Han’s Son is Not a Slave

Cheng Hanbin did not hide anything, and told Zhou Shixiang in detail about the physical structure of the self-generated gun he saw in Tang Ruowang's place in Beijing last year. In order to confirm that the self-generated gun was a flintlock gun, Zhou Shixiang specifically asked questions about the trigger and flint, and Cheng Hanbin answered them one by one, which was no different from the flintlock gun that Zhou Shixiang knew.

"The self-generating gun clamps a piece of flint on the jaw of the hammer, and there is an anvil beside the fire hole. When shooting, pull the trigger. Burning gunpowder to fire... Although I am not good at firearms, I know that this method of firing guns is much easier to use than the current fire guns. If soldiers use self-propelled guns against the enemy, it is more efficient than holding fire guns against the enemy, and The firing accuracy of the gun is also much higher, and according to the book "Illustration of Weapons", the cost of manufacturing a self-generated gun is only seven or eight taels, which is much cheaper."

Cheng Hanbin has already told everything he knows, and has not hidden any secrets. Now it is up to the "thief scholar" to decide.

The cost of a flintlock gun is only seven or eight taels, and when Zhou Shixiang sent people to buy fire guns from the Portuguese in Macau the year before, they sold a matchlock gun for a high price of 40 taels. The angry Zhou Shixiang sent troops to block the Macau wall. , under the coercion of force, they bought more than 1,000 guns from Portugal at the price of 12 taels of silver per shot. They are still old, and many of them have to be repaired by craftsmen after they are bought back. And a flintlock gun is as powerful as three or even four arquebuses, so Zhou Shixiang decided to make a flintlock gun immediately without any hesitation.

In Guangdong, under the auspices of Song Xianggong, a number of military factories have been opened, some producing gunpowder, some producing new military uniforms, some making swords and armor, and there are also many workshops responsible for weapon maintenance. In terms of craftsmen, the Taiping Army has paid special attention to people with strong skills since it was formed. As long as they are craftsmen, they will be treated favorably, even if they are only able to repair and break iron pots, and blacksmiths such as hoes are caught by the Taiping Army. After the occupation of Guangzhou, Xu Yingyuan, one of the six officials, was actually responsible for the production of ordnance for the Taiping Army. However, because he was temporarily acting as an envoy to report victory, he went to Kunming, and now he was detained by the Annan people, so he actually presided over it. Guangdong Ordnance is made by the military envoy Si Yamen.

Silver, Zhou Shixiang lacks, but the lack of it will not shorten military production. As long as this self-generated gun can be mass-produced, Zhou Shixiang will not frown no matter how much silver is spent. Will never give up.

Zhou Shixiang is also not short of steel. Guangdong itself has two copper mines and one iron mine. In addition, the Taiping army also paid special attention to collecting iron artifacts during the previous wars. As a result, the Si Yamen, the governor of Guangdong, has a lot of iron artifacts, which can be completely transformed. Reforged into the steel pipe required for gunmaking. Even if the steel is not enough, it is also feasible to use the firearms in the military to transform them.

There are craftsmen, resources, and money, all that is lacking is a person in charge. As long as there is a person in charge, even if those craftsmen don't know anything, they can always master the skill of making guns under his guidance and training. Moreover, during the Guangxi war, many craftsmen who accompanied the Qing army and the Han flag were captured. Many of these people were very old, and there were even craftsmen who were taken captive outside the customs in the early years of Chongzhen. The purpose of the Qing army was to keep them. Produce guns and guns for them. Among them were even hereditary artisans from the Beijing Ministry of Industry in the Tianqi and Chongzhen dynasties.

In addition, more than 100 craftsmen who belonged to the Wuzhen Chaoha Artillery Battalion of the Han Army were also captured in the Chaohui War. Now these people are in Guangzhou, and they are treated as treasures by Song Xianggong in the Yuexiu Camp to specialize in weapons maintenance. Therefore, in fact, the Taiping Army did not lack skilled craftsmen who were proficient in gun making, but only a leader and a brand new gun making concept.

Cheng Hanbin, the self-proclaimed Huguang Juren, who was very familiar with fire guns, was undoubtedly the best leader in Zhou Shixiang's eyes. He pondered for a moment, looked at the other party, and asked, "Can you make this gun, sir?"

Cheng Hanbin chuckled: "With all the drawings, why can't it be made. As long as the craftsman is meticulous and the materials are sufficient, I can make this self-made gun with full confidence."

"Well!"

Zhou Shixiang suddenly stood up solemnly, and under Cheng Hanbin's astonishment, he leaned over and bowed to him, and then pleaded, "I wonder if Mr. Cheng can serve as the ambassador of my Taiping Army Ordnance Bureau?" After speaking, he was afraid that Cheng Hanbin would not agree. , and added another sentence, "The ambassador of the Ordnance Bureau is the title of the fourth grade. If the gentleman succeeds in making a self-made gun for my Taiping army, the commander will protect the governor of the province, and he will ask the court for the honor of the gentleman in the future!"

This is actually a high-sounding empty talk. The Taiping army is now only actually occupying the territory of Guangdong and Guangxi. The governor of Guangxi already has Shao Jiugong as the governor, and the governor of Guangdong must be Song Xianggong. Where can Zhou Shixiang place Cheng Hanbin again? However, for both parties, the governor's guarantee is not important. What is important is whether Cheng Hanbin can create this self-sustaining gun for the Taiping Army. If he can't make it, these fourth-rank ordnance ambassadors may not be able to sit, but if he makes it, he is afraid that the governor's seat will really be able to sit. After all, this self-generated gun is too powerful. If the Taiping Army can equip this gun, it will be much stronger than the Qing army in terms of equipment. If the Taiping army is strong, this world will definitely not belong to the Qing Dynasty.

