At the end of March, outside Shengjing City.

At this time, a large number of houses have been built outside Shengjing City, and the city is densely packed on all sides, together with the original Guanxiang houses in Shengjing City, they were forcibly requisitioned by Dolgon's order, and a large number of craftsmen and people were mobilized to settle in.

Like the Shengjing City, there is also Liaoyang City, which is also a large construction project at this time, and a large number of houses have been built around the outside of the city.

The houses were not haphazardly constructed, but rather scattered, divided into courtyards, where a large number of craftsmen and men were settled and began to build various firearms and armaments for the Manchus.

On this day, Dolgon rode out of Shengjing City in the Ming Huangluan and came to the large workshop houses in the east of the city.

I saw hundreds of elite horses of the Yellow Flag Bayala Battalion rushing into the road between the courtyards, and then began to cordon off, and the two White Flag elites led by Duoduo also followed.

There are also Prince Dai Shan, Prince Yi Babutai, Prince Su Lai Mubu, Prince Zheng Fei Yangguo, as well as the Eight Banners of Mongolia and the Eight Banners of the Han Army's Gushan Ezhen, as well as the Baya La soldiers of each banner, elite soldiers, etc., the mighty tens of thousands of horses, almost all the workshop areas in the east of Shengjing City are enclosed.

Wearing a yellow dragon robe, Dolgon stepped off the carriage and began to inspect the production of this workshop under the escort of Manchurian Zhenghuang Banner Gushan Ezhen Niekesai and Yellow Banner Gushan Ezhen Murcha.

The Minister of Parliament, Ying Erdai, followed closely behind, and the two large-scale workshops in Shengjing and Liaoyang, as well as the procurement of various raw materials, were all specifically responsible for Ying Erdai, so it was natural at this time

It was up to him to report to Dorgon.

"Your Majesty, the minions have made contact with the eight Jin merchants of the Ming Kingdom, and now the first batch of goods has been transported to all parts of the grassland by their caravans, and after being accepted by the soldiers of the Mongolian banners, they are being transported to Shengjing and Liaoyang in a steady stream."

"Your Majesty, please see, the first few rows of workshops are all making fire guns, and further on are the workshops that assemble fire guns, and the craftsmen here are all craftsmen who have been captured from the Ming Kingdom over the years, and they have been teaching apprentices over the years, and they have also trained a lot of people."

"Those houses in the east are the workshops for casting artillery, because the casting process of my Qing Dynasty is not as good as Liu Yanbu of the Ming Dynasty for the time being, so it can only be exchanged for production in terms of scale, and under the large-scale casting, more than 500 artillery pieces can be cast in a year."

Dolgon was slightly moved, and asked, "It's just the output of Shengjing?" ”

"Yes, just Shengjing alone can cast more than 500 artillery pieces every year!"

Dolgon's face also lit up with joy, but then a question came to his mind, and he asked, "How much money does it cost?" ”

Ying Erdai said truthfully: "The consumption of casting artillery alone is already worth the annual expenditure of two yellow and two white flags in Manchuria. ”

"And this amount is also the output when the supply of iron and various materials is sufficient, if there is a shortage of supplies on the side of the Shanxi merchants, or there are some delays on the road, the output of artillery will also be affected."

Hearing this, Dolgon suddenly gasped, it seems that although the Qing Dynasty now has the strength to build firearms on a large scale, it has also carried a heavy burden because of this

Picul.

"Alas!"

Dolgon sighed and said: "A few days ago, I also received reports from various places, and now the drought in Liaodong is serious, and the imperial court is temporarily unable to provide money and grain relief, which has led to an increase in civil unrest in various places. The imperial court also has to raise money and food to build firearms and reform the military system, and I am also in a dilemma, which is really miserable! ”

Duoduo, Babutai, Lai Mubu, Fei Yangguo and others bowed down one after another: "Your Majesty's work on state affairs is a blessing for our slaves, and please Your Majesty cherish the dragon body and put the national body first!" ”

Dolgon's heart was apprehensive, and then he asked Ingeldai, "Go to the Firebolt Workshop." ”

"Huh."

