"Huangming Times?" Xu Shiyi couldn't help but interject. "What is this?"
"Dad, Huang Ming Times is not a thing, hey." Xu Yingwei said angrily, "It's just a newspaper, similar to the Di Bao issued by the imperial court to local states and counties, but with more content."
Shi Jiuke also said: "There are articles, poems and even ghosts in the newspapers."
"Ghosts?" Xu Shiyi suddenly became energetic. He likes to see ghosts the most.
"Dad, since you like to read it, you can order a copy later." After Xu Yingwei finished speaking, he asked Shi Jiuke, "Brother, let's talk about your workshop."
"Oh, yes, we are talking about workshops." Shi Jiuke said quickly, "This notice from the Huangming Times said that it can provide capital and participate in handicraft workshops in eight prefectures and one state in the south of the Yangtze River to expand their business scale. I don't know about Shaoxing.
Is that possible?"
Shaoxing is not part of the Eight Prefectures and One Prefecture in Jiangnan, so Shi Jiuke is not sure whether he can get money from the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China.
"Hey, I thought it was a big deal, is this it?" Xu Yingwei said with a smile, "I can solve this matter with just one sentence. Zheng Zunqian, the big boss of the Industrial and Commercial Bank, is my iron brother."
"Really?" Shi Jiuke was overjoyed when he heard this, "Youzhen, I'll leave it to you."
"No problem, it's a small matter." Xu Yingwei waved his hands, and then said, "But there is one thing, how many taels of silver are your silk reeling and weaving workshops worth, and how many taels of silver did the Industrial and Commercial Bank take as a shareholding?
But no matter how much money or shares it should be, the people from the Chamber of Commerce have the final say."
"Of course, of course." Shi Jiuke said repeatedly.
At this time, Xu Shiyi said: "Youzhen, can't you help me by saying a few words? Let the Industrial and Commercial Bank give more money and less shares? Jiu Ke is your uncle after all."
"Dad, what did you say?" Xu Yingwei frowned.
"Remember what you taught me when I was a child? A gentleman must be careful about what he does alone!"
"Cough, cough." Xu Shiyi's face suddenly turned red and he could only cough to relieve his embarrassment. It was so embarrassing today that he actually asked his son to educate him.
Shi Jiuke also said quickly: "My father-in-law, I really don't need this."
Xu Yingwei asked Shi Jiuke again: "Brother, are you in a hurry about this?"
"It's quite urgent." Shi Jiuke said with some embarrassment, "I really can't hold it anymore."
Xu Yingwei said: "But I haven't completed the initial training yet, and I can't go back to Nanjing yet. Why don't I write you a letter, and you can take this letter to find Zheng Zunqian."
Returning to the study, he finished the letter in a few words and handed it to Shi Jiuke.
After Shi Jiuke got the letter, he didn't even bother to eat lunch and left in a hurry.
Seeing that his son had helped the Shi family solve a big problem with just a letter, Xu Shiyi couldn't help but feel comforted. His son was going to have a big future, and he could help a prominent family like the Shi family to achieve peace with just one sentence.
Let’s see, who else will dare to bully our grandma Dong Xu?
Thinking of this, Xu Shiyi's back suddenly straightened up.
Nearly two hundred kilograms of water was placed on his shoulders, but it could not bend his waist.
What happened to the Huangtan Shi family is not an isolated case, it is happening repeatedly in Jiangnan at this time.
Especially in the study capital of Nanjing, hundreds of handicraft workshops represented by Xu's Printing and Papermaking Workshops have received equity investment from Industrial and Commercial Bank of China.
The situation of competition among all industries is taking shape.
The shares of workshops that Industrial and Commercial Bank of China participates in are generally less than 30%, and rarely exceed 40%.
In addition, it will be written in black and white on the deed that the industrial and commercial bank will not participate in the specific affairs of the workshop, and everything will still be decided by the original workshop owner. However, there is only one thing. Every once in a while, a bank clerk will come to check the accounts to prevent shares.
The workshop made false accounts and reported losses.
…
Under the Ming Dynasty, Jiangnan was already on the eve of a boom in all industries.
However, Shaanxi under Dashun's rule was still lifeless.
After the founding of the People's Republic of Dashun, the situation of the lower class people improved to a certain extent and they were given land. However, industry and commerce suffered a devastating blow and have not yet recovered.
In particular, tea, furs, medicinal materials, silk, etc., which were the bulk trade in Guanzhong, were completely withered.
The industrial and commercial industries are in decline, so we can only pin our hopes on agriculture. The problem is, agriculture is not good either.
Although Guanzhong did not suffer from a severe drought this year, there was not enough rain, so the wheat in Qinchuan, eight hundred miles away, was growing sparsely, and it looked like the harvest was going to fail.
Looking at the sparse wheat on Bailuyuan, like the hair on a leper's head, Li Zicheng looked worried. He might not have enough food this year.
