He Zhiyuan said with a straight face: "Yes, their audacity and cunning are beyond my brother's imagination. Therefore, the elder brother must be cautious and cautious, and he must use trustworthy people. ”

"My brother-in-law is reasonable, and Lord Xie also told me so when I left." Zhou Fulai sighed and said: "This time I went to work alone, and I only brought a few servants and a few people with me, so it is difficult for such a few people to become a big thing." ”

"How many people does my brother need?" He Zhiyuan thought of what Zhou Fuliu said about borrowing troops, and he was sure that the brother and sister had already discussed it.

"I won't tell you the truth, I went to Yangzhou this time to patrol the salt imperial history, and the emperor gave me the right to transfer 500 soldiers, and if necessary, I can call on the soldiers of the guard to arrest the key criminals." Zhou Fulai replied.

When He Zhiyuan heard this, he was even more relieved, with the emperor's holy decree, it would be legal for him to lend troops to Zhou Fu again, and there was no need to sneak around like going to Black Stone Mountain. It was he who said: "The emperor is far-sighted and has long anticipated the complexity of things. At present, there are still some salt barons in the locality, and it is necessary to openly smuggle salt with arms, and it is necessary to take soldiers to defend themselves. Xu Qianhu of the Maqishan Qianhu Office, not far from Hejia Town, is our own people, and my brother can transfer troops there at any time if necessary. ”

Zhou Fulai said happily: "It's so good. I heard from my little sister that the soldiers of the Thousand Households in Ma Qishan are well-trained and well-equipped, and although they are all newly recruited recruits, their combat power is no less than that of veterans who have experienced a hundred battles. ”

He Zhiyuan said modestly: "My brother is too famous. The soldiers of Ma Qishan rely on the superiority of firearms, and they dare to compare with veterans in terms of combat experience. ”

Zhou Fulai continued: "I heard that the Lu family is not only engaged in the salt business, but also in silk, silk, cotton, groceries, grain and other businesses. ”

"Yes, the Lu family has a lot of influence in Yangzhou, and it's almost the richest man." He Zhiyuan answered.

Zhou Xuhai, who had been listening to their conversation, also said at this time: "Our Zhou family is second to none in Qingzhou, but we can't compare with the Lu family in terms of wealth." ”

He Zhiyuan analyzed: "The Lu family made a fortune from salt, and if they only sell official salt, there will be so much profit. Therefore, the local people knew about his smuggling of salt, and the government also turned a blind eye. I heard that in recent years, they have secretly colluded with the Japanese to buy a large amount of raw silk and cloth and smuggle them overseas. These businesses are all huge profits, so the Lu family's business is getting bigger and bigger, and the power is getting bigger and bigger. The court no longer cares about letting him become bigger, and he has to make trouble. ”

Speaking of this, He Zhiyuan wanted to say in his heart that no one was as profitable as the business he did, but what he did was a legal business, while the Lu family was an illegal business.

Zhou Fulai didn't speak again, just nodded heavily. I thought in my heart that for the sake of the court and the Zhou family, the Lu family must be eradicated this time!

Zhou Xuhai saw his son's resolute expression and reminded him: "Blowing, the officialdom is sinister, you must act carefully after you take office, and you must not be careless." Since the emperor allows you to transfer troops, why don't you take the soldiers with you when you pass by Juzhou this time. ”

Zhou Fulai shook his head and said: "The emperor's holy decree says that if necessary, you can transfer troops at will. It is obviously not necessary for me to redeploy troops as soon as I take office. Rest assured, the child will be careful. ”

He Zhiyuan smiled slightly and asked Zhou Fulai: "How many people did my brother bring with him when he went to work this time?" ”

"There are three people and two guards, a total of two

Five people. Zhou Fulai replied suspiciously, not knowing why He Zhiyuan asked about it.

"That's too little. For your safety, I will choose ten men from my family and barracks to serve as your bodyguards. When you get there, keep you safe, and if necessary, send a messenger at once. I immediately led the army to support you, so that it would not be contrary to the Holy Decree and would keep you safe. ”

When Zhou Xuhai heard this, he said approvingly: "The virtuous son-in-law's method is safe, I think he will act according to this law." For such an important position, it is not an exaggeration to bring a dozen guards to the post. ”

Zhou Fulai also said: "Just do what my brother-in-law said." ”

After staying in Qingzhou for a day, He Zhiyuan proposed to go back to Juzhou first, and Zhou Fu said: "Brother-in-law, why don't you wait for two days and go back to Juzhou with us." ”

He Zhiyuan said: "I went back first this time to select a guard for my brother and create a new weapon for him. It won't be too late to go back together, so I have to go first. ”

This is a half-truth, he really wants to equip this escort team with flintlock short guns now, on the other hand, he doesn't want to stay here all the time to accompany Zhou Fulai to visit the elders of his family every day, which makes him feel too awkward. What's more important is that he has always been thinking about Wang Zhixue and Li Zhigang's research progress, especially the steam pump that Wang Zhixue wants to study is the most urgent need for him.

