429 visit the barracks and flex your muscles

[Today's chapter is presented, please collect and subscribe! ] Please! 】

After the banquet was over, Li Zixiao sent someone to send Zheng Zhilong and the others to rest at the inn that had been arranged long ago.

"Lord Li, I have long heard that the soldiers under Lord Li are strict in discipline and brave in battle, and today outside the city is even more eye-opening for this official.

Tomorrow, this official wants to go to the camp outside the general city to have a look, don't you know how convenient it is? Before leaving, Zheng Zhilong pretended to be a little drunk and said.

"Lord Zheng is polite, why not, tomorrow I will accompany the adults to inspect our army camp." Li Zixiao solved it happily.

"Uncle clan, I didn't expect this Li Zixiao to agree to let us enter his military camp so easily."

After returning to the inn, several henchmen accompanying Zheng Zhilong gathered together again, and they hadn't actually drunk much before, and they were all pretending to be drunk.

"I didn't expect it to be so easy, which shows that this is Li Zixiao's kindness to us, proving that my guess is right.

If we can reach a cooperation with Li Zixiao, maybe he can persuade the saint to set up a city department in Quanzhou, but I don't know what he wants.

If he just wants to get a way to go to sea and do business, and get our protection, this is completely acceptable to us, after all, we don't lack the taxes of his few search ships.

I'm afraid that this Li Zixiao will open his mouth and interfere with our taxation of maritime merchants in the name of the city's shipping department, in that case, don't blame me for turning his face with him. ”

Zheng Zhilong's voice was slightly cold, and he said.

At this time, for him, if Li Zixiao just hoped that he would open the sea passage to the south of the South Seas or the east to the Japanese kingdom for his fleet, so as to protect the safety of the fleet he sent.

This matter is nothing to Zheng Zhilong, after all, the plate of maritime trade is very large, and the fleet of Li Zixiao's family is really indifferent to the Zheng family.

But if Li Zixiao wanted to intervene, the Zheng family would tax those maritime merchant fleets at sea, and Zheng Zhilong would never agree.

After all, at this time, levying protection fees on those maritime vessels to protect their safety at sea is the biggest source of wealth for the Zheng Group.

"He dares, if he really dares to attack this aspect, Lao Tzu will chop off his claws." Zheng Zhibao next to him yelled.

"Don't worry, I look at Li Zixiao, although he is young, he is very sophisticated, and he should not commit this kind of act."

"Hmph, just because he is young, he knows that he has won the trust of the emperor at this time, and he will become more and more domineering, and he really dares to open his mouth to our lions!" Zheng Cai snorted coldly.

"We'll know that by tomorrow. By the way, I've always heard that Li Zixiao's muskets and artillery are very sharp, and I don't know if they are as good as those 'red-haired ghosts'.

I hope that Li Zixiao won't hide it from us tomorrow, so that we can see the real guy in his hands, and he can't solve our troubles. ”

It turned out that although Zheng Zhilong had repeatedly defeated the Dutch at sea, the Dutch still occupied southern Taiwan at this time.

The Dutch East India Company, at this time, the Taiwanese staff (that is, today's Tainan) built two cities, the city of Geranza and the city of Puminsha, garrisoned more than 2,000 people, and completely gained a firm foothold in Taiwan.

Even if Zheng Chenggong defeated the Dutch at sea a few times, he couldn't completely drive the Dutch away, in the final analysis, the firearms in the hands of the Dutch were much stronger than Zheng Zhilong's men.

Not only muskets, but also artillery, the Dutch are much better than Zheng Zhilong's hand.

If it weren't for the fact that Zheng Zhilong had a large number of men, and the Dutch came all the way, the number would be two or three thousand, and even if he had the advantage of weapons, it would be impossible to defeat Zheng Zhilong.

The Dutch have never given up, controlling the southeast sea lane, monopolizing trade with Japan, and even hoping to open the door of the Ming Dynasty and fully trade with the Ming Dynasty.

So, in this way, the Dutch and the Zheng group will always be enemies at sea, and there is no room for reconciliation.

During this time, Zheng Zhilong got the news that another group of red-haired ghosts had arrived in southern Taiwan, and they also brought a batch of more powerful muskets and artillery.

This made the Dutch start to move again, and made several sorties to intercept the convoy protected by their Zheng family, causing them to suffer a lot of losses.

The sailors of the ships who escaped reported that the two new ships of the Dutch, equipped with a faster rate of fire and more powerful guns, completely suppressed their ships.

This is also one of the reasons why Zheng Zhilong wants to cooperate with Li Zixiao.

