scourge the qing dynasty

Chapter 118 Double material expert Sun Dianying

(PS: Continue to ask for a monthly pass. A monthly pass is nothing to the great gods, but to Fatty Lu, it is related to a ranking.)
After fully exchanging opinions and expressing feelings, we understand each other's situation and position, and deepen the understanding between the two parties.Lu Fatzi and Gan Wenkun, the two great Qing loyalists, finally dispelled their past suspicions, and determined to reunite closely around the Qing emperor, the holy ancestor of the Qing Dynasty. Centering on the construction of the Eight Banners, they held high the great theory that the Qing emperor must withdraw the vassal Banners, adhere to the Eight Banners spirit of not being afraid of suffering, not being afraid of suffering, and not being afraid of losing one's head. The first important task is to monitor the Pingxi Palace and remove the Wu Fan, and fundamentally change the passive situation of Yunnan and Guizhou falling into the hands of the Pingxi Palace. Severely crack down on and suppress the wolfish ambitions of Wu Sangui, the traitor king of Pingxi, who tried to split the Qing Dynasty, overthrow the Qing Dynasty, and overthrow the privileges of the Eight Banners of the Qing Dynasty!Jackal intent!

After talking by the creek, the sun had completely set, and it was going to be completely dark in front of him, so Gan Wenkun lost his interest in continuing to inspect the harvest of the Eight Banners. Under the coercion of Bai and Wu Sangui, he agreed to the national tax exemption of Baqi Fushou Gao, and it was impossible for Wu Sangui to cheapen his old enemy Gan Wenkun with Baqi Fushou Gao, which can make huge profits, so that Gan Wenkun would also get a share of it. In the sea of ​​gold and silver, there is no way to put an ingot in his pocket.So after leading Fatty Lu back to the team, Gan Wenkun immediately ordered to return to Qujing City immediately.

When we returned to Qujing City, it was already dark. Gan Wenkun was tired from the busy journey these two days, so he didn’t talk to Fatty Lu by candlelight. He just settled down temporarily in the original governor’s yamen, and Fatty Lu returned to himself. rest at home.But in the early morning of the next day, the sky was not yet full light, and when Fatty Lu was still snoring in bed, the people sent by Gan Wenkun pulled Fatty Lu out and ordered Fatty Lu to go to the Governor Xingyuan to pay a visit.

Putting on his official uniform and hurried to the governor's office, Fatty Lu was slightly surprised that Gan Wenkun seemed to get up very early, because when he saw him, he, his brother Gan Wenkunjiong, and his son Gan Guocheng were all sweating. It seemed that he had just returned from morning exercise.Fatty Lu didn't dare to be negligent, so he hurried forward to salute, while Gan Wenkun waved his hand, and said: "Forget it, we are all from our own family. If we don't do it in public in the future, we just need to hold a fist together, and we don't need to be so troublesome."

"Thank you, Governor, for your love, but I don't dare to do it." Fatty Lu said modestly, and then asked curiously: "Mr. Governor, do you still have the habit of doing morning exercises?"

"I have been used to it since I was a child. I used to practice in Baoding and now in Guiyang. In addition to practicing martial arts, I also practice riding every morning." Gan Wenkun replied casually while asking the maid to wipe his strong muscles with a hot towel.At the end, Gan Wenkun said casually: "But Yifeng, you have to strengthen your exercise. Get up in the morning to practice Wuqinxi, run, you can strengthen your body. Don't worry about it now. I heard that when my soldiers went to see you just now, you didn't Wake up? This is not a good sign, it needs to be corrected.”

"If you stayed up late last night designing rocket nozzles and researching the structure of airships until after four o'clock, I'm afraid you won't be able to get up before seven o'clock in the morning." Fatty Lu murmured in his heart, and said with an apologetic smile: "Your Excellency taught me a lesson, Be sure to pay attention after being humbled, and strive to insist on getting up early and exercising."

