At night, the whole city of Shenyang became dimly lit, and the slaves who had worked hard all day were glad that they had struggled for another day.

In the mansions and official offices of slave officials and nobles everywhere, the lights are bright.

Huang Taiji issued an edict this morning, rewarding those who have made meritorious contributions to the casting of artillery and the making of firecrackers. or to promote the official position, or to reward gold and silver, even Dolgon, who built yì to train the fire gun, was rewarded with 10,000 yuan in silver.

However, it is one thing for Huang Taiji to reward him greatly, but he also severely reprimanded Ma Guangyuan and others.

"The Southern Barbarian Gun imitated by you has long been stronger than the arquebus in the Ming army. It can be promoted on a trial basis in all departments of the Eight Banners. The springs made by Raner and others are still insufficient compared with the steel leaf springs used in Nanban! After returning to the country, it is extremely necessary to make a more sophisticated steel leaf spring, so that the force of the smash is stronger, the rate of dumb fire is reduced, and finally it is flush with the arquebus. ”

Most of the springs made by Chen Banda and others were made of copper wire and wrought iron, but because of the lack of steel in the hands of the Liaodong thieves, it was impossible to complete the manufacture of springs from steel sheets. This problem of dumb fire rate was undoubtedly exposed when Huang Taiji personally led the soldiers of the Ge Bush Xianchao Ha Battalion to shoot with firearms.

But Huang Taiji also knows that after all, it is not a simple matter for the flintlock pistol to increase the firing rate, the contact shape of the fire door, the burning speed of gunpowder, the friction between the flint flakes and the fire sickle, etc., all need to be studied repeatedly, especially the steel requirements for the linkage between the anvil and the plate machine are very high.

Because the flintlock pistol is not like the arquebus, it uses the flint to move the spark to ignite the gunpowder, and the spark will rise. It requires a lot of force, which requires the linkage of the spring steel plate to be very sophisticated, otherwise the dumb rate of fire is enough to make people mad, it is better to use an arquebus.

In European countries, as early as the early 17th century, the French had designed flintlock pistols, but because of the cost and mute rate and other problems, it was not until the middle and late 17th century that there was a marine corps fully equipped with flintlock pistols and large-scale rearmament. Even until the beginning of the XVIII century.

The same goes for the British. It was not until 1645, when Cromwell trained the new English army, that two companies were armed with flintlock pistols, and the Swedish State was armed with flintlock pistols for some time. Immediately replaced. Changed to arquebuses again. It's also a problem in these areas. (So, the traversers who came up and equipped their troops with Minnie guns really don't know how they did it.) ）

But. Compared to the arquebus, the advantages of the flintlock pistol are also obvious. Not to mention anything else, using arquebuses, if you want to shoot at close range, and want to line up to meet the enemy, it is impossible, generally into a melee, the soldiers draw out their waist knives, and fight with the enemy, after all, they are not professional hand-to-hand combat, usually cause unnecessary casualties. But if you use flintlock pistols and swords, there is no doubt that the firecrackers can become the vanguard of hand-to-hand combat.

Therefore, Huang Taiji was eager to raise the number and level of firearms in the Eight Banners army to a new height before the decisive battle with the Ming army's Jiliao Governor Hong Chengchou's department.

"I must have at least 10,000 firecrackers in my hands! The Eight Banners Banner Lords must also have at least 2,000 people in their hands! ”

With such a ratio, there is no doubt that Huang Taiji's strength has skyrocketed again, he himself has 10,000 firecrackers in his hands, even if there is no firecracker in the two yellow flags he personally leads, plus his son Haoge's Zhenglan Banner, their father and son have 12,000 firecrackers in their hands, and the remaining five flags are only 10,000. This disparity in distribution made Duoduo's face change.

"Chen Banda, you are the best at making firearms among my minions. Why didn't you say anything? ”

Chen Banda, who had recently become the Yellow Banner of the Han Army, hurriedly knelt on the ground, "The slave doesn't dare!" The minions were just calculating that it would take at least 25,000 firecrackers to create these firecrackers that the emperor said. To build a firebolt, just a torch pipe, you need more than ten catties of good wrought iron. And that's not even counting the unusable scrap. In this way, if I want to build 25,000 firecrackers in a short period of time, I will need at least 350,000 catties of good iron for one of the guns! ”

"And at present, I want to cast artillery on the one hand, and build armor and weapons used by the soldiers of various banners on the other, and the cost of iron is already very huge.

