The five Hongyi cannons received in Guangdong were delayed for a long time on the road because of the Hui, Gewei, Huang and other places, and Lu Qiqing did not forcibly escort them for the sake of safety, and patiently waited until the end of July to cross the river from Wuchang Mansion and go straight to Zaoyang. The five cannons were covered and filled with thick cowhide and hay along the way, and when Zhao Dangshi took Lu Pu and others for inspection, they were well preserved and did not have any rust and wear.

These five black and swarthy iron Hongyi cannons are all around 5,000 catties, all nearly two zhang long, and the cannon body has three reinforcing hoops to form a four-section shape, and when they are unloaded from the ox cart, they obviously feel that the frame of the heavy cannon body is sunk and jumps violently.

Lu Qiqing, who was in the dust, brought a high-nosed and deep-eyed curly-haired Yi man to Zhao Dangshi and said: "Lord, this is the master of this trip to the Buddha Lang Jiren, named Lao Chonghan, who is quite familiar with both sides of Han and Yi, and all your needs from now on can be told to him." ”

Zhao Dangshi looked closely at Lao Chonghan in front of him, about fifty years old, with gray and silver hair, dressed in a gorgeous robe, and holding a small and thick scripture book in his hand, and knew that he must be a missionary of God. Among the Francophiles, the high positions are generally held by priests like Lao Chonghan.

Lao Chonghan was introduced, and he saluted the heroic and extraordinary Zhao Dangshi according to Han customs, and said two words of blessing, with a very strange accent, it seems that the level of Chinese is not very high, so soon there are accompanying generals to catch up.

Zhao Dangshi learned from Lao Chonghan that there were 35 people in total, except for himself, including 22 gunners, 10 craftsmen, and 2 generals. All of them have signed a contract with Zhao Ying, and they must stay in Zhao Ying for five years before they can apply to leave.

During the Apocalypse, there was a Buddha master who was hired to enter Beijing to teach the method of alchemy and installation; In the first year of Chongzhen, the imperial court went to Haojing Macao to buy artillery, and at the same time recruited some of the Franc machine gun divisions, although because the artillery was heavier than the road delay, failed to catch up with the change of Jisi, but these artillery divisions in the Wuqiao Revolution a few years later with the Ming army suppressed the rebels led by Kong Youde and Geng Zhongming, and some of the dead were also posthumously awarded the posts of generals, guerrillas, garrisons, etc.; In the fourth year of Chongzhen, Xu Guangqi, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, and Sun Yuanhua, the governor of Denglai, proposed to recruit hundreds more Franc machine gunners, but many ministers in the court were worried about different races and different hearts, and fiercely criticized this move. Since then, no one has ever mentioned the plan to recruit the Franc man.

Zhao Ying is not a court with many people, in essence, it is a hall of Zhao Dangshi's words, as long as Zhao Dangshi nods, there are not so many rules and regulations to restrain it.

"Originally, there weren't just twenty-four people, why were there eleven more?" Zhao Dangshi was a little strange, and the consultant Lu Qiqing.

Lu Qiqing replied: "Originally, it was said that it would hire twenty-four Franc machine people, but before leaving, when the old knife saw him off, he saw some cats, and found that there were not enough pure Franc machine people among the twenty-four people, and many others were miscellaneous people in Tianzhu, Luzon and other places. Later, the man surnamed Lao explained that there were not many pure Francophiles in Haojingao, and it was difficult to recruit them temporarily, and he was afraid that we would be dissatisfied, so he voluntarily added some miscellaneous things to the original establishment. "Because he has lived in Haojing Ao for a long time and has seen all kinds of Fan Yi, Zhao Hudao's vision in this regard is naturally higher.

"These miscellaneous people look dusty, are they useful?" Zhao Dangshi frowned and looked at the various Fanyi standing behind Lao Chonghan, and it happened that there was a black man with his bony eyes open, and he also looked at it blankly.

Lu Qiqing said: "Rest assured, the proportion of pure Buddha machine people among the gunners and craftsmen is not low, and although these miscellaneous people look at the porcelain horses and are stunned, they have all received formal training and are unambiguous in handling artillery. ”

Zhao Dangshi nodded slightly and said, "Okay, when the time comes, the real knife and real gun will be examined." Then his eyes moved to the thick book in Lao Chonghan's hand, "You keep an eye on it, the book in his hand is a very harmful thing, and the people and soldiers must not ask him to wash it." At present, Zhao Dangshi is in full swing compiling "Dangshi Hengyan", and the charter in this book is the highest guiding outline of Zhao Ying stipulated by Zhao Dangshi, and he has zero tolerance for all competitors who may threaten "Dangshi Hengyan".

Lu Qiqing said repeatedly: "My subordinates understand." He traveled to Guangzhou, Guangzhou, and saw many people devout to God, and since Zhao Dangshi reminded him, he naturally paid attention to it.

