On the second day of the first lunar month, Chen Xin got up early, planning to go back to his subordinates today, and when he went out of the door and heard the sound of artillery firing in the east, he went back to the house to get the waist card, and asked the sea dog to bring some gifts, and rode to the direction of Diaowo Mountain with his own soldiers.

They soon arrived at a checkpoint, where there was a small stone watchtower, there were several sentries on duty, Chen Xin and the others took the waist card, the sentries checked one by one and saluted them to let them pass, and after walking for a while, there was a long wall, and there were sentries at the door, and after checking again, Chen Xin finally entered this weapon test site.

This is the test site for all the new weapons in the Wendeng camp, guarded by a bureau stationed in Weihai, and there are six artillery guns in the shooting range inside, where Tang Kun and a few assistants are busy, all dressed in civilian clothes, and it seems that the next round of tests is about to begin.

Chen Xin dismounted when he arrived, and Tang Kun saw that Chen Xin was coming, so he hurriedly came over to greet him.

Chen Xin also politely greeted them for the New Year, and asked Tang Kun to introduce him to other craftsmen one by one, and the sea dog gave Chen Xin's gifts one by one, although they were all small things, those craftsmen were all happy, they never thought that Shangguan could give them New Year's greetings.

"Why don't you rest at home, and you only come to work in the second year of junior high school?"

"Back to the adult, the villain has no relatives and friends in Weihai, and he also rested for a few days a few days a year ago, which is enough, this copper cannon is urgent, and the villain will come to work in a hurry, so that he can do it earlier."

Chen Xincai remembered that Tang Kun was from Macau, so naturally he had no relatives or friends, and he talked to a few other people one by one, and they were all in the firearms research room now, except for Tang Kun. Several other people were also craftsmen who made firearms, and they spent time in Liu Minyou's original literacy class. Now it is led by Tang Kun to make light copper cannons.

These craftsmen are very popular in Weihai, they have no gentlemen here, craftsmen can read and write, and the wages are high, and they are the objects that those new homeless people want to cling to, as long as they enter the workshop. There are many homeless people who want to kiss, so although Tang Kun has not been here for a long time, he already has a wife and a concubine. In addition to the fixed annual salary of thirty taels, there is also a project reward for artillery, and there is also a master's salary with an apprentice. Sometimes the factory posted a reward for other weapons to solve technical problems, after all, he has seen more in Macau, and occasionally can earn a sum, he is quite satisfied with his current life, but later Sun Yuanhua sent three more Franc machine people, also from Macau, although they are mainly responsible for iron naval guns, but Tang Kun felt the pressure, so he didn't even rest during the Spring Festival, and brought a few team members to rush to work.

After the pleasantries. Chen Xin began to look at the cannon, which was much smaller than the Hongyi cannon, and its body was very short, only a little more than a meter, which was indeed very light. Two horses are drawn when marching, and two or three people can push them on flat ground during battle.

Tang Kun introduced on the side: "My lord, this is a four-pound cannon, a four-pound iron bullet, according to our Ming balance system, it is three catties (Ming system is 1.33 pounds per catty), and the total weight is more than four hundred and seventy catties." The cannon body is four feet long, made of bronze, copper eight tin one, and when the mold was made, Mr. Huang from the copper coin workshop also came to help. ”

Chen Xin first asked about the combat performance, and Tang Kun said confidently: "My lord, this cannon is loaded with cotton cloth, which is faster than the musket, only three or four gunners are used, at least two people can also be used, if the gunner is skilled, the musket can shoot six rounds, this cannon can shoot ** rounds, the ammunition is two kinds of iron bullets and scattered bullets, three catties of iron bullets, one and a half catties of medicine, and the shield car can be completely broken within three hundred steps." When using shotshots, it is best to use them within 100 paces, but they can still kill unarmored enemy soldiers at a distance of 150 paces. The original gun gauge was changed to the gun mount, so it is more convenient to aim, and if you are shooting quickly, you can use the simple lookout mountain on the gun body. ”

"Is the artillery on trial?"

"The artillery has 10 artillery crews, and they have been taking turns to try them out, and they are training in the air artillery according to the manual we have set for the operation of the guns."

Chen Xin was very satisfied when he heard this, and exclaimed: "Tang Kun, you have done a good job. Then he said to several other craftsmen, "Everyone is also good, this cannon is done, and a bigger cannon will be made in the future, artillery is as important as a musket for my Wendeng battalion, and it must be greatly developed, and you will be the artillery heroes of our Wendeng battalion in the future, and the post income will be there, and it will not be worse than those civil officials and officers." ”

Several gunners were elated when they heard this, and Chen Xin continued: "You have done a good job of weapons, which is also a kind of victory, and this officer will give you medals in the future, just like those warriors." ”

Tang Kun and other craftsmen have bright eyes, although Tang Kun has just come not long ago, but he knows that the Wendeng camp is very heavy, it is a symbol of honor, and the number of awards is very small, last year's battle of King Qin was only issued a total of dozens of pieces, ordinary soldiers are generally combat medals, and the most prominent team in a certain battle table xiàn can get a commemorative armband, sewn on the arm, for example, the first part of the second bureau of the Battle of Luanzhou was the first to block the retreat of Jiannu, and only they had the armband of the Battle of the Four Cities in the whole army, and the other troops only had commemorative medals. These things can be worn on military uniforms, and the people will know their exploits at any time, so many soldiers have to wear them on their bodies when they go on blind dates, which can greatly increase the success rate.

