The Red Chamber begins with a bastard

Chapter 314 Worrying about losses and gains
Early in the morning, Jia Huan was awakened by a harsh noise. Although it was not loud, it was very sharp, like someone scraping the bottom of a pot with an iron bar.

Jia Huan sat up and looked around the tent, but did not see the foreign maid Mandarin, so he put on his clothes, tied his belt and sachet, lifted the curtain of the tent and walked out.

"Good morning, Third Master." Jin Bao and Mu Ye were guarding outside the tent. When they saw Jia Huan, they quickly saluted and said hello.

Jia Huan nodded and asked, "Have you seen Mandarin?"

Mu Ye looked a little weird and said: "Miss Man borrowed a bunch of tools from the craftsmen in the army yesterday, and went to the creek before dawn today. I don't know what she was doing."

Jia Huan's heart moved slightly when he heard this, and he walked towards the stream. Seeing this, Mu Ye and Jin Bao hurriedly followed, both holding a shield in their hands. Although they were in a military camp with tight security at the moment, Muye and Jinbao did not dare to be careless at all since yesterday's assassination incident.

The stream is not far behind Jia Huan's camp, about twenty meters long, flowing out of the Big Copper Mountain and passing through the camp. At the foot of the slope outside the barracks is a large paddy field, covered with rice, and undulating. Like a huge yellow and green curtain, the seventh month of the lunar calendar is only a few days away. Most of the rice ears are full, and it is estimated that it will be harvested in about a month.

Jia Huan walked to the stream and saw Mandarin sitting on a stone by the stream, seriously tinkering with a matchlock gun in her hand. She was the one who made the sharp noise.

A strange look flashed in Jia Huan's eyes, and he made a gesture to stop Jin Bao and Mu Ye, and then walked softly behind Mandarin. The latter was so engrossed that she didn't even notice Jia Huan's arrival, and continued Use a sharp small awl to poke into the barrel. Strictly speaking, it should be called polishing, but the tool is not easy to use and polishing is very difficult.

Jia Huan observed quietly for a moment, but he didn't understand what this girl was doing, so he asked: "Mandarin, what are you doing here?"

The sudden sound made Mandarin tremble in fright, and she even dropped the matchlock gun in her hand. Jia Huan had quick eyes and bent down to catch it. He then leaned towards the muzzle of the gun and looked inside, and found that the barrel was filled with gunpowder. A small groove three to four centimeters long was ground out.

Mandarin had come to her senses at this time, took back the matchlock gun, and said with some dissatisfaction: "Can you make a little noise when you walk? It scared me." As she said that, she lowered her head and started polishing it seriously. .

At this time, the morning sun was rising, and the morning light fell on Mandarin's body, making her originally snow-white skin seem to be coated with a layer of enamel. Her whole body was so white that it shone brightly. Her golden hair was scattered freely, and she was in close contact with the people nearby. The small stream and the distant rice fields merged together, like a beautiful oil painting, and Jia Huan couldn't help but feel slightly lost.

Seeing that Jia Huan didn't hum, Mandarin was a little surprised. She raised her face and glanced, and found that the latter was looking at her intently, and her delicate face couldn't help but be stained with a layer of pink.

Jia Huan smiled and asked: "Mandarin, why did you grind a small groove in the barrel?"

Mandarin's pretty face showed a hint of pride: "This is called rifling. I thought you knew everything, but it turns out you don't even know rifling."

Jia Huan couldn't help but sweat. He was only an archeology major, and he didn't specialize in weapons and firearms. He really didn't understand rifling, so he asked humbly: "What is the function of rifling?"

When Mandarin saw that Jia Huan not only was not angry, but also humbly asked her for advice, her bright sapphire eyes couldn't help but flash, and explained: "Rifling can not only increase the range of the bullet, but also make the bullet more stable and accurate."

Jia Huan suddenly said: "I see, what's the principle?"

"It involves knowledge such as aerodynamics and energy conversion. You wouldn't understand it even if I told you." Mandarin said proudly.

I went and was despised!
When Mandarin saw Jia Huan's deflated appearance, she felt inexplicably happy, as if she had eaten delicious ice cream from her hometown, and couldn't help but raise the corners of her mouth.

It’s no wonder that Mandarin is outstanding in her original country in terms of appearance and talent. Otherwise, she would not have become the youngest captain of the empire. However, since meeting Jia Huan, she has been crushed in almost every aspect. , this guy is obviously much younger than herself, but he seems to know everything and can do everything. His breadth of knowledge is truly astonishing, and Mandarin's self-confidence and self-esteem are greatly affected by this.

