"Why didn't the muskets in the county treasury come out and equip the people? This thing is much more powerful than a sword and a gun. ”

"You're talking about firebolts, right?"

Lu Dianshi didn't expect Li Xin to ask about this, he knew about this batch of firearms, it was purchased by Sun Ge Lao when the Tartars entered the Kou last time, but the explosion was too powerful and no one dared to use it, so he had to throw it in the library and rust.

"Although the fire gun is good, it always injures its own people, but it helps the enemy."

In fact, the Ming army's guns often exploded the bore, although there was a factor of manufacturing quality, and the greater reason was the operation problem, due to the sharp decline in the Ming army's combat element in the late Ming Dynasty, and blindly charged more when using firearms, so that the pressure generated during the explosion far exceeded the pressure resistance of the barrel, and the explosion was inevitable. Therefore, in addition to quality improvement, it is more important to develop a set of simple and easy use specifications to reduce the probability of exploding.

"Master Dianshi, I've solved the problem of exploding, do you want to see how the improved firearm shoots?"

Lu Dianshi's eyes lit up, this fight for a long time was to offer treasures, if the problem of exploding the chamber is really solved, these firearms can be taken out to resist the Tartars.

"Really solved? Mr. Li's office is another great achievement! ”

Li Xin's engineering headquarters was set up in the county treasury in the north gate of the county seat, and he took the time to test a few muskets in the past few days, and the quality was far better than expected. So he made some improvements in gunpowder, black powder granulation is necessary, and then after hundreds of tests, and determined the amount of charge that will not explode each launch, and the granulated black powder of a certain amount of firing is wrapped into a cylinder with a small square of paper, one by one, and when used, bite open a hole with your mouth and pour it into the muzzle. In this way, the charge is fixed and the charge speed is accelerated.

Li Xin took out the musket from the county treasury and took out the gunpowder that had been wrapped long ago from a small bag he carried with him, tore open the charge, loaded it, and compacted it with a strip, and acted in one go, as if he were a battle-hardened musketeer. Finally, fix the ignited fire rope to the fire rope clamp and raise the gun to shoot. With a bang, a large amount of white gas rushed out from the side of the gun. Then, Li Xin repeated the previous action and fired ten times in one go.

The air was filled with the strong smell of sulfur left after the gunpowder burned, Lu Dianshi waved his hand to try to disperse the white smoke around him, Li Xin's ten shots made him frightened, for fear that he would accidentally blow up the chamber and injure it, he had seen with his own eyes the tragic situation of several soldiers and people who were injured one after another, but fortunately this guy was safe and sound, and finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"How's it going?" At that time, people called it a musket, but Li Xin always used to call it a musket, and he talked about the factors of the musket explosion with a smug face, as well as the corresponding improvement plan.

Lu Dianshi was still skeptical about this, thinking that Li Xin was just lucky not to encounter the explosion, but listening to his stories, it seemed to make some sense. In the end, at the instigation of Li Xin, in order to prove that he was not a coward, he also had the courage to fire ten shots, and he was really safe and sound, although the clothes behind him were already soaked with cold sweat, but his eyes flashed with excitement.

"Mr. Li's method really works."

"My method can greatly reduce the chance of exploding, and I don't say that it will be 100% avoided, after all, the quality of each musket is different, but there is no high probability that it will happen."

As soon as Li Xin spoke in this way, Lu Dianshi had a headache, not counting the verbosity mixed with unheard words, but if you listen carefully, you can understand the general idea, he is preventing too much from talking and avoiding unnecessary trouble. It's still a bit slippery, Lu Dianshi secretly made a comment on Li Xin.

"Master Dianshi, I built yì, we Gaoyang County recruited the people to set up a musketeer team composed of musketeers."

"Musketeers?"

Lu Dianshi finally understood that Li Xin had gone around in such a big circle, and this was the focus of his speech. Originally, Li Xin planned to persuade Lu Dianshi first, and then let him persuade Sun Chengzong and Lei Xianling, but he didn't know that he not only found the right person, but also that the person in front of him had the ability to achieve his wishes.

Originally, the post of canonical history was only a small official who managed the arrest and imprisonment, but Gaoyang County is a small county, and there is no county secretary or master book, so the canonical history is also in charge of its duties. Therefore, although Lu Zhifan's classic history is not in the stream, he has a lot of power in Gaoyang County, which is roughly equivalent to Li Xin's previous life as the executive deputy county magistrate and director of the government office, the director of the public security bureau, and some miscellaneous bureau chiefs. In the case of a Lei County order that is too late to avoid trouble, many things can be decided in a word as long as the understanding and support of the gentry of the city are obtained.

There is no garrison in Gaoyang County, only relying on dozens of soap subordinates to maintain law and order, the Tartars have entered the Kou, and the Beijing division is under martial law, so it is impossible to just count on the imperial court, and it is imminent to organize the people on their own. Li Xin's construction is equivalent to playing into his arms, and the establishment of a musket team is very advanced and very attractive to him. In the battle sequence of the Ming army, the troops equipped with firearms generally cooperated in battle, and if a special firecracker unit was established, wouldn't it become the main force in the battle? yes, he'd love to hear what this guy had in mind.

"The function of the firearm is roughly equivalent to that of an arrow, and it may be difficult to take charge of it alone without the cooperation of the infantry......"

