Atta was certainly interested, he was interested in all things new, especially those that would directly improve the strength of the army, and during this time, he traveled back and forth between Tamsui and the tribe, and every time he came, he would take the initiative to visit places and learn about things that the people of Kaidagran had never heard of.

At the very least, it was now clear to Atta and his samurai that the musket was not a supernatural power of thunder and fire, but a weapon that combined gunpowder with steel.

Of course, after visiting the shipyard and other trading company industries, Atta was also impressed by its scale and technology, and understood that this was not something that the people of Kaidagran could master, but this did not affect his enthusiasm. Even just looking at the appearance and looking at the excitement can benefit Atta a lot, at least two axes in exchange for one golden sand has become impossible with the growth of the knowledge of the people of Kaidagran.

The trading company's arsenal is located in the east of Tamsui Castle, side by side with the shipyard, and the use of a separate dock and the planning of land no less than the size of the shipyard suggests that the arsenal is definitely one of the most important industries of the trading company.

He Liangtao is in charge of the arsenal as the second-level shopkeeper of the trading company, and from the various resources he has obtained, everyone knows that the second-level shopkeeper of Mr. He is only temporary, and he will become the first-class shopkeeper sooner or later.

The ship's six-pounder and nine-pounder long-barreled guns, bronze six-pounder field guns, and mass-produced muskets were the three goals set by Li Zhaoji for He Liangtao, and if he completed two of them, he could become a first-class treasurer.

Ho Liangtao was full of confidence in this, many of his subordinates came from the Bu Jia Lao Cannon Foundry in Macau, and the casting cannon was a good hand, and the iron was also pig iron smelted from charcoal directly bought from Guangzhou, and the raw materials used in Bu Jia Lao were the same, the only difference was that they originally cast four-pounder guns and eight-pounder guns, and now Li Zhaoji has changed to the British six-pounder and nine-pounder calibers, so some experiments are needed.

Fortunately, among the personnel who originally belonged to William's fleet, there were also two firearms experts who could provide assistance, so that the production of naval guns quickly became regular.

And the creation of field artillery hit a bottleneck from the very beginning.

First of all, the trading company did not have enough copper and tin materials, He Liangtao proposed to use iron casting like naval guns, anyway, whether it was the Ming and Qing battlefields, or the European battlefields mentioned by the Taixi people, iron cannons were also the mainstream, but Li Zhaoji had extremely high requirements for the weight of field artillery, and only bronze cannons could meet them.

Li Zhaoji's request for the army's field artillery needs to meet the requirements of lightness and strong mobility, so the gun carriage cannot be an old-fashioned simple gun carriage modified from the naval gun, Li Zhaoji personally drew the drawings of the field artillery vehicle, and put forward rigid requirements for the height of the wheels, He Liangtao asked the Portuguese craftsmen and the English craftsmen, and found that they had not been exposed to similar things, so they could only conduct experiments.

Because of the lack of raw materials, He Liangtao could only use an existing four-pounder naval gun to test, ensuring that the trial production of the gun carriage was also on the right path.

The manufacture of firecrackers is a ready-made technology, so He Liangtao invested more resources in naval guns and firecrackers, striving to become a first-class shopkeeper in the shortest possible time and entered the decision-making level of a trading company.

The gunsmith's workshop is located in the interior of the arsenal, a huge workshop made of bricks and stones, with wood as the roof, and the first tiles produced in the kiln are used in this factory, and Li Zhaoji is also the first time to visit.

Before he came, he had already met He Liangtao, and He Liangtao assured that as long as the materials were sufficient, he could make four arquebuses a day. From Liu Mingde and Yang Yandi, Li Zhaoji got bad news.

Liu Mingde told Li Zhaoji that there were gangs and infighting in the arsenal, especially in the gun shop, and Yang Yandi even told Li Zhaoji that the muskets produced in the gun shop were not suitable, there was a danger of exploding, and they did not meet the standards set by Li Zhaoji for the trading company's guards.

But when Li Zhaoji walked into the workshop with Atta, the scene in front of him made Li Zhaoji understand that what Liu Mingde and Yang Yandi said was not groundless.

In the huge workshop, the real workstation is only the northwest and southeast corners, which are clearly divided into two factions, and in this workshop, the maximum distance is opened.

There are only two stoves in each station, and each of them has seven or eight craftsmen and apprentices busy at work, and the sound of beating is one after another, and between the two stations, there are piles of tools, materials and shelves, and in the rainproof workshop, there are also tarpaulins and straw mats, as if neither of the two stations wants to see each other.

The workshop is semi-underground, so Li Zhaoji came in like going directly to the second floor, he did not disturb the two groups of people who were working, and even beckoned himself and Atta's entourage to go out, reducing the number of visitors to a minimum.

"Let's look at the finished product first." Li Zhaoji remained silent and said to He Liangtao, who guided the visit.

A group of four people went down to the workshop and walked to the gun rack, which was also clearly divided into two, placed opposite each other, and each hung the musket that had been made.

The four of them each stepped forward to take out a shot and checked it in their hands, He Liangtao was holding a musket, but he peeked at Li Zhaoji's reaction.

