Therefore, Ji Qingwen couldn't help but admire the arrival of this trusted governor of Shandong.

I saw him arch his hand and say: "Master Sun, Chinese and foreign science and technology have their own strengths, and there is no need to be arrogant. I have a vast territory in China, a vast land, and a person of insight like Lord Sun, as long as I catch up, it will not take much time to catch up. ”

As he was talking, Huang Degong had already pulled Meng Hong over, and he had to let him try Sun Yuanhua's musket.

After getting the consent of Ji Qingwen and Sun Yuanhua, Meng Hong picked a musket that was obviously better-made, shot at the target, and then said, "My lord, Lord Sun's gun...... It's very good...... It's that these guns are still arquebuses, compared to the flintlock pistols we use...... Power and accuracy are a little bit ......"

Whether the musket is good or not depends on the power and accuracy! Moreover, the flintlock pistol ignites gunpowder with flint, both in terms of convenience and breadth of application, it is much stronger than the Vulcan pistol, which ignites gunpowder with a pre-lit fuse - it can even be said that the arquebus technology is a generation behind the flintlock pistol.

Therefore, although Meng Hong's words were polite, in fact, he had a rather low evaluation of the musket made by Sun Yuanhua.

Sun Yuanhua is an insider, and after listening to Meng Hong's objective and harsh evaluation, his face couldn't help but be a little embarrassed.

But I heard Meng Hong say: "It's Lord Sun's way of filling gunpowder here is a little interesting......

Originally, whether it was a flintlock pistol or an arquebus, it was a breech gun, and when loading gunpowder, it was necessary to first stuff gunpowder from the muzzle, compact it with an iron rod, and then stuff the projectile from the muzzle, and then compact the projectile with an iron rod, and then aim and shoot.

However, the shooting is not finished, and it is necessary to use a special cleaning tool to clean up the remaining gunpowder residue in the chamber before repeating the above steps and reloading and firing.

Such a step is too cumbersome, even if the strict training of Ji Qingwen's Xiangyong regiment practice, it can only achieve a firing rate of two rounds per minute.

But Sun Yuanhua's method of filling gunpowder here is very simple.

He ingeniously packed the gunpowder and bullets that were supposed to be temporarily filled into the chamber of the gun during the battle, pressed it in advance and then wrapped it in paper. When using it, you only need to sprinkle a small amount of gunpowder into the bottom of the chamber, and then put in the pre-wrapped "paper bullet" to raise the gun and shoot.

After the shooting, although it is still necessary to clean the chamber, because the gunpowder is wrapped in paper in advance, there is not much residual gunpowder, and it is very easy to clean up.

Therefore, although this kind of "paper bullet" will lead to a lack of accuracy and accuracy of the musket because of the low fit with the chamber of the gun, it can greatly improve the speed of the design - Meng Hong can double the original firing speed with a little practice, reaching about five rounds per minute.

Ji Qingwen is a modern person, of course he knows how important the rate of fire is for the performance index of the musket, and he can't wait to immediately turn these flintlock pistols into machine guns, and naturally he will not let go of the "paper bullet" method invented by Sun Yuanhua.

So Ji Qingwen and Sun Yuanhua "bargained" for a long time, and then discussed the method of using two imported flintlock pistols to exchange with him to make "paper bullets".

Sun Yuanhua held these two flintlock pistols imported from the West, as if he had two priceless treasures, and he hugged these two muskets with his arms like a baby, and he couldn't put it down.

Ji Qingwen didn't feel very emotional, and thought: In history, the Ming Dynasty was already full of holes during the Chongzhen period, but there are still so many loyal ministers and good generals in the court, as long as they manage well and don't die, the Ming Dynasty may not necessarily forget in the hands of Emperor Chongzhen.

And who are these loyal generals?

Of course, Sun Yuanhua is one, Xu Guangqi is also one, as for Sun Chengzong, Lu Xiangsheng and others, it is needless to say, Yuan Chonghuan, Zu Dashou and others are still talents who can take charge of their own as long as they promote their strengths and avoid weaknesses, as for Wu Sangui and Hong Chengchou, who have become traitors in history, as long as they are properly appeased, they will definitely become their own gravediggers personally cultivated by the Ming Dynasty.

Just as he was sighing, a person suddenly walked from outside the barracks, walked quickly to Sun Yuanhua's ear, and whispered a few words to him.

