When Chi Fei walked into the study, he saw Ning Yabai and Ning Yafeng chatting while drinking tea, so leisurely.

Seeing her brother-in-law come in, Ning Yabai immediately beckoned, "Here." Come on, the Songding Maofeng that was just sent from Huyang today will taste what it tastes like. Wait a minute, you can bring some back and soak slowly. ”

After Chi Fei sat down next to them, he picked up the teacup in front of him and drank it slowly.

"How?" Ning Yabai asked expectantly.

"This tea is quite fragrant."

"That's it? Don't have anything else in mind? ”

"Well, it's kind of fragrant anyway."

Ning Yafeng, who was sitting on the side watching the excitement, laughed loudly and said: "Hahaha, I'll just say that Ah Zhen is a layman like me, and I can't drink anything special about your baby Mao Feng."

Ah Zhen, let me tell you, I made a bet with my eldest brother before you came, saying that you must be the same as me, and you can't taste where this Mao Feng is expensive.

He didn't believe it, so he had nothing to say now, haha. ”

Ning Yabai glanced at Chi Fei with some disappointment, and then sighed: "It's hard to find a soulmate." ”

Hearing him say this, Ning Yafeng laughed even more.

Chi Fei smiled bitterly: "Big brother, it's not the first day you know me. I don't have much research on tea, and I can't taste so many tricks, at most I can only roughly divide the good and the bad. You shouldn't have made this bet with your second brother in the first place. ”

Ning Yabai thought about it, and also felt that she shouldn't make this bet with her younger brother, so she couldn't help but laugh too.

Everyone has hobbies, and Ning Yabai, the son of the Ning family, is no exception.

The sons and daughters of other families are generally greedy and lustful, or they are good at eating and drinking. Those with higher tastes like to collect antique books, or pretend to be literati and chant poetry all day long.

And Ning Yabai's hobby is more special, he likes to drink tea and taste tea.

I don't know if this hobby has something to do with the fact that he stayed in the northwest since he was a child.

The climate in the northwest is dry and the soil is poor, and the local vegetables are not only small, but also not many in quantity, which is very expensive.

Due to the scarcity and high price of local vegetables, in order to detoxify fever, not only Hu people like to drink tea, but also Northwest people are even more addicted to tea.

Many Northwesterners will make a pot of tea and enjoy it slowly after eating in the evening.

Not only did Ning Yabai have this habit, but he also slowly developed a hobby of drinking tea.

In the past, every time he returned to Beijing, he would buy a lot of good tea and bring it back to the northwest to taste it slowly.

Later, after the northwest rebelled against the imperial court, this habit of his was forcibly interrupted.

Now that he has returned to the Central Plains, his hobby can finally be completely satisfied.

Chi Fei looked at his eldest brother while drinking tea, and found that he seemed to be darker than before, and couldn't help asking: "I said big brother, this shouldn't be my dazzle, you have been back for more than ten days, why not only has it not turned a little white, but it has become darker and darker, what is going on?" ”

Ning Yabai said excitedly: "Recently, I have been studying how to make the musketeers fight on the horses, preferably to form a musket formation on the horses like on the flat ground. ”

"Why do you suddenly have this thought?"

"Actually, it's not sudden, when General Li and I were fighting all the way to the south, we encountered an ambush of tens of thousands of Hu people on the outskirts of Jiangyin City.

We fought a battle with the Hu people on the outskirts of the city, and although we were saved in the end, we still lost more than 4,000 horses.

It was our deadliest battle since the expedition began.

At that time, because the Hu people's sneak attack was too sudden, we didn't even have time to set up a defensive formation, so we were caught off guard by the Hu people.

Fortunately, General Li was experienced and quickly stabilized his position, and finally won the battle rather thrillingly.

Ever since this battle, I've wondered if I could get the musketeers to form a gun formation on their horses without dismounting to strike the enemy.

If our side had been able to launch a counterattack immediately when the Hu people launched a sneak attack, there would not have been so many casualties.

It's because I've always had this idea, so I've been testing whether it works since I came back. ”

Ning Yafeng interjected: "Ah Zhen, in order to try this, the eldest brother has been staying in the horse farm all day long to practice the formation, and it is strange if it is not dark." ”

Chi Fei thought about it seriously, then picked up a few empty teacups from the table and said while swinging them: "Big brother, it's not that your idea is impossible, but it will be very difficult to operate in practice."

Indeed, if you can get the musketeers to fire directly on their horses, you can save time in formation and hit the enemy faster.

But if you want the riders to achieve a musket formation effect of three people in a column, or even a column of five people, it is a bit impractical.

Because a person on a horse is completely different from a person on flat ground, especially in the field or woods where there are many obstacles, it will be more difficult to move.