Chen Xin finished encouraged, and then put forward his opinion to Tang Kun: "The artillery itself is good, but you need to prepare other matching equipment, one is to set ammunition, iron bullets and scattered bullets are numbered separately, you let the artillery estimate how much ammunition can defeat an attack, or need to stop heat dissipation, take this as a base." The second is the ammunition car, which does not have to be loaded with a lot of ammunition, a base number is good, but it must be able to sit on the gunner, the ammunition car is hung behind the horse, and the gun car is hung behind the ammunition car, so that only two horses can be quickly transferred, and the position can be put into combat immediately, in addition, the wheels and other components of the ammunition car should be common to the gun truck, and the size should be basically the same, so as to maintain. ”

Tang Kun nodded again and again, and asked his assistant to take the pen and write them down one by one. Chen Xin waited for him to finish remembering before asking, "When will it be finalized and start making cannons?" ”

Tang Kun paused for a moment and said, "As long as you ensure the carpenters and blacksmiths who make the gun trucks, you can start making a large number of zuò within a month." ”

Chen Xin estimated in his heart that he planned to equip each peasant team with one or two four-pounder guns as battalion-level support firepower, and the soldiers also needed this kind of light artillery. However, it is still useful in mountainous terrain and other terrain, and he plans to temporarily keep the Tiger Squat Cannon as a firepower supplement for each round, and then assign one or two four-pounder guns to each division, and then establish a separate artillery team at the level of the General Commander, and use six- or eight-pounder guns of a larger caliber in the future, and finally the artillery team directly under the Central Military Department. During the battle, it was strengthened to a certain front according to the situation.

In this way, at present, about twenty four-pounder guns need to be prepared, and after being equipped, they must be trained with the infantry. to perfect tactics, revise regulations, and more.

"As soon as we start mass production of the gun body, we don't have to wait for the gun carriage to be finalized. The gun mount was made very quickly, and the gun crew began to practice live ammunition as much as possible. ”

Chen Xin stretched out his hand and touched the cold cannon body, his god of war finally had a little eyebrows.

Huang Gongcheng was reading a book in the study room with a maid in his arms, he was holding a book in one hand and drilling under the maid's clothes with the other, and the maid's body was writhing in his arms, making a hmm-huh sound.

Although the maid catered to him, Huang Gongcheng was still not in a good mood, he originally resold some entrained grain in Jinghaiwei, and his family itself also had a lot of fields. Life is good, and now that Wendeng Camp has come, he has stopped most of the entrainment of grain, and his profits have been greatly affected, and the only thing that reassures him is. The Wendeng camp now only sells grain to their own cantonment households, and each household has a monthly quota, and does not sell it to the public, otherwise there will be no one in the Jinghai Acropolis to buy Huang Gongcheng's grain.

The last time I went to block the road to complain, I ended up with a nose of ash, and I didn't say anything about it. The Wenden clerk kept arguing with them, which annoyed him.

Now the Wendeng battalion is engaged in large-scale construction in Jinghaiwei, which will inevitably affect the lives of the locals, such as land, water sources, marriages, etc., and there are many conflicts with the locals, and there are fights and brawls every few days, at the beginning it was still between the people themselves, and later the soldiers stationed in the Wendeng battalion also joined in, and the locals could no longer fight. Commander Wei never dared to say a word to Wendeng Battalion, and kept pressing the people below, but Huang Gongcheng understood that he and other Xiucai had been connecting with the households in other places for many years, and were ready to work together to make a big fuss, and then go to Ninghai Prefecture to complain, and at the same time ask the two imperial historians of the Beijing Division to impeach Wen Dengying, not afraid that he Chen Xin would not bow his head.

Huang Gongcheng looked forward to a bright future, and pinched it excitedly, and the maid was so painful that she asked with a flattering look: "What good things are you thinking about, so energetic." ”

"Master, I want to take you as a concubine, be careful and serve the master more comfortably every day."

The maid stuck to him and snorted, "The old man is faster, now he is with the master like this, Sanniang looks at the slave and maid every day and is not pleasing to the eye, and the slave and maid are afraid, so naturally it will be worse......"

Huang Gongcheng laughed, and was about to correct this maid on the spot, when the servant outside shouted: "Master, the third master is here." ”

The third master is that Huang Yingchang, and he is also the main force of trouble, Huang Gongcheng pushed the maid away, and the maid fell to the ground, and screamed.

", sir, I have something to do, go out." Huang Gongcheng impatiently scolded the maid out, and then tidied up his appearance, and just after he got it done, Huang Yingchang crashed in.

