Forty-eight years of Qianlong

Chapter 293 The lost gun
The fight is very simple, but the negotiations after the ceasefire are trivial and time-consuming.

Yao Fen, the procuratorate, was sent back to negotiate with the Superintendent Green Camp, which made the Qing army stop the attack. After crossing the river, two aides and chief envoy Xu Zujing, governor of Guangdong Tusab, were sent to encircle Haizhu. The Fubiao Qing army of the temple went to negotiate.

When it was almost seven o'clock in the morning, Tusab's staff came back and said that the Qing army that surrounded Haizhuan Temple had retreated.Only then did Zhao Xin let the Zheng family take the soldiers from Beihai Town and Tusab, the governor of Guangdong, to Liyumen.

The role of bringing Tusab is to ensure that the group can pass through Huangpu and Humen smoothly. You must know that there are four forts in Humen.As for the Zheng family itself, Zhao Xin wasn't worried about playing tricks. After all, Zheng Yi and Zheng Qi were still in the hands of Beihai Town.And when Zheng Lianchang saw the governor, whether he sent him back to Guangzhou or put him in a sack and threw him into the sea, let him go; according to Zhao Xin's estimation, Zheng Lianchang would send someone to send Tusab back to Guangzhou in all likelihood.

The two assault boats were towed away by the watermelon boat, and Zhao Xin felt that his men might be able to use them after they went to Hong Kong Island.Anyway, this thing will be useless after being pierced with a knife and leaking air. The motor and engine will be a pile of scrap iron without diesel.

After Zhao Xin and Liu Zheng escorted Sun Shiyi and others into Haizhuan Temple cautiously, their hearts were raised in their throats, for fear that a group of people would appear out of nowhere.Zhao Xin himself was not afraid, but Liu Zheng would be in trouble if he was taken away, so they were relieved to be under the three bodhi trees.

Under Zhao Xin's threat with a gun, several staff members left quickly with the help of Sun Shiyi.After the two quickly checked the surroundings and confirmed that there was no one around, Zhao Xin put away his weapon, grabbed Liu Zheng's arm, and disappeared under the bodhi tree in an instant.

Zhao Xin, who returned to Beihai Town, was unanimously criticized by the time traveler.Originally, a simple transportation of Baiyin to this point, the loss of 50 taels of silver is not a big problem, the key is that if Zhao Xin himself makes a mistake, how will everyone go back in the future?

Some people may want to dominate the world, but the problem is that most people come to work to earn money.

For these people, after getting over their initial curiosity, wouldn't it be better to earn money and go back to enjoy themselves instead of staying in an era where medical care and living and entertainment standards are extremely backward?
In the face of the "big criticism" launched by everyone, Zhao Xin had to bow his head to everyone and admit his mistakes, saying that he would definitely not go to the south to do things in the future.

The biggest loss of this trip to Guangzhou was the loss of a Beihai town standard rifle.Although everyone knows that it is impossible to imitate the smelting technology of the eighteenth century, it is hard to say what inspiration the craftsmen of the Manchu Qing Dynasty will receive.

As for the question of whether the rifles that others were worried about would be lost to foreigners, Zhao Xin and Liu Zheng were not worried at all.Because the foreigners at this moment are not the foreigners after the Opium War, they can’t even enter the city of Guangzhou, let alone go deep into the inland; at present, the officials of the Qing Dynasty are pursuing a "no contact policy at all" with foreigners.

And Zhao Xin himself believes that the biggest gain this time is to see clearly that the rule of the Manchu Qing in Guangzhou was a paper tiger.The huge empire relies on one mouthful of trade, which makes the western bandits look like flowers in a fog.It wasn't until the arrival of the Margani mission ten years later that they realized that behind the superficial prosperity was an astonishing decline, and that this huge empire was actually vulnerable.

Ding Guofeng drove the Thunder God away, and headed south to Leiyumen to pick up people.Seeing that the New Year is coming soon, the remains of the soldiers who died in battle must be brought back for burial.

