The majestic horses were galloping in the snow in the valley. Liu Chengzong was holding a short blunderbuss on the horse and laughing loudly.
More than a dozen guards drove groups of huge argali sheep into the river valley.
Argali are the largest sheep in the world and have relatively poor climbing ability, so they are reluctant to run up cliffs when escaping.
They come into estrus in winter, and in order to seduce mates, they appear in groups in the Hehuang Valley. After a brief and violent movement and a few gunshots, the valley returned to calm.
"Hey, the word "sex" has a knife on its head."
Liu Chengzong reined in his horse and watched the argali, which could no longer run, fall heavily into the snow and be slowly dragged away by the guards on ropes.
Waiting for their final fate, they will appear on the Lion Army's New Year's Eve dinner table together with autumn radish, becoming an excellent soup to warm up in winter.
He raised the gun and smiled at his brother: "Brother, how are you doing?"
Liu Chengzu stood beside him, riding a tall war horse. He also held a musket in his hand. He nodded and said: "The horse runs a little slower, but this thing is very convenient."
Both of them changed their mounts and rode big horses from Hequ. The Hequ horses here have the blood of Tang horses, and their bodies are strong and vigorous, still bearing the shadow of that affluent era.
Whether on mud flats or plateaus, they can walk freely on flat ground. Their loads are larger than their horses, their strength is very strong, their speed is medium, and their endurance is slightly poor.
Even if their cannons were heavier, they could still be dragged by a single horse.
As for the musket, Liu Chengzong took a modified light bird gun. The medicine tank was equipped with a windproof brass cover. Before shooting, he slowed down, opened the cover, and pulled the trigger to avoid the bumps on the horse's back from blowing away the primer. .
The entire movement must be smooth, coherent, fast and precise, but this is not difficult for Liu Chengzong.
What Liu Chengzu was holding was a flint-haired long-barrelled handgun with a two-foot barrel.
When Liu Chengzong was making a new gun, he mentioned it, so I made him a small toy.
I had time to hunt today, so I asked my brother Liu Chengzu to play with it.
Liu Chengzu took a look at the gun and said with a smile: "This thing is fine for playing with, but it is not convenient for fighting."
Liu Chengzong nodded and said: "It can be equipped on a small scale. It has shortcomings, but it also has its advantages."
This kind of flintlock blunderbuss is a little more troublesome to make than the matchlock blunderbuss. The spring is not a big problem. Any craftsman who can make cross-straight scissors can make reeds.
The difference between flintlock and matchlock is only in the blunderbuss. The blunderbuss tube and ammunition have not changed, and the power and range are exactly the same. There is no technical difficulty for the handicraft industry of this era.
The advantage is that there is no open flame, no fear of wind, and no match rope. There is the possibility of instant firing, and the team can line up more densely.
The disadvantages are that compared with the match-rope gun machine, it requires more work, has a lower fire rate, has poor accuracy, and has low reliability.
The low fire rate can be improved, but the degree of improvement is limited.
The ignition mechanism of the match rope is to pull the trigger, let the burning match rope fall into the medicine pool filled with primer, the primer burns, and the gunpowder in the gun tube is ignited through the fire door, and then fired.
The ignition mechanism of the flintlock is to accumulate force through the reed, and use the flint impact of the hammer to generate sparks, which ignite the primer pool and launch.
The power of the hammer is small, and the firing rate is low; the power of the hammer is large, and the vibration of the gun body will cause poor accuracy.
The poor reliability is manifested in two aspects.
On the one hand, its parts are more numerous and complex than the matchlock gun, and it bears greater stress and is more easily damaged.
On the other hand, during the use of intensive queues, the low firing rate causes surprises.
As long as the matchlock shooter ensures that the matchlock falls into the medicine pool and the primer in the medicine pool is not blown away, the shot can basically be guaranteed.
If the hammer of a fusilier gunman falls off, it may not be able to ensure the firing. It is easy to see whether the gun is fired when one person is using it. However, when a row of fusilier gunners are fighting in formation, errors may occur during the salvo. The verdict was that repeated loading of ammunition into the barrel caused the barrel to explode.
The Liu brothers are surprisingly similar in their attitude towards using firearms.
Both were more than willing to use firearms at any time outside of combat, but within combat, both relied more heavily on their bows.
Liu Chengzu returned the firecracker and asked: "Small-scale equipment, how small?"
"Four to five hundred? It's easier to make than the Buddha Wolf mobile gun I made earlier, and it's also suitable for use by horse soldiers."
Liu Chengzong shook his head and smiled as he said: "It takes three to five years to become a good mounted archer, but it only takes three to five months for a person to be proficient in using this on horseback, and it only takes thirty workers to make two of these."
The most difficult part of making a blunderbuss is to drill and drill the blunderbuss tube straight, making it precise and durable. This is also the most labor-consuming part.
