Now in Zhuang Yuncheng's house, there are a total of twelve incognito Ming soldiers, ten of whom are here to help Zhuang Yuncheng train his family, and two are here to teach the skills of digging trenches. These two sappers of the Ming army belonged to the standing army, and their purpose in coming to Huzhou was the same as that of Zheng Yaojun and them, in addition to helping Zhuang Yuncheng against the government, they also shouldered the task of observing weapons. New weapons will bring about a huge change in tactics, Deng Ming asked these two people to investigate the trench deployment methods of the rifle era, and the experience they gained through these actual battles will make the Sichuan army take many detours.

Since the task assigned to them by Deng Ming was defense, Zheng Yaojun and the others did not teach the Zhuang family's family any field formation training, but just let them practice target shooting. The soldiers of the Ming army also needed to adapt to this new weapon, but there was a basis for the use of firearms, and Zheng Yaojun's level improved very quickly, and every night the Ming soldiers would sum up their experience and pass on the skills they had mastered to the banker's family the next day.

Deng Ming has mentioned the rifling problem to the arms dealers in Sichuan many times, but he himself does not know how to pull the rifling, let alone the principle, so the arms dealers in Sichuan have not considered adding this process to the rifle at all. The rifle in Zhuang Yuncheng's hand was still wrapped in silk to hold his breath. For convenience, the guns of the Ming army wore a silk belt around their necks during the war, and cut off a piece with a knife when they used it.

When he saw the silk strip around the neck of the firecracker, Deng Ming thought that this might be the prototype and cause of the silk tie he had seen in his previous life. Now the dealer's family members are also doing the same, wearing a silk tie around their necks and a sharp knife around their waists. Most of these family members didn't know why the head of the family suddenly trained them to use rifles, and except for a dozen henchmen, the rest didn't know the true identities of the Ming soldiers.

However, after seeing these strangers with their hair all over the place, some family members guessed that they were Jiangyang thieves, and it was likely that they were still heroes who sympathized with the Ming army, and the head of the family suddenly asked these heroes to train them to use weapons, just to protect these heroes and prevent them from being caught by the government. After learning that such rumors were spreading, Zhuang Yuncheng did not interfere, and even secretly added fuel to the fire, suggesting that the family members were just in case, and even if there was a conflict with the government, Zhuang Yuncheng could get by by stuffing silver.

"Two more rifles went wrong yesterday." Zheng Yaojun reported to Zhuang Yuncheng every day on the previous day's training progress. Due to Deng Ming's explanation, Zheng Yaojun and the other Ming soldiers did not consider the service life of the rifle at all, and only let the family rest when the barrel was hot every time. This high-intensity training allowed the banker's shooting skills to improve rapidly, but it also overwhelmed some rifles, exposing the lack of processing.

At first, the Ming army and the banker's people didn't know how to repair the flintlock pistol, but after a month of use, most of the problems of the Ming army and the family can now solve it by themselves. In the early days, a small number of rifles were badly damaged by mistakes, and by the time the men became familiar with the performance of the rifles, there was very little irreparable damage. The rest of the less important problems can also be used after the Ming army has been tinkered with.

Zhuang Yuncheng also had an indifferent attitude towards this damage, since he planned to train a group of people who could use weapons skillfully, if he could not use a rifle against the servants, then the rifle intact would not make sense to him. Zheng Yaojun took Zhuang Yuncheng to inspect his training ground, more than 100 family members have reached the level of three shots per two minutes, but they have not received any queue and drum training, so there is only one way to fight suitable for them, that is, stick to the walls of the manor.

It's already March 15, and Zhuang Yuncheng quietly told Zheng Yaojun and the others that it seems that the wind outside is getting tighter and tighter. After learning of this, Zheng Yaojun asked a soldier to take the information they had compiled and leave, and a sapper also left together. In this way, if the rest of the people are lost in the dealer's house, the experience that has been painstakingly summed up will not be annihilated.

At the end of January and the beginning of February, Anqing's tiger squat cannon was transported to Huzhou, and after the test firing, Zhuang Yuncheng found that the range of this cannon was not as far as that of a rifle. An Lesi hurriedly pointed out that this was the normal level of the Tiger Squat Cannon, and although the firing range was short, the lethality of the dense formation close to the camp wall was still good. In addition, the range of the new rifle is also much longer than that of the bird, and the range of the Tiger Squat Cannon will not be so cold compared to a normal musket (the flintlock rifle is obviously not a normal weapon).

Zhuang Yuncheng wanted a cannon with greater power and a longer range, but this kind of artillery was not available, and there was no such artillery in the Ming army. However, Zhuang Yuncheng's requirements for artillery were different from Deng Ming's, he didn't need to accompany the infantry to attack, as long as it could be placed in his manor. An Lesi pondered for a while, first wrote to Chengdu, asking his partner to produce rifles with all his strength and ship them to Anqing twice a month, and then An Lesi went straight to Chongming to find Zhang Huangyan to find a way.

"One hundred and seventeen rifles in good condition now?" Zhuang Yuncheng asked.

"Mr. Zhuang has a good memory, the number of rifles that can be used is indeed this number, and there are two more that can probably be repaired."

When Zhuang Yuncheng and Zheng Yaojun were discussing the next training plan, a family member reported that Zhu Youming, a wealthy family in Huzhou, had come to visit. Originally, Zhu Youming had nothing to do with the Ming History case, but he was the richest gentleman in Gui'an County except for Zhuang Yuncheng, so he was also blacklisted.

