Ma'am help, the general is in trouble again

Chapter 270 Ordnance Supervision ([-])
Zheng Quchi was sincerely disappointed with the current handicraft industry in Ye State, but found that he had not received any feedback or response.

She tilted her umbrella and looked up, only to see the two guards looking at her with mosquito-repellent incense eyes after listening to her words, as if they didn't understand the mystery she was talking about.

The guards were engaged in security work, and they did not take part in the weapons manufacturing business.

"Is this gun standard in the official system, or is it exclusive to your guards?" Zheng Quchi asked curiously.

Even if the people in the government use these to scare thieves and thieves, the border guards can't be treated like this, right?
The guards understood it now, but after they understood it, they darkened their faces and said angrily and impatiently: "What kind of lunatic are you talking nonsense about here? If you don't want to leave, then we will just I can take action now.”

Seeing that they regarded him as a suspicious person, Zheng Huhu stepped forward to arrest him. Zheng Quchi held an umbrella and took two steps back. He quickly took out the gold seal from his sleeve pocket to identify himself, but did not find it. The guard was scolded by a voice.

"stop!"

The guard stood under the eaves and was about to go down the steps. When he heard this, he immediately turned around. When he saw the visitor, he immediately put away his anger, stood at attention and saluted the visitor respectfully: "Beitang Iron Officer."

"Well, you two stay on guard and I'll handle this matter."

The guards looked at each other in confusion. Although they didn't know why, they still stepped aside obediently.

Zheng Quchi, who was halfway through taking out the bag, stopped and looked at the person walking towards her.

He must be around 40 or [-] years old. He is not very tall, short and fat, with a round face, dark skin, a few folds on his eyelids, green and black under his eyes, and his eyes look like they are squinting. It's not normal, it's like the kind of lack of energy that makes you tired from staying up late all year round.

Iron official, what kind of official is he? An official who forges iron?
Zheng Quchi guessed in his heart.

"Madam, what did you just say?"

He wasn't afraid of getting caught in the rain. Although the rain was much lighter now, he didn't mind the drizzle falling like fine threads on his hair and clothes, slowly soaking them.

"Me? What did you just say?"

"You said..." Bei Tangmu has a good memory, so he simply repeated what she said before: "The ratio of the blade to the handle is wrong. The angle of the blade refraction shows that it is not sharp enough, and although it is blunt, it is not hard enough. The gun has a wooden body and lacks strength and toughness. It cannot achieve both sprinting and lethality at the same time. Can't we choose a better material to make the gun body?"

After saying that, he tried his best to look at her with his narrowed eyes, as if waiting for her to continue to say one, five, ten.

Zheng Quchi turned the umbrella handle in a circle, but instead of following his idea, he asked: "Why don't you answer me first? Other countries have abandoned this kind of wooden gun shaft long ago. It is still ordinary wood. At the end, it should be made of thick wood." Wood or composite wood. I heard that Hong Shengguo's gun body uses a composite material. It uses tendon wood as the core, then wraps it with bamboo slices, and then tightly wraps a layer of copper wire rattan. , to ensure the flexibility of the rod, and finally painted with raw lacquer, but why is the one used in Ye State so primitive?"

Beitang Mu was amazed when he heard that she spoke so clearly about the manufacturing of the spear. This Hongsheng Kingdom's spear was indeed famous in the Seven Kingdoms, but he didn't expect that she not only told the key tips in one sentence, but also her production process. The craftsmanship is precious.

"... Madam, I don't know that Hong Shengguo's spear requires overloaded arm strength. Although our wooden spear is primitive and simple, it can be faster and lighter for sprinting." He could only talk nonsense to save the respect of himself and his colleagues. .

It can’t be said that we, the weapon makers of Ye country, have little experience and no inspiration, so we can’t make such excellent and amazing weapons as other countries, right?

Zheng Quchi shook his head: "I think this idea is wrong. Lightness should not be the first consideration for a long-handled weapon. The priority for a long-handled weapon should be how to make the attack range wider. When a long-handled weapon sprints, it will The damage is concentrated on the tip of the spear, so sharpness can have excellent armor-piercing capabilities, and its penetrating power and killing power are the most important on the battlefield."

Naturally, the weapons used by the army and those used by ordinary people cannot be considered in the same way. The former should focus on participating in large-scale wars such as going to the battlefield, while the latter simply need a powerful and convenient weapon. Weapons carried.

This brings up the point of the spear again... After silently writing down the key points she mentioned in making Hongshengguo's spears, Beitang Mu said with a wry smile: "What Madam said is insightful, but unfortunately it does not meet the requirements of our Yeguo." actual."

"How to say?"

"As the saying goes, it's hard to make a meal without rice. The iron blocks forged from the bronze, wrought iron and copper, white tin, black tin (lead) and other minerals we can currently use always fail to meet expectations, or they are hard enough, but they cannot Keep it sharp, otherwise it will break easily..."

