It is said that after Heshen went to the palace to report, Qianlong quickly agreed to dismantle the "repeating musket", but everything had to be done under the supervision of the guards.
It's easy to dismantle a shotgun, but it's not that easy to dismantle a Beihai Town gun.
This is actually something that is difficult for those who don’t know it, but it’s not difficult for those who know it, but it was a bit difficult for the ancients. Under the gaze of two second-class guards, several craftsmen turned over and over for a long time, feeling that they had no idea where to start.
Although Qianlong left the dismantling of firearms to Heshen, he paid attention to the progress every day. After hearing that the useless snacks at the Bird Gun were making no progress, he asked He Shen to lead two people to the Bird Gun.
Although the two people He Shen brought were wearing official uniforms and official hats, they had blond hair and blue eyes.
The older of the two is Wang Dahong, a Frenchman, who is fifty-one years old this year; the other is Ba Maozhen, also a Frenchman, who is forty-eight years old this year. They are all Jesuit missionaries. They are currently working at Ruyiguan under the Construction Office of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, specializing in making and repairing clocks.
Wang Dahong came to China in the 31st year of Qianlong's reign and arrived in the capital the following year; Ba Maozhen came to China in the 46th year of Qianlong's reign and arrived in Beijing in May last year.
The Manchu Qing Dynasty recruited Western scientific and technological talents from Macau to serve the court since the Kangxi period. Due to the relationship between Nan Huairen and Tang Ruowang in the early days, these people were selected from among the Jesuit priests. Some of them served in the Qintian Prison, and some worked in the court. Manufacturing Office; Historically, it was not until the 16th year of Jiaqing that we stopped recruiting people to serve in the Manufacturing Office.
Since Qianlong succeeded to the throne, the recruitment and use of Western craftsmen reached an unprecedented level, and the Western missionaries in the court were not affected by the large and small teaching cases that occurred from time to time in various places. As the saying goes, "China and foreign countries must be strict in preventing idleness. The sincerity of distant foreigners must be uncompromising."
But as long as these Jesuit missionaries come to Beijing, they will never think of leaving in this life!
Someone once asked Qianlong to retire and return home because he was too old and missed his relatives in his homeland. Qianlong specially issued an edict and thought it was simply unreasonable!
In his opinion, since you priests have parents and relatives at home who need to be taken care of, you should not travel across the ocean to come to the Qing Dynasty to serve the court. And your coming to Beijing to serve is a voluntary act of admiring the Celestial Dynasty and sincerely seeking change, so you must serve me for life and work until death!
(So you know why Qianlong later learned about the French Revolution and the king’s head loss, right?)
Among the two Frenchmen who followed He Shen, Wang Dahong was one of the most important clock and mechanical technology backbones in the manufacturing office during the middle and late Qianlong dynasties. This man keeps repairing clocks and watches every day, not only for the emperor, but also for princes and ministers.
According to what Wang Dahong later described in his letters to Europe, every day was not only busy, but simply overwhelmed.
However, Wang Dahong was extremely skilled in mechanics and design. The famous "Gold-plated Copper Writer's Clock" in the treasure house of later generations was his masterpiece. Before starting, just dip the robot's small brush in ink, and when the switch is turned on, it will neatly write eight words: "Eight Directions, Nine Earths Come to the King".
Now that He Shen is bringing these two people over, it means that if even the two of them can't understand it, then no one can.
The two French missionaries didn't know what they were going to do when they were called away by He Shen, but they were quite happy to have a day off without repairing the clock; but when they saw the musket on the desk, their eyes almost stared. Come out, thinking what the hell is this!
"Your Excellency, is this really a musket? I have never seen such a musket before!" Before Wang Dahong and others came to China, the most sophisticated firearms they had seen were the "Charvet Flintlock" and "Brown Bess" .
Looking at the length of the gun in front of him, Wang Dahong looked surprised and thought to himself: Why is this gun so short? Looking at the caliber at the muzzle, I was even more stunned.
At present, the flintlock guns in Europe are basically about 1.5 meters long, and the caliber is about 17-19 mm. However, not to mention the short barrel of this gun, the caliber is only 39 mm.
Where did this gun come from?
