Griffin Commander in the Late Ming Dynasty

"This...has been partially solved so far, but there are many new problems..."

There was a trace of embarrassment on the face of the person in charge. Recently, all the best craftsmen in their institute have been studying this big guy, but so far, the difficulties they have overcome are far less than the difficulties they have encountered.

"New difficulties? Take me to see them."

Jiang Han nodded. The emergence of new difficulties meant that there had been some breakthroughs, which meant that the research had made some progress. It would be frustrating if there were no results.

"Here comes the gentleman!"

As soon as he entered the door, Jiang Han heard someone shouting his name excitedly. Many people quickly surrounded him. Jiang Han recognized them. These people were from the steam engine project team. They had a very difficult time these days.

"Sir, I still don't understand the boost valve you mentioned before..."

"Sir, we have made some progress, but, for now, this thing has given us a lot of new troubles..."

"Everyone, take your time, speak one by one. Hey, please explain the current progress."

Jiang Han was so troubled that he simply pointed to someone and asked him to explain the current situation.

"Ah? Me? Ah... OK sir, please follow us first."

The unlucky guy who was pointed at was obviously very surprised, but he quickly adjusted himself and guided Jiang Han towards a big iron lump.

"You asked us to solve the problem that the water drawing depth of this thing cannot exceed six meters. We have a simple solution here. We put a long pole in the well, connect a water pump under the long pole, and use the piston pressure of this machine to drive the long pole to start the water pump below. In this way, the well water below can be pumped up and supplied to the machine..."

Jiang Han was shocked when he listened to the craftsman's report, and his eyes widened because of the other party's narration.

"Sir...what do you think?"

The craftsman obviously lacked sufficient self-confidence, and he began to feel guilty when he saw Jiang Han's expression.

"It's beyond my expectations... I mean, it's excellent! You guys did a great job, everyone, reward them according to the first-class standard!"

Unexpectedly, what Jiang Han asked these craftsmen to study was actually a first-generation steam engine made by Savery in 1698. The principle is to fill an egg-shaped container with steam first, then close the steam inlet valve, and spray cold water outside the container to condense the steam in the container to form a vacuum. Open the water inlet valve, and the water at the bottom of the mine is sucked into the container through the water inlet pipe under the action of atmospheric pressure; close the water inlet valve, reopen the steam inlet valve, and use the steam pressure to press the water in the container out through the drain valve. When the water in the container is emptied and filled with steam, close the steam inlet valve and the drain valve, and spray water again to condense the steam. Repeat this cycle, using two egg-shaped containers to work alternately, and continuous drainage can be achieved.

The problem with this steam engine is just as mentioned above, the water-drawing depth is not enough. The purpose of designing this steam engine is to use the power of the steam engine to drain the accumulated water in the mine. As we all know, mines are dozens of meters deep, and the water-drawing capacity of only a few meters deep cannot meet the demand at all.

Jiang Han gave them a task, which was how to solve this problem. It can only be said that the ancients had not been impacted by the later generations. Their intelligence and wisdom were not inferior to those of modern people. These people actually submitted to Jiang Han the atmospheric steam engine plan invented by Newcomen and his assistant Calley in 1705! This was undoubtedly a pleasant surprise and deserved a great reward.

"Great! Long live sir!!!"

When they heard there were rewards, smiles instantly appeared on everyone's faces. Craftsmen were at the absolute bottom of the Ming Dynasty's social system. The four classes of scholars, farmers, artisans and merchants were higher than merchants, but not as rich as merchants. The farmers above them were even nobler than them. It was very uncomfortable to be stuck here.

In this age when people laugh at poverty but not at prostitution, their lives are quite difficult.

But with Jiang Han, they received respect they had never received before. Here, they had like-minded colleagues, new technologies and new ideas that were completely open to them, a steady stream of them, wages that allowed them to make a living and support their families, and even rewards!

This would have been unthinkable in the past.