However, Lu Qiqing's internal affairs department alone may not be able to control the Catholicism that is very easy to spread, Zhao Dangshi thought about it, and when he turned around, he had to let Pang Jinming of the secret service department put the matter of preventing Lao Chonghan from taking the opportunity to proselytize on the agenda.

Zhao Dangshi exchanged a few words with Lao Chonghan, and then someone took them down to rest first. He Kewei, the internal affairs envoy, Lu Qiqing, the deputy internal affairs envoy, and Lu Puyi, the subordinate firearms workshop, were all called to the meeting hall of the three military mansions.

Although the Hongyi cannon arrived, Zhao Dangshi did not expect that only five cannons would instantly improve the combat effectiveness of the Zhao battalion. Without enough artillery, skilled gunners, and smooth tactics, these five guns are just an empty shelf for the current Zhao battalion.

"The three of you think, what benefit does this Hongyi cannon do to my Zhao Ying?" Zhao Dangshi threw bricks and stones, "Or, what are the outstanding features of them compared with other artillery types in my court?" ”

He Kewei didn't know about firearms, but he was only present because the envoy in charge of internal affairs was there, so he mainly asked Lu Qiqing and Lu Puyi to hear this. And Lu Puyi's main identity is still a craftsman, mainly practical, and in terms of theory, he is naturally not as good as Lu Qiqing, who has consulted and learned from Lao Chonghan and other Franc machine people all the way.

Lu Qiqing looked left and right, and saw that the other two were silent, so he replied: "Western casting cannons, the length, size, thickness and thickness of the ruler are really cautious. This Hongyi cannon is not based on size, but only on the empty diameter of the gun, which is the essence of the effectiveness of the artillery. Therefore, the length of the barrel and the thickness of the pipe wall are customized, and the firing range is quite long, nearly three miles. It's really because there are many cannons such as the generals and the generals of our dynasty. This is one of them. ”

Zhao Dangshi nodded and motioned for him to continue.

"Second, all the cannons used by Fanyi have secret legends, such as the use of telescopes for long-distance vision, the use of measurement plates, and the preparation of cannon tables and other assistance. Hongyi cannon needs to be erected on the gun carriage or fort, without a crosshair, illuminating the door, and its degree plate can be called a 'gun gauge', so as to measure the angle, several times more accurate. ”

Lu Puyi added at this time: The ruler is made of copper, and its shape is like a rectangular, four minutes wide, one point thick, one foot long, one inch and five minutes long, with the Pythagorean intersection as the heart, with one of the four points of the gauge, the gauge is divided into 12 degrees, and the vertical right line is accurate. ”

"Exactly, I don't want Lu Fang to know about this thing, I can't remember it." Lu Qiqing approved, and continued, "There is also a cannon watch, which is used to record the effect according to the angle of the shot, so that it can be adjusted later, which is also a clever trick." Finally, he said, "Third, the Hongyi cannon has a wide muzzle and a large charge, which is particularly powerful. After a pause, "With these three points, the Hongyi cannon can be called an artifact." ”

In summary, the long range, high accuracy and high power are the most significant characteristics of the Hongyi cannon compared with the various standard artillery equipped in the current Ming army.

Zhao Dangshi said: "This kind of is the benefits of the Hongyi cannon. Western cast cannons, accustomed to the shape of the system, so now there are Franc machine craftsmen, we can discuss with them, with the purchased five cannons as a template, the shape of the Hongyi cannon required by our battalion is formulated. Train the gunners later, and also put them in charge. Zhao Dangshi does not expect that the craftsmen and gunners in his battalion can integrate these theoretical knowledge, he only hopes that under the supervision of the Franco man, the craftsmen and gunners in the battalion can at least improve as much as possible at the application level.

Lu Qiqing asked, "What kind of artillery is needed in the battalion?" ”

Zhao Dangshi responded: "I thought of the three things that are most needed at present, the No. 1 Hongyi cannon, weighing about 5,000 catties, for attacking and defending the city; No. 2 Hongyi cannon, 2,000 catties, used in field battles; There is also a kind of big Buddha Lang machine gun, which is modified according to the existing Buddha Lang machine gun, which is roughly 500 catties, and is also used in field battles to make up for the gap in the firepower of our battalion. ”

Lu Pu thought for a while and said: "My lord, at present, the firearms manufacturing bureau in our battalion and Xiangyang City all use the mud mold casting method to cast cannons, if the above cannons are cast according to the demand, the weight may not be so low." ”

Zhao Dangshi said: "You need to consult those Franc machine people for this point." I heard that Zhao Hudao, the envoy of the city in Guangdong, said that the Franc machine is good at casting copper cannons, which can greatly reduce the weight of the cannon body, and compared with iron cannons, copper cannons are also more reliable. Although the current five Hongyi cannons are all cast in iron, our battalion will make cannons in the future, all of which will be made of copper. ”

Lu Puyi agreed, and then listened to Zhao Dangshi: "In addition, I think it is appropriate to use solid bullets for cannonballs, and in terms of materials, stone bullets, pig iron bullets, lead and copper-clad lead, and wrought iron can be used at the same time." And said, "About copper, I discussed with Lao He before the head, the big head still has to be purchased from Yunnan, and when the Sichuan chaos is a little calmer, let the Kong family start this matter, the copper needs in the near future, the amount is not large, you can take it from Wuchang Mansion nearby, there is also a copper class." ”

"Yes." Lu Puyi, He Kewei, and Lu Qiqing all agreed.

