Fighting is very simple, but negotiations after a ceasefire are trivial and time-consuming.
Yao Fen from the Inspectorate had been sent back to negotiate with Supervisor Biao Lvying, which caused the Qing army to surrender and stop the attack. After crossing the river, two aides from Tusab, the governor of Guangdong, and Xu Zujing, the chief envoy, were sent to surround Haizhuang. The temple's Fu Biao Qing army went to negotiate.
When it was almost seven o'clock in the morning, Tusab's staff came back and said that the Qing troops surrounding Haizhuang Temple had retreated. Zhao Xin then asked the Zheng family to take the Beihai Town soldiers and Guangdong Governor Tusab to set off for Lei Yue Gate; the body of the sacrificed soldier was also taken away and prepared to be cremated and buried after arriving at Lei Yue Gate.
The purpose of bringing Tusab is to ensure that the group can pass Huangpu and Humen smoothly. You must know that there are four forts in Humen. As for the Zheng family itself, Zhao Xin is not worried about what tricks they will pull. After all, Zheng Yi and Zheng Qi are still in the hands of Beihai Town. As for whether Zheng Lianchang would send Tusab back to Guangzhou with a gift or put it in a sack and throw it into the sea after seeing the governor, let him go. According to Zhao Xin's estimate, Zheng Lianchang would most likely send someone to send Tusab back to Guangzhou with a gift.
The two assault boats were towed away by the watermelon boat. Zhao Xin felt that his men might be able to use them after they went to Hong Kong Island. Anyway, this thing is useless after piercing the air leakage with a knife. Without the diesel, the motor and engine are just a pile of scrap metal.
After Zhao Xin and Liu Zheng escorted Sun Shiyi and others into Haizhuang Temple cautiously, their hearts were in their throats, fearing that a group of people would suddenly appear out of nowhere. Zhao Xin himself was not afraid, but Liu Zheng would be in trouble if he was taken away. After arriving under the three bodhi trees, the two of them breathed a sigh of relief.
Under Zhao Xin's threat with a gun, several aides helped Sun Shiyi and left quickly. After the two people quickly checked their surroundings and confirmed that no one was around, Zhao Xin put away his weapons, then grabbed Liu Zheng's arm and disappeared under the bodhi tree in an instant.
Zhao Xin, who returned to Beihai Town, was unanimously criticized by the traveling public. Why did a simple transport of silver go to such an extent? Whether the five hundred thousand taels of silver were lost or not was not a big problem. The key was that if Zhao Xin himself made a mistake, how would everyone go back in the future?
Maybe some people want to dominate the world, but the problem is that most people come to work to make money.
For these people, after getting over the initial curiosity, wouldn't it be better to earn money and go back to enjoy themselves instead of staying in an era where medical care and living and entertainment standards are extremely backward?
Faced with the "big criticism" launched by everyone, Zhao Xin had no choice but to bow his head and admit his mistake, saying that he would never go to the south to engage in other things in the future.
The biggest loss during this trip to Guangzhou was the loss of a Beihai Town standard rifle. Although everyone knows that it is impossible to imitate the smelting technology of the eighteenth century, no one can say what inspiration the Manchu and Qing craftsmen will receive.
As for other people's concerns about whether the rifles would be lost to foreigners, Zhao Xin and Liu Zheng were not worried at all. Because the foreigners at this time are not the foreigners after the Opium War, they can't even enter the city of Guangzhou, let alone go deep into the interior; now the Manchu officials and foreigners are pursuing a "complete non-contact policy."
Zhao Xin himself believed that the biggest gain this time was that he saw clearly that the Manchu rule in Guangzhou was a paper tiger. The huge empire relied on one port of trade, which made the Western bandits look like flowers in the smoke. It was not until the arrival of the Malgani mission ten years later that we realized that behind the apparent prosperity was an astonishing decline, and that this huge empire was actually vulnerable.
Ding Guofeng drove the Thor away and headed south to Lei Yue Mun to pick up people. Seeing that the Chinese New Year is coming soon, no matter what, we have to bring back the remains of the soldiers who died in the battle and bury them.
