At the shooting range of Weiyuan Camp in the southeast of Xuanfu Town, Yongning Bo Zhang Cheng said to Cao Bianjiao, the commander-in-chief of Shanhaiguan: "Shuai Cao and Wang Shuai can each buy two thousand Yunzhou guns and sixty thousand pills first. Let's go, Folangji and Feicheng cannon are just like Ji Zhen. How about it?"
Cao Bianjiao only pondered for a moment, and then replied very readily: "It's all according to Uncle Yongning's wish."
Zhang Cheng smiled and looked at Zu Dabi and Xie Sixin again, and said: "Commander Zu and General Changbo want ten thousand Yunzhou guns. This quantity is too large and may be difficult to produce at once. Why don't we press five thousand first?" As for the rod, I can get 150,000 pills of medicine, is that okay?"
After hearing this, Zu Dabi exchanged glances with Wu Guogui and said: "Uncle Yongning also knows that I am guarding Jinzhou, which is a place that slave thieves will try to capture. The task of guarding against slaves is particularly important. Each camp of five thousand fire guns has one point. If there aren't many, it might be difficult to cause serious damage to the slave thieves.
However, it is not easy to make fire blunderbuss. I also know that it would be nice for Uncle Yongning to give me and Uncle Chang another 3,000 long blunderbuss, for a total of 8,000 long blunderbuss and 300,000 rounds of medicine. How about it? "
Seeing that Zhang Cheng was deep in thought, he added eagerly: "Uncle Chang and I can settle the matter entirely in silver."
After hearing this, Zhang Cheng still pretended to be embarrassed. After a moment, he said with a slight embarrassment: "What are you talking about, Master Zu? I am not just for money."
He stepped forward and took Zu Dabi's hand, turned to look at Wu Guogui, and said to the two of them: "Commander Zu guards Jinzhou, which is the gateway to our Ming Dynasty and Liaodong. It cannot be ignored.
General Chang Bo, as the commander-in-chief of Liaodong, personally sat in charge of Songshan Fort and was at the forefront of the battle against the slave thieves. He is indeed a role model for us, and I admire him very much. "
Zhang Cheng's eyes fell on Zu Dabi's face again, and he said to him firmly: "Just do as Zushuai wants, Yunzhou has 8,000 guns and a fixed load of 300,000 rounds of medicine. Fo Langji, Feizhen The artillery is the same as the Jizhen plan."
"but……"
When everyone saw that Zhang Cheng had promised to sell them firecrackers and artillery, everyone showed excitement, but Zhang Cheng's "But..." was instantly extinguished. Their faces were full of doubts, and their eyes were open. Look at Uncle Yong Ning to see what he means.
Just listen to Zhang Cheng continue to say: "The quantity of gunpowder and ammunition ordered by brothers is too huge. Even if our craftsman camp works day and night, I am afraid it will be difficult to deliver it in a short time.
Therefore, in order to deliver it as soon as possible, Ben Bo decided that our craftsman camp would suspend other ordnance manufacturing and work hard to build the Yunzhou gun, so as to give priority to the delivery of the Yunzhou gun and the custom-made ammunition.
Then we will build the Fran cannon, and finally the flying cannon. What do you think? "
Everyone from Jiliao saw that Zhang Cheng did not make any new requests, but instead made them based on their own ideas, so naturally they had no objections.
Xie Sixin came out of the crowd at this time, and said to Zhang Cheng: "Uncle Yongning, Governor Hong also wants to order some Yunzhou guns, Folang cannons, and flying cannons. I hope that the uncle can understand the students' difficulties and must agree to it." !”
He said this very politely and appropriately, but his intention was to remind Zhang Cheng not to forget the order from Hong Chengchou, the governor of Jiliao.
Zhang Cheng stepped forward and said to him very cordially: "Mr. Xie, do you think Zhang Cheng is offended when he talks like this?"
He did not wait for Xie Sixin to say anything, and continued: "Uncle Ben rechecked the inventory last night and found that there are still nearly 4,000 Yunzhou guns in stock.
