Taiping Village.
Ding ding dang dang…
The sound of knocking came from the workshop that was emitting heat waves.
Outside the open workshop, Zhu Yu stood with Zhu Changluo. They watched as the old master of the workshop, Han Youcai, led more than a dozen people to hammer a piece of iron into a rectangular iron sheet.
After heating it up and softening it, he carefully hammered it on a round stone pillar mold, then rolled the iron sheet into a cylinder.
At this moment, Old Han was personally doing the last step.
It was also the most difficult process.
The iron sheet was rolled into the bottom of the cylinder and the side of the cylinder.
The emperor issued food and pay.
After checking the farming situation of the fields in Taiping Village, Zhu Ke asked him to find Old Han.
In the next few days, Zhu Ke pulled Old Han and soaked in the room for a few days.
After coming out, he first asked him to collect pine wood and then asked Old Han to make wooden cannons.
Zhu Yu was no stranger to Songpao. Songpao had existed for a long time.
After the successful test of the Pine Cannon, Zhu Ke plundered all the carpenters in Taiping Village, and anyone who knew how to do carpentry was found.
Under the leadership of Old Han's five disciples, they were frantically making pine cannons.
After that, he brought Old Han to the smithy to repair weapons and study the iron barrel with Old Han.
It had already been two to three months.
It was said that this metal bucket was also a weapon.
"Milord, are you so sure that the Tartars will go south?”Zhu Yu asked in confusion.
Zhu Changluo's actions were clearly a desperate preparation for battle.
Thinking back to what Zhu Changluo had said before, it could only prove that the young general was targeting the Tartars.
Zhu Changluo shook his head. How could he possibly remember the specific history?
In particular, there were countless border conflicts in the late Ming Dynasty.
However, it was impossible for him to understand it so clearly.
He just felt that if he was a Tartar, he would never let go of this opportunity to invade the south and plunder.
During the Jiajing period, the Ming Dynasty and the Tartars re-signed a friendly trade agreement.
But these few years, it was not uncommon for things to happen.
"It's just to be prepared, just in case.”
He wanted to be a heartless cannon.
To put it bluntly, it was an explosive projectile.
The principle was the same as the very common two-kick firecrackers in Ming Dynasty.
Zhu Changluo glanced at Zhu Yu from the corner of his eyes. Seeing Zhu Yu's suspicious expression, he decided to reveal something."Senior Zhu, even if there is no danger from the Tartars, as generals in the army, we should try to consider the problem of building the army.”
"Especially a glorious and strong army like the Qi Family's Army.”
"Right now, we are faced with the problem of a lack of food and pay, and our brothers are living in poverty. The Imperial Court cannot distribute food and pay on time, and we cannot allow the tragedy of the mutiny to happen again.”
"There are many bandits outside the pass.”
Hiss!
Zhu Yu's eyes widened.
He understood that Zhu Ke had made so many preparations because he wanted to exterminate the bandits!
Horse bandits robbed merchants, and now Zhu Changluo wanted to rob horse bandits to improve the lives of his brothers.
The Qi Family's Army had never done such a thing before.
But…it seemed like a solution.
If it was the same back then, the three thousand brothers wouldn't have died tragically, right?
Zhu Yu's heart ached.
What he did not know was that Zhu Changluo's true purpose was to train his soldiers.
The Qi Family's Army was no longer the Qi Family's Army of the past.
After garrisoning Ji Gate, he had used a combination of the recruitment system and the guard system. The Qi Family's Army already had all the corruption in the guard system.
Coupled with the slackness of the high-ranking generals, the Qi Family's Army's combat effectiveness had declined severely over the years.
"Sir, it's done!" While Zhu Changluo was lost in his thoughts, Old Han's voice came from the workshop.
Zhu Changluo looked at the iron bucket that was being quenched and cooled. It was as thick as a water bucket and about five feet long. He was a little nervous. He had failed several times before.
He was worried that he would fail again.
"Go to the open space behind and bring the explosives that you have prepared.”
