"When you go to the south to trade, you can be more careful. If there are people who are proficient in smelting steel and making firearms, whether they are officials or civilian soldiers, they can invite them to serve in the Qing Dynasty. I should treat them with the courtesy of a countryman. ”

Two days later, Huang Taiji set up a banquet to invite the eight families of Shanxi to be the shopkeeper of the Shengjing firm. Before the banquet, Huang Taiji and other Qing nobles not only thanked the Jin merchants for their business dealings over the years, but also used the looted property to order a large number of grain, weapons, pig iron and other items from the Jin merchants.

Huang Taiji even put forward the request that the Jin merchants provide technical materials and talents for the great cause of firearms manufacturing in the Qing Dynasty.

"I have issued an order that all localities under the Qing Dynasty shall not sell cattle and sheep without authorization. In all the customs and cities, those who illegally traffic cattle, sheep and horses out of the country without a license and other goods must be severely punished. ”

Huang Taiji's words were full of murderous energy, if these businessmen couldn't hear the mystery, they would have been in the market for many years.

"Your Majesty, the merchants and others don't know how to trade cattle, sheep, horses and other things with the Qing Dynasty? If not, the merchants and others were only afraid of heavy losses and could not afford to transport grain to the Qing Dynasty. ”

Fan Sanba, the eldest son of the Jiexiu Fan family, was undoubtedly the leader of these merchants. At this time, the relationship between the Eight Families and the Manchu Qing Dynasty was more like a trading partner, and it was not like a few decades later, when any Langzhong of the Ministry of Internal Affairs or a petty official of the Ministry of War purchasing military rations could shake his prestige in front of the Eight Families.

The meaning of his words is also very clear, you tell us not to sell cattle, sheep and horses without permission, then you tell me. How can I traffic it legally? If we don't let us sell your products to the mainland, then well, the uncles won't serve in the future!

"Last year, the shopkeeper of Huang gave the method of planting pox and corn grass, and I have already ordered someone to try it, and the effect is quite good. After my soldiers entered the customs, I had already issued an order to sell half of the furs produced by the Qing Dynasty to the Huang family as a reward. Gentlemen, Rank Caidong, if there is anyone who can give me the method of smelting steel and making firearms in the Southern Barbarians. I handed over to him the monopoly of the millions of cattle and sheep produced by the whole country of our Qing Dynasty every year. Think it's reward! ”

I see!

Fan Sanba and the others breathed a sigh of relief, and someone couldn't help but cast a sour look at the Huang family.

And the shopkeeper Huang was like a proud rooster, raising his withered and thin head.

The two new techniques he presented, the method of planting pox, have been forcibly promoted by Huang Taiji in all departments of the Eight Banners. Among the tens of thousands of troops who entered the pass and plundered this time. The effect is obvious. In the past, more than 1,000 people died of smallpox contracted by entering the customs. This time, no one died of smallpox among the pox people. The so-called familiar effect is achieved.

Historically, Yue Tuo died of smallpox in Jinan.

This technique was immediately unanimously praised by the nobles of the Eight Banners, for the Manchurian nobles with a small population base. Every death of those strong warriors was a great loss.

And another thing, the introduction of corn grass, under the governance of Prince Li Daishan, has gradually seen a glimmer of light. Many seeds can germinate and grow normally in the spring, although they can't grow as tall as Huang Da's shopkeeper said, but try to feed cattle and horses, and the effect is quite good.

For a while, the Huang family had a lot of confidence to speak in front of the nobles of the Eight Banners.

"Your Majesty, I don't know what kind of charter this cattle and sheep monopoly should be?"

Unwilling to see the Huang family show off their power in Liaodong, Fan Sanbai got up and asked Huang Taiji for advice.

"Fan Dongjia, this matter is also very simple to say. If your Fan Dong family obtains the emperor's permission in the future and includes the cattle and sheep monopoly in your pocket, then it will naturally be another charter. However, for now, this autumn's cattle and sheep sales are just that. ”

According to Fan Wencheng, for cattle and sheep this autumn, the eight families of the Jin merchants need to pay at least 10,000 stone of good japonica rice in the Qing Dynasty and obtain a dragon ticket before they can sell cattle and sheep in Liaodong, Horqin, and Chahar. Moreover, all the prices must be paid in full to the household granary, according to the rules of four stone rice for an adult bulf, double for bulls, halved for calves, and halved for sheep.

Of course, it can also be offset with other materials, such as pig iron, firearms, gunpowder, etc.

