"Okay, then you stand down. Master Shen, I still have something to ask. Zhang Shihua waved his hand like this, and couldn't help but call Shen Shi to him.

"My lord. I don't know what do you want to ask your subordinates now? Shen Shi heard Zhang Shihua's words, walked up to Zhang Shihua, and asked politely.

"That's right." Zhang Shihua couldn't help coughing lightly, and then said: "With this iron cannon that you have improved, it can indeed be said to be a divine weapon. But I just don't know, how much silver taels do we need to spend to build an artillery like this? ”

"Hehe, back to the lord's words, because the iron used to cast the artillery is all produced by our black-clothed army. Moreover, the hydraulic forging machine also saves us a lot of manpower in the manufacturing process, so the cost of casting such a cannon is not very high. ”

"Now, just like the gun you see, counting the scrap that occurred during the manufacturing process, it cost three hundred taels of silver (Note 1)." Saying this, Shen Shi's face couldn't help but have a smug and confident smile.

After all, it was far less than the price of a bronze cannon, but it forged an iron cannon that was far more powerful than a bronze cannon. Such a result is enough to make Shen Shi proud.

However, at this time, compared with Shen Shi, Zhang Shihua was even more happy and surprised.

To be honest, as early as when he first saw the bronze artillery, Zhang Shihua actually had the idea of casting artillery on a large scale.

But it can't be helped, before the iron cannon was improved, the original bronze cannon was too expensive.

You know, in these days, copper is money. Thousands of pounds of bronze were used to create a cannon, and there was a very high scrap rate in the process. So if Zhang Shihua built it himself, the price of a bronze cannon would be five or six hundred taels, then the burden would be too heavy.

After all, Zhang Shihua has too many places to spend money, and the funds he can take out for artillery are actually not much, but only more than 20,000 taels.

But what Zhang Shihua never expected now was that the price of a bronze cannon cast by Shen Shi and them was only three hundred taels.

The price of three hundred taels is definitely good and cheap. Zhang Shihua can now take out more than 20,000 taels to prepare artillery, which means that according to the price of 300 taels, Zhang Shihua can completely make 70 artillery pieces.

And with 70 artillery pieces in hand, Zhang Shihua can also form an artillery force of 1,000 people. In this way, Zhang Shihua's own strength can also be greatly increased because of this.

So after hearing Shen Shi quote this price, Zhang Shihua, who wanted to pay attention to his dignity in front of his subordinates, couldn't help laughing happily.

"Hahahaha, good! Good! Good! After the company commander laughed, he said hello three times in a row. Then Zhang Shihua looked at Shen Shi, and couldn't help but be more and more happy.

"In this way, Master Shen will allocate 23,000 taels of silver to you now, and then mobilize your workers, and you will give me all the strength to forge the cannon now. In three months' time, I wonder if you will be able to forge seventy new iron cannons for our army that mark this crosshair, shine on the door, and carry the ears? ”

"Three months. Lord, this ......" Hearing that Zhang Shihua set such a deadline, Shen Shi's originally happy face couldn't help but become entangled.

"What, what's the problem?" Seeing Shen Shi's appearance, Zhang Shihua frowned and couldn't help asking.

"My lord, my lord, you are so kind to us. It is said that the things you have explained, we will work hard to complete. But in this forge there are only a few of us who have ever been involved in the manufacture of iron artillery. ”

"So even if you recruit workers and craftsmen, it will take some time to run in. Moreover, the forging requirements of the gun are also relatively high, as long as there is a slight error in the barrel, it will need to be recast. Therefore, in just three months, it is really difficult to forge seventy qualified and excellent artillery! Speaking of this, Shen Shi, who was still quite confident, couldn't help but bow his head, not daring to look at Zhang Shihua's face.

However, Zhang Shihua was not angry about this. The reason why he asked Shen Shi and them to forge the cannon within three months this time was actually because the situation in the world was becoming more and more chaotic, so that Zhang Shihua himself became a little urgent to improve his strength.

After all, according to the information that Zhang Shihua got from the intelligence organization 'Secret Guard' under his command.

