Lu Yufan wrote down the requirements for breaking into the camp one by one. Now he was in a very good mood, and today he made a deal of several thousand taels of silver, with a net profit of more than four thousand taels, and he also negotiated a big deal about the steel plow. When doing business in the mainland, don't expect farm tools to be so profitable. After hearing Xu Ping ask about the firearm, Lu Yufan smiled mysteriously and took out a long cloth bag himself.

Opening the layers of cloth wrapped outside, a spear appeared in front of several camp leaders. Xu Ping gently picked up the brand-new musket, the wrench spring made a "click" sound, and then skillfully picked up the gun, closed one eye and aimed into the distance, and gently screamed in his mouth while pulling the trigger: "Bang".

Lu Yufan watched in amazement at Xu Ping's skillful movements, while the latter was looking down to inspect the other parts wrapped in oiled paper. Finally, Xu Ping checked the barrel with a rifle and put the gun down with satisfaction: "Good gun!" It's just that where is the bayonet? ”

Xu Ping flipped the cloth bag wrapped around the musket up and down, but failed to find what he wanted: "There should also be a bayonet attached to the gun, I didn't see it." ”

Lu Yufan realized that he had met an insider. Before that, everyone who saw this musket for the first time would only ask where the arquebus was, and not the bayonet. Lu Yufan asked in surprise, "Leader Xu has seen this firecracker?" ”

"It's not called a musket, it's called a flintlock musket. Boss Lu, where is the bayonet? ”

A few months ago, the commanders of the New Army, including Xu Ping, had seen the new weapon during a secret exercise. The flintlock musket was fired on the same principle as the handcuffs used by the Recruits, while the flintlock musket could have a faster reload rate because it did not use an open flame. Xu Ping remembers that during the internal testing of the New Army's training team, the officers thought it would at least double the soldier's rate of fire. Moreover, flintlock pistols can be loaded with more gunpowder, so that they are far more powerful than arquebuses. When the commanders involved in the test asked when the new weapon would be equipped, an officer of the teaching team said that the weapon had just been manufactured by an arms dealer in Fujian, and that it would not be delivered in large quantities until the beginning of spring next year.

Huangshi was accustomed to handing over the standard of weapons to Fujian and Cantonese merchants, and then having the lowest bidders contract the production, and if there was a quality problem, punish the officers in charge of inspection. This habit stems from Huangshi's deep-seated distrust of the Ming Ministry of Industry. Although the arms dealers made huge profits from production, even so, their products were still better and cheaper than the weapons produced by the Ming Ministry of Industry. For example, the arquebus used by the new army now has a purchase price of two taels and five dollars of silver, but the quality is better than the ten taels of silver produced by the Ministry of Industry of the Ming Dynasty.

"I don't think the rebels are short of spears and broadswords, so I didn't bring bayonets," Lu Yufan, who had recovered from his surprise, noticed that this deal was different from the past, and when discussing weapons, Li Zicheng and the other staff members did not intervene at all. Obviously, the young general in front of him has the absolute right to speak. Seeing that Xu Ping was interested in this gun, Lu Yufan said happily: "This gun is fifteen taels of silver, and if Leader Xu must have a bayonet, then it is twenty taels of silver." ”

Xu Ping whistled. As one of the few people in the New Army who knew the inside story, he immediately pointed out to Lu Yufan: "Boss Lu, it costs about 400 Wen for a Fujian merchant to build a gun and a bayonet, and if I remember correctly, the purchase price of the New Army is three taels of silver. ”

"Four hundred? Are you sure? Lu Yufan was stunned for a moment, then laughed and said: "People say that making munitions for the new army is the most profitable, and that's true." ”

He thought for a moment, and then said to Xu Ping with great skill: "However, the Fujian merchants may have sold it to the new army for three taels of silver, but when I got it, it would be nine taels, and even the bayonet would cost eleven taels." This kind of gun is not as good as those plows, even if people who don't know the goods, they know at a glance that this is a fire gun, not a farm tool, and there are many people who want to make a point. Lu Yufan then complained: "Leader Xu, there is almost nothing to be made from selling this gun for fifteen taels, you have to let me earn some travel expenses." ”

