Lin Gao Qiming

Chapter 630

Compared with powdered gunpowder, granular gunpowder is a step up. Powdered gunpowder is easy to absorb moisture, and it is gradually divided due to bumps during storage and transportation, resulting in more charcoal powder on the upper layer and more sulfur powder on the lower layer.This creates uneven mixing, which is detrimental to the power and safety of the gunpowder.

Li Modao looked at the craftsmen's granulation with great interest, and inquired about the details.It turns out that this technology was also introduced by Westerners. The craftsman said that this kind of gunpowder not only explodes reliably, but also is not easy to be affected by moisture, which is much better than the powdered gunpowder used before.

"This is another Westerner's idea!" Li Modao had a kind of expectation in his heart, hoping to meet a Westerner and ask him the use of these Western firearms in person.

"How much gunpowder has been made?" he asked.

The manager of the Gunpowder Bureau reported: "Reporting to the master, it has already produced [-] catties. Most of them are shot powder, and there is also a small amount of explosive powder. There are also poisonous gunpowder and medicine pancakes."

"That's too little. Ten thousand catties won't do much."

"Yes, it's just that the hemp stalk charcoal to be used is hard to find, and we are switching to willow charcoal." The manager said, "The gunpowder making is different from before, and the saltpeter and sulfur have to be purified before they can be used. Butter is used to extract the sulfur. Ten catties of lard will cost two or three catties, and it will take a lot of time to raise it."

Coming out of the soil enclosure of the Gunpowder Bureau, black smoke rose into the sky three or four miles away. This is the location of the blacksmith camp. Most of the weapons in the army are made of iron. Although the weapons of the official army are manufactured by the bureau specially set up by the government, there are still some blacksmiths in the army. Tools, iron materials and charcoal are used to repair weapons at any time, and when necessary, they can also rush to make some expensive weapons, such as arrow irons and the like.Now the blacksmith battalion is busy making cannon pellets day and night.

In the camp, a shed was tinkling to build and repair swords and spears, and there were seven or eight iron melting furnaces in the open air, melting pig iron and pouring cannons.The ground is full of large and small clay models.

Li Modao saw that the stockyard on one side was full of various iron materials, including iron bricks and bars bought from the iron yard, as well as various weapons and objects replaced by the army.A hill several feet high was piled up with discarded crucibles and broken clay molds.The newly cast various artillery bullets are placed in rattan baskets, and they have been piled up to the size of several mu of land.Li Modao knew that the small basket contained big guns, and the big basket contained groups.

When Guan Yingqian saw him coming, he hurried out to greet him.Like gunpowder, Li Modao has an urgent need to make more artillery pellets as soon as possible.The guns consume a lot during the war, not to mention that this time he is still preparing to surround the enemy constantly. If there is no gun bullets available in the firearms battalion and the fighter is missed, his head will be lost.

He looked at the cannonballs in the basket, and found that the cannonballs were cast unevenly, some were very round, while others had very different diameters.The finish of the projectile is also different.The surface of some cannons is very rough, almost like a honeycomb.What's more terrible is that the same five-jin cannons have slightly different sizes, and some of them are very different. There is a big error in the size.
"This cannon gets one point." He said to Mr. Qian who was in charge of the blacksmith battalion who greeted him, "The roundest and smoothest can be used for Hongyi Cannon. The rest can only be used as door seals. And this size , the big one is big, the small one is small. Also score a point.”

Li Modao knows that it is not a big problem to use such a cannon as an old-style artillery such as a tiger squatting cannon, but it will cause a problem of slow firing when used on a cannon such as a Flang machine gun or a Hongyi cannon, which is serious. Sometimes it will even cause a bombing accident.

Years of experience in lighting firearms told him that if the projectile is not smooth and round, no matter how well cast the artillery is, there will be air leakage, and the shell will not be able to hit far, or even more terrible.

The next day, He Rubin was talking with his staff in the big tent, when suddenly someone came to report that someone from Qiongshan had applied for the recruitment, claiming that he was a native of Lingao, had fought against the Kun bandits before, and knew the details of the Kun bandits very well. Serve before coming to the army.

"Okay, write in Guangzhou, and send this person over quickly." He Rubin cheered up. So far, he has not recruited a local from Lingao, let alone this person who claimed to have fought against the Kun bandits. .

"According to the Qiongzhou magistrate's newspaper: This person is Gou Chengxuan. He was dismissed as a scholar by the province for being a 'traffic bandit'. He was also wanted by the county. I'm afraid he is not a good person."