At this time, He Shen smiled and said to Wang Dahong and Ba Maozhen: "Master Wang, Master Ba, you two are rare craftsmen. Let's see how you can take this gun apart so that you can measure the dimensions of each part."
"Master Zhongtang, may I ask where this gun came from?"
He Shen's face remained unchanged and he smiled and said: "Things from overseas."
Seeing that He Shen didn't want to say more, Wang Dahong and the two had to re-measure the dimensions first, and then started tinkering back and forth.
After about a cup of tea, he first pulled the silver-white bolt of the gun, then tried to pull a reed under the gun body, and reached for the black iron box (magazine compartment) under the gun body. Just pull it and it will open immediately.
Several craftsmen leaders gathered around, but the black iron box could only be opened, but not taken down.
After a while, Wang Dahong found a steel buckle on the left side of the gun's tail. He asked Ba Maozhen to use a tool to move the buckle upwards. He found that it was a movable bolt. He turned the bolt and lifted it hard. The black gun back cover was taken off; the spring-wrapped firing pin inside was exposed, and when you stretched out your hand and pulled it, the spring was pulled out.
He Shen also came up to watch at this time. He pointed to the removed spring and the iron rod inside and asked, "What is this?"
Wang Dahong picked up the spring, stretched it to his nose and asked, then shook his head and said: "Your Excellency Zhongtang, please forgive my ignorance. The parts of this weapon are very strange. I have never seen them in Europe. This spring seems to be It’s made of steel, and although it looks rough in appearance, the processing technology is extremely sophisticated, and it will take time to figure out the principle.”
He Shen had to wait in front of Qianlong every day and would not leave until the palace door was locked. He could only stay in the Military Academy for one hour. Now that he saw progress, he nodded with satisfaction and said: "In this case, you two can continue working, I will report to the emperor."
In fact, he was more concerned about when he could produce the imitation in order to report the good news to Qianlong.
Two days later, Wang Dahong and Ba Maozhen finally figured out how to remove the trigger mechanism from under the gun body, and finally completed the separation of the handguard and barrel.
To be honest, compared to an extremely sophisticated mechanical clock, it is much simpler to disassemble a weapon composed of steel components and wood.
It was only then that the two Frenchmen were surprised to find that there was not a single trach hole visible on many parts of this strange musket; it was obvious that these parts were not cast at all, but seemed to be cast with some extremely hard tool. Processed directly from a piece of steel ingot.
At this time, the world's first boring machine had appeared 12 years ago. The main purpose of that boring machine is to process gun barrels and steam engine cylinders. However, the British kept this a strict secret, and the two French missionaries had no idea. As for cutting lathes, they won’t appear in the UK for another 11 years.
Obviously, if this thing is made of steel, even Wang Dahong's genius can't do anything about it.
Seeing that the deadline given by He Shen was getting closer and closer, a head craftsman came up with an idea. He said that since cannons and shotguns can be made of bronze, can this gun also be made of copper?
Everyone thought that there might be a way. Although drilling and cutting bronze was very laborious, it was easier to process than steel.
From then on, Wang Dahong and Ba Maozhen, in addition to continuing to repair clocks in the manufacturing office, would come to the fowling office every other day to instruct the craftsmen on the imitation work.
On the other side, on the 26th of the twelfth lunar month, Qianlong summoned Fukang'an, who had returned to Beijing to see him, in the Yangxin Hall.
Looking at Fukangan, who was pale and skinny, and then recalling the young man who talked and laughed freely, Qianlong couldn't help but think of the late Fu Heng. He said with a smile on his face: "What's your trip?" The mission is not easy, but I did it well, but I am much thinner than before I left. Victory or defeat is a common thing for a soldier. It is good to know your shame and then be brave, but you must also cherish your body."
Fukang'an's tearful eyes shone brightly and he said: "This is the great blessing of the master that has been spread all over the world. How can a slave be so virtuous and capable? I have been reflecting on myself these days. I was really arrogant and arrogant in the past. I depended on my master." Trust, and take all the credit and ability into your own account.”
As he spoke, Fukang'an looked at Qianlong from time to time, and felt that he was not far from when he resigned. His eyebrows were as vigorous as before, and a man in his seventies looked like he was in his early sixties.
Qianlong shook his head and said: "What do you mean? Who dares to say that you are incompetent! There is no need to say such things again. Let's talk about it, what is your experience when you go to train soldiers these days?"