Xu Ping thought for a while and said, "If I need bayonets for every gun, how many can you give me?" How many days can it be delivered? ”

"Well, that's twenty taels." Lu Yufan's face was full of unbearable joy, rubbing his hands and said: "I will immediately ask someone to go to Fujian to buy you a gun, and it will be delivered in about three months, well, fifty guns, one thousand taels of silver, and I will give you ten more handguns." ”

"Too little." Xu Ping shook his head: "Fifty guns are enough for what, I want two thousand guns, of which I will need one thousand in a month." ”

"Ahh Lu Yufan, who rarely lost his temper, exclaimed, he barely held his breath, and said to Xu Ping word by word: "Leader Xu, this is absolutely impossible!" ”

"Why?"

"Ten of them submitted samples at the request of the New Army, and finally the New Army ordered 5,000 guns from three of them, and the New Army was in a hurry, and as far as I know, they were desperately trying to get the guns out of the New Army. Half of your fifty handfuls are samples that the unsuccessful merchant doesn't want, and I will take a little of the rest from each of them, and I have to bribe the stewards and craftsmen. Lu Yufan shook his head like a wave drum: "Hugh said two thousand, and you can't get two hundred in a month." ”

Hearing that the New Army was in a hurry to get these guns, Li Zicheng, who had been silently observing, asked: "When will the new army be delivered?" ”

"I don't know much about this," Lu Yufan pondered Li Zicheng's words, and shook his head again: "Even if this batch of goods is delivered, the new army will definitely place a new order immediately, and the new army has always been like this." Those few merchants who make armor work non-stop all year round. That's why it is impossible, the new army has strictly checked the productivity of these three companies before making a deposit, and I have a good idea of how much I can produce per month, and I can't get much; And the unsuccessful merchants will not put into production, just these few samples. ”

Seeing that Li Zicheng didn't speak, Lu Yufan persuaded Xu Ping again: "Leader Xu, buy fifty first, I will always pay attention in the future, and the water will flow for a long time." ”

"I want 2,000, not 50, and if you don't sell me 2,000 guns, I won't want one." Xu Ping looked at Lu Yufan's eyes: "The caravan that came to Henan is not only Boss Lu's family. ”

"They don't have a way." Lu Yufan solemnly told Xu Ping: "Others will never be able to get even one." ”

"Either it's two thousand, or it's not one," Xu Ping was unmoved: "Money can pass through the gods, I don't believe that no one will be tempted." ”

Lu Yufan's face was white and red, and he knew that he had to make a major decision that he had never made in his life. Lu Yufan is a shrewd businessman, he can earn tens of thousands of taels of silver a year, he has many acquaintances among Fujian merchants, and he also has reliable connections in the Fujian Buzheng Department and the Huguang Bubu Political Secretary. Before today, he was already satisfied with his life. If this continues, one day, he can squeeze into the upper echelons of the council, and although that may take many years, it is a path that does not seem to have too many thorns.

Ten years ago, for their own interests, the Fujian and Guangdong Councils summoned up the courage to oust Lord Liu, the first chairman of the legendary deep friendship with Zhendonghou, from power, and the trembling council was not retaliated against, but was understood and expressed by the spokesperson of Zhendonghou, and the support from the officialdom was as always. Since then, its authority has expanded even faster. It was an unprecedented merchant organization, and the best of them could gain fame and rank among the scholars. Today, Lu Yufan must decide, not only for himself, but also for his collaborators, whether the Fujian Council will approve of his actions and agree with the businessmen below to do something more out of the ordinary behind the back of Zhendonghou? If they don't agree, since the council can do something behind the back of Zhendonghou for their own interests, then why can't Lu Yufan and his collaborators do things that are beneficial to them behind the council's back?

"If Leader Xu must have two thousand," Lu Yufan finally made up his mind, and he said slowly: "Then a gun can't be sold for twenty taels." ”

"How much do you want?"

"Fifty taels."

