"How much glass like this, if you need it, Lord Bishop, I'll ask the soldiers to send you a few pieces when you go back," Li Zicheng said with a smile: "What I need now is a military telescope, the magnification doesn't need to be too high, as long as you can see the enemy situation hundreds of meters away, can you make it?" ”

"Hundreds of meters? It should be no problem," John Tang put the two pieces of polished glass into the indoor light, and a bright dot suddenly appeared on the shadow, "This piece of glass is good, and the refraction is even." ”

"I'll ask the Bishop about the telescope," Li Zicheng took out a few pieces of glass half a foot square from his bosom as if he were playing a trick, "Lord Bishop, there is another thing, my students want to see the existence of bacteria with their own eyes, so I plan to build a microscope, this seems to be only available to you in Europe, don't you know that there is such a thing in the Holy Roman Empire?" ”

"Microscope?" John Tang really hadn't heard of it, but he couldn't admit the reality of the backwardness and division of the Holy Roman Empire in Europe, "I seem to have heard of it, but I haven't seen it with my own eyes, can you tell me in detail?" ”

"I've heard that it appeared in the Daming Jingshi, it seems to be Dutch or Dutch." Li Zicheng briefly explained the usefulness of the microscope and the possible manufacturing method to Tang Ruowang, because he didn't know whether he was using a convex lens or a concave lens, and these pieces of glass were not polished.

"I see, it's similar to the principle of a telescope," John Tang took the glass, looked up and down, and there was some greed in his eyes, "These glasses are really good...... Give me some time, I'll be able to build a microscope! ”

"That's good, I'll ask the soldiers to send you a few more pieces of glass for you to study," Li Zicheng sipped his tea and said lightly, "I don't know if Lord Bishop needs my help?" ”

"The only thing I wish of adults is Catholicism," John Tong's eyes quickly turned gray and hazy, "the goal we set at that time was to have 1,000 believers, and this goal has been achieved......

"That's because we didn't know the future of the spread of Catholicism at that time, Xining has a population of more than 100,000, which is only one percent, and if the believers reach more than 50% of the total population, then it can be regarded as truly promoting God," Li Zicheng said leisurely: "It's a pity that at the initial moment, the believers did not donate much to the church, and I only relied on the money of Weili, and I was also under some pressure, so I planned to catch some fish and shrimp in the West Sea to supplement the soldiers, but unfortunately, the Mongols along the coast always did not stop......"

"Fifty percent?" Tang Ruowang's gray eyes suddenly brightened, but when he heard Li Zicheng's words, he didn't quite understand, "What do you mean...... How do you get to 50 percent? ”

"If you want to reach fifty percent, you will be afraid that it will not work for a while, you need to take your time, what we have is time," Li Zicheng couldn't give Tang Ruowang too high expectations, to reach fifty percent, he was not absolutely sure, "I mean, I want to build a few warships in the West Sea to protect the fishing soldiers." ”

"Oh, it's a pity that I don't know how to build ships, if it's artillery, I'll be able to ......"

The artillery is naturally better, but Li Zicheng doesn't have enough pig iron for the time being, and he doesn't even have enough pig iron to make a rifle, so he has no choice but to go to Shaanxi to intimidate Zhu Yixi, the king of Qin, and barely get some pig iron.

"There is no shortage of shipbuilders in the Ming Dynasty, I'm talking about warships, not merchant ships," Li Zicheng said slowly: "Didn't the Bishop take the Portuguese warships to overthrow the Ming Dynasty?" Don't you have any impression of the warship? ”

If John Tong didn't know how to build a warship, then he would use the merchant ships of the daimyo to refit them, of course, not after they were launched, but first draw new drawings based on what John Tang saw.

Maybe this is not a standard warship, it doesn't matter, now is the beginning, in the future in the process of use and then slowly improve, everything needs an accumulation from scratch, in the process of using the warship, whether it is the craftsman who built the warship, or the soldiers who use the warship, will put forward suggestions for improvement, and gradually make the warship perfect.

"This ......," John Tang thought for a moment, "it seems that the bottom of the ship is not flat, but the bottom of the ship, yes, it is the bottom of the point, I once unintentionally went down to the bilge, the warship is not only the bottom of the point, but also in order to maintain balance, it also presses many boulders." ”

Culet? Dashi? Li Zicheng thought in his heart, why is this happening? The sharper the bottom, the deeper the draft for the same weight?

If it's not John Tang lying, what is the deep meaning, according to John Tang's temperament, he shouldn't be able to lie, so what is the intention?

Li Zicheng thought about it again and again, but there was no answer for a while, he fell into deep thought, and it was not until the clergy came to add tea that he came to his senses a little.

He was about to drink some tea to wash his brain, but accidentally knocked over the tea.

"......" Li Zicheng was about to apologize for his faux pas, when a bright light flashed in his mind, and the dilemma just now was suddenly solved, "Stability, yes, it's stability!" ”

Make the warship into a pointed bottom, and then install a boulder, the bottom of the ship will be heavier, the center of gravity of the whole warship is low, the stability will increase, in the rough sea, such a structure, can ensure that the warship will not be seriously tilted due to cannons, wind and waves, etc., it is like a spinning top, its own ability to repair the tilt is very strong.

