"On the sixth day of the first month of March, Gao Yu recruited and transferred Ling Zhen, the deputy envoy of the Tokyo Armor Staff Warehouse."

A simple sentence was transmitted by a secret guard lurking in Tokyo, and it is estimated that he himself is not aware of the importance of this sentence.

Ling Zhen, nicknamed "Thunder in the Sky", the earth auxiliary star, ranked 52nd in Liangshan, good at making artillery, and can fight 145 miles away.

Zhu Long's mind came up with the information of Ling Zhen in the original book.

For Ling Zhen, Zhu Long attaches great importance to it, this is a talent.

The role of artillery in the war will become more and more in the future, and even change the mode of war, Zhu Long has no reason to ignore Ling Zhen.

But this reminded him of a person - the Shenhuo General Wei Dingguo.

Wei Dingguo has become a firearms R&D engineer from a military general, specializing in the research and development of firearms. He's very talented at that.

Last time, Zhu Long gave him a piece of fire ** paper, I don't know if he succeeded in developing it.

Thinking of this, he decided to check it out.

For the sake of safety, the artillery research and development base is not in Zhujiazhuang, but in a valley in the back mountain, so as to avoid accidents and end the entire Zhujiazhuang in one pot.

Zhu Long came to the valley with a few personal guards, and the guards at the mouth of the valley all knew Zhu Long, so they hurriedly led the way in front and found Wei Dingguo in the workshop.

In front of him was a cannon, the barrel of which was only more than a meter long, but the inner diameter was about forty centimeters, and it looked thick and short, and it could not be fired far at first glance.

In addition to Wei Dingguo, there were several craftsmen and masters around the artillery, pointing and discussing.

When Zhu Long came in from the gate, the light in the room dimmed, and Wei Dingguo knew that someone had come in, and thought that his craftsmen were coming to him, so he didn't look back, and asked casually, "What's the matter?" ”

"Can't I come and see if it's okay?"

When Wei Dingguo heard this voice, he turned his head suddenly, saw Zhu Long, hurriedly walked over to bow and saluted, but was stopped by Zhu Long, and the craftsmen and masters behind him hurriedly bent down and stood aside.

"Old Wei, you just made such a thing?"

Wei Dingguo heard that Zhu Long's tone was a little dissatisfied, his heart tightened, and he asked: "The subordinates are not doing things well, please punish the lord!" ”

Zhu Longyou shook his head and said: "It's easy to go from one to hundred, and it's difficult to go from zero to one!" I can't be you, after all, you have to do something that has never existed in the world. ”

"Thank you for your understanding! How to improve, please announce it! Wei Dingguo said respectfully.

Zhu Long smiled, the people who came out of the court were different, they knew the rules and could speak, unlike the green forests and grass.

"Have you tried this artillery?" Zhu Long approached the cannon and reached out to caress it, feeling the hardness, coldness, and heaviness of the cannon body.

This is the world's first artillery, and this is a historic moment!

It's a pity that there is no historian to write it down, or there is another item in the history textbooks of later generations, and the students will have to memorize one more paragraph.

Wei Dingguo didn't know what Zhu Long was thinking, and replied, "No! ”

"Let's try it out!" Zhu Long waved his hand and took a few steps back.

Wei Dingguo was stunned for a moment, and shouted at a few craftsmen standing in the corner of the wall: "What are you stunned about, put on gunpowder!" ”

Several craftsmen hurriedly ran to a large vat, and one of them scooped a full scoop of gunpowder from it with a gourd scoop and poured it into the muzzle.

The other took a wooden stick the thickness of the bowl and stuffed it into the barrel of the cannon, tamping the gunpowder inside.

Seeing him stab hard, Zhu Long took a few steps back without a trace, and said, "Tap, tap, it's easy to explode!" ”

Hearing what the big leader said, the craftsman hurriedly stopped and pulled the thick and long stick out of it.

Another craftsman came with a round iron ball and stuffed it into the barrel through the muzzle, and the ball rolled into the bottom of the barrel with a clang.

Zhu Long's heart was in his throat, and he had never been so nervous when he charged on the battlefield.

What kind of people are these, they don't have any sense of safety at all, and it seems that they won't learn a lesson from a few explosions.

Then someone inserts the fuse through the fuse hole in the back, holds the torch, and is about to light it.

Zhu Long always felt that something was wrong, but he couldn't tell, and as the torch slowly approached the fuse, the feeling of uneasiness became stronger and stronger.

"Wait!" After he gave the order to stop it, the craftsman with the torch stopped and looked at Zhu Long in confusion.