After a few gossips, Gan Wenkun turned to the main topic and said, "I called you here because I wanted you to take me to Nule Peak. I have heard that Wu Fan comes here several times a year. The adjustment of the troops is to increase the number of troops in the Nule Peak camp. Now there are more than [-] troops stationed there. That place is not in power and has no important cities. It does not have much strategic value. Why does Wu Fan station so many there? The military? It's an important situation, and I have to be there to see it with my own eyes."

"Finally someone has noticed the camp at Nule Peak." Fatty Lu's heart sank, he quickly shook his head and said, "Your Excellency, it's not disobedience, it's just that it's useless if you go, the Wu Fan army there will not allow you Those who enter the camp to patrol. Even humble officials cannot enter the inner camp of the Nule Peak camp now."

"Why?" Gan Wenkun was stunned, and asked, "Didn't you say that the camp was set up to monopolize the glazed mirror forging technology you invented? Why, even you can't get in now?"

"Returning to Governor, the Nule Peak camp has now been divided into two camps, inside and outside." Fatty Lu explained: "Glass mirrors and glazed vessels are now forged in the outside camp. , unable to enter the heavily guarded inner camp. Moreover, since half a year ago, the low-level skills were learned by the craftsmen of Wu Fan and the price of colored glaze gradually dropped, students are rarely able to enter even the outer camp."

"Is there such a thing?" Gan Wenkun was taken aback again, and quickly asked: "Then do you know why this happened? Why does Fan Wu attach so much importance to the inner camp of Nule Peak camp?"

Fatty Lu didn't answer, but just looked around, Gan Wenkun waved knowingly, the guards and maids retreated together, only Gan Wenjiong and Gan Guocheng stayed behind, and closed the door.It was also at this moment that Fatty Lu said hesitantly: "My lord, this is just speculation, and there is no evidence - I suspect that Wu Fan's army is likely to secretly forge firearms in the inner camp!"

"Secretly casting firearms?" Gan Wenkun was taken aback, stood up and asked, "Didn't Wu Fan already have a firearms camp by the Dianchi Lake? Why did he come to Nule Peak to build one?"

"As far as I know, Wu Fan's Dianchi Firearms Battalion can only cast some bird guns and carrying guns, not even the Franc cannon." Fatty Lu said with a serious face, "I suspect that Wu Fan may We plan to cast Hongyi cannons secretly, but the Dianchi firearms camp is densely populated and it is difficult to keep it secret, so another firearms camp was secretly established at Nule Peak to cast cannons in secret!"

"Do you have any evidence?" Gan Wenkun asked impatiently.

"If there is, I have already reported it to the emperor in secret." Fatty Lu said with a wry smile, "I only came to this conclusion based on the judgment and analysis of some clues."

"What clues? Tell me in detail." Gan Wenkun's face became more serious.

"First, on the 23rd day of the winter month last year, when I went to the outer camp of Nule Peak to instruct the craftsmen to forge colored glaze, I accidentally heard a loud noise coming from Nule Peak Mountain." Fatty Lu recalled: "Afterwards, the humble staff I asked the soldiers in the battalion the reason, and the soldiers all said that they were making firecrackers, and the gunpowder exploded accidentally, but fortunately no craftsmen were caught. Although the humble staff didn’t believe it, they couldn’t go up the mountain to find out the real reason.”

"Afterwards, the more I pondered, the more strange it became. Is it necessary to make firecrackers in the heavily guarded inner camp of Nule Peak? Because of this, I suddenly recalled this incident. I remembered that I was studying Western culture. Learning, after successfully firing colored glaze with Western techniques, Liu Xuanchu, Wu Fan's confidant and teacher who was also worshiped by students in Yunnan, once asked the humble post after drinking, if he knew the Western technique of casting cannons?"

"At that time, because I didn't like Western firearms and other ingenious skills, I didn't know anything about it, so I honestly didn't understand. Liu Xuanchu seemed very disappointed, but I didn't pursue it, and I didn't take it to heart. Until later It was only then that I realized that, if I said that I knew Western firearms, what would Wu Fan do to me?"

