430 flowering bombs, really good at acting

[In the previous chapter, someone said that the time of a stick of incense is wrong, I have modified it, five minutes is indeed less, and it will be set at fifteen minutes in the future, which is easy to calculate. 】

"And this cannon of theirs, have you noticed, there is not a single bore and squib, and even this kind of light artillery can reach three hundred paces away."

The Zheng family is all experts in using artillery, and they fight at sea, mainly in artillery battles.

The three-masted gunboats built by the Zheng family can even install more than 40 cannons on one ship, and they have many well-trained gunners under them, and they are not inferior to the gunners of the White Dragon Army at all.

However, now the shooting demonstration of the artillery of the White Dragon Army still shocked them greatly, mainly from the shock of the light artillery in the hands of the White Dragon Army.

What Li Zixiao asked the artillery of the White Dragon Army to show this time was the Western three-pounder gun and six-pounder gun that had been improved by the arsenal.

At this time, the arsenal set up by Li Zixiao in Xuzhou was extremely large, and there were seven or eight old craftsmen in the factory for more than 30 years.

There were more than 1,000 skilled craftsmen, including blacksmiths, carpenters, stonemasons, etc., not counting the more than 3,000 apprentices who were apprentices in the factory at this time.

Li Zixiao has set up a perfect reward and promotion mechanism in the arsenal, and the craftsmen of the arsenal can obtain promotion qualifications and awards based on qualifications, merits, etc.

Even, Li Zixiao privately set up a craftsman battalion under his own hands, and they enjoyed the same treatment as low-level officials, which was a treatment that craftsmen had never had in Chinese history.

It is precisely because of Li Zixiao's enlightened policy in the arsenal that the enthusiasm of those craftsmen has been greatly stimulated, so that at this time, new improvement plans and inventions will appear in the arsenal every few days.

"Uncle Clan, have you seen it, the ones they fired seem to be flowering bombs? The shells are fired, and they explode moments after they hit the ground. ”

Zheng Cai's eyes were burning at this time, and he said excitedly to Zheng Zhilong.

"Looks like it's really a flowering bomb?" Zheng Zhibao on the side also said in hindsight.

"I didn't expect that Li Zixiao's subordinates would be able to make this kind of flowering bomb by themselves, and we spent a lot of effort in order to find the old craftsman who could make fire bombs.

It was precisely with the flowering bomb that we were able to overwhelm the red-haired ghost, win the naval battle, and drive the red-haired ghost back to the south of Yizhou. ”

Zheng Zhilong also said with emotion.

Flowering shells are actually another name for explosive shells, because when they explode, shrapnel shoots everywhere, like flowers blooming.

The flowering bomb originated from the Northern Song Dynasty firearm "fireball", the appearance is round, the inside contains gunpowder, wrapped in several layers of thick paper, ignites the gunpowder lead "medicine twist" and then uses a stone-throwing device to throw into the enemy formation, blow up the enemy soldiers, and use iron cannons to launch in the Southern Song Dynasty.

But in later generations, the world's first recognized explosion was invented in 1803 by a British Royal Artillery Lieutenant.

But no one knows at all, in fact, the ancient Chinese craftsmen have already made relatively mature flowering bombs in the Ming Dynasty.

Even, at the end of the Ming Dynasty, the wild boar Pi Nurhachi, who had been causing chaos in Liaodong, was seriously injured by the Ming army's flowering bullet, and then died of carbuncles.

The Ming army relied on dense artillery and this kind of flowering shells to obtain the famous 'Ningjin Victory' in history.

But the sad thing is that the flowering bomb that shined in the Ming Dynasty was unknown to China during the Opium War.

Even Ding Gongchen, a firearms expert in the Qing Dynasty at the time, didn't know what the flowering bullet was.

So much so that Li Hongzhang could only order flowering bombs from the German Krupp Arsenal, and Zeng Guofan set up the Anqing Ordnance Institute to reintroduce Western-style flowering bombs.

When Zuo Zongtang put down the rebellion in the northwest, he excavated more than 100 flowering bullets from the ruins of a Ming Dynasty fort, and couldn't help but look up to the sky and sigh: Three hundred years ago, China had this thing, but now it has been lost, so that it has been bullied by the foreign powers.

Of course, the flowering bombs of the Ming Dynasty and the flowering bombs of the West are not the same.

There is a difference between the flowering bombs of the East and the West: the flowering bombs of the West are made with an opening in the cast-iron projectile body, plugged with a wooden "letter tube", and installed in the "letter tube" to detonate with slow-burning gunpowder.

The flowering bomb of the Ming Dynasty is "a protruding platform on the surface of the sphere, about 0.6 to 0.7 cm high, about 3 cm in diameter, and there is a round hole with a diameter of about 0.4 to 0.5 cm in the middle of the table", and a "medicine twist" is inserted into the small hole to detonate.

