After breakfast, Feng Jian went straight to Zhang Dalai's Military Research Institute.

The training of the soldiers of the Zhenshan Battalion is in full swing, but the soldiers always carry wooden sticks instead of blades for training, which is not a long-term solution, so there is an urgent need for weapons and blades.

The Military Research Institute was built in a remote mountain col on the southwest side of Huluyan Square, and according to Zhang Dalai's requirements, several stone houses were built in the flat place in the mountain pass. They are used as iron shops, iron coke warehouses, and personnel residences.

There are six iron furnaces in a row in the stone house of the iron shop, and wooden blowers are connected to the iron furnaces, which blow the wind into the iron furnace between pulling and pushing, so that the coke in the iron furnace produces a higher temperature.

The higher the temperature in the furnace, the more durable and durable the utensils produced, Zhang Dalai led several blacksmiths in the stockade to debug the connection between each iron furnace and the wooden blower many times, and only then did he stop after obtaining additional blowing effects.

In the iron coke warehouse, because the coke cottage households can burn it by themselves, there is now a lot of coke piled up in the warehouse, but the relative iron is piled up in a corner of the warehouse is pitiful, that is, these iron materials are still seized from the historian.

There are also piles of broken farm tools next to the iron materials, which were donated to the Military Research Institute by the villagers in the village to make blades for the Zhenshan Battalion.

Zhang Dalai pointed out to Feng Jian many times that there was not enough source of iron, and that making weapons and patients was just an empty word, and no one could conjure weapons and blades out of thin air.

The iron material seized by Shi Fu, and those broken farm tools were returned to iron again, and the two combined could not make many weapons and blades.

Originally, many weapons and blades were also seized in the Shi family, but the cottage guards such as the Xu Ma Gang were attacked and fled, and most of them were lost.

Feng Jian also plans to send someone to Pingdu City to buy a small amount of iron materials to transport back to the cottage, thinking about it is unrealistic, not to mention going to Pingdu City, buying and transporting iron materials will attract the attention of some people, just talking about the thieves around Huluyan, it is impossible to let Huluyan iron materials be transported smoothly!

Feng Jian hurriedly walked into the weapons research and development institute, the stone house was steaming, and he saw Zhang Dalai and several other blacksmiths banging on different iron piers, and the entire iron shop was full of clanging sounds.

Zhang Dalai was making the head of an iron spear, and when the hammer swung, sparks fell on his shirtless body, and his arms and bare chest were red from the fire.

Feng Jian didn't bother Zhang Dalai, he stood aside and watched Zhang Dalai focus on hitting the iron gun, but Zhang Dalai didn't notice that there was an audience next to him.

The iron material in Zhang Dalai's hand was hammered on the iron pier for a while, and then the gun head was put back into the furnace again to be heated, and he waved his hand to signal the apprentice who was blowing the air on the side to increase the frequency of the blowing, and then clamped out another piece of red-hot iron in the furnace, and began to hammer continuously, and soon the red-hot iron material changed into the shape of an iron gun head.

The apprentice who was cheering for Zhang Dalai turned his head and suddenly found Feng Jian standing behind him, and blurted out unexpectedly: "Commander! ”

The sound in the armory shop was noisy, and Zhang Dalai, who was beating on the side, frowned and said, "You kid want to be lazy again, don't you!" When he looked up, he found Feng Jian standing behind him with a grin.

When Feng Jian saw Zhang Da coming, he came up to salute, so he stopped: "Lao Zhang, although you are busy with you, it is not a trivial matter to interrupt you to strike iron!" ”

Zhang Dalai knew that Feng Jian was joking, and said with a smile: "The commander is here, Lao Zhang doesn't dare to slack off." ”

Feng Jian also smiled: "Hehe, seeing that you are all focused, I am afraid that the little iron material in our inventory will be exhausted soon!" ”

Zhang Dalai was also real, the hammer in his hand continued to beat, and he said: "Yes, there is no iron supply, and I can only close the door of this military research institute!" ”

Feng Jian nodded helplessly and said, "How many knives and guns have you made in the past few days, and how much iron is left in stock?" ”

Zhang Dalai said in a smug tone, "Several of our blacksmiths have done a division of labor, some specialize in refining iron, some specialize in remelting waste farm tools into iron, and some specialize in making waist knives and spear heads. After more than ten days, there are already more than 40 semi-finished waist knives and more than 60 iron spear heads, and they can be equipped with the Zhenshan Battalion after the blade is opened, and there are about 200 catties of iron in stock now. ”

Feng Jian was satisfied, and the efficiency of Zhang Dalai and the others was quite high. However, he came to Zhang Dalai today to have something else, so he said: "The semi-finished products made will be cut as soon as possible, and the commander will send someone to hand over in a few days." ”

Zhang Dalai stopped beating in his hand and said, "Don't worry, commander, this matter will definitely be done within a few days."

Feng Jian said "um", and said: "You also know, our Zhenshan Battalion is divided into three major arms, namely sword and shield soldiers, bird guns, and pikemen. This commander came here to ask clearly, do you have anyone in the Military Research Institute who can make bird guns? ”

Zhang Dalai was stunned and said guiltily: "This ...... The subordinates are good at making knives and guns, and the bird gun is the responsibility of the firearms craftsman, but the production of this bird gun is powerless, and we are afraid that these blacksmiths in the cottage will not be able to make it! ”

Feng Jian had already expected that if Zhang Dalai and the others would make the bird gun, they would have proposed to fight for the Zhenshan Camp without urging themselves, and when they asked about it, they still felt a little lucky.