"嗻."
Fukang'an stood up and sat on the stool, and gave a general summary of the military training in the Green Camp in the four provinces of Shaanxi, Shanxi, Shandong, and Henan during this period. Many of the details had already been mentioned in the previous memorial.
It is said that before Fukang'an met Zhao Xin, he always wanted the most elite troops to go into battle, either the Beijing Camp, the Tianshan Banner Camp, or the Shaanxi-Gansu Green Camp. With a little training and a lot of silver rewards given to these originally elite troops, their combat effectiveness will naturally be high.
But after he went to inspect the green camps in the four provinces this time, he discovered that there were so many problems that it was almost shocking.
The most important thing is that the number of soldiers is fake, the number of soldiers is insufficient, and some provinces even use craftsmen to pretend to be soldiers. It is common for green battalion generals to deduct soldiers' pay by borrowing money. What's more, they directly make usury loans to their own troops and then use the soldiers' military pay to pay back; there are also fake equipment and deduct military supplies, borrowing public funds to embezzle soldiers' pay, and so on. The disadvantages are numerous.
In the forty-sixth year of Qianlong's reign, in order to eliminate the vacancies in Luying, he issued an edict to abolish the famous grain system in Luying and implement military positions to maintain integrity. But in fact, the military and government were extremely corrupt at this time. Fukang'an mentioned in his note to Qianlong that "the accumulated disadvantages are in name only. The imperial court has only suffered from the increase in pay without reaping the benefits of the increase in troops."
It is said that before Fukang'an met Zhao Xin, he always wanted the most elite troops to go into battle, either the Beijing Camp, the Tianshan Banner Camp, or the Shaanxi-Gansu Green Camp. With a little training and a lot of silver rewards given to these originally elite troops, their combat effectiveness will naturally be high.
But after he went to inspect the green camps in the four provinces this time, he discovered that there were so many problems that it was almost shocking.
The most important thing is that the number of soldiers is fake, the number of soldiers is insufficient, and some provinces even use craftsmen to pretend to be soldiers. It is common for green battalion generals to deduct soldiers' pay by borrowing money. What's more, they directly make usury loans to their own troops and then use the soldiers' military pay to pay back; there are also fake equipment and deduct military supplies, borrowing public funds to embezzle soldiers' pay, and so on. The disadvantages are numerous.
Just listen to Fukang'an's last words: "I see that the soldiers are not paid a lot of money every month, and the generals in charge have unfair rules. Under layers of exploitation, there is not enough to support their parents, and not enough to buy clothes, armor, and equipment. He fights hard on the battlefield and fights with vigor and vigor, but in the end he cannot win!"
After Qianlong listened, he looked at the green smoke rising from the incense burner in the palace, and sighed for a long time: "The root cause is still in the administration of officials. There are soldiers on the books, but there are no soldiers in the army; there are wages on paper, but there are no wages in the army."
Fukang'an looked at Qianlong's face carefully and said: "Nowadays, the officialdom is deteriorating. Since the master knows it, why doesn't he issue an order to rectify it? I have tried it this time, and it can be done."
"Some things are easy to say, but too difficult to do!" Qianlong turned to look at Fukang'an and sighed: "Those things you do below, although the soldiers have been trained, they are not enough to be the standard for the world. . Who among the military and political officials in the four provinces dares to challenge you? If you need people or money, you can get everything you need. The combined power of the world can meet the needs of several provinces. You can’t use this as an example!"
Having said this, Fukangan also knew it was time to retreat. He finally requested: "I heard that Sun Shiyi captured a musket from Beihai Town. Please allow me to take a look."
Qianlong said: "I asked Wang Dahong and Ba Maozhen to take charge of this matter, and He Shen supervised it. The gun is placed at the fowling gun. But you must understand that these strange skills seem to be amazing, but if they are everywhere If the people of the world are rebelling, what's the point of a few cannons? No matter how well-built Zhao Xin's ship is, can it be driven ashore?"
The next day, the 27th day of the twelfth lunar month, Qianlong recognized Fukang'an's success in military training and his ability in handling affairs, so he resumed his position as co-organizer of the bachelor's degree and was awarded the title of Minister of the Ministry of War.
