The Red Chamber begins with a bastard

Chapter 246 Red Yi Cannon

The sea breeze made the torches rustle. Jia Huan stepped on the simple springboard set up by the soldiers and calmly boarded the Western-style ship. At this moment, more than a dozen torches were lit on the deck of the Western ship, which was as bright as day. The smell of gunpowder and blood in the air had not yet dissipated, but a group of surrendered Westerners were seen kneeling on the deck with their hands on their heads in fear. In the center, next to five headless corpses, they were all killed in the brief fierce battle, and then their heads were harvested by the Jin army. They were laid out bloody, which frightened the remaining Westerners.

Jia Huan glanced at the foreigners kneeling on the deck with their heads in their hands, and said with some surprise: "That's all?"

Although he also expected that there would not be too many people on the Western merchant ships, this was too few.

Baihu Dai Shilin was also a little surprised, nodded and replied: "Including those who were killed, there are only twenty-five people in total. No wonder they surrendered without a fight." Then he continued excitedly: "But There are twenty-six cannons on the ship. Hey, there are more cannons than people. I don’t know what these Westerners think. At least there must be a gunner for each cannon."

Zheng Sanxi and four other pirates also followed the ship at some point. Hearing this, they joked: "Master Dai, I don't know something. This is just a merchant ship, not a warship. Most of the space must be freed up to load cargo. So not too many sailors will be hired.

Hehe, these foreigners have traveled thousands of miles across the ocean regardless of the risks. Who is not interested in money? Hiring one more sailor means more wages, more food and water, and more space. It is not cost-effective to have more space for living and dining, so the number of people can be reduced as much as possible, and one person can only be used by several people. Hey, even though there are many artillery guns on the ship, these people are enough to operate them. It happens that the barrels also need time to cool down, so the rotation is just right. "

Tie Hu chuckled and said, "I didn't expect you, a thief, to be quite knowledgeable."

Zheng Sanxi said a little proudly: "Master Hu is laughing at me. Although I am vulgar, I have been at sea for almost ten years. I have never eaten pork and I have seen pigs running away, right?"

Jia Huan glanced at Zheng Sanxi thoughtfully and said calmly: "Who asked you to cross the boat?"

Zheng Sanxi said nonchalantly: "The boat over there...has taken on water."

Only then did Jia Huan notice that the three-masted bow ship he was riding on had tilted even more severely and was slowly sinking. He hurriedly said to Tie Hu: "Huzi, take some brothers to see if the hole can be plugged. If it can’t be blocked, try to move all the materials that can be moved.”

Tiehu hurriedly took twenty brothers there.

Jia Huan ignored the foreign captives who were kneeling with their heads in their hands. Instead, he quickly walked to a naval gun. As expected, this naval gun was a spindle-shaped front-loading artillery gun, also known as a cannon. Hongyi cannon.

Although the Hongyi cannon is front-loaded, its spindle-shaped barrel design is more reasonable. The barrel is long and the tube wall is thick. Its range and power are far better than that of the Franco machine gun. The range of the general Franco machine gun is only Two to three hundred meters, the heavy-duty Folang machine can only hit about a mile, but the Hongyi cannon can hit for several miles. The heavy Hongyi cannon can even hit for more than ten miles, cracking the stone city with huge power.

Jia Huan had learned before that the artillery currently equipped by the Jin Dynasty were all Franco machine cannons copied from the Franco machine people (Portugal). There were no Hongyi cannons yet. Although the Franco machine artillery had a fast rate of fire, it had a long range. It is too short. Compared with the Hongyi cannon, it is too far behind and cannot be compared with the same.

In the real world, the Red Yi cannon was only introduced in the late Ming Dynasty. It is said that Yuan Chonghuan, a famous anti-Qing general in the late Ming Dynasty, set up the Red Yi cannon on Ningyuan City and used the unexpected and powerful firepower to repel Nurhachi's army. The fierce man Nurhachi was also injured by the Hongyi cannon, and finally died of his injuries, ending in grief.

Although Nurhachi's death by the Hongyi cannon is only a rumor and has not been confirmed by accurate historical data, Yuan Chongran's use of the Hongyi cannon to severely damage the invading Manchu cavalry is genuine. This shows that the power of the Hongyi cannon is indeed very powerful. Nowadays, Jia Huan was naturally very excited when he unexpectedly obtained this weapon.

Although Baihu Dai Shilin didn't understand why Jia Huan was so excited, the seizure of more than 20 Western artillery pieces was undoubtedly a good achievement, so he was very happy. He knocked on the cannon body with his knife and said: "This thing is iron It's made of cast, with a big ass but a small muzzle. It looks weird and different from our artillery, but it's not a Franco machine gun."

Jia Huandao: "This kind of gun body design is more in line with the principle of barrel pressure from high to low, so it is more powerful and has a longer range."

"What is chamber pressure?" Dai Shilin asked puzzledly.

Jia Huandao: "This involves chemistry and physics. To put it simply, the reason why the cannonball can be fired is precisely because the gunpowder burns and instantly produces a large amount of gas, forming a strong chamber pressure, which pushes the cannonball Cum out.”

Dai Shilin was confused when he heard this, and he said with admiration: "Master Huan is really knowledgeable. No wonder he can win the boy to try Xiao Sanyuan. My subordinates haven't even heard of anything about physics and chemistry."

