A small soldier of the frontier army in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 27 Craftsman Li Maosen

Wang Dou came back from Dongjiazhuang with a spear and a three-eyed gun. He had already decided to build a batch of weapons by himself. The next step was to choose the type of weapons. Whether it was based on actual combat or his own financial situation, he had to sort out the problem this train of thought.

Grandpa Qi once said that axe, battle-axe, hammer, dagger, halberd, hook sickle, etc. can be used by those who are bold and skilled, and can be used to charge and kill the enemy with a single horse, but they cannot be taught to soldiers, and they cannot be a big enemy.As for iron and palladium, big sticks and thread guns, they are mostly used on horseback, so these king fights are not considered for the time being.

In the end, Wang Dou chose the waist saber, long spear, shield, and firecrackers, which are economical and affordable, and can be used in both length and defense, so they can be used in battle.

Wang Dou, a long-range weapon, abandoned bows and arrows and chose firecrackers instead, not because bows and arrows are not sharp, but because the cost of manufacturing and purchasing them is too high, and qualified archers are too difficult to train, and it is difficult to see results in a few years. Doo has no such time.

The training of a firearms player is simple, a firearm is relatively cheap, and the use of firearms is also a historical trend in the future. Wang Dou has no reason not to choose a firearm.

Wang Dou now has eleven three-eyed guns in his hands, but what he desires in his heart is to have bird guns. The effective lethality of the three-eyed guns is only more than twenty steps away, while the bird guns are much farther away. An excellent bird gun The effective lethality can be at eighty steps.

Grandpa Qi once praised the bird blunderbuss as the most powerful weapon in front of the battle. It can benefit the armor, can hit the target, and the bow and arrow can't reach it.In history, Qi's army trained bird gunners, and set up a five-foot-high wooden tablet at eighty paces.

However, the manufacturing process of bird guns is complicated, and the requirements for craftsmen are quite high, so it is necessary to find some good craftsmen.If there are craftsmen who make bird guns in the castle, the three-eyed gun king will gradually no longer be used in the future.

Wang Dou currently has a batch of broadswords and long spears seized from the Hou Jin Army, as well as long spears bought from Dongjiazhuang. Both of them will be built in the future, but due to financial constraints, we have to talk about it slowly.

There are a group of artisans in Shunxiang Fort, who have been making weapons for generations. Presumably, some of them can make bird guns. Wang Dou sent Han Chao and Qi Tianliang there, hoping to get some craftsmen through Du Gong, a hundred households in Shunxiang Fort. come over.Knowing that Du Gong was greedy for good things, Wang Dou gave Han Chao some money before leaving, and asked him to go to Shun Township Castle to reserve a big gift.

Wang Dou prepared weapons to train the soldiers, and Han Zhong and others of course agreed with both hands. Only Han Chao was a little doubtful about Wang Dou's plan to make bird guns, but he didn't say anything. After receiving Wang Dou's task, he followed Qi Tianliang to Shun Township fort.

……

A few days later, Han and Chao came back and brought back six or seven craftsmen, one of whom was a craftsman who said he was proficient in making bird guns.

At this time, these people stood in front of Wang Dou, all of them were thick hands and feet, their faces were weathered, and their cotton jackets were torn, they just stomped their feet and gasped from time to time, the weather was really too cold.Seeing that their faces were blue from the cold, Wang Dou asked them to go down to drink hot water first.

After they recovered, Wang Dou called them over to talk.

The head of the craftsman was Li Maosen, aged 45 or [-], with a very stout figure, but his face was shrewd. Wang Dou asked him if he could make bird guns.

Li Maosen said: "My lord, it's not a small bragging. Back then, in the Acropolis Military Bureau, when it came to making weapons and firecrackers, he was one of the best. Even after going to the Thousand Households, the skills in his hands were not as good. fall."

Wang Dou saw that his face seemed to be recalling, with a look of pride and hatred, he was originally in the security guard city, how did he come to this Shunxiang Castle in the end?There must be a complicated story in it.But this is not what Wang Dou cares about, he casually asked him some knowledge about making bird guns.

Li Maosen answered one by one, and he said: "My lord, six catties of bird blunderbuss is the best, but it consumes a lot of iron, forty catties of crude iron, and finally only seven or eight catties of refined iron is spent. .”

