Bury the Qing Dynasty

Chapter 123 Yes, this is blackmail
Ever since they received Zhu Jinsong's invitation, Howard, Pierre and others have been overjoyed. They wish they could see the firearms mentioned by the Ming emperor earlier.

Anyway, it is already a matter of negotiating with the Ming Dynasty to open the treaty ports, and the rest is just some hard work. If you can take the opportunity to find out the firearms used by the Ming army, it will really be like a pie in the sky. It was a pleasant surprise.

Howard, Pierre and others all felt that this time was not in vain.

However, in the 480rd year of the Yellow Emperor, 410th year of the Ming Dynasty, and the 51st year of the Qing Dynasty, in the spring of February Yihai, Howard, Pierre and others went out of the city with the people sent by Zhu Jinsong. Howard and Pierre wanted to scold their mothers in their hearts.

A carriage without even windows, the door of the carriage was covered with a cloth, and it was bumpy along the way. I don't know how far I ran, and I don't know how many corners I turned. Howard, Pierre and others only had After a long time, I felt like I didn't get any useful information left.

After the carriage finally stopped, the men sent by Zhu Jinsong opened the curtain at the door of the carriage, and jumped out of the carriage first.

After Howard, Pierre and the others got off the car, a building like an archway appeared in front of Howard, Pierre and the others. Under the archway was a sentry post, and a path was left outside the sentry post. Next to the path was antlers Rejecting the horse, behind the rejecting horse is a straight road leading to the depths of the barracks.

But to the disappointment of Howard, Peel and others, there was only one wooden sign at the gate of the barracks in front of them that said 02304 troops, and the remaining few wooden signs were covered with cloth, so it was impossible to judge. What useful information.

Howard, Pierre, and the others secretly resented—you said that even if you hang the name of a certain association and a certain town like the army of the Qing Dynasty, then we can more or less judge some useful information, right?
It's a good thing now, just put up a sign of the 02304 unit, and the rest are blocked?How strong is this awareness of secrecy, bastard!

What's even worse is that the men sent by Zhu Jinsong didn't seem to have any intention of leading them into the barracks, they just stopped at a distance of more than 200 meters outside the barracks, pointed at the barracks and said, "This is my Daming 02304 The horse-drawn carriage can no longer move forward at the station of the troops, please come with me."

After finishing speaking, the men sent by Zhu Jinsong led Howard, Pierre and others directly around the barracks, and walked towards the back of the mountain.

Howard, Peel and the others who followed closely wanted to kill the bastard in front of them.

Obviously they have already arrived at the barracks, obviously they only need to walk a few more steps to see the mysterious Ming army camp, and obviously they can get in close contact with the mysterious Ming army.

It's all right now, with this bastard's light words, the great opportunity is gone.

Also the station of 02304 troops?Then you explain what 02304 means, bastard!

Howard, Pierre and the others were thinking in their hearts, and followed the men sent by Zhu Jinsong to the back mountain. When Howard, Pierre and the others were almost fainted, they finally came to a shooting range. The place.

But what makes Howard, Pierre and others want to scold mothers even more is that the gate of the shooting range in front of them is the same as the gate of the barracks they saw before. There is a wooden sign of the 02304 shooting range, and another wooden sign beside it is It is tightly blocked.

Obviously, what was hidden should be the real number of this army, and the so-called 02304 should be a code name made up at random, and there is no useful information at all.

When they entered the shooting range, what greeted Howard, Pierre and the others was Liu Heming, the Commander of the First Army of the Ming Army who had been waiting for a long time. Behind Liu Heming were rows of targets, and there was a door in the distance. Cannons with raised barrels.

And as Howard, Pierre and others entered the shooting range and arrived in front of Liu Heming, after the two sides introduced each other, Howard took the lead in asking: "Excuse me, my dear Commander, on our way here, we saw a hanging outside the shooting range. 02304 brand, I don’t know what 02304 means?”

Liu Heming laughed and said, "It's nothing, it's just the code name of this shooting range."