At that time, I was thinking that during the Liao War, many of our Xuanfu army officers and soldiers were cared for by Governor Hong. This affection is still unforgettable to this day. Therefore, the inventory of these four thousand Yunzhou guns was given priority to satisfy Governor Hong’s request. need. "
After Zhang Cheng finished speaking, he looked at Zu Dabi, Cao Bianjiao and others, and said, "I don't think Commander Zu, Commander Cao, and Commander Liu would have any objections to this!"
As the governor of Jiliao, Hong Chengchou was the highest official among them all. They had the courage to make any other statement at this time.
Zu Dabi also knew that Hong Chengchou had taken great care of his family and Wu Sangui in the past few years, and even did not hesitate to remove Liu Zhaoji from Liao Town in order to support Wu Sangui in taking the position of commander-in-chief of Liaodong.
In return, he quickly expressed his position: "Why did Uncle Yongning say this? We are all under the command of Governor Hong, so naturally we put the governor first."
The rest of the people have no objections to this, and the purchase of firearms from Xuanzhen by Jiliao generals has been completely finalized at this point.
In fact, in this special era where cold weapons and firearms coexist, there is not much ammunition required in battle.
Taking the Yongyi Army as an example, although the gunmen in each battalion accounted for half, and if the gunners were included, it would be more than half, but the ammunition that was actually fired every time there was a war was not very much.
Each fire gun soldier only carries twenty rounds of fixed paper tube ammunition on weekdays, and often in each battle, he only fires out five or six rounds of ammunition at most.
Because at this time, either the battle has ended, or it has entered the bloody stage of close combat with cold weapons. At this time, the fire gun soldiers will either retreat to the rear of the battlefield to reload ammunition and prepare for battle, or they will temporarily abandon the fire gun and charge forward with swords. Go up and help Leng Bing fight the enemy hand to hand.
It is precisely because of this that the ammunition bags of the Yongyi Arms Gun Soldiers also contain five fixed-load ammunition bags, and each gun soldier only carries four ammunition bags when he goes into battle. That’s all.
If the war is fierce and the base number of ammunition carried by each gunner is less than ten rounds, the commander of each bureau will personally go to the battalion logistics department to collect the ammunition according to the number, and then distribute it to each gunner.
The main purpose of doing this is to reduce the personal burden of the soldiers. After all, when going into battle, each soldier carries a lot of items and weapons, and each ammunition bag weighs three to two taels. It is enough for each soldier to carry four ammunition bags with him. Nearly a pound of weight.
The gun soldiers of the Yongyi Army are no less equipped than the cold soldiers, and ammunition is additional ordnance, so they should carry as little as possible. Now that they use flintlock guns and fixed charges, they have lost many tools, which can be regarded as guns. The soldiers' burden was reduced.
Zu Dabi, Cao Bianjiao and others have not yet realized the many benefits of it. If they know the benefits of fixed-size medicine in the future, they will never be able to do without Zhang Cheng. Of course, they may also try to make their own medicine.
However, the gunpowder they are currently preparing does not reach the power of the Yongyi Army's granular gunpowder. For a while, they can only rely on the Yongyi Army's ammunition supply.
But it's hard to say what the future will be like. They will definitely try to make their own fixative medicine. Even if it is less powerful, it can be tolerated, as long as the gap is not too big like now.
However, the gunpowder class of Yongyi Army Craftsman Camp has also been working hard to develop more powerful gunpowder. Its technology and materials are obviously stronger than those of Jiliao towns. I am afraid that they will never catch up with Yongyi Army's gunpowder technology.
The idea of decoupling themselves from the Yongyi Army in the future and completely getting rid of their dependence on the Yongyi Army's ammunition may only exist in their dreams.
Now everyone has signed a satisfactory purchase contract with Zhang Cheng, and there is a hint of joy on their faces. This trip to Xuanzhen was not in vain.
In fact, for many officers and generals of the Ming Dynasty, especially those in the border towns of Beidi, they have never been interested in firearms and always felt that they were dispensable.
