Li Qingyuan rested for the night, and the next afternoon everyone rushed to the crow cottage smoothly, and the first thing Li Qingyuan did when he came here was to see the mining of sulfur, which was related to the next stage of the war, so he couldn't help but care.

More than 100 workers were busy tinkling here, and in order to lower the water level of the hot spring, the workers had already chiseled open the outlet of the hot spring, so that the water flowed away as soon as the spring came up.

And everyone also began to dig open the spring of the hot spring, digging holes downward, looking for sulfur, Li Qingyuan can't see this process, Li Qingyuan now sees the spring where Yege has been dug up, and the spring water has been drained away, leaking out of the sulfur hole below.

The foreman told Li Qingyuan that although he didn't know how much sulfur there was underneath, just the exposed part was enough for everyone to dig for a year, and there was no problem in producing thousands of catties of sulfur a day.

Li Qingyuan didn't have much hope for this place, after all, if it was a sulfur mine with huge reserves, it would be impossible for future generations to have no exploration and development, so it would definitely be a small mine with no mining value and no investment worthwhile.

Li Qingyuan estimated that the reserves of the entire sulfur mine would definitely not be very high, and even Li Qingyuan was ready to dig without much preparation, but he did not expect that there would be no problem in digging for a year, which is definitely good news.

Li Qingyuan does not know how much gunpowder is consumed in a war, but Li Qingyuan remembers that he has read a source that China's army consumed 1.7 billion rounds of bullets, 3.55 million mountain howitzer shells, 6.04 million mortar shells, and 23.59 million grenade grenade cartridges for grenades and grenades in the eight-year War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, totaling less than 200,000 tons.

This is the consumption of eight years of fighting, and the gunpowder in these ammunition is definitely not as heavy as copper, and millions of troops only consume so much, so if this sulfur mine really has as many craftsmen say, then Li Qingyuan feels that he doesn't have to worry about running out of gunpowder before overthrowing Qianlong.

In order to determine the craftsman's words, Li Qingyuan personally went down to the mine to take a look, and he was relieved to see the sulfur full of the cave, this scale is indeed very huge, and the only bad thing is that because there is a hot spring flowing through, the temperature in the cave is very high, and many miners work shirtless in winter, still sweating.

Li Qingyuan walked out of the mine, his heart was a lot more steady, this Wu Sanniang is really his own lucky star, when everyone was having dinner at night, Li Qingyuan was a little absent-minded, Wu Sanniang pulled him and asked, "What are you thinking?" ”

Li Qingyuan blurted out: "I was thinking about the cannon ......" After speaking, he regretted a little, and was relieved to see that the crow and Sanniang did not react, but fortunately, the people here don't understand.

"Cannon?" Wu Sanniang was a little puzzled.

Li Qingyuan nodded: "Recently, we have been producing muskets, I am worried that the gunpowder is not enough, and we have not made cannons and grenades, and now with such a large sulfur mine, we can also make our own cannons......." ”

Wu Sanniang's eyes lit up and asked, "You still make cannons?" ”

Li Qingyuan said proudly: "I can not only build cannons, but also make cannons that are more powerful than the Qing army's, lighter than his, but this requires making good steel, but we can make some tiger squat cannons, that thing fires scattered bullets, a dozen large pieces, and it has a miraculous ......effect against the enemy who charges collectively." ”

Wu Sanniang nodded and said, "Yes, as soon as that thing fires, we will die a lot, it's scary, you can make it." ”

Li Qingyuan was thinking about the matter of making artillery on one side, and on the other hand, he was really thinking about the matter of making artillery, which was a technical job, and how much charge it contained, and it was also shooting Zhuyuan and the like, as well as parabola.

Li Qingyuan is just a street writer, not a scholar, and he has long forgotten all about the parabolic formula, so if he wants to train a gunner, Li Qingyuan feels that he really doesn't have that ability, but Li Qingyuan remembers that Europe in this era has already achieved results in this regard, and he will not only need to get a European.

Of course, that is all in the future, Li Qingyuan looked at the two of them and said: "Tomorrow, everyone will repair for a day, and you will also familiarize yourself with their combat methods, and by the way, tell them the rules of the sermon, so as not to show your stuff when you get it, will you have Wu One-eyed undercover agent or something?" ”

The crow patted his chest and said: "My brothers and sisters are all old subordinates who followed me when Wu Duyan was not yet promising, there will be no problem, and I don't have anything to worry about him, why did he send someone to me to go undercover?" ”

Sanniang asked a little curiously: "Qingyuan, I saw your sharpshooter battalion, and you also carried several explosive bags, do you want to ......." ”

Li Qingyuan smiled: "Do I want to fight Wu Duyan's idea, mainly to guard against him, if he dares to have any bad ideas, we will blow up their lair, if not, I still want to do business with them." ”

Sanniang was even more curious: "What kind of business?" ”

Li Qingyuan said: "Of course it's an explosives bag, if he wants to buy it, I also plan to sell him the bird guns we eliminated, those good guns, it's a pity to melt them, it's a waste to put them in the warehouse, if he wants us to exchange a sum of money, it can also strengthen his strength." ”

Sanniang asked worriedly, "What if he hits us with a bag of explosives and a bird?" ”

Li Qingyuan disdainful: "Can we still be afraid of him?" Don't talk about explosives bags and bird guns, even if he is willing to pay for this short gun, I dare to sell him a part, as long as we keep the long guns and don't sell them, then he is not our opponent, and he has no time to pay attention to us, and he is too late to deal with the Qing army after the New Year, how can he have time to fight our idea. ”

Li Qingyuan is not boasting about himself when he says this, in fact, don't say that it is a short gun, even if it is a long gun, he dares to sell it, he can make four by himself by selling one, as long as the money he earns is not used indiscriminately, he can consume the other party even if he fights for consumption.

Besides, this kind of gun is not not available in the outside world, if the Qing army is really beaten, Britain and the United States, countries that have just formed the Age of Discovery, dare to sell anything, and when the time comes, maybe they will directly produce a large amount, and the Qing army will make a big purchase, and Li Qingyuan's advantage will no longer be in an instant.

Therefore, Li Qingyuan never expected to rely on a musket bag to fight the world, so Li Qingyuan had to take such a big risk to incite Wu Duyan to rebel, only when more people made greater movements, the national strength of the Qing court would be quickly consumed, the Qing Dynasty would raise taxes, and it would be more unstable.

This is a systematic project, and it is difficult to cut down this big tree by yourself, but if you have an axe, I have an axe, and everyone works together, the tree may soon fall.

So Li Qingyuan wants to see if this Wu Duyan is worth supporting and making a scene, if it is worth it, then make great efforts, if it is not worth it, he will support and support him casually, and let him help him carry it for a while.