Starting in Saarhu, it is a bit difficult to make a comeback.

Chapter 47: Training the Pinglu Guards (please read the new chapter)
Li Xianzhong told Fan Wencheng: "Compared to the population plundered by Jianzhou over the years, the more than 1 people we rescued are just the tip of the iceberg."

"But at least it's a good start. In fact, to defend any border, we must rely on a sufficient population. If the people on the Liaodong border of the Ming Dynasty continue to be plundered by Jianzhou, and the land on the border continues to become barren due to plunder. Then just Relying on a strong military garrison is also difficult to sustain for a long time."

"If possible, I will try to rescue as many people as possible from the Ming Dynasty. Mr. Fan, I'm afraid the burden on your shoulders will be even heavier by then."

After saying this, Li Xianzhong patted Fan Wencheng heavily on the shoulder.

Then he said: "After hearing that Mr. Fan is Fan Wenzhenggong, I believe that you will be able to make your own contribution to stabilizing the border like your ancestors."

At this time, Fan Wencheng's whole body felt as if he had received an electric shock.

How could he, who had read so many poems and books, not understand this truth?
The powerful Central Plains dynasties in history always used armies to conquer frontiers, then moved a large number of people and gradually implemented Hanization.

It is difficult to truly control this land by relying solely on military conquest.

The recovery of Vietnam during the Yongle period is a good example. From the fifth year of Yongle to the second year of Xuande, it lasted a total of 20 years.

To be honest, the people of Liaodong, especially the border residents, were already quite disappointed with the imperial court.

In March of the 27th year of Wanli, the emperor sent the eunuch Gao Huai to "go to Liaodong to mine and collect taxes." As a result, the people of Liaodong were miserable, and many people even couldn't stand the exploitation and took the initiative to join the Jianlu.

Of course, after going there, they found out that they had been deceived and became slaves, but at this time they could no longer look back.

In order to prevent these Han people from fleeing back to Liaodong, Nurhaci directly ordered them to shave their heads.Because the Ming Dynasty has been placing a reward on the heads of the Jianzhou Jurchens, if they escape back at this time, they will be killed by the Ming army as Jianpi prisoners to receive the reward.

However, after the establishment of the Jin regime, in order to win people's hearts, the old slave ordered that the Han people did not need to shave their heads, which also confused some people to a certain extent.

For a while, Fan Wencheng, who was deeply disappointed with the Ming Dynasty, also thought about serving the Tatars. Of course, this was just his wishful thinking. The Jianlu did not like to see such a shackles, and he could only be driven by his master as a slave. .

But today Li Xianzhong’s words woke him up. Fan Wencheng is the 17th grandson of Fan Zhongyan, the Prime Minister of the Northern Song Dynasty, and also comes from a family of officials in the Ming Dynasty (his great-grandfather Fan Rui served as the Minister of War in the Jiajing Dynasty of the Ming Dynasty; his grandfather Fan Chen was the commander of the Shenyang Guards) Tongzhi).

How could you think of betraying the Ming Dynasty just because of some setbacks?

At this time, he was holding back a strong energy in his heart. He must start from this Pinglu Fort and restore the Ming Dynasty's foundation in Liaodong bit by bit.

He said to Li Xianzhong: "Don't worry, Major General. Fan will do his best to manage this Pinglu Fort to attract more refugees."

Looking at the energetic Fan Wencheng, Li Xianzhong suddenly had a new idea.

Although he has 2500 Ming troops stationed by Tieling Guards and 5000 Liaodong cavalry.For a general, these troops are indeed enough, and even some generals may not be able to provide more than [-] men.

But to fight against Hou Jin, these troops are far from enough.

Now that we have a lot of captured three-eyed guns and bird guns on hand, why not train a Pinglu Guard that mainly uses firearms.

After all, fire guns are the easiest to use, and soldiers can participate in actual combat with a little training.

And no matter how elite the opponent you face is, as long as it is hit at close range, it can basically break the armor. This is a trade of a rookie for an elite, and it is a sure-profit deal.

However, he was not satisfied with the three-eyed gun and the bird gun in his hand.

