Daming Yinghua

"How's it going?"

Behind the craftsmen, Mang Gurtai's voice sounded.

When the craftsmen who were stirring the mud, both Manchu and Han, heard the sound, they quickly put down their tools and knelt down in front of Mang Gurtai.

Rather than kneeling, it is better to say "lying", which is the purest "grabbing the ground with one's head" style, showing the slave's full fear of the master's authority.

Among the craftsmen, the one who wears a dog-skin hat to protect himself from the cold is the craftsman.

As he prostrated, he took off his hat, revealing his bare head and the braid that looked like a rat's tail.

The hat rolled and landed in front of Mang Gurtai's boots.

Mang Gurtai kicked his hat back to the craftsman's head: "Everyone, please get up and answer."

Sanbeile, who bared his teeth but thought he was extraordinarily handsome, personally reached out to help Mu Zaohua, who was squatting on her knees and holding the Wanfu gift.

"Didn't I say that you don't have to salute like this when you see me? I'm not the Great Khan, let alone Lao Er Lao Ba and the others."

In his own yard, in front of his slave craftsmen, Mang Gurtai became more and more open to his affectionate actions and gentle words to Mu Zaohua.

On the way back from Mongolia last winter, Mu Zaohua had already relied on her willpower to endure Mang Gurtai breathing hot breath on her and touching her wrist.

At this moment, while standing up straight, she said in a serious tone with a hint of anger: "Sanbeile, it's important to talk about business."

Mang Gurtai let go of the woman's shoulders and walked to the center of the yard filled with various clay models.

"Mr. Ji, please talk to Sanbeile." Mu Zaohua said to the craftsman wearing a dog-skin hat.

"Sir?" Mang Gurtai looked at Mu Zaohua and said with a smile, "It's just a wrapper. You call him sir? Zaohua, in our Daikin, only the Bi Tie Shi in the yamen are called "Sir" in Chinese. Mr.

Mu Zaohua said calmly: "Sanbeile, I asked him. His father was a scholar, and he was also literate. On the other hand, I can't even write 180 Chinese characters. Why can't I call him Where is Mr. Yiyi?"

"Okay, you can yell whatever you like," Mang Gurtai curled his lips indifferently, "Slave Ji, Master Zaohua values ​​you so much, so you must work hard."

The head craftsman named Ji Xiaoxian hurriedly stepped forward, bowed and said to Mang Gurtai: "Master Mu gave the slaves good instructions. It's been cold these days, so the slaves just put on the wax."

Under Ji Jiangtou's explanation, Mang Gurtai quickly understood the general outline.

Mu Zaohua asked the craftsmen to try making a cannon tube first. They would roll a small tube with mud and pour wax on the outside. After the wax solidified, they would paste a layer of mud on the outside of the wax layer, and then freeze it in the open air before it could be used. The wax layer is melted by fire roasting, and molten iron is poured into the resulting clay mold.

"Haha, I know that a confidant like you who has been around that evil woman must know how to make cannons better than that stupid goose Yue Tuo."

Mu Zaohua didn't look proud at all: "Three Beile, don't rush to praise me. This is just an example. The craftsmen of Si Beile and Master-in-law should also understand. What I am worried about now is the cannon tube." Even if it is cast, it will be like the three-eyed gun of the Ming Dynasty, exploding at every turn." "Why?" Mang Gurtai wiped his smile and asked seriously.

Mu Zaohua glanced at Ji Jiangtou again, and the latter understood that this kind-hearted Han compatriot was constantly giving him opportunities to perform.

"Sanbeile," Chief Ji Jiang said, "the Ming Dynasty firearms we captured in the past were all small tubes. This time we have to make such a large gun barrel. Not only must the clay mold be cast with great care, but also the final The water that is poured is not ordinary iron water. The owner of Zaohua said that it must be mixed with copper."

Mang Gurtai frowned: "It's so troublesome, can't it just be made of iron like the Bajalas' armor?"

Mu Zaohua sneered secretly: You idiot, but you are much stupider than that Huang Taiji, which is a good thing.

Seeing Ji Jiang's timid expression, Mu Zaohua took over and said, "You can't just use iron. The cannonballs are much larger than the three-pronged blunderbuss. After the cannon is fired, the temperature in the barrel is extremely high. Without copper mixed into the barrel, , maybe the pipe will explode on the second shot, killing our own armored soldier."

"Oh, that's right." Mang Gurtai nodded.

In fact, he still didn't understand it completely, but he was very happy that Mu Zaohua was so careful and showed that he cared about the lives of their Jianzhou warriors, which showed that this woman was wholeheartedly committed to being a citizen of Dajin.

All these details must be made known to the Great Khan.

"Then, Zaohua, what can you do?" Mang Gurtai asked.

Mu Zaohua said sincerely: "Sanbeile, when I was in Songjiang, I saw craftsmen matching copper and iron. I probably remember some of them. I can try a few recipes with Mr. Ji and the others. But what's more troublesome is that Hetuala No bitch named Zheng got Songjiang’s copper.”

Both the Jianbu and Yehe tribes of the Jurchens have iron mines, but copper is indeed scarce. Mang Gurtai squinted his eyes and thought for a while, then said: "This is easy to handle. Tell the caravan in Shanxi to bring in copper."

Mu Zaohuaxin said: Sure enough, Mrs. Zheng is right, there are many profiteers in Shanxi who collaborate with the enemy.

At the same time, this is also consistent with the intelligence of Miss Axue who is a secret agent of the palace that he has developed.

Mu Zaohua then still shook his head at Mang Gurtai and said: "The copper from the north of the Ming Dynasty cannot be used. After the artillery factory named Zheng opened, we heard that someone from Shanxi, Hebei, also followed the path of the imperial court and opened an artillery factory. , but after adding copper, the barrel still exploded. The man named Zheng was very proud, saying that those people didn't know that the Frankie people in Guangzhou all bought copper from the Japanese country, and the copper from the Japanese country was very useful in casting cannons. "

Mang Gurtai was not unfamiliar with the Japanese country. Decades ago, when Japan was attacking Korea, the Ming court sent troops to assist. At that time, Nurhaci, who was still pretending to be a lowly and low-key person to the Ming Dynasty, also wanted to go. However, the Ming court saw that he was just trying to grab something along the way and refused.

"The Japanese country is very close to North Korea." Mang Gurtai said out loud.

Mu Zaohua increasingly did not hide her serious deliberation: "Sanbeile, I have been thinking about it. The man named Zheng is very familiar with Mao Wenlong. When he asked Mao Wenlong to occupy Dongjiang and Pidao, they were not stupid. But. Isn’t Kuandian on the Yalu River always in our hands? I want to go to Kuandian, catch up with North Korean businessmen, let them pick up Japanese copper, and then walk across the Yalu River to avoid Mao Wenlong.”

Mang Gurtai stared at Mu Zaohua, and after a moment, he bared his buck teeth more conspicuously, and said with joy in his eyes: "Moreover, if this trade route is opened, we can buy food if we are big." Is there a closer way?"

Mu Zaohua said in a deliberately harsh tone: "North Koreans can grow food themselves, so why should we buy it? We can just rob it. However, if North Korean businessmen can really get us copper, they can get some more good things." For example, Divine Crow Cream.”