Cheng Hanbin did not hide anything and told Zhou Shixiang in detail the structure of the self-producing gun he saw at Johnson Chan in Beijing last year. In order to confirm that the self-producing gun was a flintlock rifle, Zhou Shixiang specifically asked questions about the trigger and flint. Cheng Hanbin answered it one by one, which was no different from the flintlock rifle that Zhou Shixiang knew.

"The self-generated gun clamps a piece of flint on the jaw of the hammer. There is a strike anvil next to the fire transmission hole. When firing, the trigger is pulled. Under the action of the spring, the flint is heavily hit by the fire gate, and sparks appear. Although the ignition gunpowder is not a firearm, it is also known that the firing method of this gun is much more useful than the current fire gun. If a soldier holds a self-generated gun against the enemy, it is more efficient than holding a fire gun against the enemy, and the accuracy of the gun is also much higher. In addition, according to the book "Military Arts and Diagrams", the cost of making a self-generated gun is only seven or eight taels of silver, which is much cheaper."

Cheng Hanbin has already said everything he knows, without any hidden personal information. Now it depends on how the "thief scholar" decides.

The cost of a flintlock rifle was only seven or eight taels of silver. When Zhou Shixiang sent people to purchase muskets from Macau Portuguese two years ago, they sold a coblin gun for a high price of 40 taels of silver. Zhou Shixiang was so angry that he sent troops to block the walls of Macau. Under the threat of force, he bought more than a thousand muskets from the Portuguese man at a price of 12 taels of silver per pole. It was still old. Many of them had to be repaired by craftsmen after they bought it. The power of a flintlock rifle was equivalent to three or even four coblin guns, so Zhou Shixiang decided to start a horse and make a flintlock rifle immediately without any hesitation.

Guangdong has opened many military factories under the leadership of Duke Xiang of Song, some of which produce gunpowder, some of which produce new military uniforms, some of which build swords and iron armor, and many workshops responsible for weapon maintenance. In terms of craftsmen, the Taiping Army has paid special attention to those with skills since its establishment. As long as they are craftsmen, they will treat them well. Even if they are just craftsmen, they will be trapped by the Taiping Army. After occupying Guangzhou, Xu Yingyuan, one of the six officials, actually assumed the responsibility of being responsible for the ordnance manufacturing of the Taiping Army. However, because he temporarily served as a commander to report the victory, he has now been detained by the Annan people, so the person who actually presided over the Guangdong ordnance manufacturing was the yamen of the governor's office.

Zhou Shixiang is short of silver, but no matter how short it is, it will not shorten military production. As long as this self-produced gun can be mass-produced, Zhou Shixiang will not frown no matter how much silver it costs. Even if the Guangdong silver treasury is bottomed out for this, he will never stop.

Zhou Shixiang is also not short of steel. Guangdong itself has two copper mines and one iron mine. In addition, in previous wars, the Taiping Army also paid special attention to collecting iron tools, which made the Guangdong Provincial Government Office have many iron tools, which can be completely transformed into steel pipes needed to make guns. Even if the steel is not enough, it is feasible to use the muskets in the army to transform them.

There are craftsmen, resources, and silver. The only thing they lack is a person in charge. As long as the person in charge has a person in charge, even if those craftsmen don’t know anything, they can always master the ability to make guns under his guidance and training. Moreover, during the Guangxi war, many of the craftsmen who accompanied the Qing army and Han army flags were captured. Many of these people were even captured by craftsmen outside the pass in the early years of Chongzhen. The purpose of the Qing army keeping them was to produce artillery and muskets for them. Among them were even hereditary craftsmen from the Beijing Ministry of Works of Tianqi and Chongzhen dynasties.

In addition, more than 100 craftsmen affiliated with the Wuzhenchaoha artillery battalion of the Han army were captured during the Chaohui War. Now this group of people is in Guangzhou and is placed in Yuexiu camp as a treasure by Duke Xiang of Song as a treasure. Therefore, in fact, the Taiping Army does not lack skilled craftsmen who are proficient in gun making, but only a leader and a brand new gun making concept.

Cheng Hanbin, the voluntary investor who claimed to be a juren from Huguang and was very familiar with the musket, undoubtedly became one of the best leaders in Zhou Shixiang's eyes. He pondered for a moment, looked at the other party, and asked, "Sir, can you make this gun?"

Cheng Hanbin chuckled: "There are all the drawings, so why can't you make it? As long as the craftsman is fine and the materials are sufficient, you can be sure to make this self-generated gun."

"That's good!"

Zhou Shixiang suddenly stood up with a serious face, bent down to bow to him under the shock of Cheng Hanbin, and then asked with a begging, "I wonder if Mr. Cheng can serve as the ambassador of the Taiping Army Ordnance Bureau?" After saying that, he was afraid that Cheng Hanbin would disagree, so he added, "The ambassador of the Ordnance Bureau is the fourth rank. If Mr. Successfully made a self-grown gun for our Taiping Army, I will be the governor of the province. In the future, I will ask the court for me for the merits!"

This is actually a high-sounding empty talk. The Taiping Army has actually occupied the territory of Guangdong and Guangxi. The Guangxi Governor has already been appointed by Duke Xiang of Guangxi. If the governor is not surprised, it must be Duke Xiang of Song. Where will Zhou Shixiang arrange Cheng Hanbin? However, for both sides, this governor guarantee is not important. What is important is whether Cheng Hanbin can create this self-generated gun for the Taiping Army. If he cannot create it, these fourth-rank ordnance ambassadors may not be able to sit. If it is made, the governor's seat is really possible. After all, this self-generated gun is too powerful. If the Taiping Army can equip this gun, it will be much stronger than the Qing army. The Taiping Army is strong, the world will definitely not belong to the Qing Dynasty.

