It turned out that Zhang Qian seriously underestimated not only the ability of the recruits to understand, but also the prestige of his current among the people of Broken Leaves.

The day after the end of the new training camp ceremony, the "lecture" he made on impulse was spread all over the streets and alleys of Shattered Leaf City. Immediately, "fight for yourself", "never be a slave", "protect your homeland", "protect the dignity of being a human being" and other concepts that Zhang Qian thought were too advanced for this era have become many people's mantras.

Especially "Fight for yourself" and "Never be a slave", the Leaf Breakers who experienced a massacre of the city have a very deep understanding of these two sentences. Inspired by these two sentences, many young people who had not been able to make it to the first recruit selection because they had been sent back too late by the Turgish troops marched to the gate of the new training camp in groups, tearfully begging the lieutenant to be recruited into the camp for training. There are also many young people who did not pass the selection at the beginning of the year, or who passed the selection but did not want to join the army, returned to the gate of the new training camp with a red face and begged Captain Ren to give them another chance.

Ren Wu and Ren Liu were overjoyed, and rushed to the town guard envoy's yamen to ask Zhang Qian for instructions. However, the latter poured cold water on the two, "The new training camp is temporarily closed, and all the coaches in the camp return to the original team." The hired handymen also gave them long vacations and let them go to the city to find work on their own. ”

After a pause, Zhang Qian continued to instruct, "You two, hurry up and make a summary of this training. Write down which subjects are really useful and which ones are not set up properly. In addition, which experiences are worth learning from and which are detours, and which need to be learned, should also be written down for future reference. ”

"Yes!" Ren Wu and Ren Liu did not dare to disobey the order, and agreed with a sad face. Immediately, he observed his words and looked at his feelings, and was sure that Zhang Qian was not dissatisfied with himself, so he carefully reminded one after another, "Owner, the people's will is available!" ”

"The town guard, the Broken Leaf Camp and the newly established Willow Camp together, we only have more than 6,500 brothers in total. The quota of soldiers and horses given to us by the chief cow is 20,000. ”

"Soldiers are not expensive!" Zhang Qian had a plan in his heart, shook his head, and responded with a smile, "In addition, there are too few people in Broken Leaf City, and they all come to be soldiers, who will farm the land?" Who goes to the workshop to help? On the side of the chief administrator, a quota of 20,000 people was given, but the imperial court only provided us with weapons, leather armor, grain and grass, regardless of military salaries. We can still afford to pay the military salary now because last year we took the risk of ending Suoge's nest and got all the proceeds from his robbery. If the army is expanded with the upper limit of 20,000 places this year, the monthly military salary alone will be 70,000 or 80,000 hangs, where do you want me to get it?! ”

"This, this ......" Ren Wu and Ren Liu bared their teeth, and the smiles on their faces quickly began to bitter.

As hardcore descendants who have been following Zhang Qian for a long time, of course they know that what their own town guard envoy said is all the truth. Suo Ge only knows how to loot, not construction at all. Less than a year after Shattered Leaf City fell into the hands of this thief, it was stripped of all that was left of the houses and walls. After Zhang Qian recaptured Broken Leaf City, although he made every effort to reclaim the land, open workshops and markets, and reduce the tax burden and encourage traders to come and go, it took time for these measures to be effective.

Since Broken Leaf City is in ruins, the town guards the embassy, of course, it wants to maintain a balance between the budgets and expenditures. In fact, from the time Zhang Zhenshou led everyone into Broken Leaf City until now, the finances of Broken Leaf Town have all been supported by the income from the family property of Tuo Ge and those Turk Elders at the beginning. And no matter how thick the family background of those elders is, it is impossible to reach the point where they are rich and rival the country. Therefore, in order to avoid sitting on the mountain and stop expanding the size of the army, it is almost a necessary choice for Zhang Qian!