Joseph Howard, Pierre and the others looked suspicious. Liu Heming is new here. Do I want to tell you that 02 represents the First Army, 3 represents the regiment-level combat unit, and 04 represents the First Army? The number of the Artillery Regiment directly under the First Division of the Army?
Isn't that mother nonsense?The conversion method of this code corresponding to a specific unit is strictly kept secret even in my Ming Dynasty!

Intentionally skipping this topic, Liu Heming laughed and said, "Our arrangement today is very simple. The first item is to test the flintlock guns you brought, and the second item is to let you try the flintlock guns produced by me, Daming. The third item is to let you watch the artillery salvo."

As Liu Heming's words fell, Howard and Pierre, who were still secretly admiring the Ming army's sense of secrecy just now, couldn't help curling their lips secretly, feeling somewhat disdainful in their hearts.

Because Howard, Pierre and others really can't figure out how advanced the flintlock guns used by the Ming army can be. After all, the most advanced flintlock guns in the world are the brown basses that Howard gave to the Ming emperor. flintlock.

Liu Heming naturally also noticed the disdain flashing in the eyes of Howard and others, but Liu Heming just smiled softly, and told the soldiers beside him, "Let's get started."

The soldiers who followed Liu Heming took orders to leave, but what happened next made the "envoys" from other countries turn their attention to Howard.

Howard’s so-called state-of-the-art brown bass flintlock gun first needs to open the lid on the medicine pool, then take out the small paper bag containing the bullets and gunpowder, bite through the part containing the gunpowder, and pour part of the gunpowder In the medicine pool, then cover the medicine pool, stuff the remaining gunpowder and bullets in from the front of the gun muzzle, and then compact it with a cleaning rod, and then the firing process can be completed.

Of course, it doesn’t matter if you don’t need the cleaning rod. After loading the gunpowder and projectiles into the muzzle, you can turn the brown bass flintlock upside down and smash the ground with the butt, which can speed up the loading.

This is already the most advanced flintlock gun in the world.

But why didn't the flintlock guns used by Ming soldiers have flints?Why no gunpowder pool?Why do they use cleaning rods to load bullets, but they are faster than brown bass flintlocks that are directly loaded by smashing the butt?
Even the shooting accuracy has crushed the brown bass flintlock?
This is what you Howard said, the brown bass flintlock is currently the most advanced flintlock in the world?
Facing the strange eyes of envoys from other countries with doubts and sarcasm, Howard couldn't help but feel a little bit annoyed. He yelled at Liu Heming directly: "Wang Defa? Can you let me try?"

Liu Heming laughed out loud, and told the soldiers beside him, "Let him try."

But this test made Howard discover the difference between the two flintlock guns.

The bullets used by the flintlock guns equipped by the Ming army were not in the form of gunpowder and pellets used by the brown bass flintlock guns, but a pointed lead bullet with something like a cork behind it. The tube has helical rifling,

These are two completely different guns from the brown bass flintlock.

Strictly speaking, this can no longer be called a flintlock, but should be called a percussion gun.

Don't underestimate the advantages of removing the gunpowder pool and flint - ordinary rainy weather can affect the brown bass flintlock, but it has little effect on the percussion guns equipped by the Ming army. Even under the same weather conditions, it is also removed Powder pool's percussion gun reloads faster.

Faster loading speed and higher shooting accuracy, the combination of these two points is enough to affect the outcome of a war.

Howard handed back the percussion gun in his hand to the soldiers of the Ming army, squeezed out an ugly smile like a dead parent, and said to Liu Heming: "Congratulations, you have developed such an advanced musket."

But Liu Heming chuckled and said, "It's just an ordinary musket, so it's not worth making such a fuss about. Your envoy might as well pay attention to the next artillery salvo."

After Howard nodded in despair, Liu Heming turned his head and said to the soldiers beside him: "The next project, artillery salvo!"

However, as the rumbling guns sounded one after another, Howard, Pierre and other "envoys" were desperate to die - the brown bass flintlock gun was no match for the percussion gun equipped by the Ming army. The artillery was also crushed by the artillery equipped by the Ming army. How can this be played?
And Liu Heming obviously didn't mean to let Howard, Pierre and others go.