"Fifty taels!" Niu Jinxing shouted: "Fifty taels of firearms?!" ”

Lu Yufan lowered his head and calculated again in his heart, raised his head and said, "And I want to get a deposit of 10% first." ”

Lu Yufan stared at Xu Ping and said slowly: "I can't guarantee whether I can send a thousand in a month, and I can't guarantee when I can deliver it, I can only say that I will do my best, and it is impossible to give you a letter now." If you don't agree, then please be smart, I won't sell this gun. ”

Niu Jinxing and Song Xiance both set their eyes on Li Zicheng, while Li Zicheng looked at Xu Ping: "Brother Xu, is this fire gun really worth 100,000 taels of silver?" ”

"With these guns, there is a chance to defeat the new army."

Li Zicheng looked at Lu Yufan and ordered in a deep voice: "Take 10,000 taels of silver with him." ”

"I'm going to Fujian as soon as possible." Lu Yufan smiled apologetically at Niu Jinxing before leaving: "Chief, you have to find someone else for the plows and potatoes we talked about just now." ”

……

As the New Year approached, the other generals of the Shun army were ready to have fun and celebrate this unprecedented victory in Luoyang, and only Xu Ping was busy with military affairs every day. There is still no artillery that can be used, Xu Ping wants a field gun that can fight with the troops, but the quality of the cannon with qualified weight has not passed, and the weight of the quality pass is not qualified, and other troops in the camp also need it. But after Xu Ping's continuous repair, Leng is tossed out more than 300 arquebuses, these days Xu Ping is busy with the fifth part of Luoyang City, hoping to find some more firearms that have slipped through the net.

The rule of the Forces nouvelles is that "if you disobey an order, you must shout it out at the end." Xu Ping felt that this was not enough, and he used various incentives to encourage his subordinates to question his hasty enactment - to be precise, the military regulations copied from the New Army. Because Xu Ping simply did not have enough manpower, let alone enough time to think about the reasonableness of every objection, if the number of questioners reached a certain number and he did not have a deep understanding of the ordinance, Xu Ping would suspend the ordinance. Xu Ping's subordinates are mostly honest people, and although there are various incentives, Xu Ping believes that if a regulation is not too difficult for them to adapt to, they will not muster up the courage to put forward their opinions.

"Where can I find someone who is well versed in military affairs and who dares to give me advice?" Xu Ping has a lot of headaches about this, he doesn't have the skill of doppelganger, he can't see the whole army, but this group of people under his command is not to the point where they can't bear it, and they will definitely not carefully point out the mistakes, and now, Xu Ping is beginning to understand why Zhendonghou attaches importance to opponents.

On December 25, Xu Ping received the military flag he had ordered, which made him very satisfied, and he finally got it before the New Year.

While they were busy testing the gun, a guard came to report that there were several people who claimed to be Xu Ping's old department, that is, former officers of the New Army, who wanted to see him.

After seeing the two people who came in, Xu Ping couldn't help but be moved: "Brother Yu, Brother Zhou, why did you come here?" ”

"General Xu!" Yu Shenhe's call evoked many memories of Xu Ping: "I am determined to follow the general and ask the Jin family father and son to repay the blood debt." ”

Xu Pingqu pointed into a fist, but his face was silent: "What blood debt?" ”

"General Xu, you don't have to pretend anymore!" Yu Shenhe shouted to Zhou Dongtian: "Show the letter to General Xu." ”

It turned out that after the defeat of the New Army in Shandong, Yu Shenhe, Zhou Dongtian and others escaped alive, and when they returned to the rear to sort out Zhang Chengye's relics, they saw several letters in a briefcase. Zhang Chengye hurriedly led the army to set off at that time, and some unfinished things had not yet had time to be sent.

Zhou Dongtian stepped forward with a tense face and handed a briefcase of the new army to Xu Ping. Xu Ping took it and silently stared at the familiar colors, patterns, and paper, but it was only for a moment. He quickly opened the bag and saw two letters inside. As soon as the first letter swept two lines, Xu Ping's hand shook violently, as if a fire had burned the muscles on his cheeks. He turned the first letter over roughly, and looked at the second letter.