She knew this in Fu County. The smelting technology in Ye State is still relatively new at present, but she can temporarily solve this problem by using the solid decarburization of cast iron into steel method. The advantage of this method is that it can produce steel with a huge output. She can then Use the steel filling method to achieve higher quality improvement.

"anything else?"

"...Our weapons supervisors are currently seriously short of capable people. Some old people want to make a suitable gun suitable for the battlefield. It is very difficult. In addition to learning from some other countries' sharp weapons to upgrade them, if we slowly It’s really too difficult to learn and research, and most of the people in the Ordnance Supervision are just dawdling.”

Oh, in addition to technical problems, there are also talent problems, and even the problem of fishing at work. It sounds like this weapons supervisor is indeed a mess.

"Can I go in and take a look?" she asked.

Beitang Mu glanced at her, and then suddenly bowed: "Madam General, may I ask if you have the Golden Seal of the Three Armies?"

The Ordnance Supervision is subordinate to the Shaofu. It is not only a first-level arsenal, a workshop specialized in manufacturing weapons, but also a subordinate unit of the central garrison. It is needless to mention how important it is. It must either have an imperial edict from the Holy One or have the golden seal of the three armies. Release.

Zheng Quchi raised his eyebrows. No wonder he was willing to talk to her about so many things. It turned out that he knew her identity early on.

"Is this what you said?"

She held up a gold seal in her hand. When Bei Tang Mu looked up, his eyes widened. He didn't expect that she really had one...

After Beitang Mu glanced at her again, he stopped talking nonsense and turned sideways and said: "General's wife, please."

How come the general's wife has the golden seal of the three armies? Wasn't this something that King Ye gave to His Highness the Crown Prince?This matter has been reported to the Ministry of War. From this point of view, it can only prove that His Royal Highness has a good relationship with the general's wife... After some thought, Beitang Mu became more and more polite to Zheng Quchite and did not dare to neglect him.

As soon as he entered the Ordnance Supervision, Beitang Mu introduced to Zheng Quchi, who was not very familiar with the inside of the Ordnance Supervision, that in the Ordnance Supervision there were Left and Right Shang Fang, who were in charge of manufacturing weapons, and there were East and South Railway Officers, who were in charge of craftsmen and apprentices. Drum casting and weapons supervision are divided into two parts, one is the courtyard, and the other is the military warehouse. The former manufactures various types of military weapons such as bows, arrows, swords, and armor, and then all of them are filled in the latter's military warehouse.

After listening to his explanation, Zheng Quchi had an idea: "Can you go to the military depot first?"

"of course."

Led by an insider, Zheng Quchi's itinerary could be described as "taking the wind to get the wind". No one came forward to ask to stop them, and they arrived at the military warehouse smoothly.

Zheng Quchi took a long breath, it was really grandma Liu's first experience in the Grand View Garden.As a weapons storage center, the scale of the military warehouse is undoubtedly huge. After the guard pushed open the thick copper-nailed door, Zheng Quchi took a look and couldn't help but exclaimed: "Is this, so big?"

Beitang Mu nodded, followed her step by step, and introduced her: "The military warehouse is divided into east and north courtyards, and there are weapons warehouses in both the east and north courtyards. There are ten categories of rooms in the warehouse, and each warehouse in the military warehouse is stored according to classification. weapon……"

Zheng Quchi walked into the east courtyard first. She saw large independent rooms, which were military warehouses. The construction method of these warehouses, the size of the ramming nests, and the thickness of the ramming layers were all very particular.

Different from the thin buildings she usually sees outside, the walls of these warehouses are generally wide and thick. In addition to being more demanding as load-bearing walls, they also consider safety factors. Some warehouse walls are even thicker in individual features. The walls of other warehouse sites are twice as wide and thick, which shows that when the warehouses were originally built, they were intentionally designed to enhance their impact resistance.

There are four guards outside these warehouses, wearing armor and armed with swords. In addition to high wall protection and door guards, there are also dedicated patrols in the corridors and small warehouses inside, which shows how strong the security of the military warehouse is.

Walking around the outside of the warehouse, Zheng Quchi really felt as if she saw the most important "treasure house" of the entire Ye Kingdom displayed in front of her eyes. The weight of the military warehouse was enough to affect the combat effectiveness of an army. Of course she did not Satisfaction only scratches the itch.

"I want to go into the warehouse and take a look," she demanded.

Bei Tang Mu was responsive to her requests before, but now he was a little embarrassed: "This..."

"What's wrong? No?"

Beitang Mu explained: "I want to lure the general's wife in, but I don't have enough authority. Only Zuo Shangfang or You Shangfang has the key to open it."

Zheng Quchi understood: "Then go and call someone over."

