"There are more than ten kinds of Western iron bullets. Each bullet is round and must match the caliber of the gun, so the size and weight are not predetermined."
In the Songjiang Firearms Factory, Sun Yuanhua dictated a short explanatory text and turned to the head craftsman Ge Hong: "Master Ge, does this sound easy to understand?"
Ge Hong nodded and quickly offered the rainbow fart: "My master is amazing. Even though he is a Wenquxing descended from the earth, he can master the magic of firearms. Even we, the rich, can understand it."
Sun Yuanhua waved his hand humbly and said to Gu Shouqian who was waiting with a pen: "Take note of it, Traveling Immortal."
He also said with a smile: "I have been studying crafts for longer than you young scholars. Although I was not admitted to the Jinshi in the end, my writing can no longer escape the bad temper. Fortunately, Miss Zheng has a cheerful temper and pointed out my fault directly. Take Qi Shaobao's "New Performance Book" as an example. It says that military books are not scientific articles and must be concise and to the point. Even if the soldiers and artillerymen are illiterate, they can understand them as soon as they read them."
Gu Shouqian wrote in small regular script with his pen, without raising his head to express his words.
He joined the firearms factory and assisted Sun Yuanhua in writing "The Manual of Western Firearms". Over the past few months, he had listened to Sun Yuanhua's praises for Zheng Haizhu a lot, and he gradually became convinced.
It was not easy for a young woman who was not a well-known lady to make a master like Sun Yuanhua, who also studied Western medicine, listen to her opinions.
Gu Shouqian moved the pen tip to a page of pictures he had already drawn.
But on the paper, there are all kinds of balls, some hollow and some solid.
The solid circles are all different. Some have sharp blade-like rasp heads fixed at both ends, some have ax-shaped iron pieces protruding from both ends, and some have been fixed by Gu Shou.
Using the method of drawing an exploded diagram, I demonstrate how to make a chain ball that explodes in half.
Sun Yuanhua leaned over and pointed one by one: "This one, write 'ring bomb', this one, write 'chain bomb', this one, write 'siege bomb'. Here, next to the file head, it is marked: It is penetrated by a hundred steel bars. , file the tips at both ends, and set the center line before casting, so as not to be slightly too long or too short, otherwise the round bullet will have a slight heft when it flies out, and will not be able to penetrate directly into the enemy's formation."
Ge Hong, the head craftsman, stood aside and watched, feeling proud and satisfied.
These details that Sun Yuanhua told to write down are the valuable experience accumulated by Ge Hong and the craftsmen of the firearms factory through successful and failed attempts over the past few years.
Last year, Ge Hong took his nephew back to his hometown of Danyang to worship his ancestors, and met fellow villagers returning from the north.
The fellow countryman complained that the war bureau in the capital withheld wages and forced the craftsmen to secretly take on private work. The construction period for the imperial firearms was tight, so everyone cut work to save time. What about forging and steelmaking? Just do a dozen , the mission is over, anyway, the Shenji camp is now full of useless descendants of the clan, or nephews from the eunuch's hometown, who only receive salary and no training, and the firecrackers are left rusty when shipped.
Ge Hong couldn't help but curiously asked, even if the firearms in Liaodong Town were provided by Songjiang, didn't the imperial court issue firearms to the soldiers in Jizhen, Xuanfu, and Datong?
The fellow countrymen sighed and made a fuss. I heard that the old men in the court reported that there were indeed Tatars in Liaodong, and they only needed to pay for igniters. If other military towns on the nine sides did the same, the general soldiers would probably support their troops. Rebellion, not to mention the need to raise taxes, will hurt the people.
Ge Hong scoffed. What's causing trouble to the people? He was obviously afraid that the court would ask wealthy people for alms. After all, if a commoner like him didn't rely on his crafts to earn a living and be stuck in his hometown farming, he really wouldn't be able to make much money.
Ge Hong then used himself as an example to describe the kindness of Zheng Haizhu, a female bole, and praised Songjiang Firearms Factory for its high wages, the masters never beating or scolding the craftsmen, and the guns they built rarely exploded. He persuaded several fellow villagers to return to the north and try to spend money to leave their status as craftsmen in the capital and come to Songjiang to work together.