"Uncle Clan, don't worry, the little nephew will pay attention tomorrow."

Early the next morning, Li Zixiao freshened up and changed his clothes, dressed up in a particularly majestic manner, rode a war horse, and came to the military camp outside Yangzhou.

Toot toot!

As soon as the morning dawned, the white dragon soldiers outside Yangzhou City got up in the loud wake-up call, and then gathered at the school field to drill under the leadership of the officer.

"Run, go!"

The soldiers of the White Dragon Army would go for a morning jog along the outside of Yangzhou every morning, and on the Yangzhou Port that was being built south of Yangzhou, those migrant workers also started work early.

In this era, migrant workers did not have an eight-hour working day to speak of, they needed to start work as soon as it was dawn, and they could not rest until dark.

Even, if these migrant workers recruited by the imperial court do not need to pay wages at all, they can only work for nothing, and the imperial court is responsible for providing two meals a day, which is called hard labor.

But this time, Li Zixiao was in Yangzhou, and did not use the name of the government to forcibly recruit people to serve in labor, but used silver to recruit migrant workers.

As long as he is willing to work on the construction site, he will not only provide breakfast, lunch and dinner three meals a day, but even pay wages, and it is precisely because of this that Li Zixiao can recruit more than 30,000 young people in a short period of time.

As for those old and weak women and children, Li Zixiao did not plan to let them work on the construction site, and the so-called unpaid labor was, in Li Zixiao's view, simply serious exploitation.

The people of this era have suffered enough, especially the peasants at the grassroots level, and the heavy land rent, land endowment, and harsh taxes and miscellaneous taxes of the imperial court every year are pressed on them.

Life has been hard enough, if you are in July, on such a hot day, and still forcibly conscript people to serve in labor, and you don't even give money, it will be strange if the people's resentment is boiling.

"Today, I cheered up Lao Tzu, the general brought people to inspect, and if anyone made a mistake, they would be punished for cleaning the toilet for a month."

Liu Zhong shouted loudly to his soldiers,

This time, Li Zixiao really didn't plan to hide it from Zheng Zhilong, he not only wanted to show Zheng Zhilong the power of the flintlock pistol, but also the light and sharp artillery under his command, he would also release all of them.

Otherwise, how can Zheng Zhilong pay attention to him, these are all chips in Li Zixiao's hands, only when there are more chips in his hands, when the two sides talk about cooperation, can there be room for bargaining.

In the military camp outside Yangzhou of the White Dragon Army, a group of generals and colonels of the White Dragon Army had already arrived and stood outside the tent.

He also pointed out a hundred strong guards to pair with long knives, and laid out fifty cold knife doors, and Li Zixiao sat in the handsome tent.

And from the beginning of the camp gate, there were columns of musketeers standing solemnly. Outside the camp gate, there are dozens of cannons, and the white dragon soldiers in the camp are still practicing in formation, and the momentum is moving.

When Zheng Zhilong arrived with a group of horses, he heard the sound of drills in the big camp from a distance, and he could see that the camp was strong and the banners were hunting.

After waiting for a while, I saw an officer of the White Dragon Army, galloping out of the barracks and inviting Zheng Zhilong and others into the camp.

Zheng Zhilong rode into the camp on horseback, and as soon as he entered the camp gate, he saw rows of artillery placed there.

"Huh? These cannons seem to be very similar to those on the red-haired ghost warship! Zheng Zhilong looked at the Western cannons of the White Dragon Army and said.

"That's right, I look like it, too." Zheng Zhibao on the side also said.

"Could it be that Li Zixiao still has the red-haired ghost's cannon caster in his hand?" Zheng Zhilong was curious, but at this time, he suppressed the curiosity in his heart, waved at Zheng Cai and the others, and said, "Let's go." ”

Li Zixiao understood very well what Zheng Zhilong wanted to see when he came to the White Dragon Army barracks this time, and he didn't plan to disappoint Zheng Zhilong.

At this time, he hadn't even shown up, so he asked his White Dragon Sergeant to practice according to the pre-arranged plan, and Li Zixiao's important performance today was the artillery of the White Dragon Army.

Because, Zheng Zhilong's background determines that he is not interested in the preparation of land weapons.

In this era, artillery is a sharp weapon, especially at sea, and the cannon of a giant ship is king. The only thing Zheng Zhilong is most interested in is artillery.

An officer of the White Dragon Army, with a flag on his back and a knife at his waist, suddenly shouted at this time: "So the artillery obeyed the order and marched in formation." ”

Zheng Zhilong stopped and looked at the gunners of the White Dragon Army carefully, only to see that these artillerymen were very clean, and after hearing the officer's order, he immediately took action.