In their eyes, even the three-eyed gun is only more intimidating than practical, and the cost of firearms is very high. And at the end of every war, in which case is the victory not determined by close combat with cold weapons?
Moreover, a sword only costs a little more than three yuan, a long ax is only two yuan, and a spear is even cheaper. However, if you use firearms, you have to constantly invest in ammunition. How can cold weapons be more cost-effective?
However, during the last battle with slave thieves in Liaodong, they witnessed the performance of the Yongyi Army's gun soldiers on the battlefield, and then they changed their original intention and paid more attention to fire guns and small artillery.
…………
In the next two days, Jiliao generals, accompanied by Wei Zhice and Wang Yuanjing, visited the artillery drills of Weiyuan Camp and Tengshe Camp, as well as the combined drills of infantry and artillery and infantry and cavalry artillery.
However, since the Yongyi Army battalions have recently moved to the vicinity of the town, both the school grounds and the training grounds are very crude, but even this does not affect their ability to watch the performance.
They have always been surprised by the extremely high hit rate of the Yongyi Army gunners. Now after watching the drill, they realize that these are all obtained through daily practice.
However, they held different views on the use of ammunition to improve the shooting accuracy of the soldiers. The reason was simply that they were reluctant to part with the ammunition they bought with real money and could not bear to waste it on the training ground.
In this regard, Yong Ningbo also gave them an idea, that is, practice holding and aiming the musket more often. The gun soldiers held the musket flat in accordance with the requirements of the drill, and insisted on aiming at the target 60 steps ahead for a long time.
After they have practiced aiming for a period of time, the live ammunition assessment of aiming and shooting will be carried out. Each gunner will undergo the shooting assessment in sequence. Each soldier is allowed to test fire one gun shell, and will be given corresponding rewards and punishments according to the merits of the shooting performance. .
If the target hits the target and breaks it into pieces, it is regarded as superior; if the target hits the target but does not break the target because it misses the middle, it is regarded as qualified; but if the target is not hit, it is deemed to be unqualified.
Those who excel will be rewarded with silver, those who pass will not be rewarded or punished, and those who fail will be fined half of each soldier's monthly salary, and will also be punished with a military whip.
Although Zhang Cheng's method is also widely used among the recruits of the Yongyi Army, during the live-fire target shooting assessment, each soldier has a shooting base of one ammunition package. After all, he firmly believes that all sharpshooters are fed by ammunition.
The musketry of the Yongyi Army fired more than ten rounds of explosives every month. It was not because Zhang Cheng didn't take money seriously, but because of the great importance his musketry had.
Spend more ammunition in peacetime, and you will perform well in war, killing as many enemies as possible, thereby reducing your own unnecessary casualties.
But the Ji Liao generals were reluctant to use their limited ammunition to provide their gunmen with shooting accuracy. In their eyes, it was all real money.
Therefore, they greatly praised the method proposed by Zhang Cheng and said that this method was the best. After they returned, they would use this method to train the gunmen in their camp.
…………
Two days later, Yongning Bo Zhang Cheng personally accompanied Xie Sixin and others to Xuanzhen North Road to observe the Yongyi Army's craftsman camp in Yunzhou. Counselor Wei Zhice, Counselor Wang Yuanjing, Counselor Liu Minshen and others also accompanied him.
During these two days, Zu Dabi and Wu Guogui also discussed with Zhang Cheng the cooperation in opening a workshop on behalf of Wu Sangui, the commander-in-chief of Liaodong.
In addition to the cigarette-making workshop previously agreed between Zhang Cheng and Wu Sangui, Wu Guogui also proposed a new idea - to set up a manufacturing workshop for Yunzhou gunpowder medicine in Liao Town!
Wu Guogui's reasons are very good. The fixed medicine is a very pure consumable, and the quantity purchased by General Jiliao this time is very large. If they are all manufactured in Xuanzhen, not only will the construction period be long, but transportation will also be a big problem.
Liao Town has a complete range of materials for preparing gunpowder. If craftsmen can be sent to Liao Town to set up an ammunition manufacturing workshop, it will be much more convenient than just producing in Xuan Town, and it will also save the transportation link.