A moment later, Dorgon and the rest of the group arrived at the Musket Workshop outside the city, where Dolgon picked up a bird gun from the weapon rack and looked at it carefully.

I saw that this bird gun was well-made, and the whole body was jet black, both in length and shape, it was very similar to the flintlock bird gun used by Liu Yan's new army.

Dolgon was very happy when he saw this, but after seeing a long firerope sandwiched on the dragon's head, the joy on his face suddenly dissipated a lot: "This is still an arquebus?" ”

Ying Erdai said: "Your Majesty Mingjian, although I can also create a flintlock bird gun like Liu Yanbu in the Qing Dynasty, but the quality is always not up to par, there are too many dumb fire situations, seven or eight guns are dumb fire for every ten guns, and there are many faults in the flint bird gun, and it is not as good as this arquebus." ”

"What about range and power?"

"Your Majesty, please move to the shooting range."

"Hmm!"

Surrounded by everyone, Dolgon then came to a shooting range on the outskirts of the workshop, where more than a dozen Han Chinese had been prepared

At this time, all of them were tied to a wooden stake seventy paces away, and I saw that these dozen people, both men and women, old and young, were crying and begging for mercy.

Moreover, the dozen or so Han people were all wearing the armor of the Qing army, and each of them was wearing a double layer of armor, and Dolgon also felt very fresh when he saw this.

Immediately the Ying Erdai ordered people to start the test gun, only to see 20 Han soldiers of the Yellow Banner lined up, at a distance of 60 steps from the Han people, they all raised the bird guns, with the Ying Erdai under an order, 20 Manchu Qing Dynasty made bird guns at the same time, after a roar, more than a dozen Han people in front of them were shot, screams one after another.

Seeing this, Dolgon was overjoyed, and the Qing Dynasty's self-made bird gun could break through the double layers of heavy armor at a distance of sixty paces, which showed the strength of the lethality.

At this time, most of the more than a dozen Han people had died, and the few surviving people were also angry, and they were immediately hacked to death by the Qing soldiers who came up with knives.

Dorgon asked, "Can the kind of knife equipped by Liu Yanbu's bird soldiers be copied in the workshop?" ”

Ying Erdai pleaded guiltily and said: "Your Majesty, forgive the incompetence of the minions, the craftsmen have imitated it day and night, but the knives created cannot be popularized, not that the knives themselves are too easy to break and cannot be killed at all, or that after inserting the knives, the bird guns cannot shoot normally, and even explode." ”

"That's why the minions think that my banners in the Great Qing Dynasty still equip the bird guns with short knives for self-defense, and when they are in close combat, they still let the warriors of each banner fight hand-to-hand and carry forward the strengths of my warriors in the Great Qing Dynasty."

Dorgon nodded slowly, for now, that was all there was to it.

"What is the monthly production of bird guns now?

”

"Your Majesty, now a large number of workshops in Shengjing and Liaoyang have a huge output, and on average, they can build 8,000 fine birds, more than 40 artillery pieces, more than 7,000 catties of gunpowder, and various blades, armor and other equipment every month."

"Well, that's good!"

Although the bird guns created by the Qing Dynasty are still not as good as the flint-haired bird guns equipped by Liu Yanbu, it is already a great progress for the Qing Dynasty.

According to this output, as long as it takes a few more months, the soldiers and horses of the banners of the Great Qing Dynasty will be equipped with a considerable number of firearms, and at least in terms of firepower, they will never be worse than Liu Yanbu's firepower.

"I don't believe that with the power of the Qing Dynasty, it can't compete with the eastern corner of Liu Yan's mountain!"