As the saying goes, the upper beam is not upright and the lower beam is crooked. Zhu Jinsong, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, has a not very upright outlook on the three views, like Liu Heming, the commander of the First Army who followed Zhu Jinsong's rebellion from the very beginning. where it goes.

The artillery volley to suppress firepower, the artillery soldiers marching in line with the support of the artillery, etc., the war gameplay of the flintlock era was basically demonstrated by Liu Heming.

It wasn't until Howard, Pierre, and the others were dumbfounded in shock that Liu Heming weighed the musket in his hand, pointed to each cannon and asked, "Are my Ming's muskets sharp? My Daming's cannons are rough. Is it long?"

Howard, Pierre, Thomson and other "envoys" all hated in their hearts, but they had to admit: "The big fire gun is really sharp, and the big fire cannon is really thick and long. I can't wait."

Liu Heming laughed and said, "It's just some guns and cannons. If you are interested, it's not that I, Daming, can't sell them."

……

Howard, Pierre, Thomson and others who were shocked to the point of being distraught had just returned to their residence when Ke Zhiming, the Ming Empire's apparent intelligence chief, approached the door.

Howard's house.

Ke Zhiming said straight to the point: "What do you think about the guns and artillery that you have seen today?"

Howard was taken aback for a moment, thinking that this mother-in-law doesn't seem to be talking about business, how could she ask others what they think about arms?

After regaining his senses, Howard thought about it and said: "The guns and artillery developed by your country are really powerful. If your country is willing to sell them, how about the price?"

However, Ke Zhiming did not directly answer Howard's question, instead he laughed and said, "I don't know what your country thinks of France?"

Howard was taken aback again, and said, "Didn't Mr. Ke want to discuss the trade of guns and artillery? Why did it suddenly involve those humble French frogs?"

Ke Zhiming said with a smile: "There is a sentence in our Central Plains book, which is called "Is it possible to take revenge in the ninth world?"Although it is possible for a hundred generations", there is also a saying among the people that "it is not too late for a gentleman to take revenge in ten years"."

"I know something about the Hundred Years War between your country and France, so I asked your envoy what you think of France?"

Hearing this statement, Howard basically understood what was going on.

Is this fucker here to poke the heart of my British Empire?

However, thinking about it further, Howard thought of a more terrifying possibility.

Howard's face darkened, and he said: "Your Excellency is here to tell me about the Hundred Years' War between the British Empire and France, I'm afraid someone next door will tell Pierre of France about the Hundred Years' War, and even say that the British Empire must Will buy your Daming guns and cannons, won’t you?”

Ke Zhiming laughed and said, "Mr. Howard's guess is right, it is indeed the case. Of course, you can also choose not to buy it, but I don't know if France will buy it?"

Hearing what Ke Zhiming said, Howard couldn't help but become even more ugly, and couldn't help but snorted coldly: "Master Ke, please don't forget that your Ming country still needs our warships and whaling ships."

"Also, our British Empire can also manufacture muskets and cannons. Don't you, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, worry that our British Empire and France will unite to attack you?"

But Ke Zhiming laughed loudly, and retorted: "Mr. Howard, you should know how far it is from the British Empire and France to our Ming Dynasty. Are you really confident that you can project troops across such a long sea distance? "

"Even if you don't care about the logistical pressure of this kind of long-distance projection of troops, how can you guarantee that you will win? With brown bass flintlocks? Or are you planning to rely on the same lack of rifling, which is less accurate and powerful?" Hongyi Cannon?"

"In addition, how can you guarantee that France will unite with you?"

Howard was even angrier in his heart. He looked at Ke Zhiming and said, "You are blackmailing! You are blackmailing naked! If you do this, you will only cause war, and you will not get even the slightest benefit!"

But Ke Zhiming just shrugged his shoulders and said indifferently: "Yes, Mr. Howard, you are right. This is blackmail, naked blackmail. You can choose not to accept it, or you can choose war."

(End of this chapter)