Lian Zining naturally understood their thoughts, smiled slightly, and said, "Two, I haven't said the most important thing yet!" This kind of corn, the yield is extremely high, it is a thin field, and there is also a yield of two stones, if it is a fertile field, it is three stones, which is also ordinary! Think about it, if we all planted corn in the Ming Dynasty, would anyone still starve? ”

As soon as these words came out, both of them were shocked, looking at the yellow, orange and orange corn in this box, they couldn't imagine that the yield of this thing was so high!

How can it be?

After a while, Meng Fanqian got up, gave Lian Zining a deep bow, and said, "Lord Lian, if it is really as you said, then you are really a Buddha like a Buddha in ten thousand families!" For the benefit of the world! ”

Lian Zining laughed: "There is no need to say this, this official Tian is a minister of the Ming Dynasty, so he should naturally share his worries for Long Live and for the Ming Dynasty." However, the two of you should also know that the Chinese people have never believed in new things, and it must be extremely difficult to promote this thing, so we should plant it first, and wait until the harvest is harvested. ”

"This?" The two of them showed hesitation, after all, they still didn't dare to be completely convinced, and the scale of tens of thousands of acres of land, once the grain is not harvested, it is also a great loss.

Lian Zining's next sentence made them make up their minds: "Two, the official has decided that when the autumn harvest is reached, all the 500,000 mu of land under the official's household will be planted with corn, what are you worried about?" ”

(Okay, my brain is muddy, I wrote Wu Daliang as Wu Dachun, okay...... Then Lian Zining's next sentence was to mobilize their positive surnames: "If it is a bumper harvest, the official will buy it at the price of one tael of silver and four stones, and if it is a bad harvest, what is the output of your field in the summer season, the official will pay you all the money!" ”

Meng Fanqian and Liu Huateng hurriedly politely said that they didn't even dare.

Lian Zining said with a smile: "There is nothing to dare to dare to do, the matter of Ma Zheng can be regarded as letting you share your worries for your own officials, and this matter can also be regarded as compensation for you." By the way, you can also spread the news, if anyone wants to plant, come to this official and ask for seeds. ”

After Liu Huateng and Meng Fanqian returned, they publicized this matter widely, causing a great sensation among the businessmen of the six counties.

There are a lot of people who come to Lian Zining here and plan to go back to plant seeds, and the reason why they are so happy is mainly due to their confidence in Lian Zining - this adult is very upright, if you want to pit you, you will say it directly, if you want to say that there are good things, it must be good to share the profits with you, which can be seen from that trip to Fusang. But those who believe in Lian Zining make a lot of money, and those who hesitate for fear that Lian Zining will swallow them up are all regretful.

Seeing that more and more people came, Lian Zining simply held a corn banquet in the house to feast these merchants, all kinds of food at the corn banquet, corn cakes, corn porridge is called sticky porridge in the later Shandong dialect, as well as boiled corn cobs, etc., these common things in later generations are out-and-out rarities at this time, under the novelty, these merchants are very happy to eat.

After verifying Lian Zining's words with their own mouths, they completely relieved their hearts, and each of them claimed a number of corn seeds from Lian Zining.

Most of these businessmen have tens of thousands of acres of land, and some of them have thousands of acres, and they add up to a conservative estimate that the corn planting area this time is also one million mu, and together with Lian Zining's 500,000 mu of fertile land, it is 1.5 million mu. 1.5 million mu, and the output is around 5 million stones. Lian Zining plans to transport these acquisitions to the major grain and oil stores in the capital through the sales network of Lian's chaebol, presumably the people who pay attention to affordability will welcome this cheap, delicious and novel thing.

Of course, these are all later words, so I won't mention them for the time being.

After seeing off Liu Huateng and Meng Fanqian, Qi Wei came over and brought Lian Zining a good news that he had been looking forward to for a long time.

"What? A flintlock pistol was developed? Lian Zining Huoran got up and asked, with an unconcealable joy at the corners of his eyes and eyebrows.