If there is not enough food to eat, you will have to rob it, or you will have to starve.
If we send troops to rob, there are only two places where we can get food, one is Sichuan and the other is Huguang. But now that Sichuan has been reduced to a scorched earth by Zhang Xianzhong, only Huguang is left to get food.
But going to Huguang to rob it destroyed the de facto alliance with the Ming Dynasty.
This was something Li Zicheng didn't want to see, because Jiannu was Dashun's number one enemy.
If the Dashun Dynasty started fighting with the Ming Dynasty, wouldn't it mean that Jiannu would get a big advantage?
Thinking of this, Li Zicheng sighed again, I am worried, this emperor is really not easy to be.
Song Xiance saw Li Zicheng's thoughts and whispered: "Your Majesty, it is impossible to go to war with the Ming Dynasty. Only the alliance between Dashun and the Ming Dynasty can protect themselves. If the two families kill each other, they will definitely be defeated by the slaves."
"How could I not know what you're talking about?" Li Zicheng sighed, "But I'm afraid there will be a famine this year."
Song Xiance advised again: "Your Majesty, we can buy grain from the Ming Dynasty. Last year we bought hundreds of thousands of stones. This year we just need to buy more grain. We can always get through it."
"Buy grain?" Li Zicheng said, "But we have no money, so what can we buy grain with?"
Liu Zongmin robbed a total of more than 70 million taels of silver from Beijing. Every tael was taken away by the slaves. Therefore, the Dashun Dynasty is actually very poor now and does not have much wealth.
Song Xiance was speechless after hearing this.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! At this time, Li Shuangxi rushed over excitedly.
"Father, great victory!" Li Shuangxi shouted, "Great victory in Guihua City!"
"Huh?" Li Zicheng, Song Xiance and their entourage all turned to look.
Li Shuangxi came to Li Zicheng excitedly and reported: "Father, the army of the rear camp has captured Guihua City, captured two Zhasaks who established the Nufeng, and also seized more than one million cattle and sheep as well as
Hundreds of thousands of horses!"
"Really?" Li Zicheng was overjoyed when he heard this. This was such an unexpected surprise. I didn't expect it!
Song Xiance also smiled and said: "Your Majesty, this is really timely rain. We were worried about not having money to buy grain from the Ming Dynasty. Now that we have cattle, sheep and horses, we can use these livestock to buy grain from the Ming Dynasty."
"Yes." Li Zicheng nodded and said, "Immediately ask Gao Yigong and Li Yan to send cattle, sheep and horses to Xi'an, and then send people to Nanjing, saying that we will exchange cattle, sheep and horses with the Ming Dynasty for food."
"Yes." Song Xiance accepted the order happily.
…
More than a month has passed, and the time has quickly come to the end of October.
After nearly two months of hard work, the first real flintlock gun of the Ming Dynasty was finally built, which was no different from the flintlock gun in Chongzhen's memory.
The caliber of the gun tube is 4 cents.
[Note: 4 points = 12.8 mm]
The wall thickness of the gun tube is 2 minutes, so its outer diameter is 8 minutes.
In order to facilitate fixation, the entire barrel is filed into an octagonal shape.
The bottom of the barrel is locked with a screw bolt, and the gunpowder hole is opened on the right side.
The trigger was filed by hand by an old blacksmith and even had exquisite patterns engraved on it.
Because it took so long to process the gun barrel, the old blacksmith responsible for processing the trigger had nothing to do, so he showed off his craftsmanship on the exquisite iron carvings.
Looking at the flintlock gun in his hand, Chongzhen felt a little emotional.
To be honest, it was somewhat beyond Chongzhen's expectation that the flintlock gun could be built so smoothly.
Chongzhen's first development of the flintlock gun would definitely not go smoothly. There would definitely be various setbacks and various difficult-to-solve technical problems. He was even mentally prepared to fail dozens or even hundreds of times.
But no matter how many times he failed, he would always build a flintlock.
However, what Chongzhen never expected was that the whole process was completed in one go, without any difficulties.
It was only after the flintlock gun was completed that Chongzhen discovered that Ming Dynasty's metallurgy, forging, casting, welding and machining technology had reached a very high level.
Chongzhen was worried about several technical difficulties before, one was welding, and the other was drilling and polishing the gun tube. However, after getting involved, he discovered that Daming's technology was quite mature.
Even the tapping technology of internal and external threads is quite mature.
So after Chongzhen provided the processing sketch, the old blacksmiths quickly made it.
In fact, the technical difficulty of a flintlock gun is not fundamentally different from that of a matchlock gun. If you can make a matchlock gun, you can definitely make a flintlock gun. Chongzhen also took it for granted before, thinking that the performance of a flintlock gun was so much ahead of that of a matchlock gun, so
The processing difficulty must be much greater than that of a matchlock gun, but this is not the case.