"What the adults said is good, but we are fighting in Gaoyang to defend the city, and the long-range attack class is naturally the main force!"

Lu Zhifan suddenly realized, and his feelings gradually rose. Li Xin poured another basin of cold water at the right time, "The problem is that the number of five hundred muskets in the county treasury is far from enough, and these five hundred muskets are also of different styles......

"How much is enough?"

Li Xin stretched out his thumb and little finger at the same time, "It's all about this number!" ”

Lu Zhifan fell silent, although the number of firearms needed was large, as long as you were willing to get it, you could always get it, but the biggest problem was people. As a classic history, Lu Zhifan knows the population of Gaoyang County well, Gaoyang County registered 8,274 households with a total of 49,442 people, including 27,261 men, after several disasters, the number can reach six or seven out of ten, it is good. Besides, if the wall has to be repaired, won't the people of Gaoyang be exhausted? Thinking of this, I couldn't help but sweat coldly, and then looked at Li Xin's look of anticipation, his eyes were like fire, but how could such secrets be leaked at will.

The scorching sun was scorching, and the two people who were roasting were sweating, where did Li Xin know Lu Zhifan's psychological activities, and then proposed, "In terms of scale, you can gradually recruit 2,000 people for basic operation training, and then recruit another one when the follow-up muskets are in place." Also, the first batch was recruited as the main force of the musket team, recruited from the families of people who had suffered from the scourge of the Tartar soldiers, and the family hated the country, and dared not to use their lives in battle......"

At sunset, Li Xin squatted on a platform high on the construction site a little depressed, and the entire construction site was in full view. The vast majority of the people were organized to nail and pour molds out of wooden planks, and what was originally a dirt and stone construction has now become a woodworking site where sawdust flies. Lu Zhifan didn't say anything when he left, which made him feel like he was punching the air, he couldn't even convince the canonical history, so what could he use to persuade Sun Chengzong and the county order? What's more, the county commander has always looked down on himself, and it will definitely be useless to persuade him, it seems that he can only find time to persuade Sun Chengzong.

Since Li Xin took over as the general office of building the wall, people from the Sun family rarely came, and Sun Chengzong never showed up again, and he couldn't see him. Not only that, but even Sun Ji didn't show up again. Only one servant was sent over, saying that it was a qiē request, and that the servant was responsible for preparing all the items.

At the same time, in the main hall of the Sun family's old mansion, the second son of the Sun family was standing with his head bowed to listen to his father's instructions.

"Erlang, what do you think of that Li Xin?"

"Although he was born as a horse thief, he is victorious in his loyalty."

"What do you think of the three defensive strategies he proposed?"

When discussing the current situation, Sun Chengzong always forgot to take the school entrance examination.

"As far as a child is concerned, only a wall can be built. Relocation involves complexity, and the so-called control and seizure of people's property is difficult! ”

Sun Chengzong was silent, and said, "The person sent to investigate has come back?" ”

"I'm back, this person's ancestors were all horse households, and later he became a horse thief, so it's really nothing inconspicuous."

Speaking of this, Sun Jiao seemed to think of something, "Li Xin pulled Lu Dianshi to make a fire today, and the movement was not small, and even Lu Dianshi personally released it a few times." ”

That batch of firecrackers was prepared for the previous time when the Tartars entered the Kou, but they had to be sealed only when there were successive explosions, but I didn't expect that Li Xin to be so bold, even Lu Zhifan followed the nonsense, it was an eventful time, in case there was a good one, who could replace them. But Sun Chengzong changed his mind again, Lu Zhifan has always been in the old city, are they fighting the idea of these firearms? It is not impossible for this possibility, and Li Xin proposed the purchase of firearms at the beginning of the construction of the wall. Putting aside the issue of firearm explosions, after all, military affairs are sensitive forbidden areas for the imperial court, and not allowing him to participate in Li Xin's capacity is not only to avoid unnecessary trouble, but also to protect him.

This matter can only be logically decided by the Gaoyang County Yamen, and the Lei County Order has obviously saved his intentions and will not come forward at all. The people must be organized, and no one can expect dozens of soap subordinates to defend the Gaoyang city wall. In fact, Sun Chengzong's current feeling is that it is difficult for a good woman to cook without rice, what do you want, what does he take to defend the city?

Sun Chengzong was not the only one who was aggrieved, Li Xin wanted to ask to see Sun Chengzong, nominally to report the situation of the city building, but in fact he wanted to talk about the establishment of a musket team in Gaoyang, but he was blocked by a sentence of physical discomfort.

The next day, as soon as the sky was bright, Lu Zhifan hurried over. Li Xin was squatting in the courtyard of the county treasury for breakfast, and Lu Zhifan grabbed him and walked out.

"Hey, hey, I said that Master Lu is in such a hurry that he won't let people eat breakfast."

"You'll see it when you come and see."

Li Xin didn't even have time to put down the bowl in a hurry, so he followed him to the outside of the courtyard, only to see hundreds of men gathered outside the door, and hundreds of pairs of eyes were staring at Li Xin in unison.

"This, this, this?"

"The people who gathered yesterday overnight were all plagued by Tartars in their homes, six hundred. Now the official has officially appointed you to teach for the people, and according to the strategy you said, you will train a tiger and wolf division for the official. ”