To be on the safe side, there was a battalion of troops traveling south with the ship this time, and students from the navigation school were also included. The Zheng brothers and Guo Po also went with them as newly admitted students. At present, the three of them are still trainee sailors. In addition to doing odd jobs on the ship every day, they also have to learn how to use various navigation instruments. Such as sextant, barometer, wet and dry thermometer, anemometer, etc.
His eyes turned back to Oiqing.
At this time, news of the rebellion in Taiwan's Tiandihui had reached the capital. A report from Chang Qing, the governor of Fujian and Zhejiang, was handed over to Qianlong's case on the 12th day of the twelfth lunar month, but Qianlong and his military ministers did not pay attention to it. Everyone thinks that Lin Shuangwen and others are just a small group of thieves causing trouble, and it is not an urgent matter at the moment. Now that Fujian Navy Admiral Huang Shijian has led three thousand troops across the sea to quell the chaos, Lin Shuangwen and his gang will definitely be wiped out quickly.
On December 15, a letter of apology jointly signed by Sun Shiyi and Tusab caused an uproar in the government and the public after arriving in the capital.
It is said that such a big thing happened in Guangzhou. It is impossible for the Guangdong officialdom to conceal it, but how to apologize to the emperor is very particular.
The first thing is the "soul-capturing" thing that makes everyone tremble the most. Because there were only a few people present at the time, the five major officials who returned to the city, namely the governor, governor, Naitai, Fantai, and Guangdong Customs Supervisor, quickly formed an offensive and defensive alliance and unanimously decided to put the matter of "soul capture" to death. Here, no word will be leaked to the outside world.
The second was how to report what happened that night to the emperor. In order to cover up the cowardice of the Eight Banners garrisoned in Guangzhou City and their own capture, Sun Shiyi and others discussed with the Guangzhou General Cuntai who returned to Guangzhou. What happened before the eyes of Qianlong and the Minister of Military Aircraft became as follows:
At first, Sun Shiyi learned from the garrison at the Eight Banners that Zhao Ni suddenly appeared in Guangzhou City and was colluding with Bai Xiongxing to plot evil, so he mobilized troops overnight to arrest him. Then that night, hundreds of fierce bandits suddenly came out of Baixiongxing to resist the government troops. Due to the sharp weapons of the gangsters, more than half of the Supervisor's men were killed and injured, and the Supervisor's Yamen fell.
Here comes the point!
Just when the governor's office was invaded by thieves, the officials led their own soldiers and guards to resist. When the situation was critical, the Eight Banners garrisoned in the city and the volunteers of Nanhai County rushed out of the old city and came to the governor's office to rescue them, repelling the bandits in one fell swoop. . In the end, Zhao Ni saw that the army and the people of Guangzhou were united and resisted to the death. In the end, he had no choice but to escape to the sea by boat.
In general, this operation in Guangzhou City was described as a long-planned attempt by the "Zhao Ni Gang" to rob Guangzhou City in conjunction with internal and external cooperation; and the total force size of more than 30 people was said to be hundreds.
Although Qianlong expressed shock and anger that Guangzhou City was almost lost, he was pleased that Sun Shiyi and others were able to defend Guangzhou City in this battle and at the same time capture the weapons of Beihai Town. He felt that if he had not previously approved Sun Shiyi to strengthen the training of Guangdong and Guangxi soldiers and horses, Guangzhou City might not be able to defend this time.
The military ministers headed by He Shen even congratulated and praised him. It is said that the emperor succeeded the ancestor Shizong Molie, sent out the remaining thoughts of the ancestor Taizu, and worked hard to govern. Now the military training in Guangdong is successful, which is enough to prove that the emperor's strategy is unparalleled. When the army marches north, it will be the time when Zhao Ni will be crowned the leader.
As for the people in the White Bear Line who were beaten away, it made everyone in the court worried. They pinched their noses before and called them "Great Ainu", but in fact the rebellious people landed in Guangzhou, which really brought Qianlong and the Manchu civil and military forces to a halt. It tastes bad.