To be on the safe side, there was a battalion of soldiers who went south with the ship this time, and students from the sailing school were also included.The Zheng family brothers and Guo Podai also went together as new students. Right now, the three of them are still intern sailors. In addition to doing chores on the ship every day, they also have to practice and learn how to use various navigation instruments.Such as sextant, barometer, dry and wet thermometer, anemometer, etc.

He turned his gaze back to Dai Qing's side.

At this time, the news of Taiwan's Tiandihui's rebellion had already spread to the capital, and Chang Qing's papers, governor of Minzhe, were handed over to Qianlong's case on the twelfth day of the twelfth lunar month, but Qianlong and the military ministers under him did not pay much attention to it.Everyone thinks that Lin Shuangwen and others are just a small group of thieves making trouble, and it is not an urgent matter at the moment.Since Huang Shijian, the admiral of the Fujian Navy, has led [-] soldiers across the sea to quell the chaos, Lin Shuangwen and his gang will definitely be wiped out quickly.

On December [-]th, a letter of plea jointly signed by Sun Shiyi and Tusab caused an uproar in the government and the public after it arrived in the capital.

Speaking of such a big incident in Guangzhou, it is impossible for Guangdong officials to conceal it, but how to plead guilty to the emperor is very particular.

First of all, the "dementor" incident that made everyone tremble the most.Because there were only a few people present at the time, the five major officials who returned to the city, the governor, the governor, the standard Taiwan, the feudal Taiwan, and the Guangdong Customs Supervisor, quickly reached an offensive and defensive alliance, and unanimously decided to rot the matter of "destroying souls" in their stomachs. Inside, never divulge half a word to the outside world.

The second is how to report to the emperor what happened that night.In order to cover up the timidity of Guangzhou City's garrison of the Eight Banners and his own capture, Sun Shiyi and others discussed with the Guangzhou General Cuntai who returned to Guangzhou, and the events unfolded in front of Qianlong and the Minister of Military Aircraft became as follows:

At the beginning, Sun Shiyi learned from the garrison of the Eight Banners that Zhao Ni suddenly appeared in Guangzhou City and colluded with Bai Xiongxing to plot wrongdoing, so he dispatched troops overnight to arrest him.Then that night, hundreds of thugs rushed out from Baixiong's house to resist the officers and soldiers.Due to the sharp firearms of the gangsters, more than half of the supervisors were killed and injured, and the supervisor's office fell.

Here comes the point!

Just when the Yamen of the Supervisory Office was invaded by bandits, all the officials led their own soldiers and guards to resist day by day. When the situation was critical, the Eight Banners stationed in the city and the volunteers from Nanhai County rushed out of the old city to come to the Supervisory Office for rescue, repelling the bandits in one fell swoop. .In the end, Zhao Ni saw that the soldiers and people in Guangzhou City were united and resisted to the death. In the end, he had no choice but to flee the open sea by boat.

In general, this operation in Guangzhou City was described as a long-planned plan by the "Zhao Ni Gang" in an attempt to plunder Guangzhou City with internal and external cooperation; and a total of more than 30 people were said to be hundreds of people.

Although Qianlong expressed shock and anger at the almost fall of Guangzhou City, he was relieved that Sun Shiyi and others were able to defend Guangzhou City in this battle and at the same time seize the weapons of Beihai Town.He felt that if he hadn't approved Sun Shiyi to strengthen the training of soldiers from Guangdong and Guangxi, maybe the city of Guangzhou would not be able to defend this time.

And the military ministers headed by He Shen congratulated and praised.What do you say that the emperor succeeded the emperor Shizong Mo Lie, sent out the remains of the Taizu and the ancestors, illuminated by the candles of the saints, and worked hard to rule. Now the success of the military training in Guangdong is enough to prove that the emperor's strategy is unparalleled. When the army goes north, it will be Zhao Ni.