Although Liu Yan is now the first assistant of the Ming cabinet, Dolgon believes that Liu Yan cannot use the manpower and financial resources of the entire Ming Dynasty for his own use, and the only place that really supports the operation of hundreds of thousands of new troops and garrisons is only one place in Shandong, which is where Dolgon's confidence lies.

Dolgon immediately praised the British Erdai, not only rewarded the British Erdai with the title of university scholar, but also handed over the Manchu officials and household departments to the British Erdai to be under the control.

Received Dolgon's heavy use, Ingeldai was immediately overjoyed, and immediately made a series of guarantees to Dolgon, such as increasing the production of bird guns to 10,000 per month within three months.

Dorgon smiled and asked, "Can you really do it?" ”

Ying Erdai hesitated for a moment, and then said: "Now the workshops in Shengjing City and Liaoyang City are very expensive, as long as the imperial court can support the monthly supply of money and food in two places, the minions will definitely be able to do it!"

”

Dolgon frowned slightly, now the financial resources of the Manchu Qing Dynasty are close to exhaustion, rebuilding the soldiers and horses of the banners, and issuing bereavement pensions to the bannermen, has almost exhausted the money and grain reserves of the entire Manchu Dynasty, and now supplies a large number of workshops in Shengjing City and Liaoyang City, which are also hard to support.

Seeing Dorgon's predicament, Dordor, who was on the side, said, "Your Majesty, it is better to levy more taxes on all places!" ”

Babutai, Lai Mubu, Fei Yangguo and a group of Gushan Ezhen of the Mongolian and Han army banners all agreed, only Dai Shan and Zu Dashou changed color slightly, obviously both of them knew that this was a practice of exhausting and fishing.

Not to mention anything else, how much chaos has been caused by the collection of three salaries in the Ming Kingdom, and now Li Zicheng's million-strong army is still raging in the north of the Ming Kingdom, God knows what chaos will be caused after the Qing Dynasty increases taxes and taxes!

It's just that in this era, Shanhe Zu Dashou knew that people were soft-spoken, and he didn't dare to say anything, just bowed his head and sighed silently.

Dolgon is not a mediocre person, and naturally knows what it means to levy additional taxes, especially for all parts of Liaodong that are as poor as the Ming Dynasty today, the civil uprising is certain, and if it is not done well, there will be no peace in the rear of the Qing Dynasty!

But now Dolgon has no other choice? The answer is definitely no!

So Dolgon said to the accompanying Minister of Parliament, Rausa: "Aiqing is responsible for the tax increase, and it will be implemented as soon as possible, and all the money and grain that will increase the income will be used for the expenses of the workshops in Shengjing City and Liaoyang City!" ”

Rausa complained in his heart, this is a thankless task, but at this time, he can only bite the bullet and receive the order.

Then Dolgon, surrounded by everyone, came to the north of Shengjing City, only to see this

Dozens of Han craftsmen were escorted to the front, and under Dolgon's questioning, Ying Erdai replied: "Your Majesty, the servants have been ordered to search for craftsmen who know how to make firearms from all over Liaodong, and now they have recruited thousands of craftsmen and thousands of people. Those people are all people who refuse to serve our Qing Dynasty, so the minions ordered them to be executed in order to deter those who have two hearts! ”

Dolgon's eyes suddenly showed a hint of murderous aura, and he said in a cold voice: "It's very good, it can't be used for the Qing Dynasty, and there is no need to live anymore." For this kind of person who thinks of the Ming Kingdom, he can't just kill one head, but kill his whole family, young and old! ”

"Minion Command!"

The next day, still in the north of Shengjing City, hundreds of men, women and children were driven to the wilderness, the sound of crying and grabbing the sky soared into the sky, but then it was interrupted by a violent roar of birds, hundreds of men, women and children were killed one after another, blood flowed under the wilderness outside the city, and the surrounding Qing soldiers immediately cheered when they saw this, as if they were not shooting unarmed people, but the elite of Liu Yanbu, who had experienced a hundred battles.