Chen Xin only rested at home for half a day, and on the second day, he went to the official room of the workshop and called the two gunners recruited, as well as Tang Zuoxiang, who was in charge of firearms.

The red-haired devil in front of him is called Gustav Yoachim Laglov, exiled from Sweden to Portugal, and then continued to exile to the Far East, this Gustav has nothing to do with the famous Gu Erye, although Sweden is an army power, he doesn't know anything about land warfare, that is, he made cannons in the artillery factory in Macao, and worked as a gunner on a sea ship, which was dug up by Huang Side to the Wendeng camp, and the Chinese gunner is called Tang Kun, a Cantonese, who also made naval guns in the Macao Gunfactory.

Lagerlöf said in slightly stiff Chinese: "Dear lord, please don't call it a red cannon, because my hair happens to be red too." ”

Chen Xin looked at this red-haired devil and said with a smile: "Then why do you call them." ”

"Long-barreled cannons, of course, they need to be more finely divided, generally we call them big dove, half dove, big snake, half snake and eagle falcon. The largest of the doves can reach more than seven or eight thousand pounds, and according to the Ming system, there are also six thousand catties. ”

Chen Xin shook his head and said, "I don't need such a big artillery." They may not be suitable for land maneuvering. ”

Tang Zuoxiang also asked in surprise: "Six thousand catties, what is such a big cannon used for?" ”

"For the bottom of the battleship and in the bow, or for the batteries, my honorable lord, these guns that you call the Hongyi cannons are naval guns for the sea, and as you say, they are not suitable for land field battles and marches."

Tang Zuoxiang asked: "Are the Hongyi cannons used by my Ming Dynasty to defend the city all these sea cannons?" ”

Lagerlof replied, "It should all be, as far as the villain knows." The cannons that arrived in Beijing a few years ago were all from the British East India Company's armed ship the Unicorn, which sank off the coast of Yangjiang County, Guangdong, and at the same time sank a Chinese ship from Macao. Later, it was salvaged by the adults of Guangdong and transported to Beijing with a total of 26 guns, and the officials called the big snake gun as the Western cannon, and the half-snake gun and the eagle falcon gun as the red cannon. ”

"Oh. How many guns can that ship hold. Are Western ships so equipped, and what is the price? It was the first time that Chen Xin had heard foreigners talk about the origin of the Hongyi Cannon, and it turned out that most of the previous batches were British.

Lagerloaf continued: "The East India Company's armed ships generally used four types of guns. The largest was the eighteen-pound serpent, with a cannon weighing more than 4,000 pounds, and generally five or six guns per ship. The twelve-and-a-half-pound snake gun and the nine-pound falcon had the most, and the cannon weighed two or three thousand pounds, and the number of ships varied, ten to thirty guns, and the others were some minion guns, which weighed only a thousand pounds, and the bullets weighed only four or five pounds. The Dutch have always bought British guns, and most of them are of these types. The price of the East India Company's iron cannon is five or six taels of silver per 100 pounds, and the price of the big snake gun is only more than two hundred taels, and the price of self-made is only one hundred taels. ”

Chen Xin listened. The price is completely acceptable, and if you follow what Lagerlöf said, then the artillery of the Ming Dynasty is generally half a snake gun, and even eighteen pounder guns are very few. This person is right, it seems that Huang Side carefully identified people when he poached them. is indeed an artillery expert, at least much stronger than Wang Zugui's cottage artillery.

The battle of Luanzhou Guangdong artillery team became famous, among which the Francois is the most eye-catching, after Sun Yuanhua became the governor of Denglai, he applied to the imperial court to transfer those Francoix mercenaries to Dengzhou to help him train. If it can be done, Chen Xin plans to ask Sun Yuanhua for a few more directly, anyway, the court will give the silver, don't want it in vain.

After thinking about it, Chen Xin asked the two, "Then have you both done artillery?" ”

Lagerlof replied: "Both of us have worked as gunners in the Macao Artillery Factory. Mr. Boccaro (Note 1) led the production of the Half Snake Gun and the Eagle Falcon, and if the adults wanted to make these two cannons, as long as the workshop had enough materials, the villain could start quickly. ”

Chen Xin had never heard of any Wannu, and his tone seemed to be an expert, so he just nodded and said, "I'm going to build some naval guns, starting with the Eagle Falcon." But more importantly on land, I also need field artillery on land, the kind that is small, can be easily pulled around by a few horses, and two or three artillery pieces must be able to push and walk after entering the battlefield. Directly use the front sight and the door, you can aim quickly, what system is better? ”

Lagerlöf and the Chinese gunner Tang Kun looked at each other, and Tang Kun replied: "Lord Chen, then you need to use a bronze cannon, as long as it is not more than twelve pounds, the bronze cannon body is light, use the gun carriage bolt and iron sleeve to cover the gun tail bead, you can adjust the height of the gun, with the front sight and the door, you can quickly aim, but the range is not too far." ”

"Can the serpent be made of copper?"

