Chapter 241 Sitting on the mountain and watching the tiger fight

The iron ball fell into the water in the distance, splashing cheerfully. Jiao Yu was very happy: the quality of the fine iron produced on this island is really good, which can fully meet the needs of casting cannons!

"Master, it finally succeeded this time!" Jiao Yu said.

Zhang Yang looked at the excited Jiao Yu, but he was afraid that he would continue to tell him all the principles of Tianque. It was still a little early.

Since the artillery experiment is successful, let him continue to work!

Zhang Yang said, "Jiao Yu, our artillery is still too heavy. Can you reduce the weight?"

Sinking? Jiao Yu didn't find it. Although this cannon was carried by several people, it can't be considered heavy, can it?

"I need an artillery that can be equipped with the field troops. For example, this artillery is placed on a two-wheeled gun truck, which can be dragged by horses. In addition, it has to be more powerful, at least five miles away!" Zhang Yang said.

It should be both powerful and light in weight, which is simply a contradiction! Jiao Yu felt that the master was still taking the test of himself. However, he really has no answer. It is a great achievement to be able to shoot the projectile two miles.

"Jiao Yu, we can improve from two aspects." Zhang Yang said that although he didn't know much about artillery, he still had the most basic knowledge. This kind of short and thick artillery is not scientific at all.

"First of all, the caliber of the gun can be reduced, such as one and a half feet, so that the weight can be reduced." Zhang Yang said. The cannon in front of him has a caliber of three feet, and it is more than enough for one person to get in. The length is only about five feet, just like a short fat man.

One and a half feet? Jiao Yu stroked with her hand and shook her head: "No, no, reduce the caliber, then the amount of loading will decrease and the range will decrease." In order to increase the range, the amount of loading can only be increased.

This is the limitation of people in this era. In order to increase the range, simply increase the amount of loading, resulting in the larger the artillery and greater the weight, but the power will not increase proportionally.

Zhang Yang shook his head: "The power will not decrease. While reducing the caliber, increase the length of the barrel." Zhang Yang meditated on the modern cannon: "Do the gun body 15 feet, so that if you go to the experiment again, you will definitely hit five miles." Zhang Yang said.

Jiao Yu shook her head in disbelief: "Master, this doesn't work at all. The barrel is so long and the muzzle is so small that it's just like a bamboo tube. It definitely won't work."

Zhang Yang patted Jiao Yu on the shoulder: "Jiao Yu, experiment, you can always get a suitable proportion. In addition, this barrel is actually not as thick as the front and back. The more forward, the thinner it can be. Reduce the weight!"

The more you go to the muzzle, the smaller the pressure. Of course, you don't need such a thick pipe wall. Zhang Yang suddenly found that he had figured out a lot of problems unconsciously.

"The barrel is so long, how to charge it?" Jiao Yu asked, you can't pedal on the ladder.

"You can open your mouth from the back."

"What should I do if I rush away under so much pressure?"

"Design a solid gun door, and you must study closely. It won't work if it leaks."

"How to pound the gunpowder?"

"You can pound the gunpowder in advance and make it into a medicine bag. Put one at a time and stuff it in. By the way, you have to design how to put this kind of gun on the gun truck, and it can also go up and down. If you can't, you can ask Li Youcai and Zhao Jiamin for help.

The two people asked and answered, which was like a cannon. Zhang Yang didn't know what was wrong. His thinking was so clear that he had come up with a solution to many problems in front of him, but Jiao Yu was more and more shocked. The master really knew a lot. He had never heard of these statements, but now he heard of them, but he had a thorough understanding. The feeling.

"I see, master, I will experiment with this kind of artillery." Jiao Yu's thinking has completely fallen into the research of this kind of artillery.

The long and thin artillery has never been cast. It is very likely that there will be a breakthrough! The master is really hidden. If you take it out a little, you will benefit a lot.

The study of artillery is handed over to Jiao Yu. Zhang Yang is very relieved. This gunnery master is really obsessed with firearms. Let him play with it. He only needs the result.

Zhang Yang still did not plan to tell Jiao Yu about the rifling in the gun. The rifling of this gun is much more troublesome than Tianque, and there is also the balling in the gun, but all this can be completed by the steam engine.

The base will unconsciously develop towards industrialization. The sign of industrialization is to use machines to make machines.

