The Xuanhuai and Huai armies were training in Shanghai, and Li Xiucheng's side did not seem to be idle, and from the direction of Hangzhou and Suzhou, news of the Taiping army's movements came from the direction.

Li Xiucheng will come again after all, Guan Zhuofan thought to himself. Li Xiucheng not only had to avenge his son Li Rongfa, but more importantly, his "southern Jiangsu Province" was sandwiched between Jiangning and Shanghai, and if he did not solve the "elbow and armpit problem" of Shanghai, he would inevitably have to look left and right, and he would never be able to go west with all his strength to rescue the "Tianjing" under heavy pressure from the Hunan army.

The "Tianjing" where Hong Xiuquan is located is Jiangning, Jinling, and Nanjing in later generations. The fate of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom will eventually be settled here.

With such vigilance, Guan Zhuofan grasped the training of the various battalions of the Xuan Army more closely. However, there are also two pieces of good news that can refresh him, one is that the Chinese code has been compiled, and the other is that the deputy commander and chief instructor of the Xuan Army, Wall, personally stated and asked the whole army to replace the breech guns.

The compilation of the Chinese code was presided over by Bian Ning of the Telegraph Office, and Guan Zhuofan transferred three copywriters from Liu Xunji's subordinates to assist, and after being busy day and night, it was finally completed.

"Xuan Shuai, please look!" Bian Ning, whose eyes were red, trembled and presented a booklet to Guan Zhuofan with both hands.

The booklet is bound very neatly, but the cover and title page are blank, and when I turn to the inner page, I see that on each page, a hundred words are copied with a small pen and a small block of letters, and a set of numbers are written on the back of the words, a total of 40 pages. The slightly peculiar thing is that Arabic numerals are used.

"It's Arabic numerals." Guan Zhuofan looked at Bian Ning and smiled. It will be a few decades before Arabic numerals become popular in China. Use it now. It's a precursor to the trend.

"Yes. Xuan Shuai's knowledge is really extensive. Bian Ning convinced Guan Zhuofan, "We are in Hong Kong, and we have always used it." ”

"Is it easy to look up?"

"It's very convenient, we are arranging the radicals in the Kangxi dictionary, and we have selected a total of 3,973 words that are the most commonly used." Bian Ning said excitedly, "First translate the telegram to be sent into numbers, and send it out, and the person who receives the report." Copy the booklet and translate it into text. In fact, at first, you have to read the booklet, and after you are proficient, you can translate it literally - if Xuan Shuai doesn't believe it, please come up with a title. ”

"Oh, it's so powerful?" Guan Zhuofan was very happy and said casually: "Naturally, you can trust it." ”

“1735，1125，0478，1334，3077。” Bian Ning pondered and said word by word. "Added up, it's 'naturally trustworthy'!"

Guan Zhuofan didn't expect him to come, so he hurriedly opened the booklet and compared it, and it was exactly the same. couldn't help but be overjoyed, and said in his heart that this Bian Ning is really endowed with extraordinary talents, and his talent may be more than the foreman of a telegraph office.

"Mr. Bian, you have done this great thing, what should I reward you?" Guan Zhuofan looked at him with a smile.

"This book can be compiled, all thanks to Xuan Shuai's suggestions. We don't dare to ask for the reward of Xuan Shuai, we only ask for ...... I just want to be able to attach my name to Xuan Shuai. ”

Guan Zhuofan understood that what Bian Ning cared about was what he said, "The merit is in the future". He nodded and said, "That's the way it should be." Mr. Bian, you are the president of this book, and the others are all vice presidents. This book, first copy ten copies, set up a telegraph room for each, send one copy, and hand over the rest to Liu Xun for proper storage! Guan Zhuofan immediately thought that this was not only a Chinese code, but also equivalent to a cipher code, "As for my name, please don't have to list it above, I understand your kindness." ”

"Xiexie is handsome." Bian Ning's eyes lit up with joy, "That'...... Please give us a name. ”

This is ready-made, Guan Zhuofan said without hesitation: "It's called "New Book of Telegrams"!" ”

*

*

Wall's change in attitude towards breech guns is another thing that makes Kwan happy.

As a traverser, Guan Zhuofan certainly knows that it is only a matter of time before breech guns replace breech guns, but in this era, the emergence of this new weapon will gradually become popular after countless arguments, wait-and-see, and hesitation. The ongoing American Civil War was a time of fierce confrontation between breech guns and breech guns, and it would be five years before the British and French armies switched to breech guns.