Jiang Han has only one goal in doing so much, which is to establish a system with a good circulation.

Climbing the technology tree in reality is not like in games where you just click on the technology. In reality, the process is often more important than the result.

How to discover the principles of this thing, how to solve a series of problems, only through continuous self-exploration can the optimal solution be found. If they just rely on Jiang Han to cram them, all of this will be castles in the air and will collapse with just a gust of wind.

Knowing something but not knowing why is the most undesirable thing in the pursuit of scientific knowledge.

"Before, you said there were new problems. What were they?"

In fact, Jiang Han had basically guessed what difficulties they were currently facing, but he still wanted to ask.

"Oh, that's right, sir. Although we have solved the problem of the machine pumping water too shallowly, it consumes a lot of coal, but the water it pumps is obviously not up to expectations. Most of the power is wasted in driving the water pump, and some of it goes somewhere else. We are considering how to solve this problem..."

"This..."

What a coincidence! What a coincidence! I just got my rubber band back and it'll come in handy!

Jiang Han smiled slightly: "I traded a good thing with the red-haired guy this time. With it, it should be able to bring you a lot of inspiration."

Volume 325: Chapter Chapter : PAYDAY

"It seems that their choice is to support the inland..."

The Scarecrow received this information the moment the Iron Blood Squad attacked the pursuing Lai Bu, and quickly analyzed the opponent's combat intention, which was to focus on protecting the large inland cities. The coastal areas had already been ambushed and destroyed by the Ming people in the past, so the subsequent support would be the same.

"Well, it seems that if I don't do something big, wouldn't it be a shame for their arrangement?"

Last time, he did not do his job well and was criticized by the commander. This made Scarecrow very dissatisfied with himself. The King of Rolls immediately learned from his mistakes and began to change his combat thinking. He decided to get up from where he fell. He did not fight well in the navy camp before, so this time, I will definitely pull all the rats out of the hole for him!

"Full left rudder, full speed ahead!!"

The warship, which had been anchored at sea for a long time, finally set sail again, and its destination was Lianyungang!

After the last attack, the Lianyungang Naval Camp is still carrying out post-disaster cleanup. A huge number of ship wreckages and artillery positions that were broken in two need to be repaired, and fortifications need to be rebuilt. The navy is well aware that with their current level of near-shore defense, the other side will definitely attack again.

It's just like after the jungler comes to gank you once and you use your flash, he will definitely come to gank you again, so even though time is tight, the navy camp still started to build a relatively simple defense system in a short period of time. However, although they tried very hard, the stone turrets several meters high were not something that could be completed in a day or two, and they could only try their best to avoid being completely defenseless.

Recently, the entire Qing navy has been very nervous. They all know that the enemy will definitely come again, but they don't know when exactly they will come. It's like a fart after diarrhea. They don't know which one will come with some moist and moisturizing effect, so they have been worried.

After the first attack, many warships still survived. The first priority of these warships after leaving the port was to keep a close eye on the Scarecrow’s fleet. They could not catch up with it or touch it, but they had to make sure the other party was within their sight.

As soon as the fleet began to move, the alert observers on the warships discovered something was wrong and immediately notified their subordinates, and the captain ordered adjustments to begin.

A string of warships followed like a criminal following a girl, but the more they followed, the more something seemed wrong. It seemed that this route was becoming more and more familiar.

"Oh no! They are going back to attack the navy again! Speed ​​up! We must stop them!! Report to..."

Before the captain could finish his order, he felt his ship begin to shake violently. A sudden violent explosion tore half of the hull apart. A sharp whistling sound was heard a moment later as the shells landed on the hull.

Before being blown to pieces by the shell, the captain felt a mixture of realization and disbelief.

"So, they can hit us?"

"Sure enough, before starting the war, it is better to get rid of these annoying sparrows first."

Scarecrow certainly knew that these ships had been following him, but in order to conceal his power to strike outside the enemy's line of sight and the suddenness of the attack, he did not take any action. Instead, he let these annoying pigeons and sparrows stay in front of him, and then took out Diluc and cast a "Judgment Is Coming" to harvest a pile of poultry meat!

