There are many theories about when New Year's Day will end, and one of the more conventional views is that after the fifteenth day of the first month, the year will be completely over. Between the thirteenth and fifteenth of the first month, Hao Ren spent his time in Xiaotangshan Villa. was so angry at the imperial court, of course he had to run to his wife for comfort. On the fifteenth day of the first month, Hao Ren Wanhu returned to Dadu with his wife and children.

When I returned to Dadu, someone sent a letter. Marshal Boyan asked Hao Ren Wanhu to go to the Firearms Bureau on the 16th of the first month. Just seeing the signature of Marshal Boyan, Hao Ren felt a burst of nameless fire. However, after being angry, Hao Ren could only obey orders.

Early the next morning, Hao Ren arrived at the Firearms Bureau, and the carriage of Marshal Boyan arrived almost at the same time. Marshal Boyan was already cold on weekdays, and Hao Ren had no intention of speaking, and the two walked into the Firearms Bureau in silence. The steward of the Firearms Bureau gave the two men a kneeling salute, got up, and trotted ahead to lead the way.

When he arrived at the test site, Hao Ren saw that there were many wooden poles inserted sixty steps in front of the target of the test site. The lower end of these wooden poles is covered with iron and inserted into the earth, and the upper end has an iron zigzag fork. When Boyan and Hao Ren sat down, the steward immediately ordered. Several strong men immediately ran over, each with a thick musket on his shoulder.

Hao Ren was dumbfounded, the appearance of this thing was no different from the arquebus of the Great Song Dynasty. The difference lies in this volume, and at a glance, it seems that the barrel of this musket is much thicker. When he reached the wooden pole, the strong man put the musket on his shoulder in the zigzag shape at the upper end of the wooden pole. There was a dull sound between the heavy musket and the iron fork.

Except for the volume and weight, the musket was no different from the Song musket from the charge to be fired. The strong men fired three rounds of muskets in succession, and the test site was already filled with a strong smell of gunsmoke. When they stopped, Hao Ren and Boyan stood up almost at the same time and walked forward.

The steward hurriedly led in front, and Hao Ren was very familiar with firearms. He took out a cotton handkerchief and wrapped it around his fingers, gently pressed the barrel of the gun, and soon felt the heat from his fingertips. Hao Ren secretly counted to himself, and his fingers held on until he couldn't bear it anymore before he removed his hot fingers. He pinched his earlobe with his hot fingers and put it down shortly after.

Marshal Boyan didn't have Hao Ren's experience, but after seeing Hao Ren's approach, Marshal couldn't help but touch the barrel directly with his fingers. The hot hand trembled, and hurriedly withdrew his hand back.

"Dashuai, this one is indeed hot." The steward hurriedly said apologetically.

Seeing that Bo Yan had suffered such a small crime, Hao Ren felt a little relieved in his heart. Before the barrel of the musket cooled down to a more suitable temperature, Hao Ren walked back and forth, and at the same time ordered: "Bring a Song State musket!" ”

Even if he didn't get the Song State musket, Hao Ren could probably see the gap. The caliber of the musket in front of him was more than twice that of the Song musket. So there are more charges, the sound is louder, and the white smoke that comes out is thicker. When the bullet hits the target or the wall behind the target, there is a greater movement.

After bringing the Song State musket, Hao Ren compared it, and the data was indeed so. The muzzle of the Song musket was about 10 mm, and the muzzle of the Mongolian musket in front of him was about 25 mm. The iron barrel of the Song Dynasty musket was almost entirely stuffed in. Looking at the bullets of the two muskets, the bullets of the Song Kingdom are much smaller than the pigeon eggs, and the Mongolian ones are not only larger than the pigeon eggs, but even have the size of small eggs, and the volume is about twice that of the bullets of the Song Kingdom. For such a huge thing, Hao Ren couldn't help but be speechless.

After comparing them, Marshal Boyan asked, "Will it be more expensive to build such a big thing?" ”

"If you say iron, it's a lot more. We were a veteran before, and we made one or two barrels a month. We learn from the double-layer casing of the Song Kingdom. Now he is a newly recruited craftsman, and as long as he has the strength, one person can make four or five inner barrels a month. The pipes on the outside are wound with iron bars, and one person makes dozens of them a month. ”

"Oh?" "Really?"

Boyan and Hao Ren said in unison. Looking at the steward with a proud smile on his face, Hao Ren was very surprised. Twenty-one years ago, the Mongol army came into contact with the firearms used by Zhao Jiaren in Ezhou. Of course, before that, the Mongols had already begun to learn to use firearms learned from the Jin and Song kingdoms. During the Western Crusade, these firearms began to be used on a relatively large scale. However, the real entry into tubular firearms began with the Battle of Ezhou.

After that, the Mongolian side did not lag behind for a moment and worked hard to closely follow the development of the Song army's firearms, and the most painful thing for Mongolia was not the exquisite firearms of the Song army, but the production efficiency of the two sides was very different. The Song army was able to equip 100,000 people with muskets, and the Mongols were able to equip thousands of people with muskets after so many years.

"Can you really build it so fast?" Hao Ren hurriedly recognized.

"It's really okay to return to ten thousand households." The steward hurriedly replied.

Hao Ren knew that the steward might dare to brag, but he didn't dare to deceive. If such things were really as the steward had said, Kublai Khan would have rewarded him with great rewards when he knew about them. However, if Kublai Khan knew that the steward was making up nonsense, not only would he be divided into five horses, but his entire family would also have to die.