Of course, Cheng Hanbin's ambition is not to be an ambassador of the Ordnance Bureau specializing in the production of weapons, but to be a good minister who can help the world and the people. But although he took the initiative to vote, but no matter how he said it, he was just a great person, but Zhou Shixiang appointed him a fourth-rank position in a few words, and he had to say that Cheng Hanbin was surprised. Speaking of which, even if he succeeded in participating in the Qing court meeting, the best outcome would be to release it to a county, and in the future he would be the top five.

At the fifth rank of Qing Dynasty Dingtian, and starting at the fourth rank of Ming Dynasty, this gap is enough to destroy all the reservedness in Cheng Hanbin's heart. In addition, he was determined to participate in the process of ZTE and the Ming Dynasty, rather than being a spectator, Zhou Shixiang entrusted him with a heavy responsibility for the first time, no matter how he weighed it, he could not say a word.

According to the etiquette of this era, Cheng Hanbin paid homage to Zhou Shixiang and made a big gift. In this way, Cheng Hanbin officially joined Zhou Shixiang and was willing to sacrifice his life for the other party.

Zhou Shixiang excitedly helped Cheng Hanbin to get up, and discussed the configuration of the self-generated gun in "Illustration of Arms". Then he talked about the Ordnance Bureau. Zhou Shixiang originally wanted to place the Ordnance Bureau in Yuanzhou, but considering that the war in Hunan was undecided and it was not safe enough, he finally settled in Guangzhou, so that he could call on the nearest manpower and material resources.

Zhou Shixiang was impatient, and Cheng Hanbin also showed his intentions. The two agreed that Cheng Hanbin would leave for Guangzhou three days later, and strive to set up the Ordnance Bureau by the end of May, start the development of self-producing guns in June, and make self-producing guns before September, and then start mass production. .

Zhou Shixiang was very happy when he thought that there would be a large number of flintlock guns to equip the Taiping army soon, and thinking about the shortage of gunpowder, he said to Cheng Hanbin: "At the moment, there are a lot of fire guns in my Taiping army, but now there is a shortage of medicine. There is a method in the book that boils dung to make nitrate and mixes it with sulfur to make medicine in large quantities, but I don't know if this method has been verified by Mr.

Cheng Hanbin said: "Hanbin has not verified this policy, but I think it can be done if Master Bi has said it in this book. As far as Hanbin knows, this nitrate is mostly stored in toilets, pig and cattle stalls, housing, etc. In the old corners of the courtyard where it is not easy to be washed by water, if it contains nitrate, it will have three flavors of bitter, spicy and salty, and the particularly spicy one is good nitrate.”

Zhou Shixiang couldn't stop nodding. Cheng Hanbin said that he seemed to have heard of it in his previous life, but it seemed to be related to salt making.

"Han Bin is not very good at making nitrate, but he has only heard of some methods. Some put nitrate on red charcoal to see if it can burst into flames. If it can burst fire, it is good nitrate, otherwise not. The plant ash used must be tung for the shell and wheat stalks, so that the quality of the nitrate boiled is the best."

After hearing this, Zhou Shixiang interjected: "Ben Shuai once read a Western book in the past, which said that if you dissolve nitrate in water, the quality of the nitrate obtained will be better, but I don't know if there is such a thing. ."

Cheng Hanbin hesitated, and said, "The way the commander said, Hanbin will try it out after he goes to Guangdong. Otherwise, if there is only guns and no medicine, how can we fight."

Zhou Shixiang nodded. How to extract nitrate with higher purity must be tested continuously, not just with a single mouth. Thinking of something, he instructed Cheng Hanbin: "After you go to Guangdong, if you practice the method of boiling manure to make nitrate, the boiled manure can't be wasted, and you can ask people to take it to the fertile fields. The manure force is stronger and the output can be increased.”

"Is there such a thing?"

Cheng Hanbin was dumbfounded. He had never heard that dung that had been boiled would be more fertile than unboiled dung, but since Zhou Shixiang said so, he tried it to see if it could really increase the harvest, it would undoubtedly be a great thing. People take food as their heaven~www.NovelMTL.com~ There is not much food in this acre of soil, only 20-30% more, but there are countless people alive.

"Mr. Cheng is entrusted to the self-made gun and boiled salt soil!"

Zhou Shixiang stood up again and gave Cheng Hanbin a salute. Cheng Hanbin was also excited when he saw him unyielding twice in a row, and said hurriedly: "Hanbin will definitely live up to the command of the commander!"

If the flintlock gun can be made, and the method of boiling dung to make nitrile is indeed feasible, the matter of the gun and gunpowder can be solved perfectly, and Zhou Shixiang is naturally excited. He has ordered the military to start preparations for the fixed-pack of granular gunpowder. Hundreds of experiments by the military have proved that the use of this fixed-sized granular gunpowder can increase the killing distance of the gun by about ten steps. And the ten-step distance is a big leap in this era when cold weapons are still the mainstay. If combined with the flintlock gun, the Taiping Army will have an absolutely overwhelming firepower advantage over the Qing army.

Zhou Shixiang and Cheng Hanbin became more and more speculative the more they talked, from gunpowder to gunpowder, from gunpowder to artillery, and finally to the Qing court and the current anti-Qing situation. Said for an hour. Just when Zhou Shixiang wanted to take Cheng Hanbin to see the military appearance of the second town, Dong Changqing, an officer of the Ministry of War, hurried into the hall with an official document.

"Commander, Guangxi express delivery, the emperor has abandoned the country and fled to Burma!" (To be continued.)