Tang Kun said: "It's okay, it's just that the big snake iron bullet is heavy, and the barrel of the cannon is very easy to deform after repeated fire, and it will be unusable at that time." The number of naval guns was huge, and the cost of copper was higher, because the British artillery was already mostly made of iron. ”

Chen Xin decided: "The naval cannon is made of iron, and the bronze cannons on land will be made first, with a range of hundreds of steps, and then make them bigger after they are done." ”

Lagerlof asked, "Do you make three pounds or four pounds, or six pounds like Monion......?"

Chen Xinyi waved his hand and said: "You are specialized in this, it is up to you to decide, two of three pounds and four pounds each, and the first batch of shapes will be determined within three months, and the artillery team will be tested." The naval artillery will be made according to the falcon guns you made in Macao, and three guns will be built first, and in addition, have you ever tested the artillery in Macao? ”

Lagerlöf replied: "My lord, of course I did, Mr. Wannu is strict, each cannon is made to test the gun, generally to be loaded with twice the charge of the same caliber, if the cannon body is not cracked, then the gun can be tested, and the amount of medicine is set......"

"The ruler is a fixed charge?"

"Yes, my lord, the thickness of the cannon body is different, and there are copper and iron, so the ruler of each cannon is different.

Chen Xin suddenly realized that this ruler was an intuitive way to tell the soldiers who were operating, how much charge should be used.

He reminded himself again not to underestimate the ancients, and then said to Lagerlöf: "Our land artillery trial requirements are much higher than this, and the trial should include static shooting, marching, logistics, lethality, firing speed, and ease of operation, and after the test, it will be modified according to the opinions of the artillery team." Tang Zuoxiang, you also have to estimate the cost and production speed, which is the same as the original general process of combining machines. Choose whichever is better. ”

Lagerlöf knelt down and asked, "My lord, the two of us are mercenaries, and the annual salary set by the lord was fifty taels, but now that I have come for a month, can I receive a month's salary first?" ”

Chen Xindao: "Yes, the two of them were not paid before. It's because the two of them have positions in the workshop, not the artillery team, and they can only get them when they get to Weihai. I didn't have time to explain to the two, so don't blame it. When Mr. Tang arrived, he explained to them the monthly salary of the master of the workshop, and the more apprentices he brought. The higher the monthly salary, each apprentice can be on his own, and there are additional rewards, and the two of them don't have to treat themselves as mercenaries. Chen Xin can put the two of them outside the army, mainly because their salaries are much higher than those of ordinary soldiers, I am afraid that they will cause disgust, as long as there is craftsmanship in the workshop, the high income can be said to be reasonable.

Tang Kun also knelt down and kowtowed. He was just a servant of the Francois in Macau, and this time Huang Side dug him up and gave him a ransom fee, so his first year's annuity was only thirty taels, but what he saw in Weihai was very fresh for him. Life here is peaceful, the streets are clean, there are no beggars, and there is a sense of prosperity.

The adult in front of him was very friendly, which made Tang Kun feel even more good. He has a lot of experience in making artillery, and he heard what Chen Xin said. Far more than he earned in Macau, so he also had some expectations for staying in Weihai.

The matter of making cannons was decided first, and after the two of them went out, Tang Zuoxiang took out a musket and handed it to Chen Xin.

Tang Zuo said to Chen Xin: "My lord, this is an improved flintlock pistol. ”

Chen Xin took it and looked at it carefully, and it could be seen that the outer wall of the barrel had been polished, relatively smooth, and there was a bamboo shoot on the right side.

Tang Zuoxiang reported: "My lord, this is a gun type that has been improved three times, and the copper reed inside is thickened and more elastic. As he spoke, he took out a V-shaped reed to show Chen Xin, this reed is the most important internal component of the flintlock pistol, with this thing, the faucet can have kinetic energy.

Chen Xin tried the trigger, the force used by his fingers was greater, and after the trigger was crossed, the fire door flashed, and the flint slammed into the fire sickle with a snap, hitting a spark and falling into the fire door.