When the Zhou family heard this, they no longer kept it, but He Zhiyuan set off to return to Juzhou, and the new weapon he wanted to build was actually a flintlock short gun, and now the firearms factory made a long gun, and he wanted to make a few short guns that could be hidden on his body for self-defense. He asked the guards to carry a long spear and a short gun in addition to each of them, so that it would be much easier for the guards to accompany them.

Zhou Fulai set off from Qingzhou to Juzhou two days later, and then stayed for one day and went to Yangzhou to take office, so the time was very tight. Although the short gun is simpler than the long gun, there is always a process of trial production, gun inspection, and mass production, and it takes three days to complete all these things, and the time is still a little tight.

So when he returned to Juzhou, He Zhiyuan decided not to take a car anymore, but to ride a horse. galloped all the way, and it took him less than half a day to fall into Juzhou City. After arriving home, he did not stop, and went directly to the firearms factory in Hejia Town after changing horses.

He summoned three master craftsmen of the firearms factory and told them about the style of the short gun. After listening to his thoughts, Ding Kui first said: "There is no technical difficulty in this short gun, but time is tight. The barrel can be added directly from the original material, or even with the original waste barrel. The bolt and plate should be smaller in size, and the wooden handle should be smaller. We tried to make a handful overnight, and after there were no problems, we could have the craftsmen make it in batches tomorrow afternoon. There is no problem in making twenty in two days. ”

"Then it's hard work for the three masters, you can start trial production now, and I'll come back tomorrow morning." He Zhiyuan said.

On the morning of the second day, He Zhiyuan came to the firearms factory again, and the three masters had already made a sample gun. He Zhiyuan took the handle and observed it carefully, due to the rush of time, the workmanship of the gun was a little rough, the barrel was about more than a foot long, two-thirds shorter than the original long gun, and the whole looked like a long gun that had been sawn short.

This is also something that is not done, after all, it is a night time, if not skilled. Such a short period of time

It's impossible to make it.

Ding Kui explained embarrassedly: "The time is too short, if there is enough time, it can be more exquisite." ”

"It doesn't matter, as long as it can be used, it doesn't matter if it looks exquisite or not." He Zhiyuan said, and then praised: "It is already a miracle that it can be made in such a short time." ”

The shooting range was not far from the firearms factory, and several of them came to the shooting range. He Zhiyuan's requirements for this short gun are not high, it is mainly used for self-defense, and the requirements for shooting accuracy and shooting distance are not high, as long as it can hit seventy or eighty steps.

But what is surprising is that after testing, this gun can also shoot more than 100 paces, although the accuracy is not very high, but such a shooting distance is beyond He Zhiyuan's expectations. The only downside is that the recoil of this gun is too great, and you feel soreness in your arms after a few shots with one hand. Because the gun itself is a modified gun with a long gun sawing short, there is no overall design, and the long gun is pressed against the handle with the shoulder, so it doesn't matter if the recoil is larger, but the pistol can't. However, this is only a temporary use, as long as it is not blown up, it can be used if it can be used.

Then, He Zhiyuan reduced the amount of gunpowder by half and tried firing again, so that the shooting distance was nearly half shorter, but the recoil was much smaller. Adjusted to two-thirds of the original gunpowder, the firing distance is also shortened by one-third, and the recoil is acceptable.

After trying the gun, He Zhiyuan said to the three people: "Just build it according to this style, you only need twenty guns, don't make too much, and make a special batch of ammunition packs, and reduce the amount of gunpowder by one-third." ”

The three masters said to He Zhiyuan: "Don't worry, you can still build twenty guns in two days." However, there are still many things to improve about this kind of gun short gun, and if we need it in the future, we can think about improving it. ”

He Zhiyuan carefully looked at the gun in his hand, and said: "Of course you need it, the amount you need in the future will be very large, this gun is easy to carry and easy to hide, the smaller the better, you can work more on miniaturization, but the disadvantage of this gun is that the recoil is larger, and you have to find a way to reduce its recoil, so that it is convenient to hold the gun with one hand and shoot." ”

Ding Kui nodded and said, "Okay, now that the output of the Suifa gun has been able to meet the use, then we will work the improvement of this short gun in the future." He Gongzi's two guns are flintlock guns, so let's give them another name for the sake of difference. ”

He Zhiyuan has long had this plan, the flintlock pistol is named according to the firing method, and the flintlock pistol will be used for a long time in the future, and there will be many models. It was he who said: "That flintlock pistol is specially used by infantrymen, let's call it a rifle, and this short gun is mainly used with one hand, let's call it a pistol." ”

After trying out the guns, the three of them immediately went back to recruit craftsmen to start production in rows, although there were only 20 guns, but because they had just started manufacturing, there would still be many problems to solve, and many processes to be arranged. After all, there are more people involved, and the cooperation between people and processes is different from before. These problems will take time to solve little by little.

During the conversation between Ding Kui and He Zhiyuan, Sun Minggang, who had not spoken, was thinking about the ordering of gunpowder and lead bullets. He wondered if he combined lead bullet with ammunition, wouldn't it be much faster to reload ammunition?

(End of chapter)

The little people of the Ming Dynasty

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