Jia Huan smiled and said, "It doesn't matter if you haven't heard of it before. Now I'll tell you."

Dai Shilin chuckled and said, "That's true. Isn't there an old saying that listening to you is better than studying for ten years? If I stay with Mr. Huan for a few years, I might be able to pass the examination."

Jia Huan said with a smile: "That's exaggerated. I'm just a scholar myself."

Dai Shilin patted his chest and said: "With Master Huan's talent, winning the honorary title in the provincial examination in August is not just a matter of trying to get something. After the Chinese New Year, I will go to Beijing to participate in the Spring Festival Competition. I will definitely pass the exam in one fell swoop and become famous all over the world."

Jia Huan said with a smile: "Old Dai, I didn't realize you were so good at taking pictures before."

Dai Shilin said anxiously: "What I say is from the bottom of my heart. I am not trying to flatter you, Third Master."

Jia Huan smiled, then turned around and walked to the bow. A heavy cannon was installed at this position. It was also a spindle-shaped Hongyi cannon, but the cannon body was much longer and thicker. It was estimated to be two and a half meters long. Maybe it was too bulky. , the rear assist is quite large, so a fixed gun bed was specially designed. Dai Shilin said at a glance: "I'm afraid this thing weighs over a thousand kilograms."

Jia Huan nodded. With the smelting technology of this era, it is not easy to cast such a long barrel. He asked: "Old Dai, I heard you say before that you have an elder brother who is a weapons craftsman and works in the weapons field of the guard station." Live, I believe you also have a certain understanding of the firearms of our Jin Dynasty. Do we have such long artillery in our army?"

Dai Shilin smiled and said: "Of course, our largest general cannon is nine feet long and weighs more than a thousand pounds. However, this thing is too bulky and inconvenient to move. It is usually only used to defend the city."

Jia Huan said in surprise: "Is it really nine feet long? You know, the longer the barrel, the easier it is to explode."

Dai Shilin nodded and said: "It is indeed nine feet long. My subordinates have seen it with my own eyes. Because it is easy to explode, many iron hoops are added to the barrel."

Jia Huan suddenly said: "That's right. Look at this heavy Western cannon. The barrel is seven or eight feet long, but there is no iron hoop."

Dai Shilin slapped his thigh and said, "Yes, aren't Westerners afraid of having their bodies exploded?"

Jia Huan shook his head and said, "I can only say that their smelting level is better than ours."

Dai Shilin said a little unconvinced: "That's not necessarily true. If Westerners can make it, our Jin Dynasty can definitely make it too."

Jia Huan's eyes flashed and he said with a smile: "Why don't you go back and ask your elder brother to make a copy? I can provide funds."

Dai Shilin patted his chest and said, "Of course there is no problem. I can guarantee that big brother can make it, but...it is against the law to make firearms privately."

Jia Huan frowned and said, "This is indeed a bit troublesome, but it doesn't matter. I will ask Mr. Lin to submit a letter when the time comes. It won't be difficult to get permission."

Dai Shilin smiled and said, "That's fine. I'm not bragging. Even the master craftsmen in the Ordnance Bureau may not be as good at making artillery as my elder brother."

Jia Huan was vaguely looking forward to hearing this. Then he looked at the batch of muskets seized from the foreigners and found that most of them were matchlock muskets, and the other three were steel wheel muskets. There were no more advanced flintlock muskets. It seems that during this period, even Europeans had not yet equipped themselves with flintlock guns on a large scale.

Jia Huan fiddled with these guns for a while, but found that none of them were as beautiful as his double-barreled short gun, so he lost interest. He only took the telescopic telescope, played with it, and walked to the foreign prisoners.

Although the red-bearded foreigner had been kneeling there with his head in his arms, since Jia Huan boarded the ship, he had been observing secretly. When he found that everyone was respectful to the young man, he was surprised and immediately concluded that this was The young man is the talker.

"Damn little robber, this is my telescope!" Redbeard couldn't help but cursed in his heart when he saw Jia Huan walking over with his own telescopic telescope.

Jia Huan walked up to Red Beard, with a clear look in his eyes with a hint of joking, and said calmly: "Is this telescope yours?"

Red Beard was shocked. Could this guy be able to read minds? He said in blunt Chinese: "Yes, do you want to return it to me?"

Jia Huan smiled and said: "Why should I return it to you if I snatched it with my own ability?"

The red beard was stunned for a moment, shook his head and said, "Isn't your country a country of etiquette? What you are doing is immoral and rude."

Jia Huan laughed dumbly and said: "Your Excellency actually understands this. It's not simple. It seems that you know a lot about Dajin. May I ask what your name is and which country you come from?"

Redbeard said with some pride: "My name is Rohr. I come from the powerful Dutch Republic. Our capital is Amsterdam. We are one of the most powerful countries in Europe. We have the reputation of being a coachman on the sea. Our country's fleet is very powerful."

Dai Shilin curled his lips and said: "What nonsense, I have never heard of it. No matter how powerful you are, can you be as powerful as me, Da Jin?"

Red Beard said unhappily: "That's because you are ignorant. From what I see, you should be soldiers of the Jin State. Let us go. If it causes disputes between the two countries, you cannot bear the responsibility."

(End of this chapter)