Dragon Sea Empire

Yin Feng, who just arrived in Taiwan last night, took Magaro early this morning and rushed to the factory area in the east of Taiwan City, which had begun to take shape.The mercenaries and craftsmen from Siam and Macau who arrived earlier have been assigned to the factory area.

On the way, Zeng Jingshan stopped Yin Feng and his party: "Hey, you can't do this. You don't have to go back to the company headquarters first when you get to the ground. There are many things waiting for you to decide."

Yin Feng accompanied him with a smile and said, "Third brother, isn't this an urgent matter for Hongmaoyi? There is no way. Then, you and I will go to the factory area together, and talk while walking."

Zeng Jingshan walked side by side with him, while briefly reporting some company affairs to him.Zeng Jingshan is indeed a business talent cultivated by the Zeng family since he was a child. Over the past few years, he has increased his knowledge overseas with Yin Feng, broadened his horizons, and easily accepted some of Yin Feng's ideas. He is well-organized and more thoughtful than Yin Feng , is definitely a good role for the general manager of the company.

"By the way, that missionary surnamed Bao has been here for almost half a month. It's not a problem to wander around and flirt with Anping and those who believe in foreign religions." Zeng Jingshan said very dissatisfied.After a near-death experience in Luzon Island, Zeng Jingshan had a deep distrust of Western religions and Westerners.

"A missionary with the surname Bao? Oh, Baradas, hehe, I'll meet him at the company headquarters later, maybe he's someone who can serve us!"

Zeng Jingshan shook his head, expressing his disbelief.

The factory area is separated from the residential area by a straight street, and the water source is introduced by the artificially excavated river, which divides the factory area into three neat parts: the civilian workshops belonging to the company, the weapon workshops owned by the company, and other commercial or private establishments. workshop.This is Yin Feng's idea. Not only is it easy to manage, but this artificial river can also be used as a water source for production in factories and workshops, as well as a water source for fire prevention and extinguishing.

The weapon workshop is surrounded by a simple brick wall, and it is a large square courtyard, which is heavily guarded, like a city within a city.The defenders here are all Chinese, pirates, and sailor musketeers who have experienced the battle of Luzon Island and were rescued by Yin Feng.

A guard in black opened the gate and let Yin Feng and others enter the weapon workshop.First, there is a small open space. In the center of the small square stands the Chinese company's Chinese flag on a blue background.On the left side facing the gate is a row of newly built red-tiled one-story houses. Each house has a large tank filled with water at the door, which is separated from other areas by a rope. Outsiders are strictly restricted from entering with weapons, except Yin Feng.This is the gunpowder workshop.

On the right side of the gate is a contiguous shed, where many people are doing carpentry.Behind the carpenter's shed, separated by a brick wall, is a beating iron shed, all of which are making cold weapons such as bows and arrows, knives, guns, swords and axes.

Facing the gate is the firearms factory.Right now, in a corner of the firearms factory's shed, a large group of people, including Francois from the West and local craftsmen, are arguing about something.What they faced together was a flintlock blueprint spread out on the long table in front of them.

This drawing was drawn by Yin Feng. In terms of specific design, it combines the materials of the previous life and the real objects captured in Luzon, and is based on the flintlock gun improved by the Frenchman Mara Rouge Brujuva after 1620.

The flintlock guns seized by Yin Feng and others in Luzon were first invented by Spanish Pyrenees bandits in the middle of the 16th century.At that time, it was called Mikret gun, which means "bandit gun"; the reason was that after the traditional matchlock gun was lit in the dark night, its dazzling flame and strong smell of gunpowder would be a threat to thieves who stole and robbed in the middle of the night. , are often easily found.But the new type of revolver is expensive. For example, the revolver pistol in Yin Feng's hand can only be used by nobles, and bandits can't afford it either.Therefore, this kind of flintlock gun, which uses flint clips and irons to hit each other to fire, came into being.Later, this gang of bandits was recruited by the Spanish government and established the earliest flintlock unit.

During the same period, the Netherlands also invented the earliest flintlock gun, known as the "thief gun", which was mainly used by chicken thieves who entered the house for protection.Also due to the shortcomings in the use of matchlock guns, the Dutch thieves had the idea of ​​using flint clips and irons to hit each other to make fire, and then invented a new type of flint gun.People named the gun they invented "thief gun", which is called "Snaphan" in Dutch.

When Yin Feng drew this blueprint, he often sighed: Great inventions always come from thieves!