The shooting distance of the three-eyed gun is too close, and it can only effectively kill less than 30 steps. It is basically a close-range melee firearm.

Although the cannon has a longer range and can break armor up to 60 steps, it is still closer than the bow and arrow, and it can only break light armor. It cannot break heavy cotton armor at this distance.

However, as a keyboard warrior who often visited forums in later generations, he still thought of a way to increase the power of the firecrackers.That is "gunpowder granulation" technology. This technology that can improve the power of gunpowder appeared in Europe around 1400 AD. This was a revolution in gunpowder technology and an important turning point in the history of firearms.

Prior to this, people used powdered gunpowder as gunpowder (propellant) when using firearms. There are many disadvantages when using this form of gunpowder in combat, such as inconvenient transportation, uneven burning rate, and easy to be affected by moisture.

The powdered black powder is easily squeezed together when it is under pressure in the barrel, so that it will not burn completely due to lack of oxygen when it is ignited, which reduces the power of the gunpowder.

The technology of granulated gunpowder solves these problems.

First of all, although granulated gunpowder will stratify after bumpy transportation, the largest particles will run to the bottom of the gunpowder barrel, and the smallest particles will run to the surface of the gunpowder barrel, but this will not affect the quality and use of the gunpowder.

Second, granulated powder is also far less hygroscopic than powdered powder because granulated powder has a smaller surface area to volume ratio and absorbs less moisture from the air.

Finally, because granulated gunpowder is in the form of granules, even when pressed, they do not fit tightly together and do not form a "whole" like powdered black powder.The gaps left between the particles of gunpowder make it easier for oxygen to support the combustion of the gunpowder (to facilitate the spread of the flame), making the burning rate more uniform and improving the efficiency of gunpowder combustion, unlike powder gunpowder when shooting. The ignited gunpowder is ejected from the barrel, so its power is greatly increased.

Therefore, as long as the gunpowder is granulated, the power and range of the fire gun will be greatly improved.

So Li Xianzhong found several craftsmen who often prepared gunpowder and asked them to grind the charcoal into powder, then add sulfur powder to mix, and finally add saltpeter.

The proportions of the three are 15% charcoal powder, 10% sulfur powder, and 75% saltpeter.

Of course, the last step is the most critical step, which is to add a little water to the gunpowder to keep its moisture content at about 5%.

Then grind it with a wooden stick and finally wrap it with cotton cloth.Then find two iron plates and squeeze them to increase the specific gravity density, and then carefully crush them to the required particle size.

Then place it indoors and let it dry naturally for 1-2 days in an environment free from moisture.

The granular black powder made in this way has at least doubled the burning rate of the original black powder, and at least increases the effective range of the firecracker by 50%.

Of course, these people are now skilled workers, so they live in Pinglu Fort and are not allowed to have contact with outsiders.

The final target shooting effect is also very amazing. An ordinary bird gun can easily penetrate a wooden board 90 steps away.

Yu Wanli opened his mouth in surprise and said, "This is too exaggerated. Light armor can be broken in 90 steps, and heavy armor can be broken in 50 steps."

Moreover, this kind of gunpowder burns fully, leaves less residue, and is convenient for the second reloading.

Nowadays, not many craftsmen in the fort can make bird blunderbuss. After all, the Liaodong frontier troops were accustomed to using three-eyed blunderbuss before, and bird blunderbuss were mostly used by the Southern Army.

The output will not be very high for the time being, only about 50 shots a month.

However, with the current rate of fire of firecrackers, it is difficult for them to be effective in the wild, so Li Xianzhong does not plan to develop a pure firearms unit.

He expanded the Pinglu Guards to 800 people, consisting of 100 sword and shield bearers, 200 spearmen, 200 bird gunmen, and 300 three-eyed gun cavalry.

During the formation, the shield soldiers were in the front row, followed by two rows of spearmen, and finally the two rows of gunners, shooting alternately.

The cavalry are on the flanks, equipped with three-eyed muskets and sabers. They can use firearms or sabers for hand-to-hand combat.

In just a few days, these civilian guards, composed of 50 veterans and border residents, looked quite like this. However, after all, they had not experienced actual combat, and they were still capable of guarding the camp.

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(End of this chapter)