After quietly admiring the majestic appearance of these three red cannons for a while, Ye Mingsheng turned to Huang Hao beside him and said;
"let's start!"
"Yes! Sir!" Huang Hao bowed respectfully, then greeted several other craftsmen, and the gunner began to work.
After tinkering for about a cup of tea, Huang Hao and the other two gunners began to light the fuse with torches, and soon the three red cannons let out their deafening roar!
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Immediately afterwards, the forest a mile away suffered a disaster. More than ten big trees were blown to pieces, and the dust was flying in a mess!
Seeing this effect, Ye Mingsheng was quite satisfied, and then asked Huang Hao:
"Is this a solid bullet? Try changing it to shotgun!"
After getting Ye Mingsheng's advice, Huang Hao and several other craftsmen immediately adjusted the muzzle and changed the direction, aiming the three red cannons at some scarecrows one mile ahead. These scarecrows were dug by the soldiers just now. Just to test the power of shotguns for the red cannon...
Although Ye Mingsheng's craftsman battalion has now manufactured the red cannon, the current red cannon is only the primary stage of the red cannon. The weight of the cannon is only about a thousand kilograms, and its range is about one mile, which is far from the The maximum range during the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty was 2,500 meters. As for power, there were three types of red cannon shells.
The first type is a solid bullet used for siege and fortification.
The second type is shotgun used to kill personnel.
The third type is explosive shells that have equal emphasis on siege and killing.
Soon Huang Hao and others completed the debugging, and fired the red cannon again. Three roars were heard again, and in the roar, none of the hundred scarecrows that had just been tied up were spared, and they were all blown to pieces. It's up to you and me...
After testing the power of solid bullets and shotgun shells, Ye Mingsheng tested the power of blooming bullets. After watching the live firing of these three types of shells, Ye Mingsheng, who was in a good mood, praised Huang Hao and other craftsmen:
"Your craftsman camp is doing a great job, very good. Thank you for your hard work!"
Hearing the high-ranking Lord Commander-in-Chief's praise for themselves and others, they were all a little moved, and they all said:
"It is our honor to contribute a little bit to the Fengzhou Army and your Excellency!"
"Yes! Your Excellency treats me with sincerity, and we are willing to die for you!"
"Although we people can't go to the battlefield, we still have to do our part to suppress the rebellion!"
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When they said these words, these simple craftsmen looked very sincere and sincere. Every word they said now came from the depths of their hearts, making them truly speak from the bottom of their hearts.
In this feudal society, the social status of these craftsmen was not high, and the skills they mastered were even discriminated against as exotic skills. In addition, the money they earned was only enough to support their families.
Although they were initially attracted by Ye Mingsheng's high salary, since arriving in Fengzhou, they have been deeply attracted by this land and the system established by Ye Mingsheng.
Ye Mingsheng, who is well aware that technology is the primary productive force, attaches great importance to these craftsmen who have mastered the technology. While using their technological achievements to enhance their own strength, he also provides the craftsmen with generous labor remuneration, which greatly improves their living standards. , so that their food, clothing, housing and transportation have improved significantly. They live in a big yard and can eat meat and vegetables every day.
At the same time, after meeting the material needs of the craftsmen, Ye Mingsheng did not forget the spiritual needs of the craftsmen. Since taking charge of Fengzhou and having his own fixed territory, Ye Mingsheng has been sparing no effort in trying to change society. Atmosphere, let more people realize the importance of technology and technology············
This will further enhance the social status of the craftsmen and enhance their sense of satisfaction and gain. This will continue to attract high-level craftsmen to live and work in Fengzhou through both material and spiritual means.
Thanks to Ye Mingsheng's perseverance, Fengzhou has now become a famous "craftsman's holy land" in Liaoyang and even the entire northern Zhou Dynasty. Ye Mingsheng himself also has a very high status in the hearts of the craftsmen. Everyone is I am grateful for his kindness.
Now there are dozens of craftsmen coming from all over the country every month, and this number is continuing to increase.
It is precisely because of the increase in the number of craftsmen that we were able to work together to overcome several technical difficulties and develop the red cannon from scratch in such a short period of time... ·
After having a cordial conversation with these craftsmen and fully demonstrating his affable and enthusiastic affinity to them, Ye Mingsheng all turned to Huang Hao, the project manager of the red cannon project, and asked about another one. A question of great interest to him.