"Traffic bandits?" He Rubin wondered, could this person have worked for gangsters before?If so, it is more manageable.If he is a scholar, he has to be polite. Since he is a fugitive from traffic bandits, he should be square and round if he wants him to be round. "Let the Qiongzhou government send him here as soon as possible."

Gou Chengxuan escaped from Lingao a few months ago.When he was in Qiu Fu, he originally waited for the gentry and landlords to take advantage of the troubled waters if there was a disturbance, and make a big disturbance, so that the thieves would suffer a lot. Unexpectedly, Huang Tiankun disdained to form an alliance with him.He started to do it by himself, but he was a complete failure, which made the plan of the thief's Zhang Tian come true.

Taking advantage of the situation to make troubles failed, and he couldn't stay in Lingao County any longer.As the crossing group took over the county government, the large-scale clean-up and rectification of Lingao County also began.All the beggars and vagrants who were struggling in the city were arrested.Gou Chengxuan knew that it would be impossible to continue pretending to be a beggar and stay in the city. If he was caught by a gangster, even if he didn't reveal his identity, he would have to be caught to quarry and dig sand, and be whipped by Fu Youdi.Immediately, he quickly got out his clothes and a small amount of silver from the hiding place, and escaped from the county seat under the cover of the Lai family brothers.

Seeing that he couldn't stay in Lingao anymore, Gou Chengxuan could only prepare to flee.He let Lai Xiao, who was working in the county school, continue to lurk in the city, and he took Lai Da to Qiongshan County to settle down temporarily.But Gou Xunli, who went to Baopang Mountain to join his sworn brothers, never disappeared.Without news of his father, his family's wealth was lost, and Gou Chengxuan, who had no means of revenge, almost wanted to drown himself in despair, but fortunately, Lai was always by his side to persuade him.

In Qiongshan, when he heard that the imperial court was going to attack Lingao, Gou Chengxuan, who was already desperate, finally felt that God had opened his eyes. When he saw that someone who knew the inside story of the gangster was recruited, he immediately applied.

After being interrogated for a while in Qiongshan, Gou Chengxuan and Lai Da were sent to the camp in Guangzhou by the magistrate of Qiongshan.

He was sent to the Humen camp in shackles and chains like a prisoner. After getting off the boat, he was released from the shackles and asked to wait in a tent.

Gou Chengxuan was in a state of turmoil. It seemed that the government was very rude to him. I wonder if it was because the government knew about his charges of "traffic banditry"?This matter must be justified no matter what.

Before he was allowed to take a breath, a personal soldier came to pass:
"Master Chief Soldier has an order: Pass on Gou Chengxuan to come in!"

"Yes, please lead the way." Gou Chengxuan was not only nervous - this was the first time he had seen such a big official.

He couldn't help trembling all over, adjusted his clothes hastily, and followed the soldiers to the central army.A group of personal soldiers standing at the gate blocked him with their swords horizontally.A small leader of the personal soldiers looked him up and asked:
"You are Gou Chengxuan?"

"Yes, the villain is Gou Chengxuan." He replied in a low voice, his voice trembling.
"Do you have a sword with you?"
"The villain is a scholar..."

"Stop talking nonsense, do you have any belt?" The leader of the guard at the door looked impatient.

"No, really not." Gou Chengxuan quickly argued.

The leader of the guards was still worried, and searched him before letting him go into the gate.The Chinese army brought him to He Rubin's case and knelt down.His heart was beating like a drum, and he dared not raise his head, and said:
"Xiaomin Gou Chengxuan sees Mr. Zhentai!"
"It's you who announced the application and said that you know the inside story of the Kun thief?"

"It's the villain."

"You said that you know the inside story of the Kun thief, so you must really serve the court, and the court will naturally use you." He Rubin sized him up and felt that this person was cunning and not a good person.He didn't ask Gou Chengxuan to wake up, he just drank his tea slowly and asked after a while:

"You know all the details of what you call yourself a thief. Who are you?"

"My lord, the villain's surname is Gou..." Gou Chengxuan first talked about his life experience, but of course he didn't dare to talk about the glorious history of Gou's family in Lingao - the nest of pirates and local bullies.He didn't even dare to say that he used to be a scholar, for fear of asking about getting rid of his reputation-you must know that he is still a key criminal named by the government.It is only said that the Gou family is an ordinary local tyrant. When the Kun bandits landed, they had no food or food in their hands, so they moved the Gou family village. He and his father escaped alone.

