Pillars of the Wu family

At the beginning of February, the New Year’s Evaluation Committee will determine the agricultural development strategy for the new year. The planting area of ​​potatoes will be reduced to [-] chobu, and the planting area of ​​corn will not be less than [-] chobu. Nine months, the summer corn growth period is exactly three months, so it is just right to pinpoint the point of crop rotation.

It just so happened that many wheat seeds were sown in the field last autumn. The pressure of spring sowing this year is not too great. The only problem is that the implementation of rice-wheat rotation encounters new resistance. This resistance is not from man-made, but Echigo rice is a well-known late-maturing variety , It takes seven months from sowing to harvesting, which makes it very difficult to plant winter wheat.

There are many solutions that are concentrated, among which are various second-stage cropping models. The specific method is to sow rice seeds in the first year and harvest rice in autumn. Harvest wheat, this is a crop of wheat, replant corn in early summer, harvest corn in autumn, this is a crop of corn, then sow soybeans in the next autumn, and harvest soybeans when sowing in the next spring, this is a crop of soybeans.

In this way, rice and wheat are planted in the first year, corn and soybeans are planted in the second year, and then the next cycle is carried out. This method is more complicated and puts a lot of pressure on farmers. The four crops need to be planted back and forth throughout the year. Being busy, the fragmented agricultural slack time is likely to affect the burden of military service and general service.

The other is to stick to the rice-wheat rotation. The premise is to replace the early-maturing rice species in Omi. In recent years, Omi’s agricultural research projects have been backed up to Echigo, and summer rice experiments have been conducted in several counties of Echigo, and the results are basically the same. Satisfied, Echigo's summer temperature is 24 to [-] degrees.It belongs to the standard season of warm and rainy weather.It starts to rain in late September and early October.Then it turns to heavy snow, so summer rice and winter wheat can also be done.

Many Echigo people are reluctant to give up their own "Koshihikari rice". The late-maturing rice is extraordinarily sweet, and replacing it with early-maturing rice must not be as good as their own Echigo rice. After the unified caliber, the Echigo people proposed to firmly maintain "Koshihikari rice" The status requirements are finally adopted after discussions at the evaluation meeting.

Next, the adherents put forward new requirements. Crop rotation is inevitable and necessary, so let the people of Echigo choose the method of crop rotation.The premise is that the crop rotation system in the area must be considered. You cannot grow corn in your family and rice in another family, which is inconvenient for the farmers who live in a centralized way to work and harvest in a unified manner.

Then there is a big contradiction in the crop rotation system. If you insist on planting Echigo late rice, you can only give up corn and wheat and switch to winter vegetables such as soybeans, sugar beets, or cabbage introduced by Li Ding, thus changing to a rice and soybean rotation system. However, the yield of soybeans It is relatively low. In recent years, the highest yield obtained in the experimental field is only a little more than three stones per turn, and the average yield of soybeans is about two stones and six buckets per turn.

If the consumption of land fertility by crop rotation is considered, some discounts should be made.Taking into account various factors such as climate, water source, and land in various places, it will drop a little bit, and it is likely to swing around two stones.The growth cycle of autumn soybeans is as long as four months, and it is more suitable for planting late rice. However, the people of Echigo who are fed up with tricks don't like to grow this kind of crop, even if they can extract oil.

It is not up to Chinese people to decide whether they like it or not. The rotation of rice, wheat, corn, and soybean was naturally rejected, and the rotation of early rice and wheat was rejected again. Finally, after weighing the pros and cons, we still accept the rotation of late rice and soybean. The soybeans planted are squeezed out of soybean oil by the mill of the waterwheel, and the soybean cake can also be harvested. These two products are purchased by Biwaya for a long time.

Soybean oil has many functions. For example, the noodle house and wine house under the Pipa House are promoting the cooking dishes of the Ming Dynasty.

As the residue left after soybean oil extraction, bean cake is directly used as fertilizer, which is the most important supplement besides compost and barnyard manure. It is rich in nutrients. It can be used as base fertilizer before sowing after being crushed and sprinkled on the ground. If it is topdressing It can be applied to the soil next to the crops only after high-temperature fermentation emits high temperature.

In addition, bean cakes are the favorite food for war horses. In winter, there is not enough fresh alfalfa grass, so they can only use grains, hay, and bean cakes. Long and strong, well-fed horses also have endurance and strength.