"If you want to mass-produce this red cannon, how long will it take? How much money will it cost?"
After hearing Ye Mingsheng's question, Huang Hao thought for a moment and replied:
"Let me tell you, sir, it took more than a hundred of us about half a year to get out the first cannon. Later, it took more than two months to improve the problems. As for the second and third cannons, It took us about two months to build the cannon, and the cost of each cannon was about five thousand taels of silver."
Ye Mingsheng frowned slightly when he heard this. Although he had expected that the red cannon must be very expensive, the five thousand taels of silver per gun still surprised Ye Mingsheng. Five thousand taels of silver was enough for him to give a thousand soldiers a year's salary. Military pay.
Although the cost is expensive, this is not Ye Mingsheng's biggest worry. After all, after gaining the accumulation of Zhen Sanshan, the financial situation of Fengzhou Army has been greatly improved. There is no need to save money and food, and Ye Mingsheng can also afford some high costs. weapons.
What really worries Ye Mingsheng is that two months seems a bit too long for the current situation in Liaoyang. According to Huang Hao, it seems that he only has these three red cannons to use recently... ··········
After thinking for a while, Ye Mingsheng asked again:
"If I invest more manpower, can I shorten the time it takes to build the red cannon?"
Faced with Ye Mingsheng's question, Huang Hao hesitated and nodded and said:
"It should be possible. If we work in three shifts day and night, we should be able to complete it in a month!"
After hearing Huang Hao's answer, Ye Mingsheng's frown gradually relaxed. Compared with the ever-changing situation that he was familiar with, a month was naturally a long time, but it was still barely acceptable!
For a weapon like the red cannon, which can be called a strategic weapon in this era, the more the better.
As the primary strategy that has been determined, these three red cannons must first be taken to attack Shoucheng, and Xinfa County also needs red cannons to guard it to resist possible attacks by the Khitans at any time and ensure that Fengzhou is their home base. Safety··········
Only when his hometown is safe can Ye Mingsheng focus on expanding his territory. Now many family members of the Fengzhou Army are in Fengzhou. If Fengzhou is in danger, the morale of the military will be unstable. If the morale of the military is unstable, Ye Mingsheng's plan will be difficult to implement.
Therefore, without the foundation of Fengzhou, Ye Mingsheng would be a rootless duckweed, which is very dangerous, so Ye Mingsheng also attaches great importance to the safety of Fengzhou.
After thinking for a while, Ye Mingsheng asked Huang Hao:
"The supply of logistics materials is open. I am deploying 300 craftsmen for you. How many red cannons can you hand over to me in a month?"
Hearing that Ye Mingsheng allocated so much manpower and material resources to himself, Huang Hao was excited but also felt a lot of pressure. He did not dare to give Ye Mingsheng an answer easily. After thinking about it carefully, he said very cautiously:
"Ten gates!"
"Okay, you have to guarantee the quality!" Ye Mingsheng thought for a while and nodded:
Ye Mingsheng originally expected Huang Hao to give him a surprise, but the number ten was considered a good result. Ye Mingsheng wanted to put pressure on Huang Hao so that he would work harder, but he did not want to give him too much. pressure.
After all, manufacturing does not depend on human will. It has limits. If the goal is too high and cannot be achieved, the result will be to sacrifice quality and shoddy quality in order to achieve the goal. In that case, the gain outweighs the loss. Ye Mingsheng What he didn’t want to see was that he spent a lot of effort to pull the cannon to the front line, but it broke after just a few shots...
Seeing that Ye Mingsheng was concerned about the quality of the artillery, Huang Hao was very confident. He patted his chest and assured Ye Mingsheng:
"Please rest assured, sir, as long as you don't overuse it, if something goes wrong within a hundred rounds, you can take my head, sir!"
After receiving this promise, Ye Mingsheng nodded slightly and ordered:
"I tell everyone to work harder this time. When the battle is over, Mr. Ye will not hesitate to reward you!"
As soon as Ye Mingsheng finished speaking, Huang Hao's eyes burst out with a look of surprise that could not be concealed. He quickly raised his hand to Ye Mingsheng to thank him and said:
"Your Majesty has shown great kindness to us and other craftsmen, and we will definitely work hard to serve you!"