Speaking of the pain, Gou Chengxuan secretly shed tears.But inside the Zhongjun Yuanmen, he didn't dare to cry.Just explained the cause and effect again.

Seeing what he said, He Rubin gritted his teeth, his eyes turned red.Knowing that what he said is true, it is unlikely that the undercover agent sent by the gangster just asked:
"Your father and son are both key criminals designated by Lingao County to apprehend 'traffic bandits'. What do you say? Come from the truth!"

Gou Chengxuan's mind roared, this was what he was most afraid of.He collected himself, kowtowed and cried just now:

"The little one is really wronged!" When he said this, countless thoughts turned in his mind. The first one was whether to tell the story of Wu Mingjin's collusion with the gangsters?Taking advantage of his thoughts, he wanted to bite the county magistrate severely, but he didn't dare.The so-called mutual protection between officials and officials, who knows what kind of background this Wu Mingjin has, if he gets bitten, it will be easier for an official to kill him than to crush an ant.

Now the only option is to shirk all the crimes on the Kun thief, and it will not be too late to take revenge after he can win the full trust of the government.

"The villain was wronged by the thieves." Gou Chengxuan sadly made up a story, saying that after the thieves broke his family's Zhuangzi, they were afraid that the government would pursue them, so they bribed the county officials and intentionally sent the pirates' flag documents and seals. Planted on him and so on.

It doesn't matter who this bad official is, anyway, the subordinate officials in the county were either killed by the thief or completely followed the thief, so I'm not afraid that they will bite back.

"Master Wu misunderstood Xiaoxiao's words and thought that the whole family of the villain was in collusion with pirates. The villain is indeed wronged, please learn from me!" He kowtowed repeatedly.

He Rubin didn't care if he was wronged or not, but just took this opportunity to beat him, to make him obey and obey.Seeing him kowtow like pounding garlic, he said:
"Whether you have been wronged or not, I will give you an answer after you break the gangster! But you have to do your best, even if you treat the body of the sinner, you can still pay off the crime. If you really have great merit, it is not difficult to gain a family background."

"Thank you, Zongbing, for your kindness!" Gou Chengxuan heard that not only would he not pursue his crimes anymore, but if he had meritorious service, he would get a reputation. The sky is high and the earth is thick!"

"The firearms of the thieves are said to be sharp, have you seen them before?"

"Respond to your lord's words." Gou Chengxuan said cautiously, "The firearms of the thieves are indeed sharp. The sharpest ones are their blunderbuss and volley guns."

At present, there are two types of bird guns, one is for fake guns that have been put into use, and the other is for real guns for personal use.Regardless of whether it is real or not, the bird guns equipped with them do not need matchsticks, and can be fired with just raising one's hand.

"The guns used by the fake guns are named dense mud. They are similar to the bird guns used by officers and soldiers. Only when firing the guns, they don't use matchlocks, nor do they use incense sticks. Just put a piece of copper on the fire door to shoot. It can be fired. Each gun only uses one shot, but it is extremely powerful, not only can penetrate iron armor, but also has a range of four hundred paces."

Everyone in the big tent of the Chinese army showed expressions of disbelief.The bird gun can be placed four hundred steps away, can this still be called a bird gun?Not even the medium-sized Frang cannon can hit that far.

Then Gou Chengxuan said that the bird gun used by Zhen Kun is more powerful, and it does not need to be fired once to reload it once.All the ammunition and ammunition are stored in the iron box on the gun body, which is called Lianzhu Bird Gun.

Now everyone can't believe it anymore.Gou Chengxuan knew that everyone didn't trust what he said, so he quickly confessed:

"A few days after the Kun bandits landed, the order of Wu ordered thousands of township braves to attack the enemy's camp. However, the enemy's guns and bullets rained down, and half of the township braves were killed or injured before they approached. This is well known in Lingao. It is not a villain who deceived you. grown ups."

"What is a volley of guns?"

"A platoon gun is a combination of more than a dozen tubes of bird guns. The gunner buckles the guns with his hands. The bird guns can be fired in succession, or three or four rings in a row, or seven or eight rings in a row, or all at once. The power of the projectile is the same as Dense mud is no different—it can penetrate iron armor four hundred paces away.”

There was a burst of surprised sighs in the big tent. Although Mingren had never seen a repeating gun, he was still aware of the power of rapid-fire weapons.