"Dashuai, should we go and see their workshop?" Hao Ren asked Marshal Boyan.

"Let's go." Marshal Boyan replied.

It wasn't until the afternoon that the two came out of the firearms bureau. Although the steward who has been accompanying him is tired, he can still smile from the bottom of his heart when he sends it off.

The two big men didn't care that it was already afternoon at this time, and they went straight to the palace. By the time they saw Kublai Khan, it was already evening, and the Khan gave him a feast. When the Great Khan heard the news, he was overjoyed and wanted to go to the Firearms Bureau to have a look. Hao Ren hurriedly dissuaded, although he could see things in the middle of the night, he was not in such a hurry.

After this matter was discussed, Kublai Khan suddenly asked, "If this is the case, should we establish an infantry army like the Song State?" ”

"Is it a sign for the army or a government soldier?" Hao Ren hurriedly asked.

Signing is Latin. Whenever Jin Yuanjian encountered a war, he issued all Han Ding Zhuang as soldiers. The signing army is an army composed of Ding Zhuang, a Han Chinese who was forcibly transferred. This kind of army faced the Song army during the Battle of the Yellow River, and was completely defeated by the Song army like chopping melons and vegetables. Of course, it is not to blame the signing army for not being strong, that is, the most elite armored heavy cavalry in the Mongolian army, was also wiped out in front of the thin infantry array of the Song army.

The Yuan army concluded after the war that it was necessary to imitate the Song army to build a strong infantry army.

"Boyan. Are you a supporter of the government soldiers? Kublai Khan asked the commander of Boyan.

Boyan immediately replied, "Your Majesty." The minister heard that the infantry of the Song army served for three years, which was very different from the government soldiers. And if the infantry is armed with muskets, will they bring them home? It's better for us to learn from Song Jun. Now the navy is being dismantled, and the navy also has tens of thousands of soldiers. It's also a good idea to choose a strong infantry army. ”

Although Hao Ren still has opinions about Boyan, he agrees with Boyan's judgment very much. If the government soldiers are cavalry, they can be trained in the township. If it is an infantry army like the Song Army, which is counted in tens of thousands, it is better to hit it.

There was no need for the Great Khan to speak, and when he saw Kublai Khan turning his head to look at him, Hao Ren took the initiative to say: "Your Majesty, the minister thinks that what Boyan said is right. ”

Seeing that both of them said this, Kublai Khan nodded and replied: "In that case, when I go to see the firearms tomorrow, I will prepare to build an infantry army." ”

The steward of the Firearms Bureau was very concerned about his own life, and what Kublai Khan saw during his inspection was exactly the same as the content of the report of Boyan and Hao Ren. So the Great Khan was overjoyed, and on the same day, he ordered Hao Ren to deal with the latest ideas of the navy, and let them go home when they were old and weak. Elite gave priority to supplying new infantry troops, and recruited additional troops to supplement the Mongol naval army.

Just when Hao Ren felt that he could go to do something, Kublai Khan added: "Let Dali pay a tribute of 10,000 elites, and supplement the available Dao water army among these people." Since the main force of the navy is located in Goryeo, let Goryeo also send some people. ”

At this time, Hao Ren felt that his heart was full of joy, and the Great Khan was too good for the use of manpower. What is most needed now is to make full use of the manpower in various places, although the navy is of little use to Dayuan, but the establishment of the navy is too time-consuming. Completely abolish the navy, and when there is really a demand, that is, the heaven should not be called the earth.

"Yes!" Hao Ren replied with a full of anger.

Listened to this response. Kublai Khan looked at his nephew and was a little happy in his heart. Hao Ren's ability to bounce back from his loss so quickly was a good thing for both Kublai Khan and Hao Ren.

The steward of the Firearms Bureau received orders from the Great Khan to transfer him a group of artisan accounts to speed up production. The joy in his heart is indescribable. According to the previous rules, the Great Khan directly gave him a large bounty. Although the Mongol Khan was cruel to the people of other countries and to the lower classes under his rule, he was very generous to the steward of a certain artisan bureau.

The previous stewards of the Firearms Bureau had been beaten many times, and the current stewards heard that Kublai Khan had even ordered some bounties to be given to those people. This reward is reasonable, and the current stewards have accumulated on the basis of the previous stewards.

From a purely technical point of view, the only achievement of this steward is probably to completely abandon the path of simple imitation of other stewards, and start with the smallest size that Dayuan craftsmen can process. After magnifying the muzzle of the gun to 2.5 times that of the Song army, the Mongolian craftsmen were finally able to skillfully handle iron tools of this size.

The steward immediately called in new men. A new wave of artisans was incorporated into the camp, and one person from house to house came that night. The man listened quietly as the craftsman described the firearms he had seen during the day. After listening, he just asked the craftsman to tell the caliber size. After listening to this, he gave the craftsman an envelope. When the craftsman opened it, there was a stack of Dayuan Zhongtong ingots, all of which were in 20 denominations.

Taking advantage of the darkness, the man walked briskly away from the craftsman's house.

A few days later, Da Song's intelligence station in Dadu received several pieces of information. There is a description of Dayuan's latest musket in the intelligence, especially the muzzle and other dimensions of the musket. This news was transmitted to Da Song as quickly as possible.