Reborn Regent of Ming Dynasty

"Don't be nervous." When he saw that the gunners were sweating profusely although they didn't move, he comforted him: "Even veteran gunners don't necessarily hit the target with one shot. Yes, don't be too nervous."

He was consoling, but looking at the two gunners, they seemed to be more nervous, and they were about to cry.

These people were carefully selected by Zhao Qinian from the artillery crew members, all of them are the best among the best, they usually test artillery at the Firearms Bureau, and then go to the lecture hall to teach students the next day, both sides They all run away and don't go to the battlefield, but their salary is ten times that of ordinary gunners. If they screw up this time, they really have no face to stay any longer.

"Boom, boom!"

Because it is fixed with cotton cloth, after it is stuffed, the guide rope is ignited, and the speed of the cannon's firing is indeed extremely fast, but it takes a little longer when the primer is used to ignite the charge bag. [

After the sound of the cannon, you can see the tongue of fire spit out from the muzzle, then the cannon body and the cannon mount shake violently, and then you can see two columns of smoke rising from the opposite hill, where the target is drawn, and the rocks fly into the air , the smoke column rises, it looks really spectacular.

"Okay, good fight!"

Zhang Shouren was the first to applaud, and of course the person in charge had a bright face and clapped desperately.

"Each gunner will be rewarded with 20 taels, and each member of the artillery crew will be rewarded with [-] taels."

"Thank you, Taibao, for the reward."

All the gun crew members present gave a military salute, but they did not stop their actions. Someone cleaned the gun chamber with a long stick like a mop, and then someone quickly stuffed the ammunition pack, pushed it firmly with a push rod, and then ignited it again. The lead... Because the ballistic landing point is very correct, the first shot was successful, so the muzzle was not adjusted, but continued to fire.

After the second cannon shot, Zhang Shouren said suddenly: "The enemy continues to approach, and the target is changed to 150 steps in front of the target."

"Yes, Taibao."

Such a small test is nothing to the gunner, so he re-measured the range, adjusted the muzzle, and fired again.This time, the impact point really extended about 150 steps backwards. Although there were some errors, it was less than ten steps.

Of course, Zhang Shouren would not hesitate to reward such a gunner. If all the gunners were of this level, he would probably be able to wipe out Donglu by now.

After firing three rounds in a row, the gun crew members of the copper cannon continued to clear the chamber and charge the powder, and then loaded the shells, while the gun crew members of the iron cannon were idle.

"The iron cannon can only be fired three times?"

"Yes, my lord."

Lin Chonggui smiled wryly: "The biggest problem is here!"

Casting iron cannons is a hassle, but it is indeed better than being frugal. The price of iron and copper is not at the same price, and Fushan now has a large amount of iron in storage. Using iron is not a problem at all, but iron cannons have more problems So... the most terrible thing is that the heat is too fast!

After three rounds, the barrel was too hot.

Zhang Shouren frowned greatly, and jumped to the side of the artillery crew, looking at the newly cast iron cannon.It is undeniable that the staff of the general office has become more and more professional and excellent. At that time, there were also many gunners of the Jesus Club in Macau. There was also a gun factory in Macau. Of course, the most important thing is to strengthen Portugal's defense system in Macau.

In the eyes of Zhang Shouren, who believes in bringing it back, these Xiyi have enough powerful skills, so it is worth hiring them to join Fushan, and these technicians from Macau have lived up to his expectations, and they do have obvious advantages in providing technical guidance to Fushan. enhancement.

During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it was also the time when European forces gradually invaded China, including the Dutch occupation of Taiwan, Portugal’s operation in Macau, and British forces coming from India. There were several times when the British fought for Macau. , Among them, there were two big fights, and at the same time, China has gone from civilization to darkness, which is also a matter of embarrassment. [

Compared with the one cast more than two years ago, the current artillery has made great progress. The gun body and barrel are smooth, and Fushan already has enough machine tools, so it requires less manpower to polish it.

The gun barrel can be easily raised and lowered through the grinding tool, which is also an epoch-making progress.

The gun gauge is changed to the gun mount, which is more convenient to use.

Fixed-load ammunition, the size of the guns is the same, and the most primitive standardization has been implemented.At the same time, the members of the gun crew set the amount of ammunition carried by each gun through the test of the firing time of the gun and the bearing capacity of the gun barrel, which is the so-called base number of the gun in later generations.Each ammunition cart can carry one or two base ammunition, and at the same time can load gun crew members during a rapid march. The ammunition cart is mounted behind the horse with a harness, and the artillery is installed behind the ammunition cart. The wheel assembly is the same for the gun cart and the ammunition cart. Consistent, easy to maintain, and easy to put into the field quickly.

All kinds of achievements made Zhang Shouren very satisfied.

It’s just that the iron cannon seemed to be a mistake in decision-making. Zhang Shouren felt the heat wave around the barrel of the gun when he got closer. With this level of heat, it would take at least a quarter of an hour or more to cool down. It was a foregone conclusion within a quarter of an hour... He shook his head and said, "How can this be possible!"