Now that she finally discovered something that Jia Huan didn't know how to do, Mandarin couldn't help but show off, saying, "There are actually two kinds of rifling, one is the straight rifling I'm doing now, and the other is The first is spiral rifling, also called windmill rifling. The effect of spiral rifling is far better than that of straight rifling, because it can make the bullet exiting the chamber rotate rapidly, thereby increasing the stability of the bullet, so not only the range, but also the accuracy can be greatly improved. "

Jia Huan said happily: "I see, then why don't you do spiral rifling? By the way, don't you have the right tools?"

Mandarin nodded, shrugged and said: "I'll be honest, with your Dajin's current smelting process, it is difficult to make a barrel that meets the standard strength, let alone a tool that can process spiral rifling, even if you want to get one Straight rifling is also very difficult. You see, my hands were blistered before I sharpened it a little. The awl became bald after being used for a while, and I had to keep polishing it on the creek rocks. "

Jia Huan was silent after hearing this, and Mandarin whispered: "Jia, are you angry?"

Jia Huan said with a smile: "What's there to be angry about? What you said is indeed true. In terms of casting, the Jin Dynasty is indeed lagging behind. By the way, don't all Europa's muskets have universal rifling?"

Mandarin shook her head and said: "No, most countries still use muskets, and rifled guns only account for a small part."

Jia Huanqi asked: "Why?"

Mandarin said vaguely: "Oh, there may be various reasons. I can't explain it at the moment."

When Jia Huan saw this, he knew it was interesting and did not go any further. Instead, he asked, "What is the range of that rifled gun?"

"That depends on the length of the barrel and the amount of charge. For example, the smoothbore matchlock used by your army has an effective range of only fifty-six meters, and the maximum range does not exceed a hundred meters. It is far worse than our Europa matchlock. Not to mention the new flintlock gun, if you add straight rifling to the smoothbore matchlock gun, the effective range should be doubled to one hundred meters, and the maximum range can be about 150 meters. The specifics are still there. To verify.”

Jia Huan said happily: "That's pretty good too!"

Mandarin shook her head and said: "No, no, no, that's still far behind. The effective range of one hundred meters is not as good as the strong bow used by the assassin today. A qualified musket must have an effective range of at least two hundred meters. "

Jia Huan's heart moved: "So you suddenly thought of modifying the matchlock gun just to deal with the assassin today?"

Mandarin's face was slightly warm, and when she saw Jia Huan looking at her with a smile, she suddenly became a little embarrassed and said loudly: "Why are you laughing? You are my master, and I have to ensure your safety, don't you?"

Jia Huan nodded and said with a smile: "Yes, good slave, keep working hard, and when you get the rifled gun out, I will be rewarded heavily by my master. By the way, what about the flintlock gun you mentioned just now?" "

"The flintlock gun is fired by flint. It is easier to use than the matchlock gun and can be used in rainy days. Well, with the current level of craftsmanship in Dajin, it is a bit difficult to make a rifled gun, but it shouldn't be a problem to make a flintlock gun. "

Jia Huan heard this and said happily: "How about you make me a flintlock gun later?"

Mandarin hesitated and said, "It's okay to make you one for self-defense, but I will only make one. I won't make more."

"Why is this?" Jia Huanqi asked. Mandarin muttered: "No reason, I just don't want to do it."

Jia Huan glanced at Mandarin thoughtfully. At this moment, a fast horse galloped from the mountains and ran straight into the camp.

Jia Huan knew there was an emergency military situation as soon as he saw it, and hurriedly turned around and walked quickly to the camp.

Mandarin looked at Jia Huan's walking back with mixed feelings in her heart. She had seen with her own eyes how Jia Huan blackmailed the capitalist Luo Er, so she labeled Jia Huan as greedy and cunning, and made up her mind. He didn't reveal his identity and background, so as not to be squeezed out like the capitalist Luo Er. However, in just two months of getting along with Jia Huan, he actually took the initiative to reveal that he could make firearms for the sake of this guy's safety. ability.

"Oh my god, Mandarin, are you crazy?" Mandarin threw away the matchlock gun and tools in her hands, covered her face with her hands, and a wave of regret came to her heart.

Recalling the scene when she proudly talked about rifled guns and flintlock guns in front of Jia Huan just now, Mandarin suddenly felt that she was really stupid and cried. Can she really see a person clearly in two months? Now that that guy knows I know how to make guns, will he squeeze my value even more? If I don't agree, will he be very mean to me?