In this flash, I stayed at the base for more than ten days, and it was the first month and February. Zhang Yang felt that it was time to go back and have a look. I don't know how the army of the province and Zhu Yuanzhang in Chuzhou are doing?

left the meditative Jiao Yu, a tall steam engine and a ship for them to transform. Zhang Yang left the base with the guard.

Passing by Xinghua City, Zhang Yang went in and took a look. Xinghua City is now a quiet and peaceful scene. People are already busy with spring ploughing and waiting to be prosperous.

The front line moved forward, and Xinghua City has long been a solid rear. This is Zhang Yang's base, and the people here are also the most determined force behind Zhang Yang.

As the daughter-in-law of Zhang Yangming, Liu Ruohan is also respected here and is respected as Mrs. Zhang.

Entering the compound, Zhang Yang saw that the back of Ruo Han, who was watering flowers in the garden, was still graceful and beautiful. However, the slightly bulging abdomen in front of him hinted that there was a small life growing in it.

"Ruo Han!"

"Brother Shicheng!" Liu Ruohan was about to run over with joy.

"You can't do strenuous activities!" Zhang Yang said, "Don't upset my son."

Liu Ruohan stopped: "Brother Shicheng, you are so bad!"

Bad? You are my wife, and my son is in my stomach. Are you so shy?

"Let's go, go into the house. It's cold outside. Be careful of getting sick." Zhang Yang said.

Seeing Zhang Yang's caring eyes, Liu Ruohan's heart was full of warmth. She took Zhang Yang's hand and the two walked to the inner room.

Cao also came over. During this period, she has been living in Xinghua City, but she always feels less comfortable in the original village. Wherever she goes, it is the expression of a respectful person. She wants to find a few old ladies to chat with her. She always feels estranged from herself, speaks carefully, and always coaxs herself. I am happy.

"Brother Shicheng, everything goes well in Gaoyou Mansion, right?" Liu Ruohan asked.

In the base, they waited for Shicheng's brother. They finally got married and moved to Xinghua City. Shicheng's brother went to Gaoyou Mansion again. The two were like kites in the sky, waiting far away, but they could not stay together.

Zhang Yang knew that Ruohan asked like this. In fact, he asked him if the matter of Gaoyou Mansion had settled down, whether he could let her move to Gaoyou Mansion and stay by his side every day. Someone cooks for him every day, and someone warms the quilt at night. In fact, Zhang Yang likes this kind of quilt very much. However, he doesn't want to let Ruohan take risks. Only after completely digesting Gaoyou Mansion will Zhang Yang consider letting Ruohan and his mother move there.

"Ruohan, the current situation of Gaoyou Mansion is relatively complicated. The province has appointed two people to serve as the governor and Dalu Huachi, and also brought 5,000 soldiers and horses. Although I controlled it, I still haven't fully dealt with it. For the safety of you and your baby, you'd better stay in Xinghua City for the time being!" Zhang Yang said.

Liu Ruohan's eyes dimmed. She really wanted to say that as long as I stayed by your side, I was not afraid of anything. But the words didn't come out. She knew that Brother Shicheng was under great pressure, and she didn't want to cause more trouble to Brother Shicheng.

"Then you are in the Gaoyou Mansion. You must be careful." Liu Ruohan said.

Cao looked at Zhang Yang, her eyes full of maternal love. When she gave birth to this eldest son, a fortune teller said that her son would make great achievements in the future. She didn't believe it at that time, but now she believes it.

"Shicheng, you do your big thing. It's enough for me to take care of Ruohan. I'm still waiting to have a grandson." Cao also said.

The happy character on the window has not been torn off, and the red has faded into yellow. Can love still not change the color in the washing of the years?

Zhang Yang looked at Ruohan's slightly puffy face, and then at his wrinkled mother. He decided to stay tonight and leave tomorrow.

Covered with a quilt embroidered with mandarin ducks and stroked Ruohan's slightly bulging belly, Zhang Yang slept extremely comfortably.

Because of the need to sit in Gaoyoufu and deal with more complicated situations, because Xinghua has become a stable rear, Zhang Yang transferred Li Shanchang to Xinghua City to deal with some of the political affairs of Xinghua.

Back to Gaoyoufu, Zhang Yang first called Shi Nai'an and Luo Guanzhong to inquire about the recent trends of the province.

