Luo Jian and the others hurriedly ran to the steam engine factory, but they were empty.

Several people hurriedly came out, and Luo Jian asked Xiao Liu as he walked, "Where is it?" ”

"I don't know, it was Song Lao who told me."

At this time, a thirteen or fourteen-year-old boy ran outside the factory and said to a few people: "Mr. Song, they are in the machine tool workshop, and the steam engine is being installed." ”

"Installed directly?" Luo Jian asked suspiciously.

"Song Lao, they have done many tests, and there is no problem with safety and output power. This artillery installation did not dare to alarm them, and Song Lao was already old. Xiao Liu said.

"Don't be verbose, let's go and have a look." Shi Kefa couldn't wait, and several people hurried to the machine tool workshop.

This time, there was no large group of people around, in front of a drilling machine, Song Yingxing and Fang Yizhi were installing and debugging with two or three young people, and a group of teenagers were watching from afar.

Luo Jian looked at this group of teenagers a little strangely, he didn't know where Song Lao had summoned a group of students from, and when he saw Luo Jian looking at them, a young man with clear eyebrows lowered his head and shrank behind the teenagers.

Luo Jian didn't care about this group of teenagers, and hurriedly stepped forward, Song Yingxing was busy, looked up at Luo Jian and Shi Kefa, and said in his mouth, "Xinghua, Supervisor, you are here, it will be fine immediately." But he didn't stop.

Fang Yizhi and a few young people were already very neat, and they were quickly installed with Song Yingxing.

The boiler had already been burned, and as Song Yingxing opened the valve, the steam was quickly delivered.

"Master, how about you please do it yourself? See if the drilling machine is better than the hydraulic belt? Song Yingxing politely said to an old craftsman with a drilling machine.

"Mr. Song, the little old man should come by himself, Mr. Song, you are too polite." The old master seems to be more familiar with Song Yingxing.

As Song Yingxing turned on the switches one by one and pulled a few bayonets, the drill pipe of the drilling machine finally turned slowly, and everyone stared at the drill pipe intently.

The master was holding a steel rod, which was intended to be used to drill the barrel of the gun.

The steel rod was stuck on the drilling machine, and the master moved the drill pipe until it was aligned with the center of the steel rod, and then the drill pipe was fixed.

Shi Kefa was so nervous that he held his breath, and even Luo Jian felt a little out of breath.

"I said Xinghua, what are you nervous about? Don't you know this stuff yet? The steam engine must be fine, I'm afraid that this drill pipe can't stand it. Song Yingxing glanced at Luo Jian and said with a smile.

The master finally pressed the drill pipe and began to operate, as the steel scraps flew out of the drill pipe, and soon drilled into a third, suddenly, with a click, sure enough, the drill pipe broke.

The old master jumped off the drilling machine, but without a trace of annoyance, he turned to everyone excitedly and said, "This thing is so good, the power is large and even, so that I can drill ten barrels a day without a problem." ”

"Master, we will solve the problem of drill pipe as soon as possible, and ensure that it will not be replaced after drilling for a while like today." Xiao Liu stepped forward and said.

"It's good now, I've got so much into it, if it had been before, I'm afraid I would have changed several drill pipes." The old master said.

"Old Song, a steam engine only has one machine tool?" Shi Kefa asked beside him.

"What's the matter? A steam engine should carry at least ten machine tools, so it is not too wasteful. As for how much we can bring in the end, let's determine as we practice. Song Yingxing said with a smile.

"Old Song, there is no technical problem with the steam engine now, right?" Luo Jian asked.

"There are still some problems with the seal, didn't you tell me that there is any rubber? You'll need someone to get me as soon as possible. Now the sealing is not possible if the machine is opened and resealed in a few months. Song Yingxing said with some regret.

Chen Zilong said excitedly beside him: "Okay now, now the production of our Yangzhou Type 1 rifle is at least twice as fast as before, Xinghua, Inspector, I promise that next month I can let all the first division be redressed." ”

"That's good, Mizhi, Song Lao is our baby, you have to work harder next, you can't exhaust Song Lao." Luo Jian looked at Song Yingxing, who was obviously old, and said to Yizhi with some distress.

Fang Yizhi hurriedly nodded yes.

Song Yingxing glared at him next to him and said, "Xinghua, you think I'm old?" The old man felt full of energy now, and when the steam engine was installed on the ship, the old man would be relieved to take a group of disciples. ”

Song Yingxing said as he looked lovingly at the large group of teenagers next to him.

"These children are all selected from the wandering teenagers, they have all studied before, some of them are not bad, and the illiterate teenagers have gone to the workshops as apprentices." Fang Yizhi explained beside him.

"By the way, Xiao Liu, the sweeping education in the factory hasn't been pulled down, has it?" Luo Jian asked.

"No, you can hold it tightly, there is night school every night, but the light is too poor, I'm really worried about breaking everyone's eyes." Liu Weimin said.

"Xinghua, this steam engine is going to be mass-produced now, but the output of the steel mill seems to be insufficient, so you have to figure out a way." Song Yingxing said.

"Damn, it's to smash the pot and sell iron, we also want to build another steelmaking plant, Brother Mao, you hurry up and train personnel here, let's prepare technically first, and as soon as the funds are in place, our Wuhu steelmaking plant will start construction immediately."

Luo Jian was so anxious that he burst into a foul language, and Shi Kefa looked at him curiously, and he had the impression that Luo Jian was also gentle and elegant when he was angry, and this was the first time he had heard him say foul language.

"It will be a matter of the future to build a steelmaking plant, and now Xinghua and the superintendent, you have to make a decision, whether to build a steam engine or a gun first, we can only hold on to one end." Chen Zilong said helplessly beside him.

"It must be to build guns first, and to build a strong army, it's easy to say anything." Shi Kefa said hurriedly.

