I can't die

After Ding Richang was transferred to Li Hongzhang's command, he immediately met with the leader of the Green Gang and the salt merchant.The meeting place was at the Green Corridor where Li Hongzhang saw off Childe, an American arms dealer.At this banquet, Ding Richang behaved very approachable, just like the outside rumors, he did not have the airs of a scholar at all, and got along very happily.Immediately, he implemented the matter of salt tickets. The salt merchants were relieved after seeing Ding Richang's attitude. They are most afraid of encountering difficult officials when doing business. But that's all.

Of course, Ding Richang also had conditions for "forgive the past" for the previous private salt. He raised the original lijin (tax point) of Lianghuai from [-] to [-].But even such a high tax is nothing more than a drop in the bucket for these salt households, and they all agree.

After Ding Richang got the first batch of Shang Jia Lijin, he found Li Hongzhang and discussed a major event.That is, I hope to ask the imperial court to allow the Huai army to build military factories in the south of the Yangtze River again, and the funds will be drawn from the newly collected lijin.

He said this to Li Hongzhang: In the communication between China and foreign countries, foreigners take advantage of my troubled times and threaten and coerce from time to time.

He believes that foreign countries' strong skills lie in strong ships and guns. Foreigners rely on this to coerce China, and we can also take advantage of it to deal with foreigners.Another important point of Ding Richang's thinking is that he realized from his own personal experience that traditional Chinese production techniques and methods cannot meet the needs of modern gun manufacturing.The old-style mud furnaces cannot smelt the steel that can make modern guns, and it is difficult to make the bore of the guns smooth and even with mud molds.Therefore, Ding Richang had a strong desire to reform the production process and means.

This is exactly why Li Hongzhang insisted on recommending this person.Although Ding Richang was born as a scholar, he was extremely proficient in firearms manufacturing. In his early years, he personally designed and supervised the production of 36 short bombs and more than 2000 shells in Yantang, a suburb of Guangzhou.These weapons were welcomed by the Qing army in Guangdong, and Ding Richang's reputation spread far and wide.

Li Hongzhang was very positive about Ding Richang's proposal. Now Zai Chun mentioned him as the admiral of Liangjiang, holding the military power in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, in order to let him take advantage of Shanghai's backing from foreigners and access to the world's latest technology, and vigorously develop military industry. In order to revitalize the Qing Dynasty one day.

Although Li Hongzhang agreed with Ding Richang's proposal, he did not immediately report to the court, but wanted to send him to Anqing Nei Ordnance Institute to learn and visit first.

Anqing Nei Ordnance Institute was the first modern military industrial enterprise established by the Qing Dynasty on its own, and it was also the place where China's modern machinery industry was initiated. It gathered the best scientists in China today.Ding Richang received Li Hongzhang's suggestion, and was taught humbly. The next day, he rectified his horses and horses, and planned to go directly to Anqing from Shanghai across Jiangsu by water.

It is good to say that this person is an official.The salt merchants heard that the newly appointed Lianghuai Salt Envoy planned to go on a tour, and they had already arranged entertainment along the way. Ding Richang went down the Yangtze River, socializing while driving, looking a little high-spirited.

When he arrived in Anqing, it was already the ninth lunar month.Ding Richang notified his name, handed in the document approved by Li Hongzhang, and was welcomed in after passing the identity verification. The "autumn tiger" had just dispersed, and the sky seemed a lot cooler, but walking in the Anqing Neijun Machinery Factory, the shouts of lively people and the sound of roaring machines did not mean to cool down at all.

The one who came to meet Ding Richang was Hua Hengfang, who is now in the civilized industry because of the "Anqing" produced in the cottage.

Ding Richang has long been familiar with Hua Hengfang's name, and he is very polite to him, and he has performed the junior ceremony.Hua Hengfang saw that this senior official of the third rank was so useful, and also heard about Ding Richang's intentions, she knew everything about him.Ding Richang was originally fond of artillery Westernization, now he had to meet with Hua Hengfang, and they discussed it immediately.For a moment, the two talked very excitedly, and even felt that they were confidants.

"Master Hua has already researched the flowering cannon?" Ding Richang was also surprised when he heard the pride in Hua Hengfang's words.

Blossoming cannon shells have been around since the end of the Ming Dynasty, but they are not very powerful.This kind of blooming bullet is to install gunpowder in the iron ball body, and then open a hole to insert the detonation fuze. The so-called fuze is a hollow reed tube with built-in powder twist. Before loading, it is cut according to the distance of the target to be shot. length.

When shooting, first put the gunpowder into the gun chamber, then install a circular wooden board to block it, and then fill the wooden board with an inch of soil. The soil is used to seal the gas, because the cannon barrel and the ball The projectile has a large gap, so soil should be added.At this time, the fuze of the ball shell is put into the gun bore facing the muzzle, and then gunpowder is filled through the gap between the ball shell and the gun bore to fill the space between the soil layer and the rear hemisphere of the shell, and then the front half of the iron ball shell is filled with gunpowder. Cover with a layer of wet soil, and then seal a layer of wax on it.When firing the cannon, first ignite the fuze of the explosive bomb protruding from the muzzle, and then immediately ignite the gunpowder on the fire door. The front and rear propellants burn sequentially, and the wood, soil, shells and wax are shot together.This method of launching is very dangerous, because even if soil and wax seals are used, the flame generated by igniting the propellant will also escape from the gap between the shell and the barrel to the front of the shell, and it is very easy to ignite the exposed powder twist, resulting in an early explosion Even bombed.

Naturally, the mountain cannon Hua Hengfang talked about is an upgraded version of this kind of shell.This new type of mountain-opening cannon was specially ordered by Li Hongzhang to be the first to be developed.Back then, when the Taiping Army attacked the southeast coast, foreigners used this latest type of cannon. At that time, Li Hongzhang saw foreigners using cannons to destroy the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom army with cannons under the city of Suzhou. stunned.So far, this new type of weapon has also been listed as one of the primary tasks of Anqing's development and research.

"I wonder if I can take a look?" Ding Richang asked excitedly.Hua Hengfang agreed to everything.Call the apprentices to clear the field behind the inner ordnance, and then ask the apprentices to prepare for the test of the gun.

When everyone came to the cannon test field, they saw a red cannon made of fine iron reflecting cold light under the sun.

"Master, can I light a fire?" the little apprentice asked. ,

"Yes." Hua Hengfang dragged Ding Richang back a few steps, but saw the little boy walking up to the cannon with a fire pocket to light it.There was a sudden roar, and the shell shot out, like a meteor flashing by, and fell to the ground.

"boom!"

There was another explosion, and the shells landed with a huge impact, and countless iron sheets shot out with the sound of the explosion, like thunder rolling.The original target had been blasted to pieces long ago, and a large hole more than half a meter deep and three meters wide appeared out of nowhere on the ground.

"This... Wei Shi is amazing." Seeing this, Ding Richang had to admire.

Hua Hengfang smiled, and took the diorama and handed it to Ding Richang: "My lord, please use the binoculars again."

Hearing this, Ding Richang took the binoculars and looked at the big hole. Apart from the half-meter-deep hole, there were countless traces of iron sheets flying around it. The hollow hole is the size of a person's fist, and the lethality of the iron sheet can be imagined.

At this point, Ding Richang had no choice but to turn pale with fright. If the iron sheet rubbed against someone's neck, Da Luo Jinxian might not be able to save him.

"This cannon can be called the number one artifact in the world."