I want to be emperor

Chapter 68 Preliminary Industrialization

It was not the first time for the people in the Funiu Mountain Baoxiang Camp to play with artillery, but when the others saw that the artillery sentry had to use sixteen horses to maintain only two [-]-jin artillery pieces, they still couldn't help feeling The cost of artillery is huge.

"If we do it this way, we don't have so many horses!" Zhang Malin, the sentinel of the artillery post, was worried.

"For the two hundred catties of artillery in the past, four horses are enough for a full load. If you go out of the mountain and go to a place with flatter terrain, you can save another horse. When necessary, the ammunition can directly resist people."

"The one-hundred-jin light artillery seized is even easier. It can be pulled by two horses. When there are no horses, no horses are needed. It can be pulled by people."

"But these [-]-jin cannons are not easy to handle!"

The Artillery Post has now become a major horse user after the Cavalry Post. Two [-]-jin cannons, two [-]-jin cannons, and three [-]-jin cannons, the cannons and the ammunition carts have already been used. It took thirty horses.

Although there were quite a few mules and horses in the Baoxiang camp, most of them were at the cavalry post. Apart from the more than 100 mules and horses used by the cavalry post, there were only more than 50 mules and horses left.

More than half of these more than 50 mules and horses were directly used by the artillery post, leaving only more than 20 mules and horses for transportation.

Even if we ignore the needs of the mules and horses for transportation, it is impossible to continue to expand the artillery post, because it is no longer possible to free up more mules and horses for the artillery post to use.

Luo Zhixue is naturally very aware of Zhang Malin's concerns, and he has been solving this problem. The first sentry and the second sentry he sent out of the mountain before, in addition to recruiting food, they also shouldered the task of requisitioning mules, horses, ironware, etc. The important task of various strategic resources.

So Luo Zhixue said: "Wait patiently, I believe Brother Lin and Brother Wang will bring us good news."

"However, even if there is a shortage of mules and horses, the training of artillery posts still needs to be stepped up. We must train as many artillerymen as possible. The weapons workshop has already started making molds for making artillery. Four [-]-jin artillery pieces and four For the task of the [-]-jin cannon, before the cannon is built, the artillery post must prepare the gunner in advance."

Hearing this, although Zhang Malin had a happy face, after all, the more artillery, the larger the scale of his artillery posts, which also means that he has a greater voice in the Baoxiangying group.

But he is still worried: "With so many guns, will our pressure be too great?"

Luo Zhixue didn't take it seriously: "It's hard to say what will happen in the future, but it's always right to get the artillery out first."

The construction period of the cannon is too long, and it takes several months for a cannon to be completed from start to finish.

And Luo Zhixue's determination to build and expand the artillery force is extremely firm, no matter whether there are enough mules or horses, Luo Zhixue will get the artillery out first.

"Let's get the cannons out first. There are no mules and horses now, so we can wait, and we can also directly deploy the cannons..."

"If the Ming army doesn't attack in a big way later, we will stay in the Funiu Mountain area, and put more artillery on Songshan Mountain, so that it will be easier for the Ming army to attack!".

According to Luo Zhixue's plan, for a period of time in the future, the Baoxiang Battalion will still focus on defensive operations, and at most some small-scale troops will go out to attack, collect food and other unconventional operations.

For defensive operations, the artillery unit of the Baoxiang Battalion naturally does not need to make any maneuvers. It can be directly placed on the fort for fixed deployment. This kind of fixed deployment does not need mules and horses to run around the world with artillery.

Not only the artillery, but also the transportation of the luggage does not need mules, horses and carriages. After all, defensive operations are carried out at the door of the house. Food and ammunition can be transported directly on the shoulders of the peasants without a carriage.

That is to say, during defensive operations, the Rural Protection Battalion actually does not have a great need for mules and horses.

With the continuous increase of artillery, the increased cost in normal times is the cost of casting artillery and ammunition, plus the maintenance cost of artillery.

And this kind of cost is affordable in today's rural protection camps.

The cost of ammunition is mainly the cost of gunpowder purchased from the outside world. Naturally, the price of this gunpowder is very expensive, but if there is no war, the artillery post rarely conducts live ammunition training, so the daily training cost is not large.

As for the time of war, who cares whether gunpowder is expensive or not at that time, it is natural to fight as much as there is.

And the casting cost of the artillery is actually not too high. The price of a two-hundred-jin short-barreled artillery is only more than 20 taels of silver, which is not as expensive as a set of armor...

A 140-jin cannon is only [-] taels of silver, which is roughly equivalent to the price of three war horses.

Although Baoxiangying's self-made artillery is not easy to calculate the cost, well, the artillery and other ordnance in Baoxiangying's weapons workshop have no ex-factory price. They are all self-made and used. Even the raw materials are purchased by the caravan and prepared for them .

At the same time, the craftsmen in the weapon workshop did not get paid. They were all provided with food, housing and clothing. Not only themselves, but also all the daily necessities of their families were directly distributed free of charge.

