On June 27, the twelfth year of Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty, it was already past the period of heavy rain, and the weather was approaching the beginning of autumn. There was a hint of coolness in the morning and evening, but the sun was still as scorching as fire during the day.
But there was something unexpected today. The clouds covered the scorching sun, and the drizzle of rain fell on the ground, watering the ground inside and outside Dushikou Castle.
The main hall of the General's Office in Dushikou Fort City is not as bright as in the past. The light is slightly dim, and a hint of coolness spreads into the hall with the "tick-tick" raindrops outside the carved window.
In the wing room to the west of the official hall, Zhang Cheng invited Kaiping Guard Commander Jin Xinpeng and his fellow commander Yan Qingrong to drink tea. Jin Xinpeng took a few sips of the tea and first asked: "The admiral called us and two of us to come here. I don’t know what we can discuss?”
"Haha, this..."
Zhang Cheng laughed, but seemed a little embarrassed to speak. He picked up the teapot and poured tea for Jin Xinpeng and Yan Qingrong, and then said: "This is some private matter of Zhang Cheng, but it is a bit trivial. The two adults are of high moral standing." Everyone, please come here to discuss with the two adults!"
"Well, the Admiral is the master of our Northern Road. Your private affairs are the major affairs of the Northern Road." Jin Xinpeng is very good at talking.
Yan Qingrong also leaned forward and asked: "Unknown general, what is the matter that we are still undecided about? Can we give you some advice?"
Zhang Cheng took a sip of tea, calmed down, and then said a little shyly: "This is indeed a private matter of the general's family. My aunt asked her cousin, the wife of Mr. Wu Jinkang, a doctor in the Ministry of Industry, to come to the capital to help me. Talked about a marriage,
She is the eldest lady in the residence of Master Ji Zhiheng, a fifth-rank scholar in the Hanlin Academy. She has already received a letter of appointment. Now she needs to accept the appointment and send the gift letter, as well as the betrothal money and betrothal gift. I just don't know how to do it properly. preparation. "
Jin Xinpeng was drinking tea. He almost spit out the tea when he heard this. He put down the tea cup, brushed the tea from his chin beard with his robe sleeve, and looked at Yan Qingrong again.
The two of them stood up quickly and congratulated together: "Congratulations, Admiral, congratulations, Admiral!"
Zhang Cheng sat in the chair, smiling and waving: "Now that the North Road has settled down, the new army is training, ordnance is being made, as well as reclamation and farming, grazing cattle and horses, and mining of minerals, etc., I am already Incapable of doing anything else.
However, this matter of marriage is not what I am good at. It really worries me! "
"Haha, getting married is one of the four great joyous events in life. It's the first time you have any experience."
Jin Xinpeng followed Zhang Cheng's words and joked, and the three of them laughed.
"Admiral, if there are no other suitable candidates, please leave the recruitment matter to your subordinates."
Seeing that Jin Xinpeng took the initiative to take over the matter, Zhang Cheng was quite surprised and said hurriedly: "In this case, I will help Mr. Jin to handle this matter for Zhang Cheng. But if you need anything, just tell Lin Fangping and I will prepare it." .”
Jin Xinpeng said with a smile: "Your Excellency, the Admiral, is the master of our North Road. All we need is to prepare it for you. Your Excellency, you don't need to worry about it anymore. Ordinarily, this gift of acceptance does not require a goose, but for our North Road But it’s a small thing, but it’s something that must be there.”
As he spoke, he stood up and bowed to Zhang Cheng: "It's just that after all these things are ready, I will go to the capital in person to handle this matter for you. Now, I will go and ask for leave from the admiral."
"That's right, that's right. Hahaha..."
The three of them laughed again. The atmosphere in the penthouse was extremely harmonious. A cool breeze blew from the carved window. Zhang Cheng suddenly remembered something and said, "By the way, there is one more thing. How should the wedding date be determined?"
Yan Qingrong brushed his beard and thought for a moment, then said: "This August is a very good month, but the official is not sure when to set it."
Without waiting for Zhang Cheng to answer, he added: "Since Commander Jin has taken charge of all the recruitment matters, the wedding date will be left to the subordinate. I will go to the Jade Emperor Temple tomorrow to find the master to choose an auspicious day."
"Haha, Lord Yan is the most familiar with Master Hu. It is up to Lord Yan to handle this matter. When I am ready, I will set off for Beijing. The recruitment and application period will be handled by the admiral."
"Hahaha……"
…………
On June 28, at Chen hour, the sky was bright and the sun was hanging sideways on the branches. It was no longer as dazzling as the previous days.
Two carriages that were not very exquisite or gorgeous, but were very sturdy, left the Yong'an Gate in the south of Dushikou Fort City, and headed south along the Baihe River Valley Road under the escort of more than thirty elite cavalry.
At noon, the group arrived at the craftsman's camp in Yunzhou. The original camp had almost expanded several times. It was more than a mile north of Yunzhou Fort and was intersected by a large area of tunbao workshops along both sides of the Baihe River. Mismatched.
Yunzhou garrison Chi Yuan had already been waiting at the Jiangying camp. He and Kaiping Guards commanded Qian Shi, and Zhang Cheng's general Wei Zhice, who had dismounted and sat in the camp, headed north to meet Sheshen Cliff.
Now Zhang Cheng has been promoted two levels compared to the last time he saw him, from guerrilla general to general of Admiral North Road, which made him even more expressive in front of Zhang Cheng.
"General, now among the blacksmiths in the fortresses on the North Road, all those who can make muskets have been mobilized here. For others, it can be said that they are all following the general's instructions.
The making of bird blunderbuss is divided into several processes, and each craftsman sets up a work group according to the expertise of the craftsmen to make them separately. After passing the inspection, they are assembled. The speed is indeed much faster than that of individual making alone. "Wei Zhice reported to Zhang Cheng the situation of the Jiangying Fire Gun Bureau.
He glanced at Shi Tiegen who was accompanying him, and then continued: "However, the speed of drilling and sharpening gun barrels has reached its limit now. Among the craftsmen brought by the general from the capital, there are quite a few who know how to make firearms.
Sixty-seven master craftsmen were selected from them, and 24 craftsmen from various castles on Shangbei Road were also selected. However, even so, it took more than a month to drill and grind out 91 gun tubes.
In this way, excluding some unsuccessful ones, about 80 blunderbuss tubes are still usable every month, which greatly delays the progress of making bird blunderbuss. "
Zhang Cheng was helpless after hearing this. At this time, the key to this blunderbuss is the barrel. If it is to be precise and not explode, it will take dozens of kilograms of pig iron to hammer out several kilograms of fine iron to make a barrel, and then use Su A steel drill bit must be slowly drilled and ground into a hollow blunderbuss tube to be considered sophisticated.
He looked up at the sky, as if he was meditating, but had no solution. The moment he turned his head, he caught a glimpse of the jade pendant on the waist of the surveillance eunuch Li Guofu.
Zhang Cheng suddenly remembered an idea, and said to Shi Tiegen: "Old Zhang Shi, I was thinking of jade carving in the south. It seems that a pedal-operated machine was used to cut jade. Have you ever seen it?"
"Reporting back to the general, although I have never seen the machine that cuts jade, I know a thing or two about it. The principle is to step on the pedal with your feet and transmit the force to the drill bit to cut and polish the jade."
Zhang Cheng seemed a little excited. He asked eagerly: "Can we design a machine like this? First, fix the drill bit, generate a force with the pedal, and then transmit it to the drill bit through this machine to drill and grind the blunderbuss tube?"