Therefore, the "letter tube" and "medicine twist" at that time were all the ancestors of modern artillery shell fuzes, which also proved that the East and the West independently developed flowering shells.

There was another drum sound, and the gunners of the White Dragon Army, who had fired ten rapid-fire explosive shells, brought their horses back again, loaded the guns into the front car, pulled the guns and left, and the ammunition carts followed.

The horn continued, followed by another artillery corps.

This time, they fired first with a solid iron bullet at a distance, and then with a shotgun.

Hundreds of lead bullets were loaded in an iron bucket, put into the barrel, and with a bang, the iron barrel shot out of the chamber, and immediately burst out after leaving the chamber, and hundreds of lead bullets exploded in a fan shape.

Zheng Zhilong and the others knew the power of this kind of shotgun, sacrificing long range, but for close combat, it was extremely powerful.

One of the great advantages of firing this kind of shotgun in particular is that it doesn't need to be particularly delicate.

You don't need to wipe the chamber of the gun, you don't have to aim, you just need to fire in the direction of the enemy's attack, a dozen in a large area, and the speed is also fast.

"These cannons in Li Zixiao's hands are not inferior to those red-haired ghosts! At least it's stronger than the artillery in our hands. It seems that the rumors are true. ”

Zheng Zhilong sighed and said.

At this time, Zheng Zhilong realized that Li Zixiao really didn't hide it from him this time.

As soon as he came, he saw that the artillery of the White Dragon Army was not only advanced, but also more proficient in artillery, and Li Zixiao's strength was far beyond his imagination.

After three rounds of artillery fire, the display of the White Dragon Army's artillery was over, and a White Dragon Army officer led them and continued to advance into the barracks.

When walking through the camp, Zheng Zhilong and the others saw the white dragon soldiers of the brigade again, who were practicing in the camp, one phalanx after another, neat and tidy, and the soldiers were fierce.

When Zheng Zhilong and his party were about to arrive at the Chinese military camp, they encountered rows of musketeers again.

After seeing them coming, an officer gave an order, and the musketeers, who were arranged in three columns, quickly raised their guns, and rows of lead bullets were fired, and the sound of explosions came and went.

The musketeers showed a platoon shot, a three-stage shot, sharp and terrifying, of course, this is very strict for the musketeers and musketeers.

"Big brother, these musketeers can really release their guns without the use of the arquebus! The news we got before is correct, this Li Zixiao has a lot of good things in his hands. ”

Zheng Zhibao, who was closely following Zheng Zhilong, saw the White Dragon Army musketeers firing in rows at this time, and the firepower was continuous, so he naturally saw the power of this style of play, and shouted in horror.

"Uncle clan, these musketeers have a high hit rate, and their way of firing in three rows and firing alternately can keep the fire uninterrupted, which is much more terrifying than bows and arrows."

Zheng Cai said, and couldn't help but gasp

Of course, Zheng Zhilong also discovered these anomalies, the flintlock pistol could not only shoot without ignition, but also did not have many dumb fires, and the hit rate was also high.

At a distance of 100 paces, there is almost a hit rate of more than 70%, which is simply unimaginable.

In fact, Zheng Zhilong has seen the musket gun without an arquebus.

The flintlock flint guns of the Europeans can also fire without a fire rope, but the death rate of that kind of musket is still extremely high, and it cannot be used at all.

Zheng Zhilong's heart was a little overturned, although he also understood that this was Li Zixiao's deliberate show of force, but the force of the White Dragon Army really shocked him at this time.

In the past, he felt that the officers and soldiers were incompetent, and that his gunboats were unrivaled in firepower, especially after his two major defeats of the Dutch.

But when he saw it today, Zheng Zhilong began to feel that he had passed, and he was a little sitting in the well watching the sky, that is, he had not met the White Dragon Army.

At this time, Zheng Zhilong dared to guarantee that if his soldiers fought against the White Dragon Army on land, he would not have the slightest hope of victory.

"No wonder this Li Zixiao can defeat tens of thousands of bandits with a few thousand soldiers, it is indeed worthy of his reputation, his elite soldiers and excellent firearms in his hands are his confidence."

Soon, Zheng Zhilong took Zheng Zhibao and Zheng Cai to the Chinese army camp of the White Dragon Army.

At this time, outside Li Zixiao's Chinese army tent, a column of white dragon soldiers holding long knives formed a dense knife formation.

Zheng Cai and Zheng Zhibao saw Li Zixiao put on such a formation, their faces were not good-looking, but Zheng Zhilong was not afraid, laughed, and walked through the knife formation.

"General Li, this official is an eye-opener today, it's worth it, it's worth it!"

Zheng Zhilong saw Li Zixiao standing in front of him, walked over directly, and said with a smile.

