The expanded "Divine Machine Army" is basically the same as the previous one, but it is a process of changing one into two. At present, the left and right armies of the "Shenji Army" are five battalions, including three flintlock gun battalions, one forward-loading smoothbore artillery battalion, and one ballista battalion.

Among them, the ballista battalion was established at the suggestion of Xu Shao'an, and the equipment used in the battalion was mainly bed crossbows with ratchet structures improved by Xu Shao'an, as well as Western-style ballistas built by the Ordnance Superintendent with a general design idea given by Xu Shao'an. Unlike the front-loading smoothbore guns, which mainly rely on firing solid metal projectiles to hit the enemy's city walls, camp fences, and heavy arrays, the bed crossbows and Western-style ballistas of the ballista battalion mainly rely on throwing gunpowder packs to bombard the top of the enemy's city walls, the inside of the city, and the inside of the barracks, so as to hit the enemy troops hiding in them. These two types of firearms cooperate with each other to form a relatively complete long-range strike capability.

The recruits selected from the various forbidden armies underwent about a month of basic training in physical fitness and queue under the personal supervision of Xu Shao'an before they really came into contact with firearms training, so as to enhance their physical fitness, cultivate their discipline, and make them develop the thinking inertia of "obeying the command in all actions", so that in the later training, they could meet the requirements of "acting in unison and obeying orders" that flintlock muskezeers attach the most importance to.

The basic training of the recruits came to an end in early August, and it seemed that the next step of firearms operation training was about to continue, but at this time, Xu Shaoan, who had always been full of energy, encountered a big problem -- there were not enough firearms for the recruits to use. When Xu Shaoan first heard the quartermaster of the "Shenji Army" report to him that there were insufficient firearms and could not be equipped with all recruits, he subconsciously thought that the front-loading smoothbore guns or ballistas were insufficient, so he said to the quartermaster with some disbelief: "How can this be? As far as a certain person knows, the ordnance supervisor has been casting artillery, building bed crossbows and Western ballistas since the third year of Xiande. The artillery and ballistae needed for the two newly formed artillery battalions were only in the dozens, and I am afraid that the inventory of the ordnance superintendent alone is more than this, so how can there be a shortage of weapons. Could it be that the officials of the Ordnance Prison dare to falsely report the number and deceive the king? ”

Hearing this, the quartermaster waved his hand again and again and explained, "General Xu, you have misunderstood, the stock of artillery and ballista is sufficient, and there is no problem of insufficient quantity. The lowly position refers to the lack of firearms to the flintlock musket. ”

"Not enough flintlock guns?" Xu Shaoan was a little confused, "The flintlock pistol, like the artillery, was built from the beginning of the third year of Xiande, and its materials are far less than artillery, it stands to reason that it should be much easier to build than artillery, how can it not be enough for the recruits of my 'Divine Machine Army'?" ”

Seeing that Xu Shao'an's face was full of disbelief, the quartermaster had to reply in a very sincere tone: "This matter is absolutely true. The recruits were recruited by three battalions of flintlock muskets plus two artillery battalions of infantry, for a total of 1,700 musketeers. But today, when he went to the ordnance superintendent to collect the weapons with the documents issued by the lord and the lord Zhao, the superintendent of the ordnance superintendent said to the lowly post that there are only 550 flintlock muskets in the ordnance superintendent, which is less than one-third of what our army needs. Not only that, but according to the words of this overseer, even if the craftsmen of the ordnance supervisor work day and night, by the beginning of next year, they will only be able to produce about 600 more flintlock muskets for our army. That is, by the first month of next year, nearly a third of the infantry of our army will have no weapons available. ”

"How can this be reasonable," Xu Shaoan scolded angrily, "More than 200 people can only make 100 flintlock pistols a month, and these craftsmen of the Ordnance Supervisor can't just eat and work all day long." They are so passive and slacking off that a certain family must write a letter to the official family to sue them. ”

After speaking, Xu Shaoan no longer paid attention to the quartermaster with an embarrassed expression, but asked the guards to bring paper and pencils, and began to write a note for Chai Rong, impeaching Lord Lu Yuanye, the chief supervisor of the Ordnance Supervisor - Xu Shao'an's writing was just a draft, and then there would naturally be a pen in the army to copy it, otherwise his bad words would not be laughed out of his teeth when he put it in front of Chai Rong.

With the importance of the "Divine Machine Army" in Chai Rong's heart, and Xu Shaoan's current identity and status, his twists and turns naturally attracted Chai Rong's attention. In the morning of the second day after receiving Qin Zhe, Chai Rong announced that Lu Yuanye, the chief supervisor of the military weapons supervisor, went to the palace for questioning.

When Chai Rong showed Xu Shao'an's recital to Lu Yuanye, this Master Lu felt both wronged and speechless. He returned the fold to the little eunuch beside him, and then explained to Chai Rong: "Qiyu Bixia, it is true that the number of muskets in the arms supervisor Sui was insufficient as written by Lord Xu in the fold, so that the recruits of the 'Shenji Army' had no guns to use. However, the reason for this situation is not that the craftsmen or officials of the Ordnance Supervisor are lazy and slack in their work, but that it is not easy to build flintlock muskets, and even if the craftsmen work day and night, they can only make about 100 rods every month. ”,

"How difficult is it to build a flintlock musket?" Chai Rong asked in disbelief. In Chai Rong's view, although the flintlock musket is more delicate and complex than the artillery, it is much smaller than the artillery in terms of size and weight, and it is impossible to have a sufficient number of artillery and a insufficient number of flintlock guns.

Seeing that Chai Rong didn't seem to believe what he said, Lu Yuanye hurriedly knelt on the ground and said, "Bixia Mingjian, what the minister said is true, and there is no deception. Although the flintlock musket appeared to be less thick and heavy than the gun, it was far more difficult to build than the artillery. This is due to the fact that the components required are not only small and delicate enough to build, but also very demanding in terms of iron. A slight deviation in iron smelting may cause uneven thickness or cracks in the barrel or chamber, and eventually it will be due to ......, well, according to Lord Xu, the strength of the barrel or chamber is not enough, resulting in an explosion during shooting. In the event of an explosion, the gun will be scrapped, the soldiers will be injured, and the lives of the soldiers may even be endangered.

Therefore, the Armoryman requires the craftsmen to be careful when making flintlock muskets, and even slightly flawed flintlock muskets are scrapped and remade. In this way, although the quality of the so-called weapons required by Lord Xu was ensured, it also made the production of flintlock muskets have a very high percentage of scraps. At present, the most skilled craftsmen in the ordnance supervision of flintlock muskets can only produce one qualified flintlock musket every three days, and two of them are scrapped at the same time. ”

The most haode craftsmen can only make one flintlock pistol every day, and only one of every three shots can be fully qualified, and this qualified ratio is too low, so it is no wonder that hundreds of craftsmen in the Ordnance Supervision are responsible for making flintlock pistols, but they can only make a hundred per month. Although he was a little reluctant to believe what Lu Yuanye said in his heart, with Chai Rong's understanding of the character of this Lu Yuanye and Lu Da, what the other party said must be true, and there will never be any lies.

Therefore, after letting Lu Yuanye be flattened, Chai Rong did not ask any more, but fell into deep thought, and the hall became quiet for a while, and all that could be heard was the annoying chirping outside the hall.