The defeat of Xu Shouhui on Qizhou Road has become a sure thing. Anyway, according to Zhang Shihua's personal analysis, in three months at most, Xu Shouhui's great heaven will definitely be over. So in such a situation, Zhang Shihua naturally wants to strengthen himself.

After all, at this time, among all the rebels in the world, only he, Liu Futong and Xu Shouhui are the strongest, and they are regarded as leaders by the rebels in the world.

Therefore, if the puppet emperor Xu Shouhui is defeated by the Yuanmeng court, then the next target of the Yuanmeng court is most likely to be him Zhang Shihua.

Because no one is a fool, Zhang Shihua is nominally Liu Futong's subordinate. But everyone knows that Zhang Shihua's current strength is much stronger than Liu Futong's.

If the puppet emperor Xu Shouhui was killed by the Yuanmeng court, then Zhang Shihua would naturally become the next person to make a big splash. Therefore, in order to deter the rebels in the world and consolidate their dominance, the Yuanmeng court will definitely regard Zhang Shihua as the next person to open the knife.

So now Zhang Shihua is really anxious!

After all, compared with the Yuanmeng Imperial Court, Zhang Shihua's current strength is still too far behind. Let's not talk about the huge gap in land and population under the rule, just talk about the gap in troops, and the Yuan and Mongolian courts will be able to lead Zhang Shihua for several streets.

Not to mention anything else, judging from the current situation of the Yuanmeng Imperial Court, it is absolutely not a problem for the central government to come up with three or five hundred thousand soldiers and horses.

But what about Zhang Shihua? All the soldiers and horses under Zhang Shihua's command add up to more than 70,000 people. Therefore, the gap in national strength between the two is too great.

With more than 70,000 soldiers and horses, in his own territory, relying on the advantages brought by artillery and geographical advantages, Zhang Shihua was not afraid of fighting a defensive war.

But there is a way that you will lose if you keep it for a long time, and with the century-old background of the Yuanmeng court, there is still the ability to drag Zhang Shihua to hell together.

But fortunately, although Zhang Shihua's heart is anxious, his reason is still extremely sober.

At least he would never be angry and angry at a subordinate who was given a task that he couldn't do, and then the subordinate resisted and refused.

So after realizing that he was a little too anxious, he looked at Shen Shi with a smile and couldn't help but say, "Okay, but I'm a little too anxious." In this way, Master Shen, do you think that you can forge 70 cannons for our army in a few months with the fastest forging artillery? ”

"This ...... Back to the lord's words, four months. As long as the lord gives us four months, we will definitely forge seventy qualified and excellent guns for you. When Shen Shi heard Zhang Shihua's words, his heart was relieved at first. Then after thinking about it for a while, he couldn't help but report a time to Zhang Shihua.

When Zhang Shihua heard this, he smiled and nodded, and couldn't help but say, "Okay, very good." In that case, I will give you four months. After four months, I hope that you, Master Shen, can also give me a satisfactory result. ”

"Yes, the subordinates obey the order, and the subordinates are willing to make a military order here, and they will not disappoint the lord!" Hearing Zhang Shihua's words, Shen Shi's face was overjoyed, and he couldn't help but confidently make a guarantee to Zhang Shihua.

Seeing this, Zhang Shihua nodded silently, and couldn't help but summon Yan Di over again, and then commanded the two of them: "Yan Di, you are the most proficient gunner in our army, so this time, I am also going to let you assist Shen Craftsman in making their cannons." ”

"Especially in terms of crosshairs, illumination, and cannon ears, I think you will definitely be able to help Master Shen to a great extent."

"Yes, my subordinates understand. The subordinates will definitely do their best to assist Master Shen and them. Yan Di saluted when he heard this, and assured Zhang Shihua like this.

Seeing this, Zhang Shihua nodded silently, and then instructed Shen Shi for two sentences, and he understood the matter thoroughly. Therefore, after staying in this forge for a short time, Zhang Shihua also took a group of people and horses under his command and left the forges of the military camp like a fortress.

……

Time flies, just like a white horse passing by, but in the blink of an eye, the time can't help but reach the first day of the fifth month.

Yes, in the blink of an eye, nearly a month and a half has passed.