"It doesn't matter"

Feng Jian patted Zhang Dalai on the shoulder, "There are also two bird guns seized by the historian in the cottage, plus a fire gun, this commander wants to ask, if there is a physical imitation, I don't know if it can be made?" ”

Zhang Dalai hesitated: "The subordinates of the fire gun have been in contact with it before, but the bird gun has rarely been in contact, so I really dare not promise." ”

Feng Jian originally thought that the bird gun and the fire gun were the same firearm in this era, but after Sun Fang's explanation, he realized that they were two fundamentally different firearms.

The length of the fire gun barrel is 43. 5 cm, caliber 3 cm, 2 people fired in a group, one person is responsible for bracket and aiming, one person is responsible for ignition shooting, the range is 180 meters, the range is equivalent to today's rifle, is the earliest standard firearm. This thing is complicated, and it requires two people to work at the same time, so it was replaced by a bird gun in Qi Jiguang's era.

With a total length of 2.01 meters and a caliber of 1.3 centimeters, the bird barrel fires round lead bullets of the same caliber, with a long range and strong penetrating power. The handle of the gun is changed from a straight wooden handle inserted in the tail of the gun to a curved wooden support that supports the barrel, and when holding the gun to shoot, it is changed from holding the gun back with both hands to holding the gun body in front of one hand and holding the handle in the back of the other hand, which can hold the gun stably for aiming, and the shooting accuracy is high.

Zhang Dalai pondered for a while and said: "With the physical comparison, the subordinates can try it." ”

Feng Jian encouraged: "Everything is difficult at the beginning, but as long as you are willing to try, you can always make it." ”

Zhang Dalai's heart was warm: "The subordinates will live up to the commander's trust, hehe, if the military research institute has all the craftsmen who specialize in making firearms, it will not make the commander so worried." ”

Feng Jian was happy in his heart: "The commander of the firearms manufacturing craftsman will definitely find a way to recruit, but our soldiers in the Zhenshan Battalion can't wait, so Lao Zhang, you guys will start copying it first!" ”

"These subordinates know, but the subordinates have to explain clearly in advance, I heard that the hand-made bird guns, because the thickness of the walls of the guns is different, and there is no standard number for filling gunpowder, explosions often occur and endanger the lives of soldiers, if the subordinates are lucky to make bird guns, and this happens, this ......" Zhang Dalai said with a twisted expression.

"The firearms produced by the official workshop have been repeatedly blown up, not to mention that no one can guarantee the success of the firearms you make in this small workshop of the Military Research Institute. When a soldier uses it, you are not to blame if there is an accident. You're cautious, and you haven't even started to make a bird's gun, so you pre-emphasise! ”

Zhang Dalai's face was slightly embarrassed, and he laughed twice to hide his embarrassment.

Feng Jian thought for a while, and then said: "This commander heard that there are people in Guangdong and Macao who know how to stamp, and use water power to drive the whole piece of red-hot iron to stamping into iron plates of uniform thickness, and using these iron plates to make gun barrels, there is rarely a danger of exploding. ”

Zhang Dalai said how to stamp out the iron plate with water power, but when Feng Jian joked, he joked: "It's best to catch a few of Panbang's daughters to serve!" ”

Feng Jian laughed: "When the time comes, catch a few Pan Bang girls and give them to you to try the taste of the female service!" ”

Zhang Dalai hurriedly shook his head: "My subordinates don't dare to understand, I want to find a little lady from Jiangnan with delicate skin and tender meat." ”

Feng Jian stopped laughing and said: "Lao Zhang, you said that you were born in a craftsman, and you are not a local in your accent, how did you end up here?" ”

Zhang Dalai's face was gloomy and said: "Since the commander asked, his subordinates will tell me their origins, I am a craftsman in Dongjiang Town, Liaodong, and after Mao Dashuai was killed by Yuan Chonghuan's dog thief in April last year, the entire Dongjiang Town was in chaos. Our family fled from Phi Island by the rebels, and wandered all the way to Wangjia Village, 20 miles northwest of Pingdu, where they lived temporarily. In order for the whole family to have something to eat, he followed the group. ”

Zhang Dalai explained his origin in a few words, and Feng Jian could hear that there were some things that he didn't want to talk about.

Feng Jian patted Zhang Dalai on the shoulder and said: "I am so good to stay in Huluyan, it is quiet and peaceful here, there is no oppression, you concentrate on making weapons and blades for the Zhenshan Battalion." ”

Zhang Dalai nodded and said: "My family has been assigned to the field, and they have already regarded Huluyan as their second hometown, and it is natural for Huluyan to make weapons and blades." ”

Feng Jian said: "The Huluyan Military Research Institute has a special status, and in the future, you and the rest of the blacksmiths will be treated the same as the soldiers of the Zhenshan Battalion, and you and your family will be separately subsidized with six catties of eggs and six catties of meat per month, and you will be given an extra amount of work every time." ”

Zhang Dalai suddenly looked excited: "This ...... Thank you for the commander, I am an iron striker, how can I enjoy such generous treatment? ”

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