"After the return of our detectives, at present, the soldiers and horses of the province are struggling in Chuzhou." Luo Guanzhong said.? This is good news. Zhang Yang asked, "Why is that? Doesn't the province claim that there are 200,000 troops?

"According to our observation, the province sent at most 70,000 troops to Chuzhou to destroy Zhu Yuanzhang's troops. However, Chuzhou was surrounded by mountains on all sides. When Zhu Yuanzhang hit Chuzhou, he took advantage of the garrison and was surprised. After Zhu Yuanzhang entered Chuzhou, he immediately sent cavalry posts on all sides. What was there? The wind blew and the grass, and I immediately knew that the army of the province had been fighting and stopping on the mountain road and stopping with a small red scarf army. It had not yet arrived in Chuzhou, and the grain and grass had been burned twice.

This Zhu Yuanzhang is really an adept at fighting with soldiers. Zhang Yang sighed that the provincial soldiers and horses have been dispatched for more than half a month, and now they have not yet reached Chuzhou City. The combat effectiveness of this province's soldiers and horses is really a problem! But it's good. The more happy they toss around, the safer they will be.

"Your lord, not long ago, the province sent an official document saying that 2,000 soldiers were transferred from Gaoyou Prefecture to Chuzhou." Shi Nai'an said.

Oh? Zhang Yang turned his head and said, "Mr. Shi, how did we get back?"

"Because the lord is not here, I called Li Pu and asked him to write an official document, saying that the situation in the Gaoyou government is still undecided and the garrison cannot be transferred. Please forgive me." Shi Nai'an said.

Zhang Yang nodded, which is the only way to solve the problem at present. In short, none of the cavalry who came into Gaoyoufu could be let go.

"These few months have been a good environment for us to rest and recuperate and accumulate strength. We should seize this opportunity to quickly strengthen ourselves." Zhang Yang said. We are in Gaoyou Mansion, recruiting another 3,000 people.

Compared with tens of thousands of soldiers and hundreds of thousands of soldiers, these thousands of people are really insignificant. However, Zhang Yang has never doubted the combat effectiveness of his own people. Now there are already 1,000 troops in each battalion. Even on the front battlefield, his own thousand people are enough to shake 5,000 Tutsars. However, with the expansion of the territory, the shortage of manpower will become larger and bigger, and every town has to The garrison of a certain number of troops greatly dispersed Zhang Yang's strength. Moreover, now it will be equipped with cannons, and a 100-person team of cannons needs to be added to each battalion.

"Your lord, we have relatively few people. It is reasonable to recruit another batch of volunteers, but our current logistical burden is very heavy!" Shi Nai'an said.

Zhang Yang also knew that although he had taken the Gaoyou Mansion, there were only about 1,000 taels of silver in the treasury. Although he knew that there was a large amount of silver in Li Qi's mansion, now he was fighting the banner of avenging Li Qi and eliminating the rebel forces. In his mansion, he just sent troops to "protect" and did not copy his home. . Now the money and grain are not enough for your own consumption. The most important thing is that refined salt is now only sold in small batches, and a large amount of refined salt has not been sold yet.

The more refined salt accumulates, and in summer, refined salt will return to the tide, so it's time to consider the matter of refined salt.

"We have accumulated a lot of refined salt, and now we can start to get rid of it." Zhang Yang said, "Let Li Pu write an official document to the province, once again explain the goal of legally selling refined salt in the areas we control to other areas, and put pressure on the province. In addition, let Shixin lead a hundred-person team to take the waterway and transport the refined salt to several nearby roads."

"Your lord, if you sell refined salt now, will it be said by the province as selling private salt?" Luo Guanzhong asked.

"How can this happen? I am now Yin Jianzhou Yin, a legal county in the province. The salt farm under my rule is also a legal salt farm. I organize the sale of salt myself. This is an official sale. How can it be said that it is a sale of private salt? Besides, several roads nearby have long been in chaos. I organized manpower to sell refined salt to these places and only collect coarse salt. Isn't the slightly higher price strongly supporting the stable development of the province? Zhang Yang said.

Everyone knows that Zhang Yang said this, which simply doesn't make sense at all. The salt of the salt farm is definitely not under the control of Guizhou County. If you say it, even the province has no right to ask. The manufacturing and sales of salt in the salt of the salt farm are managed by the Lianghuai Salt Transportation Division itself. If it goes up, it will be directly the capital. All salt is After obtaining salt introduction in Yangzhou, you can only go to the salt farm to support salt. If it is reasonably sold, there is no salt introduction, and without the consent of the Lianghuai Salt Transportation Company, it is a complete private salt.

