The Second Master of the Red Chamber

Chapter 534
In the days that followed, Jia Lian's main energy was devoted to Shenji Camp and matters related to welcoming the noble concubine and visiting relatives.

In a blink of an eye, it came to August, the third day of the lunar new year, and it was Jiamu's birthday again.

According to the usual practice, Jiamu's birthday usually requires a three-day banquet.

This year, because we are busy with visiting relatives, this is the biggest happy event for Jia's family, and even Jia's mother's birthday has to be subordinated.

So Mother Jia said spontaneously, that on the day of the day, all the family members, as well as relatives and friends, should be invited to come and have a good time.

Just the day before Jiamu's birthday banquet, Shenjiying also had good news.

Wu Youquan sent someone to tell Jia Lian that the transformation of the flintlock gun had achieved results, and invited him to the launch site to observe the experiment.

When Jia Lian got the news, he was also a little excited, and hurried to the launch site of the Fire Gun Bureau.

At this time, there were already many people around the venue, most of them were officials and craftsmen from the Fire Gun Bureau and the Artillery Bureau.

Since ancient times, if there is something good from the top, the bottom must follow it.Since Jia Lian, the chief, showed a special emphasis on firearms after he took office, the officials and other personnel in the Shenji Battalion inevitably paid more attention to firearms.

Some people, seeing the high-quality treatment Wu Youquan and others received, turned around and devoted themselves to the intensive research of firearms.

Wu Youquan and his assistants had already set up battles in the field at this time. Seeing Jia Lian coming, Wu Youquan immediately reported: "Report to Lord Hou, last time the villain reported to Lord Hou about the flint-filled fire. The gun has already been cast.

And, it can really launch! "

Jia Lian was shocked when he heard the words: "Show me."

Wu Youquan got the order, took the firecracker on the table in person, and gave it to Jia Lian with both hands.

Jia Lian took it over and saw that the brand-new gun body was double-barreled, and the gun body was very heavy to hold, and it looked quite lethal.

After checking the barrel of the gun, Jia Lian asked with a smile, "How is the firing effect?"

"Why don't the villains show it to Lord Hou in person?"

Jia Lian nodded, and Wu Youquan took the firecracker and went back to the table, took a long breath, and then carefully began to load the ammunition.

After all, this was the first public appearance of the flintlock in Wei, and Jia Lian did not urge him. Instead, he had time to look at the distance from the firing point to the target. It was about [-] paces by visual estimation.

Two to three hundred steps, even for the firecrackers of this era, is not a rare effective range.

This is also an advantage of firecrackers over bows and arrows.After all, even a powerful sharpshooter can hardly effectively kill the enemy at this distance.

Soon Wu Youquan was ready, he looked back at Jia Lian, under Jia Lian's signal, Fang Qi sank to his dantian, raised the gun and pulled the trigger in the eyes of everyone.

With a loud sound of gold and stone colliding, people around looked at each other and asked questions one after another.

"Did it come out?"

"Did you get shot?"

The target observers, who had been prepared a long time ago, also trotted to the target in half-doubt, and checked repeatedly.

But sharp-eyed people have already noticed that the bullet has not been fired at all.Others also saw the clue from Wu Youquan's excited to regretful expression.

Jia Lian sighed, obviously the first shot failed.

But he wasn't too surprised. In the past three months, he has often gone down to the forging barracks to participate in and guide Wu Youquan and others' transformation work.Therefore, he clearly knew that even with him as a prophet, it would not be an easy task for the flintlock technology to mature from scratch.

From manual ignition to automatic ignition, this is a leap forward in itself, and it is normal to have difficulties.

"Master Hou, please give the villain another chance. The shooting was really successful at the small shooting range behind the barracks. The villain really didn't lie. They can all testify for the villain."

Wu Youquan put down the gun and explained to Jia Lian with some anxiety.After all, he was the one who excitedly sent someone to invite Jia Lian, but the result was like this, which made him very annoyed and blamed himself.

Jia Lian waved his hand and said in a flat tone, "I'll give you two more chances."

If all three shots fail, it means that the modification of the flintlock has failed.

Hearing Jia Lian's words, Wu Youquan bowed gratefully, then picked up the fire blunderbuss again, carefully recalled the reason for the failure to fire just now, finally reloaded the ammunition, raised the blunderbuss again, held his breath and pressed the trigger.

"Bang!!"

The loud firing sound sounded again, and those with sharp eyes and ears could clearly feel that the sound this time was not only clearer than the previous one, but as far as the eye could see, it was obvious that there was a fierce flame in the barrel of the long gun in Wu Youquan's hand. flashing.