Sun Yuanhua nodded while listening, and asked the person who reported the news to go down, and said to Ji Qingwen: "Lord Ji, Zheng Zhilong is here, and the ship is stopping at the port of Penglai County, Dengzhou Prefecture, saying that he wants to wait for Lord Ji to come." ”

Ji Qingwen was stunned when he heard this, turned his head and asked Li Yandao: "Brother Li, what is this Zheng Zhilong doing in Shandong?" ”

Li Yan smiled and said, "What's wrong with this?" Didn't Brother Ji agree to ask his son for a half-official position? But after Brother Ji came to Jingshi, he always left him aside. He was afraid that Brother Ji would forget too much and forget this stubble, so he specially inquired about your whereabouts and chased after him all the way. ”

Ji Qingwen always felt that Zheng Zhilong was not a small person, he was capable and patient, and he was not an easy character to deal with, so he was afraid that when he was attacked by the Manchurians in Beijing, he would do something to rob him, so he deliberately snubbed him in Dagukou.

However, since Zheng Zhilong has already chased after him, he naturally can't wait for him.

So Ji Qingwen discussed it with Li Yan, and then said to Sun Yuanhua: "Master Sun, you also know Zheng Zhilong, you can't be uninhibited." Therefore, I wanted to abandon the transportation and go south on his sea ship. Therefore, I would like to ask Master Sun to make it convenient for me. ”

This was not a big deal for Sun Yuanhua, who was already the governor of Shandong, so he agreed with his mouth.

So Ji Qingwen immediately sent Xiao Duozi to take the first step and asked Zheng Zhilong to wait in Penglai Port, and he would take his sea ship south to Suzhou in the near future. He also asked Li Yuanyin to use Jinyiwei's eyes and ears in Shandong to find out who Zheng Zhilong had come into contact with and what he had done since he arrived in Shandong, and he had a good heart.

Ji Qingwen himself led a few people back to the Cao transport ship, ordered the soldiers of the whole army to bring the baggage, equipment and the chariot that was of great use, and marched to the Dengzhou Mansion where Zheng Zhilong was located.

Sun Yuanhua deliberately used the governor's guard of honor to sound the gong to open the way, repelled the idle people on the left and right, and strictly ordered the state and county officials along the way to be exempted from greeting and sending them, so that Ji Qingwen and his entourage rushed to Penglai County, the capital of Dengzhou, in the shortest possible time.

Since ancient times, Penglai has been known as a fairy mountain inhabited by gods.

Such a legend is naturally imaginary, but it is indeed a natural harbor here, only because the Ming Dynasty implemented a certain degree of sea ban, so Penglai did not open the port as a commercial port, but specifically used as a military port. Now that Sun Chengzong is working on restoring the Ningyuan-Jinzhou defense line and upgrading the Shanhaiguan defenses, there is an endless stream of official ships transporting military supplies and building materials to and fro.

Among these slightly obsolete official ships, the most conspicuous is naturally Zheng Zhilong's sea ship flying the scarlet "Zheng" flag.

This sea ship is long, narrow, pure white, and there is a black hole on the deck of the ship, Ji Qingwen recognized it at first sight among the sea ships, so he called Li Yan, Li Yuanyin, Huang Degong, and ordered thirty capable soldiers, all the way to find Zheng Zhilong.

The sailors who were on the mast of the ship and were responsible for observing the surrounding situation saw Ji Qingwen and his party from a distance, and immediately informed Zheng Zhilong of the situation.

After Zheng Zhilong received the letter, he hurriedly called a few cronies and sailors and personally got off the ship to greet Ji Qingwen.

When Ji Qingwen saw Zheng Zhilong coming to pick him up, he also hurried up to greet him, and the first thing he said was: "Ship Master Zheng deigned to wait in the small port of Penglai for seven and a half days, and he didn't see anyone or do anything, so he concentrated on waiting for the arrival of the lower official on the ship. ”

These few polite words that sounded ordinary scared Zheng Zhilong, a sea merchant who had experienced strong winds and waves, into a cold sweat - you must know that it is now in the cold winter months!

The reason why there is such an effect is not for anything else, just because Ji Qingwen himself has not arrived, but his eyes and ears have already arrived, and he has investigated Zheng Zhilong's every move clearly, and some people have begun to wonder if there is someone around him who has been bought by Ji Qingwen......

Therefore, Zheng Zhilong actually forgot his current identity and status in panic, and said casually: "Who dares not to bear the owner's intentions?" ”