"Haha, it's good that Lord Zheng is satisfied, I'll introduce you to a few of my right-hand men, this is my personal guard chief quartz, this is the 'trapped camp' battalion general Liu Chong......"

Li Zixiao then introduced Zheng Zhilong to his generals very enthusiastically.

"Lord Zheng, I and my adult are like the first time, why don't we go into the camp and talk about it in detail? By the way, let my subordinate generals, take General Zheng and President Zheng Qian, and continue to look around. ”

After Li Zixiao and Zheng Zhilong were polite, they made this request.

As soon as Zheng Zhilong heard this, he knew that Li Zixiao was going to have a showdown with him, otherwise how could he leave only the two of them in the account, and sent away his subordinates and Zheng Zhibao and Zheng Cai.

But this is not what Zheng Zhilong desperately wants, so Zheng Zhilong said happily: "Okay, this official also knows Lord Li at first sight!" ”

Then he turned his head and said to Zheng Zhibao and Zheng Cai behind him: "Brother Leopard, Cai'er, you follow the generals to communicate and learn from the generals." ”

After all his subordinates left, Li Zixiao invited Zheng Zhilong to enter the handsome tent, Li Zixiao sat on the handsome seat, and Zheng Zhilong sat on the left side, smiling at each other.

"I don't know if Lord Zheng is coming to Yangzhou this time, but if there is anything that needs Li's help, even if you speak, Li will do his best."

In the end, it was Li Zixiao who took the initiative to speak.

Li Zixiao's words, in Zheng Zhilong's ears, actually meant: You open the chips first, you open the chips, and I can only shout the price!

"Haha, Lord Li is really refreshing, and this official likes to deal with cheerful people like Lord Li.

To tell you the truth, this time the official was also ecstatic when he learned that the Holy Lord was going to re-establish the city department in Yangzhou.

This official heard that it was Lord Li who persuaded the Holy Lord this time, and Lord Li really did a great thing for the benefit of the country and the people!

In fact, the official had a heart for a long time, and persuaded the Holy Lord to re-establish the City Ship Division and open the sea ban, but unfortunately the official did not have the trust of the Holy Lord Li, and he returned several times in vain.

Today, on behalf of many maritime merchants in the southeast, this official would like to thank Master Li for what he has done. Zheng Zhilong said sincerely.

Looking at Zheng Zhilong, who really looked like he was showing joy for the imperial court to re-establish the city department in Yangzhou, Li Zixiao couldn't help but snort coldly in his heart: You are really good at acting, it's strange to believe you!

You probably wish that the imperial court would never interfere in the sea, so that your Zheng family can enjoy the huge dividends of maritime trade alone.

Otherwise, your annual income at this time may exceed the imperial court tax by several times, and you will simply be rich and rival the country.

Sure enough, life is like a play, it all depends on acting skills! Looking at Zheng Zhilong's selfless face at this time, thinking about the court, Li Zixiao couldn't help but sigh with emotion.

"It seems that my cheekiness is still not enough, I have to be darker in the future, I still have a lot to learn!"

"Haha, Lord Zheng is serious, and Li is just doing what he should do."

Li Zixiao's words were a little perfunctory, and he didn't show how happy he was, Li Zixiao was not interested in this kind of compliment.

Li Zixiao attaches more importance to practical people, he doesn't value these vanities, and then, he picked up the teacup next to him and took a sip of tea.

When Zheng Zhilong saw Li Zixiao's appearance, he knew that Li Zixiao was dissatisfied with saying so much nonsense to him.

At the same time, Zheng Zhilong also felt Li Zixiao's temper a little.

"You, hurry up and say what you want from Lao Tzu, what's the use of saying so much flattering nonsense", this is what Li Zixiao said in his heart at this time.

"Good boy, he is young, he is so calm, Cai'er was right last night, this Li Zixiao is really a person who values interests and ignores vanity, it seems that it is time to enter the theme."

Zheng Zhilong also took a sip of tea and thought in his heart.

For a moment, there was silence in the big tent.

After a while, Zheng Zhilong put down the teacup, looked at Li Zixiao, his expression became serious, and said, "Master Li, don't hide it.

After the Holy Lord re-established the Municipal Shipping Division in Yangzhou, the Adult temporarily took over the responsibilities of the Municipal Shipping Division, and the official wanted to know what Lord Li thought about the power of the Municipal Shipping Division after it was completed. ”

After Zheng Zhilong finished speaking, his eyes stared directly at Li Zixiao.

Actually, Zheng Zhilong is asking Li Zixiao, will you interfere with the Zheng family to continue to be at sea and collect protection fees from those maritime merchant ships.

This is the core interest of the Zheng family, so Zheng Zhilong put it forward as soon as he came up.

After listening to Zheng Zhilong's words, Li Zixiao's eyes also lit up suddenly, put down the teacup in his hand, and said in his heart: Sure enough, this time is one of the main purposes of your trip!