In order to persuade Uncle Yongning to agree to this suggestion, Wu Guogui promised on behalf of Liaodong Commander-in-Chief Wu Sangui that the generals in Liaodong would only be responsible for ensuring the safety of the workshop and would never participate in the management of the workshop.
In addition, Yongningbo can also station a team of sergeants to be stationed in Liaodong, specifically responsible for the garrison and defense of the ammunition workshop.
This was tantamount to Wu Guogui stating to his face that the generals in Liao Town would never try to steal his gunpowder formula, let alone seize his ammunition workshop in Liao Town.
Seeing that he had made such a guarantee, Zhang Cheng couldn't help but be very moved. However, he did not immediately agree to Wu Guogui's request. He only said that he could consider his suggestion.
…………
On February 19, the 15th year of Chongzhen, a side hall in the Fan family courtyard in Zhangjiakou Fort was steaming with heat, in stark contrast to the harsh spring cold outside.
As recorded in many historical records: "On a single stone, the two members of the Zhang family are the backbone of the Xuanfu; the Xuanfu is the backbone of the capital."
The "kou" in place names along the Great Wall generally refers to the natural water mouth or natural passage that passed through when the Great Wall was built. The "kou" in Zhangjiakou refers to the Ningchuan water mouth.
That is, after the Ningchuan River flows out of the Chongli Mountains, it forms a natural water mouth between the East Mountain and the West Mountain where the Great Wall is today.
In ancient times, the construction of the Great Wall could not block natural waterways, and could only be guarded by garrison troops. If troops were stationed to garrison, they would have to have a name. Since a family named Zhang lived near the water mouth, it was named "Zhangjiakou".
At the beginning, the Ming soldiers guarding Zhangjiakou were stationed in Ningyuan Fort or Youweicheng, but they were far away from the mouth. If there was an emergency military situation, the inconvenience of communication was not conducive to defense.
So in the fourth year of Xuande, a military fort was built in the southwest three miles away from the mouth of the water to garrison troops to guard the "mouth". Because the "mouth" guarded by the fort was named "Zhangjiakou", it was named Zhangjiakou Fort.
During the Jiajing period, Zhangjiakou Fort was expanded again. Later, in the second year of Wanli, the earthen walls of Zhangjiakou Fort were also reinforced with bricks, and the scale of the castle was finally established at this time.
Zhangjiakou Fort did not have a high status in the early Ming Dynasty. It was just an ordinary Great Wall side fort, not large in scale, with a circumference of only more than four miles.
However, in the fifth year of Longqing, Mu Zong reached an agreement with the Mongolian Ada Khan, and the two sides reopened mutual markets. This was known as the "Longqing Peace Agreement" in history. A place for large-scale trade.
The horse market in the Ming Dynasty was divided into two types: "big market" and "small market".
The "big market" is held once a year, and the main participants are tribal chiefs and nobles, while the "small market" is held once a month, mainly ordinary herdsmen and Ming people trade.
The horse market in Zhangjiakou Fort is a big market.
In this way, during the Wanli period, with the development of trade between the Ming and Mongolia, Zhangjiakou Fort was prosperous with "department stores, carriages, horses, camels, sheep, silk cloth, bamboo baskets, and tiles and fou, and the skills of stepping on pills, money, and paper". scene.
Since there is still a distance of five miles between Zhangjiakou Fort and the entrance to the Great Wall, trade between the two sides is not very convenient.
So in the 41st year of Wanli, a small fort specifically used for horse racing was built inside the side wall of the Great Wall, called "Laiyuan Fort".
Therefore, Laiyuan Fort is also called "Shangbao", and then commonly known as "Shiquan", while Zhangjiakou Fort is called "Xiabao", and is commonly known as "Baozili" among the people.
And after the rise of the Tartars, especially after they defeated the Mongolian Lindan Khan and completely occupied Guihua City, they often came to Zhangjiakou Fort for mutual trade in the name of various Mongolian tribes.
Now, a secret discussion that is detrimental to Yongning Bo Zhang Cheng is going on here!
(End of chapter)