Li Zhaoji carefully examined the musket, his face was solemn, and he shook his head slightly, very dissatisfied.

Tang Mu touched the barrel of the gun and couldn't put it down, but soon his face became a little more disgusted.

Only Atta, one in one hand, posed from time to time, excited and inexplicable.

Li Zhaoji put down the musket in his hand, picked up another one, took a look at it and put it back, and said directly to He Liangtao: "Mr. He, these muskets are not qualified. ”

These muskets were not the arquebuses that Li Zhaoji wanted, but the traditional bird guns of the Ming army, and the difference was very large.

The arquebuses that Lee Siu Kei wanted needed to be fired from the shoulder, and now the arquebuses of trading companies are the same, whether they were captured from English ships or purchased in Macao, as long as they were qualified, Lee Siu Kee asked the carpenters to improve the style that could be fired from the shoulder.

As for the standard arquebus, there are no accessories such as sub-loading ammunition, leather carrying gear, bayonets, etc., which are available in trading companies.

What was most unsatisfactory to Li Zhaoji was that these bird guns did not have the basic conditions for assembling bayonets.

Of course, the arquebuses used by the trading company guards today are also very simple to use to create a prismatic or modified sword, and the handle is made of cork, cut to a diameter slightly larger than the barrel, and when needed, it can be tucked directly into it, rather than a sleeve or cassette bayonet of the flintlock era.

It's an extremely simple method, and even then, it can't be used.

This is due to the fact that most of the sequebuses of trading companies were captured from the English fleet, and were various variants of the Sol arquebuses in Europe.

The barrel of these arquebuses has a base on the side of the butt, and the body and the base are rigidly connected with rivets, so that when the bayonet is inserted and the piercing is carried out, the barrel and the body will not be separated.

In fact, the early days of the Ming Dynasty were also the same, after all, the Ming Dynasty's bird guns were copied from the Japanese arquebus, and the Japanese arquebus was copied from the Portuguese arquebus, which is essentially in the same vein.

However, the Ming Dynasty's weapon manufacturing system led to changes in the process of turning the arquebus into a bird gun, and the quality of the bird gun was extremely poor, and in the border army, it was better to use a three-eyed gun than to use a bird gun that was easy to explode, and even if it was used, it was to be filled with half or even one-third of the gunpowder, so as not to explode.

The low quality of the bird gun is not only reflected in the all-important barrel, but also in the way the barrel is connected to the body.

The hard-to-process base on the barrel disappeared directly from the bird, and the barrel and the body of the gun were tied together with copper skin, and later, even copper hoops were rare, and the barrel and the body of the gun were directly tied together with hemp rope.

Such a musket is equipped with a bayonet, and with a little force, the barrel separates from the barrel of the gun, and it cannot be used for stabbing at all.

The musket produced by the firearms workshop presided over by He Liangtao for the trading company used copper hoops, which were already particular about the materials.

"Big shopkeeper, among the Ming army, this kind of musket is already a rare boutique, I dare to guarantee that these muskets are ........" He Liangtao said with a smile on his face.

Li Zhaoji's face was as usual, in front of Atta, he didn't want to attack, but he still used a firm tone, and raised his voice, telling He Liangtao: "I said, these muskets are not qualified." ”

"Who are you to question my craft here?" The beating on the workstation in the southeast corner stopped at some point, and a man appeared behind Li Zhaoji.

His figure was not tall, his upper body was naked, his dark skin was like a half-cut iron tower, he was holding an iron hammer in his hand, and he shouted angrily.

Before Li Zhaoji could speak, an old man from the northwest workstation came over, his mouth was full of big yellow teeth, and the tongs clattered, and said to the big man: "The surname Qiu, I said it a long time ago, your craftsmanship is not good, see it, the merchants can see it at a glance." ”

The big man surnamed Qiu brandished a hammer and shouted to the old man: "Old ghost Lu, you don't talk nonsense here, what this young man said is that all the muskets are not qualified, do you still think your craftsmanship is good, joke." ”

When the old man surnamed Lu heard this, his angry beard was cocked, he pointed at Li Zhaoji with tongs, strode over, and shouted: "Where did you come from, you don't know how to do things, dare to question my craftsmanship, when Lao Tzu made bird guns in Macau, you still wore open crotch pants!" ”

The big man surnamed Qiu also came over and echoed and said: "That is, the musket made by Lao Tzu is not even comparable to that of the Imperial Court Staff Bureau, you are pointing here and saying that you are not qualified, if it is not for the fact that you are a merchant brought by Mr. He, Lao Tzu will crush your head with a hammer." ”

The more the two talked, the more angry they became, Li Zhaoji was very helpless, the two of them didn't give him a chance to speak at all, but both of them approached with tools, and the more they talked, the more excited they became, Tang Mu, as the only personal entourage by Li Zhaoji's side, dared to sit idly by.

He pulled out the flintlock pistol and fired a shot into the sky, and with a bang, he pulled out another one and aimed it at the big man surnamed Qiu: "Retreat, all retreat...... ”