On the cart parked on the lower left side of the platform, after opening the covering, they saw a pile of colorful fabrics, but not the red mandarin duck war jackets they thought.
Even if it is a new military uniform, it doesn't have to be so different, right? Every new soldier has a strange thought in his heart. It seems that the new army he belongs to will never be newer.
Of course Zhong Jinwei knew the reaction when these military uniforms were unveiled, because he had already seen this kind of reaction when he requested to make such military uniforms before.
The requirement to use this kind of military uniform was not simply for the sake of being new and different. Zhong Jinwei checked the relevant military books and understood the purpose of the military uniform at this time, and then moved this military uniform from later generations based on the actual situation.
Ancient military uniforms, or military uniforms in the cold weapon era, often used more eye-catching colors, and more red was used. This can make the military look distinctive and easy to identify. The red mandarin duck battle coat of the Ming army
This is an example. This can cover up the blood stains and reduce the panic caused by this to the soldiers.
But the new army that Zhong Jinwei wants to train is a purely firearms army, and it is an army prepared for high output. Therefore, the formation of troops does not require a tight formation like the cold weapon army, and the requirements for combat units are correspondingly reduced.
Some.
Another one is that Zhong Jinwei's requirement for the new army is to avoid close combat as much as possible. Even if a close combat occurs, it is in a pursuit battle. In this way, the role of using military uniforms to cover up blood stains is not prominent.
The last reason is well known to later generations, and that is disguise.
This cannot be underestimated. In history, this kind of military uniform finally appeared. It was only after bloody lessons that it became widespread. It is naturally very useful.[
Zhong Jinwei ignored the surprised expressions of the soldiers in the audience and continued: "In addition, each person will receive a bird blunderbuss. You are not required to "shoot". You only need to be familiar with the bird blunderbuss first, and be familiar with the bird blunderbuss as if it were a spear. Looking back at these three
a martial arts professor"
When he said this, he pointed to the three martial arts professors beside the general stage, and said: "They will teach you the art of close combat with blunderbuss. You must learn it seriously and do not neglect it, otherwise go back to the fifth military camp.
"
The minds of the five hundred soldiers were confused again. The muskets were not used for shooting, but for close combat. What did this mean? Marquis Zhongxing was stupid, but this thought flashed through their minds, and they did not dare to
It is a sin to have the thought of blaspheming the Marquis of Zhongxing.
But no matter what, they couldn't figure out the purpose of this move. The only way they could explain it to them was that there must be a deep meaning to Zhongxing Hou's move.
After Zhong Jinwei finished speaking, he ordered the distribution of new military uniforms and muskets. He watched from the general ordering platform as five hundred soldiers, under the command of relevant personnel, began to line up in a long line to receive the new military uniforms and muskets with an expression of surprise.
The five hundred soldiers reported their heights to the officials in front of the cart, and soon, two sets of neatly folded and colorful new military uniforms were in their hands.
Then he walked to another row of carts, which was quite simple here. When he saw the soldiers coming, the officer took out a blunderbuss from the cart and gave them to them.
What surprised the five hundred soldiers was that a wooden stick was stuffed into the mouths of these bird guns, blocking the mouths of the guns. What was going on? There were question marks on the heads of these soldiers.
And those generals who were watching were even more dumbfounded. Everything that appeared was beyond their understanding. This new army was so new that it could fight?
However, like the soldiers, they did not dare to doubt Zhongxing Hou's methods and could only think that this was an unprecedented method of warfare.
They secretly rejoiced in their hearts that they were wise enough to come and observe, otherwise they would have fallen behind the colleagues around them.
Of course, there were a few people who came just to flatter Zhong Jinwei. Seeing this situation, they thought that Zhongxing Hou was really a prodigal and had spent so much money in vain.
Zhong Jinwei saw that the five hundred soldiers were almost collected, so he turned to the three martial arts professors and said: "I leave it to the three of you here. You must learn the art of close combat as soon as possible. They don't have much time to practice this.
