Zhao Guangning's influence in Macao was really great, and after some discussion with the governor of Franc Ji, Mr. Silva, the governor of Franc Machine, promised to send 15 mercenaries to Xiangshan County to assist the county government in defending it.

Because they are mercenaries, it will not be taboo for these people to set foot on the land of the Ming Kingdom.

For Ning Xiu, the kindness expressed by the Governor of Franc Ji was naturally excellent.

Although this is only a backhand, under normal circumstances, if Li Dan wants to attack Xiangshan County, he must cross Macao, where the Francois is entrenched.

There are Franc machine guns within the jurisdiction of Xiangshan County, but they have been idle due to the lack of gunners, and even fall into ashes.

Ning Xiu was worried that these Franc cannons could no longer be used normally. But these mercenaries soon proved that the county lord's fears were unnecessary.

After some careful maintenance by them, all but one of the Franc cannons were in normal use.

This also proves once again the importance of professional talent.

There was no shortage of craftsmen in the Ming Dynasty, and imitations soon came in after the Hongyi cannon and the Buddha cannon flowed in.

However, the Ming Dynasty lacked the talents to use and maintain artillery.

So that after a long time, there will be a situation of squibs.

The situation of firecrackers is even more common, and the explosion rate has become commonplace, and the explosion rate of bird's guns has been as high as fifty percent. So much so that the soldiers smelled the guns and resisted the use of firearms.

Ning Xiu felt the need to train a special maintenance personnel who would be responsible for the daily maintenance of the gun.

Otherwise, no matter how advanced the firearms are, sooner or later they will have to turn into a pile of scrap copper and rotten iron.

It all started, of course, with these fifteen mercenaries.

Since they are mercenaries, they naturally have no faith. If I had to find one, it would be money.

Whoever gives more money will work for whom, and if there is milk, he is a mother.

Ning Xiu planned to make a huge profit on these fifteen mercenaries, buy them out, and let them become his own family members.

In the late Ming Dynasty, it became a common practice for officials to keep their families, and most of them, whether they were civil officials or military generals, would keep some family members. Some people even measure their strength by the number of family members.

With Ning Xiu's current strength, not to mention raising fifteen family members, there is no problem in raising one hundred and fifty.

However, Ning Xiu didn't plan to become a fat man in one bite.

First, you don't need so many people, and second, it's easy to get eggs when you have big steps.

Besides, there are so many families around, it will inevitably cause gossip, in case there is an eyeless imperial history to impeach him, it will be too much to lose.

"Qi Wen, have you seen all those Franc mercenaries?"

Ning Xiu said to the loyal guard with a smile.

Qi Wen clasped his hands into fists and said resolutely: "Back to my uncle, the villain thinks they have a lot of strength." ”

Ning Xiu nodded: "I plan to take them into the family, what do you think?" ”

Qi Wen was stunned for a moment, and then said, "I'm afraid this is a little inappropriate." ”

Ning Xiu waved his hand and said, "Let's talk about it." ”

"The villain thinks that the most important thing for the family is loyalty." He paused for a moment and said, "And these mercenaries clearly lack loyalty. ”

Ning Xiu said lightly: "They are loyal to the silver, so I will give them the silver." I don't need them to live in my house like the rest of the family, as long as they can stand up when they are used. ”

Qi Wen's expression was stunned, and he said in his heart, what kind of family is this? The family is a vassal of the lord's family.

"Of course I did this with my own considerations. Do you know how much Ming spends on firearms maintenance every year? ”

"This villain doesn't know."

Qi Wen was honest and said truthfully.

"I don't know, but I know that most of the officers and soldiers in the Ming Dynasty are afraid of firearms. Do you know why? ”

Rather cultivate the path of good and seductive.

"Because firearms are prone to exploding."

Qi Wen is Qi Jiguang's general, and he is naturally no stranger to firearms.

Even the firearms in the Qi family's army will explode, but the quality of firearms is much better than that of ordinary officers and soldiers.

"The quality of firearms depends on the quality of manufacturing and the maintenance of firearms. If you cut corners and make shoddy work, there is no need to say more. But wouldn't it be a pity that a well-crafted firearm would explode because of neglect of maintenance? ”

When Ning Xiu said this, Qi Wen couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

After a long time, he sighed and said, "What my uncle said makes sense. Although Qi Shuai was very concerned about the manufacture of firearms, he did not send people to maintain them, so it is no wonder that there are occasional explosions. ”

Ning Xiu didn't think that Qi Jiguang wanted to save money on maintenance, but he didn't have the concept of maintenance.

This is also the reason why firearms were increasingly unable to be put on the table in the late Ming Dynasty.

Since Ning Xiu has gone for such a time, he naturally can't go in vain, but wants to help Da Ming cure this stubborn disease.

"Of course, their role is not just to maintain firearms."

Ning Xiu smiled, "I have some good ideas for them to try. ”

Qi Wen's eyes couldn't help but light up.

He had long heard that the uncle in front of him was very active, and he didn't know how many things he had invented in the past two years, and everything was a big profit.

But he never seemed to have set his sights on firearms, so did his uncle have an idea now?

"Uncle, you mean you want to get some firearms? Is it a replica of a musket or a cannon? ”

Ning Xiu shook his head and said, "Neither, I'm going to get something called a flintlock pistol." ”

Of course, Ning Xiu would not explain to Qi Wen what a flintlock pistol was, only explained to him that this was a new type of firecracker.

Accompanied by Qi Wen, he came to the courtyard where these mercenaries lived temporarily, and said to the leader: "Gather everyone, this official has something to say." ”

The leader of the mercenaries immediately went into the house and summoned all his companions, and fifteen men stood in a very neat row.

Ning Xiu secretly admired in his heart, this organizational discipline was really extraordinary. Don't look at it as just a mercenary, I don't know how high it is higher than the officers and soldiers of the ordinary Daming Guard.

If the Ming officials and soldiers can have this kind of organizational discipline, why worry about the East Captives?

"The official called you here to tell you something, that is, the official wants to make a new type of musket, and the official calls him a flintlock pistol."

Ning Xiu briefly explained the structure of the flintlock pistol to them, of course it would not be very detailed, after all, Ning Xiu did not have a golden finger, and the specific structure still needed to be figured out by themselves.

The mercenaries began to whisper.

After a while, one of the mercenaries stepped forward and said loudly: "Report to the lord, the villain has heard of this flintlock pistol." ”

Ning Xiu was greatly surprised. He couldn't remember exactly when the flintlock pistol was invented, but was there a prototype at the end of the sixteenth century?

"Oh? Are you ever heard of this flintlock pistol so hard to do? ”

"It's not difficult to do, but it takes a skilled craftsman and a villain to experiment."

Ning Xiu nodded and waved his hand: "Okay, this official will allocate a few craftsmen to you, if you have any needs, just tell them." If they asked, they would say that the official had said it. ”

"The villain obeys!"

The mercenary clenched his fists.

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