When the big man surnamed Qiu saw the scene in front of him, he immediately raised his hands, but he did not have a trace of fear, but laughed loudly, and said with great mockery: "Boy, you are dead, the ass I want to see is opened, this is Tamsui, the Tamsui City of Li Da's shopkeeper, shooting here without authorization, it will be punished with thirty whips."

Thirty whips, a cowhide whip dipped in salt water, will tear your skin open, and you will die ........ ”

The rules of Tamsui City are very strict, especially the restrictions on firearms and weapons, and Li Zhaoji, a start-up in the grass industry, chose strict punishment when formulating the rules.

Li Zhaoji was very satisfied with the scene in front of him, he stayed in Guangzhou for a long time, but it can be seen from the performance of the big man surnamed Qiu that the regulations he formulated were still firmly implemented in his absence.

And the next scene that happened was even more unexpected than Li Zhaoji, the old man surnamed Lu suddenly became angry, pointed at Tang Mu and scolded: "Stinky boy, do you look down on Lao Tzu, why do you point at this stupid big man with a gun and not at me!" ”

The big man surnamed Qiu grinned and said: "Old ghost Lu, you see that you wilt like a rotten eggplant, of course people don't treat you as a threat." ”

Since the two came to Tamsui, they have been fighting endlessly, first competing for craftsmanship, and then competing for speed, the water and fire are incompatible, and they have to compete in all aspects, even if they are threatened with firearms, they have to fight for success, which is really confusing.

"Shut up, this is the shopkeeper of Li, if you dare to make a noise, you will smash your own bowl!" He Liangtao really couldn't stand the quarrel between the two and scolded loudly.

When the spherical man and the old man surnamed Lu heard this, they were stunned, and looked at Li Zhaoji with a dull face, the two of them who were like fighting cocks just now all knelt down and kowtowed in an instant, and the apprentices behind them also hurriedly ran over and knelt on the ground with the master.

"Big shopkeeper, these are the two craftsmen in the firearms workshop, Qiu Biao and Lu Yishou." He Liangtao said to Li Zhaoji.

Li Zhaoji smiled and said, "It seems that there is some unhappiness between the two masters. ”

"Alas, where they are unpleasant, they are simply incompatible." At this time, He Liangtao didn't dare to hide it. He waved his hand and motioned for everyone to stand down.

Qiu Biao and Lu Yishou retreated with their apprentices, and the two corners immediately sounded the sound of clanging and beating, but the sound was not as firm and regular as just now, and it sounded a little absent-minded, and after a while, the sound stopped, and the two craftsmen each quietly hid behind the shelf close to Li Zhaoji and the others talking, eavesdropping on their conversations.

He Liangtao told the grievances and grievances between the two clearly, although the two seem to be incompatible, and it seems that they have been fighting for a long time, but in fact, the two only met after they arrived in Tamsui, and they have never even seen each other before.

Lu Yishou is He Liangtao's old man when he was in Macau, because of his strange personality, the two are not friends, He Liangtao persuaded him to come to Tamsui to make guns, he used some means, especially the use of radical methods, saying that the musket made by Lu Yishou can never meet the standards required by the Oriental Trading Company.

And Qiu Biao is a military household from Jieshiwei, Guangdong, who was secretly introduced by Chen Ping, because of his hot personality, he committed a crime in the guard, and had to come to Tamsui, because he and Tang Mu are not the same guard, so the two do not know each other.

The reason why the two had a quarrel was because they had completely different processes in making muskets.

He Liangtao wanted to pinch the two people together at the beginning to increase the speed of making muskets, but if they were pinched together, there must be a leader, and between the craftsmen, who is the leader depends on the quality of the craftsmanship, but the number of ways for the two to make muskets is completely different, and it suddenly became Mars hitting the earth.

Qiu Biao's double-roll method, which is also the traditional craft of the Ming Dynasty to make muskets, is also recorded in Qi Jiguang's "Ji Xiao Xinshu", that is, to create two wrought iron plates first, and then double roll together, this technology has an advantage, that is, the barrel does not need to be welded, and the working hours are relatively short, but the disadvantage is that the barrel cannot be manufactured long enough.

When the barrel is forged, there is a difference in the hardness of the barrel at different positions due to uneven cooling, and if the difference is too large, it will lead to explosion.

Lu Yishou from Macau used a more traditional splicing method, which is recorded in the "Tiangong Kaiwu", that is, a short barrel is made of wrought iron, and then two or more barrels are welded together to make a long barrel.

The barrel cold created by this splicing method is more uniform than that of the double-roll method, so the quality is guaranteed, but the problem is that the welding of segments is a major test, and only experienced gunsmiths like Lu Yishou can weld qualified barrels, and although he has many apprentices, none of them have this ability.

The two methods have their own advantages and disadvantages, and the two also have their own advantages and disadvantages, Qiu Biao is a fugitive, only brought a son and a nephew as apprentices, and the rest are found temporarily, the team is not as good as Lu Yishou, but the method he uses is relatively simple, and Qiu Biao is at the peak of his life and is full of energy.

Lu Yishou has eight apprentices around him, and he has cooperated with him for many years, but because he himself is old, his spirit is really limited, so he is only responsible for barrel welding.

Originally, both of them could make a qualified barrel, and as long as the barrel was qualified, as for the others, such as the addition of the base, the fixation of the barrel and the body, and various accessories, it was the icing on the cake. However, in order to compete for the position of the third-level treasurer of the firearms workshop, the two fought inextricably, and they both wanted to make the most muskets in the shortest time, so the quality was no longer compromised.

