At night in the northwest, the stars in the sky appear particularly bright and dense.
In the quiet night, the silence is broken from time to time by the sound of horse hooves and the noise of vehicles. It is the hustle and bustle of soldiers and horses inside and outside the city.
As a frontline city on the edge of war, there has been no quiet time in the past month.
After dark, Zhang Yanling sat in a room in the military camp in the north of the city, lighting up the lamp. After pondering for a long time, Zhang Yanling took out the package that Xu Youtang specially gave to him before leaving. After opening the heavy package on the table, Zhang Yanling
, inside is a dull leather musket bag and another bulging leather bag.
This is the repeating breech fire blunderbuss that Xu Gao assembled overnight after learning that Zhang Yanling was coming to the northwest to suppress the rebellion. In February, Zhang Yanling actually learned that Xu Gao was studying the breech repeating fire blunderbuss.
There was progress. But it was just progress. When Zhang Yanling asked, Xu Gao said that there were still many key components that were immature and needed to be studied further.
However, Zhang Yanling already knew the development progress of the new fire gun from Xu Youtang. Xu Gao had actually completed the production and verification, but he was pursuing excellence and refused to show Zhang Yanling his work that he was not satisfied with.
.Zhang Yanling also patiently respected his opinion and was not in a hurry to take a look.
But before setting off on his own, Xu Gao decided to assemble the finished product and give it to himself to wear.
Even though she knew the principle and style from Xu Youtang, Zhang Yanling was still extremely looking forward to seeing the finished product at this moment. She was in a hurry when she arrived, had no time, and out of the need for confidentiality, Zhang Yanling did not open the package. This was the right time.
There is a small buckle at the connection of the leather gun pouch. Zhang Yanling stretched out his hand and pressed it on the protruding small ball on one side. With a click, the gun holster opened. Although it is only a simple mechanism design, it is enough.
Xu Gao made it with great care and precision. With this mechanism, he could quickly take out the firearm from the bag.
After opening the holster, Zhang Yanling had already seen the wooden handle with a dull luster under the candlelight. It was a black wooden handle that had been treated with fire and antiseptic treatment, and the wood grain on it was clearly visible.
Zhang Yanling reached in, grasped the smooth handle of the gun and pulled it out. The luster flowed in his eyes, and a brand new short fire gun appeared in front of his eyes. Judging from the shape, it seemed to be similar to the short fire gun made by Xu Youtang before. It was made of the same copper.
The quality faucet has the same flint device, and the length and size are about the same. However, the weight and feeling in the hand are quite different. This short fire blunderbuss is obviously much heavier.
The biggest difference is that there is a cylindrical fine iron handle on the back of the barrel, which is polished smooth and rounded.
Zhang Yanling reached out and grasped the handle. He knew that the key to the design was the handle. He held it, slid it along the groove, lifted it up, and then pulled it back along the groove. Then, with a click, the gun
On the side of the tube, an empty gun barrel was exposed.
There is no sense of stagnation in the whole process. The handle is connected to a built-in gun chamber. When rotating and sliding, the inner gun chamber slides along the breech of the barrel without any hindrance until the cavity is exposed.
You will find that this is a device nested in the barrel of the gun. Before that, it fit perfectly, and there was no trace of the interface on the outside.
Zhang Yanling let out a long breath. He knew that this seemingly simple mechanical structure would be nothing to mention in later generations. Such a device could be easily made. But this was in the Ming Dynasty, and there was no such device.
, there was no such manufacturing process. Xu Gao designed this device from scratch.
It looks similar to a gun bolt, but Zhang Yanling knows that it is not a gun bolt. To put it simply, it is a device that combines a gun bolt device and a Franco machine gun. It is specially designed to allow paper-packed bullets to be fired from the rear.
Designed to keep the gun loaded.
From the leather pouch next to him, Zhang Yanling pulled out a long leather ammunition pouch. There was a circle of small pockets on the belt-like belt, filled with paper-wrapped ammunition. There was also a large pack of paper-wrapped ammunition in the pouch. Obviously the ammunition belt was
In order to make it easier to carry the ammunition, the leather bag contains spare ammunition, which can be filled in the bullet belt.
Zhang Yanling took out a paper-wrapped bullet and looked at it carefully. The shape of the paper-wrapped bullet was more regular. It seemed that it had been squeezed by the mold and became a basic regular cylindrical shape. It contained more powder than the previous paper-wrapped bullet.
This is obviously to increase the power of the ammunition.
What's more important is that Zhang Yanling saw the short matchstick protruding from the back of the paper-packed bullet. That was the key to the design of the paper-packed bullet. This was obviously designed so that the drug did not need to be inserted into the bullet.
It is sprinkled into the gun chamber. The primer is used to ignite the fuse and fired. There is no need to tear open the paper package during the loading process.
In other words, Xu Gao's entire design is to satisfy the requirements of breech loading, reduce the loading process, speed up the firing speed, and increase the power at the same time.
Zhang Yanling breathed a sigh of relief, stuffed the paper-wrapped bullet into the cavity of the gun chamber, held the handle and slid it, and the gun chamber returned to its position, tightly fitting without any gaps. The whole process was extremely smooth.
Zhang Yanling slowly raised the blunderbuss and aimed it at the door. The next step was to sprinkle the primer, pull the trigger, and then it would be launched.
But Zhang Yanling obviously couldn't do this at this time. He decided to find a secluded place to test its power tomorrow. Overall, the modification of the fire gun was successful. It reduced the steps of loading the front chamber with medicine and compacting it with a through rod.
