The army did not hold a ceremony to send troops, and now the morale of the army is high, there is no need to boost morale at all, and furthermore, Feng Yunshan does not want to make a big fanfare, let the Manchu spies know, so that the Qing army has a vigilance. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

On this day, Feng Yunshan was walking in the back garden with Cheng Lingnan, whose belly was slowly protruding, in the palace, when he overheard Liu Shengbang report that Li Jianwei, who was in Shaozhou Mansion to assist Krupp in preparing for the establishment of the Shengguo Krupp Iron and Steel Company, had returned to Guangzhou and had something important to report.

For this Li Jianwei, Feng Yunshan has a good impression. Both his father and son took refuge in the Holy Kingdom together, and Li Jianwei was even more rare to be proficient in Western affairs, and could also speak English and Prussian, etc., Feng Yunshan was ready to be of great use.

After Li Jianwei paid a big salute to Feng Yunshan, he directly talked about a news he knew: two European powers, the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Turkish Empire, broke out into a war over control of the Balkan Peninsula, and I heard that the two countries had begun to fight.

Feng Yunshan suddenly remembered that it was the end of 1853, and the Crimean War had indeed begun to break out. Recall that first Russia invaded the territory of Ottoman Turkey, then Turkey declared war on Russia, and then, after several months of preparation, France and Great Britain declared war on Russia in early 1854.

Since Britain and France were both involved in the war, the war was almost equivalent to the First World War. Feng Yunshan knew that in the Crimean War, which was called the "first modern war", modern military equipment such as steamboats, blasting shells, rifled guns, telegraphs, weather forecasts, field hospitals, and railway supplies appeared for the first time. Since then, these equipment have been used more and more widely in warfare, and the weapons have become more lethal and cause more casualties.

However, Feng Yunshan seems to remember that in the Crimean War, nearly 18,000 soldiers died in the British army, of which 16,000 died of cholera and other diseases, and if it were not for a female nurse named Nightingale in London, who led a medical team composed of dozens of women to the battlefield in Crimea, used the relief fund to purchase medicines and medical equipment, improved the living environment and nutritional conditions of the wounded, reorganized the operating room and laboratory, and established the first modern field hospital, there would have been many more deaths.

The French army lost nearly 90,000 deaths.

Feng Yunshan thought of this and suddenly had an idea. He wanted to bring this nurse named Nightingale to China before he rushed to the battlefield, and when there was no one to take the lead in setting up a field hospital, more British soldiers would die.

"Brother Li, how did you get the news?" Feng Yunshan asked curiously.

"The Holy King, according to the entrustment of Mr. Krupp, went to the gate to look for some drawings, and met a Portuguese merchant, who had just come from Europe, and told the news. Feeling that it also had an impact on our holy kingdom, he came to report to the holy king. Li Jianwei replied.

Feng Yunshan was very satisfied with Li Jianwei's sensitivity, encouraged him, and asked about the Shengguo Krupp Iron and Steel Company: "Brother Li, how is the Shengguo Krupp Iron and Steel Company being prepared?" You know, although this is called a steel company, in fact, this king is planning to develop it into a weapons company, specializing in the production of artillery, guns, and later for the production of armed steam ships. ”

Speaking of the iron and steel company, Li Jianwei said proudly: "Holy King, the Holy Kingdom Krupp Iron and Steel Company is about to be built. Mr. Krupp worked very hard, and he never rested since he was in his humble position. The twelve foreign mechanics and weapons technicians who were invited back from Europe were all arranged by him in the preparation of the steel workshop. A few days ago, it was already possible to produce the most critical barrel of artillery. ”

Li Jianwei saw Feng Yunshan's interested appearance, so he continued: "The barrel of the cannon is also the body of the cannon. The cannon that Mr. Krupp was to cast consisted of an upper and lower gun carriage and a gun body. And this barrel is composed of an inner tube and a hoop bound to the outside. ”

"The inner tube is cast by Mr. Krupp with his ancestral 'can steel', and Mr. Krupp first asked the workers to cast the 'tank steel' into a cylindrical blast embryo, cut off the scum at both ends, and then put the entire cannon embryo under the steam hammer and repeatedly hammered it into shape, and then polished the surface of the inner tube and drilled out the gun chamber."

"What? Wait, Brother Li, you mean that Mr. Krupp is already developing rifled artillery? Feng Yunshan noticed the meaning of Li Jianwei's words and exclaimed.

"Yes, Holy King! Didn't Mr. Krupp tell you? Li Jianwei asked strangely: "Mr. Krupp said that the smoothbore artillery had been manufactured when he was in Prussia, and he had already had mature technology, but the last time he heard your words from the Holy King, he was very inspired, so he has been thinking about the rifled cannon, and the Holy King invested 2 million taels of silver, so that he has enough funds to try various methods, and finally found this method of producing rifled gun barrels." It is possible that Mr. Krupp wanted to produce all the gun carriages, and the entire rifled gun was successfully manufactured, so let's report it to the Holy King. ”

Boy! Feng Yunshan couldn't help but secretly exclaim, it seemed that he had forcibly taken this Krupp guy to the Holy Kingdom, and he was really right. This guy is a natural weapon maniac, destined to be a weapons manufacturer.

Originally, Krupp's rifled gun would not come out until another 10 years, but I can't imagine that now in China, it was developed before it was in Prussia.

Looking back, Feng Yunshan felt that it was normal.

This Krupp was originally only a small workshop in Prussia, without funds, of course, he could not tap talents, and there was not enough steel for him to lose, so only when Prussia attacked Denmark and Austria, Krupp's workshop received orders and developed and expanded, so it was only at this time that rifled guns were developed. But here, with his own investment of 2 million taels of silver, the steel of a large steel company is tossed by him at will, plus the principle and idea of the rifled gun that he mentioned to him last time, it would be strange if he could not develop a rifled gun.

With rifled guns, not only the firing distance is long, but also very accurate, it is very ideal for use as shore defense artillery. Thinking of this, Feng Yunshan said to Li Jianwei: "Brother Li, you keep an eye on Mr. Krupp, if you make a rifled artillery, inform this king immediately." Produce more, this is a sharp weapon. ”

Feng Yunshan gave a few more words of encouragement, and then let Li Jianwei leave.

Later, Feng Yunshan summoned Wu Chongyao and asked him to ask someone to ask someone or send someone to London, England, no matter what method was used, to invite a female nurse named Nightingale to Guangzhou to build a large modern hospital for her to treat and save people.