The two most important things in war are people and weapons. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

The weapons were produced by the arsenal, and Zhu Jinglun was inspecting his arsenal at this time.

For the sake of safety, the arsenal was built on the South Hill, far from the dock, and there were batteries on the hill, which also provided some protection.

At this time, the arsenal had not yet started production, and the workshops were still being built under the leadership of one engineer after another, so Zhu Jinglun was not much interested in visiting, but just asked some questions, and told the county Cheng Chen Zhiting to do everything possible to ensure that the factory was built as soon as possible.

The Vostok, the merchant ship that had brought these machines, engineers, and skilled workers, had long since left, and Adolf, as if fearing to be embroiled in the impending dispute, had taken the goods from the warehouse of the exchange and hurried away, a steam galleon, not bound by the monsoons, and not having to wait for the winds like the Gothenburg.

Adolf did not ask Zhu Jinglun for the 700,000 taels of final payment, he asked Zhu Jinglun to turn it into goods for him, and brought it back to Europe on a ship, at this time the tea trade has not recovered to a few years ago, so tea can still be sold at a good price in Europe, a silkworm disease is breaking out in Europe, and the price of raw silk and silk is also good, and he can make a fortune when he rushes back.

At the same time, he got a good deal, Zhu Jinglun ordered 1,000 tons of high-quality Swedish iron ore and 1,000 tons of steel from him, because according to the research of the Swedes, the local pig iron casting cannons in Guangdong could not reach the level of similar European cannons in any case, if they were only used to produce about 8 pounds of infantry guns, but the performance of fortress guns above 12 pounds was too poor, so they suggested that either import European iron ore or steel, or they could only make infantry guns.

Zhu Jinglun did not have much demand for infantry artillery for the time being, he was eager to enhance the power of the fort, and without any choice, he ordered a thousand tons of iron ore and steel from Adolf, and gave Adolf a price that Adolf could not refuse, 100,000 taels of silver.

Such a situation made Zhu Jinglun miss the forty cannons of Jardine Matheson, but he hoped that the British would adhere to business ethics and would not seize this batch of arms because of the war.

The artillery training using cannons was unexpectedly smooth, and there were indeed some troubles before, the artillery recruited by Zhu Jinglun had a poor mathematical foundation, but they worked hard enough, everyone would stay up late at night to study, for these children from poor families, it was their luck to be able to study in the clan school since they were young, and now there are foreigners to teach them mathematics, how is it not a kind of luck, maybe they are not smart enough, but they work hard enough.

In addition, the level of the dozen or so instructors sent by Sweden is also quite high, they are regular artillery officers, and they have been responsible for training artillery in Sweden, perhaps this experience has allowed them to slowly figure out how to teach a group of Chinese soldiers with blank papers.

By the end of October, the artillerymen, who had undergone three months of systematic training, had fully mastered the art of artillery operation, but their training was not over, and the Swedish instructors applied to take them to the batteries for internship.

The cannons on the fort have been covered, and the secret has never been exposed, Zhu Jinglun is quite hesitant, letting these people go to the fort for practice, which is equivalent to exposing those cannons, although the news that the British and French forces are going to expand the war of aggression against China has not yet come, but Zhu Jinglun knows that it is only a matter of time.

After thinking about it again, Zhu Jinglun still felt that it was absolutely harmless to let the artillerymen go up now and familiarize themselves with the place where they were about to fight as soon as possible, but he still asked the Swedish instructors to keep it as secret as possible.

Artillery was soon stationed at the battery.

The first line of defense of Humen Fortress is two forts located on the east and west banks of the outermost part of the estuary, the east is called Shajiao Fort, with 12 cannons, and the west is called Dajiao Fort, with 16 cannons.

Before the Yayi War, Guan Tianpei was appointed as the commander of the Guangdong Navy Division, thinking that the Shajiao Fort was in a key position and the situation was appropriate, so he redeployed the Humen Fort and changed the Shajiao Fort to the command platform. All foreign merchant ships entering the country must anchor outside the sea surface of Sha Kok and wait for the sailors to inspect and approve before they can pass.

Therefore, the Shajiao Fort on the first line of defense was used as a command station for monitoring the piercing ocean.

