After several days of searching, the Ming army also figured out the situation in the nearby area.

The 300 Ming army commanded by Huang Liangji found out the northwest area of Luzon, and there were also clashes with the Spaniards on the way, but there were not many casualties on both sides.

Since the last shelling of Spanish patrol ships, Xiao Wu has given up on fighting the Spanish navy, and instead chooses to sail the fleet into the open sea in an attempt to evade the Spanish fleet.

At the same time, on land, thousands of Ming soldiers began to build fortifications.

In order to prevent pirates and pirates, the Spaniards built walls on the northwest coast of Luzon to defend them.

During the last war with the Japanese invaders, the walls were badly damaged by artillery shelling.

Perhaps it was too cumbersome to maintain or for some other reason, and the Spaniards abandoned the coastal defense.

Liu Yu naturally will not let go of this feng shui treasure.

Under the command of Huang Liangji, thousands of Ming soldiers began to repair the city walls with the help of local Han Chinese.

Initially wood and stone were used to fill some of the gaps.

The soldiers of the Ming army named this city Ming City, in order to place their confidence in this city.

"We have set up three fortifications on the periphery of Ming City, although they are still very rudimentary, but they can also defend against the invasion of the local natives." Liu Quan stood on the city wall and pointed to the Ming soldiers who were building a wooden wall not far away.

He was a talented general in his own right, taking the lead in the Battle of Penghu and was quite popular with the soldiers.

The more than 100 elite soldiers under his command have also participated in the battle with the Qing army, and it can be said that Xiao Wu is the most relied on general.

After these days of propaganda and searching, more than 2,500 Han Chinese have registered in their households.

Huang Liangji divided a lot of rice fields for them, which made many local natives in Luzon very dissatisfied.

After all, the land distributed by Huang Liangji to the Han people was forcibly seized from the local natives.

However, Huang Liangji and others didn't care about these natives, after all, they never thought of really occupying Luzon, but just to use this to counterattack back to Taiwan for the rear.

Liu Yu was also helpless about this, he knew that angering these local Luzon natives would only make them turn to the side of the Spaniards.

After all, the Spaniards don't eat rice, and at most they show off their power on their land and force them to pay some taxes.

But the Ming army in front of them wants their land, doesn't this want their lives?

Even in order to repair the city walls and build defensive lines, Ming also forced the local Chloes to participate in the labor, which caused the local natives to complain.

Liu Yu saw it in his eyes, but he couldn't say anything more, but fortunately, he didn't care about these trivial matters anymore.

Since coming to Luzon, Xiao Wu has been building workshops for military households and artisans in nearby Han villages.

Today, more than 200 craftsmen who have been forcibly requisitioned in Dongning are here.

Liu Yu and Zhu Honghuan went to the workshop to check on nothing.

As soon as they arrived at the workshop, the accompanying soldiers called out several craftsmen in the firearms workshop.

Liu Yu glanced at the few craftsmen who were called out by the soldiers, all of whom were not young,

Several of them were forty or fifty years old, thin and weak, with deep-set eye sockets, and they looked like they had been malnourished for a long time.

Although Liu Yu once told Xiao Wu that he should take special care of these artisans who were forced to flee south.

But compared to those pro-soldiers who tied their heads to the waistbands of their pants and accompanied him to fight the world, it was obvious that Xiao Wu didn't care much about these craftsmen.

Due to the rush of travel, most of the plundered by the crowd were property, food and fresh water, etc., although they arrived in Luzon after sailing for more than ten days, they also obtained local food supplies.

However, it is clear that these artisans have not improved much in their food.

Those craftsmen were a little nervous when they saw the soldiers bringing them out, and looked at Zhu Honghuan, who was dressed extraordinarily, and knelt down with weak legs.

Liu Yu hurriedly stepped forward and helped several people up.

He caught a glimpse of the firecracker placed in the interior of the workshop, and asked with interest, "Since you are a craftsman, you have ever built a firecracker." ”

Hearing Liu Yu's inquiry, an old man in his early fifties replied: "Back to the adult's words, the villain has been a craftsman for generations, and there are countless firecrackers that have been made, so naturally he will know." ”

The status of the artisan household in the Ming Dynasty is low, once a craftsman, a craftsman, and the ancestors have been craftsmen for generations, and their treatment is similar to that of military households.

Huang Jianghu looked at Liu Yu intently, and the young man in his early twenties in front of him gave him a gentle feeling.

"Oh, then you can tell me how you can make a good firebolt, I don't need that kind of thing that explodes as soon as it is fired." Liu Yu looked at the old craftsman in front of him,

Although the firearms of the Ming army were many and the quality was uneven, many firearms in the army were not only inaccurate but also extremely easy to explode, which was undoubtedly a big difference compared with the flintlock pistols that were generally equipped in the West during the same period.