This hasty naval battle cannot even be called a naval battle. The one-sided massacre ended very quickly. There were not many ships used for stalking, and in order to catch up with the outrageous speed of the Galen, most of the light ships were used for attack. Now, they were destroyed with one bomb. After just one round of attack, the three stalking ships turned into three balls of fire on the sea. Many Qing soldiers were swimming frantically or using lifeboats to try to survive.

"Smash their boat"

You have to be wicked to the extreme. You want a lifeboat? You wish! Give me a triathlon! If you can swim to the land, you are awesome. If you can't swim, you will be fish food. You also want to take a boat? You wish.

This insane order did not meet with disgust from the volunteers below. Instead, they were extremely excited and volunteered to drive their boats and use cannons to bombard the lifeboats. This was extremely uncivilized and inhumane.

After dealing with the annoying sparrows, the next step was to have the main course. With the sails fully raised, the fleet headed directly towards the Lianyungang Navy Camp.

When a string of small dots appeared on the sea level, the sentries who had been on alert for a long time discovered the enemy. The naval officers and soldiers who did not see any of their own ships near the enemy also understood in their hearts that their comrades might have been attacked by the red-haired barbarians.

"Everyone on alert!!!"

The entire navy began to react quickly and prepare. This time they were mentally prepared and could do much more than last time.

But for Scarecrow, it made no difference. On the contrary, this time her actions were even more unscrupulous. She drove the galleon directly towards the port.

The Scarecrow was commanding the humanoid so carefully. If she had done this, it would mean one thing: she didn't treat the other person as a human being.

In fact, it was true. The last attack on the port was just a tentative attack by Scarecrow, a simple jab to test the opponent's reaction ability. The act of deploying the ship and firing on the spot was also to extend his arm to test the strength of the opponent's punch and decide the next combat strategy based on the opponent's strength.

However, the Qing army's response was so weak that a tentative attack almost destroyed 60% of the Qing army's nearshore defenses. This also allowed the Scarecrow to see what kind of people were on the other side.

If the Scarecrow sees through your identity, you will have to accept the fate of being ordered crazy dishes. This time, the Scarecrow was very straightforward and drove the boat directly into the port, telling you not to eat anything.

"Scouts, mark the locations of all the enemy's near-shore firepower points, and deploy Goliaths at designated locations. Jaguars, cooperate, and bombard them all with two rounds. Rippers, Steel Lions, clear the landing area and help us create a clearing. Aegis, Aegis SWAP, prepare a group of landings and open up a safe zone."

The Iron Blood Legion was like a wielder in the hands of the Scarecrow. Once the offensive began, it was like mercury pouring out of the ground, crushing the opponent directly without giving them any chance to struggle.

A large number of Qing navy were lined up on the shore at this moment. There was nothing they could do. Although they were navy, their ships had all been blown up. Without their ships, they could only stay on the shore like chickens... like turtles with poor maneuverability.

Artillery fire, machine guns, bombing, familiar procedures, familiar helplessness, this technological dimensionality reduction attack made all the previous preparations of the Qing army come to naught. The newly built artillery fortifications were kicked away like a child's sand castle seen by a wicked adult. The dense machine gun fire network completely cleared a near-shore area in a short time.

The Qing army was enduring, and they endured until the enemy showed up. Now they were on the ship, and their artillery had basically all been silenced. The remaining rockets and tiger squat cannons were completely unable to cause any damage to the enemy's huge ship that was dozens of meters long. They could only wait.

And what they had been waiting for finally came: the other side lowered the landing board, and a team of green soldiers slowly began to step onto the land of Lianyungang.

"Shoot! Crouching Tiger Cannon! Everyone fire!"