With five catties of wrought iron to one pound of fine iron, a firearm needs seven catties of fine iron, a hundred firecrackers need at least 4,000 catties of wrought iron, and 20,000 doors are 800,000 catties. There is also iron armor, a pair of iron armor requires more than 30 catties of fine iron, although it can be purchased from the Ming army through guò Shanxi merchants, but after all, it is a drop in the bucket, Huang Taiji does not dare to fully count on the purchase, equipping his Eight Banners Iron Cavalry, or based on doing it himself.

"Sophisticated guns and other firearms are really powerful weapons to dominate the world. The chariot battalion of the Ming army can often block our Qing Dynasty iron cavalry, but it can't stop the artillery. In the battle of the Hunhe River in the past, the Ming army's Zhejiang soldiers had outstanding combat power, and my iron cavalry could not enter, but didn't my Qing Dynasty also use artillery to blast its formation? Flesh and blood can't be compared to cannons! ”

"As for the matter of iron, this matter is easy! Prince Li! ”

Huang Taiji saw Prince Li Daishan, who was at the forefront of the prince's ranks, this old guy had been invisibly cut in half since Shuotuo was appointed by Huang Taiji as the lord of the Red Flag Banner. However, Huang Taiji is still insufficient.

"I have ordered you to supervise this matter. If the iron material is insufficient, he ordered people to set up more furnaces for smelting, and if the ore was insufficient, he ordered people to go into the mountains to mine. I will not hesitate to allocate money and food when needed. But you must take care of this to me! ”

Dai Shan, whose strength is not as good as before, is a down-and-out phoenix in Huang Taiji's eyes, and his speech is not as polite as before, and he is completely scolding the minion.

"Your Majesty! Slaves have something to do! "In line with the starting point that if he can add obstacles to Dai Shan, he will never let go of such an opportunity, Dolgon went out of class and knelt down in front of Huang Taiji's throne.

"The slave once heard that the Nanban has a secret method in the south, and a furnace can produce tens of thousands of catties of steel, so the Nanban army is skilled in the world. Shanxi businessmen also once said that the amount of steel in the land is beyond people's imagination. ”

"In the humble opinion of the servants, it is better to let Prince Li contact the merchants of Shanxi. Let this generation think of getting the secret technique of Nanban iron smelting, so that I don't have to worry about the lack of steel in the Qing Dynasty. ”

Nanban! It's Nanban again!

It seems that there are always miracles happening in Nanban, from the sea-like grain, rice, oil and salt, to the sophisticated and sturdy armor, knives and guns, one acre of land can produce thousands of catties of pasture seeds, and now there is a furnace that can produce tens of thousands of catties of steel Secret method, these Nanban, their minds are the same as those guys in Ningyuan and Jinzhou?

Hauge, Zilharang and the others began to yearn for that distant land.

"Nanban, Nanban again!"

Huang Taiji began to mumble to himself.

these years. He also obtained a lot of materials directly or indirectly from Nanzhong. Some of them were necessary for the military plan, such as food, weapons, steel, cloth, and many of them were spices, porcelain, silk and other items needed by officials and nobles at all levels. Gengtong guò obtained hundreds of thousands of stone grain and rice from Zheng Zhilong through the trade of Liaodong specialties such as furs. Let him spend the spring wasteland smoothly.

But. If you plan to purchase iron weapons directly from Nanban. Even Li Peiting, who has great powers and is greedy for money and righteousness, is afraid that he will not be able to do it. I can only rely on those Shanxi people.

Thinking of Li Peiting, Huang Taiji couldn't help but look down at the dragon robe he wore in the last dynasty today, which was given to him by Li Peiting not long ago when he went to Shengjing to deliver a batch of cloth, refined salt and other things.

The exquisite materials, the fine workmanship, the abundance of gold and silver threads used on the dragon robe, and the pearls and gems used in various decorations are dazzling.

"It's just a few of them, even if it's given to the starling by the younger brother!" When Huang Taiji ordered someone to pay Li Peiting, the second young master politely refused. not only refused Huang Taiji's dragon robe money, but also ordered his subordinates to take out hundreds of high-quality silk and hand them to Zhezhe, who attended the banquet as the queen, that is, the aunt of "My Xiaozhuang", which we are familiar with, "Please ask the imperial sister-in-law to smile and make some robes for everyone in the palace." ”

"Alas! It's a pity that this person can only get some cloth, silk, sugar, spices, refined salt, etc., and the grain, rice, iron, weapons, gunpowder and other things that I urgently need, but he can't help them! Thinking of Li Peiting, Huang Taiji's heart was mixed.