What satisfied Qianlong the most was the Beihai Town repeating musket that came to Beijing with the memorial. Since the forty-ninth year of Qianlong's reign, the Manchu Qing Dynasty had fought against Beihai Town many times, but this was the first time that weapons had been seized.
It is said that there are many kinds of well-made muskets collected in the palace, and Qianlong himself is considered to be very familiar with muskets. In addition to self-made muskets, there are also tributes from princes, ministers and Westerners. For example, the Sixth Panchen Lama once presented Tibetan muskets as tribute, as well as flintlock muskets given to Kangxi by the British.
However, when the well-informed Qianlong and several military ministers carefully inspected the Beihai Town rifle in front of them, they discovered that in addition to knowing which is the barrel, which is the trigger, and which is the front sight and rear sight, the purpose of the other parts is I can't understand it at all, and I don't understand how to load this gun.
Since Heshen was currently the minister in charge of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and in charge of the Military Academy, and had experience in Beihai Town, Qianlong left the matter of studying this musket to Heshen. After Heshen gave the order to the leader, he led a group of guards to escort the rifle to the Military Academy on the west side of Beichizi Road outside Donghua Gate.
In the Qing Dynasty, the Armed Forces Academy was affiliated to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and together with Shangsi Court and Fengchen Court, it was known as the Third Inner Court. It was in charge of preparing military equipment for the court, and the department that made shotguns was called the "Fowling and Guarding Department".
In a signing room of the Armed Forces Prefecture, Beihai Town's rifle was placed on a table. A kind of bureaucratic craftsman, including Shu Wen, the minister of the Armed Forces Prefecture, was looking at the table carefully.
Among the officials present, apart from He Shen, Shu Wen, who was of the third rank, had the highest official position, so this person asked on behalf of his subordinates: "May I ask Zhongtang, how many shots can this continuous fire gun fire?"
He Shen took a sip of tea and said slowly: "There are always more than ten guns."
There are many sources of information about the weapons of Beihai Town from the Manchu and Qing Dynasties, such as the ransomed prisoners, the spies sent, the observations of the defenders in the city when they attacked Ninggu Pagoda, etc. Although the exact number is not clear, these people all swear that at least Can fire more than ten shots in a row.
As soon as these words came out, Baitang'a, who was responsible for supervising the manufacture of shotguns in the fowling department, seemed a little surprised, but he was just surprised.
Why just "some"? Because the continuous fire blunderbuss is really not a new weapon to these people. There was it in the warehouse of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and there was a thick layer of dust.
There is a rumor in later generations that Dai Zi invented the world's first machine gun during the Kangxi period. However, because the Manchu emperor did not know the goods and did not understand advanced military technology, this weapon was not equipped on a large scale in the army. If the Manchu Qing Dynasty could pay attention to the machine gun invented by Dai Zi, the British would have been defeated long ago during the Opium War.
But the actual situation is not like this! The so-called Dai Zi Lianzhu Gun is actually exactly the same as the flintlock 20-ring Pipa sheath gun that the British paid tribute to Kangxi; Dai Zi is just a copy.
Kangxi was not a fool. If this gun was easy to use, it would have been mass-produced long ago.
In terms of the industrial level from the 17th to the 18th century, the Pipa sheath gun was not practical at all because of its poor air tightness, let alone a machine gun. The processing accuracy at that time could not guarantee mass production, and the workmanship was very complicated. Since the air tightness is extremely poor, the power and range will definitely not meet actual combat requirements. Otherwise, why would the British use brown bass?
As for the so-called advanced rifles brought by the Macartney mission, even the British army itself was not equipped with them. The reason is very simple. The air rifle they gave me is not suitable for fighting, but there is no problem at all for shooting sparrows.
Although the Manchus in the early and middle Qing Dynasties were conservative, they were not stupid enough to not care about advanced firearms; after all, there were so many battles fought during the Qianlong period, and the army's firepower projection must be guaranteed. As far as a flintlock gun without a bayonet is concerned, it is actually not as stable and powerful as a matchlock gun.