After the real guns come out, they will practice shooting more, do you understand?"
"Yes, Lord Marquis." The three martial arts professors agreed in unison.
After Zhong Jinwei had lunch with the soldiers, he left the Beijing camp and came to the military battle station.[
Fan Jun, the eunuch in charge of the Military War Bureau, had been notified in advance and had been waiting for the arrival of Marquis Zhongxing early.
Zhong Jinwei didn't waste any time. He said directly to Fan Jun: "Eunuch Fan, take me to the Gunpowder Department first."
Fan Jun agreed and carefully led the way. As a member of the palace, he naturally knew the importance of Marquis Zhongxing in front of Emperor Chongzhen better than people outside. If he dissatisfied Marquis Zhongxing, he would probably have done it if he mentioned it in front of the emperor.
You will be in trouble yourself.
After arriving at the Gunpowder Department, Zhong Jinwei directly asked to check all kinds of gunpowder.
Therefore, the director of the Gunpowder Department, who had been prepared for a long time, quickly placed various types of gunpowder on a long table in front of Zhong Jinwei.
Zhong Jinwei had already learned about it before he came, and combined with the information he read on the Internet, he probably knew that the gunpowder formula in the late Ming Dynasty was quite complete, and the proportions of raw materials for various gunpowders with different functions were different.
.
Take the gunpowder used for shooting bird guns as an example. The formula is one liang of saltpeter, four cents of sulfur for one penny, and eight cents of charcoal for one penny. This combination rate is 7575% of saltpeter.
, sulfur 106%, charcoal 1365%, which is basically the same as the standard combination rate of modern black gunpowder.
Zhong Jinwei looked at the long pile of gunpowder on the long table and asked Fan Jun: "Is the nitre sulphurous charcoal used in these gunpowder the best?"
When Fan Jun heard this, he quickly said to the director of the Gunpowder Department: "Why don't you explain it to the Marquis?"
"Yes, yes, yes." The director of the Gunpowder Department agreed repeatedly, then walked to Zhong Jinwei's side, pointed to the gunpowder on the table and said: "Back to Lord Marquis, these are the three major raw materials of gunpowder.
They are all carefully refined from the best raw materials."
Zhong Jinwei didn't comment, he just said two words: "Tell me about it."
Upon hearing this, the director of the Gunpowder Department puffed up his chest a little and replied to Zhong Jinwei in a slightly higher voice: "The main raw material of gunpowder is nitrate, which is purified in three steps."
"The first step is to dissolve the natural saltpeter in impurity-free fresh water, and precipitate and remove the granular impurities such as sediment."
When it comes to professional knowledge, the director of the Gunpowder Department lacked humility and talked eloquently: "The second step is to put a certain amount of egg whites, red radish and other adsorbents into the nitrate solution.
"It is boiled several times to absorb the residue, salt, alkali and other components, and then the adsorbed matter is fished out with a strainer."
“The third step is to put the water colloid into the saltpeter liquid and boil it again, and then pour the saltpeter liquid into the porcelain urn to cool and solidify, so that the waste water floats on the urn, the mud sinks to the bottom of the urn, and the pure saltpeter resides in the center
, finally remove the water and slag, take out the pure saltpeter and dry it in the sun."
After introducing the three steps, the director of the Gunpowder Department regained his humility and said with a smile and a little pride: "After this preparation method, every hundred kilograms of natural saltpeter can roughly only extract three
Ten pounds of pure saltpeter is the best saltpeter in the world."
After saying that, he specifically asked his subordinates to show Zhong Jinwei the saltpeter he mentioned. It was a white crystal.
Zhong Jinwei nodded repeatedly after seeing it. He didn't understand the details. After hearing what the director of the Gunpowder Department said and seeing the white crystal, he understood that even if it wasn't the best, it was still far behind.
He nodded and continued: "What about the other two types?"