Let's not talk about Mandarin's regrets and worries about gains and losses. Let's talk about Jia Huan returning to the camp and finding that the person who came was Dai Shilin from Baihu.

"Mr. Huan, some things have been discovered in the mountains. Feng Qianhu asked you to go and take a look." Dai Shilin said.

So Jia Huan immediately mounted his horse and rushed to the foot of a mountain under the escort of dozens of sergeants. It took him another half an hour to reach his destination - under a big tree near the top of the mountain.

Feng Ziying and Tie Hu were both there, and when they saw Jia Huan, they immediately came to greet him. Feng Ziying looked a little weird and said: "Brother Huan is here. Take a look at this. The brothers found it when they were searching the mountain today."

Jia Huan looked up and saw a corpse hanging from the tree trunk about two meters above the ground. A sharp arrow pierced the chest and nailed the man directly to the tree. This shows the power of the arrow.

Jia Huan couldn't help but feel a shiver in his heart, and looked around subconsciously. Feng Ziying hurriedly said: "Brother Huan, don't worry, the surroundings have been swept. It's safe. And judging from the blood on the wound, this person has probably been dead for a long time."

Jia Huan was stunned. He had been dead for a long time? Wouldn't that be about the same time as when he was assassinated yesterday afternoon?
At this time, Tiehu handed over an iron bow and said: "Third Master, look, this bow was found nearby. It was probably dropped from this person. It also comes with a bow holster and quiver."

Jia Huan frowned, took the iron bow, and felt it was heavy. He tried pulling the bow string again, but it didn't move at all.

Feng Ziying said: "This is a three-stone strong bow that ordinary people cannot pull."

Tiehu climbed up the big tree nimbly, put up a pergola and looked around for a moment, then jumped down again and said with a sullen face: "The three-stone strong bow can shoot up to three hundred steps, and the position on the tree is excellent, facing the opposite side. Prajna Temple on the mountainside.”

Jia Huan's heart moved: "Huzi, do you mean that this person's target is me?"

Tiehu nodded and said: "It's very possible!"

Feng Ziying wondered: "Then why was this person shot here again?"

"Look over there!" Tiehu raised his hand and pointed to the hilltop on the right. Due to the fire yesterday, a piece of the hilltop had been burnt bald, like a piece of scabies.

Jia Huan's eyes lit up and he said: "From the perspective of the person being hit by the arrow, the arrow was shot from the direction of that mountain."

Feng Ziying's eyes lit up and she said: "In other words, this person was shot by the archer who assassinated Brother Huan yesterday. Hey, wouldn't that be even more strange? Since the dead ghost on the tree also wanted to assassinate Brother Huan, But why was he shot by another archer?"

Tiehu said calmly: "There is only one possibility. In fact, these two people are not the same team, but their purpose is to assassinate the third master, but they just misunderstood each other. This person's skills are inferior to others, and he was shot by another killer. killed."

Jia Huan nodded and said: "Huzi's explanation is reasonable. Well, this iron bow is worth a lot of money and the thieves should not be able to use it. In other words, this person is not one of Kang Dayong's gang."

"Definitely not. Yesterday, the archer with shaved hair and a whip was from Kang Dayong's group, and it was that guy who shot the stone." Tiehu said solemnly.

Feng Ziying glanced at Jia Huan thoughtfully and said to herself: "Apart from those pirates, who else wants to kill brother Huan?"

At this time, Jia Huan inexplicably remembered the scene when Kang Lingcheng and his son were assassinated at the gate of Yangzhou City.

"Master Yi and Commander Dai are here!"

Jia Huan was thinking about it when suddenly someone shouted loudly. He quickly turned around and saw a group of guards in uniforms walking towards Yi Hong, surrounded by Yi Hong. Dai Li was a step behind, accompanied by more than a dozen soldiers.

"What did Jia Xiucai discover?" Yi Hongxing asked immediately as he approached.

Jia Huan pointed at the corpse hanging on the tree and said, "Master Yi, look at it."

Yi Hong looked at the corpse on the tree, frowned and asked, "Who is this?"

Jia Huan replied: "According to our preliminary speculation, it should be the archer who tried to assassinate me yesterday."

Yi Hong said in shock: "Didn't the killer escape?"

Jia Huan glanced at Dai Li who had just arrived, shook his head and said, "This is another one. By the way, this bow was found from this person."

Jia Huan said and handed over the iron bow. Yi Hong took it and exclaimed: "You mean there were two groups of people who wanted to assassinate you yesterday. Hey, this is a three-stone bow."

When Dai Li saw the bow, his expression changed slightly.

(End of this chapter)