"After understanding this point, Beizhi paid special attention to the material consumption of the Nule Peak camp, and found that the coal consumption of the Nule Peak camp was very large. The coal produced by several coal mines in Qujing County was all consumed by Nule Not only did Feng Daying buy it, but they also opened three new coal mines in Pingyi. The thick smoke billowed in the sky, and the flames soared into the sky, what the hell is this doing?"

When Fatty Lu said something, Gan Wenkun's face became serious, and in the end, Gan Wenkun's face was so dark that water dripped out. After a long time, Gan Wenkun said: "According to this inference, Wu Sangui is probably secretly casting Hongyi cannons. No matter whether this matter is true or not, we cannot take it lightly, we must report this matter to the emperor."

After all, Gan Wenkun frowned again and said, "But there is one thing that is very strange. Where did Wu Fan come from for the cannon-casting craftsmen? After I entered Dingding in the Qing Dynasty, I gathered the cannon-casting craftsmen in Longtan Casting in Beijing. The Cannon Bureau and the Jiangnan Cannon Cannon Bureau in Nanjing, where is the cannon casting craftsman he came from?"

"Oops! Why didn't I know this?" Fatty Lu was taken aback—Wu Sangui had no cannon-casting craftsman but cast the Hongyi cannon. Isn't the first suspect himself who is proficient in "Western knowledge"?At the same time, Fatty Lu suddenly remembered something, Wu Sangui's army suddenly had so many advanced technologies, if the news got out, who would the Qing court suspect first?

"Could it be that there are scattered cannon-casting craftsmen among the people who were found by Wu Sangui?" Gan Guocheng asked.

"Impossible." Gan Wenkun categorically denied, saying: "After I entered the Qing Dynasty, in order to prevent the remnants of the former Ming Dynasty from casting cannons and conspiracy, the whereabouts of several craftsmen from the former Ming Cannon Bureau were carefully investigated. Killing and catching, not a single one was missed. And as far as I know, casting cannons is definitely not as easy as casting swords and muskets. Without the guidance of skilled craftsmen, it is difficult to cast Hongyi cannons like this."

"Is there such a possibility? Wu Fan got a cannon-making technician from Xiyang?" Gan Wenjiong also raised such a possibility.

"General Gan, Governor-General, according to my position, this possibility is very small." Fatty Lu saw that he was about to lift a rock and hit himself in the foot, so he quickly expressed his loyalty: "Because all Westerners have yellow hair and blue eyes, long He looks like a ghost, and his appearance is very easy to recognize. If such a person appears in Qujing, it is impossible not to be noticed by the eyeliner of the low-ranking official."

"It makes sense." Gan Wenkun was very satisfied - Fatty Lu had finished everything he wanted to say.At this time, Fatty Lu suddenly shook his body and exclaimed, "Could it be him?!"

"Who is it? Who do you think of?" Gan Wenkun asked quickly.

"The thing is like this." Fatty Lu wiped his sweat and said, "After the establishment of the Nule Peak camp for a while, once, a middle-aged scholar named Sun Dianying suddenly came to me with a few Wu Fan soldiers, and took He wrote a letter from Liu Xuanchu, saying that he is the head of the camp at Nule Peak, and because he didn’t understand some techniques when firing colored glaze, he specifically asked me for advice, hoping that I could give him some pointers.”

"What is he mainly asking for advice?" Gan Wenkun asked impatiently.

"Shaft furnace (blast furnace) technology." Fatty Lu answered blurtly, and then recalled: "He seemed to ask how to burn more colored glaze at a time, that is, how to build a large shaft furnace. I don't know much about large shaft furnaces." , I only gave him some pointers on the furnace soil, but the guy named Sun Dianying knew better than me in this area, and he also said two furnace soil formulas that I didn't know. I couldn’t find anything here, so I asked if I had any Western books on this subject, and I said I did, but they were written in Western languages, so I was afraid he wouldn’t be able to understand them.”

"What did he say in the end?" Gan Wenkun asked nervously.

"He just laughed at that time, and said a lot of babbling Western Chinese to me, and he was several times more fluent than me." Fatty Lu scratched his head and said: "I was stunned by what I heard, and when I asked him why, he said that his family My ancestors were famous high-ranking officials, and my family still had some money, so I went to Nanyang several times to do maritime business, so I learned it. In the end, I had no choice but to let him go to the study to look through my books. I took a Western book on ironmaking with me, and then I left."