"Count the days, the caravan of the Six Gods Workshop is almost here. They will bring a batch of goods and money and lend them to Broken Leaf Town for emergency relief. We will also bring the jewelry we seized last year, as well as a large number of woolen cloth from broken leaves, back to Chang'an for sale. In addition, our workshop has begun to produce output, and the pit outside the city has recently been harvested. Don't hide anything from Ren Wu and Ren Liu, Zhang Qian explained to the two with a smile, "I estimate that when the autumn harvest comes, the second phase of the new training camp will be opened, and at that time, the two of you will still be in charge, but the head coach will be replaced by half, and the selection standard will also be greatly improved." ”

"My subordinates understand!" Ren Wu and Ren Liu looked at each other, and then bowed their hands in unison. "The subordinates will definitely live up to the trust of the town guard!"

It is inevitable to replace half of the sect heads, even if Zhang Qian does not make a request, the two of them will start to return a few brothers who are not suitable for being sect leaders to the pro-corps or the Broken Leaf Battalion. And raising the selection standards is even more deserved. Otherwise, according to the situation of these two days, at least half of the young people in the city will come to sign up to be soldiers. Recruit all of them into the barracks, and in the future, there will really be no one to work in the workshops in the city, and no one will be willing to clean up the crops outside the city.

"Many workshops in the city were originally built in the name of the Liushen Trading Bank, and this part of the investment, after the caravan of the trading house arrives, will be repurchased according to the actual expenditure and labor." There was really no one available at hand, so Zhang Qian didn't plan to let Ren Wu and Ren Liu take a holiday, thought about it, and began to assign tasks to the two, "After the firm buys back, there will be some dry shares left in the workshop." I intend to sell this portion of the dry stock to the brothers who have followed me for more than a year. So, in addition to summarizing the experience of the new training camp recently, don't be idle. Go and inform the brothers that they are going to pay for the shares. You can not buy it, but you can't buy more. The specific purchase amount needs to wait for the account office of the commercial bank to come and make a total estimate before it can be determined. ”

"Yes! The subordinates must do this well, and the owner can rest assured! Ren Wu and Ren Liu were overjoyed, and their eyes were shining again.

Others don't know, but they have seen with their own eyes how Zhang Qian, Ren Cong and Guo Nu used a capital of hundreds of hangs to toss up the huge Liushen Commercial Bank! At present, the workshops in the city of broken leaves, whether it is a woolen cloth workshop, or a workshop for making car plows, glass, cement, and lamp oil, the products are not marketable at all, and all that is lacking is enough manpower and materials. Therefore, as long as everyone is qualified to invest money in shares, I am afraid that it will not take a year to double the cost of recovery.

"Tell the brothers that only those who have spare money in hand and are optimistic about the profits of the workshop here can buy shares. If you don't have any money left, don't hold on. Having long expected the reaction of Ren Wu and Ren Liu, Zhang Qian smiled and continued to whisper.

Li Xian was seriously ill, and Empress Wei came to the court with the support of Li Xian, which would inevitably cause the court to run poorly in a short period of time. And the long distance between Broken Leaf and Chang'an is destined to cause anything to happen on both sides, and it will take at least half a month, or even a month, to spread to the other side. This situation is not conducive to him continuing to rise in the officialdom and obtaining higher positions and greater power, but it is very conducive to him doing some "unruly" things in the distant broken leaves.

Most of these "unruly" things have no chance to reach Chang'an and reach the ears of some political enemies. Even if a small number of them are transmitted, the impact and usability will be severely reduced. Even if the other party takes advantage of it, it will be difficult to launch a lethal attack on him.

At present, the national strength of the Tang Dynasty is seriously declining, and in order to ensure the tranquility of the Western Regions, the imperial court will choose to turn a blind eye to many behaviors of border generals. Therefore, as long as he is "unruly" and does not exceed Guo Yuanzhen's self-respect, it is basically within the safe range, and he doesn't have to worry too much about the attacks of political opponents on him.

Demutualizing government-built workshops and selling some of them to long-term followers is clearly one of many measures that fall within the scope of security. In this way, not only will it greatly enhance the loyalty of Ren Wu, Ren Liu, Guo Jing, Ren Qi and other long-term followers, but in the future, Zhang Qian's many changes to the Broken Leaf Army will also become less resistant.

In addition, once the interests of the Broken Leaf Army and the interests of the Six Gods Trading House are tied, the relationship between the two sides will become closer and closer even if he does not intervene in the future. And the history of another time and space has proven more than once that when the army is combined with capital, its expansiveness will be as crazy as a tumor.