At the beginning of the year, more than 100 carefully selected female Kiso horses, Oshu horses, Holstein horses, and Trekehner horses were mated. Now these mares are pregnant. As for the original breeds that gave birth to foals before The mare is also slowly recovering after the foal is weaned, and it is expected to continue to reproduce in the spring of this year.

The evaluation meeting of the new year has been held for a very long time, from February [-]nd to February [-]th, and Torano Zongyi was invited into Kasugayama Castle for the first time. As the deputy minister of the temple, it is still very helpless, but now Kira He is the only monk that can be used by the family. It is not surprising that unreliable "high priests" like Asayama Nichijo have been invited to be the deputy minister of diplomacy.

As a newly established temple society, it is responsible for religious affairs at home and abroad, such as Wuzhi Guofen Temple, Echigo Zenko Temple, and Linquan Temple, Langyan Temple and other small temples. Not sure, just set up a signboard first, in short, it is relatively easy to manage, and it will not affect Huzai Zongyi's practice of meditation.

Diplomacy is responsible for internal and external diplomatic liaisons. Asayama Nichijo's advantage is that he can speak eloquently, or he is good at fooling around. His sturdy appearance can well conceal his cunning nature. As a monk, he has a natural ability to act as a diplomat. Advantages, daimyo people still respect the diplomatic monk very much, and using him as a diplomatic envoy can reduce many dangers.

It is also a helpless move for these two monks to be in charge of the execution, because of their seniority, they are not allowed to be the chief officials directly, but they do not have the chief officials to supervise them, and they are also equipped with auxiliary deputy officials. , that is, Kawada Iwatsurumaru's uncle, joined the Kira family as a member of the order four years ago, and has handled a lot of affairs in the past few years, and he is not lacking in experience and qualifications.

Asayama Nichijo's vice-official is Kanyo Otsuna. The Kanyo family has served as the bannerman of the Echigo Uesugi family for generations, and his grandfather Kami Masahiro has served as the Echigo Uesugi family's general in Kyoto for the generation of his grandfather, and he is responsible for diplomatic affairs.In the era of his father god Yu Chenggang, he followed Nagao as a scene.Now he is in charge of foreign affairs as the head of the Nagao clan.

Today, Echigo's political, economic and military affairs are all controlled by the Kira family.Immediately, Shinyo Osomune also transferred to the Kira family's ordination system, and Kyoto had another ordination system of the Kira family, so he was transferred back to Echigo to serve as Asayama Nichijo's ordination vice-official.

After the three-day evaluation meeting ended, Yoshiki Kira was busy inspecting the spring planting situation again. This was the first time that Echigo uniformly deployed the food planting decree. On the premise of fully respecting the land ownership of the lords of the country, the choice of planting food must be Only by obeying the instructions of the followers, large-scale planting can maximize the advantages of management.The goal of achieving higher grain output with less labor is also the goal pursued by everyone.

At the beginning of March, Yoshishi Kira went to the northwestern part of Kasuga Mountain to inspect Teipao Town, which is located there. The location here is relatively remote, and the nearest one is the valley where the copper house is located. The population is the original crew of Guoyou Village, as well as the watchmaker Kronberg.

The tall and strong Kronberg has white hair, a rosy complexion and looks healthy. When he saw Kirayoshi coming, he greeted him with a smile on his face and said, "Dear Your Excellency Joseph. The books you brought last time are very good. It's useful, it turns out that my compatriots have already mastered the technology of hydraulic forging hammers. But I don't know anything about it, this is my mistake."

As a German, after several years of study, he can still speak some commonly used Japanese and English. Although he emphasizes that weird pronunciation is unavoidable, Kira Yoshishi doesn’t mind listening to foreign accents. Listening to Cronenberg's new research, going to the stud farm to talk to John about the adorable foal, or riding a steed for a few laps in the pastures is a good day.

"If I remember correctly, those books are all written in Italian. I didn't expect you to understand Italian?" Kira Yoshihime looked at him in surprise. He has not forgotten to collect Nanban books in recent years. I never thought that these books could be of any use.

He obtained many paper and sheepskin books from the Spanish, Portuguese, and Dutch fleets, some of which are very old and some are religious prints in recent years. The text and grammar on them are completely incomprehensible. There is still a big difference from modern texts, and he stuffed these useless books to Kronenberg.