"Ploughing cattle for long-distance trafficking is like working in a plough, which can be eaten and drunk with all your heart, and you must be satisfied with beans. This cow eats grass, is very particular, spring and summer to eat grass, or the kind of spring grass, such as feeding cattle hay, need to be very fine, and then mixed with rice soup bran and wheat bran, and to feed frequently, the amount of feeding is less, especially in winter. If you are in a hurry, you have to give the ploughing cattle enough bean feed, it is bean material, the emperor, this seven, seven, eighty-eight is calculated, the price of each cow will be four stone rice, converted, according to the price of the Beijing division is more than ten taels of silver, this ......"

"Speaking of this cattle breeding, it is very knowledgeable. Let's talk about this cowshed first, clean it on schedule on weekdays, get out of the cow dung frequently, and spread the mat grass frequently, and you need to brush the cow body frequently, twice in the morning and evening, and you can't miss it. Especially in the hot summer, this cattle pen is essential for ventilation and freshness. In winter, it is also necessary to lead the cattle outside, choose a leeward and sunny place, and let the cattle bask in the sun while feeding, so that the cattle will be strong. ”

"In terms of breeding, not to mention hay straw on weekdays, ploughing cattle is served. Bean bran cake is indispensable, drinking water is also particular, drink water at least five times a day, and get water, it is best to put an appropriate amount of salt. If the cattle drink water in winter, they also need to supply warm water, add salt and minced beans......"

"The flock is even harder, and if you can't go far in a day, you must ......"

As soon as Fan Wencheng finished speaking, the entire hall was full of words filled with the taste of old vinegar, all of which were bitter voices, and they couldn't accept the price given by Huang Taiji.

"You think that my master is in Shengjing, so I don't know what tricks Lu Daoer and others are playing in Beijing?" Fan Wencheng immediately straightened his face, "You are in Beijing, and the so-called landed price of rice negotiated with the merchants of Nanzhong does not exceed four coins of silver and one stone, and when it is transported to various parts of my Daqing Dynasty, it will not exceed five coins of silver per stone." However, when you and those merchants in the south and central made the settlement, they exchanged grain and rice for the price of grain everywhere. How can you get several times the benefits? An adult bullock should wait for two taels of silver of grain. Don't be too greedy! ”

"That's it! Mr. Fan! Don't talk nonsense with them! I'll go to the shopkeeper of the second brother of the Li family in Shengjing, and ask him to send a sea ship to transport rice to Jinzhou, where we will deliver cattle and sheep grain and rice! Duoduo jumped out and reprimanded the group of merchants with a tiger face.

"Fifteenth brother! Don't mess around! ”

Before Huang Taiji could speak, Dolgon had already come out to stop his younger brother and piggyback on Fan Wencheng to help.

"Rank Caidong, my younger brother is young and straight-talking, don't be surprised."

The details of the trick have been debunked, and Fan Sanba is feeling a little embarrassed. Seeing Dorgon come out and take the steps. How to sail with the wind without knowing the road?

At that moment, after the guests and hosts exchanged a few polite words, they discussed how to expand the non-governmental trade between the Qing State and the Ming Dynasty in a happy and friendly atmosphere.

After the eventually, Shanxi merchants led by Fan Sanba expressed to Huang Taiji that they were willing to pay 100,000 stone grain and rice to the Qing household department at one time in exchange for the purchase of cattle and sheep in various parts of the Qing Dynasty.

And Huang Taiji also said. It is possible to reduce the price of the bullock to no more than three stone meters per head. Within the territory of the Qing Kingdom. The trafficking teams of Shanxi merchants can be unimpeded. Zhangjiakou to the west and Jinzhou to the east, two major exit ports.

Time. The guests and hosts parted happily.

A few days later, Huang Taiji once again drove to the craftsman's workshop, accompanied only by Dolgon and Fan Wencheng.

Ding Qiming and Ma Guangyuan, who were in charge of the military production of the Qing Dynasty, knelt in front of this tightly guarded workshop in the dense forest on the bank of the Hunhe River to greet them.

After a short walk along the sloppy road inward, along the loop of the Hunhe River, a huge hydraulic machine was slowly turning.

It is a huge hydraulic drilling machine, a simple machine made of hard wood and stone components, under the action of the turbulent water of the Hunhe River, the waterwheel pushes the stone pan, and the stone disc drives the drill bit to slowly rotate forward.

This hydraulic drilling machine looks very simple, but the advantages are obvious, it will never get tired when drilling and grinding the pipe, and it can maintain a fixed accuracy and quality, unlike manual operation, which deviates due to physical strength and energy.