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After inspecting the power of the red cannon, Ye Mingsheng took the cannon and the gunner back together. In the past few days, Cao Guang, the envoy sent by the Zhenwu Army, asked to see him every day. It seemed that the Zhenwu Army was in Changchun. The situation in Qing Mansion is getting worse.
The intelligence reported to Ye Mingsheng by the Coordination Office was probably the same. The intelligence showed that there were about 70,000 Liaoyang troops and 10,000 Shiwei people, attacking Changqing Mansion regardless of casualties.
After several days of siege fighting, both sides suffered heavy losses. Although the specific number of casualties on both sides was not known, based on the collected intelligence and his own experience in leading troops, Ye Mingsheng guessed that the Liaoyang Army had been like this these days. The casualties from the fierce siege should have been 10,000.
As for the Zhenwu Army, although the casualties of the defenders will be relatively less, they will definitely not be less. Ye Mingsheng estimates that the Zhenwu Army in Changqing Prefecture now has less than 20,000 people... ·····
If this continues, within seven days to half a month, Changqing Mansion will be unable to hold on!
So now it's time for Ye Mingsheng to take action. Ye Mingsheng has decided to launch a military strategy in Shoucheng in three days, striving to capture Shoucheng in the shortest time and then attack Dongning!
After inspecting the camp in the north of the city, checking the combat readiness of the soldiers, and finally giving a public speech to boost morale, Ye Mingsheng returned to his headquarters.
But as soon as he walked a hundred steps in front of the door, Ye Mingsheng saw a well-dressed man dressed as a general, kneeling with his head lowered at the door of his General Military Mansion.
Seeing this person's appearance, Ye Mingsheng frowned, thinking that the military attache under his command had been wronged and came to appeal to him, and then asked the guards on his left and right:
"Do you know who this person is?"
Hearing Ye Mingsheng's question, everyone looked at me and I looked at you and shook their heads with doubts on their faces. Seeing this, Ye Mingsheng took the lead without thinking too much and walked over first.
Since taking over Fengzhou, Ye Mingsheng has encountered petitions before, but this is the first time he has encountered petitions from the army.
As a small warlord with only tens of thousands of troops in a local vassal town in the Great Zhou Dynasty, Ye Mingsheng knew very well that the barrel of the gun was the cornerstone of his regime. The stability of the barrel of the gun was related to his political life, so he attached great importance to military affairs.
With the situation in front of him, Ye Mingsheng felt that it was necessary to find out what made a general take the huge risk of ruining his future and being banned from the army, and he had to leapfrog his rank to petition him... ········
When Ye Mingsheng rode up to the man on horseback, he felt that this man was unfamiliar to him and he should have never seen him before.
But he didn't pay too much attention to it. After all, the Fengzhou Army expanded too quickly during this period and he promoted many people. He had seen some of these people, but he had never seen most of them, so Ye Mingsheng didn't think much about it. Then he opened his mouth and asked:
"Who are you? Are you a general of that battalion?"
This general seemed to have been kneeling here for a while. Shuimi Weijin's body was a little exhausted. Ye Mingsheng rode up to him on horseback but did not respond. Hearing Ye Mingsheng speak, he slowly turned his head and looked at Ye Mingsheng. , forced himself to speak and said:
"My humble position is Cao Guang, a staff officer under Wang Mu, the commander of the Zhenwu Army. I have come here to ask General Ye to send troops to help out of consideration for his comrades..."
Hearing what this person said, Ye Mingsheng suddenly realized it. He looked at Cao Guang up and down and said with a smile:
"In ancient times, Shen Baoxu wept at the Qin court, but now you, Cao Shen, weep in our General Military Mansion! It seems that Wang Mu, the King, loves his soldiers like his own son and is loved and loved. The rumors are true!"
At this time, Cao Guang, whose physical and mental endurance had reached the limit, did not respond to Ye Mingsheng's words at all. He just looked at Ye Mingsheng blankly. Seeing his appearance, Ye Mingsheng smiled and ordered to the people around him. :
"Bring him into the house and give him something to eat and drink! I want to see him later!"
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