"General!"

The soldiers at the door saw Ma Lu and bowed at the same time.

Ma Lan smiled and waved his hand, the soldiers got out of the way, and Ma Lan and Gao Qianqian walked behind the wall.

"The courtyard wall was designed by Master Li Xiu, and it took a lot of materials. You said that Master Li Xiu can use any resources, so I agreed. After entering the door, Gao Qianqian pointed to the fence.

The wall is a foot wide, and the surface is made of green bricks, and there is a road leading to the top of the wall, which is not much different from the city wall. The thick wall encloses a huge courtyard, the innermost of which is Li Xiu's workshop, and there were many other buildings in this area, which have obviously been demolished.

It's not really a fortress, it's just that there are some elements of the fortress on the courtyard wall. Ma Lu walked up the road and saw that the square holes were empty, and there were no cannons or anything like that.

"The general is here!"

Li Xiu walked out with a black and gray face, and when he saw that it was Ma Luan who came, he hurriedly bowed and saluted.

Seeing that Li Xiu was extremely thin, but he was in good spirits, and Frankenstein should be like this, he smiled slightly and said, "Prisoner, it's hard work." ”

Li Xiu smiled: "The general's saddle horse is tired, it is really hard." Li Xiu sits here all day long, what hard work is there. The general has many wonderful ideas, and Li Xiu only hates that he can't realize them one by one. ”

"The prison is full of spring breeze, it should be something to gain." Ma Lan smiled.

Li Xiu nodded and said with a smile: "The granularization of gunpowder has been realized. Actually, this is not difficult, the general has already pointed out the direction, and all I need to do is to determine the details according to the general's words. Indeed, as the general said, after granulation, the carbon powder and miscanthus will not be separated due to bumps, and there is no problem with long-distance transportation. ”

After speaking, Li Xiu ordered the craftsman to bring out a plate of gunpowder, and took a few extremely tightly pressed medicine cakes for Ma Lan to see. Gunpowder is already a finer particle, and the cake is a semi-finished product, and it is a finished product after it is crushed and sifted.

Ma Ling nodded with satisfaction, the effect of gunpowder cannot be compared with the Yuanrong crossbow for the time being, but it is the direction of weapon development. The firearms that could be made in this era were not long-range, but they were easy to use, allowing an unarmed weak man to kill a strong cavalryman at close range. The only thing that can give full play to the demographic advantage of the Han nation is the firearm that has a real combat effect. With granulated gunpowder, the first step towards this goal was taken.

Compared with the expensive price of the Yuan Rong crossbow, the firearm will definitely be much cheaper. In the future, it is unlikely that the Eighth Army in Hezhong will be equipped with a large number of Yuanrong crossbows, but various firearms that will appear on the stage of history in advance.

Li Xiu took out a box from his arms again, opened it carefully, and said with a smile: "This is another whimsical idea of the general, and Li Xiu has also realized it for the general." However, this kind of thing is extremely difficult to manufacture, and there are very few components that can be cast in large quantities, so I am afraid that it will not be able to equip the army in large quantities. At the moment, I am the only one in the workshop who can barely make such a thing myself. ”

"Fusiliers!" Ma Lan looked at the exquisite musket in the box, the corners of his mouth couldn't help but curl slightly, and he said in his heart that Li Xiu was really talented.

In the box, it is clearly a flintlock pistol. This is a firearm in the true sense of the word, and it is extremely exquisitely made, and at a glance, you can tell that it was made by Li Xiu himself.

At this time, there was no machinery, and it was the skillful hands of craftsmen that could be relied on. This long-standing flintlock pistol didn't know how much effort Li Xiu had took.

Ma Lan took out the flintlock pistol from the box, and Li Xiu asked the craftsman to take out a bag of evenly sized lead bullets, an iron bar, and a piece of Xizhou Dalian stained with butter.

"Gunpowder reload?" Ma Lan asked.

This is no joke, although this flintlock pistol uses the good steel of the Ma family's workshop as the material, but if there is too much charge, it will definitely not be able to withstand it. If the charge is too small, it will not be powerful. Li Xiu and the others have obviously tried many times and know how much to fill.

Li Xiu took the flintlock pistol, picked up a flat wooden spoon and added five small spoonfuls of granulated gunpowder, and then handed it back to Ma Lu.

Ma Lan tore off a piece of Xizhou Dalian stained with butter, wrapped a lead bullet into the muzzle of the gun, and gently stabbed it to the bottom with an iron bar. Because of the oil, everything is extremely smooth.

Ma Lan stood twenty steps away from the puppet and raised the flintlock pistol with one hand, squinted his eyes and gently pulled the bolt, the flint burst out of sparks to ignite the gunpowder, only to hear a loud bang, and the muzzle of the gun spewed out cyan smoke.

The force of the musket recoil is not small, but it is naturally no problem for a warrior like Ma Lan. Looking at the breastplate of Mingguang armor again, there is an obvious irregular hole, which has been easily pierced by lead bullets.

"Haha! Good! Ma Lan laughed out loud, and his mood was extremely comfortable.

Gao Qianqian said with a smile: "No wonder there are often strange noises in the master's workshop, it turns out that this thing is making trouble." Brother Ma Lan, I'm going to try it too.!

Ma Ling smiled and nodded, poured out the residue of the musket, and then handed the flintlock pistol to Gao Qianqian.