"Yes, I stayed in Italy for a few years when I was young, where I learned the advanced technology of watchmaking, so I can read books in Italian, and I can barely understand some of them in Spanish." Cronenberg shrugged and said His past seems reluctant to mention.

"Then let's talk about this hydraulic forging hammer!"

"Okay, the prototype of the hydraulic forging hammer appeared two centuries ago. In 1368 AD, a pedal forging hammer appeared in Yorkshire, England. In 1467, Sie Grande invented the water-driven forging hammer mode. Specifically The structure is that the shaft of the water wheel is parallel to the hammer shaft, and the end is a cam, so that the hammer shaft rises between the fulcrum and the hammer head... After nearly a hundred years of transformation, many versions of the hydraulic forging hammer have been gradually improved. From the introduction in the book, Recently, Italy is developing a forging hammer that can lift 550 pounds, forge two hundred strikes per minute, and have a maximum stroke of about two feet."

"The 550-pound hammer head is forged two hundred times per minute. Could it be used to make plate armor?"

Cronenberg smiled and nodded: "Yes! This is a new type of forging hammer for making plate armor. Please follow me to the experimental workshop on Guanchuan to have a look, where a new type of hydraulic forging hammer is running. Compared with the traditional water hammer I designed before, it has been greatly optimized. At present, I can only do a 120-pound forging hammer and forge [-] times per minute. I believe that in the near future, I will improve a hydraulic forging hammer comparable to Italian craftsmen."

Kira Yoshitoki patted him on the shoulder speechlessly: "Making armor can be your side job, and you can study it slowly in the future..."

"In fact, this set of hydraulic forging hammers is used to forge standard barrels. With this set of equipment, it can effectively solve the problem of mass production of flintlock muskets. The efficiency of traditional forging barrels is too low, and the yield rate is also very low. Hydraulic forging As long as the forging hammer can process similar molds, it can produce qualified barrels."

"What? This thing can also make gun barrels?" Kira Yoshitoshi was taken aback.

Cronenberg smiled mysteriously: "There is also the barrel."

"...Don't scare me!" Yoshiki Kira was shocked.

"It's just a joke!" Cronenberg smiled, and then beckoned into a little boy, who seemed to be a child of the iron cannon craftsman's family in Guoyou Village.Thick eyebrows and big eyes are quite energetic.Holding an exquisite flintlock gun in his hand, he handed it to him respectfully.

This is a novel and beautiful musket.There is no annoying matchlock and it no longer looks short and clumsy. The slender wooden gun body is painted glossy red, and the silver-white bolt lock is very attractive. Kira Yoshishi looked carefully for a long time and asked: "This gun is not heavy. Ah, it looks like it's about nine pounds! What material is it made of?"

"The gun body and butt are made of walnut wood. Walnut wood is a very high-quality hardwood. It has excellent performance in terms of vibration resistance and abrasion resistance. It also has certain bending resistance and corrosion resistance. Two coats of paint can cope with any bad weather. This flintlock musket casting is made of brass, and it is formed at one time by a hydraulic forging hammer, which saves the quality hidden danger caused by welding."

Regardless of matchlock or flintlock, from material selection to production, processing and assembly is a very sophisticated and complex process. This flintlock has a breakthrough innovation, which is to establish a standard mass production standard, from raw materials to processing procedures. The process has strict regulations, which saves the trouble of traditional iron gun craftsmen to hammer out parts one by one, and reduces the quality problems of guns caused by differences in manual casting level and welding process.

"Brass is currency. It takes more than 50 years for a walnut tree to mature. It seems that the cost of this flintlock gun is not cheap!" Yoshiki Kira smacked his lips.After a little calculation, it is estimated that the cost of this musket would cost at least one hundred guanwen from Yongle, and most of the manpower and material resources saved by using a hydraulic forging hammer, otherwise the two hundred guanwen would not be worth it.

"Tell me about the new technology of this musket? I am very interested in this new flintlock."

Cronenberg smiled, admiring the employer's generosity and daring to invest, coughing lightly and talking eloquently: "We have been working hard to manufacture a new type of flintlock musket for the past few years. Inspired by experience and foresight, many designs were successfully produced after the completion of the hydraulic forging hammer. For example, we canceled the sear design on the bolt, and designed a trigger linkage safety lock. The core technology of this flintlock gun is to increase the screw lock. gun technology."

