(New books for collections, recommended votes, please, please!) Your attention is the motivation for my writing, thank you! ）

Shu Shu stayed in Fuzhou for more than half a month and went back with a full harvest. Geng Jingzhong promised him to hand over all the perfume and glass business of Zhili to him, and also sent several masters who had learned to burn cement to accompany him to the capital to assist him in building a cement kiln to burn cement.

There is someone to worry about the affairs at home, but Mawei himself has not passed for three months. After staying at home for a few more days, Geng Jingzhong also left the palace. There are at least three months left before Huanxi gives birth, and it is impossible for him to be bored in the palace all day, and he can't leave the matter of the horsetail alone. Besides, Mawei is only less than 100 miles away from Fuzhou City, and it can be returned in an hour.

As soon as Geng Jingzhong arrived at the barracks, Li Guangdi and Huang Dazhong greeted him. As soon as the two of them saw Geng Jingzhong, they poured bitter water, and they were complaining about Geng Jingzhong, the shopkeeper who shook his hands.

"Alas, alas, I said you two to stop and say one by one. I just got off the horse, and before I had time to drink saliva, you just chirped non-stop, sat down first, and said slowly. Dazhong, you speak first. After speaking, he picked up the teapot and poured himself a bowl of tea, and took a beautiful sip.

Huang Dazhong sat down next to Li Guangdi, hugged his fists and said, "Shizi, you haven't been here for three months, if you don't come again, the last general will go directly to you." That's right, the artillery training I was in charge of just stopped yesterday, and now the barracks have only enough gunpowder to use in a battle like the last one. I reported this problem to Mr. Li a long time ago, but it has not been resolved. ”

Li Guangdi rolled his eyes: "I have been sending people to solve this problem, but sulfur charcoal is easy to buy, but saltpeter has nowhere to buy." I sent people to purchase from nearby provinces, but I couldn't help it, seeing that the gunpowder in stock was getting smaller and smaller. I once asked General Huang to reduce artillery training in order to reduce the consumption of artillery and gunpowder, but General Huang not only listened but also reprimanded me for not understanding military affairs. ”

"Okay, okay, you two don't tear each other down, what a big deal. Dazhong, you did a good job, and you also know that you need to leave some ammunition in case of emergency, which is commendable. By the way, Brother Li, is there a shortage of materials in the gunpowder workshop to this extent? Geng Jingzhong turned to Li Guangdi and asked.

"Yes, Shizi. These days, I run to Tianma Mountain twice in three days. There was no shortage of sulphur charcoal in the gunpowder workshops, and it was easy to buy, but saltpeter was exhausted. We do not produce saltpeter in Fujian, and saltpeter in other places is strictly controlled by local governments. The subordinates also purchased some of the local snakes through guò, but the number is still too small to be used. The most important thing is that the usual training is too ordinary and used too much. General Huang, don't stare at me, what I said is the truth, in the past three months, the gunpowder consumed is worth at least 300,000 taels of silver, and not only that, but also 66 artillery pieces have been scrapped, I'm right. You've had a good time, but do you know how much money it costs? When he said that, Li Guangdi saw Huang Dazhong glaring at him, and couldn't help complaining again. He doesn't know the price of rice, so he only knows consumption.

Huang Dazhong was a little embarrassed when he said this. In the past, when there was no navy, two years could not consume so much gunpowder; The cannons were kept like treasures, and they didn't necessarily have to be trained once a month, and they were only pushed out for use during battle. Since the establishment of the navy, it has only been half a year since the general was established, and more than 80 guns of all kinds have been scrapped in his hands, and I don't know how much gunpowder has been used.