These three rows of teacups correspond to the position of the cavalry, and in the first row, for example, the musketeers in this row should immediately go around to the rear to reload their ammunition after firing on their horses, and give up the front position to the cavalry in the second row to continue firing.

But getting a full row of riders to move to the back quickly and methodically is very difficult in itself.

Even if you manage to do this with a lot of training, it will certainly take much slower time than a musketeer who doesn't ride a horse.

After all, people are much more flexible than horses, and I believe that even Hu people, who have ridden horses since childhood, will find it difficult to meet your requirements.

Rather than this, it is better to settle for the second best thing, not to force the effect of the gun array, but to spread out all the musketeers on horseback, let them find a place to take cover, and then fire together against the enemy.

Although the overall effect is not as good as that of a musket array of three people or even a column of five people, at least when encountering a sneak attack by the enemy, it is more feasible to quickly mobilize the combat power of the soldiers so as not to be caught off guard. ”

Not only did Ning Yafeng listen to these words very attentively, but Ning Yabai, who was the person concerned, became more and more excited the more he listened, and directly patted his thigh and said: "No wonder I always feel very awkward when I practice the formation, I thought it was because the soldiers were not trained enough."

It turned out that I wanted to deviate, and I always wanted to use the cavalry array as a musket formation, so I got into the tip of the horns.

You're right, you should do it this way, first let the cavalry all disperse, and then let them find a place to fire.

Stinky boy, it's still your brain, and you found the problem at once.

I should have consulted with you sooner so I wouldn't have wasted so much time. ”

"Okay, okay, I'm not an immortal, how can I know so much.

In fact, you are not doing it for nothing, at least you have personally verified whether this method works or not, and this is the key.

If you hadn't tried this method first, how would I know what the problem was?

Let's go back to that question. If you want to increase the rate of continuous fire of musketeers, in addition to using a three-person or five-person musket formation for volleying, there is actually a better solution, which is to save time by improving the way muskets are loaded. ”

"How? Tell me about it. Ning Yabai urged.

Chi Fei patiently explained: "One of the most important improvements is to change the current front-loading musket to a rear-loading musket.

Today's muskets are loaded with ammunition that is pushed all the way from the front of the barrel to the end of the barrel until it is pushed all the way to the end, and then fired by striking the ignition with a flint mounted on the fire door.

This practice of loading ammunition from the front end of the barrel is what I call front-loading.

If you've ever used a musket, you should know that this reloading process is cumbersome and time-consuming.

The so-called rear-loading type is to stuff ammunition directly from the rear end of the barrel, and then ignite it through a flint to fire.

You don't think it's a small change, but it can cut the reload time in more than half.

If the cavalry used a breech-loading musket, not only would the time it take to reload ammunition would be greatly reduced, but it would also be much easier to operate.

In this way, their combat power will definitely be doubled at once. That's the best solution. ”

Ning Yabai and Ning Yafeng were both people who were used to muskets, and when they heard these descriptions, they quickly formed a general image and picture in their minds, and they were immediately excited.

"Changing the front to the rear? What a wonderful idea!

Ah Zhen, have you already made this kind of rear-loading musket? Ning Yafeng couldn't wait to ask.

"You think it's Chinese cabbage, how can it be so easy.

There are too many things to change from the front to the rear of the musket.

I'm working on it, and I guess it won't take shape in a year at the earliest. Just wait and see. ”

"As long as it can be changed, let alone a year, you can afford to wait for two or three years.

When you're done, remember to let the brothers try their hand at it first. ”

"Don't worry, you can try it then."

"Try what?" After Ning Zhiyuan walked into the study, he saw that several of them were chatting hotly, and couldn't help but ask.

Ning Yafeng told him the topic he had just talked about.

When Ning Zhiyuan heard this, he immediately said with anticipation on his face: "Okay, if the musket can really be changed to like that, it is indeed a great thing."

Ah Zhen, you don't have to rush to study this matter slowly, I'm waiting for your good news. ”

"Yes, father-in-law, my son-in-law will definitely do his best."

Ning Zhiyuan patted him on the shoulder with great satisfaction, then walked to the chair in front of the three of them and sat down, and said straight to the point: "There is no one else here except for the two of us, I want to discuss something with you." ”

As soon as the three of them heard this, they knew that what their father (father-in-law) was going to tell them must be something important that no outsiders could know, and they immediately sat down and waited for him to speak.

Under the gaze of his son and son-in-law, Ning Zhiyuan said slowly: "With this addition, the two princesses are already persuaded for the third time.

When the play comes to this, it's almost over.

This time, I am ready to accept their pleas and officially ascend the throne.

As for the country name, I don't bother to think about anything else, so I will use our family's surname, and it will be called Daning in the future.

What do you guys think? ”

After listening to this, Ning Yabai, Ning Yafeng, and Chi Fei first looked at each other, and then invariably showed a happy smile.

Finally, it's time to come.