On the other hand, merchant ships, because they want to increase their carrying capacity, do not load boulders on the bottom of the ship, and the way to improve stability is width, but the warship has to run at high speed and cannot increase the width, so this structure is used.

Li Zicheng suddenly brightened, and a faint smile appeared on his face.

"My lord......" How did Tang Ruowang know Li Zicheng's thoughts, seeing Li Zicheng's strange face, he was full of questions.

"I understand," Li Zicheng kept a faint smile on his face, "Your Excellency, think about it again, what are the characteristics of the Portuguese warships in terms of cabin design, that is, how they are different from ordinary merchant ships. ”

"This ......," John Tong couldn't say for a moment, "let me think about it, if you need it, I can let Brocade go to the South Seas, he is a Portuguese, even if he can't get the drawings, at least he can draw the appearance of the warship for your reference." ”

"That's the best," said Li Zicheng, who had forgotten that Brocade was a Grape Man, and that the ready-made figures did not know how to use it, "if Brocade could get the blueprints of the Portuguese warships, we would be able to fish in the West Sea without restrictions, and with these supplies, I promise to increase the number of believers to two thousand by the end of the year." ”

"Don't worry, my lord, I will definitely ask Boko to get the blueprints of the warship, and as long as Boko can complete the task, I will immediately promote him to a priest." John Tang stood up and waved at Li Zichang.

"It's a deal!"

Li Zicheng had a quick meal in the church, and he didn't go home, but went directly to the craftsman's workshop.

He was originally going to go to the carpenter's workshop to find Cao Jian, the carpenter in charge, but he didn't want to meet Fang Zhi who was hanging out outside, and he frowned, "Fang Zhi, how is the Xining rifle that was completed last time?" ”

Fang Zhi hurriedly knelt on the ground, kowtowed, and said, "Lord Hui, the soldiers are training, this is the fifth batch." ”

"The fifth batch?" Li Zicheng's heart moved, according to his original arrangement, each batch is twenty people, and the fifth batch is one hundred, although the number of Xining rifles is seriously insufficient, but it is also good to let the soldiers familiarize themselves with this rifle in advance, "Then have you collected the data of the test?" ”

Without Li Zicheng's permission, Fang Zhi lay on the ground and didn't dare to get up, "Lord Hui, every time the soldiers come to drill, we have at least two craftsmen present to observe and write down the relevant data. ”

Li Zicheng's brows furrowed even deeper, and Fang Zhi's words were faintly wrong, "Record? Are all the artisans literate? ”

Fang Zhi shook his head, "The craftsmen are illiterate, they just write down the things that need to be improved in their brains, and then come to the firearms workshop to summarize them, and then we will hand over all the problems to the blacksmith workshop." ”

"Ao," Li Zicheng's brows stretched slightly, since he was illiterate, there was nothing wrong with this method, "Get up, tell me, what data did you record?" What are the areas that need to be improved in the Xining rifle? ”

Fang Zhi slowly stood up and said, "Lord Hui, the accuracy of the Xining rifle is good, at a position of four hundred paces, as long as the soldier's eyesight is normal, the accuracy can reach sixty percent, and if it is at two hundred steps, it can reach more than eighty percent." ”

"So tall?"

Li Zicheng pondered for a moment, Fang Zhi's words gave him a new way of thinking, although the effective range of the Xining rifle reached four hundred steps, but when it came to the battlefield, sometimes it was not necessary to shoot at such a long distance, after all, the range of the bow and arrow at this time was only forty or fifty steps, and at most sixty or seventy steps.

If the situation allows, it is completely possible to put the enemy at a distance of 200 paces, or even 100 paces, and then shoot.

Of course, this is provided that the soldiers are highly trained and cannot cower in front of the enemy, and that there are no problems with the rifles themselves.

"This is the result of our many records, don't worry," Fang Zhi continued: "We have also found the shortcomings of the Xining rifle, for example, after firing about twenty rounds, the barrel will be hot and need to be cooled down in time, otherwise it may explode and the accuracy will also decrease." ”

Twenty rounds is already a good tipping point, with a fifty percent hit rate, an average of two bullets can kill and wound one enemy, twenty bullets can destroy ten enemies, and if you concentrate 500 rifles, you can destroy 5,000 enemies before the barrel heats up.

Such data is enough to scare all enemies, no matter how many soldiers they have, when you are faced with a one-sided slaughter, who has the confidence to continue to come up and send them to their deaths?

"What about the rest of the parts? For example, wrenches, firing pins, etc., are there any possibilities for damage? ”

"Yes, there are cases of damage, but it is not serious, if the soldiers are familiar with the structure of the rifle, they can replace it."

Li Zicheng was overjoyed, "You mean, this rifle doesn't need to be improved for the time being?" ”

"What needs to be improved, we have already told the blacksmith workshop, it shouldn't be difficult," Fang Zhi bowed slightly, and said, "If there is enough pig iron, it can be produced in large quantities." ”