Ming Empire

Chapter 84 Flintlock

According to historical records, in the middle of the sixteenth century, Frenchman Mahan, who was born in a family of gunsmiths, locksmiths and watchmakers, removed the spring steel wheel on the basis of the revolver, and clamped a piece on the jaw of the hammer. Flint invented the flintlock gun.

Mahan’s invention is that there is an anvil beside the fire hole of the firearm. When shooting, the trigger is pulled, and under the action of the spring, the flint is hit heavily on the edge of the fire door, sparks are emitted, and the gunpowder is ignited to trigger the ammunition. .This kind of improvement is an epoch-making change, which greatly simplifies the shooting process, improves the firing rate and shooting accuracy, is easy to use, and has a low cost, which is convenient for mass production. Eventually, firearms began to dominate the battlefield.

Later than Ma Han, Ming Dynasty firearms expert Bi Maokang also produced flintlock guns in the early years of Chongzhen, that is, AD [-].However, compared with western flintlock muskets, its structure and performance are relatively backward, and there is no big difference from the previous bird guns, mainly because of the improved firing device.

Bi Maokang invented the percussion-type flintlock gun. The tap of the trigger is pressed down, and the spring rubs against the flint to ignite. The gunpowder is ignited and the ammunition in the gun chamber is shot out.The principle of firing is similar, but he has no other improvements.

The appearance of the flintlock gun is a revolution in the history of weapon development. It not only overcomes the difficulties caused by wind and rain to the matchlock gun, but also has more accurate aiming and can be fired at any time.The flintlock is equipped with a flint automatic ignition device, which is not afraid of wind and rain and does not need to be ignited with a matchlock in advance, and the firing speed and accuracy are greatly improved.Now I am very happy that there is someone who invented the flintlock gun in Ming Dynasty and started to manufacture it.

It is a pity that today's Cao Yue has no way to recruit Bi Maokang, because this famous firearms expert is no longer alive.Another thing that makes Cao Yue very regretful is that Bi Maokang's invention did not make the flintlock popular among the Ming army.Cao Yue doesn't know the reason now, but Cao Yue believes that in the strange time of the late Ming Dynasty, when there were so many weirdos in the court, anything could happen.

Bi Maokang must have a descendant, Cao Yue has sent people to look for Bi Maokang's descendant, and he is going to spend a lot of money to have his descendant under his own name.Now the Portuguese have ready-made flintlock equipment, and Cao Qian’s letter also said that he has purchased a batch of equipment for making new firearms. Cao Yue is not too worried about the issue of technological improvement. What he is not satisfied with now is that there is no The method is to produce new muskets in the shortest possible time.With war looming, he didn't have much time to wait and had to take a shortcut.

Cao Yue personally went out of the city to meet the Portuguese mercenaries, which flattered the down-and-out Portuguese nobleman Constin.

"Your Excellency, Commander-in-Chief, thank you very much for your personal welcome," Constin saluted Cao Yue in his not-so-fluent Chinese and the standard western aristocratic etiquette, "I hope we can cooperate happily in the future."

After Constin finished his salute, he also presented a box to Cao Yue, "Dear Chief Soldier, this is my greeting gift, I hope you like it!"

"You have worked hard," Cao Yue did not refuse, and let the people around him accept the gift presented by Konstantin, and opened it on the spot.

To his surprise, it turned out to be a flintlock pistol inside.The surprise given by this meeting gift exceeded Cao Yue's imagination, and it was really worth the money to hire such a Portuguese.Although this kind of flintlock pistol is a bit big, much larger than the anti-pistols of later generations, it can also be carried at hand and used as a self-defense weapon.Next time there is another assassin like Hong Niangzi, you can use a flintlock pistol to defend yourself.

After several months of long-distance travel, Portugal is exhausted.Cao Yue treated them well, arranged for them barracks with good conditions, gave them preferential treatment for their daily needs, and paid them two months' salary in advance. For enjoying such treatment, Konstantin and his The subordinates are very grateful.

After settling down these Portuguese, Cao Yue also had a private conversation with Konstantin.

What Cao Yue was interested in was the combat effectiveness of the Portuguese, the muskets they were equipped with, and the manufacturing techniques of various firearms.In order to reassure Cao Yue, Konstantin also gathered three hundred mercenaries and showed Cao Yue their shooting skills.Needless to say, people who earn money by working hard on the battlefield are really not bad at fighting. The performance of the Portuguese surprised Cao Yue, a later military officer.

The speed and accuracy of flintlock shooting are also unmatched by matchlock guns, which Cao Yue knows very well.

An epoch-making change is coming, and Cao Yue is very ambitious. He hopes that he can use advanced firearms to create an era.

The performance of the Portuguese not only surprised Cao Yue, but also surprised other generals.At first, many people looked down on the Portuguese, and they didn't understand why Cao Yue spent a lot of money to hire them, but after a demonstration, they changed their minds and approved of Cao Yue's actions.

"Mr. Konstantin, the performance of you and your subordinates satisfies the general," Cao Yue praised Konstantin in front of everyone, and then made a request: "I hope that when you fight next time, you It will allow Ben to see your men perform really well."

"Please rest assured, my lord, our people will not let you down!" Constin said very proudly: "They are the army with the strongest combat effectiveness, and they have never lost a battle."

"It's just that the muskets in their hands are a little better than our sergeants. If our sergeants are equipped with the same muskets, I believe your troops will not be as effective as ours!" Cao Yue said calmly.He has no experience in managing mercenaries, but Cao Yue knows how to arouse a person's competitive spirit.

"The next time we fight, I will let the chief soldier take a good look at our combat effectiveness!" Constin looked very confident.

"Well, we'll wait and see!" Cao Yue smiled, then took out the flintlock gun that Constin gave him, played with it for a while, and asked Constin in a low voice, "Mr. Constin, If I want to imitate your muskets, will you help? I can give you a lot of money!"

"This is no problem!" Constin agreed without thinking, and he said meaningfully: "As long as you can manufacture it, you can imitate it. Didn't the Chief Soldier recruit firearms manufacturing experts at Oyster Mirror? After those people arrived , as long as there are equipment and raw materials, imitation of our muskets is not a problem at all."

"Among your subordinates, is there anyone who knows how to make firearms?" Cao Yue was young after all, and he couldn't wait for Cao Qian to come back and wanted to imitate flintlock guns.

"Yes!" Constin hesitated, and called a young man named Mao Li from the queue, pointing to this man and said to Cao Yue, "He knows how to make guns, and his father worked in a firearms factory." As Constantine said, he turned his head and said a few words in English to the man named Mao Li, meaning to ask Mao Li to guide Cao Yue to improve the gun manufacturing technology.

"Dear Mr. Maori, I hope you can help us!" Cao Yue answered in fluent English.Before crossing over, Cao Yue was a postgraduate student who graduated from a military academy. He had good grades in his studies since he was a child, and he was also good at foreign languages. He obtained the English Level [-] certificate, and it was not a problem to communicate with foreigners in English.The red-haired young man named Maori didn't seem to speak Chinese, so he greeted him in English.

Cao Yue could speak English and communicated with Frangji in foreign language. Not only the generals around him were surprised, but even Flangji and Mao Li were surprised.

(End of this chapter)