"Big things are not good." After seeing Zhuang Yuncheng, Zhu Youming called out anxiously: "Lord Li, the magistrate, has sent someone to get us." ”

"Li Huan? He is also on the list. Zhuang Yuncheng said coldly.

In order to obtain Deng Ming's understanding, Zhao Guozuo, the governor of Zhejiang, allowed the Ming army to send people to observe the case -- Zhao Guozuo promised to use half of Zhejiang's income to buy Deng Ming's bonds, instead of the previous quota of 1.5 million taels. Therefore, Zheng Yaojun can get first-hand information at any time, and it is also relying on these inside information that Zhuang Yuncheng persuaded Zhu Youming to advance and retreat with him.

"But Master Li doesn't believe it." Zhu Youming lowered his head, originally thought that Zhu Youming, who could stay out of the range, would be suspicious when he was warned by Zhuang Yuncheng, but he still bribed the officials to seriously inquire about the news just in case. Today, the scribe who Zhu Youming bought reported to him privately, saying that news had come from Huzhou Mansion and that he would return to Ning County to detain Zhuang Yuncheng, Zhu Youming and others.

"It's not that he doesn't believe it, it's that he is lucky." After Zhuang Yuncheng finished speaking, he stared at Zhu Youming: "What are the officials Zhu going to do?" Do you surrender, or join forces with the old man to protect yourself? ”

Li Huan has been an official in Huzhou for many years, and he has also accumulated a little family property, if he is cleaned up, he can not only deter the magistrates from obeying orders honestly, but also chase their stolen goods by the way, the Qing court naturally has nothing to be reluctant to. And Zhao Guozuo has no friendship with Huzhou officialdom, and he refuses to shelter them.

After Zhu Youming was sure that he was on the list, he sent someone to warn Li Huan, saying that this was a matter of both glory and loss, but Li Huan did not listen at all, and was bent on trying to save himself by doing a good errand for the imperial court.

"Master Li has sent dozens of catchers to come." Zhu Youming said hesitantly, not knowing whether he should surrender himself, and then bribe the magistrate with all his money to exonerate himself, he glanced at Zhuang Yuncheng again: "I'm going to go to your house soon, I want to take you first, then go back to hand over my life, and then go to my house to get me." ”

"This is the order of the auxiliary minister," Zhuang Yuncheng knew that the other party was still lucky, so he further persuaded him: "Do you still know people from Beijing?" ”

"I'm going to be killed by you." Zhu Youming shook his head helplessly: "I'll just stay here, if you can't save yourself, I'll just go and surrender." ”

……

Half an hour later, a team of catchers swaggered to the dealer's door. After seeing that the dealer's door was closed, the head catcher sneered and asked one of his subordinates to come forward and slam the door. These days, the county has heard that the dealer has some unusual behavior, but the yamen has no idea how the case will progress and how big the scale is, and they can't imagine that the next step will be their turn, and they are all the people Zhao Guozuo intends to sacrifice - in Deng Ming's previous life, in order to deter the Han people, even a large number of officials in Huzhou Prefecture were implicated. But this time, because of Deng Ming's interference, Zhao Guozuo relented slightly.

On the other side of the gate, the heavily armed family members stood in two rows along the wall, while the banker's henchmen were making the final pre-war mobilization: "This is someone in the county who wants to frame us, but don't be afraid, the governor of Hangzhou has already received the lord's silver, and said that he will definitely support the lord, as long as the county dares to break in, we can start fighting." The Governor said that if you kill them, you will kill the bandits, and you will not only be not guilty, but you will have merit. ”

The officials outside were shouting and scolding, shouting that Zhuang Yuncheng's father and son would be tied up when they went out. The family members were very nervous when they heard it, generally speaking, fighting against the officials was tantamount to rebellion, but this time it should be okay with the support of the Governor, but I don't know if the Governor will speak and count.

When it came to the end, Zhuang Yuncheng was also a little hesitant, although he had been preparing for so long, he still inevitably hesitated when it came time to take this step.

"Let the men go up to the wall, aim their rifles at them, and then I'll negotiate with them." Seeing Zhuang Yuncheng's face change again and again, Zheng Yaojun volunteered: "Our Sichuan army has received special negotiation training, and we can often make the enemy retreat in difficulty. ”

"Then there's Sergeant Lao Zheng." Zhuang Yuncheng is not good at talking to the head catcher on the wall, for fear that the morale of the family will be affected after a conversation. Although even if the dealer's family hears something strange, most of them will still obey the master's orders, but after all, they are taking risks. And Zhuang Yuncheng also heard that the Sichuan army is best at both war and negotiation, and this Zheng Yaojun is obviously a person who has seen the world.

"Mr. Zhuang is too polite, this is my part." Zheng Yaojun hugged his fists, strode to the wall, and ordered the first row of family members to go to the wall to prepare for battle. Several of the leaders are Zhuang Yuncheng's sons and nephews, and these young people know that the Zhuang family is in danger of escaping, but they have the courage to break the net.

"Aim." After carrying a rifle to the wall, Zheng Yaojun aimed the rifle in his hand at the head of the leader, and then shouted an order.

After hearing the password, Jia Ding subconsciously flattened his rifle as if he was on the training ground, and pointed at the dozens of catchers in front of the gate.

"Shoot!" Zheng Yaojun let out a loud shout and pulled the trigger in his hand at the same time.

Suddenly, there was a loud gunfire on the camp wall, and the Ming soldiers behind urged the family members waiting behind to come forward to replace them. When the second group of family members climbed the wall, Zheng Yaojun glanced at the scene in front of the door, jumped back to the ground from the wall, and walked back towards Zhuang Yuncheng and Zhu Youming: "The negotiations have broken down. ”