"This is what you played? Claiming that a large number of artifacts can drill out of the pipe? ”

Huang Taiji narrowed his eyes and carefully observed the hydraulic machinery in front of him.

Ma Guangyuan ignored the dirtiness underground, and hurriedly knelt down and replied: "Your Majesty, this is exactly what you are!" ”

At this time, the fire gun that was popular between the Ming Dynasty and the Qing army was usually octagonal type, the gun body was thick at one end and one was thin, the thick one was made of the belly, and the thin one was made at the mouth, and the fire gun was still rough when it was first made, and the boring was rough and uneven. Drilling and boring skills are more refined, manpower is also limited, in the Ming Dynasty, good drill bits and frustration knives are made of good falling steel, falling steel has been regarded as the best hard steel at that time, but in fact, the rigidity is still far from the later generations, with the fall steel drill bore, it is still difficult to drill, a month to drill light is also understandable.

And the bore drilling is not finished, but also need to use the four-edged steel bar to scrape the boring clean, and make the screw back door, etc., so at that time it usually takes a long time to make a bird gun, requires a large number of skilled workers and equipment, the output is not very high, most of the time is consumed in the drilling and boring of the gun.

In fact, at that time, a kind of manpower drilling machine has been widely used in the craftsmen of the Ming Dynasty, which is to use wood as a frame, use a round stone disc to make an inertia wheel, tie a leather strip and pull it with manpower, so that the stone disc drives the drill bit to rotate the drill chamber, this kind of drilling machine has made a lot of progress than the use of manpower, but it is still very tired, and after improving into hydraulic power, it will be like a tiger with wings.

"The minions think about it every time, and use water power to propulse, not to mention that the efficiency is several times higher than that of manpower, and the force is evenly proportioned, and there is no fatigue of manpower. And a craftsman can also take care of several drilling machines at the same time. This is a trial model, if the use effect is good, the slaves should be improved, perhaps the efficiency of a hydraulic drilling machine can be increased more than ten times. ”

"How's it going right now?" Huang Taiji's eyes flashed with joy, no matter what, if these minions could solve the problem of the fire gun pipe, then the matter of compiling and training the Han army flag fire gun soldiers would be half the success.

Looking at this huge hydraulic drilling machine, Dolgon was also amazed, and his mind kept flashing the longing image of himself leading the firecrackers to wash all parts of the Ming Dynasty. He asked, "Lord Ding, Master Ma, how many days can I drill a pipe with this drilling machine?" ”

As the technical supervisor of the Qing Dynasty's firearms casting, Ding Qiming sighed slightly. Said: "Prince Huirui, in the past, it took nearly a month to drill the pipe by manpower, and there are still a lot of waste products, and there are many things with different wall thicknesses and no longer usable. And with this hydraulic drilling machine, within five days, you can drill a pipe! And the things that can be used are increased by at least 50%! ”

As an upgraded and improved version of the manpower drilling machine, the hydraulic drilling machine has a stable power source, and the drilling speed naturally increases rapidly. And it can be done day and night. One for five days. This kind of efficiency can be said to be an epoch-making progress compared to manual drilling.

Listening to Ding Qiming's words, Huang Taiji and Dolgon couldn't help but be taken aback: "One for five days? ”

He walked a few times around the perimeter of the hydraulic drilling machine. It's just a simple machine. Can you drill a gun pipe in five days?

"Go back to the emperor. Prince Huirui, there is something wrong with this thing. The disadvantage is that the cost is high and the drill bit needs to be changed frequently during operation. And the drill bit must be of high-quality steel. Otherwise, it will not be able to drill through. ”

Seeing that Ding Qiming won the lottery, Ma Guangyuan couldn't help but be a little surprised, and hurriedly jumped out to point out the shortcomings of this hydraulic drilling machine.

Such a practice, if it is placed in the Ming officialdom, will inevitably become a reason for those officials to get up and down, or to make profits from it, or to get rid of this matter. However, he forgot that the ruler in front of him was Huang Taiji, and his investment in the military industry could be said to be costless.

Moreover, the current situation of the Qing army, all banners have gained a lot in the looting of the customs, and they have tasted the sweetness, and Huang Taiji's prestige has once again risen to the peak. The matter of compiling and training the Han Army's flag firecrackers has also been supported by the lords of the banners, and the demand for firearms is huge, far beyond Ma Guangyuan's imagination.