Under his command, everyone quickly moved to an empty space behind the workshop.
The apprentice began to stuff one of the two explosive packets into the iron bucket, then filled the iron bucket with soil and pressed it with a wooden stick. Finally, he put the explosive packet mixed with nails and stones into the iron bucket.
Zhu Changluo was also a little nervous when he saw Old Han looking at him nervously. Sealing the joints of the metal barrel with a riveted joint was the best method he could think of at the moment. If it still failed, he was afraid that the projectile would not be able to be made in a short period of time.
"Light the fire!"
Bang!
The metal bucket that was fixed on the wooden frame shook violently along with the wooden frame. With a whoosh, a black object shot out.
Boom!
An explosion sounded.
Pebbles and iron would fly about 250 steps away.
Old Han rushed over when the explosion sounded and knocked on the joint with a small hammer.
A moment later, as he ran back, he shouted excitedly,"Milord, it's done! The screws are not loose!"
"Alright, Old Han, the one hundred taels of silver belongs to you and your disciple!”Zhu Changluo was equally excited. His face flushed red as he said,""As long as you can build on the foundation of the musket and make the flintlock gun that I mentioned, I will reward you with another five hundred taels of silver!”
Zhu Yu was stunned. He was stunned by the power of this strange cannon!
At a certain moment, Zhu Yu came back to his senses. The moment he came back to his senses, he grabbed Zhu Changluo and then released him. He waved his hands and said,""Sir, you must make more of these cannons. Their power is astonishing! Its power is astonishing!"
Zhu Changluo couldn't help but smile.
"Senior is right, Old Han!" He patted Zhu Yu.”
"Your humble servant is here!" Old Han immediately stood up straight, no longer as lazy as before.
Zhu Yu could not help but be surprised.
Old Man Han was a veteran of the Qi Family's Army. In his impression, other than Old General Qi, even the current General Qi Jinqi would not allow Old Man Han to do this.
Zhu Yu couldn't figure it out, so she simply didn't think about it.
"Old Han, did you hear what Lord Zhu said?”
Old Fortune Han was indeed an old craftsman. After pondering for a moment, he replied with certainty,"Milord, we have sufficient iron materials. We master and disciple will work hard to forge two sets in a day.”
"But I estimate that our iron, even if we melt the discarded weapons, can only make sixteen projectiles!”
Zhu Changluo thought for a moment and said,"That's enough.”
After Old Han left, Zhu Yu calmed down and asked,""Milord, we've sent our brothers outside the pass for several months. Since the Tartars have no signs of going south, should we withdraw?”
Some of his brothers were already complaining to him.
After all, they had to be careful of the Tartars and were on tenterhooks.
Zhu Changluo pondered for a moment and nodded in agreement.""Sure, but send some brothers out to search for traces of horse bandits.”
"Don't worry, Milord. As long as we tell our brothers about the benefits of raiding the bandits, I guarantee that everyone will be enthusiastic!”Zhu Yu patted her chest and promised.
In the past, when there were missions to exterminate bandits, the soldiers did not get much of the benefits.
Zhu Yu felt that his brothers might not trust them, but they should trust this general who had just arrived and was already paying for the court's rations.
Thinking of this, Zhu Yu could not help but be stunned.
He suddenly realized that Zhu Changluo did not do much after he arrived, but he was quickly replacing their position in the hearts of the Qi Family's Army brothers of Peace Stronghold!
Zhu Changluo didn't notice Zhu Yu's complicated expression. He was thinking that the possibility of the Tartars going south was very small since they had not made any movements in the Ji Gate mutiny for months.
He shifted his attention to how to suppress the bandits and raise money and food for the soldiers.
As for training the soldiers according to his plan, he did not plan to do so for the time being.
Although the Qi Family's Army was no longer as powerful as before, they were still immersed in the glory of the past. As a newcomer, he would definitely not be accepted if he were to train them.
Instead, it was better to use actual victories to establish prestige first and then reorganize.
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