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Chapter 1045 Secret Discussion
On the shooting range of the Weiyuan Camp station in the southeast of Xuanfu Town, Yongning Bo Zhang Cheng said to Cao Bianjiao, the general soldier of Shanhaiguan: "Cao Shuai and Wang Shuai can also buy two thousand guns and sixty thousand guns from Yunzhou first. Now, the Flang machine and the Flying Cannon are like Jizhen. How about it?"

Cao Bianjiao only pondered for a while, and then replied very straightforwardly: "It's all according to Uncle Yongning."

Zhang Cheng looked at Zu Dabi and Xie Sixin again with a smile, and said: "Zu Shuai and General Changbo need 15 Yunzhou blunderbusses, the quantity is too large, and it may be difficult to make them for a while, why don't we pay [-] first In terms of rods, [-] rounds of sub-drugs, I wonder if it is possible?"

Zu Dabi exchanged glances with Wu Guogui when he heard the words, and said: "Uncle Yongning also knows that I am guarding Jinzhou, which is a place that slaves and thieves will definitely want to attack. The task of guarding against slaves is especially important. Each battalion of [-] guns has one point. If there are not many, it may be difficult to cause great damage to the slaves.

However, it is not easy to shoot firecrackers, and I know very well that Uncle Yongning thinks this is a good idea. How about adding another 30 rods to the elder uncle and me, for a total of [-] long rods and [-] rounds of sub-powder? "

Seeing that Zhang Cheng was lost in thought, he added eagerly: "The eldest uncle and I can settle the settlement with silver."

Zhang Cheng still feigned embarrassment after hearing this, and after a while, he said in a slightly embarrassed way: "What's the matter with Zushuai. Benbo is not just for money."

He stepped forward and grabbed Zu Dabi's hand, turned his head to look at Wu Guogui, and said to the two of them: "Zu Shuai is guarding Jinzhou, and it is the gate of Liaodong in the Ming Dynasty, so it must not be ignored.

And General Changbo, as the commander-in-chief of Liaodong, personally sits in Songshan Fort and stands at the forefront of fighting against the slaves. He is indeed a role model for us, and Benbo admires him very much. "

Zhang Cheng's eyes fell on Zu Dabi's face again, and he said to him firmly: "Just do as Zu Shuai wants, Yunzhou blunderbuss has 30 rods, and [-] rounds of sub-powder are fixed. It is just like the Jizhen plan."

"but……"

When everyone saw that Zhang Cheng agreed to sell them the firecrackers, all of them showed excited expressions, but they were instantly extinguished by Zhang Cheng's "but...", their faces were full of doubts, and they watched helplessly. Look at Yongningbo to see what he means.

I only heard Zhang Cheng continue to say: "The quantity of gunpowder medicine ordered by the brothers is too large, even if our craftsman camp is open day and night, I am afraid it will be difficult to deliver in a short time.

Therefore, in order to be able to deliver as soon as possible, Benbo decided to suspend the manufacture of other ordnance in our craftsman camp, and try our best to rush to manufacture Yunzhou guns, so as to give priority to the delivery of Yunzhou guns and fixed medicines.

Then the Franco cannon will be manufactured, and the flying cannon will be the last. What do you think? "

The people from Jiliao saw that Zhang Cheng didn't make any new request, but it was for their imagination, so naturally they had no objection.

Xie Sixin came out of the crowd at this time, and he said to Zhang Cheng: "Uncle Yongning, Governor Hong also wants to order some Yunzhou blunderbusses, Flang cannons, and flying cannons. I hope uncle can understand the students' difficulties, so please agree to it." !"

He said this very politely and appropriately, but his intention was to remind Zhang Cheng not to forget the order of Hong Chengchou, governor of Jiliao.

Zhang Cheng took a step forward, and said to him very kindly: "Mr. Xie said so, but do you blame Zhang Cheng?"

Without waiting for Xie Sixin to say anything, he took the lead and continued: "Ben Bo re-checked the inventory last night and found that there are still nearly [-] Yunzhou guns in stock.