"Something seems wrong!" Zhu Long frowned and thought about it.

"It seems that there is indeed a missing link!" Wei Dingguo also nodded with deep sympathy, but he couldn't think of it for a while.

"Should we push the cannon out of the house?" A craftsman whispered.

Zhu Long and Wei Dingguo were dumbfounded, glanced at each other, and looked away.

"You can too! Then push it out and shoot! Wei Dingguo nodded indifferently.

A craftsman went out to call for someone, and in a few moments more than twenty sturdy lads entered, along with ropes and a few thick wooden poles.

They tied the cannon with ropes, four wooden poles, and eight people carried it, and finally lifted it with difficulty.

Zhu Long estimated in his heart that this cannon should be about 1,400 catties.

He stepped forward to hold on to the barrel of the cannon, not letting the muzzle of the cannon be pointed at the person who raised the bar, for fear that the shell would dangle inside, and under the impact, the gunpowder would be detonated, which would be dangerous.

"Don't even stand in front of the muzzle!" He yelled.

Finally lifted to the door, and the gun was flattened, the muzzle of which was facing a small hill in the distance.

Everyone in the workshop came to watch and see what they had been working on for months!

The first shot in the history of mankind is about to be fired!

Zhu Long felt a sense of pride in his heart, and suddenly made a surprising move, he took the torch from the craftsman's hand, surrounded by Wei Dingguo and his guards, and personally walked behind the cannon, stretched out the torch, and lit the fuse.

I'm the first man in human history to shoot a cannon!

Zhu Long was full of pride in his heart, and took Wei Dingguo and his guards back more than a dozen steps, staring at the muzzle of the cannon.

Rumble!

A burst of fire flashed from the muzzle of the cannon, and a round iron ball rushed out of the muzzle, flying just over a meter away, and then fell to the ground!

There was silence!

After a while, Wei Dingguo stubbornly said: "There is less gunpowder!" ”

Zhu Long nodded, then shook his head again.

He walked over to the iron ball, crouched down, and stared at it for a moment.

"The masters who developed the artillery are here, right?"

"It's all there!" Wei Dingguo nodded, pointing his finger at a few people, "You, you...... If you all stay, everyone else will do whatever they want! ”

The crowd dispersed, and only the thirty or so technicians remained.

"Let's talk about it, what are the problems if the cannon was unsuccessful this time?" Zhu Long asked.

He didn't go into the house for a meeting, just a group of people standing around the artillery.

"Gunpowder is low!" Several people repeated Wei Dingguo's views.

"How much gunpowder did you put in just now, and how much gunpowder should you add next time?" Zhu Long looked at the craftsman who set the gunpowder and asked.

The man was stunned and shook his head blankly.

Zhu Long showed dissatisfaction and said sternly: "You are doing experiments, and you must write down the data every time, and then continue to improve." ”

"Yes, yes! The villain remembered! The craftsman looked panicked and nodded hurriedly.

Zhu Long looked at Wei Dingguo and said, "Remember, every experiment, you have to write down the data!" ”

"Yes! Subordinates must correct it! Wei Dingguo hurriedly assured.

Zhu Long's expression eased slightly, and then asked, "What are the problems with this failure?" ”

The scene was silent for a moment, and a craftsman said boldly: "The iron ball is irregular, not so round, and when it comes out, it is not so smooth, and it will not shoot far!" ”

"Yes, well said!" Zhu Long looked at the craftsman with encouragement and asked, "What is the name of this master?" ”

"Xiao's surname is Liu, Liu Xiaosi!" The master craftsman was flattered and said.

"Lao Wei, you will write down what Master Liu said with a pen and paper, and improve it in the future!"

"Yes!" Wei Dingguo waved his hand at a personal soldier, and immediately pen, ink and paper were delivered, and someone brought a table over.

Looking at Wei Dingguo's respectful way of taking notes, Zhu Long had a familiar feeling, as if he was incarnating the leader of Jin Da.

"Who else found the problem?" Zhu Long continued to ask questions loudly.

"The shell was too small, and it didn't fit tightly with the barrel, and the heat of the gunpowder ran away!" A young craftsman stepped forward.

"Very observant!" Zhu Long gave a thumbs up.

"This is my old subordinate, Chen Lin, a smart and capable young man!" Wei Dingguo hurriedly said.

"Xiao Chen is a good seedling, Lao Wei, you have to be good and cultivate him, don't bury the talent!"

"Yes, the subordinates understand, and the subordinates must cultivate more talents for the lord!"