At this moment, Ge Jiangtou, who had a full sense of accomplishment in his career, was about to boldly remind Mr. Sun Yuanhua that this page in the book also stated that the steel plate must be carefully forged to a uniform thickness, but his son Ge Hai He ran over angrily, and as he stepped through the door, he hurriedly opened his mouth to report.
"Master Sun, dad, the leader and deputy leader of Team B are all dead."
…
The boy led the way, and Gu Shouqian arrived at the mixed settlement of immigrants by the Sishui River at the foot of Sheshan Mountain.
The richly clothed young man passed through eyes that were either timid or curious, and finally stopped in front of a messy iron shop.
Blacksmith Du was squatting on the ground, picking up the broken iron slag into the basket.
When he looked up and saw Gu Shouqian coming, Blacksmith Du's eyes lit up sadly.
"Hey, the young master is here." He called behind him eagerly.
The iron shop, which should have been dazzling with fire, was like an unlucky black hole. Han Xiying got out of the hole and walked into the light of day.
"I'm sorry, brother-in-law... I'm sorry for the young master's kindness. We can't pay for the iron rollers and needle blanks that the young master asked for. This is a fixed payment, and we will return it to the young master."
Blacksmith Du said from the side: "This young man in the house must have told the young master that the shopkeeper said that after we rescued the young master, we went to the young master to beg for food and were not allowed to make a living. They also used money to do things, not It's rare that we both will be killed, but as long as the stove dares to start again, they will come and smash it. The two young apprentices I chose were also scared away."
Gu Shouqian stood with his sleeves back and glanced down at the deposit that Han Xiying handed over.
The white silver coins were particularly eye-catching in Han Xiying's dirty palm.
"Put it away." Gu Shouqian said coldly.
Then he looked at Blacksmith Du and said in a commanding tone: "Follow me and report to the official. Songjiang Mansion is not a bandit's den."
Blacksmith Du looked troubled, and Han Xiying said solemnly: "Is Mr. Huang still in charge of the criminal prosecution in Songjiang Mansion?"
"right."
"Haha," Han Xiying smiled sadly, "it was Mr. Huang who interrogated me back then. I think he would be able to recognize me at a glance like the young master, and then inform your house's Miao Atai and your house's best friend Miss Zheng, Tell me...eldest sister and second uncle, in a few days, the whole Songjiang City will know that the third young lady of the Han family is back, and she is even worse than the refugees and Hanako."
Gu Shouqian frowned.
Standing opposite is his wife's enemy, an old man who once released his sins, and his own savior, and a new man who is now struggling to earn a bowl of rice.
The lonely and sad self-destruction in Han Xiying's words ignited Gu Shou's compassion for a brief moment.
His tone was gentle: "You guys pack up your belongings first, and I will send you a banknote tomorrow. Hangzhou is a large and prosperous dock, and you can understand what I am saying. Why don't you two go there?" Open a shop.”
Hearing this, Blacksmith Du happily said "Thank you, young master" and was about to kneel down and kowtow to Gu Shouqian. However, Han Xiying stuffed the small bag of silver coins in her hand into Gu Shouqian's arms and said angrily: "I have done something wrong. I Half of my face has turned into a grimace, but Master Gu, I still know the meaning of face in my heart. We can give you iron tools in exchange for food, but we will not ask you for money like Hanako did!"
"Stand up straight," she said, pushing her man hard again, "Tomorrow you go to the city and find an iron shop to sell your crafts. I have never been to Qingpu before, and no one will recognize me there. I will go door to door. Ask, do you want a washer woman or a poor sewing woman? Let’s earn a fortune to go to Hangzhou by ourselves!”
Blacksmith Du was annoyed but didn't dare. He knelt down with a sullen expression, turned his head to look at the basket containing the iron blocks, and said angrily, "What if those gangsters come to trouble the iron shop that hired me?"
"Then you go to Wusongkou Pier and work as a porter!"
"Okay," Gu Shouqian interrupted Han Xiying's crying scolding, and after a moment of silence, he finally said, "There is a blacksmith shop, and no one in Songjiang dares to cause trouble. At this time, there is an urgent need for a skilled blacksmith, so Lao Du went to earn a Salary."
(End of chapter)