At that time, I thought that at the time of the Liao War, my officers and men in the Xuanfu Army were often taken care of by Hong Du, and this kind of affection is still unforgettable. Therefore, the stock of four thousand Yunzhou blunderbuss was given priority to meet the needs of Hong Duchen. need. "

After Zhang Cheng finished speaking, he looked at Zu Dabi, Cao Bianjiao and others, and said, "I don't think Zu Shuai, Cao Shuai, and Liu Shuai will have any opinions on this!"

As Governor of Jiliao, Hong Chengchou was the highest official of all of them, even though they were so courageous, they did not dare to make other expressions at this time.

Zu Dabi also knew that in the past few years, Hong Chengchou had taken good care of his ancestors and Wu Sangui in many ways, and he even took Liu Zhaoji out of Liao Town, just to support Wu Sangui as the commander-in-chief of Liaodong.

In return, he hastily expressed his opinion: "Uncle Yongning, why did you say that? We are all under the command of Governor Hong, so naturally the governor is the first."

The rest of the people have no opinion on this, and the purchase of Xuanzhen firearms by the generals of Ji Liao has been completely finalized at this point.

In fact, in this special era when cold weapons and firearms coexist, there are not many ammunition needed in battle.

Taking the Bravery Army as an example, although the gunners of each battalion accounted for half of the battalion, if gunners were added, the number would be more than half, but the actual ammunition fired every time a battle was approaching was not a lot.

Each firearms soldier usually only carries twenty rounds of fixed paper tube ammunition, but in each battle, in fact, at most, he can only fire five or six rounds of ammunition.

Because, at this time, the battle is either over, or has entered the bloody stage of close combat with cold weapons. At this time, the firecrackers either retreat to the rear of the battlefield to reload ammunition for battle, or temporarily discard the firecrackers and charge forward with knives. Go up and help the cold soldiers to fight the enemy hand to hand.

It is precisely because of this that the ammunition bags of the brave gunmen also use five rounds of fixed ammunition as a fixed amount of ammunition, and each gunman only carries four ammunition bags when he goes out to battle. That's all.

If the battle is fierce and the base number of ammunition carried by each gunslinger is less than ten rounds, the chiefs of their bureaus will go to the battalion logistics department to collect them according to the number, and then distribute them to the gunslingers.

This is mainly to reduce the personal burden of the soldiers. After all, when going to battle, each soldier carries a lot of items and ordnance, and each ammunition bag weighs three or two dollars. It is enough for each soldier to carry four ammunition bags. Almost a pound in weight.

The gun soldiers of the brave army are not less equipped than the cold soldiers, and the ammunition is additional ordnance, so they can carry as little as possible. Now after using flintlocks and fixed ammunition, they have lost a lot of tools, which can be regarded as The soldiers were relieved.

Now Zu Dabi, Cao Bianjiao and the others haven't realized the many benefits of it. If they know the benefits of the pre-packaged medicine in the future, they will never be able to do without Zhang Cheng. Of course, maybe they will try to make their own pre-packaged medicine.

However, the gunpowder they are preparing now does not reach the power of the brave army's granular gunpowder. For a while, they can only rely on the ammunition supply of the brave army.

But it's hard to say what the future will be like now. They will definitely try to make their own sub-drugs. Even if the power is weaker, it can be tolerated, as long as the gap is not too big like it is now.

However, the gunpowder special class of the Yongyi Army Craftsman Camp has been working hard to develop more powerful gunpowder, which is obviously superior to the towns of Jiliao in terms of technology and materials. I am afraid that they will never be able to catch up with the gunpowder technology of the Yongyi Army.

Wanting to decouple from the Valiant Army in the future and completely get rid of their dependence on the Valiant Army's ammunition may only exist in their dreams.

Now everyone has signed a satisfactory purchase contract with Zhang Cheng, and there is a hint of joy on their faces. This trip to Xuan Town was not in vain.

In fact, for many officials and generals of the Ming Dynasty, especially the generals in Beidi Bianzhen, they have never been interested in firearms, and they always feel that they are dispensable things.