Finally, they had waited for this opportunity to fight back! The one-sided beatings they had suffered before reminded them of the tragic memory of being forced to sing and dance under the Ming army walls under the guidance of artillery fire. After enduring for a long time, it was finally time to fight back! !

The rocket vehicle instantly began to spray flames, the muskets began to burst out pellets, and the tiger squat cannons fired intensively at the enemy crowd that had just landed. A large number of shotgun pellets scattered in the air and spread towards the crowd.

Flames, smoke and dust completely covered the enemy, but the next moment, the blood of all the Qing troops ran cold.

Those green troops standing on the ground were intact after a round of attacks! Not even a single person fell on the ground! Some even saw that the arrows flew in the air above their heads and were deflected by something unknown!

The Holy Light Shield and the force field combined together, the three bald guys can completely form a wall of sighs that will make the opponent despair! Not to mention the tiger squat cannon and bows and arrows, even if the Qing army's artillery fire is here, there is no way to stop these monsters.

The heavy shields were connected to form a shield wall. This time the Qing army saw clearly that there was really a layer of shield in front of these people, which directly bounced away the arrows!

"Erlangs! Follow me and fight!!!"

A general drew his sword and rushed towards the holy shield array on horseback. The soldiers behind him followed closely. To deal with the shield soldiers, they had to rely on cavalry charges. As long as they broke through, everything would be easy!

The warhorse charged and came before the Holy Shield team. The huge steel shield directly blocked the horse's body. The crisp sound of broken bones accompanied by the neighing of the warhorse continued.

The Holy Shield at the back raised the laser gun blade in his hand and slashed directly at the enemy in front. The laser streaked through the flesh and blood, a burst of burnt green smoke rose, and even the blood could not flow out.

The second batch of Reapers in the rear gained a foothold and began to further expand their victory with their rotary machine guns. They landed on the coast and turned it into a sea of ​​blood. The soldiers of the Volunteer Army also continued to fire on the ship, causing casualties to the Qing army.

The scarecrow walked down the landing board indifferently and looked at the tragic scene around him with a calm face. Of course, no expression could be seen because of the mask.

"Notify everyone to get off the ship and kill anyone you see. Find the enemy's warehouses, granaries, and money storage areas, and take away everything you can. Pack up anything you can't take away and pile it up."

The floating gun easily pierced the skull of a Qing soldier who was still struggling on the ground, giving him a quick death. The scarecrow's voice was like a biting ice.

“TODAY IS PAYDAY”

(Today is harvest day)

Volume 326: Chapter Chapter : The Envoy

"How did it become like this!?"

As soon as the Lianyungang Navy Camp was attacked, the surrounding troops received the news, quickly gathered, and rushed to the scene overnight. When they arrived, what they saw was almost a barren land.

The reinforcements moved very quickly. The cavalry assembled and traveled overnight, and they reached the battlefield in just one day. However, it took one day for the message to be delivered and one day for the journey. Lianyungang was destroyed in just one and a half days, and they could leave the scene very comfortably in the remaining half day. This was the result of Scarecrow's precise calculations.

The volunteers kicked open the tents, took only the most valuable things inside, then threw a few torches with kerosene directly into the house and moved on to the next target.

The good things that Jiang Han had ordered before, such as cloth cotton armor, iron armor, etc., were naturally not left behind. When the warehouse was found and opened, the volunteers were all as happy as if it were New Year, with joy of harvest on their faces.

Although they cannot catch up with the talented players in the African region, with continuous practice, the volunteers' ability to buy things for free is also increasing rapidly.

It has to be said that the Eight Banners soldiers were indeed very fierce. In this situation, many soldiers did not flee, but chose to fight back fiercely. Unfortunately, it was useless in front of the volunteers' musket formation. However, relying on sneak attacks, their brutal counterattack still caused some trouble to the volunteers.

Scarecrow adjusted his strategy and had each volunteer squad that went out to plunder be accompanied by a Holy Shield, Swap, or Ripper, all of which were Iron Blood units with good mobility. He and other Iron Blood units were responsible for defending against subsequent enemies, guarding his own ship, and constantly destroying the enemy's will.