The biggest difference between a thief's gun and a bandit's gun is the structure of the powder cap: the former is manual and the latter is automatic.

The opening and closing of the gunpowder cover of the thief gun all depends on manual operation, which increases the operating procedure of shooting.In addition, tools must be used to tighten the screws of the flint clamps.

The Bandit Gun is different.Its striker and gunpowder cover are installed together. Once the striker hits the flint holder, the flint will automatically fall down and the powder cover will automatically open.Also, the screws of the flint clips can be tightened by hand.Because the bandit gun has a simple structure, its cost of manufacture is also low.

However, due to many mechanical failures, bandit guns are prone to duds or explosions; the procedures before firing thief guns are a bit more troublesome, but the probability of misfiring is very small.When these two types of flintlock guns were introduced to France, the musket craftsman of the niche town of Normandy, Mara Rouge Brujois, was used by the fanatic of muskets, King Louis XII (reigned 1610-1643), and finally Design and produce a new type of tunnel stone gun; this is the flint gun that has been popular in the world for nearly 300 years.

The earliest flintlock guns in China also came from the West. The "Illustration of Military Weapons" written by Maokang in the late Ming Dynasty was published in the eighth year of Ming Chongzhen (AD 1635). This is the earliest flintlock gun with written records in China.This is almost 80 years later than the Spaniards invented the flintlock.Ming emperors might have been interested in carpentry, but never one in firearms.

Yin Feng's design basically comes from the design plan of Brujuwa handed down by later generations.He shamelessly plagiarized what Brujois had not had time to invent, thus ushering in a new era in the history of world firearms.

On the basis of Brujuva's design, he made many improvements to the gun according to the experience of later generations, such as lengthening the barrel to make the gunpowder burn fully, installing sights, reducing unnecessary weight, and using walnut wood, etc. High-quality wood full wooden support, change the caliber to improve shooting accuracy and increase the range, and also has a design of fixed ammunition.

He added a bayonet bayonet design that would have appeared another 80 years later.

The bayonet is called the gun sword in China. The gun sword appeared in China during the Jiajing period, but it was not popularized and used. It disappeared in Chinese history after a short-lived, and no one mentioned it in the war history of the Ming and Wei Dynasties.

It's just that this "sword" is inserted into the muzzle of the gun and cannot be fired at the same time.Abroad, in Bayonne, a city in southwestern France, the document records mentioned that the bayonet was used here for the first time in 1647.The French bayonet is also loaded on the bayonet after the musket fires the projectile and used as a long gun, and the bayonet handle is inserted into the barrel to fix it, so the bullet cannot be fired at the same time.This type of bayonet is the so-called plug-in bayonet.The French fortress expert Sebastien Le Prestre De Vauban developed a sleeve-type gun bayonet outside the barrel in 1688: there is a protruding tenon outside the barrel, which is twisted into the sleeve after the bayonet is put on The groove of the gun is fixed so that the musketeer can still load ammunition from the muzzle after installing the bayonet.

The biggest controversy between Chinese and foreign craftsmen on this flintlock musket is the design of the trigger-linked flint clip mechanism and the bayonet.

As early as the beginning of this year, Li Yue, the son of blacksmith Li Dayu, the leader of the Manila Artisans Guild, was appointed as the industrial director and manager of the weapons workshop.After Li Dayu died in battle in Manila, his apprentices and buddies followed Li Yue to Taiwan, and Li Yue raised funds in the name of all the craftsmen in southern Fujian.He is bent on avenging his father and brothers, and has a passion for being in charge of firearms manufacturing.

However, the manufacture of firearms in the Ming Dynasty was controlled in the hands of the government. Several emperors in the early Ming Dynasty listed its manufacturing technology and operation methods as top military secrets, and did not allow more people to understand and master them, let alone civilians. Local officials made it without authorization and used it at will.The manufacture of firecrackers can only be carried out in the Ministry of Industry's Bingjue Bureau and the Military Weapons Bureau of the Neifu. It was not until the 14th year of Zhengtong (1449) that the imperial court lifted the ban on the local production of firecrackers, but only in frontier fortresses. Strictly control the quantity and type.Firecrackers were regarded as "artifacts" in the Ming Dynasty, and the manufacture of firecrackers was often mysterious. Traditionally, the manufacture of firecrackers can only be arranged in spring, and an "auspicious month and auspicious day" must be selected.

Although the Li family has been a craftsman for generations, at most they have made cold weapons for the imperial court, and they have never had any experience in making muskets and blunderbusses.