Several artillery pieces began to move quickly towards the predetermined positions.

The gunners ran forward and, having reached their destination, quickly removed the gun from the gun carriage and pushed it into the firing position indicated by the various artillery officers.

Each artillery piece is spaced four feet apart, which is strictly implemented in accordance with the artillery drill code.

The purpose is to prevent the enemy's artillery fire from counterattacking, to protect the safety of each artillery group, at least with an interval of four zhang, to prevent the enemy from hitting two artillery groups with one shell.

The gunners of the White Dragon Army immediately completed the placement of the artillery in a short period of time according to their usual skillful speed, waiting for orders, ready to fire at any time.

"Start shelling!"

Zheng Zhilong and a group of his brothers looked intently at the artillery of the White Dragon Army, operating in an orderly manner, and they were very amazed in their hearts.

They can conclude that these gunners are quite well-trained, and a series of actions are smooth, and even cooperate with each other tacitly, and they have a number of who should do what.

At this time, after the gunners on the field heard the order to 'open the cannon', the gunners of the guns, holding the bomb pushers and gun brushes, immediately walked to the right side of the muzzle and stood still, ready to accept the shells and medicine bags, and load them into the chambers.

The second gunner walked to the right of the breech, and they had an important task, which was to clean the chamber court with a cannon brush and protect the gun's fire door during the loading process.

The third gunner stood to the left of the breech, ready to punch a hole in the kit through the fire gate, then insert the fire rope and, after hearing the order, light the fire rope.

The fourth and fifth gunners, who stood behind the gun carriage, were often called 'ammunition carriers' and were the busiest in the entire artillery firing.

The commander of the guns was the commander of each artillery, and after receiving the order to open the general attack, he gave the order to reload the ammunition and specify the type of shells required.

The choice between solid, explosive, or shotgun depends on the actual situation of the target.

As for the firing range of the shells, this requires the artillery commander to rely on his own experience to estimate, so each artillery commander is the most experienced veteran artilleryman in the artillery group of the White Dragon Army.

"Load the explosive bomb, five hundred paces ahead," shouted one of the gun commanders.

The fourth and fifth gunners, located in the rear of the gun carriage, immediately consulted the table affixed to the cover of the front car.

This table contains a detailed list of the required angles of fire for the shell charge and range, so as to ensure that these gunners do not miss too far.

Anyway, these were very simple mathematical formulas, and the gunner, after finding out the angle and time required to shoot the explosive projectile, immediately reported it to the gunner.

"Report to the Commander ......"

Immediately after receiving the report, the gun commander began to determine the angle of fire with the gun and adjust it with the sight.

The gunner, in a loud voice, shouted to the gunners in front of him to adjust the guns, and at the same time make the final and appropriate corrections according to the direction and force of the wind.

When the shells are ready, the gunner, who is responsible for carrying the ammunition, loads them into the gunner's basket, which is a special basket used to carry the shells to the gun's position.

Then, reload the ammunition, insert the fire rope in the fire door, and leave the gun, according to the drill, with your face facing away from the enemy.

Everything was ready, and the gun commander gave the order to fire.

"Put!"

The fire rope was ignited, and the cannon roared.

The heat roared, and black smoke filled the air, and suddenly it spread, and the gunners lowered their heads and covered their ears.

After the first shell was fired, this launch was not over.

They also had to observe and evaluate the first shell fired.

The gun commander must determine where the fired shell has landed, so that the angle of the gun can be corrected for the next shell.

While the gunner observed, the gunners began to clean the chambers, after which the gunner re-gave the order to fire the second shot, readjust the gun, correct the angle of fire, and then the second fire.

As long as the artillery battalion does not give the order to stop the shelling, then their shooting will continue to be repeated.

Boom Boom!

The gunners of the White Dragon Army are very skilled, and the loading of this Western cannon is relatively simple, so their firing speed is very fast.

In just a few minutes, the gunners of the White Dragon Army fired ten shells, and Zheng Zhilong and his party also looked at the artillery of the White Dragon Army from beginning to end to complete the ten launches.

"Big brother, the artillery of these artillery is so fast, it is estimated that it will only take more than a pillar of incense, and they will shoot ten cannons, which is a very fast speed."

Zheng Zhibao's eyes widened on the side, and he said in disbelief.

Usually called a pillar of incense time, it is about five minutes in the West, and the artillery of the White Dragon Army fires two shells in one minute, which is really shocking to Zheng Zhibao and others.

(End of chapter)