Compared with a hand gun with a four-foot-long tube that is only half the length, the production time is significantly shortened.
"But those three to five years are the three to five years that they can practice at home, and these three to five months are three to five months of training in your training camp."
Liu Chengzu added: "How much is the cost?"
The cost of training is a greater expense than equipment, so although the cost of a flintlock gun is two or three cents more than a match rope, it can be ignored in Liu Chengzong's eyes.
The cost of a blunderbuss ranges from six to seven taels of silver when it is cheap, and only one tael or less than two taels of silver when it is expensive.
This little money is only enough to support the army for a month or two.
Liu Chengzong raised his face and said with a smile: "So we teach students in accordance with their aptitude and local conditions. There are only a few of us. How many heroes can we find around here who are capable of practicing riding and shooting skills at home for three to five years?"
"The use of firearms is a big trend and times have changed."
As Liu Chengzong spoke, his breath condensed into white mist in the air. He stuffed his musket back into the leather holster next to his saddle, put on his thick gloves, and looked at the snow-capped mountains in the distance.
"The skills that have been honed for ten years may be killed by a single shot before entering the range of the bow and arrow on the battlefield. The old days when tens of thousands of elite troops could conquer the world are getting further and further away."
Liu Chengzu believed that, in fact, they were not completely born in that era.
Since they entered the battlefield, the rules of war have long been combined with hot and cold, but for them in the past, skilled warriors were still invincible when facing the northern barbarians.
Just seeing Hequ horses reminds me of the era when armored cavalry galloped on the battlefield.
Liu Chengzu's cheeks were red from the cold. Compared with the Lion Army stationed outside, Xining Guard was a better place. He wrapped his fur robe tightly, and the two of them walked towards the shelter. They sniffed on the way and asked: "Are you really going to give it to me?" Beilu sells knives?"
Beside the broken wall of the river valley that had been abandoned for who knows how many years, the guards raised a bonfire. The two brothers tied up their horses. Liu Chengzong picked up a few pieces of wet wood and placed them next to the bonfire. He asked, "Is he looking for you?"
Throughout the twelfth lunar month of the third year of Chongzhen, the leaders of the Lion Army were discussing setting up factories and opening markets.
Setting up a factory is not a big deal. They have the best technology in the northwest. They can hand-make everything in this era without any technical barriers.
The only thing that can limit them is the small number of senior craftsmen and the lack of raw materials.
So which factory they set up depends on what raw materials Qinghai Tuda can provide them.
The three bureaus that have been finalized now include Weaving, Ordnance, and Baigong.
Among them, the Arms Bureau is naturally responsible for making weapons, and the Weaving Bureau is in charge of weavers such as clothing, white handkerchiefs, and blankets.
In Liu Chengzong's vision, the Baigong Bureau was an organization mainly used for trade with Mongolia. It hired craftsmen from Xining and Tusi, accepted orders from Mongolia, and made daily necessities.
Needs with less technical content, such as agricultural tools and jewelry, are all fulfilled by the Baigong Bureau.
The only thing that could cause them to argue was iron.
Blockade of Mongolia with iron weapons has been the consistent national policy of the Ming Dynasty. Now that the leaders of the Lion Army are all from the Ming Dynasty, they are naturally unavoidable in this regard.
But forced by the situation, they couldn't resist Tie Guo. Selling weapons to the Mongols was the key to their argument.
My father felt guilty about this.
"Da came to see me and asked about the situation of Huo Luo Chi Babu."
The two brothers sat by the bonfire to keep warm. Liu Chengzu took off his fur gloves and warmed them by the fire. He turned around and said, "I am worried that the knives you sell will be chopped on the heads of the people of Hezhou in the future. How can I bear it?"
"I've thought about this too, but Qinghai Mongolia has a knife, and it can't help it."
As Liu Chengzong spoke, he raised his hand and pointed in the direction of the camp in the distance: "I've talked to him several times about that pretense. There is a Yarkand place west of Hami. It can not only make soldiers and armor, but also muskets."
"Yerqiang?"
Liu Chengzu chewed on this very strange name: "I feel very powerful when I hear the name."
Liu Chengzong shook his head: "In the Jiajing year, the leader was a Mongolian Erchuanzi who came from the Mughals in India. He took the monarch with 10,000 soldiers. He sold the monarch to Kazakhstan and exchanged 5,000 troops. The total was about the same as mine, three melons and two dates. people, went into the desert and founded a country."
To the north are Oirat and Kazakhstan, and to the east are Daming and Tumut. They are trapped in a large desert. The location is very tragic and the environment is very harsh.
The Ming Dynasty in the east is the most elegant and easy-going. In principle, I will kill anyone who dares to touch me.
Oirat and Kazakh fight every day. Both of them are ruthless characters who will fight whoever is next to me.