Under such a deployment, the counterattack of the Qing troops in the camp was quickly suppressed. The volunteers who not only did not flee when they encountered the enemy but also dared to fight back against me were filled with anger. They attacked more and more heavily. After knocking someone down with a musket, they would chop him twice on the head to vent their anger.

There are three must-visit resource points in the navy camp, the weapons warehouse, the granary, and the money warehouse. The money warehouse is used to store the military pay for the officers and soldiers. One and a half days is too short to move all these things, so only two of the three can be chosen. After communicating with Jiang Han, Scarecrow decided to give up the weapons warehouse first, and only take out the best cannons made in the Qing army to replace some on the volunteer army ships. The rest of the money will be used to move silver and food, and the remaining weapons will be sacrificed by Jiang Han remotely.

Food, in particular, is of utmost importance. In today's situation, food is the hardest currency among hard currencies. In many areas, even if you have a lot of money, you can't buy a bag of food.

When the Qing army's reinforcements arrived, the fire had not even been put out. The situation was so horrific that it was unbelievable.

"It was... it was a Han dog! Not a red-haired foreigner! It was a Han dog who did it!!!"

The surviving Qing army officers and soldiers cried out to their allies at the top of their lungs. This time they finally saw clearly that it was not the red-haired barbarians who did it, but the Han dogs of the Ming Dynasty! !

"Quickly send someone to put out the fire! Rescue the injured! Someone, send a letter to the emperor and report the situation here truthfully! Those Han dogs have got the warships of the red-haired barbarians! This is big news!"

"What? The Tartars are coming to negotiate?"

Jiang Han was still in the office calculating his gains when he heard the notice from Springfield.

"Yes, it is said that they brought a team of envoys and specifically asked to negotiate with you."

Since Chuntian arrived, she automatically took over the secretary's job. Pei Huayu was arranged by Jiang Han to work in education some time ago. Now she is a glorious principal, responsible for teaching and educating people. It can be said that she has lived a wonderful second life.

In just a few days, Chuntian became completely familiar with the secretarial work and did it flawlessly. All official business was neatly placed on Jiang Han's desk, categorized and marked with the handling methods. Jiang Han only needed to sign, and if he didn't want to sign, he could just stamp it with his eyes closed. Combined with three carefully prepared meals a day, it can be said that his reputation as a useless person-making machine is well-deserved.

"It seems that they have already prepared the money?"

Jiang Han slowly sorted out the pile of documents in front of him and said calmly: "I just don't know where this money came from."

Where did it come from? Of course, it was squeezed out of the pockets of the Ming Dynasty! Chongzhen really had no money. His money was either sent to Liaodong or used to mobilize troops. There were even droughts, locust plagues, floods, and famines. The victims in various places were waiting for silver relief. Where did he get the money?

However, peace talks are imminent, and the conditions offered by the Tartars are indeed more reasonable than before. The top priority now is to get rid of them quickly so that we have a chance to recuperate.

Yang Sichang also became furious. It was he who proposed the peace talks and he was the main person in charge. Although the emperor had agreed, she would be the one to be contacted at that time. This matter had to be done. He directly called on all officials to start the second round of donations. The officials were naturally unhappy, but Yang Sichang was serious this time. He led the Jinyiwei to raid the homes of several ministers who had cried poor before and found hundreds of thousands of taels of silver. Now everyone knew that Yang Sichang had gone crazy. It was better to spend money to ensure safety. After scraping together the ransom, they finally managed to get the money together.

As soon as he got the money, Huang Taiji immediately sent people to negotiate with Jiang Han. No matter what, he had to rescue his brothers first. If the other side did not release them, he could take Yangzhou in the name of revenge, and the Ming Dynasty would not be able to say anything.

"Since they are here, let's have a quick chat and see what they have to say. Let me see, give them an hour later and you can help me arrange it."