But having said that, although the flintlock gun has been manufactured, it is still unknown whether it can be fired.
At that moment, Chongzhen led a group of people to the test firing site, preparing to conduct the first test firing of the flintlock gun.
First, load the flint, pour in the gunpowder, then wrap the lead with a small piece of silk and stuff it into the muzzle of the gun, then push a purge bar into the bottom of the barrel to compact it, and then insert the purge bar back into place.
Then pour a little primer into the medicine room.
Finally, pull the slightly heavy trigger.
"Gao Banban." Chongzhen shouted after doing all this with his own hands.
Gao Qiqian stepped forward with a sad face and took the flintlock gun from Chongzhen.
After receiving the flintlock gun, Gao Qiqian did not dare to aim directly with his eyes. Instead, he held the flintlock gun with both hands, roughly aiming at the humanoid target in front of him, and then pulled the trigger.
"Click!" The flint struck the anvil and made a crisp impact sound.
Almost at the moment when the flint hit the anvil, the anvil flipped up, revealing the medicine chamber underneath. The sparks generated by the flint hitting the anvil also fell into the medicine chamber at the same time.
"Peng!" followed by a loud noise.
Along with this loud noise, a large cloud of white smoke rose from the gun's mouth.
Gao Qiqian was also so frightened that he let out a scream. He did not use both hands to tighten the handle of the gun, and as a result, the gun butt bounced back under the huge recoil and hit him hard on the chest.
Chongzhen couldn't care less about rising and diving, and asked urgently: "Go get the target!"
Lu Jiude next to him had already rushed fifty steps away to bring the human target back.
Chongzhen searched carefully, and his face immediately dropped. He couldn't find any bullet holes. He raised his head and dived high, but the shot just now missed the humanoid target. It was so erect.
"Long live my Lord, do you want me to give you another shot?"
Gao Qiqian was as frightened as a quail, and did not dare to look directly at Chongzhen, who looked like he was about to eat someone.
"If this shot doesn't hit, I'll castrate you. Hey, no, if this shot doesn't hit, I'll chop your head off." Chongzhen threatened Gao Qiqian with a vicious look on his face.
But before he finished speaking, he burst out laughing.
Although the shot just now did not hit the human-shaped target, it was still fired after all.
For this flintlock gun, as long as it can fire, it is a success. As for the shooting accuracy and penetration, it can be improved slowly in the future.
The biggest advantage of a flintlock gun compared to a matchlock gun is the firing mechanism!
Due to the improvement of the firing mechanism, the impact of rain and fog weather is greatly reduced.
Moreover, after equipping a flintlock gun, one can form a dense formation, with three people standing sideways within three feet, while only one person can stand within three feet of a matchlock gun.
Therefore, the firepower density of the flintlock gun is at least three times that of the matchlock gun!
At that moment, Chongzhen said to Gao Qiqian: "Gao Banban, let's do it again!"
"Old slave, take the edict." Seeing that Chongzhen was not really angry, his heart dropped back to his stomach, and he immediately started to fill the potion with his hands and feet numb.
This old eunuch had once served as a military supervisor in Ji Town and as a eunuch in charge of the capital camp. He was no stranger to shooting blunderbuss.
In less than a minute, Gao Qiqiu loaded the ammunition, then pulled the trigger, and then raised the flintlock gun again, but this time Gao Qiqiu was no longer afraid, but held the flintlock gun firmly with the butt
Hold your right shoulder.
There was a clicking sound, followed by a loud popping sound, and then white smoke rose up.
Lu Jiude rushed forward again and carried back the human-shaped target fifty steps away.
When Chongzhen, Zhu Cijiong, Hu Guozhu and others gathered around to watch, they finally hit the human-shaped target this time.
Moreover, the location of the hit was also very particular, and it hit the "crotch" of the lower abdomen of the humanoid target.
Seeing the dark bullet hole on the human-shaped target, Chongzhen, Zhu Cijiong, Hu Guozhu and others couldn't help laughing loudly, and Gao Qiqian also smiled with a flattering look on his face.
After a pause of laughter, Chongzhen said again: "Gao Banban, continue!"
"Old slave accepts the decree." Gao Qiqian began to load ammunition again.
Lu Jiude also hurriedly placed the human-shaped target back fifty steps away.
In the next few minutes, Gaoqiqiu fired more than a dozen muskets in succession.
The hit rate was not bad, almost half of the lead bullets hit the human-shaped target.
If Lu Jiude is asked to place the human-shaped target a hundred paces away, the hit rate is simply impossible to see. Even if he shoots three times from a high position, one shot may not hit the target.
It can be seen that for muskets, fifty steps is a hurdle.
The hit rate within fifty steps is quite impressive.
Fifty steps away, the hit rate starts to drop off a cliff.