At this time, Wu Youquan was also looking down at the black smoke coming out of the barrel of the gun, his expression full of excitement.

From the huge recoil of the firecracker, he knew clearly that the launch was successful!But he was not too eager to show, but winked at the people next to him, telling them to go up and check the target.

There is no need for them to go forward to check, the target guards have already exclaimed loudly: "It's a hit, it's a hit!!"

Hearing this voice, Wu Youquan dared to turn around and smiled at Jia Lian.

Jia Lian also nodded approvingly at him.Although it was the second shot that succeeded, the fact that it succeeded meant that the transformation was in the right direction.

In the future, it is just to improve the probability of success.

And with this kind of firearm that does not rely on manual ignition, the firearm, that is, the musket, has the real possibility of crushing and replacing bows and arrows on the battlefield!

Soon, the officials of the Fire Gun Bureau had the huge wooden rake brought over, and Jia Lian stepped forward to check it himself.

The power is very good, and the small and heavy lead bullet has already penetrated into the wood.This effect, even if it hits a soldier wearing ordinary armor, has a very high possibility of fatality.

After retesting a few rounds and confirming that the firecracker was not in danger of exploding, Wu Youquan and the others invited Jia Lian to try firing it himself.

After some experiments, Jia Lian found that the reason for the failure of the launch was that the flint loaded in it sometimes didn't strike at all.If the gunpowder is not ignited, the launch cannot be successful, so Jia Lian asked Wu Youquan to try to change the type of flint and improve the launch mechanism.

Wu Youquan shook his head and said: "But, this kind of flint is the easiest to catch fire after I have searched all over the Shenji Camp."

Jia Lian thought for a while and said, "Well, I'll send someone to the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of War to see if they can provide more flint for us to experiment with later."

Wu Youquan thanked Jia Lian in surprise when he heard the words. This is the benefit of having someone above him for support.If it were him, he would not have the ability to ask people from the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Industry to help.

At the end of the experiment, looking at the people gathered around, Jia Lian, as promised, publicly announced that Wu Youquan would be rewarded with 100 taels of silver, and the officials and craftsmen who assisted him in the development were also rewarded.

Seeing that because of Jia Lian's appreciation, even those officials began to congratulate and even compliment Wu Youquan, and other craftsmen were very jealous.

Jia Lian announced at the right time that all craftsmen in the Shenji camp who are interested in firearms can apply to work in the firearms camp.He also focused on keeping the officials and craftsmen of the Artillery Bureau, promising that as long as they can improve various types of artillery on the basis of the existing ones, he will not be stingy with praise and rewards.

As soon as these words came out, the people in the Artillery Bureau were naturally invigorated.

Especially the officials in charge of the Artillery Bureau, they knew that since Jia Lian took office as the deputy commander, in order to improve the development of firearms, he made a special trip to apply for special funds from the court.

Shenjiying was originally a deserted yamen with insufficient oil and water, but now that Jia Lian has come, there are not a few people who want to curry favor with them.

Seeing them like this, Jia Lian smiled and made a suggestion to let them work more on "blossom bombs".

The blooming ammunition is a breakthrough attempt compared to the solid ammunition that only relies on a strong impact to cause damage after being fired.

It is a shell that puts gunpowder in the iron shell, ignites it with a fuse, and can explode the iron shell after landing, causing damage with shrapnel.

This kind of shells existed in the previous dynasty.Of course, it is very crude and has many disadvantages and shortcomings. Whether in the previous dynasty or the current dynasty, it is basically abandoned.

Jia Lian naturally knows that the truth is only within the range of the cannon, and a cannon whose shells can explode on the ground is considered a real cannon!

But Jia Lian knew that the transformation of the cannon would definitely be much slower than that of the firecracker.

But he is not afraid, when the transformation of the cannon is effective, he has to consider, persuade the emperor, and establish a new type of navy.

After inquiring and analyzing, Jia Lian has determined that now is the time for the rise of the age of great voyages!

Jia Lian's biggest goal is to build a powerful naval fleet and compete with the Western powers for the right to speak in the Age of Discovery.

For this, he is quite successful.Because, he researched and found that Western weapons and equipment should be more advanced than Wei's, but they are limited.

Therefore, there is plenty of time left for him.

Another important point is that the current navy of the Great Wei Dynasty is exactly the team built by the Rongguo Mansion.

After Taizu founded the country, he also built a navy to combat water pirates and pirates.