As for those people in Baixiongxing who were beaten away, it made everyone in the court worry. They pinched their noses and called them "big Ainu people". In fact, rebels landed in Guangzhou. It got boring.

What satisfied Qianlong the most was the Beihai town repeating musket that came to Beijing with the memorial.Since the 49th year of Qianlong, the Manchu Qing had fought against Beihai Town many times, but the seizure of weapons was the first time in the world.

It is said that there are a lot of well-crafted muskets in the imperial palace, and Qianlong himself knows muskets very well.These muskets were not only self-made, but also tributes from princes and ministers and Westerners.For example, the Sixth Panchen Lama once paid tribute to Tibetan muskets, as well as the flintlock muskets given to Kangxi by the British.

However, when the well-informed Qianlong and several military ministers carefully inspected the Beihai town rifle in front of them, they found that apart from knowing where the barrel, trigger, and sight are, the purpose of the other parts I can't understand it at all, and I don't understand how this gun should be loaded and charged.

Since Heshen is currently in charge of the Minister of Internal Affairs and the Armed Forces Institute, and has experience in contact with Beihai Town, Qianlong entrusted Heshen with full authority to study the musket.After He Shen kowtowed to accept the order, he took a group of guards to escort the rifle and went to the Armed Forces Academy on the west of Beichizi Road outside Donghua Gate.

In the Qing Dynasty, the Armed Forces Academy was affiliated to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Together with Shangsi Academy and Fengchen Garden, it was called the Inner Three Academy.

In a signing room of the Armed Forces Academy, Beihai Town's rifles were placed on a table, and a bureaucratic craftsman, including Qing Shuwen of the Armed Arms Academy, was surrounding the table and carefully scrutinized it.

Among the officials present, apart from He Shen, Shu Wen, who was the third-rank official, had the highest official position, so he asked for his subordinates, "Dare to ask Zhongtang, how many shots can this burst of firecrackers fire?"

He Shen took a sip of tea and said slowly: "There are always dozens of guns."

There are many sources of news about the weapons of Beihai Town in the Qing Dynasty, such as the redeemed captives, the spies sent, the observations of the defenders in the city when they attacked Ninggu Tower, etc. Although the exact number is not clear, these people swear that at least Can fire more than ten shots in a row.

As soon as this remark came out, Bai Tang'a, who was in charge of supervising the manufacturing of shotguns at several birdgun departments, seemed a little surprised, but it was only a surprise.

Why just "some"?Because for these people, bursting firecrackers are really not a new weapon.It was in the warehouse of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and it was covered with a thick layer of dust.

There is a rumor in later generations that Dai Zi invented the world's first machine gun during the Kangxi period, but because the Qing emperor did not know the goods and advanced military technology, this weapon was not equipped with large-scale troops.If the Manchu Qing could pay attention to the machine gun invented by Dai Zi, the British would have been defeated long ago in the Opium War.

But the actual situation is not like this!The so-called Dai Zi Lianzhu gun is actually exactly the same as the flintlock 20-ring pipa scabbard gun that the British paid tribute to Kangxi; Dai Zi is just an imitation.

Kangxi is not a fool. If this gun was easy to use, it would have been mass-produced long ago.

Based on the industrial level of the [-]th to [-]th centuries, the pipa scabbard gun was not practical at all because of its poor airtightness, let alone a machine gun.The machining accuracy at that time could not guarantee mass production, and the workmanship was very complicated.Since the airtightness is extremely poor, the power and range must not be sufficient for actual combat. Otherwise, why would the British use brown bass?

As for the so-called advanced rifles brought by the Macartney mission, even the British army did not equip them.The reason is very simple, the gift is an air gun, which cannot be used for war at all, but there is no problem at all for fighting mahjong.

Although the Manchu Qing Dynasty was conservative in the early and mid-term, it was not so stupid that it didn't even care about advanced firearms; after all, there were so many battles during the Qianlong period, and the army's firepower projection must be guaranteed.As far as a flintlock gun without a bayonet is concerned, it is actually not as stable and powerful as an arquebus gun.

