Wang Ying was staring at the entire manufacturing process of the six-pound cannon. This was something that the prince consort appointed to make. Naturally, he did not dare to neglect any of it, and he also had a full understanding of this "big object".

At this time, watching Zhou Shixian staring at the six-pound cannon in front of him, although he guessed that the other party must have known it, in order to show his professionalism, Wang Ying quickly introduced: "Son-in-law, this is the six-pound cannon that the official and the craftsmen worked hard for more than half a year before finally developing, weighing more than 710 kilograms. This cannon is made of bronze as the main material.

Our gun is like a four-pound gun. As long as you have a skilled gunner to operate, you can shoot faster than a musket. Generally, four gunners need to operate together, which is the most suitable. If it is an extreme situation, two people can do it. In actual combat, it depends on the proficiency of the gunner.

These six-pound cannons are larger and longer than the four-pound cannons, and are much stronger than the four-pound cannons. Within one mile, even a solid shield can be broken. If they reach about a hundred steps, the armored warriors will be directly smashed, and solid bullets and shotguns can be fired.

However, if the six-pound cannon is used to attack the city, it is still somewhat insufficient. Perhaps after the eight-pound cannon is produced, it will be no problem to use these new cannons to attack the city."

As soon as Wang Ying finished speaking, two deafening explosions sounded, and the target cards about 300 steps away from the artillery position were instantly riddled with holes. The six-pound cannon that fired shotguns proved with its strength that Wang Ying said was true.

Zhou Shixian looked at the two target cards that were ten feet in a radius were already shaking, and the shooting accuracy of these artillery soldiers was still good. Of course, this was also related to the caliber and range of the six-pound cannon, and it was also the reason for using shotguns.

After hearing Wang Ying's words and seeing the shooting effect of the six-pound cannon, Zhou Shixian nodded with satisfaction, clapped his hands and exclaimed: "This cannon is really powerful. Thank you for your hard work. This is the son-in-law. I will remember this contribution. I will also remember the hundreds of thousands of troops who went to the battlefield to kill the enemy."

After hearing this, Wang Ying quickly knelt down and said repeatedly that he did not dare, and expressed his loyalty to devote himself to Zhou Shixian and die.

Then, Zhou Shixian turned his head and looked at the heads of several other workshops, encouraging: "The success of the six-pound cannon is the common contribution of everyone. It is because of your joint efforts that our Daming Tian Army has such powerful cannons available, and has well-made muskets to kill the Tartars. If there were no such powerful tools to defeat the enemy, without the bravery of the soldiers to kill the enemy, and without the efforts of you day and night, the Tartars might have already come to Jiangnan, and you are all heroes.

You are all the heroes behind the soldiers and the indelible heroes of my Ming Dynasty. There is still a lot of room for development in the future. As long as someone successfully develops a new, more powerful artillery, and you will definitely be able to get promoted and make money. Your future is unlimited."

The workshop craftsmen present were all excited to hear it. Many people even had their eyes shining when they heard Zhou Shixian tell them that the future was limitless. Zhou Shixian's recognition means that the long-awaited bonus will be in place soon.

After Zhou Shixian encouraged him, he immediately visited the musket workshop with Wang Ying, six-pound cannons, four-pound cannons, as well as other cannons for siege, even gun mounts, fixed-mounted explosives for artillery, etc., which have been successfully developed under the guidance of the Portuguese and the experiments of a few experienced genius craftsmen. These are not something that Zhou Shixian needs to worry too much.

After coming to the musket workshop, Zhou Shixian picked up the latest Lumi gun, and he obviously felt the different weight compared to the Malacca light mesh gun.

After actual combat testing and the current financial situation of the Ming Dynasty, Zhou Shixian finally gave up the large-scale practical use of the flintlock rifle. Of course, it was only temporarily given up. After the cost of the flintlock rifle was reduced to less than five taels of silver and the stability was further improved, Zhou Shixian would still choose to use it as one of the main combat weapons.

Wang Ying still followed Zhou Shixian closely. He also studied muskets and even knew several types of firearms that were mainly used to fight. This is his professional quality as the top leader of the Weapon Bureau. Since Zhou Shixian reformed the assessment method, this position has not been so easy to sit firmly.

"Mr. Prince Concubine, this musket is a new musket imitated by the Rumi gun tributed by Turkey's Rumi. The soldiers at the musket test site have undergone hundreds of tests. The weight, distance and power of each shot have been recorded and have been adjusted to the best.

The cost of this gun is only one-third of the purchase of the Lumi gun, but its power and operation are better than that. However, the bayonet mentioned before is still difficult to implement. First, it is difficult to manufacture, second, the cost is too high, and third, the quality is far from meeting the original requirements of the Prince Consort.”