"They've been here for more than a month, haven't you thought about solving this problem?" Tang Mu couldn't help but complain.

Li Zhaoji patted him on the shoulder, pinched it secretly, and signaled Tang Mu not to say more, leaving face for He Liangtao.

Li Zhaoji understands that He Liangtao can't solve it, after all, He Liangtao is in charge of the entire arsenal, and Lu Yishou is his old acquaintance in Macau, even though some people know that the relationship between the two is not very good, but with Lu Yishou as the leader, he will inevitably be regarded as cronyism by Qiu Biao and others, and in other workshops of the arsenal, He Liangtao has arranged a lot of his own people.

Not only were he skilled craftsmen, but he even arranged for some poor acquaintances in Macao to work in the arsenal and receive salaries.

Qiu Biao was secretly sent by Chen Ping, ostensibly arranged by Liu Mingde, and his identity was also a little special.

And He Liangtao felt that the competition between the two had indeed improved the efficiency of making muskets, as for the quality, He Liangtao was very familiar with firearms, and the muskets made by the two were at least much better than those used by the Ming army.

"I originally wanted to let Shopkeeper Liu decide, but Shopkeeper Liu said that you were coming back, and you would wait for the big shopkeeper to decide, so it was delayed until now." He Liangtao said carefully.

Li Zhaoji smiled: "Since everyone wants me to decide, then I'll come." ”

As soon as these words came out, behind the shelves with straw mats, each poked out a head.

Li Zhaoji clapped his palms and said, "Two masters, come out........" ”

The two stood in front of Li Zhaoji, and after knowing his identity, both of them were honest.

In the eyes of the old people of the trading company, especially the high-level executives who have had a lot of contact with Li Zhaoji, Li Zhaoji is a heroic, fair, and generous leader, and is an admirable leader. But in the eyes of later generations such as Qiu Biao and Lu Yishou, it is very different, after all, their perception of Li Zhaoji does not come from contact, but from those true and false legends.

In the eyes of these people, Li Zhaoji is decisive in killing, extremely ruthless, and a murderer in the world, they have all seen the arrogant Dongfan barbarians, and even the barbarians can surrender, can they be good friends? Therefore, in front of Li Zhaoji, both of them became very honest.

The two of them stood up, and the apprentices also came over, after all, it was the time to decide their fate, and if their master became the head of the workshop, he would be a head taller in front of the other apprentices.

Li Zhaoji whispered a few words to Tang Mu, and after a while, Tang Mu brought two bullet belts used by his entourage, each bullet with twelve bamboo barrels, three of which were primers, and two were loaded with hair and ejection.

"Two masters, from the arquebuses you have made, each take three of the ones you think are of the best quality." Li Zhaoji commanded.

Qiu Biao and Lu Yishou walked to their respective gun racks, picked and chosen, and selected three, Li Zhaoji each handed each other a bullet belt, and said: "Each gun is tested three times, which one has no explosive chamber, and which one is in charge of this gun workshop." ”

"Ahh The two exclaimed, Qiu Biao took out a bamboo tube, opened it, poured the hair and ejaculation inside into his hand, and said, "Do you want to put it all in?" ”

"Naturally." Lee Siu Kee said.

Lu Yishou's frowning face suddenly turned red, and he said, "This ..... It's not safe, isn't it? ”

"You can also opt out." Li Zhaoji said indifferently.

Qiu Biao saw that Lu Yishou was a little cringe, gritted his teeth and said, "Okay, I'll try!" ”

Although he was bold, the people around him were not allowed, and the two teenagers ran over, each hugging one of Qiu Biao's legs, and shouted: "Dad (third uncle), don't, it's going to die, you're dead, how can we live." ”

These two are the sons and nephews who followed Qiu Biao to Tamsui to beg for a living, and their lives depend on Qiu Biao, but they don't dare to let him have a mistake.

Qiu Biao saw his son and nephew like this, and he hesitated in his heart.

Li Zhaoji laughed and said, "Test firing may not hurt your life." ”

Qiu Biao took a step forward, opened his arms, and protected his nephew and apprentice behind him like an old hen, and said angrily: "Big shopkeeper, I beat these birds, I should have come, they are all children, don't force them." ”

Li Zhaoji shook his head slightly, reached out and overturned the table of the Eight Immortals on the side, pulled out the pistol on Tang Mu and his body, and fired several shots at it, making a hole bigger than a fist.

He stuffed a bird gun into it, tied the trigger with a rope, and did this, and the rest of the people understood that they could shoot at a distance with a rope, and even if they exploded, there was a table to block it, and they couldn't hurt anyone.

"You, you ........" Li Zhaoji named three people in each of the two apprentices, and said: "You take the bird guns shot by the masters outside the arsenal, find the dirt slope, and test the gun according to my method, load twice the gunpowder, and if you don't blow up the bore, take it back and improve it, and if you blow it up, it will be invalid."

Tang Mu, you bring someone to supervise them. ”

He Liangtao said: "The big shopkeeper, is it a person who has made a lot of qualified birds to lead the firearms workshop. ”

Li Zhaoji smiled coldly: "It's really a joke to waste so much materials and money in the trading company, spend a lot of time and energy on these masters, make a gun with a bore, and want to be promoted and make a fortune." If you want to be promoted, you have to show real skills, and I have other arrangements for the selection of talents. ”