Seeing Liu Yu's expression become serious, Huang Youde looked a little flustered, and after a while, he slowly came to his senses and said respectfully: "Lord Hui, this bird gun is not complicated to build, but it has very high requirements for craftsmanship and a large consumption of iron. ”

"Each pole of fine iron requires at least five or six catties of fine iron, and a pound of refined iron requires at least ten catties of pig iron to be trained, and a pole of fire hammer costs at least about forty catties of pig iron, so that a good bird gun costs seven or eight taels of silver." He told it 1510.

This goes to the key point, the current Ming army lacks iron, especially fine iron,

Refined iron is needed to make firecrackers, and what they lack at this stage is iron.

However, fortunately, there was no shortage of iron in Luzon, and Liu Yu also sent his uncle's soldiers to look for mines.

Although he knew that there was a lot of gold and silver in Luzon, the existing mining areas were basically in the hands of the Spaniards and most of them were far away from the Ming army garrisons, so Xiao Wu did not send too many people to look for gold mines at this moment.

"Okay, from now on, you will be the supervisor of the Firearms Department, in charge of the maintenance and manufacturing of firearms in the Ming Army." Zhu Honghuan spoke.

"Thank you, Lord Wang." Huang Youde was overjoyed and hurriedly kowtowed.

The eyes of the craftsmen on the side were red, and they couldn't help but sigh when they saw that Huang Youde was appreciated by the prince.

"Adults, villains can offer something." Huang Youde saw that he was appreciated, and he couldn't help but feel lifted.

He walked into the workshop and carefully removed a firebolt.

Seeing this thing, Liu Yu was stunned.

There is still this thing in the Ming Zheng army.

"Self-generated firebolts." Liu Yu shouted.

The self-generated firebolt is a flintlock pistol, which is a qualitative leap over the arquebus.

The self-made firebolt is made by Bi Maokang, the right attendant of the Nanjing household department in the eighth year of Chongzhen, and the flint bolt is used instead of the arquebus, which is the earliest flintlock pistol in China.

The flintlock pistol uses a trigger to drive the hammer to hit the flint flakes through the spring, and the sparks ignite the gunpowder through the rapid friction with the flint flakes, so it is not necessary to drag a long lit fire rope during combat like the arquebus, which cannot be used in rainy days, and the fire is too large to easily expose the shooter.

Flintlock pistols are easy to guard and can be used in battle, unlike arquebuses (which cannot be fired once they are burned).

It's a pity that it was the end of the Ming Dynasty, and the peasant army led by Li Zicheng swept in, and Huang Taiji was eyeing it, and the Ming Dynasty army was too corrupt, and there was no chance for the self-made firecracker to appear.

Huang Youde was also taken aback, you must know that this firearm was brought out by him from Nanjing, when he was a Nanming craftsman he had the honor to see such a firecracker, and later after the Zheng army failed to attack Nanjing, he followed the surname of the country back to Taiwan.

Because after the defeat of the Zheng army in Taiwan, the financial resources gradually became empty and there was no need to fight with the Qing army on land after losing the coastal area of Fujian, so firearms gradually declined.

In the past 20 years, he has gradually improved this kind of firecracker, especially after the English opened the museum in Taiwan, Huang Youde also communicated with those Hongyi.

I was deeply impressed by the exquisiteness of Hongyi's firearms, and also took this opportunity to improve the firearms.

Compared with the previous self-generated fire, the performance is much better.

"Will you be able to mass-produce such firebolts?" Liu Yu hurriedly asked.

"Back to my lord, the most difficult part of the gun is the gun, which is very strict with the people of the drill bit and the drill pipe, but the craftsmen here are all good at making the fire, if it is a small one, I am afraid that it will take at least half a month, so it will take at least twenty days to complete a self-made firecracker, and it will take about a month if it is other craftsmen." Huang Youde said respectfully.

looked at more than 20 craftsmen in the workshop,

Liu Yu said: "Gather all the craftsmen who can make firecrackers to be supervised by you, and produce a good firecracker and award three taels of silver." ”

"Master Xie."

Hearing this, the craftsmen present bowed one after another.

Seeing this, Huang Youde hurriedly handed over the slender self-generated fire gun to King Lu.

Zhu Honghuan generously handed this self-generated fire gun to Liu Yu.

"You need it more than I do."

Liu Yu didn't shirk it, picked up the fire gun and tried it.

Liu Yu has never held a gun, and firecrackers like this era and modern rifles are still incomparable in terms of artificial comfort.

Especially the butt made him a little uncomfortable.

After looking at the Firearms Division, the two walked directly towards the beach.