These days, the area under Zhang Shihua's rule is still very calm. So much so that because Zhang Shihua's soldiers had no battle to fight, they began to take the initiative to ask their generals to exterminate the bandits and bandits in the territory.

Therefore, under the efforts of these wolf-like soldiers for more than a month, the public security situation under Zhang Shihua's rule is also much better.

Of course, in fact, I don't know that nothing major happened under Zhang Shihua's rule, and there was actually nothing big about it.

Well, after so many days, the only major event should be the old-timer of the world's righteous army, the boss of Fang Guozhen Fang, who began to make a revolution in the eighth year of Zhizheng, surrendered to the Yuanmeng court again not long ago.

And because he successfully killed Taizhou Lu Dalu Hua Chitai during the uprising last year, he was once again smoothly promoted. In just a few years, this guy has also become a seaway transport household in the Yuanmeng Imperial Court. In terms of career, it really didn't mention how smooth it was.

Therefore, because of the existence of his role model, there are also large areas of speculators in southern and eastern Zhejiang, as well as in Fujian.

These people, on the one hand, are holding high the banner of the uprising, but on the other hand, they can't help but dream of being recruited by the Yuanmeng court all the time in their hearts, so that they can become the second successful person like Fang Guozhen.

However, the situation of these people was not so smooth, because an official named Liu Ji appeared in the officialdom of southern Zhejiang for some reason.

This Lord Liu Ji, although he is a civil official from a Han Jinshi. But to kill these entrepreneurs, it is even more ruthless than the generals of the Yuanmeng court. It is said that it was only a few months before all kinds of miscellaneous rebels died at his hands...... Uh, no, it should be that the 'entrepreneurial army' is already tens of thousands.

However, Zhang Shihua in Xiangyang is not very clear about the deeds of this Liu Ji. After all, the official position of this Liu Ji Liu is not very high, but it is just the capital official of the Marshal's Mansion. In addition, because the distance between Xiangyang and the Zhejiangjiang region is too far, Zhang Shihua really can't receive such news.

But unlike the calm under Zhang Shihua's rule, in Qizhou Road, which is nearly a thousand miles away from Jiangling City under Zhang Shihua, an extremely tragic battle also broke out.

"Soldiers, the time has come to make meritorious contributions, capture Qishui City, get promoted and make a fortune, and it will be today!" In the capital of the Tianwan Imperial Court, outside Qishui City, thousands of officers and soldiers couldn't help roaring like this, waving the weapons in their hands, and killing Qishui City like a tide.

Yes, with the passage of time, under the siege of the coalition forces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Jiangxi and even Huguang, Xu Shouhui, who was sitting in Qizhou, couldn't help but be defeated again and again.

In less than a year, Xu Shouhui, who originally occupied a huge territory, and even expanded his sphere of influence to Fujian and other places during the period of total victory, now has only the lonely city of Qishui in his hands.

Of course, throughout the country, there were still many rebel armies who nominally obeyed him.

However, there is a saying that 'everyone beats the broken drum, and everyone pushes the wall', Xu Shouhui has now fallen into this field, and none of his nominal subordinates have rushed to support him.

After all, anyone can see that the Yuanmeng Imperial Court suddenly mobilized the troops of the three major provinces in the south of the Yangtze River, and it was determined to exterminate him Xu Shouhui, and at such a juncture, what reason was there to accompany Xu Shouhui, His Majesty the Emperor, to hell together.

So Xu Shouhui has been promising his courtiers the benefits of his official position in the future as if he didn't want money. But until now, no one has come to support him with troops. Therefore, under this series of blows, Xu Shouhui, who was ambitious in the past, has already become depressed.

Now that he has long since left the so-called militaristic affairs. At this time, Xu Shouhui drank and enjoyed himself in his palace every day. Then sit and wait for the soldiers and horses of the city under his rule to be broken by the army of thieves of the imperial court, one after another.

So in this way, Xu Shouhui's prestige in the Tianwan court, which was already small, has plummeted.

Anyway, at this time, he had to order the women in his 'palace'. There is no one in Qishui City who will listen to the orders of such a drunkard.

(To be continued.................. ）