The amount of iron available through guò purchase was limited, and if you want to expand the scale of firearms, you cannot rely on pure imports. In recent years, all the iron materials mined in the Qing Dynasty were put into the production of artillery birds, and even the iron materials looted from the Ming Kingdom and smuggled by merchants from Tongguò Shanxi in previous years were also used up. It is difficult to expand the size of the firearms force.

Moreover, the use of firearms, unlike the use of knives and arrows, the results of firearms are amazing, but the cost is equally huge. Not like knives and arrows can be used repeatedly, often a cannonball shot out, unless you get a complete victory, otherwise the more than ten catties of iron will be reimbursed. At present, there is a war in Jinzhou and other places, and the consumption of gunpowder and artillery in the stock is even greater.

It seems that in addition to speeding up the pace of smuggling and looting from North Korea, we must find ways to mine more iron within our own borders.

"Mr. Fan, prepare a holy decree for the king of Joseon. In order to warn the Ming Dynasty, I asked other countries to offer 200,000 catties of pig iron, 100,000 catties of copper and lead, and 50,000 stones of japonica rice before New Year's Day next year. ”

"In addition, I heard that there are many iron mines in Maoshan County, North Province, North Province, and I would like to ask the King of Korea to give this place to me to the Qing Dynasty."

The matter of Maoshan Duotie was also inadvertently mentioned by Li Peiting at the banquet, but the speaker had no intention of listening, and Huang Taiji now wants to solve the steel problem by himself, and the source of iron is naturally very important.

There was no shortage of iron ore in Liaodong, which they knew before the old slaves started a rebellion, and there were iron ore seedlings in Jinzhou, Fuzhou, Gaizhou and other places, and there were many mines.

But at that time, I never imagined that one day the demand for iron would reach such a huge level.

For the Manchus, North Korea was all about taking and taking. When there is a shortage of food, he ordered the DPRK to offer rice, and when there is a shortage of copper and lead, he ordered the DPRK to offer copper and lead, and when there is a shortage of paper, he ordered the DPRK to offer. Now that there is a shortage of iron, it is even more necessary for North Korea to offer it along with the mines. Moreover, it is indispensable to have North Korea sacrifice countless miners.

In a few words, everyone solved many problems for Prince Daishan, making the old Daishan a little dumb and unable to speak.

There is no way, since Shuotuo took over the position of banner master, Huang Taiji didn't know for what purpose, and generously allocated him six Niu Lu's soldiers and horses to expand the establishment of the red flag. This made Shuoto's waist pole in the flag much stiffer.

After that, by the authority of the banner master. quietly cleaned up his confidants and cronies in the red flag. Now he is not a general of the light pole, and there is not much left in his family.

"Your Majesty, the slave heard that Han Gaozu was able to achieve hegemony, and the first credit was all due to Xiao He. Now Prince Li is my Xiao He of the Qing Dynasty. first planted pasture, and now he has to prepare iron materials for the whole army, and his contribution is no less than that of Xiao Xiangguo back then. ”

Looking at Dolgon talking eloquently in front of him, Daishan wanted to kick this little bastard of Abahai to death!

Obviously, he colluded with Huang Taiji and dug him into the corner of the two red flags, but he kept sending high hats over one by one. Let him speak of suffering on behalf of good. This Abahai bastard!

However, how dare people not bow their heads under the eaves? Dai Shan was 10,000 unwilling, so he had to fold his arms and hide them in his sleeves, and kneel down to receive the order to thank him.

"Prince Li. The military situation is urgent. We can't wait for Shanxi merchants to spy on the secret methods of Nanban metallurgy. You have to work hard, arrange more coating Ahha, and set up more furnaces. Dori charcoal kiln, charcoal burning. As for the matter of going into the mountains to collect iron ore, there was a trip by Prince Laoli to North Korea. The king of Joseon arranged for miners to go into the mountains to mine. ”

Daizen's trip to Korea this time made the Koreans face another catastrophe in history, and the loss of population was no less than the loss of Toyotomi Hideyoshi's monkey when he invaded Korea.