After the hammer is hammered, the improved large safety lock is installed, and the lock is fixed with three screws on the bolt. These improvements are due to a serious problem with the flintlock gun designed and used a few years ago, that is, the dog lock bolt. The sear device used will have the risk of misfire when waiting to shoot. Therefore, the new flintlock gun abolishes the sear and refits a large safety lock to hold the hammer firmly. When firing, the trigger is linked to release the safety buckle. , which is more secure and reliable than the original design.

"How powerful is this flintlock?"

"Try it and you'll know." Cronenberg summoned Kunitomo and Zaemon, the second-term family governor of the country friend, who was like a loyal entourage, took over the new flintlock gun and followed behind Cronenberg, following the team Came to a shooting range outside the village.

The gun target was about 70 meters away. Kunitomo and Zaemon quickly loaded lead bullets and gunpowder, and completed the original complicated process in just a few seconds. They raised the flintlock and pulled the trigger. , A loud thunderous noise came to my ears, and then thick smoke spewed out from the gun barrel, covering everything in front of me.

"The gunfire and smoke seem to be stronger, and my ears are buzzing." Ji Liangyi grinned when he was shocked by the sound. As a house governor, he had to take care of his dignity, so he could only stand smiling when everyone covered his ears. .

"I forgot to mention that there are cowhide earplugs here, which are worn by gunmen when they test their guns." Kronberg took out a pair of earplugs and handed them over, grunting angrily at Yoshiki Kira.

A total of [-] shots were tested, and a loud noise shook the birds in the woods to fly around. After a long time, they went to the other side of the shooting range to check the target. Every human-shaped wooden rake was either missing a head or half of its body. , and there are more than a dozen support points that hit the target, and scattered pieces of wood were scattered all over the ground.

Several elementary school apprentices who followed Kronberg were all children from Honmura Kunitomo Village. Naturally, they were delighted to see the shrine of the governor. The reputation of Kunitomo and Zaemon is still quite big. Echigo people went to Iron Cannon House to order traditional Guoyou Iron Cannon, I have to invite this man to perform a few times. As long as it is an iron cannon produced by Guoyou's family, he can hit the bull's-eye with the gun, and he can also make suggestions according to the standard of each gun. Word of mouth spread throughout Echigo.

Nowadays, Guoyou Iron Cannon produced in Kuniyu Village is exported to Kinai. In Echigo, it doesn’t matter whether you buy three or five, or ten or twenty. As long as you buy Guoyou Iron Cannon from Pipa House, you will do some repair and maintenance services, which is not human-made. The damaged Guoyou Iron Cannon promises to return the goods within one month and guarantee it within half a year.

After more than half a year, you can still pay for repairs according to the problems of the iron cannons, scrapped iron cannons and low-cost recycling business, etc. In the past few years, the life of Guoyou Village has become better and better than the life in Omi. Guoyou and Zuowei The door married a wife and gave birth to a daughter last year, and the life and beauty are indeed not like the sad life before.

Cronenberg raised his cane and poked the broken wooden rake, and the five-centimeter-thick hardwood was shattered. Seeing the result, he said with satisfaction: "This is the power of the standard flintlock musket. If you put it closer, you can Breaking through the protection of the plate armor, ordinary wooden shields can't stop his lethality."

"The power is not small, do you have other data?"

"Yes! According to the data obtained after 180 shots of ten new guns, the maximum range is 130 meters, the effective maximum range is 70 meters, the optimal range is 90 meters to 30 meters, and the maximum lethal power is [-] meters. Easily penetrates any steel armor protection, and five-inch-thick oak bunkers."

Kira Yoshishi looked at the fragments all over the floor with unsatisfied interest, as if he had been born for a while, then turned his head and asked, "It's so powerful! How long will it take to equip it in my army?"

"It can be done at any time. There are more than 230 pieces in stock, and it only takes one month to complete all of them after rushing day and night."

"Have you decided on a name yet?"

"I named this new type of flintlock musket a military flintlock gun. I think there should be no works surpassing him in a short period of time, even my compatriots in my hometown... Well! It's time to work, sorry! Just Excuse me!" Cronenberg nodded to Kirayoshi, then called a group of attendants to clean up the debris on the ground, and left slowly with a cane. (To be continued..)