What is this? East India Company? Juncker? Or a Japanese feudal lord? A few nouns with not very positive images quickly flashed in his mind, and Zhang Qian was shocked. Just as he was thinking about whether to set a limit in advance, lest the Six Gods Trading House really grow into a tumor one day and regurgitate on his head, there was a loud "bang" outside the door of the house, which frightened Ren Wu to rush forward and block his chest with his body. And Ren Liu decisively drew his knife and rushed to the window.

"It's okay, it's okay, it's the sound of fire. Secretary Luo Zhang was fiddling with the firecrackle in the backyard, it should have been that he put too much gunpowder. Zhang Qian was also taken aback, but he quickly calmed down, pushed Ren Wu away with a smile, and then waved his hand gently to Ren Liu. You've all seen it, on the Yellow River ferry. That's what I used to kill the bandit leader. ”

"On the Yellow River ferry?" Ren Wu and Ren Liu carefully put away their horizontal knives, their faces full of confusion. It is as if more than ten years have passed since the water war on the Yellow River.

"It's that bronze pipe!" Zhang Qian smiled and gestured with his hand to remind in a low voice. "You both forgot. It took a lot of effort to cover up the existence of this thing. ”

"If the owner doesn't say it, we really can't remember it."

"There are too many treasures of the owner, we are not surprised!"

Ren 5 and Ren 6 are sweeter than the other, smiling and slapping their ass.

"Play stupid!" Zhang Qiancai didn't believe that the two of them had really forgotten the existence of the firecracker, but he didn't dwell on this topic, thought about it, and sent an invitation to the two with a smile, "Come with me to the backyard to have a look, it's far away from Chang'an, so there's no need to hide it." It's powerful, but it's too expensive. Therefore, I am still thinking about whether to build more and equip the teaching group first. You come with me and try it, and then help me think about whether there is any value in large-scale equipment. If there is, when the personnel of the training group are equipped, in the fall, the corresponding operation training will be carried out in the new training. If it's not valuable, just wait. ”

"Yes!" Ren Wu and Ren Liu shook their heads, and then gave up their hands excitedly.

They had indeed seen the bronze pipe, but they didn't know that the name of the thing was Huojiao, it was just a magic weapon that Master Zhang took out again. Anyway, since they met Zhang Qian the year before last, they have seen the same magic weapons one after another, and they have already been shocked and numb.

Since it is a magic weapon, they never dared to think that they would be able to use it one day. And Zhang Qian invited them to try it out today, and let them decide whether this thing has equipment value, how could they not be flattered?

With three points of apprehension and seven points of excitement, Ren Wu and Ren Liu, followed Zhang Qian, and walked to the back garden of the town guard mansion together. When I turned the moon gate, I smelled a pungent smell of sulfur.

Luo Huaizu, the secretary of Broken Leaf Town, was busy facing a bronze pipe the thickness of a child's arm with a wooden tray and a bracket. Seeing Zhang Qian enter the garden, he immediately handed over the bronze pipe along with the wooden tray and the bracket in a huff, "The town guard came just in time, and the fire gun seems to have been damaged by me." I just hit it four times, and all three times it went out halfway. I finally succeeded once, and then the trigger stuck again, and I didn't dare to break it too hard! ”

"yes, I'll see." Zhang Qian smiled and took the bronze pipe, wooden support, and bracket, and combined them in front of him to observe carefully.

Ren 5 and Ren 6, only then did they discover that the wooden tray and the bronze pipe were actually one. The bracket, on the other hand, is a separate part. Because the bronze tube is thick and long, and the weight is heavy, it must be supported by a bracket to be easy to use. Otherwise, except for Zhang Qian and Luo Huaizu, who are naturally strong, if they change people, they may not be stable.

And the combination of bronze pipe and wooden tray should be a fire gun. I don't know why, but behind the gun, there are a lot of bits and pieces installed, and just looking at it makes people feel dazzled.

Among those present, Zhang Qian was probably the only one who couldn't make a simple combination of parts. As soon as the firebolt was erected, it was immediately time to inspect every gear. Soon, it became clear where the fault was.

