On the third day of the seventh month of the first year of Jiajing, the summer heat was still hot at the end of the midsummer. Yesterday, a heavy rain broke out yesterday, and the sky was blue. On the road twenty miles west of Fuchengmen, there were endless business trips. Although the flow of people was not as east of the capital (to Tongzhou), it was obviously far better than before.

Since the "Tiger Cup" in May, the sport of Cuza has become more popular in Beijing. All kinds of nobles have formed their own sport teams. The rich merchants and merchants have rushed to follow suit. The sport of Cuza has also spread to all parts of the country, especially in wealthy places such as Jiangnan, where the sport is particularly popular.

The Cuzi sports are so popular that the people who benefit the most are naturally the first to make arrangements. Today, the Dongshan Cuzi venue is very popular, and almost every day there are teams renting venues to compete. Near Dongshan, the fields near both sides of the official road have been bought. In just over two months, dozens of buildings have appeared here, most of which are in inns and food businesses, and some sell daily necessities, pens, inks, paper and inkstones.

Some nearby villagers also went to the street stalls on the roadside and started a ghost-track business. They sold a variety of things, and the prototype of a small market has been initially revealed.

It is worth mentioning here that in order to further increase popularity and facilitate the exchanges between the people in the city, Duke of Wei Xu Pengju spent 5,000 taels to widen the 20-mile official road from Fuchengmen to Wubaiying, and was covered with gravel and fine sand. It was easy to travel even on rainy days. If the carriage was fast, it would be accessible in half an hour, and even if it was walking for more than an hour. In ancient times when traffic was backward, this section of the road was undoubtedly equivalent to a modern highway.

As the saying goes, the road is open and wealth is easy to walk, and public security has improved. Passing business travelers are willing to take this road to Beijing. If they can't get into the city late, they will choose to stay in a hotel here, so Dongshan is even more popular.

On this day, when the sun was rising, vendors selling breakfast on both sides of the official road were preparing to pack up and leave. Several carriages with military commandments were riding past the official road and finally stopped outside the camp gate of the Five Hundred Camp in Xishan.

After a little leaning, the carriage of the military battle drove into the Five Hundred Battalions. Soon after, bursts of gunfire sounded in the camp. It was no wonder that the nearby vendors were used to this. It is said that the Five Hundred Battalions were established by the emperor himself, specially designed to try out the new firearm flintlock rifle. The Ministry of War was responsible for supervising the construction of the Flintlock rifle. He often passed by the official road and occasionally bought food from the vendors beside the road. He was very approachable and very good at talking. The vendors were proud to be able to talk to Mr. Xu!

At this moment, in the shooting range of the 500 Battalion, ten soldiers from the 500 Battalion were testing the new flintlock rifle that had just been transported by the Army War. Xu Jin and a group of generals were watching. The eunuch Lai Yi, the head of the army war, and He Bantou and Liu Bantou were also present. Both of them looked a little nervous.

It is said that since Xu Jin personally tested the gun and exploded the barrel last time, He Bantou and Liu Bantou worked hard, spent a month improving the flintlock rifle, and another ten days to test it, and confirmed that there was no problem, so they dared to report it to Xu Jin.

As a result, Xu Jin pulled ten flintlock samples to the 500th battalion for trial, and found many minor problems. In just one month, he had been modified six times. Now He Bantou and Liu Bantou have been a little nervous.

Not to mention He Liu's two squad leaders, even Eunuch Lai was a little anxious and his eyes were covered with blood. After all, it has been five months since the beginning of February. If you can't produce a qualified finished product, it's hard to explain it to the above. The officials of the Ministry of Revenue have already complained, and the allocation of money and materials is not as pleasant as before.

Bang bang bang bang...

The cigarettes were everywhere, and eight of the ten targets that were fifty steps away were penetrated, and the cheers were immediately heard, and the two team leaders He Liu also looked a little relaxed.

Xu Jin nodded secretly. The ancient unit of distance measurement was "steps", one step was equivalent to the current 1.38 meters, and fifty steps were about 70 meters. The maximum range of muskets in the Ming Dynasty could reach about 100 meters, and the effective range was about 50 meters. If you want to pierce armor, the distance could not exceed 30 meters. Nowadays, flintlock rifles can penetrate targets 70 meters away, and their effective range has undoubtedly exceeded 50 meters of muskets.

Xu Jin ordered the test of the armor-piercing ability of the flintlock rifle. As a result, within a distance of 50 meters, the flintlock rifle could penetrate the general armor of the Ming army, and it would not work if it exceeded 50 meters. Of course, this power also exceeded the 30-meter armor-piercing power of the firearms.