The flintlock pistol with a wooden handle and a steel body was made extremely beautiful by Li Xiu, and Gao Qianqian couldn't put it down when she held it in her hand. Gao Qianqian's little hand touched the barrel of the gun and exclaimed, "It's so hot!" ”

"Wait a moment before reloading gunpowder." Ma Lan smiled.

Gao Qianqian nodded, waited for the barrel to cool down, followed Li Xiu's example and filled the chamber with five small spoonfuls of gunpowder, and learned from Ma Lan to tear off a small piece from the Xizhou Dalian, wrapped a round lead bullet, and pushed the inner part of the barrel with a wooden strip.

Then Gao Qianqian raised the short gun and pulled the bolt without hesitation, only to hear a bang, her arm shook slightly, the muzzle of the gun was filled with green smoke, and there was another hole in the doll's breastplate.

"Hit!"

Gao Qianqian clenched her short gun and screamed excitedly.

"To be able to create this kind of thing, the main prison is really talented. Originally, I thought it would be nice to be able to make an arquebus. Ma Lan smiled.

Li Xiu said with a smile: "The general is a talented person." I have tried this gun many times, and I have used it to wrap lead bullets without Xizhou Dalian, there are too many differences in range, and the difference in power is even more amazing, but I don't know why. ”

Ma Ling said with a smile: "Xizhou Dalian is stained with grease, so as to wrap lead bullets, one is to complete the loading faster, and the other is to increase the air tightness, in short, the power of gunpowder is enclosed in the barrel, and the power is powerful when it bursts out." ”

Li Xiu nodded and said, "It's the same as I guessed." Even so, the rear fire door should also consider the problem of drug closure, and it should be changed as small as possible while ensuring the smooth air intake. ”

Ma Ling smiled and nodded, the master is worthy of being a master craftsman, and his words are all on point.

"Prisoner, how long does it take to make a flintlock pistol like this?" Ma Lan asked.

Li Xiu said with a smile: "If you make it with all your might, Banyue can make one." But it's not very useful, and I don't want to spend all my time on it. The general's other whimsical ideas, I still want to realize them one by one. ”

Half a month, then it's really a plaything. Such efficiency is indeed not applicable to the army.

Of course, even if it can be manufactured in large quantities, given the range of this thing, it can't be compared with the expensive and powerful Yuanrong crossbow. Even if the barrel of the flintlock pistol is lengthened, the range will not exceed that of the Yuan Rong crossbow. To deal with the enemy on horseback, it is more reliable to use the Yuan Rong crossbow.

"What about arquebuses? Can arquebuses be made in large quantities? Ma Lan asked.

Compared with the flintlock pistol, the arquebus is naturally much simpler, as long as Li Xiu can make a sample, the workshop should be able to make it in large quantities.

Li Xiu said: "That thing is relatively easy, according to the general's design, the four-and-a-half-foot-long arquebus has been built for three months. The range of this thing is still not as good as the Yuanrong crossbow, but it is cheaper. As for whether it can be manufactured in large quantities, it depends on Qianqian's girl. ”

Ma Lan understood what Li Xiu meant, that is to say, the arquebus has been finalized, and all steel parts have been molded and can be manufactured in large quantities. How much can be produced depends on how Gao Qianqian allocates the resources of the workshop.

"Qianqian, after the supervisor gives you the mold, on the premise of ensuring the manufacture of Yuanrong crossbow and riding crossbow, he will make every effort to manufacture this kind of thing. As soon as the Lantian army arrived, they trained the athletes in the army, so that when they arrived in the river, they would have a certain amount of self-preservation. Ma Xuan looked at Gao Qianqian and said solemnly.

"Got it!" Gao Qianqian smiled with her eyebrows. For her, this is another big business in the Ma family's workshop, which means that the rolling wealth is going to flow into the Ma family, and she is naturally extremely happy.

"Lantian Army? What Lantian Army? Li Xiu was a little dazed.

Ma Lan smiled, and then told Li Xiu about what happened after arriving in Chang'an. At this time, Li Xiu and the craftsmen knew that what was in front of them was not only the capital of Anxi, but the capital of Anxi, the envoy of the Five Towns, and the prime minister of the Tang Dynasty.

Hearing that Yang Guozhong's family was exiled to Lingnan Province, Li Xiu was extremely excited. After all, he knew his father, and he knew very well that his father was not a good man, but it was absolutely impossible for him to collude with Arbus to rebel. He was naturally angry about Yang Guozhong buttoning this hat to his father, and now that he heard that Yang Guozhong had also fallen, he naturally had a bad breath in his heart.

"Supervisor, I think your wall is built with some meaning, there are so many gun emplacements left on it, could it be that the artillery has also been successfully made?" Ma Lan looked at Li Xiu and asked.

Li Xiu shook his head: "General, there are a few artillery pieces, but they are not to my liking. This kind of thing is to equip the army, so naturally it is better to have a shortage than an abundance. Now let me hide my secrets for a while, and when I have actually cast a suitable artillery, I will go and tell the general. ”

"It's fine." Ma Lan smiled and nodded.

He understands that Li Xiu is this character, and he refuses to take out the semi-finished products, and what he takes out must be the best. Anyway, there is no place where artillery is used in the army now, and that thing is built for defensive purposes, and it is cumbersome to sweep away the barbarians for thousands of miles and bring this thing. Now that the Anxi army is in the river for development, and there is not much time to defend, it is not bad to wait for the time being, and wait for Li Xiu to come up with something better. (To be continued.) )