"What is the rate of this shooting? How much does it cost? ”

"Seventy percent of the primer medicine and sixty percent of the granule medicine. There are a lot more parts for this gun, and it costs more than seven taels with a bayonet. ”

"Can the bayonet be loaded?"

Tang Zuoxiang was a little sweaty again, regretting mentioning the bayonet, he stubbornly said: "My lord, if you want to set a bayonet, each gun must be carefully sharpened on the outer wall, and it must be consistent with the inner wall of the bayonet sleeve to be tightened. The bayonets are fixed by the sleeve, Wang Huzi thought that he should make all the steel after trying, and the cutting edge should be made in the shape of a triangular iron according to your requirements, and it costs a lot of steel to make it, so it is possible to make a small amount, but it is not possible to do it in large quantities for a while. ”

Chen Xin frowned and thought for a long time, although this gun is also a flintlock pistol, but it is still far from the requirements he wants, the standardization of bayonets and barrels is a big problem, and the output of steel is also, and now there is an automatic fire door device, which adds to the complexity, he is not sure if this is the case in Europe, but the current state obviously does not meet his several requirements for weapon production, and finally said after half a ring: "Produce two hundred first, and hand them over to the army for trial." This gun continues to improve, you set up a separate project, reduce one part to reward twenty taels of silver, can reduce the shooting step by one, also reward twenty taels. You will be given three months, and a plan will be made for me to see within three days, and the cost will be reduced to less than six taels, and the firing rate will reach eighty percent with granular gunpowder, and if the requirements are not met after three months, the bonuses of all the managers of the firearms workshop will be deducted. ”

When Liu Minyou went to the official room of the workshop, he happened to see Tang Zuoxiang with a sad face, he saw Liu Minyou, squeezed out a little smile, Liu Minyou looked at him and knew that Chen Xin had given him a project again, and now the usual management of the workshop is Liu Minyou is responsible, and the general weapon improvement is directly requested to the workshop after the army is summarized, Chen Xin proposed new weapons, every time Chen Xin called Tang Zuoxiang to have a meeting, the person in charge was very nervous.

Liu Minyou stopped and asked about the situation, and Tang Zuoxiang probably said. It was the two things of artillery and muskets, and he didn't understand these things, so he had to comfort Tang Zuoxiang first, and asked him to find someone to write a good plan, and show Liu Minyou first, this person turned out to be just a craftsman, and after arriving in Weihai, he became the person in charge step by step. It's also a little difficult for him.

Sending away the grateful Tang Zuoxiang, Liu Minyou arrived at the door, and Hai Gouzi and Nie Hong stood at the door like door gods. Hai Gouzi hurriedly knocked on the door twice and pushed the door open, Chen Xin was writing something inside, and Liu Minyou went in to take a look left and right. said unhappily: "You have your own army's office, why are you running to me to occupy it here." ”

"I forgot to bring my waist card when I went out, I didn't bother to explain it to the sentry, don't be a bad example."

Liu Min made tea slowly, and asked, "I heard that you gave Tang Zuoxiang an index again?" ”

Chen Xin looked up at Liu Minyou, "Did he sue you?" I don't do things quickly, I complain quickly, and I haven't met the requirements for more than a year with a flintlock pistol, so I dragged it without putting some pressure on him. ”

"It's not a complaint, I just ran into him outside. Besides, I'm the head of the workshop, and he's going to tell me sooner or later. Liu Minyou brought Chen Xin a cup of tea, and then said: "This Tang is a craftsman, and he has to manage production, which is too difficult for him." I'm going to set up a separate lab in the workshop, and I'm going to put some young literate craftsmen in it to work on your new inventions. Don't set the time directly for this flintlock pistol, after all, it's something new, set a bonus, and the sooner you get it, the more you get. It's better than forcing them. ”

Chen Xin stopped his pen, thought about it and agreed: "It's okay, this Tang Zuoxiang is quite down-to-earth, but every time I tell him something new, I don't understand it for a long time, since you want to build a research room, you can do a few more, and the agricultural one will also get one, and study agricultural technology and farm tools." ”

Liu Min nodded and said: "Tang Zuoxiang will only be responsible for production in the future, and this time the flintlock pistol will be handed over to the weapons research room, but it is not only by the research room, the method of setting up a project to mobilize all craftsmen to solve technical problems is very effective, and it is still necessary to keep it." The agricultural research laboratory also has one, and there are still few civilian commodities, so I won't do it for the time being, that is, your water camp, do you want to repair the shipyard? I'm good to arrange. ”