However, through the purchase of various materials such as iron materials, the daily expenses of craftsmen and purchasers, etc., it can be generally inferred that the 140-jin artillery built by Baoxiangying, including the gun mount, is about Around [-] taels of silver...

The Ming Dynasty imported a few thousand catties of Hongyi cannons, each of which was only about a thousand taels of silver, while the self-made Hongyi cannons were basically around a few hundred taels of silver. 'And other non-production costs, the net cost is even lower.

The real price of cast iron artillery these days, a three-pound long-barreled artillery, well, it is about the same size as the six hundred-jin long artillery in the Baoxiang camp, which is equivalent to two sets of good armor or three horses. The price of the war horse is just over 100 taels of silver

The price of the twelve-pound cast iron long-barreled artillery doubled on this basis, around 300 taels.

It is worth noting that if it is a large-caliber long-barreled heavy gun, its price will rise rapidly. The price of a 32-pound cannon can buy dozens of three-pound field guns, which can be several thousand taels at every turn. Due to the high scrap rate of tube artillery.

Baoxiangying’s own artillery is actually relatively expensive, mainly because their iron materials are expensive, and the scale of small-scale operations has not increased, and it is the first time to manufacture artillery, so the cost is relatively high.

Then the rations of the personnel are included, and in today's Henan, the price of food has already risen to the sky...

Counting all kinds of things, the price of the Baoxiang Ying's self-made guns should be higher than the real price of the Ming army's cannons.

However, the price of the Ming Dynasty's imported and self-made artillery was definitely much higher than the price of the Baoxiangying's self-made artillery, and it was easy to double it.

Don’t ask why, it’s because Daming has its own national conditions!
The cost of a 100-jin cannon is only more than [-] taels of silver. This price may seem expensive to others, but in Luo Zhixue's opinion, it is completely acceptable, even cheap.

One hundred cannons are only more than 1 taels of silver, which is not cheap.

Considering that the cost of the artillery itself is not high, Luo Zhixue intends to make the artillery first, and then use it as a field artillery if there are mules and horses, and deploy it as a city fire artillery if there are no mules and horses.

In short, no matter how you use it, you must have artillery, and you must have more!
As for the issue of mules and horses that Zhang Malin was worried about, it needed to see how much Lin Dongsheng and Wang Dazhuang had gained outside the mountains.

Most of the mules and horses in the Baoxiang camp were brought over during Sun Jianjian's time, and some were collected from the surrounding villages in the past few months. The Funiu Mountain area was originally barren, and the mountain people did not have much to do. There are so many mules and horses, so even if they are all recruited, not many can be recruited.

With the continuous expansion of the scale of the Baoxiangying, especially the increase in the size of the cavalry from more than 60 cavalry to a hundred cavalry, since the establishment of the artillery unit, the demand for mules and horses has also increased, which has led to the formation of the Baoxiangying. Serious shortage of mules and horses.

This problem cannot be solved inside Funiu Mountain. We can only hope that the troops of Lin Dongsheng and Wang Dazhuang who came out of the mountain can bring back enough mules and horses.

Luo Zhixue didn't ask them to bring back a large number of excellent war horses, as long as they brought back some mules and horses that could be used for service.

Even donkeys are okay...

And before they came back, Luo Zhixue was not idle, he continued to stare at all aspects of the camp, after seeing Zhang Malin and hearing about the construction of the artillery unit, he went to the village that had just been fully relocated to Songshan Village. The weapon workshop conducts a new round of inspections.

Blacksmith Song, who had been promoted to the manager of the weapons workshop, stood respectfully in front of Luo Zhixue, and introduced the situation in the weapons workshop to Luo Zhixue.

"General, all the staff of the weapons workshop have come from Sanshui Village, because you have ordered the establishment of iron furnaces and water hammers in Sanshui Village in advance, so our resumption of work is very fast, and now it is the beginning It's in full production."

"General, this is the water hammer you ordered earlier. This thing is very useful. It is more powerful than our manual forging, and the force is even. The iron produced is better, and it is non-stop day and night. , this water hammer is comparable to a dozen blacksmiths."

Luo Zhixue looked in the direction he pointed, and there was a factory building in front of him, and outside the factory building was a stream. This stream was directly dammed, and the overflowing river water rushed down from a height, and then drove a water tank behind the dam. The car kept turning, and with the turning of the waterwheel, the sound of clanging and hammering could be heard from inside the house.

"Let's go and have a look!" Although Luo Zhixue personally pointed out this thing, and it was even made by craftsmen after discussing and drawing drawings, it was the first time that Luo Zhixue saw the real thing.

In this regard, Luo Zhixue is still looking forward to it.

After all, this was his first attempt at industrialization, and even though it was just hydraulic industrialization, it was still significant.

As long as it can be done successfully, who dares to say that Funiu Mountain is not an industrial country...

Alas, there seems to be a problem, Luo Zhixue hasn't founded the country yet...

(End of this chapter)