Zhao Ming discussed with Chen Mingyu and others for a while, but there was no immediate solution to the current dilemma.Zhao Ming wanted to use land to alleviate financial pressure, and at the same time hoped to create a group of landlords and military aristocrats to increase the enthusiasm of the people to join the army.If you are a soldier for a few years, you can become a small landlord and realize the dream of most people, through the demonstration effect of a group of people, Zhao Ming believes that you can start from the new mobilization, the military and civilians of Donghai Town, the enthusiasm for expansion and joining the army.Under the general environment of peace negotiations in the Ming and Qing dynasties, in order to maintain the spirit of the military and the people of Donghai Town, and not to be dissipated by the prosperity of the south of the Yangtze River, the ambition and ambition can only be driven by interests.After thinking about it, Zhao Ming decided to create a military aristocracy by allocating land.However, at the moment, Donghai Town has just experienced a big defeat and is not ready, although Zhao Ming has a strategy in his heart, ready to snatch the Nanyang colony with the Netherlands and Spain, but he can't rush to execute.First of all, Zhao Ming had to wait for Cheng Bi to return, so that he could be sure that Donghai Town no longer needed the Dutch and had the ability to trade in the ocean.In the following days, Zhao Ming asked people to continue to hear Cheng Bi's news from the Xiyi merchants who came to Shanghai, and at the same time ordered China Merchants Shipping Company to form a second fleet to open up routes and markets to the west.When Zhao Ming was busy, in November, Zhao Ming suddenly received a report from Chen Yujie that Huaxing Artillery Casting Company, the new type of artillery shells researched, had made relatively mature samples, and asked him to inspect it.Since the defeat of Jiangbei, Zhao Ming felt a huge threat, first, the intention of the Longwu court to cut the domain, obvious, and second, judging from the terms of the peace agreement, the Longwu court did not mention Liaodong and Korea, and the Manchu Qing may have received the tacit approval of the Longwu court, and may attack Liaodong and Korea at any time when the vitality of Donghai Town is greatly damaged.Therefore, Tokai Town must regain its strength as soon as possible in order to cope with possible changes.After Zhao Ming returned to Suzhou, he was bent on restoring the strength of Donghai Town, and to restore his strength, one was to recruit soldiers for training, and the other was to manufacture sophisticated equipment and equipment.In the last battle with the Qing army, Zhao Ming noticed several problems in Donghai Town, the main of which was that after Donghai Town was equipped with a large number of flintlock muskets, the army transformed from cold weapons to hot weapons.In this process, a large number of soldiers in Donghai Town, who were equipped with muskets, lost some of the advantages of the original cold weapons, and although the flintlock pistols were sharp, their firepower was not strong, and they could not stop the cavalry from attacking, and even the impact of the infantry could not be stopped.This put Donghai Town in an embarrassing situation of not having the advantage of cold weapons and insufficient firepower.After being surrounded by the Qing army, Zhao Ming could only use the way that the soldiers held grenades and rushed into the Qing army's formation to open a gap.If the artillery of Donghai Town is strong enough and has flowering shells, a few cannons can blow up the heavy encirclement of the Qing army, and even repel the Qing army, it is not a problem.In the first battle of Jiangbei, Donghai Town's ordnance and baggage losses were great, although Donghai Town destroyed many weapons and baggage, but Zhao Ming conservatively estimated that Azig captured Donghai Town's equipment, at least able to equip more than 10,000 people, and after repairing the destroyed weapons, it could even equip 20,000 troops.If we add that the firearms produced by the Manchu Qing Dynasty itself, Donghai Town will have no advantage in terms of equipment.Therefore, after Zhao Ming returned to Suzhou, he asked Huaxing Company to speed up the research of new firearms such as flowering bombs, so that the armament of Donghai Town would always be ahead of the Manchu Qing Dynasty and even ahead of the world.Flowering bombs, the Ming Dynasty has long existed, but there are many shortcomings, one is that the power is small, the explosion is not very lethal, and the other is that it is limited by the fuse and the bullet wall, after it is shot, there will be a premature explosion, or too late explosion, or even a direct explosion of the chamber.Before the Battle of Jiangbei, Huaxing Company had begun to develop flowering bombs, but it was not mature at that time and did not achieve the effect that Zhao Ming wanted, so when Zhao Ming went out, he did not carry it.After Zhao Ming returned to Suzhou this time, he focused on this matter, hoping that the blossom bomb could shine in the next war, and at the same time, because of the great loss of strength in Donghai Town, Zhao Ming felt uneasy in his heart, in order to deal with the possible threat, he urgently needed to master a big killing weapon to deter the enemy army and prevent anyone from peeping at Donghai Town.At Zhao Ming's request, Chen Yujie increased his investment in flowering bombs, and several craftsmen had been killed for this, but the hard work paid off, and he finally created a relatively mature flowering bomb.At this time, Zhao Ming, accompanied by Chen Yujie, came to Dongshan Island on Taihu Lake, west of Wujiang County.In order to prevent people from listening to it, Huaxing Company set up all its firearms on the islands of Taihu Lake to ensure that the secrets were not leaked."
Dashuai, according to the requirements of Dashuai, the craftsmen have improved the fuse and the projectile body, and they have been able to control the time of the explosion."
Chen Yujie accompanied Zhao Ming's side, pointed to a shooting range in front of him, and said while leading the way.The flowering bomb exploded, the sound was huge, if it was tested in Suzhou, the earth-shattering movement, I am afraid that not only the soldiers and civilians in the city would be shocked, but also the Manchu Qing and the Longwu court would know about it the next day.Although Zhao Ming suffered heavy losses and shattered myths this time, as long as he lived, no one could really ignore him, the Jinyi guards of the imperial court, and the secret agents of the Manchu Qing Dynasty all had bases in Suzhou City, responsible for monitoring and probing Zhao Ming's every move.Zhao Ming looked in the direction pointed by Chen Yujie, and saw that at the foot of the mountain in the distance, on a flat ground, several artillery pieces were lined up, and a team of soldiers had been waiting in line for a long time.Not long after, Zhao Ming and his entourage came to the shooting range, and when the soldiers in the queue saw Zhao Ming coming, they immediately put their legs together, held their heads high, and saluted in unison, and the first member of the hundred households reported loudly, "I am ordered to test fire, please give the order of the marshal!"
”Zhao Ming bowed slightly, and first looked at a few cannons, including three eighteen-pound Hongyi cannons, and two short, swarthy and swarthy general's mortars.Next to the cannon, there are several wooden boxes, containing a number of black iron bullets, but unlike solid bullets, the iron bullets have a hole in them, and on top of them is a wooden stopper, on which a lead is exposed, a bit like a modern flowering bullet.Zhao Ming stared at these black things, and couldn't help but feel a little excited in his heart, if these flowering bombs were equipped on the battleship, the Donghai Town Water Division, fighting the Dutch would not be the same as playing."
Dashuai, the previous flowering shells were not very safe, mainly for two reasons, one is that the thickness of the shell shell is uneven, and it is difficult to keep it right, so that the gunpowder can explode, and it cannot be detonated when it is fired.Second, it is difficult for the fuse to accurately control the distance to ensure that the shell will explode after approaching the target. ”Chen Yujie explained: "Now, after years of research, the lowly and craftsman have finally produced shells that meet these two points and can be mass-produced. ”Zhao Ming became interested when he heard this, and said with a smile: "Since this is the case, let's shoot a few shots and see how the effect is?"
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