Qi Province, Qingzhou Prefecture.

The pro-ship fleet is walking very slowly, and it is expected that it will take more than 40 days to reach the territory of Qi Province, so Xu Shiyang still has some time to make some preparations.

First of all, of course, is the rearmament of weapons.

Xu Shiliu sent a ship to send him 500 qualified barrels in Jiangnan, and Xu Shiyang ordered 300 of them to be cut into two sections, of which two-thirds of the length was used to make short flintlock pistols for the Jingyuan cavalry.

The other third of the length was used to make pistols for the Zhiyuan cavalry.

The remaining 200 barrels were all used to make arquebuses - because flintlock bolts were still only made by a few craftsmen, the production of flintlock pistols was not high, and the existing barrels could only be used to make arquebuses.

Fortunately, Xu Shiyang's arquebus, except for the bolt part, other specifications are basically the same as the flintlock pistol, and when there are more flintlock guns, the arquebus can be directly transformed into a flintlock pistol.

I have to say that these 500 barrels helped Xu Shiyang a lot, with these, Xu Shiyang can not only completely eliminate the muskets within the scope of the new army, but also equip the cavalry with a sufficient number of muskets to enhance the combat effectiveness of the two cavalry battalions.

It's just that Xu Shiyang also got a very interesting news - Emperor Jianxing included 3,000 craftsmen in Jiangnan and handed them over to Tartars, and most of those who took Xu Shiyang's orders were not spared, so he may not be able to get a suitable barrel replenishment from Jiangnan for a long time in the future.

It's a blessing and a curse.

Because there are 3,000 craftsmen in the team, if Xu Shiyang can successfully intercept it, he will gain a large number of valuable talents.

But because Jiangnan is rooted in craftsmen, the things he originally ordered in Jiangnan and arrived before the war with the Tartars are completely impossible to get their hands on.

Fortunately, the existing quantity is barely enough, and the subsequent order cancellation is not an unacceptable loss.

What's more, Xu Shiyang's own craftsmen were not idle, and with Xu Shiyang's uninterrupted encouragement and investment, they finally made some technological breakthroughs.

Now, Xu Shiyang is holding two just-produced barrels for comparison.

Well, the caliber is basically the same, the strength is about the same, and in terms of thickness, the right one is slightly thicker than the left one.

"Commander, this one is rolled with a windmill pushing a forging hammer."

Tang Long pointed to the barrel of the gun on Xu Shiyang's right hand and explained:

"We have already tested, the strength is suitable, there is no worry about exploding, the advantage is that the production speed is much faster, the original time to drill a barrel is now enough to roll twenty!"

"Well done!"

Xu Shiyang was very satisfied with this.

At this rate, his small arsenal, which has already begun to bear fruit, can produce 200 barrels a month, and there is still a lot of room for improvement.

If it weren't for the fact that the production of flintlock guns still couldn't keep up, he could have formed a 10,000-person flintlock rifle infantry team and slammed it directly into the face of the Tartar!

You know, with a flintlock pistol, the blessing of nationalism, and sufficient supplies, he could have pulled a random peasant from the field, trained him into a qualified expendable in three months with a military stick, and used it to fight for his life with the real Jurchen Tartars.

Not to mention that the Tartars can't do one for one, even if they can do it, they will definitely not be able to fight Xu Shiyang.

Because such soldiers are so easy to train!

"Tang Long, after a while, I may be able to replenish a large number of craftsmen for you."

徐世杨 says:

"Those craftsmen are not all blacksmiths, but you have to take responsibility, when the time comes, I will set up a labor department, you will be the person in charge, and Blacksmith Zhang and Carpenter Li will be your deputies."

"A large number of craftsmen?" Tang Long asked curiously, "How many?" ”

"Maybe 3,000 people, maybe more, because a lot of people bring their families."

Xu Shiyang smiled:

"You can count it up and down from three thousand."

"Three thousand!?" Tang Long shouted in disbelief: "Where did so many craftsmen come from! ”

"Of course they are from Jiangnan, but it has nothing to do with you where they come from, your task is to make good use of them and produce everything you need according to my requirements."

徐世杨 says:

"Whether it's an armored battle or something else, from now on, I will only make a request, at most I will give you a simple drawing, and you will be responsible for helping me turn the drawing into reality, and then mass production."

"If you can do well, the position of general is also at your fingertips, if you can't do well, I will find someone else to replace you."

Xu Shiyang patted Tang Long's shoulder:

"Three thousand craftsmen, there must be people who are stronger than you, I hope you can seize the opportunity, don't let them jump on your head, after all, you are also the old man of the Xu family, then I will be very sad."

“…… It's ......"

Tang Long didn't know what to say.

The Xu family is strong, and as the leader of the Xu family's craftsmen, he is indeed rising.

But then he found that he had more and more responsibility.

Moreover, there will definitely be more and more capable people who come to vote, and when the time comes, they may not be able to sit firmly in this position.

What's more, Xu Shiyang didn't mention it, Tang Long still knew it in his heart - he was born as a bandit in Fulai Mountain, and if he wanted to sit in a high position, he would naturally have to put in much more effort than others!

"Okay, the gun said this in advance, how is the production of the cannon on the other side?"

Xu Shiyang put the two barrels in his hand back into the distance, and continued to ask non-stop.

"The general's artillery is short of materials, and I have asked them to stop first." Tang Long replied: "The god cannon is no problem, I'm thinking about ......"

"What do you think? Say. ”

"My subordinates are thinking about whether we can stop casting the general cannon and concentrate all the cannon craftsmen on the magic cannon." Tang Long then explained: "We can enlarge the Shenji cannon, like the general's cannon, and fire 4-kilogram shells to replace the general's cannon, which can save copper." ”

Xu Shiyang found that if a weapon is still useful, then it seems to be the instinctive idea of military workers in this era to directly enlarge it year-on-year.

For example, someone proposed to produce a large-caliber lifting gun for two people before, but Xu Shiyang vetoed it.

Unexpectedly, Tang Long proposed to produce a large god machine gun.

Xu Shiyang shook his head helplessly:

"It's good to have an idea, but I don't think that thing works."

In the final analysis, the God Machine Gun is a simple plagiarism of the Furlong machine, as the earliest breech artillery, the airtightness of this thing can be said to be a tragic mess, if it is used to fire small-caliber projectiles, it is suitable for multiple charges.

If you want to use it to propel a larger projectile, the energy loss will be chilling.

In the history of another plane, the actual use of the Furlong machine is also the same, the small-caliber Furlong machine is still a qualified weapon, but when the Ming Dynasty began to imitate the Furlong machine on a large scale, the craftsmen continued to enlarge the Furlong machine, and the large-caliber Furlong machine could not even hit a single bullet, and could only be used as a large shotgun.

Of course, Xu Shiyang is not sure about the upper limit of the one-headed bullet of the Furlong machine, and he cannot completely extinguish the enthusiasm of military personnel for independent innovation.

Therefore, Xu Shiyang plans to waste some money and time and let the military workers try it according to their own ideas.