It is simplified to pulling the barrel of the breech to expose it to the outside. At the same time, it also simplifies the process of biting open the paper bag of bullets and spraying the ammunition when loading. Just pull the barrel and reload the bullets in a cycle.
Shoot to achieve continuous fire.
Once you are proficient, you can complete all the processes in one or two breaths. This can increase the frequency several times compared to the previous fire gun. Therefore, this is not a continuous shooting in the strict sense, and it must also be triggered by priming.
However, the operation is still not simple enough. However, for Zhang Yanling, this is already very satisfying.
A true automatic continuous fire firearm that emits blue fire when the trigger is pulled is probably a luxury in this era. Regardless of the performance of the gunpowder or the production process, it is an impossible task. I am afraid it is still needed.
Scientific discoveries by chance and exhaustive mental exploration and research are the only way to achieve this.
The valuable thing about this device is that it is replicable and can be used on bird guns. In this case, the upgrading of bird guns is inevitable. The overall firearm performance and firing speed must be improved to a higher level. This is obviously
Something more exciting.
After unloading the ammunition, Zhang Yanling took the gun and looked at it carefully and couldn't put it down. Then he discovered that a begonia flower was carved on the copper handle on the back of the barrel. Zhang Yanling immediately understood that this was secretly carved by Xu Youtang.
No wonder that on the night before the expedition, after the farewell banquet, Xu Youtang did not stay with him, but hurried home. It seems that Xu Gao did not make this gun alone, and Xu Youtang must have participated in it.
Thinking of this, Xu Youtang's charming face appeared in his mind, and Zhang Yanling couldn't help but smile.
"Dong dong dong"
There was a knock at the door, interrupting Zhang Yanling's thoughts.
Zhang Yanling asked in a deep voice: "Who?"
"Master Hou, this is a humble position. Has Master Hou gone to bed? Someone asked to see Master Hou." Chen Shiyi's voice came from outside the door.
Zhang Yanling was stunned, wrapped up the blunderbuss, ammunition pouches and other items and put them aside, then stepped forward and opened the door.
Chen Shiyi stood at the door, and there was another man standing next to him. The man was short in stature, with thick eyebrows and big eyes, and he was full of heroic spirit.
"The last general of the Ningxia Wei Lingwu garrison, Shi Yong, has met Lord Zhang." The man bowed and saluted.
Zhang Yanling cupped his hands and said: "It turns out to be General Shi. He is polite and courteous."
Shi Yong said in a deep voice: "It's really inappropriate to bother Mr. Zhang so late at night. I hope Mr. Zhang won't blame him."
Zhang Yanling smiled and said: "It's okay, come in and talk."
Shi Yong thanked him and walked in. After sitting down, Zhang Yanling looked at Shi Yong and said, "General Shi must have something important to come to see me so late."
Shi Yong said in a deep voice: "It's not an important matter, but I just want to talk to Mr. Zhang about something."
Zhang Yanling said: "Please speak."
Shi Yong cupped his hands and said: "Master Yang will convene the generals tonight to discuss the matter of crossing the river to attack. The Marquis should know about it, right?"
Zhang Yanling smiled and said: "I know, he sent someone to invite me. However, I didn't agree with his strategy, and it was unpleasant to go, so I didn't go. General Shi should have participated."
Shi Yong nodded and frowned: "Sir Yang Yiqing...it is really inappropriate to treat the Marquis like this. The Marquis was sent by the imperial court to suppress the rebellion. His attitude and behavior towards the Marquis today...are disturbing. The Marquis
I must be very angry in my heart."
Zhang Yanling smiled and said: "General Shi, there is no need to mention this matter. I don't know where I offended Master Yang. Why do you dislike me? However, I am easy to talk to. He is rude to me, and I respect him."
I won’t be angry because of this. Anyway, I enjoy my leisure time. I didn’t want to do this job in the first place. It would be best if Mr. Yang can handle it all by himself."
Shi Yong smacked his lips and said, "Does the Marquis really not know why Mr. Yang treats you like that?"
Zhang Yanling said with a smile: "How do I know? Mr. Yang and I just met for the first time yesterday. Before that, he and I didn't know each other, and there is no grievance between us."
Shi Yong laughed and said in a low voice: "Master Zhang, do you know a person named Li Mengyang?"
Zhang Yanling was stunned and said in a deep voice: "Li Mengyang? Li Mengyang, the head of the Imperial Household Department?"
Shi Yong nodded and said: "It's him. That Li Mengyang is the most admired student of Lord Yang Yiqing and the most proud disciple of Lord Yang Yiqing."
Zhang Yanling was stunned for a moment, then slowly said: "That's it, that's it."
Li Mengyang is Yang Yiqing's favorite student. In March last year, Li Mengyang published a report on "two diseases, three harms and six gradual changes". In it, he severely criticized the government, criticized Liu Jin for demanding bribes, and also brought the Zhang brothers with him. Not only
Zhang Heling's old account of molesting the maids in the palace was revealed, and he also fabricated evidence that the Zhang family's servants had committed theft. The matter made a big fuss.
The final result was that Li Mengyang fell to his death on the steps of the main hall. It was said that he made a mistake, but in fact everyone understood that he died because of the failure of the impeachment to avoid involving the informant in the inner court and the supporters behind the outer court. It was not his own intention.
The suicide was committed by Mou Bin who escorted him out at that time.
From this point of view, it seems that this debt is settled on himself. The reason why Yang Yiqing treated him like this is probably related to this incident.