Chapter 15 Firearms Division and Manufacturing Bureau
After letting Wei Ji take Petain and other European arms traders to the post house to rest, Zhao Qiang immediately called the two old craftsmen from the Ministry of Industry because he thought that he could introduce the custom gunpowder made by the Swedes now.
It can be done together with the improvement of fire guns, and there is no conflict between the two.【】
In fact, each musketeer in the Ming army was equipped with two gunpowder cans, one containing propellant and one containing ignition powder, and carrying 300 rounds of lead. Unfortunately, the Ming army did not formalize the uniforms, and the Swedes did.
It is suspected that loading gunpowder will greatly shorten the time for firing the charge, and combined with the speed of the flint, it will greatly increase the power.
Fixed gunpowder is to pack a certain amount of gunpowder and pills into a long paper tube. When loading, bite open the paper tube with your mouth, first pour some gunpowder into the fire door, and then stuff the remaining gunpowder and pills into the mouth of the gun.
.This not only ensures the power of each shot of the gun, but also greatly reduces the steps for loading gunpowder. According to the current training level and actual combat experience of Guan Ning Army, once the fixed gunpowder is implemented, ordinary soldiers can achieve two rounds per minute.
Speed and skilled soldiers can shoot three times per minute without any problem. Such speed will effectively form a battlefield shield against the Eight Banners Cavalry. Coupled with the three-stage shooting, one can foresee what will happen to the charging Eight Banners Cavalry.
death blow.
Thinking of this, Zhao Qiang was very excited. He called the two old craftsmen and asked them if this method was feasible. One of the two old craftsmen was named Zhao and the other was Qin. Zhao Qiang happily told them his intention.
I thought that the two old craftsmen would immediately make up for my shortcomings, but the first words they said were: "Heroes should let the old man go and let us go back!"
"Let you go back?" When Zhao Qiang heard this, his face turned cold and he snorted: "Why?"
"What a good man does is to kill officials and rebel, but the young man has been a good citizen for generations. He abides by the law and never does anything prohibited. Previously, when the good man went to the Ministry of Industry to hire the young man, the young man only said that the good man was really an official of the imperial court.
, and the little old man’s family is poor, and his grandson still lacks money to get married, so he bites the bullet and follows the hero to this place. I don’t expect the hero to be... There is a young man in the capital of the little old man. If he follows the hero, the government will investigate him.
, my whole family is doomed, so I ask the good man to let us go and let us go back." After the old man Zhao finished speaking, he lowered his head and did not dare to say any more. The old man Qin on the side also stood there cautiously, with a look of fear and disgust on his face.
With some expectations.
"You two are also Han people. Since you are Han people, why don't you want to help the Han people conquer the Tatars?" Zhao Qiang could not treat these two young and gray-haired old people the same way he treated Qu Cai and others.
Old Man Zhao smiled bitterly and said: "The little old man is too old to do such a big thing. The heroes and the heroes have great ambitions. The little old man feels inferior, but the little old man dare not join the heroes.
Those who rebel against the imperial court."
Old man Qin also said: "In the year of Dajiashen, the Qing army entered the pass. There were wars in the pass every year. It took sixteen years of fighting before the world became peaceful. However, within a few years, Wu Sangui, Geng Jingzhong and others in the south raised their flags to rebel again. The imperial court
We sent out a large army to suppress the campaign. This campaign lasted for another eight years. The past two years have just passed. I don’t want the heroes to make trouble outside the pass again. To put it bluntly, I’m afraid it will be difficult for the Qing Dynasty to overturn the country.
I don’t have a few more years to live, so it’s better for you guys to let us go back and let us spend our days together with our children and grandchildren.”
"I paid a lot of money for you to come here. Now that you are saying you want to leave, who will pay for my loss?"
It is absolutely impossible to let him go. If he leaves, who will teach his disciples and build weapons for him. Dai Zi just said that he is short of people and materials, so he finally hired two experienced people.
The craftsmen, plus the technicians that Duncan bought from Macau, can barely build a structure, but there is still a shortage of people. We only expect these two old men to bring a group of apprentices to take over, how can we let them go!
"You can leave if you want. Just return the money and I will send someone to send you back immediately!" Zhao Qiang began to cheat because he had no other means. He couldn't put a knife to the necks of two old people.
"This..." Sure enough, upon hearing that Zhao Qiang wanted them to pay back the money first, the two old men Zhao and Qin were immediately at a loss, because the money had already been spent by their families, and the two of them didn't have a lot of money now, so what could they give back?
People's money?
Seeing the two elders like this, Zhao Qiang began to persuade him: "Without money, you two will work for me for one full year, and I will never leave you two after that. Besides, who knows that you are working for me here?
When you return to the pass, who will be suspicious of you? You two should not think too much. After one year, I will give you one hundred taels each and send you people to take you back. How about it? "
"We" the two old men, you and me, me and you, sighed for a while: Okay, that's it, what they said is quite reasonable. I have given you the money, do you want to leave with the money? I don't have any money now.
You have to work for others. This is a matter of course wherever you go. That's all, that's all. I hope these rebels won't be defeated too early within this year.
"Okay, since the hero insists on asking us two old bones to do something, then we will risk our lives and do it for the hero." Old Man Zhao said their decision on behalf of Old Man Qin with regret, "But please help the hero.
