The Soldier of the Ming Dynasty

In the room, more than a dozen craftsmen gathered together. On the ground, there were two blunderbusses and several three eye blunders.

Li Yuanqing waved his hand and asked his soldiers to pour a bowl of hot water for these craftsmen and scanned the crowd with a smile.

Most of these craftsmen are in their 50s and 60s, younger and in their early 40s. They are all full of wind and frost. They don't know what Li Yuanqing called them in early in the morning.

The soldiers quickly poured hot water for them. After drinking a little, the craftsmen became warm and relaxed a little.

Li Yuanqing laughed, "you are all the elites in various industries. Today I have recruited you. I want to ask you for advice. Don't be nervous. Let's discuss something. "

It was the first time that Li Yuanqing called on these craftsmen to ask questions since he came to Guanglu island. Seeing that his adults were very kind, they relaxed a little bit.

A craftsman in his early fifties said respectfully, "my Lord, if you have something to do, just direct your orders. We will try our best to die."

Li Yuanqing nodded and pointed to the bird and three eye blunders on the ground with a smile. "You are all experts. I want to know, who can make bird and three eye blunders?"

Craftsman is a general term, including all kinds of industries, such as carpenter, blacksmith, stonemason and other aspects of life.

In Daming, craftsmanship is a very low industry, only a little higher than prostitutes and slaves.

To a certain extent, they are slaves, even more miserable than slaves. When slaves meet a good master, they may have a chance to turn over. However, craftsmen and their children can't read books. They are doomed to pass on the skills of their ancestors from generation to generation.

At this time, hearing Li Yuanqing's question, a few craftsmen came out quickly.

"My Lord, when villains were in the Acropolis of Guangning, they made bird spears."

"My Lord, the villain's parents have always been making birds and blunders for a living, and they know something about it."

Maybe it's not clear what Li Yuanqing meant. These people didn't say enough. They were very careful.

With a smile, Li Yuanqing pointed to one of the old craftsmen and asked, "old man, what's your name?"

The old man said, "my Lord, the old man's name is Yang Peifu. This year there is one in sixty."

"And you?"

Another younger craftsman said, "my Lord, the little one is Xu Liang. There are five in forty this year."

Li Yuanqing nodded, "are you both proficient in the making of bird spears?"

Both nodded, confident.

In China, craftsmanship has always been handed down from generation to generation. Men do not pass on to women, which ensures the inheritance, but has many limitations.

However, in this era, craftsmanship is just the house keeper who eats food. There is not enough guarantee, and we can't expect others to pass on the craft.

"Can you talk about how to make a good bird's blunderbuss? What I want is not this kind of defective product, but a fine blunderbuss that can be launched continuously and have no faults. " Li Yuanqing stares at two people, the tone is somewhat stern.

Both of them were flustered. For a moment, Yang Peifu, the old man, took the lead in calming down his mind. He paid a respectful salute to Li Yuanqing, and then said, "my Lord, it's not complicated to make a blunderbuss. However, the requirements for the process are very high, and the consumption is also very large. If you want to make a bird blunderbuss, it's better to make six catties of refined iron. However, to refine the six catties of refined iron, it usually takes 40 Jin or more of crude iron, and it costs at least 4 or 5 Liang silver. "

Li Yuanqing nodded his head. In later generations, he also paid attention to some military forums. There were many great powers in them. The data Yang Peifu said was not much different from the textual research of the great powers.

Seeing that Yang Peifu was in the limelight, he was recognized by Li Yuanqing. Next to him, Xu Liang also said: "Sir, the most important thing to make a bird's blunderbuss is the blunderbuss. More than 90% of the blunderbusts that adults worry about being destroyed or unable to be fired are all unqualified

Seeing Li Yuanqing nodding, Xu Liang was overjoyed. He tried his best to calm down his mood, and then explained carefully: "Sir, there are many reasons why the blunderbuss are not qualified. First of all, as old man Yang said, it is the shortage of materials and high cost. Moreover, many craftsmen do not have this inheritance and lack of craftsmanship, which is also a big reason. A qualified blunderbuss tube not only requires uniform thickness, but also ensures smooth and smooth inner wall. In this way, the projectile will not be obstructed when it comes out of the chamber, thus preventing it from exploding. Another key point is the welding of the blunderbuss. It is necessary to ensure enough precision, without any defects, in order to ensure that a gun tube is qualified. "

Li Yuanqing nodded. What the two said was very professional. Although Li Yuanqing didn't quite understand it, he also understood that the reason why the guns of later generations were accurate and the striking force was large was largely due to the progress of material technology and precision measurement technology.

At this time, the range of the archers of the later Jin Dynasty was about 60 or 70 steps, that is, about 60 or 70 meters, while the shooting distance of the Ming army's blunderbusses was a little longer than that of the archers.

Qi Jiguang once said, "the bird's blunderbuss are the first sharp weapon."

In the era of the Qi family army, the effective range of the bird gun could reach 80 steps, which could directly penetrate the Japanese pirates' armor and even kill them.As for the three eye blunderbuss, they are not only clumsy and heavy, but also have good power, but their effective range is only 20 or 30 steps, which has no actual combat value. Li Yuanqing directly chooses to ignore it.

