Outside the warm pavilion on the east side of the middle courtyard, the plum blossoms are blooming just right. In the warm pavilion, Gao Cai, who was only fifty years old but was born early, put down the manuscript in his hand and asked the young man in front of him, "You designed these by yourself?" ”

The young man is Gao Shipra, although he is not yet ten years old, but because of his modest behavior, he now seems to be a little younger.

"Exactly."

Gao Cai was amazed, and asked, "What is the result of Qi Yuanjing's trial production?" ”

Gao pragmatically said: "After all, Qi Zongrong is a military attaché, although he is also responsible for training soldiers, but the resources that can be called up are still somewhat insufficient. However, he had already improved the gunpowder, and according to him, the efficiency had been greatly improved after it had been made into the small granules that his nephew had said, and although the manufacturing process was a little more complicated, it only cost some labor, and the increase in cost was negligible, and he was very satisfied with this. ”

Gao Cai was overjoyed and said: "Gunpowder is the foundation of firearms, since your gunpowder can increase the power of gunpowder, it is indeed good news...... Is that what you wrote in this manuscript? If so, I can also make small quantities here and experiment with them. ”

Gao said yes with a smile.

Gao Cai was overjoyed for a while, and then asked: "What about the idea of this paper shell fixed medicine, what did Qi Yuanjing say?" ”

Gao pragmatically said: "Qi Zongrong likes this article very much, saying that it is the most useful for those recruits. ”

Gao Cai laughed, but said: "Your method is good, but there is also a little problem." ”

"Oh?" Gao Shishi was a little surprised, and asked, "Please also ask the fifth uncle for advice." ”

"Kraft paper is too expensive, if the army fights, with your approach, a battle that is not too big is fought, and the cost of kraft paper alone will cost thousands of taels of silver, which is too luxurious." Gao Cai said: "And there is another point, if it rains, what will happen to this kraft paper?" You also have to make oiled paper first, soak it in tung oil first, and then dry it...... This is even more expensive. ”

Gao Pragmatic originally didn't think that his fifth uncle, who had not made any great achievements in history, could have any unique opinions, but after listening to his words, Gao Pragmatic realized that he might really underestimate the ancients.

A small war costs a thousand taels of silver, which seems to be not tight, but it adds up to a lot, and for Daming, a country that hardly has a day without fighting, this burden may not be small. What's more, Gao Cai also pointed out the biggest trouble with the paper shell fixed drug: waterproofing.

The Chinese were more proficient in waterproofing than Westerners at this time, mainly because China was rich in tung oil, which was one of China's flagship exports for a long time. But tung oil this kind of thing, even if China claims to be "abundant", but after all, it is oil, it is not cheaper, if the paper shell of the paper shell is fixed with tung oil all need to be soaked and dried, this cost will go to the sea.

The Ming Dynasty is poor—no, the Ming court is poor! Where can the current imperial court afford this kind of loser play? If it's just Qi Jiajun doing this, then maybe he can squeeze it financially, after all, Qi Jiajun has always spent money hard, and Zhang Juzheng is used to it, and he will help Qi Jiguang get this money.

However, if only the Qi family can afford it, then the effect of this thing will not meet the expectations of high pragmatism.

"The five uncles are reasonable." Gao Pragmatic frowned and thought hard: "But how to solve it?" Do you want to reduce the production cost of kraft paper? I'm not very good at papermaking......"

Gao Cai laughed and said: "You don't just think about using paper, although the paper is easy to tear, it can only be used once, that is not saving, if you want to save, you must make it available for a long time." ”

"Recycling?" Gao Pragmatic's eyes lit up: "This idea is good, but how to do it?" ”

Gao Cai smiled and said, "I have two ways. ”

Gao was taken aback and hurriedly asked, "Which two ways?" He really didn't expect that this fifth uncle could not only ask questions, but also solve problems, so powerful?

"To put it bluntly, it's actually quite simple." Gao Cai said: "The first way is to use bamboo. The bamboo is hollow, we can first buy some suitable size bamboo, and place the gunpowder needed for a launch in the bamboo, as for the opening, whether to use a cork stopper or a screw cap stopper, that is a small problem. ”

He stretched out his hand and gestured, and continued: "This bamboo joint is not only waterproof, but also the small bamboo that dries is very lightweight, which can make a special belt for soldiers, and one by one, the gunpowder is inserted into the belt and fastened, and when fighting, one section is used for shooting at a time. ”

"Great idea!" Gao pragmatic praised: "Uncle Wu's idea is really good, my nephew will write to Qi Zongrong when he goes back, and ask him to test it to see the effect." ”

Gao Cai smiled and said: "If there are few bamboo forests in the local area, it doesn't matter, it can be made of wood, and what kind of wood is used can be used locally." Our Ming carpenters are all over the world, and it is difficult for apprentices to make this kind of small wooden bottle. ”

This is true, China's carpentry has always been powerful, Zheng He's treasure ship is so huge, it doesn't even need a screw, just rely on the carpenter's exquisite mortise and tenon technology to solve it, which is simply amazing to future generations. In this era of carpentry walking the streets, making some small wooden bottles is really as easy as drinking water.

Gao pragmatically clapped his hands and smiled: "Great, I wrote to Qi Zongrong together for both methods and asked him to try them." ”

Gao Cai nodded, and suddenly said strangely: "Pragmatism, your intelligence, I have seen it five uncles, but there is one thing I don't understand, you seem to be much more interested in firecrackers than artillery, why is this?" Ordinary people prefer artillery, after all, the power of artillery is even greater. ”

When Gao pragmatic heard this, he couldn't help but smile bitterly, and said secretly: How can I explain it? Tell you that with the current situation of the Ming Dynasty, the development of heavy artillery such as a red-coated cannon is completely crazy?

Gao Pragmatic's consistent viewpoint is that after the middle of the Ming Dynasty, China's firearms development path was originally quite correct, and it can be said that it made great strides forward along the road with its own characteristics according to its own needs. It is mainly reflected in the vigorous development of bomb firearms, muskets, light artillery firearms, and rocket firearms. However, at the end of the Ming Dynasty, especially after the Apocalypse, due to the dazzling and powerful power of the Hongyi cannon introduced, the focus of the imperial court and many officials and generals on the research and development of firearms began to tilt excessively in the direction of heavy artillery. Especially after Yuan Chonghuan advocated "relying on the strong city and using cannons", the imperial court invested most of the funds, manpower and material resources in the research and development and manufacturing of heavy artillery.

After all, the development of heavy artillery is a matter of time, and it is not a bad thing to start early, and even Gao Pragmatic has decided that if he can preside over the reform and succeed in the future, he must also vigorously develop heavy artillery.

However, the fatal part is that the financial resources of the Ming Dynasty at that time were extremely tight, and once the power invested in artillery was too large, it was obviously more than enough for the development of other firearms.

Therefore, in the more than 20 years from the Apocalypse to Chongzhen, the development of other light firearms basically came to a standstill. Just as Bi Maokang has already expounded on the manufacturing method of flintlock pistols in his "Illustrated Description of Weapons", if it can be used to manufacture flintlock pistols in large quantities and equip the troops, just as the Franc machine was made in the Jiajing period, and then continuously improve it, it would have been a good opportunity to rapidly enhance the combat effectiveness of the Ming army.

But the problem is that at that time, the imperial court had already invested most of its funds in the manufacture of ordnance, so where could there be any other money? Yuan Chonghuan has many problems, and the correct way of thinking about the development of Daming firearms is also one of them.

It's just that Gao Pragmatic now how to explain to Gao Cai?