"What happened later? What happened later?" Gan Wenkun became more and more nervous.

"About ten days later, he sent someone to return the book to me." Fatty Lu recalled carefully and said: "Later, I probably saw him three..., two, Twice, but he didn't speak. By the way, once I saw him bring a few craftsmen into the inner camp, but no one stopped him!"

"Then maybe it really is this Sun Dianying." Gan Wenkun was a little excited, and hurriedly asked: "What does this Sun Dianying look like? What are the characteristics?"

"Please let Xiaguan think about it." Fatty Lu held his head and recalled carefully. After a long while, Fatty Lu said slowly: "He is a bit tall, about half a head taller than Xiaguan. He is in his 40s. Slender face, normal features, a little goatee..., accent..., the accent is northern, seems to be the accent of Zhili, I seem to have heard it before, yes, it is the accent of Baoding, I came back from the capital When I was in Yunnan, I passed through Baoding, and I heard such an accent."

"Oh, by the way, this Sun Dianying has another hobby." Fatty Lu added: "He is also very proficient in antiques. When he entered my study, he carefully looked at several antiques in my study. According to the history of the dynasty, the score is not bad. I heard from him that he even dug graves in order to collect antiques."

"Baoding accent?" Gan Wenkun was even more surprised - when he was the governor of Zhili, the Zhili governor's yamen was in Baoding City.Surprised, Gan Wenkun turned to his clan brothers and son and asked, "In our Baoding Prefecture, is there any famous person named Sun? He has been a high-ranking official and is famous?"

"Yes! Sun Chengzong!" Gan Wenjiong and Gan Guocheng replied in unison.

"Sun Chengzong?!" Fatty Lu and Gan Wenkun jumped up at the same time, and exclaimed in unison: "Could it be that he is a descendant of Sun Chengzong?!" After shouting, Fatty Lu added, "That Sun Chengzong is a descendant of our Qing Dynasty Eight Banners!" The enemy, even at the time of death, firmly rejected our Prince Qingrui's surrender!"

"It's not just that simple!" Gan Wenjiong also said, "Wu Sangui's father, Wu Xiang, was also promoted by Sun Manzi."

It may be a descendant of Sun Chengzong, who is more proficient in Western knowledge than Fatty Lu. He came to Fatty Lu to learn about shaft furnace technology, and took away Fatty Lu's iron-making books. Among them, these clues are connected in series, so is there any obvious reason for the answer?Because of this, Gan Wenkun was even more nervous and worried. After walking around the room dozens of times with his hands behind his back, Gan Wenkun gritted his teeth and said, "No, this matter must be reported to the emperor immediately. Please pay attention to it. Also, I No matter what, I have to go to the camp of Nule Peak! Let’s go right away!”

"The lower official will go with the Governor." Fatty Lu volunteered: "At that time, the lower official will come forward and see if he can use the excuse of asking for advice to invite that Sun Dianying to the Governor, so that the Governor can see his body with his own eyes. Appearance! If we can really confirm that Sun Dianying is the descendant of Sun Chengzong's barbarian, then we will have a big handle on Wu Fan."

If Fatty Lu finds excuses to evade, or deliberately delays time, then Gan Wenkun will definitely have doubts, at least whether Fatty Lu may have tipped off the news, but Fatty Lu offered to go to the Nule Peak camp immediately, and volunteered to invite this grandson When Dianying and Gan Wenkun met, Gan Wenkun naturally had no doubts, and immediately agreed, and hurried back to the room to change clothes. Gan Wenjiong and Gan Guocheng also hurried back to change clothes, and ordered the soldiers to prepare horses.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Fatty Lu escaped into the latrine under the pretext of urinating, then took out a short graphite pen from his sleeve, wrote a few words hastily on a small note, and then squeezed the note tightly to hide it.And when it was time to go out and get on the horse, this little note was naturally stuffed into the hands of Xiao Erlang who passed the reins...

(End of this chapter)