Finally, Xu Jin ordered people to test the maximum range of the flintlock rifle, and the results showed that it was 150 steps, which was also far beyond the traditional musket.

In this way, the maximum range, effective range, and armor-breaking range of the flintlock rifle are all beyond the traditional muskets of the Ming army.

All the three main indicator tests were passed perfectly. Liu Bantou and He Bantou finally let go of the big rocks in their hearts. Eunuch Lai's old face was as happy as a chrysanthemum blooming, and he smiled and said, "Mr. Xu, are these flintlock guns still acceptable?"

Xu Jin nodded affirmatively and said, "It's very good. I have worked hard for the past six months to rely on my father-in-law and the two squad leaders. I will report to the emperor truthfully, and your contributions and rewards are indispensable!"

Liu He and the other two were happy, and Eunuch Lai's smile became even brighter. He said, "Mr. Xu is too rewarded, what's the point of working hard for the emperor?"

Xu Jin smiled and gestured to Wang Lin'er. The latter immediately understood and took people to get five hundred taels of silver from the warehouse.

Looking at the box of snowflakes, He Liu and his two leaders were straightened. Eunuch Lai rubbed his hands and smiled, "What does Lord Xu mean?"

Xu Jin smiled and said, "This is five hundred taels of silver. He Bantou and Liu Bantou each reward one hundred taels. The remaining three hundred taels will be decided by Eunuch Lai, who will drink and add vegetables to the brothers in the military battle to repay everyone's hard work over the past six months."

He Bantou and Liu Bantou were ecstatic, as if they were hit by a pie falling from the sky, and they were dizzy.

"Why are you standing there? You haven't thanked Lord Xu!" Eunuch Lai cursed with a smile.

He Bantou and Liu Bantou were so excited that they knelt down and thanked him. One hundred silver was equivalent to their wages for nearly three years in the military war.

Eunuch Lai obviously gave 100 taels of silver to He Bantou and Liu Bantou on the spot. They held ten ingots of snowflakes and were as happy as if they were drunk. They felt that the hard work over the past six months was worth it.

If the horse wants to run fast, it is natural to let the horse eat good grass. Xu Jin has always treated useful talents with no means to treat them well. When money is given in place, it is the driving force for employees to work hard. All bosses who advocate feelings and ideals but refuse to give benefits to employees are all treacherous and fooled.

It is worth mentioning here that He Liu and his two troupes not only created the flintlock rifle, but also invented a new loading method. Each flintlock rifle is equipped with a "magazine".

Of course, it is not a magazine like modern guns, but a small wooden box, where twenty small medicine bottles are neatly placed, containing a regular amount of gunpowder. When the soldiers use it, they just need to take out one medicine bottle and pour the gunpowder into the medicine chamber of the flintlock rifle and do it.

In this way, not only does it save time, but it also achieves quantitative dosing. There is no need to worry about the soldiers putting too much medicine and causing the blow-off, nor does it have to worry about putting too little medicine and causing duds.

In addition, He Liu and the others also came up with a method to soak rough paper in lard to wrap lead bullets. The rough paper soaked by lard cannon is very lubricated. When it is put into the barrel, it can easily penetrate into the innermost part. Moreover, it can also increase the air tightness of the barrel and greatly improve the range.

You should know that time is life on the battlefield. Every time the range and rate of fire of the flintlock rifle increases by one point, the lethality of the enemy may increase several times. Therefore, just for these two inventions, Xu Jin felt that it would not be an exaggeration to reward He Liu and his two 10,000 taels.

Eunuch Lai asked someone to carry the cash box onto the carriage and said with a smile: "Mr. Xu, since the flintlock rifle has passed the test, can it be built in batches?"

Xu Jin nodded and said, "I will report to the emperor to the meeting and request that 500 equipment be built first. However, I still hope that the military battle can continue to develop flintlock rifles with a range of more than 200 steps."

He Liu and the others had just received a reward of 100 taels, and they were full of energy. After hearing this, they immediately patted their chests and said, "Don't worry, we will definitely be able to create a flintlock rifle with a range of more than 200 steps by the end of the year."

Lai Yi was in a good mood at the moment and didn't care. He laughed and scolded: "Don't yawn. If you can't make it, take care of your skin!"

He Liu and the others realized that they were a little too big. At present, the maximum range of the flintlock rifle is only 150 steps. It is not easy to increase the range of fifty steps. They smiled awkwardly.

Xu Jin smiled and said, "Don't hurry, take it slowly, the power of the flintlock rifle is already very good now. If you can strive for excellence, it will be the best. So, before the end of the year, if the range of the flintlock rifle can be increased by twenty steps, I will reward you with another 100 taels."
Chapter completed!