"Yes, sir!" Qi Wei was obviously very excited, and said with a smile: "Actually, it has been a few days since the first flintlock pistol was made, but we have been doing specific safety and rate of fire tests for these days, and we have studied two more sample guns, and I will tell you after we get the specific data today!" ”

Lian Zining walked out the door: "Let's go!" Check it out! ”

handed over Shi Dazhu and other personal guards, and Lian Zining and his entourage soon came to the courtyard where the big sign of Wu Yijun's Ordnance Bureau was hung up.

The Wu Yi Army Ordnance Bureau has not been officially registered in the Ministry of War, which means that it is still a wild road sub yamen, but it has been recognized by everyone in the Wu Yi Army, especially after the large number of tiger squat cannons. With the official establishment of the Ordnance Bureau, this group of Francos and Sicilian mobs are also rising, not only the salary has increased significantly, but Lian Zining has also sent a general flag of troops to garrison here, not only to be dispatched, but also to have the mind of surveillance.

When Lian Zining came here, Gonzalez was already waiting with someone.

When he saw Lian Zining, he knelt down and saluted: "Mark Gonzalez, I've seen my lord!" I wish you good luck! The standard and others have heard that the adults killed a corpse mountain and a sea of blood in Fusang, and they greatly promoted my Chinese heavenly prestige, and the status of the standard and the inferior was humble, and they did not dare to go to congratulate them, but fortunately, they lived up to the expectations of the adults, and studied the flintlock pistol, thinking that the adults congratulated! ”

This was said beautifully, Lian Zining laughed, jumped off the horse, helped him up with his own hands, and said with a smile: "Lao Gang, it's useless to say something beautiful, you have to come up with the real thing, if you really study the flintlock pistol, this official will be greatly rewarded!" ”

As soon as he heard that there was a reward, not only Gonzalez, but also the group of Francos behind him also had their eyes lit up, and they all knew that this Lord Lian was very generous, and these rewards and the usual monthly silver had not been broken. They now eat big fish and meat, wear silk and satin, live in spacious and bright houses, and have new and clean bedding. There are no fleas bouncing on the bed, no lingering stench, no sewage flowing everywhere, no breeding mosquitoes and flies, there are such tree hearts everywhere, it is really heavenly.

But who wouldn't want to live a little better?

Gonzalez received the most rewards, he had already bought a small house outside, and married a girl from a green house as a concubine, they had all been to that small but delicate and warm house, and had seen that beautiful and charming woman, and they were all envious in their hearts, and they all made up their minds to save money to live this kind of life.

Everything has to fall on Lian Zining.

Gonzalez smiled: "Your adult will know at a glance that you will definitely not disappoint your adult!" ”

Lian Zining nodded, and the group entered the mansion, and the front yard was no longer big enough, so it was all changed into a blacksmith workshop, specializing in smelting and forging. Lian Zining was bought by a private house behind this mansion all the way to the city wall a few days ago, and then built a martial arts arena, and the group went directly here.

The reason why this martial arts arena is so wide, with a radius of thousands of kilometers, is actually because of the small Francophone cannon, the range is too far, if it is close, it is impossible to use it. The land is very flat, and there is a small dirt slope near the boundary of the city wall in the distance, and Lian Zining can see that there are many potholes and craters on the soil slope. Behind him, Jiang Li Ye Nai handed over a thousand miles of cylinders, and Lian Zining looked at it carefully, these craters were not small, almost one or two feet in diameter.

Lian Zining asked, "How is the imitation of the small Franc cannon?" ”

As soon as he returned, he gave them some of the small Franc cannons from Fuso, and ordered them to copy them.