Not to mention the desolation and barrenness of North Hamgyong Province and the difficult supply of food and other materials, it is said that the forcibly recruited miners used some simple tools, such as hammers and axes, even such rudimentary tools were rare. Without the machinery of later generations, the amount of mining is very small. At this time, the Ming Dynasty already knew that it was necessary to blow up the mine with gunpowder to open the mine, but where did North Korea get so much gunpowder? It was just that the miners were asked to chisel the stone with hammers and axes every day. When there is less ore produced by individual labor, the number of laborers can only be compensated by increasing the number of laborers.

The quality of Maoshan iron ore is good, the mines that can be mined in the open pit occupy about 30% of the total reserves, and the grade of high-quality ore is 69%, so on average, according to two tons of iron ore to smelt one ton of pig iron, and the pig iron must be smelted into wrought iron that is easy to calcin. If it was to meet the needs of Chen Banda and the Manchu Qing Dynasty for building weapons, firearms, and armor, the Maoshan Iron Mine would have to produce hundreds of tons of iron ore at least a day before it could barely be used. The ore also needs to be simply sorted before it can be transported across the Yalu River, and after the iron ore is simply smelted in Jilin on the other side of the river, the iron ore is turned into pig iron, which is then transported to Shengjing.

The whole process is carried out entirely by the people provided by North Korea. The work of the miners is very tiring, working for six hours every day, carrying the mined ore to the stockyard more than ten miles away with a basket and piling it up, and every time they go back and forth, they have to carry nearly 100 catties of ore, and countless Korean people die of exhaustion on the road.

And as soon as he sang and harmonized with Huang Taiji in the court, he sent the mother-killing enemy out of Shengjing, went to the Yalu River to eat and drink dew, cultivate immortals and practice qi to be living immortals, and the three Dolgon brothers were naturally very excited, and they had to drink and celebrate in Dolgon's mansion.

"Second brother, the chef in your house makes dishes that are much better than those stupid people in my house! And this wine too! That's a lot of energy! It's very strong! ”

Duoduo happily used his knife to cut the beef and mutton that the cooks had carefully cooked. Since Li Peiting opened up the trade route between Nanzhong and Liaodong thieves, the dietary level of Dolgon, a group of Manchurian nobles, immediately rose to a huge level.

Usually lacking in salt and spices, the fishy beef and mutton is carefully fed with spices by the chefs, and no matter how it is cooked, the aroma is attractive. Even Kong Youde, who surrendered from the Ming army, and others were also full of praise.

"Duoduo, you are in good spirits on happy occasions today, so whatever you eat is good."

Dolgon smiled and handed him a canned fruit that had just been opened, "Come, try this, this is what the second brother of the Li family left for us, it is really a rare thing." ”

A maid waiting beside her took the canned fruit and poured it into a large bowl of blue and white porcelain, and through the reflection of the lamp, the thin walls of the blue and white porcelain bowl cast an attractive color outward. In the bowl, the crescent-like orange petals, orange-red color, and slightly yellowish soup exude a burst of sweet fragrance.

"Second brother, what is this?"

"Big brother, this is the canned oranges that the second brother of the Li family gave us, we have eaten too much meat, eat some of this. It's really anti-greasy! ”

"It must be worth a lot of money, right?"

Azig had long recognized Dorgon's soul and leadership among the three brothers, but he was a little salivating over these novelties in the hands of his second brother Dorgon. Why is there any good thing, Li Peiting always gives it to Dolgon first?!

"The price? Big brother, didn't you and the third brother just look at the dozen or so newly added Horqin war horses in my stable? That's the price that Wu Keshan of the Horqin Grassland used to exchange a box of canned food with me. In addition, there are twenty female slaves in Horqin, and when I look back, I feel that there are some who can be seen, just pick a few and go! ”

Because of his close relationship with Long, Dolgon's status in the eyes of the Manchurian nobles far exceeded his official position itself. In the eyes of the princes, he is not only the Prince Rui of the Qing Dynasty, the master of the white flag, the secretary of the ministry and the temporary general who was ordered. It is also a bridge for trade with Nanban.

Many Mongol princes. In order to be able to replace the cattle and sheepskins produced on their own grasslands with cloth, silk, fine salt, sugar, etc., they did not hesitate to bow down to Prince Rui's mansion to beg, hoping that Prince Rui could help say a word, so that the people in their banner could live a little better.