Of course, Cheng Hanbin's ambition was not to be an ambassador of the Ordnance Bureau who was responsible for the production of weapons, but to be a good minister who helped the world and the people. But although he took the initiative to vote, he was just a juren. Zhou Shixiang just gave him a rank fourth-rank official. Cheng Hanbin himself was surprised. Speaking of which, even if he won the Qing court exam, the best ending was to send a county out of the country, and he would be able to be a fifth-rank official in the future.

At the fifth grade of Qing Dynasty and the fourth grade of Ming Dynasty, this gap was enough to destroy all the reserve in Cheng Hanbin's heart. In addition, he was determined to participate in the process of revitalizing the Ming Dynasty, rather than being a spectator. Zhou Shixiang entrusted him with important tasks when he first met him. No matter how he weighed the pros and cons, he could not say a word.

According to the etiquette of this era, Cheng Hanbin continued to worship Zhou Shi and gave a great gift. In this way, Cheng Hanbin officially participated in Zhou Shi Xiang and was willing to work hard for the other party.

Zhou Shixiang excitedly helped Cheng Hanbin and discussed the plot of the self-generated gun in "Military Arts Pictures". Then he talked about the Ordnance Bureau. Zhou Shixiang originally wanted to place the Ordnance Bureau in Yuanzhou, but considering that the war in Hunan was not decided and it was not safe enough, he finally settled in Guangzhou, so that manpower and material resources could be used nearby.

Zhou Shixiang was impatient, and Cheng Hanbin was also determined to show his intentions. The two agreed that Cheng Hanbin would set off for Guangzhou three days later, and strive to build the Ordnance Bureau before the end of May. The self-generated gun began to develop self-generated guns in June, and mass production began before September.

Zhou Shixiang was particularly happy to think that there would be a large number of flintlock guns to be equipped with the Taiping Army immediately. He also thought of the shortage of gunpowder, so he said to Cheng Hanbin: "There are a lot of muskets in my Taiping Army, but now they are short of medicine. This book contains methods for making manure to make nitrate and sulfur to make a large amount of medicine. But I wonder if this method has been verified by Mr. Mr. "

Cheng Hanbin said: "Hanbin has not verified this strategy, but I think that since Lord Bi said it in this book, it can be done. As far as Hanbin knows, this nitrite soil is mostly stored in toilets, pig and cow houses, housing, and old corners of the courtyard where it is not easy to be washed by water. If it contains nitrite, it will have bitter, spicy and salt. The particularly spicy one is good nitrite soil."

Zhou Shixiang couldn't help but nodded. Cheng Hanbin said that he had heard of him in his previous life, but it seemed to be about salt making.

"Hanbin is not good at making nitrogen, but he just heard some methods. He puts nitrogen soil on mahogany to see if it can explode. If it can explode, it is good nitrogen soil, otherwise it is not. In addition, the wood ash used for boiling nitrogen should be used to tung in the shell and raising wheat straw, so that the nitrogen quality will be best."

After hearing this, Zhou Shixiang interjected: "I once read a book by a Westerner in the past. It said that if the nitride is dissolved in water, the quality of the nitride will be better, but I don't know if this is the case."

Cheng Hanbin hesitated and said, "The method the general said is, Hanbin will start to test this matter after he goes to Guangdong. Otherwise, if he only has a gun but no medicine, how can he fight a war?"

Zhou Shixiang nodded. How to extract the higher purity of the nitrogen must be tested continuously, and it is not possible to do it by just opening his mouth. Thinking of something, he reminded Cheng Hanbin: "After the sir, if the manure is boiled to make nitrogen, the manure produced by boiling can not be wasted. You can ask someone to take it to the fat field. Westerners say that this manure is stronger than ordinary manure and can increase the yield."

"Is this true?"

Cheng Hanbin was silent. He had never heard that the manure he had been surviving would be more fertile than the manure he had not been surviving. But since Zhou Shixiang said that, he tried it. If the harvest could really increase, it would undoubtedly be a great thing. Food is the most important thing for people. This acre of land and grain should not be too much, only 20% or 30% more, which would make countless people living.

"I will entrust my own gun and boiled nitroso to Mr. Cheng!"

Zhou Shixiang stood up again and saluted Cheng Hanbin. Seeing that he refused to surrender twice in succession, Cheng Hanbin was also excited and hurriedly said, "Han Bin must not be humiliating the commander of the commander!"

If the flintlock rifle can be made, the method of boiling manure and making nitrogen is indeed feasible. The gun and gunpowder can be solved perfectly. Zhou Shixiang was naturally excited. He ordered the military headquarters to start preparing for fixed-equipped granular gunpowder. Hundreds of tests by the military headquarters have proved that using this fixed-equipped granular gunpowder can increase the killing distance of the musket by about ten steps. The ten-step distance is a big leap in this era when cold weapons are still the main ones. If the flintlock rifle is combined, the Taiping Army will have an absolutely overwhelming firepower advantage over the Qing army.

Zhou Shixiang and Cheng Hanbin became more and more speculative as they talked about. From the self-produced guns to gunpowder, from gunpowder to artillery, and finally the Qing court and the current situation of the anti-Qing Dynasty. The two really felt that they met too late. This statement lasted for an hour. Just when Zhou Shixiang was about to take Cheng Hanbin to see the military appearance of the second town, Dong Changqing, the official of the Ministry of War, hurried into the hall with a document.

"Master, Guangxi urgently handed over, the emperor has abandoned his country and fled to Myanmar!"
Chapter completed!