It turned out that because of the manufacturing accuracy problem, the two pinions stuck with each other. The user cannot continue to follow the trigger movement, so that the user cannot continue to pull the trigger.

With no tools at hand, he could only pull out the horizontal knife and dig a few times with the tip of the knife towards the gear. Finally, the machinery was back to normal. However, after aiming at the distant target and pulling the trigger, it was found that the flint had sparked, and most of it had fallen outside the primer pool, and it was impossible to ignite the ignition in time.

"It's too complicated, it's too easy to break, and I can shoot ten arrows with one shot." Luo Huaizu changed his previous appearance as a treasure, raised his hand, wiped the sweat on his face, and said with disgust, "Even the Qingzhang crossbow with a crank handle is several times faster than this thing." If you want me to see, you might as well keep it for yourself for the time being. Like the original, make a surprise move. If the equipment is given to the brothers, it will cost money, and it will delay things! ”

"It's a bit hard to use!" Zhang Qian carefully observed the trajectory of Mars and nodded in acknowledgement. Immediately, he lowered his head and found a stone from the ground, pasted it in front of the primer pool, and then asked Ren Wu to hold it down by himself with the tip of his knife. Immediately, he aimed at the target again and slowly pulled the trigger.

The trigger drives the coil spring to charge up and then releases it evenly from the gear on the other side. The gears drive the grinding wheels to rub the flint quickly. The sparks splashed, and some of them splashed onto the stones under the tip of any five knives, and bounced back into the primer pool again. "Bang!" , a white smoke erupted from the mouth of the fire gun, and the wooden target fifty paces away directly punched a fist hole.

"Yikes!" For the first time, they saw the fire gun at close range, and Ren Wu and Ren Liu were all taken aback. A horizontal knife landed in one hand, and the other screamed in a low voice.

This power is much more powerful than a crossbow. It is impossible for any armor to be able to block it. Including the Shining Star Armor that is only issued if the Broken Leaf Army's brigade rate is above the rate.

If the teaching regiment under the command of the town guard is all equipped with this thing. As long as it can be fought, in front of the two armies, the opponent will immediately fall a large piece. No matter what kind of tight formation you have, you have to break down in a proper way. Then there will be another cavalry assault on the side of the Broken Leaf Army, and the victory will be locked in an instant!

"Need to be here, brazing a baffle!" Zhang Qian himself. I wasn't surprised at the power of the firebolt. He pointed to the location of the stone with his finger and discussed it with Luo Huaizu in a low voice. "That way, Mars won't fly around. Even if it flew outside, it was blocked back by the flap. ”

"Still don't delay and get stuck!" Luo Huaizu seemed to be angry this morning, and continued to complain with a sad face. "There are so many bits and pieces, besides you, there are also craftsmen who make fireguns, who dares to move casually? Once it's broken, everyone doesn't know how to fix it. On the battlefield, you can only use this thing as a cooked copper stick! ”

"Indeed!" Zhang Qian thought for a moment and nodded again in acknowledgement.

He used to know only one name for the flintlock pistol, and he didn't know the specific construction at all. Therefore, at the time of development, all attention was paid to "preventing the explosion of the chamber" and "flint ignition", and as a result, the barrel was made thick and heavy, and the ignition device became extremely complicated.

Right now, it is in the back garden, and Luo Daxia, a master with extremely stable psychological quality, has failed to fight one after another, and it is inevitable that he will be impetuous. If you go to the battlefield and the flintlock gear gets stuck at the critical moment, the soldiers don't know how hard they will be hit!

"Owner, why do you have to use so many gears?" Ren Wu was worried that Zhang Qian really listened to Luo Huaizu's words and gave up the firecracker, but he also had the heart to share Zhang Qian's worries, so he lightly touched the lighter with his finger and asked in a low voice.

"In this way, you can pull the trigger with your finger and turn it to the front grinding wheel, so that it quickly rubs the flint and fires." The whole set of ignition devices was figured out by Zhang Qian himself, so he didn't have to think about it at all, he gave an accurate explanation.

"Since it's a flint, can't you get angry if you smash it? If it really doesn't work, just smash it a few more times, at least it won't get stuck! Ren Wu didn't seem to understand, but he frowned and continued to remind.