In their eyes, even the three-eyed blunderbuss is more deterrent than real, and the cost of firearms is very high, and in the end of every battle, which battle does not rely on cold weapons to determine the outcome in close combat?
Moreover, a saber cost a little more than three yuan, a long ax was only two yuan more, and a spear was even cheaper. However, if you use firearms, you have to constantly invest in ammunition. How can cold weapons be worthwhile?
But the last time they fought against the slaves in Liaodong, they witnessed the performance of the brave gunmen on the battlefield, so they changed their original intentions and re-emphasized fire guns and small artillery.

…………

In the next two days, the generals of Ji and Liao, accompanied by Wei Zhice and Wang Yuanjing, visited the blunderbuss drills of Weiyuan Camp and Teng Snake Camp, as well as the joint exercise of infantry and cavalry artillery.

However, since the battalions of the Valiant Army have only recently moved to the vicinity of the town, both the school grounds and the training grounds are very simple, but even so it does not affect their viewing of the performance.

They have always been amazed by the super high hit rate of the brave gunmen. Now after watching the drills, they realize that these are the result of usual drills.

However, they hold different views on the shooting accuracy of the soldiers fed by ammunition. The reason is that they are reluctant to buy the sub-medicine bought with real money and can't bear to waste it on the training ground.

In this regard, Bo Yongning also gave them an idea, that is, they usually practice more aiming with guns, that is, according to the requirements of the drills, the gunmen insist on aiming at the target [-] steps ahead for a long time.

After he has practiced aiming at the gun for a period of time, he will conduct the live ammunition assessment of aiming and shooting. That is, each soldier will conduct shooting assessments in order, and each soldier is allowed to test shoot one bullet, and rewards and punishments will be given according to the pros and cons of the shooting results. .

If it hits the target and smashes it, it is superior; if it hits the target but misses the middle and does not break the target, it is qualified; and if it misses the target, it is unqualified.

And those who are superior will be rewarded with silver rewards, those who are qualified will not be rewarded or punished, and those who are unqualified will be fined half of the monthly salary of each soldier, and they will also be punished with whipping.

Although Zhang Cheng used this method on a large scale among the recruits of the Bravery Army, in the live-ammunition target assessment, each soldier had a shooting base of an ammunition pack. After all, he firmly believed that marksmen were all fed by ammunition.

The blunderbuss of the brave army shoot more than ten rounds of sub-drugs every month. It's not that Zhang Cheng doesn't take money seriously, but because he attaches great importance to the blunderbuss.

Spend more ammunition in peacetime, and you will have excellent performance in wartime, so that you can kill and injure as many enemies as possible, thereby reducing unnecessary casualties on your own side.

But the generals of Ji and Liao were reluctant to use the limited ammunition to feed the gunmen with shooting accuracy. In their eyes, it was real gold and silver.

Therefore, they highly praised Zhang Cheng's method, saying that this method is the best, and they will use this method to train the gunmen in their battalion after returning home.

…………

Two days later, Yongningbo Zhang Cheng personally accompanied Xie Sixin and others to Xuanzhen North Road to observe the Yongyi Army's craftsman workshop in Yunzhou. Counselor Wei Zhice, Counselor Wang Yuanjing, Counselor Liu Minshen and others also accompanied them.

During these two days, Zu Dabi and Wu Guogui, on behalf of Liaodong General Wu Sangui, also discussed with Zhang Cheng the matter of cooperating to open a workshop.

In addition to the tobacco-making workshop agreed upon by Zhang Cheng and Wu Sangui, Wu Guogui also proposed a new idea——to set up a workshop for manufacturing Yunzhou blunderbuss medicine in Liao Town!
Wu Guogui's reason is very good. The prepackaged medicine is a very pure consumable, and the quantity purchased by Ji Liao Army General this time is very large. If it is all manufactured in Xuan Town, not only the construction period will be long, but also the transportation will be a big problem.

Liao Town has all kinds of materials for preparing gunpowder. If craftsmen can be sent to Liao Town to set up ammunition manufacturing workshops, it will be much more convenient than only producing in Xuan Town, and it will also save the transportation link.

