Gao Cai's corruption proceeds have finally been found, and the next step is to count the proceeds of this raid.

The silver taels are good to count, the size and style of the boxes containing the silver taels are the same, and the silver ingots are also ten taels inside, as long as you turn out a box and count it carefully, and then open each box to check it.

The rest of the things are a bit troublesome, just the few boxes that are opened, gold, jewelry, jade and so on, and the size and shape are different, you can only open the boxes one by one and count them slowly.

Zhang Bin asked people to bring a small coffee table and a few small stools from above, and found pens, inkstones, inkstones, oil lamps and blank ledgers from the study, and then found a Qijiabao elite with better handwriting, and supervised them to count them.

Looking at the boxes of gold, silver and jewelry, he couldn't help but think, this harvest plus Yu Zhigao's corruption gains found in the homes of officials at all levels in the Fujian Xingdu Division, the silver alone is no less than 1.5 million taels, should all of them be transported to the capital and handed over to Chongzhen, or should he keep some of them for later use?

This question really gave Zhang Bin a headache, and he handed it all in, which seemed a little too stupid, but what if he was denounced after interception, is this risk worth taking?

Just as he was sitting at the coffee table frowning and pondering, Qi Changshan suddenly exclaimed: "Wow, it's clairvoyance, I heard that this thing can see far away, and I don't know if it's true." ”

When Zhang Bin heard this, he couldn't help but be interested, clairvoyance is a telescope, which is actually a rare thing at this time, because the Ming Dynasty implemented a sea ban, and the output of these European countries is not high, and generally only those missionaries will bring one or two over and give gifts.

In some movies in the previous life, it was indeed a bit of a pit for a thousand households to take a telescope to look around, in fact, this thing was not popular at all in the late Ming Dynasty, and even Zheng Zhilong had to do his best to get one, how could an ordinary Tunwei Qianhu have one, and even he, the governor, did not have it.

At this time, he finally found one, Zhang Bin naturally raised his hand without hesitation and said: "Don't remember this, keep it for the official." “

When Qi Changshan heard this, he hurriedly closed the box containing the telescope and respectfully placed it in his hand.

After a while, Qi Changlin suddenly exclaimed again: "Wow, this handcuff is really exquisite, and I don't know where it was made." ”

When Zhang Bin heard this, he looked up and saw that this guy was holding a pistol and rubbing it in love.

He immediately raised his hand and said, "Show it to this official." ”

When Qi Changshan heard this, he hurriedly put the pistol back in the box, and then directly held the box in front of him.

Zhang Bin took the box and looked at it, and suddenly broke out in sweat.

Bullets, gunpowder, leads, and chisels are all available, and as long as they are loaded with ammunition, they can be fired.

Fortunately, Gao Cai thought that he could let Qiu Shiyi go with one sentence, but he didn't expect that he would dare to be tough with him, so he didn't bring a pistol, otherwise, he would be really dangerous.

He sighed, took out his pistol, and looked closely.

Obviously, this is not the handcuff produced by Daming, and the pattern on the handle is the style of the European continent at first glance.

This pistol is indeed very exquisitely made, both the barrel and the trigger and other parts are quite smooth, much stronger than the musket made by Daming now.

Looking at this pistol, Zhang Bin couldn't help sighing.

Originally, the thermal weapons of the Ming Dynasty were far ahead of other countries, from the beginning of the dynasty, thermal weapons became the standard configuration of the Ming army, what muskets, artillery, rockets are everything, it can be said that the Ming Dynasty at that time has come to the edge of replacing cold weapons with hot weapons.

It stands to reason that if you study it for another one or two hundred years, Daming will be able to sweep the world with muskets and artillery alone.

However, from the beginning of the Ming Dynasty to the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the Ming court did not focus on the study of thermal weapons, one or two hundred years, the Ming army was equipped with thermal weapons did not improve much, and in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, it was a rapid regression, and at the end of the Ming Dynasty, even the golden iron cavalry equipped with pure cold weapons could not do it.

Why didn't the Ming Dynasty continue to develop thermal weapons?

Perhaps it is not able to see the huge benefits that thermal weapons can bring, in the early days of the Ming Dynasty, the Ming army can be said to be invincible in the world, and all enemies can be defeated with weapons and equipment at that time alone, so why bother to develop thermal weapons?

Or maybe the development of thermal weapons has encountered a bottleneck, at that time the Ming army was equipped with muskets and artillery that had reached the limit of manual production, and if there was to make great progress, it was necessary to replace manual labor with machinery, and at that time, no one thought that there was such a thing as machinery in the world.

Or maybe it's because the production cost of hot weapons is too high, and the production cycle is too long, so it's not as convenient and fast as cold weapons.

In short, from the middle and late Ming Dynasty to the fall of the Manchu Qing Dynasty for three or four hundred years, thermal weapons have not been taken seriously, until the Opium War in the Manchu Qing was slapped in the face by foreigners, only sobered up and began to develop thermal weapons, however, at that time, it was too late.

And the European continental powers are different, since the Age of Discovery, thermal weapons have allowed the powers to obtain amazing benefits, fight the natives, grab gold and silver, seize colonies, and make a lot of money.

Driven by huge interests, the European continental powers began to focus on the development of thermal weapons, and flintlock pistols and cannons sprung up like mushrooms after a rain, and strong ships and sharp guns gradually became the standard equipment of the great powers.

It can be said that the middle of the Ming Dynasty was a watershed, with rapid regression and rapid development at the same time, and finally it was no wonder that people were beaten all over the ground looking for teeth!

Of course, now that Zhang Bin is here, it will be different.

He is quite clear about the benefits of thermal weapons, when thermal weapons develop to a certain extent, cold weapons are a joke in front of hot weapons, and Daming's thermal weapons are actually not far from this level.

He also knows the general direction of the development of thermal weapons, the breech replaces the breech, the flintlock replaces the arquebus, and the bullet and gunpowder must be combined.

More importantly, the epoch-making steam engine, he also understands, for later generations of people who study mechanical and electrical majors, the steam engine is not a very complicated thing, as long as you take the drawings and take a closer look, you can understand, and Zhang Bin happened to have seen the drawings of the steam engine.

The steam engine, as long as it takes a little time, he can completely develop it, as long as he has enough power, he can even set off the first industrial revolution in Daming in advance!

For him, the development of thermal weapons only takes time, and there are basically no bottlenecks.

Looking at the arquebus pistol in front of him, Zhang Bin couldn't help pouting, play with me with guns, play with you to death!

Now that the army is almost assembled, and the money is available, it's time to develop guns.

As for the issue of the imperial court not allowing him to make guns, there is no need to think about it at all, the Ming Dynasty is not very strict about the manufacture of guns at this time, because the artillery at this time is almost all big guys with more than 1,000 catties, and it is extremely inconvenient to transport, basically where it is used.

For example, when Sun Chengzong built the Guanningjin defense line, the artillery was cast in Liaodong, and even the cities were cast separately.

So, now, as long as you have money, people, military power, muskets and artillery, you can build as much as you want!