At that time, the Anda Khan, who commanded 30,000 households on the right wing, had a cruel temper. It didn't matter whether he was next to him or not. As long as he wanted to do something, he would fly over and fight.
In such an environment, Ye Erqiang can only tremble. If he cannot defeat others, he can only start civil strife. Therefore, according to Baiyan Taiji, Ye Erqiang's current military strength is not as large as Liu Chengzong's.
Liu Chengzong pointed to the north again: "To the north of Yarkand are Kazakh and Oirat. These two are powerful characters. Far to the north there is the Ob River. To the west of the river there is a group of barbarian bandits from the Rakshasa Kingdom. The former dynasty was called Orus, there are muskets and cannons.”
"The Dzungars in Oirat surround a salt lake and have been fighting barbarian bandits for more than 20 years, so the Dzungars also have guns."
After saying that, he took off his belt knife and placed it on his lap, and looked at his brother: "Brother is in Xining, do you know about smuggling there? Just tell me, a handful of this can be exchanged for a camel or nine livestock."
The brother's eyes widened.
When Liu Chengzong heard about the smuggling trade of soldiers and armor from Bai Yanna and the simple and crude prices, he felt similar to his brother.
The bow and quiver are equal to three heads of livestock.
A waist knife, a pair of wrist armor or a fire gun is equivalent to five livestock.
A helmet or a high-grade sword is equivalent to a camel or nine livestock.
A collar with a full set of armor is equivalent to ninety livestock.
Some time ago, it was announced that another brother living in the south of Qinghai Lake would marry his daughter. The son-in-law's family would send a betrothal gift. According to the rules, when Taiji married his daughter, the betrothal gift would require fifty cows and one hundred sheep.
Later, the son-in-law's family brought out two sets of armor, and the daughter was married off.
"How much profit is there in this?"
Liu Shishi shook his head and said: "We can't help it. Even if we don't do it, it will still be there, but if we stretch our hands forward a little, we can control it more."
"Gather those who are willing to follow us and form a coalition to weaken the enemy. The return from selling one knife is enough to make ten muskets."
Liu Chengzong was satisfied with his brother's expression, nodded slowly and said: "In the long run, we will have a large number of skilled craftsmen, gain a large market, and have enough wealth to pay the army, return money through the market, and even issue our banknotes. .”
Liu Chengzu had listened with great interest before, but here he asked in shock with disgust on his face: "Bao Chao?"
"There is no silver coin for the issuance of treasure banknotes. Banknotes are just receipts, and no precious metals are prepared. That is a lie. The court collects taxes and asks people to pay taxes, but expects the people to spend treasure banknotes as money. Isn't that a joke?"
Liu Chengzong laughed, then spread his hands and said: "We are different. We have 300,000 taels of silver, and we can issue 300,000 taels of bills. As long as the market is in our hands, credit is very simple. Our market only accepts bill."
"Qinghai is vast and sparsely populated, so it is not safe to carry silver, but the bills are easy to carry, and you can build a warehouse to purchase materials, and even in the future..."
Liu Chengzong narrowed his eyes and laughed out loud: "I can print 50,000 bills and find 50,000 Mongolian soldiers to help me fight a war."
Hearing this, Liu Chengzu leaned forward with laughter, and quickly wrapped his fur robe tightly when the cold wind hit him: "I believe they will fight you for the money, but I don't believe you can find 50,000 Mongolian soldiers."
"That's what it means. Just understand it."
Liu Chengzong also laughed, and after laughing, he waved his hands and said: "Just selling weapons will not prevent them from robbing us, so we will inevitably have to fight. But if we sell daily necessities all over Qinghai, everyone will listen to us."
The expression on Liu Chengzu's face was very complicated and very confused.
He didn't understand why his younger brother was so keen on controlling the Mongols. He asked: "Do you plan to use the Mongols to fight against the Ming Dynasty? The rebellion is ultimately a matter of quarrels between your own family, so you can't bring your neighbors in, right?"
Liu Chengzong was very interested in his brother's statement and said with a smile: "To overthrow the Ming Dynasty is of course our own business, but this neighbor who grazes peacefully is being bribed by the restless neighbor to the east. Do you remember the Dai Qing that Chen Qindai mentioned? Mobei Mongolia.”
"There are a group of Mongolians in Monan who have taken refuge with Huang Taiji of Houjin. It is not his turn to deal with their own affairs, right?"
Liu Chengzong said solemnly: "To say the least, we cannot let two neighbors join forces to deal with us. Therefore, in trade, each takes what he needs."
Liu Chengzu heard the overtone and asked, "What's the next step?"
"further?"
Liu Chengzong said: "This neighbor has been our boss, but they have become a poor and settled family. Why can't we be their boss?"
After saying that, he turned to look at Liu Chengzu and said, "Brother, do you have any plans to find a Mongolian sister-in-law for me?"
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