A matchlock gun made by a foreign power can be sold for a high price of 17-25 taels of silver, depending on the country of production.
The latest flintlock gun can sell for a sky-high price of 80-120 taels!
Not to mention that the matching projectiles, paper tubes of gunpowder, etc. also cost money.
In a usual firearms training session, what is shot is not the projectiles, but the money!
It can be seen from this that the investment in building a firearms army in the Qinglong Kingdom is really too high.
To put it simply, a musketeer, armed from beginning to end, plus continuous bullets, gunpowder costs, etc., requires at least 80 taels of silver.
This is not surprising, muskets wear out, and continuous battles wear them out faster.
Therefore, it is the minimum for a musketeer to consume two muskets. Two matchlocks require at least 34 taels of silver, ammunition, 30 taels of silver, clothing expenses, food expenses, etc. 16 taels of silver is considered the minimum.
Such a firearms army requires 80,000 taels of silver for 1,000 people, and 240,000 taels of silver for 3,000 people.
But for the same heavy armored infantry, one person is armed from top to bottom, plus weapons, and the shield is only 30 taels of silver!
Of course, some people have also said that a military commander's bright light armor costs 50 taels of silver each.
But that is the armor of a general. The cost of armor for heavy armored infantry is not as high as that of a general.
In short, the troops under King Zuo, except for the firearms army and heavy armored infantry, are all spear corps.
No way, the money has been spent on the firearms corps, heavy armored infantry and directly subordinate cavalry, so the remaining soldiers can only be obtained as cheaply as possible.
Of course, the heavily-financed firearms army and heavy armored infantry were frequently used by King Zuo on key battlefields.
Good steel should be used on the blade.
At this time, in the Taoist temple, Li Zaixing was about to faint as he watched artillery shells falling frequently from the sky and heavily armored troops surrounding him.
Huang Muyun, the down-and-out Taoist priest, also whispered to himself that he should have run away if he had known better. If he stayed here, he would be dead.
On the contrary, it was the brothers Li Chizhang and Li Cunmang who had the most confidence in their uncle. They kept shaking their small fists towards the outside of the Taoist temple. If they could, they would probably run out of the Taoist temple and use their small fists to beat the enemy.
Seeing the musketeers lining up and approaching the Taoist temple, Fang Xiaoyue didn't have much worry.
After all, the golden armor talisman was originally a three-dimensional defense mode. Whether it came from the sky or the ground, any flying object whose speed exceeded a certain range would be blocked by the golden bowl.
As for how long it can be blocked, there's no telling. It depends on the strength and quantity of the attack.
But for now, blocking for half an hour is no problem.
Even if the golden bowl couldn't stop it, Fang Xiaoyue could immediately add another talisman.
You must know that during this period and knowing that the military disaster was coming, Fang Xiaoyue would draw a few more talismans when she had nothing to do after practicing.
This is not only the study of talismans, but also a reserve of arms.
Time passed bit by bit.
The musketeers had fired three rounds before the heavy armored infantry slowly approached the Taoist temple fifty meters away.
This is not surprising. The heavy armor on a heavy armored infantry weighs at least 25 kilograms. Together with the weapons and shields, the whole body weighs 40 kilograms.
With such a weight, if you just start sprinting in small steps, all your strength will be exhausted in a short time, and the rest will lie on the ground waiting for the enemy to collect the corpse for you.
Therefore, heavy armored infantry need to walk slowly, wait until they are close to the enemy, then launch a charge, using their own body weight to defeat the enemy.
But Fang Xiaoyue could not ignore the threat of these heavy armored infantry to the Taoist temple.
After all, the Golden Light Armor Talisman cannot protect against people.
These heavy armored infantry can approach the Taoist temple and use weapons and shields to destroy the Taoist temple walls.
Such a result is unacceptable to Fang Xiaoyue.
This Taoist temple is where Fang Xiaocheng's lifelong hopes have been placed. If it is destroyed again, the main mission may not be completed even if the cultivation of immortality is successful.
So Fang Xiaoyue immediately reached out and took out a wind-calling and rain-calling talisman and lit it in the wind.
Well, in fact, to be precise, there is no need to put up bills, incense burners, or erect flags to control wind and rain.
Because there are no so-called gods in this plane.
The incense burning in the incense burner cannot contact the gods, and the flag cannot command the gods of the heavens.
A moment later, the wind was strong, the dark clouds were dense, and thunder and lightning appeared and entangled in the dark clouds.
Seeing this scene, King Zuo, who was sitting on a chariot, couldn't help but frown.
An ominous feeling slowly arose, and even the armored warriors standing around him couldn't make him feel the slightest sense of security.
But the offensive has already begun, and even Zuo Wang cannot call for gold to withdraw his troops at this time.
Big raindrops fell quickly, and the heavy armored infantry immediately quickened their pace and rushed towards the Taoist temple.
They knew clearly that when it rained heavily and the ground became muddy, they would be useless.
But what they never expected was that in a blink of an eye, the rain turned into a heavy rain. It was like a god holding a basin and falling down from high in the sky. Water columns could be seen falling from the sky and the earth.
In the eyes of Zuo Wang and other spectators, the heavy rain actually only fell within fifty meters of the Taoist temple, but not a single raindrop fell from further away, which greatly preserved the rice that was about to mature.
At this time, even the most stupid person understands that this sudden rainstorm may have something to do with the Taoist temple.
For the heavy armored infantry who were accelerating their charge, this heavy rain was too unfriendly.
Within a few breaths, the ground that was about to dry out became muddy. Their heavy footsteps immediately fell into the mud, and they needed more effort to pull their legs out.
And this trend is rapidly expanding.
By the time they hiked to less than 20 meters away from the Taoist temple, their legs were already stuck in the mud up to their thighs!
This heavy rain turned the area around the Taoist temple into a swamp in a very short period of time!
The heavy armored infantry were completely unable to move at this time. Even if they dropped their weapons and shields, they could only watch themselves sinking slowly until the mud rushed to their chests.
The rainstorm comes very quickly, but also leaves very quickly.
In less than a minute, the heavy rain suddenly stopped, and the hot sunshine shone around the Taoist temple again.
The muddy soil began to dry out and crack again.
The heavy armored infantry struggled desperately, but could not pull themselves out from the cracked ground.
Each one of them was like a radish planted in the ground, struggling desperately and helplessly, making the soldiers watching the battle feel chills running down their backs.
Did he provoke some kind of deity or ghost?
Various speculations spread quickly in the military camp, and even if the captains tried their best to stop them, it was of no avail.
Because people in this era are originally much more superstitious than later generations in these aspects.