In order to persuade Bo Yongning to agree to this proposal, Wu Guogui promised on behalf of Liaodong General Wu Sangui that the generals in Liaodong would only be responsible for ensuring the safety of the workshop and would never participate in the management of the workshop.

In addition, Yongningbo can also send a team of sergeants to Liaodong to be responsible for the garrison and defense of the ammunition workshop.

Wu Guogui is tantamount to saying to his face that the generals in Liaozhen will never try to steal his gunpowder formula, let alone occupy his ammunition workshop in Liaozhen.

Seeing that he had made such a promise, Zhang Cheng couldn't help being very moved. However, he did not immediately agree to Wu Guogui's request, but only said that he could consider his suggestion.

…………

On February 15th, [-]th year of Chongzhen, Zhangjiakou Fort, a side hall in the Fan Family Courtyard, was steaming from the stove, in stark contrast to the chilly spring outside.

As recorded in many historical records: "Dushi, the two members of the Zhang family are the backs of Xuanfu; Xuanfu is the Pinghan of the capital."

The "mouth" in the place names along the Great Wall generally refers to the natural water mouth or natural channel passed through during the construction of the Great Wall, and the "mouth" in Zhangjiakou refers to the Ningchuan water mouth.

That is, after the Ningchuan water came out of the deep mountains of Chongli, it formed a natural water mouth between the east and west mountains that the Great Wall passes through today.

In ancient times, the construction of the Great Wall could not block the natural waterways, only the garrison of soldiers, and if you send troops to garrison, you must have a name, and there is a family surnamed Zhang living near the water mouth, so they named it "Zhangjiakou".

At the beginning, the Ming soldiers guarding Zhangjiakou were stationed in Ningyuan Fort or Youweicheng, but they were all far away from the entrance. If there was an emergency military situation, it would be inconvenient to travel and not conducive to defense.

So in the fourth year of Xuande, a military fort was built in the southwest of the water mouth three miles away, and the "mouth" was garrisoned. Because the "mouth" guarded by the fort was named "Zhangjiakou", it was named Zhangjiakou Fort.

During the Jiajing period, Zhangjiakou Fort was expanded again, and in the second year of Wanli, the earth wall of Zhangjiakou Fort was also reinforced with bricks, and the scale of the castle was finally established at this time.

The status of Zhangjiakou Fort in the early Ming Dynasty was not high. It was just an ordinary Great Wall border fort with a small scale and a circumference of only four miles.

However, in the fifth year of Longqing, Mu Zong reached an agreement with Altan Khan of Mongolia, and the two sides reopened the mutual market, which was called "Longqing Peace Agreement" in history. place for large-scale trade.

The horse market in the Ming Dynasty was divided into two types: "big market" and "small market".

The "big market" is held once a year, and the main participants in the market are chiefs and nobles of various tribes, while the "small market" is held once a month, mainly ordinary herdsmen and Ming people trade.

The horse market in Zhangjiakoubao belongs to the big market.

In this way, during the Wanli period, with the development of trade between Ming and Mongolia, Zhangjiakou Fort was prosperous with "a collection of department stores, carts, horses and camels, sheep, bamboo, cloth, bamboo, tile and fou, and the skills of stepping on balls and money". scene.

And because there is still five miles between Zhangjiakou Fort and the border of the Great Wall, the trade between the two sides is not very convenient.

So in the 41st year of Wanli, a small fort dedicated to the horse market was built inside the side wall of the Great Wall, called "Laiyuan Fort".

Therefore, Laiyuan Fort is also called "Shangbao", and then commonly known as "Shiquan", while Zhangjiakou Fort is called "Xiabao", and is commonly known as "Baozili" among the people.

And after the rise of the Tartars, especially after they conquered Mongolian Lindan Khan and completely occupied Guihua City, they often came to Zhangjiakou Fort for mutual market trade in the name of various Mongolian ministries.

Now, there is a secret discussion going on here that is unfavorable to Yongningbo Zhang Cheng!

(End of this chapter)