However, the internship was not placed here, because it was too close to the ocean, and in order to keep it secret, it was placed in the second line of defense, because it was relatively hidden here, and secondly, it was the main defensive position, and the most artillery was installed, which was convenient for everyone to practice and train.

Of the 40 fortress guns purchased from Sweden, 36 were installed on this defensive line, of which the Weiyuan Battery, Jingyuan Battery, and Zhenyuan Battery on the east bank of the Pearl River were each equipped with 5 cannons; In the middle of the river, the Hengtai Mountain Fort on the Upper Heng Stalls Island is equipped with 4 guns, the East Fort (Heng Gang Battery) is equipped with 5 guns, and the West Fort (Yongan Battery) is equipped with 3 guns, and the consolidation battery on the west bank of the Pearl River; The lower rungs are equipped with 3 guns on the mountain fort; The fortified fort on the west bank of the Pearl River is divided into upper and lower platforms, each equipped with 3 guns.

Swedish artillery instructors divided their cadets into seven groups, led by 10 instructors, and practiced in these seven places. Some professors observe the technique and take the students to proofread the elements. Some professors guided and trained them to use flags to convey information in the observation hall on the mountain. There are also teaching students to be in emergency.

A simple internship lasts three days, and they would never think that an internship could also lead to a fight.

Zhu Jinglun couldn't have imagined it, but the Americans came.

The Americans have been in Xin'an for half a month, and after Hua Ruohan changed the contract from Beitang, he went south to Hong Kong, and then found Zhu Jinglun, who was still here to talk about the American businessman Thomas who was killed by the Xinhui group training.

When he was in Beijing, he also mentioned it to the Qing court Qincha, and he also mentioned it to Gui Liang when he was in Shanghi, but the other party just delayed it again and again, and said that the local affairs would be solved by the local government, and asked Hua Ruohan to negotiate with the magistrate of Guangdong.

Hua Ruohan thought that the exchange of contracts was the most important thing, so he was particularly accommodating to Seng Lingqin and others, so he did not insist, but after returning to Xin'an this time, his attitude became tougher.

There is a very ridiculous reason, after he arrived in Hong Kong, he was ridiculed and ridiculed by the foreigners, all saying that he was disgraced, and went to exchange the treaty on behalf of the US government, but as a result, he was exhibited like a monkey by the Chinese in Beijing and did not see the Chinese emperor, and finally failed to exchange the treaty in Beijing.

In fact, when he left the north and went south, Hua Ruohan knew that his performance was a little embarrassing, and he was a person who had lost the country, and he was very annoyed.

As a result, when Xin'an continued to talk about the issues that had not been discussed before, Hua Ruohan was still shirked repeatedly, and the Xin'an government ignored him, Hua Ruohan felt that the Xin'an government was perfunctory to him, and he threatened to go to Guangzhou to find Bai Gui to complain, and the other party also looked fearless, and threatened that if he dared to go to Guangzhou, all the consequences would be borne by him.

No matter how good Hua Ruohan's temper is, he can't stand this kind of insult, he really wants to go to Guangzhou, and he is going on a warship, he doesn't want to believe that Bai Gui will do this to him, the impression of Bai Gui in the foreign circle is generally better, because long before the war, Bai Gui was more kind to foreigners, or accommodating.

"Are you sure the Americans are going to Guangzhou?"

"That's what they said."

After Zhu Jinglun received the news, he confirmed it with Fang Shan.

Zhu Jinglun did not see the Americans, but called Fang Shan back from the fort project and told Fang Shan that he was trying to provoke the foreigners, and Zhu Jinglun was very willing to let Bai Gui and the Guangzhou officialdom meet and feel the pressure of the American warships.

Zhu Jinglun felt that the life of the officials in Guangzhou seemed to be too comfortable recently, and the fighting in the north had nothing to do with them, so they began to play other ideas.

So they followed the example of the South China Sea Bureau, set up another bureau in Dongguan, and also stationed sailors to intercept passing merchant ships and make them pay a centi.