And Wu Keshan. Although you are the Mongolian prince of Korqin Zhuoliktu. He is also the nephew of Empress Zhezhe. The eldest brother of the two Huang Taiji's favorite concubines, Bumu Butai and Hai Lanzhu. In the seventh year of Tiancong, he became a son and daughter of Huang Taiji, and Huang Taiji's fourth daughter, Gulun Yongmu, the eldest princess, loves Xinjueluo? Yatu Xu was married to Wu Keshan's third son, Biltahar. (Nima's, what kind of kinship is this?) How do you judge each other's seniority? ）

Although the status can be regarded as noble. But it is also necessary to bow down to the front of Dorgon, the prince of Rui, to make friends and get close.

There is no other reason, you can go to your in-laws, uncle, and brother-in-law Huang Taiji if you have government affairs, but you can't let Huang Taiji make a decree to order those merchants to trade with you, right? Dolgon, however, had the ability to do just that. As long as Prince Rui helps you say hello to the merchants of Nanzhong, the cattle and sheepskin goods produced by your clan will inevitably be bought by the merchants of Nanzhong like a whirlwind and clouds, in exchange for all kinds of items that are needed in your tribe.

And Azig and Duoduo were also ashamed of Dolgon's long-sleeved dancing in this regard, and betraying the means of wind and thunder, so they simply handed over these things to Dolgon. All they had to do was get their share of the dividends when Dorgon was done.

"Second brother, what benefits did the second brother of the Li family promise to give you?" Duoduo stuffed a few orange petals into his mouth, and the sweet and refreshing taste immediately filled his mouth, even more refreshing than the one that had been fired from the mouths of several slave girls.

"The benefits are not small, but I don't know if I can eat it!" Dorgon frowned.

Li Peiting's proposal to him to expand the scope of entrepot trade between the two white flags and the Manchu and Mongolian ministries made Dolgon always hesitate.

"Second Brother Li said that this year, the Nanban has captured Fujian, and there are tea-producing areas in Guangdong, Guangxi, and southern Jiangxi, and he plans to do the hegemony business of tea and squeeze Shanxi people out of this field!"

"What! Second Brother Li plans to sell tea to us? The Azig and Duoduo brothers were overjoyed. For nomadic fishermen and hunters, tea and salt are indispensable in life. This is why the nomadic fishing and hunting people around the Central Plains in the past dynasties exchanged tea for various special products, the most famous of which is the tea and horse market. The Ming Dynasty also strictly controlled the foreign sales of tea, and it was resolutely not allowed to export without tea. In the Ming Law, it is clearly stipulated that "those who leave the country with illicit tea and neglect to supervise the pass will be executed by Ling Chi." ”

And Shanxi merchants made a fortune in smuggling tea to the Mongols and Jiannu, that is, Li Peiting had the support of the Nanyue army behind him, and single-handedly controlled the tea production in Fujian, Guangdong, and Guangxi, and had a huge impact on the tea trade in southern Jiangxi and Zhejiang.

"The price he gave us was a high-grade war horse, forty-five catties of tea, and the horses that had not been castrated could give fifty catties of tea, and forty catties of horses."

This price is not unattractive, but the three of them understand that Li Peiting's purpose in asking for these war horses must be to sell them to the Ming army and the Nanyue army.

However, when Dolgon was very vague and tried with Wu Keshan, who represented the 49 banners of Mongolia, the in-law of Huang Taiji patted his chest and assured him: "As long as the number of bricks and tea of the barbarians is enough to make enough color, the slave can guarantee that tens of thousands of horses a year will be wrapped in the slave!" ”

"Second brother! Then what are you afraid of him doing? With him Wu Keshan there, the fat man has to be investigated and disposed of, and he has to take Wu Keshan first! If he is willing to force the Horqin Mongols, then he will behead Wu Keshan, otherwise, don't talk nonsense in front of our brothers! ”

"The third brother is right! We are no better than the old and immortal Dai Shan! Now the two white flags are numerous, strong and strong, and there are red flags in hand, and the red flags do not dare to make times. Even if he confronts the three flags of his father and son, he may not be able to bargain! ”

Hearing a brother and a brother mention Daishan, and talking about the strength of soldiers and horses, Dolgon suddenly felt that his eyes lit up.

"Tomorrow I will find the steward of Long Shengxing in Shengjing, and tell him that this king can join forces with them to do the tea and horse trade. However, the king's share of dividends does not need them to give gold and silver! ”

"Second brother!?"

"Second brother!?"

Both Azig and Dordor thought that Dorgon had eaten too much wine. took on a sea of blood for him Li Peiting, but he didn't want gold and silver, isn't this crazy?

"This king wants him to promise to have an exchange of iron and weapons and gunpowder with my two white flags!" (To be continued......)