Thomas. Sir Roy's 'Amsterdam' raised its sails over the sea, and the strong southeasterly wind blew the sails very full. The huge hull began to accelerate and left the coast. Fan Wencheng boarded this thousand-ton sea monster with the help of a small boat, and he had to sigh at the incredible shipbuilding technology of the Taixi people.

"Mr. Roy, your ship is really big." Fan Wencheng stood on the deck of the ship, unable to find too many words to describe it in his heart. Although the boat was steady, the huge steering force made him stagger a few steps and almost fall.

Sir Roy was tall and looked down at Fan Wencheng in a downward stance. He sneered contemptuously at the shaved Oriental with his slender braids. The other party's worthless compliment could not make him even more interested. He said lightly to the interpreter: "Tell this clown, I hope his master has prepared enough gold and silver, otherwise I will make him regret it." ”

The interpreter is from Southeast Asia, black and thin, and is used to seeing the arrogance of these white people. He sent Sir Roy away first, and then turned back and said a few perfunctory words to Fan Wencheng. Fan Wencheng didn't dare to make a mistake, and hurriedly asked the interpreter: "When will this Taixi's fleet arrive in Liaodong?" ”

"About five or six days, depending on the direction of the wind." The interpreter said.

"Five or six days." Fan Wencheng has been out for more than a month, and he doesn't know what the battle situation is in the north. A few days ago, a crane envoy flew to Jiangnan and came with news of Nurhachi. At present, he is not confident that the Taixi fleet can cooperate with the battle situation.

Seeing that Fan Wencheng was worried, the interpreter couldn't help but smile and said, "Mr. Fan, don't worry too much, Sir Roy's fleet is invincible in this sea area. His 'Amsterdam' was huge, with three decks, dozens of heavy guns, and was a specially built warship for the Dutch. This kind of ship is the top of the class even in the countries of Europa.

In addition to this flagship, Sir Roy had six other armed merchant ships under his command, and they were also powerful characters armed with twenty or thirty guns. Any one can beat the sailors of the Ming Dynasty, and it will definitely be no problem to deal with the anti-thieves in your country. In addition, we have dozens of ships owned by Mr. Li Dan, as well as hundreds of boats put together by wealthy businessmen in Jiangnan, which will definitely win. ”

The Amsterdam was followed by six armed merchant ships from Nagasaki, Macau, and Batavia. These are all big guys over 500 tons, and none of them are easy to mess with. In addition, Li Dan and the gentry in Jiangnan also cobbled together some ships, some of which were large and small, and some of them could not even keep up with the speed of the fleet, and Sir Roy didn't care about these broken ships.

With such a huge fleet, it seems that there really does not need to be too afraid of the sea power of the 'revolutionary army'. Especially Zhou Qingfeng has been rising for so long, and he has only heard that his land troops are powerful. At best, the sea is full of transport ships running around, and the smoking steamships are strange and scary, and I have never seen any more powerful warships in him.

"You just said there are a lot of cannons on this ship?" Fan Wencheng is a representative of the 'big customer', and he has his own separate space after getting on the ship. Although the air in the cabin is muddy and the sailors are rude, a private room is already a super VIP treatment. The interpreter who accompanied him could only lay on the floor of a private room, which was already a preferential treatment.

"Forty-eight pounds of long-barreled heavy guns are housed on the lower deck. It was used as a fortress cannon on the shore, and it was clumsy, heavy, and powerful, and it was great to have one or two in the harbor. There were twelve doors in the ship.

On the middle deck were thirty-two-pounder cannons, and on the upper deck were twenty-two-pounder cannons, both of which numbered more than two dozen guns. In addition, there are some small cannons on the top deck, which are all big guys on land. "The interpreter is very proud of the configuration on this ship.

Fan Wencheng doesn't know much about what is pounding or not, and it is not easy to ask in detail, otherwise he will seem too ignorant. He only said in a curtive voice: "My Great Khan also has heavy artillery. ”

"It's not the Dutch who sold it to you. If it weren't for Sir Roy's generosity, you would have been defeated. The translator sneered a few words, and he didn't pay much attention to Fan Wencheng. He tidied up his bunk and prepared to sleep.

Fan Wencheng took this kind of big ship for the first time, and he couldn't sleep while lying on the boat, always feeling that the hull of the ship was swaying, and the cabin was very noisy. He didn't know what fate he was going to face, so he stayed up late and closed his eyes groggily. Just when he was asleep, Nurhachi, who was far away in Liaodong, couldn't sleep. In the middle of the night, the slave chief was still frowning in his study.

As a slave owner who came out of the deep mountains and old forests, Nurhachi used to rule a population of 500,000 people. He never imagined that governing a territory of a million people would be so troublesome. And now he's in deep trouble.

Governing the country is not just about fighting wars, there are many things that are going on in the national economy and people's livelihood, and even balancing the internal forces of the Jurchens is becoming more and more complicated. In order to solve these problems, which he had never thought of, Nurhachi could only use what he did best, which was war—to solve internal problems externally.