"Repair, but repair a little bit, the sailor is currently mainly transportation, didn't we buy some boats last year, just use those broken ships for training first, Liang Tingdong promised to transfer a batch of boats to me, let's wait for free first." This time, I went to see Xu Xinsu and bought some lucky boats with him by the way. A few more Fujian shipwrights should do a small amount and cultivate talents first. ”

Liu Minyou complained: "Is it safe for Liang Tingdong to do things, why hasn't the head reward for the battle of the four cities in Wendengying been handed out yet, it is said that it should have been given a long time ago." ”

Chen Xin said with a smile: "It's not that there is no silver again, you talk about money every day, what a big stall, think about Emperor Chongzhen, what a big responsibility this big tomorrow is, young people are reaching out to ask for money every day, if you and I are like this, I'm afraid I'm going crazy, or Liang Tingdong is sensible, and he is deeply satisfied, seeing that the emperor is short of money, he is already operating the matter of increasing Liao's salary." ”

"Add it when it should be added, and this thing still has to work?"

"Brother Liu, I don't know, adults do things differently than us, these major events are not communicated with the main relevant parties below, and if you go directly to the court, you can only touch a nose of ash, but all major events are generally set, or at least seventy or eighty percent sure, only at the formal court meeting, how many compromises are traded below, everyone in the official face is righteous, and the benefits are already in the sleeves, this principle is the same in ancient and modern times."

"It's just that unlike me, your leaders love to do this."

Chen Xin shook his head and smiled, his military expenses also came from Liao's salary, of course, the more sufficient, the better, but according to the actual situation today, the pressure on the small people and small landlords in Shengdou is even greater.

Thinking of the land, he casually asked about the original land allocation, Liu Minyou roughly told him that the 3,000 mu of Weihai had been distributed to the first batch of tuntian households, each with 20 mu, and now that there is a banner of occupying wasteland, Liu Minyou plans to occupy all the uncultivated land in Weihaiwei, and other places in Wendeng have also sent personnel to check as planned.

Chen Xin praised: "First come, first served, forgive him Yang Yunnong doesn't dare to fart, land and people are the most important resources, it's better to give it to us if it is wasted by these, there are other places in Wendeng who dare to obstruct it, and it will be fed back to me directly, and no one will dare to make trouble if the two families are suppressed." ”

After Chen Xin finished speaking, he continued to write his peasant and soldier plan, Liu Minyou glanced at it, and said dissatisfiedly: "There are 500 households in a fort, a garrison company, and 250 peasant soldiers. ”

"We are a military household system, naturally we have to train soldiers, each dungeon is equipped with an instructor, this time the wounded soldiers retreat, each dungeon is assigned a few, and they are trained on weekdays, and when something happens, a dungeon is pulled out is a combat unit, these peasant soldiers are trained, and no one dares to make up their minds when the soldiers go out to fight."

Liu Minyou remembered the ugliness of Yang Yunnong and others after Chen Xin's expedition this time, an ugly state waiting to swallow the pockmarked Erdun at any time, he knew that Chen Xin was guarding against this kind of person, and he didn't say anything at the moment, but he asked not to train too much, and he couldn't train when the farm was busy.

, Liu Minyou sighed and said: "It's just that the workshop is busy again, your mandarin duck array weapons have five or six kinds, and the preparation of materials is more cumbersome than that of muskets, and the quality inspection process is not the same, which is too troublesome." ”

Chen Xin said with a smile: "Before I avoid causing trouble to Brother Liu, I have already made special improvements, this time there are only spears and muskets, and there is no need to prepare the others." As he spoke, he took out a weapon demand plan from his bag and threw it to Liu Minyou, who opened it and saw that the peasant soldiers really only had spears and arquebuses.

"How did you change the number of routes?"

"The peasants are mainly used for local defense, without emphasizing mobility and tactical diversity, let's learn from the Europeans' phalanx, and at the same time let them get used to the line line, and when Lao Tzu's flintlock pistols can be mass-produced, all these peasants and soldiers will be turned into battle infantry in a short time, and as long as the time comes, as long as the war is at home, none of us are afraid."

Note 1: Wannu. Boccaro, born in Goa, India, was a well-known cannon casting expert at that time, he arrived in Macao in 1626 and was commissioned to build a cannon factory, the largest fortress cannon built reached 35 pounds, he managed the Macao cannon factory of excellent quality, especially good at copper cannons, very popular in the Far East at that time, and he hired a large number of Chinese technicians, through the flow of these people, the most cutting-edge cannon technology in the West spread to the south, so that the level of cannon casting in Guangdong and Fujian at that time was ahead of the north.