It makes sense that a new weapon needs to be tested by war, so when Guan Zhuofan decided to buy these 6,000 shot-type breech-loading rifles, even an excellent military commander like Wall had great doubts in his heart. However, Wall was the most receptive person to new things, and when the breech guns arrived and equipped with the Gram Regiment, after a period of observation, he immediately changed his original opinion.

"Yixuan, you are really prescient - these guns are wonderful!" Hua Er came to the Yamen of the Domain Division with a new gun, and solemnly said to Guan Zhuofan, "The Xuan army should be dressed in the whole army." ”

"Brother Hua, why did you go before and then be respectful?" Guan Zhuofan made a joke before asking, "I don't know what's good?" ”

Guan Zhuofan called him Brother Hua, which is not wrong - since Hua Er has become a Chinese citizen, he had to take apart the two words Hua Er and turn it into a surname Hua Minger, and asked someone to give him a table name, called Yuancheng, which means "not far away, come to lose sincerity", which is quite a bit of Piri Yangqiu, but Hua Er didn't care, Yuancheng is Yuancheng.

As for Guan Zhuofan's question, it is not a knowingly asked. The breech gun is of course the trend of the times, but Guan Zhuofan can't say what is good, and he has to consult Wall for all the details.

"It turns out that when our soldier tries to shoot on his knees or from behind some kind of cover, all breech guns are difficult for his breech guns in skirmishers - if he wants to remain hidden, he cannot keep his gun upright, and if he loads his gun upright, he will expose himself." Wall used the rifle as he demonstrated, earnestly explaining, "It's a leap forward for a soldier to be able to load in any position when he uses a breech gun." ”

"Hmm...... Anything else? ”

"The breech gun with the fixed ammunition can have an unexpected effect." Walder's flat-end rifle pulled the bolt away with a bang, "This is a firing pin breech rifle, come and see - open the tail of the gun, load the bullet, close the tail of the gun, aim, fire, there are only five simple actions in total!" With this gun, a qualified soldier can make five accurate shots in one minute. ”

"Your focus is on ......"

"The original breech gun could only fire one or two rounds a minute, and it was prone to error. Now equal to one soldier and can have the firepower of three soldiers! If I can practice to a level like mine," Wall said as if to open and close the bolt and shoot again, "I can shoot seven times a minute, and the gun hits." ”

"Oh, oh, then you are the Yang Yuji of our Xuan Army."

Wall's Chinese is already quite good, but "Yoyuki" is still an unfamiliar name to him.

"What kind of chicken am I?" Wall asked, confused.

"Yoyuki is the best shooter in the Chinese."

A smug smile appeared on Wall's face.

"But now it's impossible to say that the whole army is changing clothes." Guan Zhuofan poured a basin of cold water on his head.

“weishenme？” The smile on Wall's face changed to a stunned expression.

"Brother Hua, you are a soldier, and it is not surprising that soldiers always pursue the most haode equipment." Guan Zhuofan said frankly, "I have to consider a cost issue. These guns were not easy to find, and it took a lot of effort to find them, so they were very expensive. I want to change the whole army, and I won't tell you, I don't have so much money at the moment. ”

"Oh," Hua Er understood, and inevitably had to find a way for Guan Zhuofan, "Yixuan, then let's dig down some more places, grab all the silver from the long hair, and then let Lao Jin collect more donations, and then we will have money to buy guns." ”

Guan Zhuofan hahadaxiao said: "You don't have to worry, when we want to change our guns in the future, someone will give us the silver." ”

"Really?" Wall asked in amazement, "Who would be so good?" ”

"Mostly Americans." Guan Zhuofan said half-jokingly, half-seriously.

Wall's eyes widened, and Guan Zhuofan smiled and said nothing, refusing to say any more.

Guan Zhuofan refused to change the clothes of the whole army, in fact, it was not just a matter of money, he also had to consider the cost performance. As far as the current equipment is concerned, it can be seen after the battle of Shanghai that unless the equipment of the Taiping Army suddenly advances by leaps and bounds, the Xuan Army, which has all the foreign guns and nearly 100 foreign guns, will have almost no chance of winning at all.

In other words, enough. As for the change of clothes, he doesn't want to make it a gradual elimination of oil, but is planning to take a leap forward.

It's just that how to cross this step, he can't reveal to Wall yet.

Not long after sending Hua Er away, a garrison from the governor's yamen came with a post and respectfully reported that at noon tomorrow, Li Zhongcheng wanted to invite the lord of the domain to the governor's yamen for a light meal.

*

(The second watch is still in the evening.) ）

*(To be continued......)