Zhu Long walked to the middle, glanced around, and said loudly to everyone: "The artillery unit will become an important force of my Zhu family army in the future, as important as the cavalry!" You can also be promoted in the artillery unit! ”

"If you want to fight with knives and guns, you may not be as good as others, but when you become a gunner, you can bombard the enemy from a few miles away and make a contribution!"

"What I'm going to say next is confidential, you must abide by military discipline and can't spread it!"

"The scale of the artillery unit in the future will definitely be very large, tens of thousands of people. You will be the backbone of this army in the future, if you are not an officer, who will be it? ”

"Of course, only if you build a working artillery! This is your chance, and it's up to you whether you can grasp it or not! ”

Zhu Long's words made these craftsmen's eyes light up and their blood boiled!

Originally, most of them were Wei Dingguo's five hundred fire god soldiers, and they turned to be craftsmen, and many of them were a little disheartened, feeling that there was no future for them.

But Zhu Long's words gave them hope, even better than they imagined.

Everyone is full of energy, eager to build a good cannon now, to assemble an artillery unit.

After the meeting, Zhu Long and Wei Dingguo walked side by side, inspecting and guiding the work and communicating with each other.

"Lao Wei, if you have any difficulties, bring them up with me now, and I will find a way to help you solve them!"

Zhu Long was most annoyed by the leaders of his superiors who came down to inspect and investigate, and only knew how to find the problems of the grassroots, and he was responsible for and dealing with people, but he ignored the difficulties of the grassroots and did not help the grassroots solve any difficulties.

For such an official master, Zhu Long just wants to say MMP.

Are you playing official power when you come down?

Zhu Long didn't want to be such a leader, since he had come here, he had to help his subordinates solve practical difficulties and create favorable conditions for them to carry out their work.

Wei Dingguo was hesitating whether to complain, but as soon as Zhu Long said this, he poured bitter water.

"Lord, if you don't ask, your subordinates will have to carry it silently, and they don't dare to add trouble to you. But if you ask, your subordinates will say it directly! ”

"We need a skilled blacksmith, look at this barrel, it's thick and short, what does it look like? But that's all our master blacksmith can do! ”

"If it's thinner or longer, there's no way to make it!"

"It's not so easy to even polish a round iron ball, let alone fit with the barrel?"

……

Zhu Long listened and bowed his head and was silent.

Blacksmith, now!

The King Kong Iron Workshop is already busy enough, not only to build plate armor and weapons, but also to develop cold forging armor, they are too busy!

Now it is the blacksmith workshop in Zhujiazhuang that undertakes the task of building artillery, and the level is a little worse, and there are not enough people.

Fortunately, he bought the King Kong Iron Workshop at the beginning, otherwise Zhu Jiajun's weapons and equipment would not know where to buy them.

Hey! That's right, since the diamond iron mill was bought, why can't you buy two more, remember when I bought the iron mill, there were three alternatives.

Zhu Long decided to go back and let someone deal with this matter.

"Old Wei, this matter is not in a hurry, I will go back and let people find a way! You should use this cannon first, study it well, and get familiar with this artillery! ”

"Also, be safe! It's no joke that you make a safety code, show me, and then implement it, once the gunpowder explodes, not only will you die, but none of you here will be able to escape! ”

"Yes, yes!" Wei Dingguo nodded again and again.

Zhu Long coughed and said, "I'll talk about your problems, you remember it, and go back and rectify it seriously!" ”

"Yes, yes!" Wei Dingguo picked up the brush in his right hand and held the notebook in his left hand, listening attentively to Zhu Long's important speech, and quickly wrote it down, looking serious like a primary school student.

This model is worth promoting, and the cult of personality should be engaged!

Zhu Long was very satisfied.

Leaving Wei Dingguo's artillery research and development base, Zhu Long did not return to the villa, but went directly to the newly built Beidaying below.

"Lord, why are you here?"

Lu Zhishen stepped forward to greet him very warmly, and Wenda, Bao Xu, and Shi En followed behind and saluted together.

"Why didn't Brother Wu Song come with you, he is your general of the guard, how can he protect him closely!"

Lu Zhishen didn't see Wu Song, so he complained.

Zhu Long laughed and said: "In Zhujiazhuang, there is Master Luan in front and Master in the back, what am I afraid of?" ”

"How's this new camp? How does it compare to the previous one? ”

Lu Zhishen scratched his bald head, and said with a smile: "This new camp has expanded a lot, it is bigger than the previous one, and there is no problem with seven or eight thousand people." ”

"The timber was also dismantled and transported from the old camp, and it didn't take much material or time."

"Okay, show me around!" Zhu Long, accompanied by Lu Zhishen and them, inspected the newly built Beidaying on one side.