According to his estimation, including the price of iron, charcoal, craftsmen's wages and food, and other expenses, the cost of a bird gun is three to five taels, which is not a small sum.

Wang Dou nodded. He had read the relevant records in history, and Li Maosen's estimate was similar to his. He was a sincere person.However, Wang Dou only cared about the quality of the blunderbuss. In history, many Ming troops used blunderbusses to blast their chambers, which caused the sergeants to be afraid of using blunderbusses. Wang Dou could not take the lives of his subordinates as a joke.

Facing Wang Dou's worries, Li Maosen said: "My lord, the reason why the blunderbuss were damaged is because of insufficient materials, or because the craftsmen were tricky in making them, and the thickness and thickness were uneven. Especially in the welding of the blunderbuss tubes, many craftsmen Insufficient skills caused the bird guns to explode and boring. But the small ones naturally don’t have these problems, as long as the adults have enough materials, the small ones can make excellent fire guns for the adults.”

Wang Dou nodded. Of course, he couldn't trust Li Maosen with his one-sided words. Historically, the Ming Dynasty had very strict requirements on the quality of bird guns. Regardless of the Ministry of Industry or the guards in various places, they had to indicate a certain quality when they manufactured weapons. The Ministry, a certain health department, a certain institute, a certain year, and a certain season made the characters, and a book needs to be made afterwards for reference at any time.But even with so many regulations, the quality of Daming weapons is obvious to all.

Of course, the low quality of Ming's weapons is also related to official corruption and poor artisan household system. Of course, there is no need for Wang Dou to mention this.

He said: "Li Jiangtou, it is best for you to say so, but we still have to make a decree. From now on, you will stay in the castle, and your monthly food wages will not be less than yours. From now on, every time you produce a qualified bird Gun, I will give you rewards, if you fail, you will have to deduct the corresponding monthly rations to make up for the consumption of materials, and if you cause damage to the sergeant, you will be punished."

Li Maosen gritted his teeth and said, "Okay, just follow what your lord said."

Before Li Maosen came to Jingbian Fort, he had heard Qi Tianliang boasting that as long as he arrived at Jingbian Fort, he would definitely have enough food and clothing every day, and he would be full every day. Now these craftsmen are suffering from hunger and cold every day in Shunxiang Fort. It is not easy to find a place to eat, and Li Maosen believes that his skills will convince Wang Dou.

This matter was settled in this way, and Li Maosen and others will stay in Jingbian Fort from now on. Wang Dou suddenly remembered something, and he said: "By the way, Carpenter Li, apart from the blunderbusses ignited by matchlocks, what do you know?" Make that kind of revolver or percussion gun?"

Wang Dou roughly described the two types of firearms he was talking about. What he was talking about were the historical rotary flintlock guns and percussion-type flintlock guns.

The revolver flintlock appeared in the middle and late sixteenth century, and the gunpowder was ignited by rubbing the flint with a gear spring to make a fire.The percussion-type flintlock gun appeared in the early and mid-[-]th century. It was fired by hammering the flint and became very popular in the next few hundred years.Wang Dou naturally wanted to have such a sharp weapon.

Li Maosen thought about it for a long time. Although he wondered why Wang Dou would think of such a bird gun, he finally shook his head and said: "I am ashamed, I really don't know about the small firearms that my lord said, and I have to think carefully about it."

Wang Dou nodded. After all, Shun Township Fort is a small place, and it is impossible for there to be such a high-level firearms talent. I was impatient.

Afterwards, Li Maosen and the others were arranged, and Wang Dou gave each of them a room, and also specially selected a place for them as a weapon workshop.

Li Maosen and the others went happily, and looked at the newly built fort curiously along the way.

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Old White Bull:
I went out to socialize at noon, and I just came back now. There is another chapter before twelve o'clock. Thank you for your support.

Another note, some book friends think that the protagonist is in a certain place in Shanxi Province. In fact, the protagonist is located in Zhuolu County, Zhangjiakou, Hebei Province. In Ming Dynasty, it was called Baoan Prefecture. County, Xuanhua County in the north of Zhangjiakou.Moreover, Baoan Prefecture is still a little way away from the frontier fortress, separated by Huailaiwei, Longqing Prefecture, and Yongningwei at that time, which is now Huailai County and Yanqing County.

(End of this chapter)