"Brother Xian, I don't think so, let's solve the power problem, and it will be much faster to build guns and cannons in the future, besides, merchant ships go to sea, and there are no advanced warships to escort me, I have never been steadfast in my heart, and the steam warships must be launched as soon as possible." Luo Jian said.

Shi Kefa pondered for a long time, and then said: "It's because I'm too anxious, just follow Xinghua's opinion." ”

"Okay, Old Song, you guys are busy first, I still have a lot of things to do with the superintendent, so we'll go back to Yangzhou first." Luo Jian said, and said goodbye to everyone with Shi Kefa and set off to return to Yangzhou.

"Xinghua, you said earlier that there is money to build a steel mill, where does this money come from?"

Dare to love Shi Kefa has always remembered this stubble.

"Our Yangzhou army has to take the initiative to attack, the Manchu Tartars have gone too far this time, and they won't be able to teach them a lesson." Luo Jian replied unexpectedly.

Shi Kefa listened, stayed on the horse for a moment, and quickly reacted, saying "good" in his mouth.

Luo Jian, who returned to Yangzhou, convened a military meeting non-stop, and there were not many people attending the meeting, only Shi Kefa and a group of staff officers from the General Staff Department and officers above the regimental level of the first division.

Luo Jian was not prepared to fight in this operation, and the purpose of the campaign was very clear, first, to hurt the Manchu Qing Dynasty and force the Manchu court to put pressure on the small court of the Southern Ming Dynasty to ensure that the supply of military salaries for the Yangzhou army could not be reduced; The second is to push the defensive front of Huai'an to Shandong, ensure the safety of Haizhou, and prepare for the future construction of the port.

This combat operation was named "Fighting Cattle Across the Mountains", which was the name given by Liu Zhaoji, and the operation was called Fighting the Manchu Dynasty, which was actually to persecute the Southern Ming Dynasty, which meant this.

Luo Jian was not prepared to use more troops in this operation, and only the two regiments of the 1st Division were equipped with 30 artillery pieces that had been modified by Yan Yingyuan's artillery unit, totaling more than 5,000 people.

Originally, Luo Jian was ready to personally command this operation, but Liu Zhaoji insisted that Luo Jian stay in Yangzhou to control the overall situation, and it would be enough to lead the troops by himself.

Luo Jian considered that Huang Degong was in charge on the front line of Huai'an, and that the Second and Fifth Divisions should cooperate with combat operations, and that there was no problem with the safety of the 5,000 men and horses of the First Division, so he agreed with Liu Zhaoji's opinion.

After the military meeting, the General Staff Department specially sent staff officers to Huai'an to inform Huang Degong of this military operation, and the first regiment of the first division, the special brigade, and the artillery unit also boarded the warships of the naval division in Yangzhou and began to maneuver in the direction of Huai'an.

"The Metropolitan Governor is really, if we want to fight, our fourth and second divisions are so close, why do we need the first division to move so far? Could it be that most of the governors can't trust me Lao Huang? After Huang Degong received the notice, he had a lot of opinions.

"Marquis of Jingnan, this is not what the Metropolitan Governor meant, this operation is mainly to experiment with new equipment, the first division is dispatched this time all firearms troops, and the Metropolitan Governor is to play a new tactic in this operation to prepare for the change of troops in the future." The staff officer carefully explained to Huang Degong.

"So that's the case, then our Fifth Division and Second Division will also cooperate with combat operations?" Huang Degong asked.

"The meaning of the Metropolitan Governor and the General Staff Department is this..."The staff officer conveyed the entire combat intention to Huang Degong in detail, and Huang Degong understood Luo Jian's intentions.

"It's still the governor of the capital to think about it for the long term, my Lao Huang is completely convinced, you go back and report to the governor, my Lao Huang will definitely do a good job in the security work of the first division and the safety of the rear, please rest assured." Huang Degong said.

"Marquis Jingnan, I still have to rush to the Second Division, so that they can prepare for defense and prevent the Manchus from retaliating in this direction." The staff officer said.

"Okay, then you go quickly, notify me as soon as possible, and let Li Chengdong prepare early." Huang Degong, who was anxious, urged the staff officer.

The combat operations of the first division have not yet been known to the Manchu court, but they have already alarmed the Southern Ming court.

Luo Jian didn't have the idea of hiding combat operations at all, everything was carried out with great fanfare, and it was so close that it was difficult for the Southern Ming Imperial Court to think about it.

Before the navy's warship arrived in Gaoyou, Liu Zeqing already knew that the first division was going to fight, and hurriedly sent someone to Nanjing to report.

Ma Shiying was also surprised after receiving the report, what is the Yangzhou Army going to do? It was already said during the peace talks last year that the Yangzhou army would no longer take combat action and live in peace with the Manchus, and it had only been a few months, so why did it start fighting again?

When Ma Shiying hurried to the palace, Li Zhan, the right capital imperial historian, and Liu Kongzhao, the sincerity uncle, had already spoken in front of the emperor.

"Your Majesty, this is not good, we have just finished the peace talks with the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and the Yangzhou army has ignored the peace treaty and started a war without permission, I am afraid that there will be no more peace!" Li said angrily.

"Yes, Your Majesty, the Yangzhou Army is going to war, I'm afraid the Manchus will also do it in Hunan and Jiangxi, these places have just stabilized, and the war is together, and our taxes can't be collected, how can the emperor have the money to build a palace?" Liu Kongzhao looked at Zhu Youxiang and specifically picked what Zhu Youxiang was most worried about.

"Oh, Mr. Ma is here too? What should I do? Zhu Youxiang had a headache.

"Your Majesty, what else can I do? Someone must be sent to Yangzhou immediately to stop quickly. Ma Shiying said helplessly.

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