Geng Jingzhong was also a little strange, saying that there was a shortage of gunpowder a few years ago, so he ordered to increase production. The gunpowder in the warehouse can be said to be piled up in the warehouse, so it should be enough? How did it disappear so quickly? It turns out that the crux of the matter is here. "Dazhong, you really don't know how expensive the material is when you don't know how expensive the rice is, I asked you to increase your training, you won't practice every day, right? This is not learning to swim, this requires silver, and it is useless to fire more cannons without summing up experience. This practice has already been practiced, then forget it, practice once every five days in the future, and use the rest of the time to summarize experience and learn theories. By the way, after practicing for so long, what is the effect? ”

Huang Dazhong stood up and said loudly: "Report to the world, after such a long period of training, whether it is the artillery of the Navy or the Marine Army, they can fight a good artillery, and every brother is no worse than an artillery master from the West." ”

Geng Jingzhong listened and nodded: "Well, that's good, I'm still worried that my silver will not work if it is spent." The Western instructors who were selected are all veterans of the sea who have been fighting for more than ten years, and your skills can catch up with them, which shows that you are attentive. However, you still have to learn from them, you have not practiced at sea, the wind and waves on the vast sea are not small, and the enemy ships are also abnormal during the real battle, you have no experience in these. Tell the brothers below, don't be proud, set your heart to study hard, this experience at sea is not something that can be learned in a day or two. ”

"Yes!"

"Anything else? If not, go ahead and get busy, and Mr. Li and I will solve the gunpowder matter. ”

"The last will retire!" As he spoke, he clenched his fist again, and then stepped out.

"Brother Li, I'm sorry, there are a lot of things at home that I haven't taken care of here recently. These guys in the barracks are all coarse, you should bear more. Geng Jingzhong watched Huang Dazhong exit the hall, turned his head and said to Li Guangdi.

"Where the son of the world speaks, this is what his subordinates should do. Shizi, there have been a few big things happening on my side recently. Originally, I was about to report to you, but I didn't want you to come in person. ”

Geng Jingzhong smiled on his face, squinted his eyes and asked, "Oh, what is it that makes Brother Li so strict?" ”

"This first thing is what General Huang said just now, there is a shortage of gunpowder, and the second thing is what I am going to report to you. Son, the Wako is here! ”

"What? Woko? Geng Jingzhong was really surprised. According to the historical knowledge in his head, he told him that Japan in this era seems to be in the Edo period, and it is being closed off from the country.

"Just a few days ago, Pingtan Island in the south was plundered by Japanese pirates, killing and injuring more than 1,000 people, and they also robbed passing merchant ships, killing people and seizing ships. In the past, there were also pirates who came ashore to rob and rob merchant ships, but they often left people with a way out, and these pirates didn't know where they came from, so they were ruthless! Li Guangdi grew up on the seashore and was familiar with things at sea, but when it came to these widows who didn't follow the rules, he was still very indignant.

Geng Jingzhong was still a little uneasy: "Can you be sure that it's a widow?" Not pirates from somewhere else? ”

"It is almost certain that the people who were lucky enough to survive had been to the Wakoku and knew that the ships were all Japanese ships, and they were all Wakoku. Shizi, my subordinates are wondering, are these Japanese robbers related to Shimazu Hirayama, who was captured by you last time? ”

Geng Jingzhong's heart moved, and he thought of a possibility. "The pirate leader Shimazu Hirayama that was captured last time? According to the last interrogation, he seems to be the younger brother of a daimyo of the Wa Kingdom. Although he didn't become a big name, he often contacted his family after becoming a pirate. This guy still wants to keep in touch so that he can go back and compete for the position of the daimyo in the future! But the pirates have been wiped out by us, and it's impossible for them to get the news over there, right? Could it be said that "

"Zheng Jing!"

"Zheng Jing!"

The two of them said their guesses at the same time, both of them were Zheng Jing, it seems that the heroes see the same thing!