To build a navy, warships are naturally needed.At that time, it was Rong Guogong who was in charge of supervising the construction of warships and building the naval base for the navy.

(In the original book, Jia Lian’s nanny, Mother Zhao, talked about Taizu’s southern tour. She mentioned that when she first remembered, Jia’s mansion was in the Suyang area, “supervising the construction of seaboats and repairing seawalls”, and extended accordingly.)
It can be said that the foundation of the Great Wei Navy was laid by Duke Rong.

And as the grandson of Rong Guogong, it is easier for him to intervene in the affairs of the navy than others.

But anyway, this matter is a long way to go.

Back home, Jia Yunhou was waiting for him at the gate of Dongkua courtyard.

Jia Yun, as a rare junior of the Jia family, was valued by Jia Lian. At the beginning, Jia Lian asked him to run errands in the military and horse department, which was equivalent to his work secretary.

There is no way, although this guy is clever, but if he can't write well, he can only do some common chores.

Later, Mr. Xiucai, no, now it should be said that he is a gentleman. After Gu Danfeng, the third son of the Gu family, took the post of "Master" in the Military and Horse Division, Jia Yun's role in the Military and Horse Division was reduced. Then Jia Lian recalled Jia Yun to help He assists in family affairs.

It has been more than a year now, and the boy who was a young boy at the time is now barely considered an experienced person.

Just this year, Jia Lian started thinking about starting a business, so he wanted to let this kid try.

Firstly, this kid is young and energetic, and secondly, compared with Sun Zairen, the treasurer of Juxianlou, he is a child of the Jia family, and he is responsible for managing the property under the Jia family name, so it seems reasonable.

"Second Uncle, the matter of the grain store has been settled, and the He family finally agreed to resell their He's grain store, including tens of thousands of grains in stock, to us at a price of 3 taels." , Jia Yun stepped forward to help Jia Lian, and said with a cheerful smile.

Although Jia Lian didn't like his obsequious appearance, he also knew that people have their own way of life, at least this kid's intentions are very righteous.In this way, smoothness can be said to be his advantage.

"3 taels, the price is a bit lower. But you guys are threatening with your words because of your identity as the Jia family?"

Since returning from the night banquet at Xue's house, Jia Lian has asked people to start expanding the scale of Juxian Tower, building a winery, and establishing a grain store.

The first two things need to be done slowly, but for the establishment of a grain store, Jia Lian decided to take Baochai's suggestion and buy a whole grain store, no matter how big or small, it would save him time and effort.

This He's Grain Company was the best option given to him by the people below after inquiring about it.

Jia Yun knew that Jia Lian was usually talkative, but when it came to serious matters, he was as strict as running an army, so she quickly explained: "Second uncle was wronged, how dare we.

Originally, we only went to them after we found out that the He family had a problem with their capital turnover.

The scale of their food store is not very big, and the business is not as big as those other companies in Beijing. It is because we took the initiative to come to the door that we dared to ask for such a high price.

Later, seeing that we were not easy to fool, I slowly let go.Of course, this is also thanks to the help of the two shopkeepers from Xue's family, otherwise we would not know how to do it, and it would be easy to suffer.

But the He family said that the 3 taels of silver must be paid in cash and paid in one lump sum, and then they will assist us in all handover management. "

When Jia Lian heard the words, he said directly, "Promise them."

As far as Jia Lian was concerned, he was neither short of cash flow nor afraid of the He family's daring to deceive him, so naturally he didn't have to think as much as ordinary businessmen.

Jia Yun also felt that there was no problem, and then asked Jia Lian for instructions: "The establishment of a new grain store must be famous. Is it called 'Jia's Grain Line' directly after the family like other houses?"

Jia Lian thought about it and shook his head.

Although the country did not prohibit honored nobles from doing business, the vast majority of nobles still hold their own identities and will not participate in business affairs, at least they will not end in person.

Therefore, there is no need for them to let the grain company walk outside under the name of "Jia", which seems too ostentatious, and it also seems unfair to other businessmen, a bit of a bully.

"Let's call it 'HSBC Grain Bank'. There is plenty in the world, and we gather it together to benefit the people's livelihood."

Jia Lian picked up a name casually, and Jia Yun immediately called out, "Okay, Second Uncle's name is so good, it sounds fluent, and the meaning is good. Later, we will have someone make the words of Second Uncle into a plaque , as the signboard of our food store!"

Jia Lian didn't even bother to look at the sycophant again, turned around and wanted to go home, thought for a while, then backed out, and came to Ningguo Mansion.

(End of this chapter)