"That's right, the owner of the farm, we made a fire in the field, and we also smashed two flints at us." Also reluctant to give up the firecracker, there was Ren Liu, who looked up at Zhang Qian and Luo Huaizu's faces, and then added cautiously, "I see that the owner of the village has used so many gears, and it is a waste of materials." And if any part has a problem, it will not catch fire at all. It's not as simple as making it simpler, rougher, setting up a stick and beating the flint, just be able to make fire. It's a big deal to smash it a few more times, and it doesn't take much effort! ”

"Smash it a few more times!" Zhang Qian shook the flute and re-set up the firecracker. Then, ignore a series of components such as gears, coil springs, etc. Really follow Ren Liu's reminder, pick up a stone from the ground, and gently tap the flint on the armature.

"Bang, bang, bang......", with his knocking, the sparks splashed everywhere, not as stable as the grinding wheel rubbed out, but there were more than a dozen at a time, and the direction was erratic.

"Add a block in front and tilt it slightly, so that all the sparks that are smashed out will go into the medicine pool!" Luo Huaizu's eyes suddenly became as bright as Mars. Bent down and picked up Ren Wu's horizontal knife from the ground, and used the blade as a stopper to block it in front of the priming pool.

The flying sparks, when they met the blades, were bounced into the primer pool. Seeing the inspiration, he quickly ordered Ren Wu to help and held the fire gun. Then he personally took the ignition powder and put it into the medicine pool.

Ren Liu took the initiative to help smash the flint, and after the first smash, the spark ignited the primer. With a "poof", a puff of white smoke erupted from the mouth of the gun.

The experiment was a success! However, Zhang Qian's face did not show much joy. After pondering silently for a moment, he shook his head and vetoed, "You can't rely on smashing every launch, otherwise, the mouth of the gun will shake, affecting the accuracy of the fire." ”

"Then use your copper spring, with this iron hook, to charge up. The trigger only does the mechanism. Before each launch, pull up the iron hook hook, pull the trigger, and let the copper spring take it to smash the flint. Inlay the flint in the medicine pool, and if you smash it, the sparks will not run around, and you will directly ignite the primer! Luo Huaizu's eyes became brighter and brighter, and his words were fast and urgent.

"I used to put the medicine pool above the side, and I also used something to block it to prevent it from raining and wetting the primer! If you put the flint directly in the medicine pool, you can't have any cover......" Zhang Qian completely understood what he meant, thought about it, and continued to shake his head. Immediately, his eyes lit up.

When flint hits a hard object, it creates sparks. The spark-blocking flap can also serve as a cutting board. In this way, it is enough to combine the armature with the spring and let the armature hold on to the flint to smash the metal stopper!

The metal baffle can also be made into an arc, and at the same time it is responsible for the function of retaining the rain of the medicine pool!

In this way, the coil spring can be changed to a copper sheet with good elasticity! The large and small gears, grinding wheels, can be completely omitted!

In this way, the cost of the whole set of ignition device can be reduced to the original 10%. And it's easy to manufacture and easy to repair.

As for whether the anger is stable, as Ren Wu and Ren Liu said, just smash it a few more times. Anyway, it's a matter of pulling the armature up again and pulling the trigger again!

"Let's go, follow me to the blacksmith's workshop!" Excitedly grabbed the firecracker, Zhang Qian shouted, turned around and left, and didn't care about explaining to Luo Huaizu and the others what he was going to do.

Luo Huaizu and Ren Wu and Ren Liu looked at each other and followed quickly. I am afraid that Zhang Qian is too obsessed with building weapons and is attacked by assassins on the way.

However, before everyone could walk out of the gate. In mid-air, a mournful horn suddenly sounded, "Woo, woo, woo-woo-"

Immediately after, a fierce sound of horses' hooves followed along the long street, from far to near.

Zhang Qian immediately recovered from the excitement and slowly stopped his steps.

Luo Huaizu stopped, took the firearm from his hand, and then shook his head slightly.

The alarm signal sounded, unless there was an emergency military situation, the Broken Leaf Army was absolutely not allowed to blow the horn in the city to summon the message.

The laid-back days are over! The war is coming again, but everyone can't figure out, who is the one who provoked the war this time?