Huang Gongcheng greeted him and arched his hand: "Third brother......"

"Big brother, something happened, that Bai Er was killed."

Huang Gongcheng was stunned for a moment, and only after half a sound did he smile and said: "Bai Er was killed, he was killed well, I just annoy him." ”

Huang Ying often looked at Huang Gongcheng twice, "Big brother, it won't be you who sent someone to kill." ”

Huang Gongcheng hurriedly denied it: "How could I do such a thing, it's just that he often comes to bother him, and he feels it." How did he die? ”

Huang Ying often looked at him suspiciously, and saw that he didn't look like a lie, so he said with an anxious face: "I died in a teahouse in Wendeng County a few days ago, and I was there. He lowered his voice, "It's a strange death, I promised to see him that day, give him some silver, so that he won't trouble us again, go to the teahouse and sit down and the three of us drink tea, there are guests fighting in the teahouse, I also went to see, and when I turned around, I saw him lying on the table, his neck, his neck was twisted, and there was a knife in his vest, and he was killed silently in the trouble." ”

Huang Gongcheng opened his mouth in surprise: "Could it be that those people in Wendeng Camp did it?" ”

"I also think it was Wendeng Camp who did it, but others don't see it that way, the day before yesterday it was rumored everywhere that it was our ********, and his house was turned upside down, but the night before someone wrote some blood on the wall behind their house, warning them not to bother again, you see, everyone knows that he has been looking for us recently, and it happened to be me who saw him that day, and everyone said that we did it...... You know that the Bai family is also a big family in the county, and there is always someone to give him a head, I heard that a distant relative has promised to give money to his family, and has asked a lawsuit to sue me, and now the trouble is known all over the county, and the county magistrate is not on vacation, so he asked him to conduct an autopsy overnight, planning to ascend to the church tomorrow, and send me to the court for questioning. ”

Huang Gongcheng felt that his neck was a little cold, he was not worried about Huang Yingchang, but worried that Wendeng Camp would have other retaliation, and in a blink of an eye, he saw Huang Yingchang's face full of anxiety, and hurriedly persuaded: "Third brother, you don't need to worry, they are just suspicious, and you can be convicted, they invited a lawsuit, let's also ask ......."

The door of the study was suddenly pushed open, and the servant broke in and said hurriedly: "Master, Lord Zhixian and Master Dianshi are here, saying that someone reported that we have a murderer here." ”

Huang Gongcheng and the two glanced at each other, and hurried to the door, the magistrate had already come in with a few fast hands, and the two hurriedly went to give a salute, and the magistrate saw Huang Gongcheng or said politely: "Huang Gongzi, someone sent a letter to the county government to report that there was a murderer who killed Bai Er in your family, and the official naturally didn't believe it, but there was a murder case during the New Year's Festival, and the official's duty was to come and see, Huang Gongzi should take a look and let the official take a look in your courtyard." ”

Huang Gongcheng was not afraid of his search, but his face was still unhappy, the history of the canon and Huang Gongcheng had no friendship, waved his hand and brought a few fast hands in, Huang Gongcheng went over and greeted, "Don't surprise my family, don't touch bad things." ”

A few quick hands also searched quite carefully, this kind of murder case is important, and secondly, Huang Gongcheng's family is relatively rich, and he is also suspicious, if he can find some clues, he can knock out a lot of silver. They searched all the rooms, looked at the cabinets under the bed, and found nothing.

Huang Gongcheng said unhappily to the magistrate: "My lord, I have seen it everywhere, and now I am still innocent, this is obviously a false accusation by someone with a heart, please don't ......be so rash in the future."

Zhixian didn't find anything, and he didn't have a temper, and was about to apologize, when the dianshi suddenly shouted: "There is a new piece of soil here, you dig it up and take a look." ”

Zhixian and Huang Gongcheng rushed over to see, there was indeed a piece of new soil under a huā tree in the huā garden, the color was different from the surroundings, two fast hands looked for a shovel to dig up, Huang Gongcheng was wondering who turned over the soil, a fast hand shouted: "There is something, it is a knife ......"

Huang Gongcheng watched a short knife dig out of the soil, Dian Shi took the knife, dismantled the cloth strip on it, handed it to the county magistrate and said: "There are still blood stains, the blade seems to be about the same size as the wound on Bai Er's back, adults look ......at it."

The magistrate pointed to Huang Gongcheng and the two, "Huang Gongcheng, you saw it dug out of your courtyard with your own eyes, what else do you two have to say?" Ah, how can you do such a thing? ”

Huang Gongcheng opened his mouth, and Huang Yingchang, who was next to him, suddenly turned around and scolded him: "You really did it?" You're lying to me. ”

Seeing that there was a fortune to be made, Dian Shi waved his hand and called Kuaishou, "You two don't pretend, take them back to prison." ”

Huang Gongcheng looked at the magistrate and the history of the county fiercely, and said to the servant behind him: "Go to Jinan to find my cousin and let him help me make the decision." ”