A strange look suddenly flashed in Beitang Mu's eyes, and he hurriedly said: "Yes, let's go now."

Zheng Quchi didn't wait long when he saw a middle-aged man with a big belly staggering over. He seemed a little eager at his feet and had a flattering smile on his face. As soon as he approached, he folded his hands and bowed: "Nan Gui has seen you before." General’s wife.”

As soon as Zheng Quchi saw the other party's behavior, he knew that a smiling tiger was coming.

When dealing with this kind of person, you can't be polite to him, otherwise he will be more slippery and difficult to catch than anyone else.

"I'm here to check on the status of the armory for His Royal Highness, so I'll ask Zuo Shangfang to open a door."

"This, these are all matters under the personal supervision and jurisdiction of humble officials. Naturally, there can be no problems. Why did His Royal Highness suddenly ask the general's wife to come here?" The smile at the corner of his mouth froze.

Zheng Quchi looked cold and had no intention of following the tradition of not hitting the smiling person. He directly took out his trump card and said: "This is the golden seal of the three armies. I wonder if Zuo Shang can recognize it?"

Nan Gui took a closer look and immediately broke out in a cold sweat. He quickly wiped the sweat from his forehead. He squeezed out a smile and said: "I know you know me. I will open my humble position now."

Just open it. It is expected that a little girl like her would not be able to understand the quality of weapons. Zuo Shangfang thought darkly to himself. He did not think there would be a problem at first, so he did not cover it up in advance, but he was lucky in misfortune. , the person who came was not a professional.

Beitang Mu glanced at Nan Gui. He had been with Nan Gui for so long, so he naturally understood what he was thinking now. The corner of his mouth curled up, revealing an imperceptible smile.

Nan Gui, I'm afraid that the final result will not be as you wish.

Zheng Quchi entered one of the warehouses. As soon as the door opened, rows of tall wooden shelves extending for dozens of meters were filled with iron arrowheads of different thicknesses and lengths. There were also some copper arrowheads placed at the end, most of which were in the shape of a square. , sharp edge, relatively ancient and primitive.

She picked them up and weighed them, then knocked them against each other and listened to the crisp sound.

She looked around and didn't make any remarks. She just said: "The next warehouse."

Seeing this, Nan Gui responded happily and continued to lead the way, and they moved to another warehouse.

This is a sword warehouse. As soon as the door is opened, there is a dull feeling of stagnant air. She asked: "How do you inspect and maintain weapons on a daily basis?"

Nan Gui's forehead twitched and he said perfunctorily: "This, this is the position of You Shangfang, but I don't care much about it. What's wrong?"

"As Zuo Shangfang, you don't even understand the storage and maintenance of weapons? For example, arrows and crossbows should be stored in a dry and ventilated place, and iron tools need to be checked regularly for corrosion and oil. Look at this weapon, it should be It was damaged and recovered after it was sent out for operations, but now it is damaged and rusted like this, why is it still filled in the military warehouse without being repaired or reported as damaged?"

Her words were deafening, Nan Gui was speechless for a moment, and the warehouse became quiet.

During the following inspection, Zheng Quchi had only one feeling, which he summed up by borrowing a sentence from Mr. Jia.

"Weapons are often brittle, poorly made, and unfit for purpose, which is a waste of people's energy."

The management of the military arsenal is an important part of the army's combat effectiveness, but now the state of Ye is rotten from the root. Just these scraps of copper and iron, weapons that others have replaced for many years, have become their Ye army. The mainstream, how can we compete with others?

Even once a war breaks out, the enemy knows what weapons they will use without even guessing. After inspecting the arsenal, Zheng Quchi felt very relieved.

Only now did she truly realize how awesome Yuwen Sheng was. He simply relied on his own unique talent to defeat these disparate battles one after another.

After hearing her comments, Nan Gui picked up Qiao and said with a smile: "General's wife, you don't understand this at all. What you said is a bit exaggerated."

Zheng Quchi really didn't understand how they worked, but she was not blind yet. These weapons that should have been eliminated were still on the shelves. If a war really broke out, the soldiers of Ye State would carry these inferior and rusty iron weapons. She felt chills all over just thinking about what the consequences would be like on the battlefield.

"I don't understand? OK, if I don't understand, I will go back and report the matter to His Highness. I believe His Highness should be able to understand. Don't worry Zuo Shangfang. I will not exaggerate, let alone add jealousy. I will only tell the truth. Tell it truthfully."

Hearing this, Zuo Shangfang's mind exploded. His pretense of kindness could no longer hide his evil nature: "General's wife, you are a woman who doesn't even know how swords, spears, and halberds are produced. You are so self-righteous, if you want to confuse the public with your monstrous words in front of His Royal Highness, then you will never leave the weapons prison today!"

欻——

(End of this chapter)