Weapons equipped on a large scale in batches must have stable performance, high quality and low price. Even when countries in later generations purchase standard weapons, they must follow this principle.

After getting Heshen's permission, the Baitang'a held up the rifles on the table with both hands, and they were surprised by the heavy weight they took.

The so-called expert will know if there is one as soon as he stretches out his hand. A Baitang'a said in surprise: "This gun is actually made of steel!"

Everyone first weighed it carefully with a scale to confirm that the total weight of the gun was 7.7 catties; then they measured the length of each place with a tape measure and recorded it.The next step is to analyze the composition of the gun body.

But these people looked at it for a long time, and the only thing they could understand was that the wood on the gun was made of birch. Except for the barrel, bayonet, trigger, rear sight and other parts that could be distinguished, they were completely confused about the functions of other parts.

Like this barrel.

The barrels used in the standard shotguns of the Qing Dynasty are all forged with double-layer wrought iron; then put on the drilling machine, use the drill bit to make the hole diameter straight, then seal the tailgate, open the side ignition hole, and then assemble the medicine pool and bolt .Moreover, in order to facilitate the fixing of the gun barrel and the wooden support, the outer wall of the barrel body must be made into facets.

But the gun barrel in front of them was round and black and shiny, with no trace of weld seam visible on the outside. Everyone guessed that it must be cast with molten steel at one time, and then drilled with a drill.This made Bai Tang'a smack their tongues, thinking how much work it would take to drill a gun barrel!

Steel is not the problem, the problem is expensive!Today's good steel is used to make waist knives and weapons, whoever uses it to make shotguns is really a prodigal!
Another example is the retractable handle on the back of the gun body. After careful consideration, several people thought that this should be the place where the gunpowder and lead were put.I wanted to try putting a few blunderbuss in it, but I didn't dare, for fear of ruining the gun.

"Where's the medicine pot? Why doesn't this gun have a medicine pot? Even if it's a running fire, there must be a place to put the flint?" A Baitang Ala opened the handle and looked at the sun carefully for a while, confused.

The only accident during the research process was that someone accidentally pulled the safety in the trigger circle, which was bad, and the trigger would not be pulled!

When He Shen saw it, his face turned livid.It took a lot of effort to seize a weapon from Beihai Town. If it is broken, there is no way to explain it to Qianlong!
When the man was sweating profusely and finally turned the insurance back to its original position, everyone heaved a sigh of relief, saying that the guy who was eating was almost lost.But after this accident, the chief craftsmen finally understood what insurance was for.

The problem is that if you really want to understand the structural principle inside, you must completely disassemble the gun.Who dares to do this? !

He Shen sat in the signing room for half an hour, and felt that the head craftsmen had done enough research, so he smiled and said, "How is it? What do you see?"

"Returning to Zhongtang, this gun is made of fine steel except for the wooden support on the outside. If you say that the shotgun is made of steel, the material is expensive, and the second is time-consuming. To make such a gun, the wall thickness of the gun is generally uniform, and it needs to be carefully polished. It can be formed. However, the end of the barrel of this gun is not sealed. The slaves still can’t figure out how to load the powder and fire. However, according to the slaves’ speculation, this drug may not be the same as the one I used. If you really want to find out For the structure inside, you have to disassemble the wooden support outside."

"Well! I heard that they use bronze armored blunderbuss, so they can hit fast and far." He Shen nodded after hearing this, and that's all he can see after a while.He pondered for a while before saying: "In this way, I will ask the emperor to see if the master can allow you to disassemble this gun. Can it be imitated in a month?"

"Return to Zhongtang, if you only build one, as long as you can measure the detailed dimensions of each place, there should be no problem."

He Shen patted the table in satisfaction, and said with a smile: "Well, I'll report back to the emperor right now."

　Sorry guys, today is my birthday and I'm a little busy.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)