Gonzalez said: "Those small Franco cannons are not difficult to make, the principle is very simple, but the production of the cannon barrel requires a large number of molds to be cast, so it is a little troublesome, but ten have been imitated, and the effect is not bad, and adults can test it later." ”

Lian Zining nodded: "Let's take a look at the flintlock pistol first." ”

Someone had already been waiting with a flintlock pistol, and Lian Zining took it from Gonzalez's hand and looked at it carefully.

This flintlock pistol, weighing about ten pounds, was heavy in the hand, about five feet long, almost equivalent to the height of a short adult, very large. The black and dull iron straight barrel, with the wooden butt and handshake at the back, looks very simple and beautiful. At first glance, it looks no different from a lengthened, enlarged and thickened version of the arquebus, but if you look closely, you will find that the gun body is missing the arquebus, arquebus clips, medicine pools and other things, and there is an extra hammer and anvil, which looks much simpler.

Overall, it was a beautiful weapon, and of course, it was a very advanced thing of its time, because according to Lian Zining's memory, in the West, it was not until the early to mid-seventeenth century that this weapon was heavily equipped by the French [***] army, and it gave France the upper hand in the battle against its old enemy Prussia.

"My lord, we have only developed one model of flintlock pistol at the moment, and that is the one you have in your hand. The caliber is 19.8 millimeters, the length of the gun is 1,560 millimeters, the weight of the gun is 5.69 kilograms, and the projectile weighs 32.1 grams. Because it is heavier, it is not recommended for cavalry, and in our design, this is a flintlock pistol for infantry. Gonzalez explained on the side that because he knew that Lian Zining was also proficient in Western weights and measures, he was talking about Western-style data that they were used to.

Speaking of this professional question, he showed an unconcealed pride on his face: "I can assure you that this flintlock pistol is the most advanced gunpowder weapon in the world, there is no one. We have developed it on the basis of the revolver and arquebus that are now commonly used in European countries. ”

He smiled: "This is also thanks to the reminder of the adults, it is indeed inseparable from the flint, the structure of the revolt is complex, the cost is expensive, the use is troublesome, and the steel wheel is polluted and can not be reliably fired, so according to what you said, the steel wheel with the clockwork, but on the jaws of the hammer clamp a flint, there is a blow anvil on the side of the fire hole, if you need to shoot, pull the trigger, under the action of the spring, the flint is hit heavily on the side of the fire door, sparks, ignition of gunpowder, We named this firing mechanism a percussive flintlock machine. ”

Lian Zining nodded, this was basically the same as the principle of the flintlock pistol in his impression.

"What is the ignition rate?" Lian Zining asked a very professional question.

Gonzalez said, "Ninety-five percent!" ”

Lian Zining was taken aback: "So high? ”

He should indeed be surprised.

The ignition rate refers to the probability that the gunpowder is excited and the projectile is fired, while the ignition rate of the general arquebus is only about 50%, that is, half of the arquebuses cannot shoot the projectile after the trigger is triggered. When encountering stormy weather, the gunpowder in the fire door is either blown away by the wind or wet by the rain, so that it cannot be fired at all; Sometimes it is misplaced prematurely before it is aimed well. And just by virtue of the fact that the firing rate of the flintlock pistol reached 95 percent, even if there was no increase in the rate of fire, it was equivalent to doubling the intensity of fire!

Gonzalez said: "We've done a thousand shooting tests so far, for sure! ”

Lian Zining nodded and said, "Okay, let's demonstrate the rate of fire and accuracy!" ”

Gonzalez nodded, stretched out his hand and beckoned three people, took the flintlock pistol from Lian Zining's hand, three people, three guns, stood in a line.

And fifty paces away, that is, about seventy-five meters, three targets had been erected, one for each of them, and ammunition loading had begun. Although the flintlock pistol improved the way it was ignited, the others were similar to the arquebus, in which the projectile was placed on the muzzle and then stabbed into it with a strip and compacted. After about twenty seconds, the three men finished loading, pulled the trigger with their rifles, and began the first round of shooting.

With three crisp gunshots, the target fifty paces away also let out a crisp pop, apparently hit.

