After Ji Xuanzhu gave birth to a son, the Chicheng Council Office became lively. First, the two old ladies were promoted to dowagers and received a wave of rewards. They even lingered in Ji Xuanzhu's room all day long. , I am very happy that the Zhang family has an offspring.
Then after the hostess Ji Xuanzhu gave birth to a child, she became a real wife and completely secured her position as the head of the inner house. She also sent out a wave of rewards. The maids, healthy women, and mothers-in-law in the inner house all smiled and became more conspicuous in their work. Diligent.
A group of fast horses rushed out of the red castle. The knights on the horses were all dressed in red and green and were in high spirits. They were going to send wedding invitations to the officials, officials, wealthy businessmen from all over.
Zhang Cheng is now the second-largest person in Xuanzhen after Yang Guozhu, the commander-in-chief of Xuanzhen. Coupled with the trust and favor of the emperor, and the protection of his own soldier Chen Xinjia, not to mention the deputy commander-in-chief Lin Dengyou of Xuanzhen. Even Liu Yongzhao, the governor of Xuanfu, gave him some advice, and even Zhang Fuzhen, the governor of Xuanfu, couldn't do anything to him.
What's more, Zhang Cheng has now returned to his hometown with the help of the aid and suppression of Henan, and will soon lead the army to fight in Liaodong. Who can guarantee that he will not make another extraordinary contribution in rescuing Jinzhou. In the future, let alone taking over as the commander-in-chief, he will not even be granted the title of Bo or Marquis. impossible!
After all, looking at the entire Ming Dynasty, how many deputy commanders are still in their twenties, and as Zhang Cheng has a strong army, can conquer and fight, and has the grace of the Holy One, who else is so highly regarded?
Therefore, after receiving the wedding invitation, all the officials in Xuanzhen prepared generous gifts and prepared to visit in person to congratulate them. Even the governor of Xuanfu, Liu Yongzhao, was no exception. However, the commander-in-chief of Xuanzhen, Yang Guozhu, had already led his troops out of Juyongguan, but he was not around. I couldn't come to have a glass of Zhang Cheng's wedding wine.
…………
Since Zhang Cheng returned to Xuanzhen, he has been staying in Chicastle and busy with the reorganization of the armies. It has been more than half a month now. He only had a little free time today, so he rode to Yunnan with Wei Zhice, Lin Fangping and others. Zhoujiang camp.
It was previously believed that the foreign master Tang Ruowang had left Xuanzhen a month ago and was ordered to return to the capital to complete the final revision of the "Chongzhen Almanac". However, before leaving, he had led the craftsmen and craftsmen of the Yunzhou Craftsman Camp Artillery Bureau, The craftsmen built six red cannons.
Zhang Cheng rushed to Yunzhou this time just to see the power of the Hongyi cannon. According to his memory, it was "a cannon that could destroy dozens of miles", which was really unbelievable to him!
He could still believe that the artillery of this era could shoot several miles away, but it was really hard to believe that it was tens of miles away.
Yunzhou Jiangying reopened an artillery shooting range in the northwest for the purpose of test firing the Hongyi cannon. The shooting range was close to an uninhabited valley in the west, and they were not afraid of the cannon hitting people.
Now six Hongyi cannons are lined up in front of Zhang Cheng. Two of them are placed directly on the land. It can be clearly seen that there is a shallow ditch behind the cannons. It is thought that the powerful recoil of the cannons caused them to retreat. To.
There are also four cannons placed on wooden gun mounts. This gun mount looks very bulky. First, it has two thick wooden boards placed vertically on the flat ground, with wooden supports on top. The Hongyi cannon is mounted on it.
The advantages of this gun mount are obvious at a glance. It is much more convenient to adjust the cannon's shooting angle and range than placing it on the ground, and it is also more convenient to reset when it retreats due to recoil.
Zhang Cheng walked closer and stretched out his hand to caress the Hongyi cannon. He immediately felt how heavy it was. He estimated that this cannon might weigh over a thousand kilograms. It was indeed a huge thing.
Li Chengmao, the director of the Artillery Bureau, came up and introduced: "Commander, this Hongyi cannon was made with the help of Master Tang. It is a big guy. This one alone weighs more than 2,400 kilograms. It can shoot at the longest distance." To five miles away.”
Bream "Oh?"
Zhang Cheng then asked with some confusion: "Can such a cannon only shoot five miles?"
Li Chengmao was stunned. In his opinion, it was a miracle that he could hit the target five miles away. However, he looked dissatisfied with what Zhang Cheng meant.
He said a little timidly: "The furthest... you can hit five miles away, but you have to be within three miles to be more accurate. You can't aim any further."
Zhang Cheng nodded at this time and said: "Not bad, really good. Three miles is enough. Let's prepare and fire a few shots to open my eyes."
Li Chengmao hurriedly turned around and directed the gunners to come over and carry out a series of loading tasks. At this time, Shi Tiegen, the director of the Yunzhou Craftsman Battalion, also came to Zhang Cheng and continued to introduce: "Commander, this Hongyi cannon is over one foot long and is cast using the mud film method. It has an iron core and a copper body. The cannon wall is thin at the front and thick at the back, so it can withstand so much gunpowder. You see, the slightly thicker one in the middle is the medicine chamber.
In addition, cylindrical lugs are installed on both sides of the center of gravity of the gun body. Using this as an axis, the shooting angle of the cannon can be adjusted, and the range can be changed according to the amount of gunpowder used.
The barrel is also equipped with a front sight and a rear sight. Master Tang taught us what kind of parabola should be used to calculate something called ballistics, which indeed greatly improved the accuracy of shooting. "
Li Chengmao had already directed the gunner to finish loading, and ran to Zhang Cheng to ask for permission to fire. After receiving Zhang Cheng's permission, he first asked Zhang Cheng to step back, and then raised the command flag and waved it.
The two gunners slightly adjusted their angles before lighting the fuses. A deafening roar was heard, and a large cloud of white smoke instantly rose up, completely enveloping the two Hongyi cannons.
There were two haystacks about three miles away. One of them exploded instantly after being hit directly, while the other cannon flew past the upper edge of the haystack.
Li Chengmao seemed a little dissatisfied. He kept rubbing his hands next to Zhang Cheng, but Zhang Cheng was extremely satisfied with this. He knew that the accuracy of cannons at this time was extremely poor, and it was rare to achieve such results.
Then the remaining four Hongyi cannons mounted on wooden mounts also tried firing separately. Two of them hit the haystack target three miles away, and one hit the target and the other missed. The two cannons hit the long range target accurately. It hit a distance of five miles, but the accuracy was even worse.
Zhang Cheng stood in the distance and asked: "This Hongyi cannon is indeed amazingly powerful, but it is so bulky. How to transport it to the battlefield? Isn't it very labor-intensive?"
Li Chengmao hurriedly stepped forward and said: "Commander, if this Hongyi cannon is operated by a skilled gunner, it can fire one round in less than one stick of incense. The firing speed alone cannot be compared with the previous Fo Lang machine cannon." Compare.
But as the commander-in-chief said, this cannon weighs more than 2,400 kilograms and is inconvenient to move. If it goes into battle with a large army, it will take about six strong mules to pull it. If it is pulled by oxen, each cannon will require three oxen. Can. "
Zhang Cheng looked at the Hongyi cannon in the distance, pondered for a while, and then said: "With such a cannon, how many Hongyi cannons can our artillery bureau produce every month?"
