Warring States Eagle

What plagued the use of matchlock guns was the problem of matchlocks used as ignited muskets.

Since it is to localize the matchlock gun, in addition to being able to make the musket by itself, it is also necessary to make the gunpowder, bullets and matchlock by itself.

Putting aside the issue of gunpowder and bullets, the seemingly simplest matchlock has become the first problem.Because when the weather is wet, there is no need to get wet by rain. At present, the fire rope made of local linen as raw material has the problem that it cannot be ignited.

Ander and others have thought of many ways to solve this problem, but there is still no progress.Today, when I came to announce the good news to Zhengliang, I also brought up this question by the way.

In the eyes of Ander and others, this young lord is not only a great general, but also an inventor. Maybe he can provide solutions to many problems that they cannot solve.

And Andel did guess right this time, Zheng Liang did know the solution.And he also knows why these matchlocks, made from local materials, fail to ignite in wet weather.

This is because the local materials used to make matchlocks are mainly composed of bamboo fibers. This bamboo fiber-based material contains a small amount of oil, so in humid weather, even if it has not been wet by rain, it will Can't be ignited.

So what is the solution?

The solution is kapok.If the matchmaking rope is made of kapok material, then this problem can be solved.Thinking of kapok, Zhengliang immediately thought of kapok's history in the Warring States Period and its other uses.

The introduction of cotton to Japan began in the Kamakura period, and it was not until the Warring States Period that large-scale planting began. Before that, it was sold as a high-priced commodity to China and North Korea.For the general Japanese people.Hemp is a common raw material for their clothes.But it's winter.Clothes made of hemp are not warm enough.At the beginning of the Warring States period, after the Onin Rebellion, at the request of China, which was originally the main target of kapok export, the trade was changed to tributary, so the kapok trade was suspended.As a result, North Korea became Japan's main importer of cotton, so that in the face of exporting a large amount of cotton, the North Korean government had to control exports.

In the middle and late Warring States Period, people began to focus on the military use of cotton.Clothes made of wood wool are light, strong, and warm.It is an excellent uniform material.Moreover, its strong characteristics are also used in the sails of large sailing ships.Ships using cotton sails are much faster than ordinary ships, so they are widely used by pirates everywhere.In the military system formulated by Terumoto Mori, there is a record of "wooden sails for fast boats".

So Zhengliang thought of using kapok to make clothes for soldiers and even people, and even more so to replace the Luo family's navy ships with cotton sails, and finally used kapok to make matchlocks.

However, kapok is not common in the Luo family's territory and even in Kyushu.On the contrary, it is widely planted in Owari and Mikawa.Zheng Liang even wondered if it was because of these kapoks that Nobunaga and Ieyasu had the opportunity to fight.certainly.This is just conjecture.

Now that Zhengliang has realized the importance of cotton, of course he will not miss this opportunity.after all.Opportunities always favor those who are prepared.Now Zhengliang must seize the opportunity and run faster than others.

Thinking of this, Zheng Liang asked Ander and the others to wait, and then he immediately signed several orders.

The first order was directed at Kamiya Shaoce.Zhengliang asked him to immediately organize personnel to purchase a large amount of cotton and cotton seeds from various places, especially the Owari and Sanhe areas.And this will become a normal item purchased by the Luo family.Now it is just after the suspension of Sino-Japanese trade, the local area should have stockpiled a large amount of cotton, and it happens to be cheap to start with.

The second order was to the Cabinet of Interior and the Cabinet of Intelligence.The main thing is to let them buy kapok seeds or even kapok trees in large quantities.These kapok seeds and kapok trees are used to plant some wasteland on the territory.Although there will be no income in the short term, after a few years, when everyone realized the importance of cotton, the Luo family had already planted a large forest that could produce cotton in the territory, realizing self-sufficiency in kapok.This is the benefit of being one step ahead.

The last order is still given to the Cabinet, which is to let them organize and open cotton weaving workshops. As for technology, you can contact Wang Hai, Zuo Moyang and other Ming merchants for purchase.With the cloth made of these cottons as raw materials, the problem of weaving military uniforms and canvases can be started.As for the matchlock issue, of course it is the top priority.

After ordering the messengers accompanying the army to send orders to the Interior Cabinet and the Intelligence Cabinet, Zheng Liang told the three of Ander the solution.When they learned that the reason why the match could not be ignited was because of the raw material of the match, the three of them were immediately dumbfounded.Finally, he followed Zhengliang's team and returned to Anyue City in admiration.

As soon as he returned to Anyue City, Zheng Liang received an urgent letter from Sheng Long before he had time to catch up with his wife.

Yiyi Shenglong is specially arranged by Zheng Liang to stay in Jiegang and Kyoto, and is responsible for collecting and delivering information from various places and handling the relationship with the Kyoto court shogunate.Normally, a Shenglong would send news back to the territory by sea.Today, a letter from him landed from Dangjin, and it was about to be rushed to Zhengliang's office. Zhengliang happened to be back at Kishiyue City at this time.

Some time ago, after completely controlling a part of Chikugo, Masahiro asked Ichitaka to find a way to get the imperial court and the shogunate to recognize the security of the Luo family on the Chikugo area (that is, to recognize the ownership of the occupied area).Is there something wrong with this matter?

Thinking of this, Zheng Liang immediately opened the letter and read it.

Sure enough, there was indeed a problem with this matter.It turned out that Otomo's family was behind it.This is also inevitable, after all, Otomo's family will definitely not let the court recognize the Luo family's security for Chikugo.After all, Otomo's family has the real title of Guardian of Chikugo, and Otomo Yoshikam will definitely not let Chikugo be snatched from him, otherwise he will definitely be scolded to death by his ancestors crawling out of the ground.He would not allow the loss of Chikugo, either in fact or in name.

This time Chikugo's defeat is also the biggest blow and humiliation Otomo Yoshikan has received since he implemented an active foreign expansion policy, and it is even more humiliating than the conflict with the Ouchi family.So Otomo's family knew that after the imperial court tried to secure some areas of Chikugo, the Luo family decisively blocked it, and they also took the opportunity to make new demands to the imperial court.

That is to let the imperial court transfer the guardianship of Hihou to the hands of Otomo's family.In history, it was also in this year that after Otomo's family drove Kikuchi Yoshitake out of Feihou, they took the guardian of Feihou into their hands again.

But, will Zhengliang let him get what he wants?

(Thanks to the monthly ticket and rewards of the book friend "Everyone used the name I wanted"; thanks to the book friend "Lu Miya" for the reward.) (To be continued...)