Fortunately, what Chinese people lack most is the ability to imitate. The Archbishop of Manila who baptized Li Dan once said: Any Spanish product, as long as it is seen by Chinese craftsmen, can produce identical or even better similar products .The ability of the Chinese to copycats has become more and more developed after hundreds of years, and even high-tech fighter jets can be "copycats"... Yin Feng handed one of the seized flintlock guns to Li Yue, and the craftsmen dissected it.

A month later, a flintlock gun that was exactly the same appeared in front of Yin Feng, and it was also capable of firing.

However, this kind of flintlock gun belongs to the early "bandit guns". The production process seems to be very complicated. Since the barrel is drilled on the rolled iron rod by hand, it takes a skilled blacksmith to make a single barrel. a month.For more than half a year, until Yin Feng went to Macau, although Li Yuedong used the best craftsmen, only 20 flintlock guns were produced in the entire armory.

This drawing was drawn by Yin Feng before he went to Macau. He was a little too hasty, and wanted to make a practical flintlock gun for his guards.The problem is that Li Yue and others have not yet fully sorted out a complete flintlock production process. It is indeed a bit difficult for them to immediately upgrade to the production of the next generation of flintlock guns.Until now, they have not been able to produce a successful sample according to the drawings.

Until the arrival of Portuguese mercenaries and craftsmen, there was hope for a solution to the problem. After all, they were very familiar with the production process of arquebus guns. No matter what kind of gun, the barrel and handle were the same, and slightly changed according to the characteristics of the flintlock gun. The production can basically be completed.However, Yin Feng's drawing about the bayonet and the new fuzz mechanism has aroused controversy between the Chinese and foreign groups.

Since the Chinese translators from Macau were not familiar with the terminology of musket manufacturing, nor could they understand the southern Hokkien dialect, they were adding confusion to both sides of the debate.Yin Feng listened to it for a long time, but he didn't quite understand the terms about industry and firearms in Portuguese, so he couldn't get the point.He had no choice but to drag Li Yue out of the crowd first.

Only then did Li Yue discover Yin Feng and the others, and hurriedly saluted them: "Captain Yin, Mr. Zeng's family, I made you laugh, I..."

Yin Feng smiled, and quickly interrupted his apology: "It's okay, it's okay, you can tell us, why are you arguing?"

It turned out that they were arguing about the success probability of firing the flint and then igniting the gunpowder with this trigger, and whether the bayonet bayonet could withstand the assassination.

This kind of discussion and quarrel is not surprising to Yin Feng; in the original historical track, although France was the first to manufacture practical flintlock guns, it was banned from being equipped with such guns in the middle of the 17th century because the generals and kings suspected Whether those points of flint can ignite gunpowder; there is a similar experience in the history of the development of bayonets.

Yin Feng said bluntly: "Brother Li is an old craftsman, I shouldn't say too much. However, I have a suggestion: why not make something first, and then verify your problem in actual use, and then consider solving it how?"

Finding problems and solving them in practice, in fact, Li Yue and others did not think of this relationship for a while.

After Yin Feng solved some problems in the firearms field, he went to the gunpowder workshop again.When he came out, he said to Zeng Jingshan: "Third brother, we will produce gunpowder and bullets in large quantities in the future, and may also produce shells, so we have to move the firearms factory out of here; find a place by the branch of Jishuixi or Zengwenxi. , the firearms factory will be an important department of our company in the future."

Zeng Jingshan didn't quite understand: "What do you mean? We all feel that too much money has been spent on firearms, and there is no return for this! We can buy these firearms from Frang Jiren, why bother?" Do you want to produce all by yourself?"

Yin Feng was very surprised by Zeng Jingshan's thoughts: "I know this is an investment that won't see any return in the near future, but have you ever thought about it? If one day we have a conflict with the Frangji at sea, who will sell it to us? Firearms? Besides, in addition to our own firearms, the surplus can be sold to those small countries in Southeast Asia, won’t the money be earned back?”

Zeng Jingshan sighed: "Even if you are right, the company's money is running out right now. Most of the merchant ships that went out to sea for trade have not returned yet. We will soon deal with the Hongmaoyi here, and a lot of money will be spent. I really don't know." It's stretched!"

Yin Feng was taken aback: "When I left, didn't I still have 80 taels of cash? Except for the monthly workers' food and silver, we can't move. We..." Seeing Zeng Jingshan shaking his head, he said with a wry smile: "Isn't it going to be a month?"