In fact, the firearm technology of Daming has been quite developed. For example, the famous "flying crow of divine fire" is made of fine bamboo or reed. It is filled with gunpowder inside, and two "fire" are installed on both sides. The bottom of the fire is connected with the gunpowder inside the crow body. When firing, the flying crow can be pushed a hundred steps away by using the force of the fire. When it lands, the internal gunpowder can only be used It will ignite and explode, just like the rocket of later generations.

In the Qi family army, there are also "imitations" of Shenhuo flying crow, that is, the body of the bow and arrow can be stretched to more than 5 feet, and a gunpowder barrel is attached to the arrow body, which can reach a range of 300 steps. How can a small devil resist such a sharp weapon?

It can be seen that in the Qi Jia Jun era, although its headquarters had been completely firearms, at least it should have been semi firearms.

If there is such an army guarding Ji Town, who will dare to jump out and make trouble?

The old slave's ability to pretend to be a grandson is better than anyone else.

What a pity.

As time goes by, Qi Jiguang's last blood has been lost on the Bank of Hunhe River. The Qi family army and Zhejiang army group, which are famous all over the world, have fallen into the long river of history like countless glorious armies.

After the Qi family army, although Daming also equipped the army with a large number of firearms, not everyone was as strict as Qi Jiguang. The Shangguan embezzled the wages and materials, and the craftsmen cut corners and did not work hard. As a result, in the battle of Sarhu, many Ming army's blunders and even firecrackers were inferior.

How can such an army win?

Li Yuanqing came from later generations. Naturally, he deeply understood that the future war would be an era of complete firearms. Before that, Li Yuanqing had been considering this matter and made his own firearms. However, because there was no material and no one, there was no place for him to carry out his own ideas.

At this time, with materials and people, how could Li Yuanqing miss such an opportunity?

Looking at Yang Peifu and Xu Liang carefully, they felt guilty. Li Yuanqing then said, "you two, how many steps can you achieve in the range of your blunderbuss?"

They already knew that Li Yuanqing was very interested in firearms. Yang Peifu took the lead and said, "Sir, if you let the old man make it, the range of a blunderbust made by an old man should be at least 85 steps."

Xu Liang was not willing to be outdone. "My Lord, a small blunderbuss can also reach 85 steps."

Looking at Xu Liang's eyes, Li Yuanqing also found that the man seemed unwilling, but because of the occasion, he did not dare to say too much.

Li Yuanqing nodded, showing a soft smile, "85 steps? That's fine. But, you see, it's not easy to carry the bird's blunderbuss with such a long tube. Do you have any way to shorten the blunderbuss, without affecting its power and range? "

"This?" The two people could not help but look at each other.

At present, the blunderbuss are more than two meters in length.

Just imagine a soldier 1.6 meters tall carrying a two meter long blunderbuss. Even if the blunderbuss can't blow up, they will be as awkward as they are.

Moreover, the operation of the bird's blunderbuss is very complicated. Although it doesn't need to be trained as an archer since childhood and has certain talent, if the blunderbuss are so long and the stabs used to tamp bullets are so long.

It takes at least 5 minutes or even more to refill a bullet after sending a bullet. In actual combat, it almost becomes a one-off weapon and can't exert its power at all.

Li Yuanqing is not in a hurry. He looks at them with a smile and waits for their reply.

Innovation is always an extremely painful process.

Their craftsmanship comes from their ancestors. At this time, Li Yuanqing put forward this new concept, which naturally could not be accepted easily.

But after all, Li Yuanqing is Shangguan, their master and their parents. Li Yuanqing put forward his idea at this time, and they must implement it.

To some extent, it is also the power of the system.

At this time, not only Yang Peifu and Xu Liang, but also the craftsmen around them were talking in a low voice. Although they were not specialized in bird spears, they were also craftsmen in various fields, and they knew something about bird spears.

The idea of their own adults seems to jump off, but in fact, it's not impossible to implement. It's just that the things of our ancestors are left behind. None of them has ever thought of improving them.

For a long time, Yang Peifu said, "my Lord, if you want to shorten the blunderbuss, it's not a problem. We just need to ensure the strength of the barrel. Another point is to ensure the strength of the powder. The launch of the blunderbuss was propelled by gunpowder. Maybe we can make the blunderbuss bigger. "

Yang Peifu said and looked at Xu Liang.

Xu Liang pondered for a long time, but also nodded. He was no longer nervous when he first met Li Yuanqing. Instead, he devoted himself to the idea put forward by Li Yuanqing.

"My Lord, Mr. Yang is right. This is the only way to shorten the blunderbuss. In fact, I often think about it. It's very long and thin, so it's really inconvenient. My Lord, please give me some time. I'll try my best to perfect my idea and make a qualified birdLi Yuanqing smiles, "very good. I'll leave it to you and old man Yang. I'm here, and I won't give you a specific time limit. But I said it first. If you can make what I call a qualified blunderbuss in ten days, I will reward you with one hundred taels of silver. In 20 days, eighty Liang. Fifty taels in thirty days. Forty days, forty Liang. And so on. "

As soon as Li Yuanqing said this, he exclaimed.

A hundred taels of silver, what is this concept?

According to the income of these craftsmen, two or three taels of silver can be accounted for throughout the year, which is already burning high incense.

One hundred Liang silver, which is the money they can't earn in their lifetime.

Not to mention, they have to support their wives and children.

"My Lord, are you serious?" Xu Liang's face was red and his breath was speechless.