Win battles, keep winning battles. That's Nurhachi's solution to the problem, it's been that way since he started, it's always worked, why change? Historically, he did just that, and the Jianzhou Department was built on the destruction of the Jurchen tribes. Coupled with the strong foil of the Ming army in the later period, it is simply a wonderful way to be invincible.

The rapid rise of the 'revolutionary army' blocked the way for the Dajin Kingdom to continue plundering abroad, and the wild boar skin would change its course and engage in peaceful development? Forget it, wild boar skin believes in miracles. He will only feel that the forces he has used are not enough, and he is not ruthless enough.

The 'Heavenly Blessing' army was destroyed, and Mang Gurtai's attack was a small setback. None of this was enough to change Nurhachi's mind. On his desk was a large-caliber smoothbore flintlock pistol sent back by the flight of the Crane Rider of the Manggultai Gurtai, and the judgment of the three beylers on the situation.

On the floor of the study were several Han craftsmen kneeling, dismantling the captured flintlock pistol. The gun had already been demonstrated, and its power shocked Nurhachi. This naturally needs to be imitated. He felt that since the craftsmen could make arquebuses, they would be able to make better flintlock pistols.

It's just that the kneeling craftsman has been talking for a long time, and the gun has been disassembled into a pile of scattered parts. Every part was discussed, but the craftsmen never replied.

"If there is any difficulty, just say it, can Ben Khan still make it difficult for you minions?" Nurhachi waited for a long time, and was already a little impatient.

Several craftsmen were immediately frightened, they didn't dare to believe the slave chief's casual words. If you don't do a good job in Daming, you will be scolded at most. But if you don't do your job well, your life will be lost. What is 'not difficult' is clearly 'very difficult'.

It's just that this firearm doesn't look very easy to make, and every part is extremely fine and smooth. The material of metal parts such as the barrel is also excellent, thin and light, and the inner and outer walls are very symmetrical. This is not an easy way to do.

If these parts are more delicate, there are still ways for skilled craftsmen. But there is really no way to break through the difficulty of this material. Daikin's arquebuses were limited by the inferior quality of steel, and the barrel was to be thicker and heavier. This is a bit cumbersome at best, but the bolt of this flintlock pistol is extremely flexible. How does this resilience come about? It's puzzling.

If the elasticity of this bolt is not enough, the bolt will be soft and unable to ignite. Behind this is the great progress of the steel industry in terms of raw materials and heat treatment. These craftsmen of Jiannu could not even obtain high-quality wrought iron in large quantities, so don't count on steel. If Zhou Qingfeng was at the scene, he would definitely die of laughter - wild boar skin, you imitate it, although it is imitated. Imitate it, I'll have your last name!

It's just that the craftsmen don't dare to say that they can't make it themselves, let alone say, 'Master, you're embarrassing us'. They could only say euphemistically: "This big fire gun is quite ingenious, and the skills of the minions are too shallow, and they can't study it thoroughly for a while." Please give the Great Khan more time, and we will solve the mystery with our hearts. ”

Nurhachi frowned at this, this was not the answer he wanted.

"Well...... go down and pay attention. As long as it is done, Ben Khan will not be stingy with rewards. Nurhachi waved his hand. Several craftsmen hurriedly kowtowed and retreated.

The flintlock pistol can only be like this for the time being, but there is another trouble that is a real threat. Dajin is extremely proud of its field combat capabilities, and it is even more proud of its own cavalry. But now the opponent has appeared, and he is still stronger than himself.

"Then Zhou Qingfeng really got a high-headed horse?" Nurhachi looked at the battle report sent by Mang Gurtai, in which the description of the Han cavalry took up most of the space, and there was an extremely detailed description of the Arabian horses. Even the causes and consequences of Manggus's defeat and many details are clearly explained.

"Father Khan, Erchen just asked Han Chen of the Wenguan, they checked the recently received 'Revolutionary Army' newspaper overnight, and it did talk about Zhou Qingfeng's expedition to the heavens, and he obtained the heavenly war horse thousands of miles away. This kind of horse appeared when the capital of the Ming Kingdom was conquered, but we didn't expect it to be so powerful. ”

Huang Taiji served in the study, hunched over and waiting. He was also extremely surprised after reading the battle report from Mang Gurtai. Since he fought with Zhou Qingfeng, new things have emerged one after another. This is a cuirass, a firearm, and an artillery, and these big gold countries can keep up. Although the quality and quantity are poor, it is easy to solve the problem.

Fortunately, what this kid has come up with is beyond the power of Dajin Kingdom. Just now, those craftsmen didn't speak for a long time, and Huang Taiji knew in his heart that something was wrong—the new firearm looked very good, but I was afraid that it couldn't be made.

Flintlock pistols may be able to expect a miracle to happen, and maybe the craftsmen will be able to turn some stone into gold tomorrow. But this high-headed horse is really out of line. From top to bottom, from the Jurchens to the Han people, no one can tell where this heavenly kingdom is? Even the Taixi people, who worked as gunsmiths and instructors in Shenyang, were extremely surprised and expressed disbelief when they learned of this.

After playing for so long, for the first time, I felt that I couldn't keep up with Zhou Qingfeng's pace.

How will this backwardness come ......?