"Although the matter of flintlock rifle and bayonet is difficult, the workshop still needs to continue to study it. We cannot relax or give up because of this. Not to mention that it is only one year, two years, or even ten years, we have to do it."

Zhou Shixian paused for a moment and continued: "The Lumi gun and the modified turtledove-footed gun must be produced as soon as possible. It must be equipped with all the equipment before the last training camp this winter."

Zhou Shixian originally thought that during the second southern expedition of the Qing army, he could equip the army with a bayonet flintlock rifle, which would make his troops and horses far more powerful than the Qing army.

But the actual situation far exceeded his expectations. It was not that flintlock rifles and bayonets could not be built for a while, but that the cost was too high and it was not suitable for tens of thousands of troops. Even if it was equipped with three or two thousand, it would also make the entire workshop extremely burdened.

Moreover, for Zhou Shixian, the most important thing now is not the muskets with the best equipment and the advantage of generation difference, but the muskets that are not worse than those of the Qing army, and then rely on stricter training to achieve the goal of winning on the battlefield.

After all, violent soldiers are not an easy thing, and training and training a new recruit is even more expensive. Zhou Shixian can only find a balance point while weighing the pros and cons.

After all, although he now controls half of the imperial court, and even gives people a sense of dominance of the imperial court because of military power, he only gains political advantages.

Today, Emperor Chongzhen is far from reaching the point of becoming a puppet, or being under house arrest, and still has a strong political appeal.

After all, this is the emperor of the 18th year of the Ming Dynasty. Many people, at least on the surface, still bought the emperor's account, at least they did not dare to be the first to be the emperor and were openly disobedient.

As time goes by, spring farming in southern Zhili, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Huguang, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan also began, and the training of new recruits was also carried out intensively in various places.

The money, grain and population in these places are gathering from all over the place to the provincial capitals and river terminals, and are continuously transported to the Huaihe River front line and Huguang front line through official roads, waterways, and sea routes.

However, due to the huge military expenditure, weapons and equipment, stability maintenance in various places, training in new recruits, etc., all exceeded Zhou Shixian and the ministers' estimates that all regions were trying their best to raise military funds.

Zhou Shixian was still rectifying the administration, and at the same time, relying on his strong military power and the support of the Zheng family to strictly investigate smuggling in various places. The Ministry of Revenue was also reorganizing the land tax and tracing the tax arrears of the gentry.

In Huguang and other places, Du Yinxi took advantage of the opportunity to wipe out the bandits and soldiers and had to kill again. At the same time, this financial expert also used various advanced means to finally raise the military pay of Li Guoshun’s army, Zuo Liangyu’s army, and the headquarters with the support of Nanjing and Guangdong.

In fact, relying on his strong military strength and officials at all levels of the Ming Dynasty, compared with the Qing army's current levies and taxes in the north, Zhou Shixian and the Ming Dynasty were much more kind.

Gao Yigong, Li Guo and other remnants of the Shun Army also established strong rule in Huguang, western Sichuan and other places, with significant results. After so many years of government construction, they also had a certain level.

As Zhang Xianzhong became more and more out of control, the situation was becoming more and more serious. The rebellion of gentry from various places also caused the West to fall into a vicious cycle of "the more you rebel, the more you kill, the more you kill, the more you rebel."

Now, Zhou Shixian has taken advantage of the Portuguese in Macau and used Guangdong's developed maritime trade to occupy a place in East Asia's maritime trade. The Portuguese were originally in a difficult situation under the heavy blow of various forces, and Zhou Shixian has brought huge trade opportunities in time, which has rejuvenated them.

After reopening the overseas trade between Guangzhou and Macau, Zhou Shixian also collected heavy taxes from it, turning the Portuguese into his worker. In just the first half of a year, he received more than 300,000 silver taxes.

Zhou Shixian has asked someone to investigate. If restrictions are completely lifted in Guangzhou, the Portuguese transportation capacity may not even be able to swallow this huge cake.

Moreover, in order to avoid the Portuguese dominance, causing the Zheng family to rebel, and the need to cultivate their own power, Zhou Shixian will also open foreign trade businesses in Fujian and Zhejiang to draw taxes from it.

However, it may take several years, and it will take him to become emperor before he can achieve it. Guangzhou and Macau have that tradition, and it is a wartime financial situation. It is probably not that simple to open new businesses in other places. The relationship involved is too complicated, and there are countless opposition forces in the court.

Of course, the Zheng family's maritime caravan is still the dominant one in trade with Japan due to years of gaining power and Japan. Zhou Shixian's move is also to check and balance the Zheng family so as not to lose sight of the other party.

With the current Guangzhou-Macao trade being controlled and the prestige of the Nanjing court established, the Nanjing Ming Dynasty could finally gather most of the resources in the control area for war. With reliable logistics supply, weapons and equipment, and more rigorous training, the combat effectiveness of each branch has been greatly improved.
Chapter completed!