Chang Qingyun, who was sitting by the side, couldn't help but said: "It's nonsense! There is only a firearm in the world, there is no matchstick, no fuse, and no stick of incense to light the fire door. How can I ignite the gunpowder? Putting a piece of copper can make the fire, isn't it a monster!"

Other staff members were also very suspicious.After all, this is too far beyond the common sense of the time.On the contrary, Lu Yizhong was more serious, saying: "Overseas there are quite strange things, such as: crystal mirrors, self-igniting machines, iron clippers and so on. Kun thieves are also known for their ingenious skills, so it is not surprising to have such firearms."

Seeing that Gou Chengxuan didn't dare to speak, He Rubin said: "You don't have to be afraid, just say it."

"Yes, yes." Gou Chengxuan saw that someone defended him, and the commander-in-chief did not refute his words, so he became more courageous, "Australia... no, the firearms used by the gangsters are actually the same as Ming Dynasty, but their gunpowder The production is more refined, and there are several secret medicines, which are used on the guns and cannons, which can self-ignite fires regardless of wind and rain."

"Do you know how to make this kind of secret medicine?"

"The secret medicines are all made in the Bairen village of the thieves. All the manufacturing is done by the real ones, and the fake ones can only do some manual work. Therefore, villains don't know how to make them."

Then Gou Chengxuan said that all the Lu soldiers of the Kun Thieves did not wear armor, but only cloth jackets and rattan helmets, and no one used knives and contradictory cards. sharp.

"...Kun thieves shot at far away with guns, and stabbed with short three-edged spears close at hand."

Hearing that the Kun bandits don't wear armor, but only wear commoner clothes and rattan helmets, several generals couldn't help laughing contemptuously.Because it has long been rumored that the soldiers of the Kun bandits don't wear armor-not even cotton armor, and it's even more strange to wear rattan helmets. Could it be that they imitated the rattan armor soldiers in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms?
"The Kun bandits use bird guns throughout the army, don't they practice swords and spears?"

"Yes, the villain has only seen gun thieves throwing blunderbusses and practicing stabbing skills. However, some of the people they coerce are accustomed to using spears."

"I heard that the Kun bandits set up a giant cannon on the Bopu Beacon, which can be fired up to ten miles away. Do you know?"

"The villain knows that there is one on the beacon tower, and one on the deck of the big iron ship."

"One shot for ten miles, is there such a thing?"

Gou Chengxuan has seen the test firing of these two guns. Bopu's naval fortress artillery fires live ammunition once a month.He had witnessed the astonishing range of the shells with his own eyes, but the reaction of the officials just now made him hesitate whether to follow their wishes and say that the range should be smaller.But to put it lightly, when the Kun bandits fired their guns, their lies would be exposed immediately, and they might be "pushed out and beheaded" by the officers and soldiers.He thought for a while before saying, "The villain has never seen it in person, but every time he casts it, the sound shakes ten miles away. It is said that the cannon can indeed be fired ten miles away."

He Rubin asked again: "How many men and horses are there in each of the Kun bandits, land divisions and navy divisions? How many of them are real Kun?"

"Returning to my lord, there are more than [-] soldiers in the army of the Kun thief." Of course Gou Chengxuan knew that the Australians did not have such a large army, but he was determined to exaggerate a little, so as not to anger the official by saying that there were too few. People." He hastened to add, "There are very few real kuns among them, but more than a thousand people, all of them are traitors from Fujian and Guangdong seas and people coerced everywhere."

"How many cannons does the Kun Bandit have?"

"As far as the little people can see, they are almost everywhere." Gou Chengxuan said that Australian cannons can be seen everywhere in Lingao - many of the fortresses along the road have a small cannon.As for the cannons used in field battles, he had seen more than a dozen of them.He also told He Rubin and others: the cannons of the Kun bandits are lighter than the Hongyi cannons. The cannon body is not thick, and the gun mount is also very light, and can be easily dragged by horses.The smallest cannon cart can be pulled and galloped by a Sichuan horse.

"Kun thieves have no mules and horses, they only use civilian men's fake kuns to pull cannons, and dozens of men are needed for one cannon, so only light cannons are used in field battles, not heavy ones."

"So, the Kun bandits don't have Hongyi cannons anymore?"

"As far as the villain can see, there is no such thing." Gou Chengxuan hesitated and said.

"How powerful is the Kun thief's cannon?"

(End of this chapter)