"How many drill bits do you need?" What quality steel? Just say it! I can afford it! ”

Ding Qiming was secretly cursing in his heart, Ma Guangyuan put this cold arrow on himself behind his back, and he didn't want the emperor to support him so clearly.

"Your Majesty, the slave has experimented a few days ago, if it is used the same as the drill used in the armor and warfare bureaus in various parts of the Ming Dynasty, the use of fallen steel should be a pipe at five sunrises, and the slave is brave, and once used the iron and steel treasure knife given by the emperor to make a drill bit, and one will be produced in four days. And the drill bit loss is very small. ”

"Hah! Ha! You good minion! The sword I gave you was used by you to drill the pipe!? ”

Hearing such a figure, Huang Taiji couldn't help but be pleasantly surprised.

"If this is the case, the emperor, the servants are willing to give all the iron and steel treasure knives seized this time and hand them over to Lord Ding to use to make the pipe!"

Dolgon showed his loyalty to Wong's cause in a timely manner.

As a result, a drama between the Ming Jun and the virtuous minister was staged again.

Fan Wencheng couldn't stop cheering for Huang Taiji, Dolgon, Ding Qiming, Ma Guangyuan and others, while calculating quickly in his mind.

This kind of hydraulic machinery is similar to the hydraulic rice machinery that he saw in books as early as the Qin and Han dynasties. One end of the long water tank is connected to the stone mortar, and one end is connected to a square water tank, and then the bamboo is used as a water pipe to introduce water into the water tank, when the water in the water tank is full, the weight of the water makes the box sink down, and the water tank at the other end is lifted high. When the water in the box is poured, the box is lighter and rises up, and the water at the other end will fall down, pounding the rice heavily. In this way, no manpower is required at all, as long as there is water, which is very convenient.

If 200 hydraulic drilling machines are built on the banks of the Hunhe River, and one craftsman takes care of five drilling machines, and 200 hydraulic drilling machines only need 40 craftsmen to take care of them, the rest of the craftsmen of the gun factory can free up their hands to make other parts of the firecrackers. Not only that, a hydraulic drilling machine can drill 600 pipes in a month based on the minimum figure of 6 pipes drilled in a month, and 1,200 pipes can be drilled in a month for 100 hydraulic drilling machines. It's enough to train a firecracker.

What's more, the upstream and downstream of the Hunhe River can choose a suitable place, and the large-scale installation of such hydraulic machinery can not only drill the pipe, but also make simple knives and guns. When autumn arrives, thousands of firecrackers can be trained!

"Back to the emperor, if the iron material is sufficient, thirty Shenwei generals can be cast within the year. Its cannon is 4,000 catties each, 5 catties of medicine, 10 catties of iron, loaded on the gun cart, it will be able to attack and destroy the fortified city, strengthen the prestige of our country, and be sharper than the Tiancong Nian Tianyou to cheer the general! ”

Seeing that Ding Qiming's momentum overwhelmed him, Ma Guangyuan was not to be outdone, and immediately told him about his achievements in casting artillery.

Huang Taiji was naturally happy to see such a competition for favor, and even if he ordered to reward meritorious personnel, Ding Qiming and Ma Guangyuan both rewarded a good horse with a carved saddle and a hundred silver dollars. Horses and silver dollars were given to those who made meritorious contributions. Each craftsman appreciated a piece of dyed cloth and a piece of flower cloth, and for a time everyone in the craftsman's workshop sang like a tide.

"Fourteenth brother, you have to worry more about casting firearms and arranging firearms to train firearms. I was overjoyed to learn that you had fought against Li Shouhan with firearms in Jinan. ”

On the way back to Shengjing, Huang Taiji made a lot of determination, and finally decided to leave this important matter to Dolgon.

"Slaves dare not do their best?!"

Dorgon jumped off his horse, fell on his knees, and bowed before the Yellow Horse.

"Mr. Fan, what happened to Mingguo?"

"Back to the emperor, the news everywhere said that on the ninth day of the first month of May, Zhang Xianzhong, who accepted Zhao'an, raised the rebel flag again in Gucheng, killed Ruan Zhitian, the magistrate of Gucheng, and burned the official office. At the same time, Luo Rucai led the four battalions from Fang County, and the two joined forces to conquer the county, killing Hao Jingchun in Zhi County, and even under Yunxi, Baokang and other places. The fifth battalion of Hui Dengxiang, which was stationed in Junzhou, also reversed. Your Majesty, the Ming Kingdom will be in a situation of wandering around again! It is the time for me to recuperate and recuperate! (To be continued......)