This letter was written by Zhang Chengye to Huangshi before his death. At the beginning, Zhang Chengye wrote that he was worried that some words might make Huangshi unhappy, so he wrote a letter instead of saying it in person, hoping that Huangshi would be patient to read the letter. Zhang Chengye first introduced the origin of the first letter, that is, how he found out about this love letter written by Huang Zijun to Xu Ping, and he hoped that Huang Shi, who was a marquis, could still continue to be not a family member and give Xu Ping, a young man from a poor background, a chance.

Xu Ping didn't finish reading Zhang Chengye's letter, and he was heartbroken after only half reading it, Xu Ping closed his eyes and asked slowly and softly, "Who knows about this?" ”

"No one knows, except for a few staff officers of the Evergreen Battalion." Yu Shenhe replied: "This letter was discovered by Staff Officer Zhou when he was sorting out the relics of the late General Zhang. That night, Staff Officer Zhou made a deduction, which was a review of our fiasco in Shandong, well, from the perspective of Jin Qiude. ”

Yu Shenhe's eyes shot a raging rage: "Jin Qiude is obviously intentional, he is framing General Xu. ”

"I know."

"My brother-in-law ......" Yu Shenhe's voice choked up: "My brother-in-law is the only child of my parents, the only child." ”

"There are so many comrades......" Zhou Dongtian's voice sounded.

Xu Ping asked slowly, "Have you reported to Shangfeng?" ”

"Reported." Yu Shenhe wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes, turned his head and pointed at Zhou Dongtian: "Staff Officer Zhou was reprimanded by Wu Zhong, and he also threatened to hand him over to the military judge for disposal. Fu Tianjun and several of them followed Wu Zhong to frame General Xu, and Wu Zhong did not allow anyone to talk about it. ”

"Does only the Evergreen Battalion Staff know about it?"

"A few more people know about it."

After Zhou Dongtian finished speaking, he took a few steps back, opened Xu Ping's tent door, and a group of mermaids entered. Xu Ping's eyes swept over them one by one, two of them were Xu Ping's old department when he commanded the Dongsen Battalion, and he was promoted to officer by Xu Ping when he entered the teaching team, and he was also Xu Ping's subordinate when he was in the Changqing Battalion, one was named Shen Yunchong, who was the infantry commander, and the artillery commander named Gu Liumeng, and the three people were the staff officers of the Changqing Battalion. Although the others are not old acquaintances in Texas, they are also Zhang Chengye's cronies and people Xu Ping once led, Xu Ping did not expect that so many people would defect to him.

Shen Yunchong hugged his fists and said: "General Xu, you can't work with the people who framed Master Zhang and your comrades. ”

Gu Liumeng said loudly: "I can't either." ”

"Neither can we." Zhou Dongtian and the other three staff officers and others shouted in unison.

"When Staff Officer Zhou found out about this letter, General Xu had already rebelled out of the Beijing Division." Unlike Zhou Dongtian and the other three staff officers, Yu Shenhe and several other officers were all one of the previous mutinous officers of the Changqing Battalion, and when they were appeased by Yang Zhiyuan's kind words, they also fantasized that Xu Ping would one day be able to rehabilitate Zhao Xue and said: "A few days later, the news from the Texas side came, and a few of us joined forces and rebelled against the new army overnight, and came here to find General Xu." ”

"Jin Qiude is the right-hand man of Zhendonghou, and I have chosen a path that is more fierce and less auspicious." Xu Pingdao.

Yu Shenhe immediately replied: "The road to revenge is originally difficult and difficult, and I am not afraid. ”

Xu Ping's gaze swept over the faces of the others again, and Shen Yunchong shouted first: "Since General Xu is willing to come to the camp to preside, he must be confident, Lord Zhang and so many brothers and blood debts, we must ask the Jin family father and son for repayment." ”

Everyone nodded solemnly.

Xu Ping lowered his head and put the letters back into the letters, put the two letters together on the fire and lit them, and threw them on the ground to watch them burn into ashes. Xu Ping raised his head, straightened his chest and said to the group of people in front of him: "Gentlemen, please help me Xu Ping." ”

"Obedience, my lord!" The people in front of him shouted in unison.

Xu Ping slowly raised the brand-new flag on the table and showed it to his subordinates, the logo on it was a silver eagle with wings ready to fly: "Our first battalion is called the Guards Battalion, and tomorrow will be its birthday." ”

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