Keep your word and let us go back after one year!"
"A gentleman's words are hard to follow!" The two elders agreed to stay. Zhao Qiang was overjoyed and said hurriedly: "I swear in front of so many people that if I make trouble for the two elders again by the end of the term, I will suffer a terrible death!"
"If you have a good man, it will work!"
Everyone has said this, what else can Zhao and Qin say. Dai Zi on the side only looked at Zhao Qiang and the two elders coldly while saying these words, but from time to time he glanced at the firearms of the Folangji people.
"Now, can you please tell me whether it is feasible to install gunpowder?"
Old Man Zhao pondered for a long time and then said with a cupped hand: "A man of great talent, this method is indeed exquisite and can greatly increase the shooting speed of gunmen." Then he looked embarrassed again: "But in this way, it takes more manpower to separate the medicine and equipment.
If there are more, I'm afraid it will require a lot of manpower. I wonder if the hero has so many idle men?"
As long as it can be done and there are more people, there are still two to three thousand people among the strong women of all ethnic groups and the old, weak, sick and disabled. It is not a trivial matter to allocate a few hundred to specially divide the medicine. Zhao Qiang said with a smile: "
You don't have to worry about this. I have a lot of manpower for the two elders to serve." After a pause, he simply said: "In this way, I will assign three hundred old and weak men to you, and you will give them a share every day.
Charge, well, from now on you will be the heads of the Sergeant Production Bureau of the General Administration Office."
"What production bureau?" Zhao and Qin were stunned, not knowing what this bureau meant.
"Anyway, this matter will be under your control from now on." Zhao Qiang did not explain much and warned: "The matter of customizing the gunpowder is related to the future of Ningjun, so I must ensure the quality and make sure no mistakes are made. Every time
The amount of medicine packed into the paper tube must be the same on the scale, and you must supervise this."
"Don't worry, sir, I will take care of it." Zhao and Qin nodded. There was no technical work involved in loading the powder. It was much easier than the firearms made in the past. It was just a matter of weighing.
"Commander, what exactly is this fixed charge? Why don't we let them make one first?" He Manchuan still hasn't figured out what Zhao Qiang said is the fixed charge. What's the point of using this thing to fire a gun?
The benefits are so great that seeing is believing.
"Huh?" Zhao Qiang glanced at Zhao Qin noncommittally.
Old Man Qin nodded to Old Man Zhao, who immediately said: "I will make one for the commander now, so that I can reassure myself, and I will do this in the future."
Zhao Qiang hurriedly asked the guards to get some gunpowder and lead, and talked to Zhao and Qin in detail. The two old men first studied the flintlock gun carefully, checked the volume of the medicine room, and then began to divide the medicine.
The army had measuring instruments for lead. After checking more than a dozen times, they finally made several samples of paper tubes with fixed medicine and placed them in a special oil-coated medicine bag.
Seeing that several samples were successfully produced, Zhao Qiang felt as sweet as honey, so he asked He Manchuan to test it on the spot. After receiving the task, He Manchuan first got familiar with the paper bag, and then opened the fusillary gun chamber according to Zhao Qiang's instructions.
, bit open the medicine package with his mouth, poured it into the room, closed the door, stuffed the remaining medicine into the gun, and then raised it toward the distance to pull the trigger.
There was a "bang" and black smoke came out. Zhao Qiang and everyone present were overjoyed: It's done!
Elders Zhao and Qin also wiped away their previous frustration and smiled, looking at He Manchuan who was holding the gun with satisfaction. Dai Zi was startled, and then his eyes lit up: It turns out that the medicine can be loaded like this, how wonderful! How come I used to
Unexpected!
He Manchuan tried firing a few more rounds. He was still a little unfamiliar at first, but then he became more and more proficient. According to his estimation, the fixed-paper cartridge can indeed greatly save reloading time. He can fire about four rounds in a minute. Guards Division
The regiment's fire gunners, after mastering the reloading level, can fire three rounds per minute. Even on the battlefield, under the influence of various circumstances, it is very easy to fire two rounds per minute.
"Commander, this thing is amazing! I request it to be installed as soon as possible so that the men can become familiar with it and let the Tatars know how powerful it is after a battle."
He Manchuan was so excited that he desperately hoped that Ma would be able to install paper cartridges like this in the army. However, Zhao Qiang told him with a smile that full deployment was still far away, and the top priority was to quickly establish the Firearms Department and Manufacturing Bureau.
Zhao Qiang ordered a few rooms to be set aside to the east of the Marshal's Mansion as the location of the Firearms Department and the Manufacturing Bureau. All requests must be supported with the same conditions as the "Chinese Leading Group". The directors of the Manufacturing Bureau appointed Zhao and Qin, because
They have experience and are familiar with the production of firearms and gunpowder, so they are considered ready-made treasures. The candidate for the head of the Firearms Department naturally fell on Dai Zi, but Dai Zi is obviously not interested in this director of the Firearms Department. He is just interested in why Zhao Qiang
It was strange and puzzling to be so interested in firearms, and he was also surprised by the custom-made red envelope medicine he came up with.
These chapters have a lot of progress, and some details will be skipped directly. Readers are asked to know about it when reading.