In the ninth year of Chongzhen, the fifth day of the first lunar month.
According to those who have good things, purple clouds are shrouded in the sky over Ji'an Mansion, and a black dragon is seen in the north, followed by five-color clouds. It was night, but seeing the red light rushing out of the General Military Mansion, the roar of tigers and the roar of dragons could be heard endlessly, and all the weeping willows by the river pulled out new branches
Well, without talking too much, Fei Rulan gave birth to a son smoothly.
In the land of two prefectures and thirteen counties, the officials and the people rejoice. They are really happy that the lord has an heir, and the cause of rebellion has become more stable.
Of course, there were also countless gentry who cursed and expected Zhao Han's son to die young.
? But it seems that God is celebrating. This spring, the weather has been smooth and rainy. Two spring rains fell early, and finally the spring drought is no longer like the previous years.
Just after the Lantern Festival, the sky suddenly became clear, and Zhao Han walked around the garden with the child in his arms.
The guard came in and announced: "General Town, Song Sigong is asking to see you."
"Please!" Zhao Han returned the child to the nanny.
As for Fei Rulan, she is confinement at home. At the beginning, the doors and windows were closed tightly, saying that there was no ventilation, so Zhao Han asked people to hang screens on the windows, and forced the windows to open for ventilation.
Song Yingxing walked in quickly, followed by a subordinate, holding a brand new blunderbuss.
Zhao Han happily said: "The bird gun has been made?"
Song Yingxing cupped his hands and said: "Thirty guns have been made. Last year, many blacksmiths were making waist knives and gun heads. This year, some blacksmiths were recruited to hammer the gun body. At least 500 bird guns can be made a year."
"It's still too little." Zhao Han said.
"We can only cultivate apprentices slowly, as long as there are more craftsmen." Song Yingxing said.
Zhao Han thought for a while and said: "Mianjia iron sheets and so on can be made by private iron factories, and official craftsmen will do their best to make firearms."
Although Song Yingxing was in charge of the Public Works Department, his main energy was devoted to making bird guns and gunpowder, and he lived in Fenyi and Xinyu counties for a long time. Tian Younian has been transferred to the deputy of the Public Works Department, but Tian Younian is in charge of the daily affairs of the Public Works Department.
Now, Zhao Han has three weapons.
One is located in the outskirts of Ji'an Prefecture, mainly making spears, bows and arrows, leather armor, and wooden shields.
One is located in the Fenyi County Iron Works, which mainly makes waist knives, gun heads, and arrowheads.
One is located in the Xinyu County Iron Works, which mainly makes iron sheets for cotton armor - chain mail cannot be made, and Song Yingxing does not know the wrought iron drawing technology.
Zhao Han did not occupy all the iron mines, but allowed the local gentry to continue to operate their mines and iron factories. In order to concentrate blacksmiths on making firecrackers, some simple work can be contracted out to private ironworks. Especially the iron sheet of the cotton armor, there is no technical difficulty at all.
Over the past few months, there have been more than 300 sets of cotton armor made by Weapons itself.
Cotton armor can resist chopping and bows and arrows, but it has limited effect on stabbing, let alone defending against firecrackers. That thing is actually a set of cotton clothes with iron sheets embedded on the surface, which is much lighter than traditional armor.
At the same time, Tian Younian also gave a suggestion to recruit bamboo craftsmen to weave helmets.
This kind of bamboo helmet can prevent arrows and knives. Although the effect is limited, the advantage is that the cost is low and the manufacturing speed is very fast. If you want to increase the defensiveness, you can also weave a few pieces of iron into it when fabricating.
Zhao Han took the gun and said with a smile, "Come on, follow me to the school grounds outside the city."
Observing while walking, this bird gun is nearly one meter long. The gun barrel is thin at the front and thick at the back, and there is a trigger, which can move the ramie rope by pulling the trigger.
Zhao Han pulled the trigger a few times before he understood how it worked.
Ramie rope can burn slowly, and its function is similar to that of incense. With this device, the matchlock gun does not need to be specially ignited, and the gunpowder can be ignited by pulling the trigger.
This kind of bird gun should actually be called the Malacca matchlock gun.
Zhao Han asked curiously: "How is the barrel made?"
Song Yingxing explained: "First build the iron stiles, and then wrap the iron stiles with red-hot steel and beat them continuously. After many times of joints, the tubes can be formed. Then, the square steel cones are penetrated into the tubes and rotated to make the tube walls If it is as smooth as a mirror, there will be no hindrance to the launch of the medicine.¡±
Gradually approaching the school grounds, Zhao Han couldn't help asking: "It's not easy to explode, isn't it?"
Song Yingxing could only say: "Sooner or later, the blunderbuss will explode, but the blunderbuss I made must be hundreds of times better than those made by the imperial court. First of all, it is better to use charcoal to make a furnace fire than coal. Secondly, the barrel of the blunderbuss They are all made of steel, not wrought iron. Of course, if you put too much medicine, it may still explode."
Song Yingxing didn't know how to smelt Sugang, but he knew the Guangnan irrigation method, which is the kind of group steel smelted in Foshan.
"That's so troublesome," said Zhao Han, "if you don't train for a long timeIt is also endowed with different talents. "
Asshole fired the second bullet. Before Zhao Han crossed, he was considered a small shooting expert in the company, and he was fed with countless ammunition.
However, Zhao Han was quite surprised that a musket like a birdcage could achieve such accuracy.
Mainly due to the very long barrel, which is almost one meter long.
Of course, the firecracker presented by Song Yingxing is a strictly crafted boutique. If we increase manpower and increase production, even if the quality control is stricter, the overall quality will drop a lot.
This kind of bird gun still has to be fired in rows, and it is difficult to achieve results by shooting individually.
Zhao Han smiled and said: "This bird gun is not bad, it will belong to me from now on."
The current senior generals in the army, the ones with the strictest rules and the best discipline are the troops trained by Li Zheng.
Zhao Han decided to let Li Zhengtong lead the firearms battalion. There are only dozens of firearms for the time being, and there will be hundreds of them in a year.
"Are there any raw materials for gunpowder?" Zhao Han asked.
Song Yingxing replied: "Saltpeter must be purchased from Ningdu County, and there is no shortage of other raw materials."
Ningdu County is adjacent to the southeast of Yongfeng County. Merchants who sell saltpeter can transport the goods to Xingguo County to take a small road, and then transport the goods to Ji'an along the Ganjiang River.
There is also a more convenient route, all the way to Ganzhou, and then from Ganzhou to Ji'an.
However, Ganzhou is tightly guarded and is not allowed to transport strategic materials such as saltpeter.
Zhao Han urged: "Turn on the firecrackers. Craftsmen who do well and quickly can be promoted and rewarded for reuse. If there are craftsmen who can improve their craftsmanship, they will also be rewarded!" </div>