However, in the current situation, the Red Turban Army has been stationed in Chuzhou, and it is likely to come out at any time to attack Yangzhou. Yangzhou has long been a peaceful place. The Lianghuai Salt Transportation Department in Yangzhou is working hard. They can't wait to withdraw from this place of right and wrong as soon as possible, and they have no intention to suppress private salt at all. The salts have already restrained. How dare they be as rampant as before? Normal salt merchants do not dare to take over the salt in those war-twar areas, and the salt trading business has been greatly affected. Therefore, looking at the whole province, it will be Zhang Yang's sales place of refined salt.

What Zhang Yang needs to do now is to sell his refined salt not only to Gaoyou and Taizhou under his rule, but also to all parts of the province.

"The lord is really worried about the province." Luo Guanzhong said, but he was laughing secretly in his heart. Now, he gave Xingsheng another difficult problem. Now Xingsheng is busy at all.

"Call Shixin to come here. This matter should be handled by Shixin. By the way, I still need your assistance." Zhang Yang said.

Luo Guanzhong's intelligence network has been spread out. Taking this opportunity, while selling refined salt, it can also expand the intelligence agencies, and the intelligence agencies will provide information for the sale of refined salt, and the two will develop together. Some big cities, which are still controlled by the province, still can't sell their refined salt blatantly, and can only sell it secretly.

Soon, Shi Xin came. In the past few days, he had a good time in Gaoyou Mansion, as if a country bun had entered the city and was interested in everywhere. In the past, he could only sneak around, but now he is swaggering on the street.

"Shixin, I need to give you a task now." Zhang Yang said.

"Brother, are you going to war again?" Shi Xin asked.

"We fight in order not to fight." Zhang Yang said, "From today on, I will give you one of your best tasks."

The best? Shi Xin thought about it for a long time, but he didn't know what he was best at.

"You take a hundred-man team, preferably the hundred-man team with more brothers in our salt farm, and take a boat to load refined salt from Dingxi salt farm and sell it to other parts of the province." Zhang Yang said.

It turned out to be to buy salt. This is naturally familiar, and there is also a hundred-person team, with a hundred-bar Tianque firepower, which is enough to protect your salt boat. Don't be afraid of anything.

"Okay, brother, no problem." Shi Xin said.

Originally, the sale of private salt was all sneaky. Now, it is finally possible to sell private salt. No, it should be a good official salt. Of course, Shixin is willing to do this job.

"Your 100-person team is to protect our refined salt in the process of transportation. The best situation is that you find a big merchant in other cities that can digest our refined salt. We don't want to show too much. Anyway, in war-tized areas, many salt merchants can't transport salt, and there must be a shortage of salt there. Don't conflict with others unless you have to. If there is any situation, you can ask Guanzhong for help. Zhang Yang told me.

Although I have decided to start selling refined salt in a large amount of money, there must be a fig leaf with the province. Try not to destroy the current situation. Let the province and Zhu Yuanzhang fight and sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight by yourself. If you beat you, I will make a fortune.

Now Zhang Yang's status is very special. He doesn't really turn to the court. Of course, he is not the same as the province. They like to fight as they like, which has nothing to do with themselves. Zhu Yuanzhang makes Zhang Yang more vigilant. Zhu Yuanzhang has developed too fiercely for himself. It will definitely have an impact. After all, the struggle between the peasant uprisings is also very fierce. There can only be one emperor in the end.

Taking advantage of the gap of their war, actively developing themselves is the first priority. Now, both sides have no time to pay attention to themselves. Even if they find that they are illegally selling refined salt, I'm afraid that the province will pretend not to know, so let the Lianghuai salt transport department have a headache.

"Yes, big brother. However, in this way, our price may be a little lower. Shixin said that after all, the profit of wholesale is not as high as that of retail.

"One hundred and fifty yuan per catty." Zhang Yang said, "The price can't be too low. Now it's out of stock everywhere."

Gao, or the eldest brother Gao, Shi Xin said in his heart.

From then on, Shixin began his familiar job: selling salt.

(to be continued)