Zhao Dangshi continued: "I have visited various bureaus in Xiangyang Prefecture, and there are also a few old craftsmen who have participated in my self-made Hongyi cannon. For example, when a cannon explodes, a large part of it will turn into hard slag, some of which will remain on the bore surface of the tube, and some of which will be sprayed out like a puff of smoke. The residue of the bore surface needs to be wiped repeatedly in order to restore the inner chamber of the gun, otherwise the bore of the gun will be damaged and the service life will be shortened, and even serious consequences such as jamming and exploding will occur. This significantly affected the rate of fire. It is necessary to train the gunner's loading and cleaning speed, and it must reach at least 50 times a day to be qualified. This is also one of the reasons why the faster rate of fire of the Great Buddha Lang cannon needs to be added to match the Hongyi cannon. "The Franc machine man was assigned to different departments according to his different functions, the gunner in charge of teaching the cannon was assigned to the instructor and the envoy in charge of forging, and the firearms workshop of the internal affairs department was assigned to the firearms workshop," and a large amount of smoke would seriously affect the gunner's aiming when firing again, and the accuracy would drop significantly. It is particularly important to have nitrate, sulfur, carbon and other raw materials related to the quality of gunpowder, the reasonable proportion of the composition, and the appropriate composition of ammunition. This point, Park Il, is the focus of your research. ”

Looking at Lu Puyi, who had secretly lowered his head and had already begun to think about his future work, Zhao Dangshi sighed secretly, the gunpowder fired by the Hongyi Cannon was smoky black gunpowder, which itself was made of saltpeter, sulfur and charcoal. Carbon is fuel, saltpeter gas, sulfur combustion and cementing agent, this gunpowder is a dense substance, easy to stick to the wall of the chamber to cause a variety of problems, and the chemical energy is very low, the combustion rate is too fast, the thrust produced is small, and the natural killing and destruction ability is limited. It's a pity that no matter how good Lu Puyi's technology is, no matter how diligent and studious he is, he can't surpass the times to develop smokeless gunpowder with greater efficiency, so Zhao Dangshi retreated to the next best thing and chose to make up for the lack of technology by improving human efficiency.

Lu Pu thought about it for a while, and then raised his head and said "yes", Zhao Dangshi said: "I just mentioned that the No. 2 Hongyi cannon and the big Buddha Lang machine gun needed for the field battle, I want the artillery truck to carry it, so that the cannon can shoot directly on the vehicle." These technologies are also understood by the Francophone people. ”

"Direct shot?" Lu Puyi said in surprise.

In the Ming Dynasty, slightly larger artillery such as the large Franc machine gun, the cannon was mounted on the car when marching, and when it arrived at the launch site, it was necessary to unload the cannon from the car and fire it on the ground, otherwise the huge recoil during the shelling would immediately make the gun truck shake or even collapse, seriously affecting the accuracy. Because the gun carriage has never been improved, even if the Ming army later developed a vehicle-mounted gun, it can only withstand a very small type of gun, and it is completely unable to give full play to its firepower advantage. In Lu Puyi's cognition, he has seen that the largest vehicle-mounted cannon of the Ming army is only a thousand catties, and now Zhao Dangshi actually asked to put a 2,000-pound cannon on the car, which is really incredible.

However, after all, changing the car is easier than changing the gun, not to mention the assistance of the Franc machine.

The five Hongyi cannons were just the beginning for Zhao Ying, and in Zhao Dangshi's plan, Zhao Ying's standard firearms were bird guns, tiger squat guns, hair cannons, Franc machine guns, and Hongyi cannons, supplemented by a small number of other firearms. At present, it is not difficult to obtain the bird gun, the tiger squat cannon, the hair cannon and even the Franc machine cannon for Zhao Ying, but the aforementioned No. 1 Hongyi cannon, No. 2 Hongyi cannon and Big Buddha Lang cannon are all self-determined by Zhao Dangshi, and there is nowhere to buy them, so they can only be developed by Zhao Ying's own gunpowder production bureau that will be built in Xiangyang, and the corresponding material purchase and distribution, gunpowder formula research, redesign of gun-carrying vehicles, gunner training and assessment, etc.

The matter of reforming firearms is destined to be a long way to go. This patience, Zhao Dangshi has.