"Yes." Lin Chonggui said: "We also think that we can only use copper cannons. Although copper cannons will be deformed by heat, they are much better than iron cannons."

"Bronze cannons should be used for all field artillery. While ensuring the quality of artillery, the quality of gun mounts and tractors is also very important. You must train more qualified blacksmiths and carpenters, so that they can be used for repairs at any time during the march and on the battlefield. You can give Don't be narrow-minded about the treatment of artillerymen, how can your gun be used on the battlefield without the gun mounts cut out by others?"

These things are also things that will be discussed in the future. Zhang Shouren is so determined, the people below naturally feel a lot more relaxed, and immediately agreed.

"Also, don't be stingy with the horse. You reported that it was pulled by two horses. You see, your bronze cannon weighs nearly [-] catties. With the addition of several artillery crew members and a base number of shells and gunpowder, the load exceeds one hundred pounds." A thousand catties is for sure... I know that the quality of the carriage is good now, and it is much lighter, but is it necessary to be frugal on this kind of thing?"

"Well, it's just four horses. Report them and I'll give you my approval. You can equip the artillery battalion after your experiments are finalized. This matter can't be delayed. It needs to be done sooner rather than later."

"It's not enough to have four-pound guns. Six-pound guns are needed. Of course, twelve-pound and eighteen-pound guns that can attack the city must be needed. There is not much demand for heavy artillery. The most important four-pound and six-pound guns!"

"Using cotton cloth for medicine bags is of course saving money, but why don't you consider using silk? Try it and see if silk burns much faster than cotton cloth. If it is much faster, use silk instead... Don't worry about the price , um, now Ben Taibao is really rich and powerful!"

Of course Zhang Shouren did not come in vain, he gave instructions one by one, although he had not been with the Firearms Bureau for a long time, but each one was very effective, Lin Chonggui smiled proudly at a group of stunned subordinates... These guys are still pretending to be experts in front of the general!

Coming out of the gun crew, it was almost noon, but Zhang Shouren didn't rest, and went directly to Jiazhan Bureau.

What I saw along the way was people testing weapons everywhere. Seeing Zhang Shouren, everyone just saluted and then continued to move. Time waits for no one. There are a lot of things like this... More work is more rewarding. Except for the experimental type such as gun crew members, it is definitely more rewarding for the long gun team from finalization to production. The same is true for the firecrackers. Although this is suspected of evil capitalism, it is necessary to mobilize the enthusiasm of workers and technicians to the greatest extent.

The place where the Jiazhan Bureau was located was not far away, and everyone was walking in front of the car, and when they arrived, a cooking car was also waiting in front of the door.

"Let's make do with it." Zhang Shouren took the lunch box handed over by the inner guard first, packed a box of lunch, waited for a spoonful of broth in a jar, and then ate lunch with a few pieces of dried fish.

Li Zhuoran and other attendants followed suit, and after they lined up and had a meal, they also ate deliciously.

Lin Chonggui and the others were a little dazed at first, and then came forward to cook food. They had already prepared food, but it seemed that it was in vain.

After dinner, Zhang Shouren entered the factory area full of clanging noises.

The place is very large, at least covering an area of ​​about [-] acres, and the ground is piled up with beef tendons, as well as polished iron sheets that look like the hills in the rain shelter, the long and short armor of the Fushan Army, and officers. The mountain armor is all worn here. [

The cost of iron armor is not limited to the raw materials. The average price of the iron armor of the Ming Frontier Army is more than one hundred taels. The armor leaves are inlaid and fixed in one place. Each armor is the product of a huge cost and time. The value of one hundred taels still ignores the value of the premise of the craftsman's work. Taking Fushan as a place to cherish the individual work of people, at a glance Looking at the past, thousands of craftsmen are making armor non-stop, and of course the daily cost is not small, not to mention the raw materials, the manual money alone is an astronomical figure that other military towns can't even imagine.

But money has no meaning to Zhang Shouren, as long as he can help him, it is fine, but the insufficiency of a stomach makes him very anxious!

There are nearly [-] troops here, and the shortage of armor is still about [-]% to [-]%. Recently, there are plans to recruit more than a dozen battalions of new troops. With so many people making armor, whether the weapons and firecrackers can keep up, it will take the year of the monkey to fill the stomach. Make up for the shortfall?

This problem, of course, has been a problem for a long time. This problem cannot be solved by constantly recruiting craftsmen. Learning armor making is a long process. It takes time for a master to lead an apprentice, including forging and wearing. It’s all a unique craft. It took three years here in Fushan. Only through the collective teaching and guidance can so many masters be able to make armor. In other places, even if they have money, they don’t have so many supplies. There is no sea trade and water. Teacher, how can there be so many available objects?Without iron ore, how could there be so much pig iron that can be used to make weapons and armor stomachs?

Even so, making armor is extremely difficult. Seeing the scene in front of him, Zhang Shouren also felt powerless.