Lian Zining took a closer look with a thousand miles tube, and the three steel-cast targets were all punched out of a depression near the bull's-eye, and if measured by the standards of later generations, it could be regarded as six rings up, and the hit rate was obviously good. With this accuracy, you can basically hit the enemy by aiming at the chest.

Then the target was moved seventy paces away, which was sixty paces beyond the effective range of the arquebus.

In the second round of shooting, all three targets were hit, but the accuracy decreased slightly.

A hundred paces away, it was almost the range of the Divine Arm Crossbow.

All three targets were hit.

One hundred and twenty steps.

Two targets were hit.

One hundred and fifty steps.

Only one target hit.

Two hundred steps.

The projectile has already completely flown off.

There is no doubt that the range and accuracy of the flintlock pistol have been greatly improved compared with the arquebus, there is power within one hundred and fifty steps, and the hit rate can be basically guaranteed within one hundred and twenty steps, and within one hundred steps, the grasp is very large!

Compared to the arquebus, the range is doubled!

Lian Zining was very excited in his heart, doubling the range means that the number of projectiles that can be poured has also doubled, and the lethality to the enemy has also doubled!

Lian Zining tilted his head sideways and asked with a smile, "Ye Nai, what do you think?" ”

Nona thought for a moment and said, "It's much stronger than the Tachibana family's iron cannon, the range and accuracy have improved, and the iron cannon can't be used in rainy days." ”

Lian Zining laughed, and ordered them to aim at a target one hundred and twenty steps away, and keep loading and shooting.

They shoot non-stop, anyway, the advantage of firearms is here, it's just that you need to reload your ammunition and pull the trigger, it's not effortless, unlike archers, shooting six or seven arrows is almost like a weak arm, and you can't do it anymore. After about a cup of tea, Lian Zining stopped.

He had roughly estimated the rate of fire of the flintlock pistol, which was almost able to reach about three rounds a minute, and on the battlefield, due to various factors, it should not reach this number, but five rounds in two minutes could at least be guaranteed!

This is already a remarkable figure, and throughout Europe, the general rate of fire of arquebuses was two rounds per minute, and only the most elite Spanish troops could do one round a minute or two rounds in three minutes.

Compared to the arquebus, the firing speed of the flintlock pistol is three times higher, plus the firing rate is nearly doubled, the firing range is nearly doubled, and a hundred flintlock pistols can pour out at least five hundred arquebuses when facing the enemy!

In other words, the combat effectiveness of the firearms unit has suddenly increased fivefold.

"How much does this musket cost?" Lian Zining asked again.

Gonzalez laughed, "If you go back to your lordship, this musket is even cheaper than the arquebus, because it reduces a lot of builds, just adds a flint, and the hammer and anvil are more difficult to build." At the current level, about twenty taels of silver can build one. If our Ordnance Bureau mobilizes all the manpower, we can make 20 pieces a day. ”

Twenty taels is already a not very high price for Lian Zining now.

Lian Zining nodded, took a deep breath, and said to Gonzalez word by word, extremely solemnly: "Gonzalez, do you know? You have ushered in an era! ”

Gonzalez was stunned for a moment, then took a step back, raised his hands high, offered the flintlock pistol in his hand to Lian Zining, and said respectfully: "No, my lord! You are the one who started the era! ”

Lian Zining showed a smile on his face, took the flintlock pistol, turned around, and said to all the Franc machines: "You have made a great contribution to the invention of the flintlock pistol, and as a reward, this official will fulfill my promise!" ”

"Gonzalez!"

"Mark it in!" Gonzalez quickly knelt down in front of Lian Zining.

"This official appointed you as one hundred households of the Ordnance Bureau, and you are an official officer of my Ming Dynasty, and you enjoy one hundred taels of rice and grain, twenty horses of silk, and a number of ice and carbon respects every year!" Lian Zining smiled and said, "Later, this official will send your seal letter." ”

(To be continued)