"Yes, Shizi, it is likely that Zheng Jing of Taiwan is a ghost, and he is the only one who has a close relationship with the Japanese people. It is likely that he instigated those Japanese people to come to us for trouble, and those Japanese did not dare to directly attack our Mawei, but plundered the coastal islands and passing merchant ships in order to hinder our development. He Zheng Jing sat on the mountain and watched the tiger fight, what a good idea! ”

Geng Jingzhong shook his head, his face was stern: "It's a pity, we can't do anything about them now." Wait, until our fleet is ready to destroy these brutes. ordered the coastal areas of Fuzhou to strengthen vigilance and send more clippers to patrol; As soon as they were found, they sent a signal to the people to run to the interior, not to take care of the pots and jars in the house, and if the house was burned, I would rebuild it. ”

"That's fine, wait a few more months, they won't be arrogant for long!" Li Guangdi is still very confident in the Mawei Navy, and in a few months, when the battleships and artillery are ready, it will be the time for those Japanese to pay the price.

"By the way, it's still early, accompany me to the gunpowder workshop to have a look, gunpowder must be guaranteed to be supplied, without gunpowder, our ship will be a live target when it reaches the sea." With that, he stood up and walked out.

The gunpowder workshop was not as dangerous as ordinary workshops, so it was not placed together with the musket and artillery workshop, but in a small col away from the crowds. There is a small mountain forest in the hinterland of Mawei, called Tianma Mountain, the mountain is not high, the valley area is very large, and the scenery is beautiful, so the gunpowder workshop moved to Mawei and settled here. The gunpowder workshop is far away from the crowd, and in the event of an accident, the damage can be smaller. Even in the gunpowder workshop, the first-line production workshop, the raw material warehouse for the production of gunpowder, and the finished gunpowder warehouse are also far apart, and if an accident occurs in the province, the entire gunpowder workshop will be destroyed, so that the whole army's muskets and artillery will be stopped immediately.

The scale of the gunpowder workshop is now much larger than it was outside Fuzhou, and the number of workers has increased from only thirty or forty to more than two hundred. Each place has a clear division of labor and is very fine. Since the production of gunpowder is very dangerous, the safety regulations in the workshop are also the most numerous. The whole workshop can't see a single spark, and even the rooms are set up outside the mountain.

In the production of gunpowder and the storage of gunpowder, iron products could not be used, so Geng Jingzhong spent more than 2,000 catties of silver plus 10,000 catties of copper to make silver and copper tools for the gunpowder workshop, so that the whole workshop was full of dazzling silver and yellow. When these silver and copper tools are crushed from raw materials, they do not collide with sparks like iron or stone tools, thus avoiding explosions or fires.

Geng Jingzhong walked around the gunpowder workshop and carefully inspected the raw material warehouse, the storage of sulfur and charcoal was sufficient, but the warehouse for storing saltpeter was already empty. This saltpeter is really a problem, the amount of raw materials determines the amount of output, and without the saltpeter gunpowder workshop, it will have to be stopped, and the supply of gunpowder to the army will become a big problem. You can't find a stable saltpeter supply channel!

"Shizi, the subordinates here have already asked, but there is no saltpeter. The subordinates have already sent people to the western part of Jiangxi and Zhejiang to purchase, but the road is far away, and it is estimated that it will take some time to get news. "Lee Kwang-di has been here many times and is very concerned about the situation here.

"Why don't you come into contact with Westerners?" Geng Jingzhong suddenly thought of the European caravans, the saltpeter in the inland was controlled by the government, but there were no overseas. Besides, Western caravans are unhindered in the South China Sea, and ordinary pirates don't dare to fight their ideas, isn't it the best to trade with them?

Li Guangdi was stunned for a moment, and then immediately reacted. It seems that his thinking is also limited, and his eyes only see the continent but not the ocean. "Western merchants? Will they have saltpeter? ”

"Definitely! If my prediction is right, Zheng Jing will have a deal with them, otherwise it will be impossible to supply his numerous fleets with the isolated island of Taiwan! Geng Jing said with a sworn oath. Immediately send people to Zhangzhou, to the Moon Harbor to contact the Western caravans, they occupy India and Manila and many other islands, saltpeter must be rich. Sue them, they bring saltpeter, and we will give him the goods, otherwise the port will be blocked and the trade will be stopped. I'm not afraid that they won't comply, hehehe! ”