The merchant ships from Guangzhou to Xin'an were all cargo ships of local merchants in Guangdong, and an extra cent of gold charged by Dongguan was tantamount to raising the price of goods.

Zhu Jinglun has always had hidden worries about Guangdong's exports, not only because the tea is about to face competition from India, but also in China and the competition between Shanghi and Fuzhou, after the five trades, Fuzhou's tea exports have been very close to Guangzhou, after the new tea in July, both sides are about 20,000 tons, worth 10 million silver dollars, but Fuzhou's growth is obviously much faster than Guangzhou, and it is likely to surpass Guangzhou in a year or two. It is not impossible to be surpassed this year, after all, it only takes three or four days for Wuyishan tea to be exported from Fuzhou, and 50 days from Guangzhou.

Therefore, it is very necessary to scare and scare them with foreigners' warships, so that they know that their officials are not so easy to behave.

It's just that those artillery cadets are practicing on the battery, and when they pass by the battery, they find that they don't know if they don't find it, and if they don't shoot them, Zhu Jinglun feels that the strength is not enough.

"Go to the battery and tell them that an American smuggler is going to break into the battery, and order them to open fire to stop it!"

Zhu Jinglun said to Fang Shan.

Fang Shan nodded, and immediately set off to give the order.

Not long after he walked out, Hurd limped into Zhu Jinglun's office and told Zhu Jinglun that two US warships, the USS Minnesota and the USS Mississippi, were heading upstream.

Zhu Jinglun said that he knew, so he looked at the students on the fort.

Fang Shan had not yet reached the fort at this time, and he rode a fast horse, which was slightly faster than the American steamship.

In less than an hour, they rushed to Weiyuan Fort, found the trainees and Swedish instructors who were interning above, and conveyed Zhu Jinglun's order to them, and then the order was transmitted to the upper and lower rungs of the island and to the Yonggu Fort on the west coast.

The Swedish instructors were more cautious about this order, and they began to communicate quietly with the regiment commander Goodman.

Goodman examined for a while, and then told the Swedish advisers on the various batteries through the flag:

"Please remember who we are and our accusations, we are now mercenaries of China and we should obey orders!"

And after this delay, they had already seen two steamers sail across the Lingding Ocean, flying the American flag on board.

With the assistance and command of the Swedish officers, the cadets were extremely excited to adjust the Zhu Yuan, aiming at the enemy ships, firing the cannon design, and the cannon fire of the flowering shells suddenly covered the two ships on the river, and they used these huge cannons against the enemy for the first time, and they were extremely excited, loading, firing, cleaning the gun chamber, continuing to load, firing, such a mechanical action, I don't know how long it took to stop.

At this time, they saw one ship rushing out of the smoke of the shell explosion, and the other ship disappeared forever, never to be seen again.

When Zhu Jinglun received the news, he couldn't help but be a little confused, he just planned to beat a dozen Americans, arouse the anger of the Americans, and then let them go to Guangzhou to make trouble, but he didn't expect to be directly sunk.

Zhu Jinglun only felt that he underestimated the skills of those trainees too much, and during the internship, he sank a warship and injured another, even skilled artillerymen may not be able to do it.

However, Zhu Jinglun soon reacted, this should not be the ability of those students, but the credit of the Swedes, it seems that the Swedes are really working hard, he also thought that the Swedes would hinder the relationship with the United States to remain neutral, let Fang Shan pass the order, and deliberately emphasized that it must be attacked, that is, for fear that the Swedes would stop the students, causing the students not to dare to move.

Originally, I just wanted to provoke the Americans, but now it seems that it is beyond the standard, and the Americans are probably not angry, but should be furious, and this anger cannot be vented to Guangzhou, I am afraid that I will trouble Zhu Jinglun again when I come back.

But Zhu Jinglun didn't care at all, Lincoln was now running for president, the U.S. Congress and other power institutions had split into two factions, the Civil War was on the verge of breaking out, and even if the Americans were angry, it was impossible to send a fleet of black ships to China.

Moreover, Zhu Jinglun's provoking the Americans is not just to scare and scare Baigui and other Guangzhou officials, he also has other plans, and now the first step is too strong, it seems that the plan has to be planned in advance, and it has to be done in one step.