Weapons equipped in large batches must have stable performance, high quality and low price. Even in later generations, countries will follow this principle when purchasing standard weapons.
After getting He Shen's permission, several worshipers held up the rifles on the bill with both hands. The heavy weight in their hands suddenly shocked them.
The so-called expert knows when he reaches out his hand to see if there is one. A Baitang'a was surprised and said: "This gun is actually made of steel!"
Everyone first weighed the gun carefully using a scale to confirm that the total weight of the gun was 7.7 kilograms; then they measured the length of each place with a tape measure and recorded it in the record. The next step is to analyze the composition of various parts of the gun body.
However, these people looked at it for a long time, and the only thing they could understand was that the wood on the gun was made of birch. Except for the barrel, bayonet, trigger, rear sight and other parts that could be distinguished, they were completely confused about the functions of other parts.
Just like this gun barrel.
The barrels of the Manchu-style shotguns were forged from double-layered wrought iron. They were then put on a drill press and used a drill to straighten the hole. The tailgate was then sealed, and side ignition holes were opened. The medicine tank and gun were then assembled. . In order to facilitate the fixation of the barrel and the wooden stock, the outer wall of the barrel must be made into edged surfaces.
But the barrel in front of them was round and black, with no welds visible on the surface. Everyone guessed that it must have been cast into shape with molten steel and then drilled with a drill. This made several worshipers gasp in surprise, wondering how much effort it would take to drill out a gun barrel!
Steel is not the problem, the problem is that it is expensive! Nowadays, good steel is used to make waist knives and weapons. Anyone who uses it to make shotguns is really a loser!
Another example is the pull-away handle on the back of the gun body. After careful consideration, several people thought that this should be the place where the gunpowder and lead are put. However, after looking at it for a long time, they couldn't figure out how to put the gunpowder and lead. I wanted to take a few muskets and put them in it, but I didn't dare, for fear of damaging the gun.
"Where's the medicine pot? Why doesn't this gun have a medicine pot? Even if it's a running fire, there has to be a place to put the flint?" A Baitang Ala's trigger handle looked at the sun carefully for a long time, confused.
The only accident during the research process was that someone accidentally flipped the safety in the trigger ring. Now it was bad and the trigger could not be pulled!
When He Shen saw it, his face suddenly turned pale. It was hard to capture a weapon from Beihai Town. If it was damaged, there would be no way to explain it to Qianlong!
When the man, sweating profusely, finally turned the safety back to its original position, everyone let out a sigh of relief, thinking that it was so suspenseful that the guy who was eating almost lost his life. However, after this accident, several craftsmen finally understood what insurance was for.
The problem is that if you really want to understand the structural principles inside, you must completely disassemble the gun. Who dares to do this? !
He Shen sat in the signing room for half an hour. He felt that the chief craftsmen had almost finished their research, so he smiled and said, "How is it? What can you see?"
"Going back to the central hall, this gun is made of fine steel except for the wooden support on the outside. When it comes to using steel to make a shotgun, firstly, the material is expensive, and secondly, it is time-consuming. In order to make the gun like this have a consistent wall thickness, it needs to be carefully polished. It can be formed. However, there is no sealing door at the end of the barrel of this gun. The slaves still can't figure out how to load the powder and fire it. However, according to the slaves' speculation, this gun may be different from the one used by our government. If you really want to find out. For the inner structure, we still have to dismantle the outer wooden supports.”
"Yeah! I heard that they use blunderbuss covered with bronze armor, so they can hit fast and far." He Shen nodded after listening, and that was all he could tell at this time. He pondered for a while and then said: "In this case, I will ask the emperor for permission to see if the master can allow you to take this gun apart. Can you fake it in a month?"
"Go back to the central hall. If you only build one, as long as you can measure the detailed dimensions, there should be no problem."
He Shen slapped the table with satisfaction and said with a smile: "In that case, I will report back to the emperor right away."