On the same day, he issued an order to recruit 2,000 troops from the Eight Banners Manchu and Mongolians in Beijing later in the year. Each banner would recruit 2,000 troops. Another 5,000 troops would be recruited from the Eight Banners Han Army, and 2,000 troops would be under the command of Fukang'an. . At the same time, 2,000 Eight Banners soldiers were selected to practice musket formations in the Old Summer Palace.
On the twenty-ninth day of the twelfth lunar month, Qianlong held a banquet in the Baohe Hall with hundreds of people from the Zhengwai vassal, the princes of the left-wing Mongolian tribes, Taiji and Baylor. Last year's defeat at Fuldan City caused heavy losses to the left-wing Mongolian ministries; in order to show comfort, Qianlong specially rewarded the Chahar banners who participated in the battle at Fuldan City after the banquet.
On the 30th day of the twelfth lunar month, the Ministry of War has drafted a troop deployment order. After the 15th day of the first lunar month, 20,000 green battalion troops from the four provinces of Shaanxi, Shanxi, Shandong, and Henan will be mobilized to go north and exit the customs. They must arrive in Wula, Jilin before the snow melts in spring. , used to strengthen the defense of Ninggu Pagoda and Hunchun.
The New Year is always joyful, and the same goes for Beihai Town, which is thousands of miles away.
Beginning on the 26th of the twelfth lunar month, the civil affairs authorities in Beihai Town and the two places organized residents to kill pigs and sheep, and distributed half a catty of meat to each person, regardless of age. This alone is more than 50,000 catties of meat. .
In addition, to the newly arrived refugees this year, the Civil Affairs Bureau also distributed food, salt, oil, pickles and other daily necessities, which made many refugees who were once under Manchu rule burst into tears.
In Zhao Xin's view, if his physical fitness cannot keep up, he will not be able to serve as a soldier or work as a farmer. Instead of doing this, in order for these people to devote themselves to spring plowing and land reclamation next year, we can only strengthen nutrition now.
Relying on adequate food rations, modern medical technology and drugs, the newborn mortality rate in Beihai Town was only 57 per 1,000 in the 51st year of Qianlong's reign. The nursing team led by Liu Siting has won praises among the refugees as “Buddha is born in every family”. Many families come to express their gratitude at the end of the year with a variety of homemade mountain snacks.
These people didn't even enter the house. After kowtowing respectfully three times outside the door, they placed their things outside the door of Director Liu's house and turned around to leave. Seeing the gifts piled up like a mountain outside the door, Director Liu was deeply moved.
On the twenty-eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, the Thunder God returned with the people stranded in Lei Yue Mun and Shen Jingdan's family.
Among the group brought by Shen Jingdan were his wife Shen Wu and her youngest daughter Ayu, which made Shen Xuan extremely happy. In addition, Guisheng and his father Ah Si also came, and in addition there were several children of the Shen family who also accompanied them.
Zhao Xin understands Shen Jingdan's little ones in his heart. He plans to let these Shen family children go to civil affairs after the new year and start as ordinary clerks. Those who are capable will naturally be promoted. Those who want to dominate by relying on Shen Xuan's status should get out as soon as possible. .
As for Wang Rongfu, a famous Yangzhou scholar invited by Zhao Xinrang and Shen Jingdan, he fell ill as soon as he got off the ship because he was not adaptable to the dry and cold climate in the north. After being sent to the hospital for examination, it was found that this man had symptoms of pneumonia for a long time and had not fully recovered. After repeated persuasion by Zhao Xin, Shen Jingdan and the Wu brothers, Wang Rongfu reluctantly agreed to hospitalization.
The soldier who died in Guangzhou was cremated in Lei Yue Mun, and his grieving family members held the urn and cried endlessly. However, it is not suitable to hold a funeral during the New Year's Eve, so we decided to wait until after the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. However, the due pension and related certificates were still sent to the family members one day later.
On New Year's Eve, except for Liu Sheng, Wang Yuanfang, and Fang Hua, all the other members of the Transmigration Society in Beihai Town signed their names and fingerprints on the trust document. The issue of secrecy among the time-travelers that had worried Zhao Xin was finally solved.
By the end of this year, the total population under Beihai Town reached 112,000, with an additional population of more than 43,000 throughout the year.
