.

"Your Majesty, the first-generation machine gun is very heavy, it weighs a full three hundred catties, and two people are required to carry the machine gun.

The weight of the machine gun is heavier than some small guns.

The operator of the machine gun also needs two people.

One is the machine gunner, who is responsible for pulling the trigger and moving the machine gun to aim at the enemy.

The other person is the feeder, who feeds the machine gun.

At the same time, he needs to shake the handle next to the magazine of the machine gun, and the spring provides the machine gun with the power to rotate the barrel and reload.

Zhu Kezang looked at the machine gun standing beside him. In addition to the most distinctive six barrels, the machine gun has multiple parts. The machine gun is erected on the base, and the barrel can move up, down, left, and right.

The base has two wheels, which can be pulled by horses, and can also be carried by soldiers on complex terrain.

There is an ammunition box under the machine gun, and there is a swinging handle next to the ammunition box.

The machine gun needs a lot of power, and it needs to be fired continuously, so it can only be powered by hand.

When shooting, the crank is manually turned, and the bullets will be automatically loaded into the multi-tube rotating barrel, and each bullet will be fired quickly with the rotation of the barrel to maintain the continuity of firepower.

As long as the handle of the machine gun is rotated once, it can fire 6 rounds of bullets. At that time, it could reach a rate of fire of 200 rounds per minute.

It has to be said that this loading and firing speed is already an "epoch-making" improvement compared with other muskets.

Su Laocheng continued: "Your Majesty, the machine gun consumes bullets very quickly. In order to facilitate the rapid supply of bullets to the machine gun, on the basis of the blueprint you provided, I added cotton cloth to sew small bags, and used the bullets to form an ammunition belt to supply the machine gun with ammunition."

"In addition, I also adjust the spring in the machine gun through gears. The soldiers inside can shake the handle hard. After the spring is fully charged, it will be uncoupled from the gear. Even if the situation is urgent, shaking the handle quickly will not let the spring get stuck."

Su Laocheng has made great progress!
In fact, this is also because Daming's industrial progress has driven the thinking of these technical craftsmen. They are no longer satisfied with imitating the blueprints provided by Zhu Kezang, and they will incorporate their own thinking.

Zhu Kezang couldn't help applauding, "As expected of my Krupp!"

Next, is the testing session.

General Pan Aqiang, who came with him, also came up, and he wanted to try it himself.

Su Laocheng has taught Pan Aqiang for a long time. He has a very bright mind and is particularly sensitive to firearms. He quickly mastered the operation method of machine guns.

Pan Aqiang pulled the trigger, and the six barrels of the machine gun rotated at high speed, forming a fire snake in front of it, and the bullets spewed out quickly.

It was a wonderful experience, Pan Aqiang had a good time, he moved the machine gun slowly, forming a whip made of bullets in front of him, strafing all the targets in front of him.

The machine gun quickly swallowed the ammunition chain, and the target in front kept falling.

Looking at the high-speed moving ammunition chain, you can see that the machine gun has an extremely high rate of fire.

The rattling sound of the machine gun stopped quickly.

The ammunition belt prepared was exhausted in such a short period of time.

Zhu Kezang burst into tears: Can I send an order by telegram to move the machine gun five meters to the left? (end of this chapter)