Chapter 17: Xiyuan Cannon Inspection

The north of the Lan Indigo Factory in Haidian, west of Beijing was the location of the Qing Dynasty firearm.

The firearm camp was built during the Kangxi period, when Manchuria and Mongolian Eight Banners Firearms were selected. By the 35th year of Qianlong, it was expanded and the current official room was established, with more than 2,000 barracks and more than 40,000 soldiers.

The head of the firearms battalion was the Mongolian prince and prince Senggelinqin, the presidential minister. He was under the jurisdiction of several presidential ministers. The left and right wing chiefs of the second internal and external battalion, and the wing chiefs of the wing chief battalion, the battalion chief, the lieutenant leader of the bird gun lieutenant leader, the deputy lieutenant leader of the bird gun lieutenant leader, and the lieutenant leader of the bird gun lieutenant leader, and the lieutenant leader of the internal and external firearms battalion training.

Others include the Associate Affairs Officer, the wing chief, the battalion, the battalion chief, the lieutenant of the bird gun guards, and the quota-setting person, etc., who are responsible for handling the transfer of rules and regulations; in addition to the subordinates of each banner, the lieutenant, the guerrilla leader, the commander, the commander, the commander, the commander, the commander, the commander, the commander, the commander, the commander, the commander, the commander, the commander, the commander, the commander, the commander, the commander, the commander, the commander, the commander, the commander, the commander, the commander, the commander, the commander, the commander, the commander, the commander, the commander, the commander, the commander, the commander, the commander, the commander, the commander, the commander, the commander, the commander, the commander, the commander, the commander, the commander

The rumbling cannon sounded, and the imperial guards entered the camp. Senggelinqin led the military generals in the camp, and the civil servants were all in public uniforms. He knelt down in front of the red felt strips and performed the ceremony of the monarch and ministers who knelt three times and nine times kowtowed: "My ministers, please respectfully ask the emperor for peace, long live long live long live long live long!"

"Well, I." When I come here to test the cannon, I can't go to the tribute court like I did when I went to the casual clothes a few days ago. The emperor was wearing a full set of court clothes, and a little eunuch followed behind him with Zhongjie slowly: "Get up."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

“How big is this area?”

"Reply to the emperor, the firearm camp is four miles long from north to south and one mile wide from east to west."

"It's not very big." The emperor turned around and greeted: "Lao Liu, can the cannon test be tested here? "

Yi was the plenipotent minister who communicated with the British envoy and the British firearm merchant this time. He had accompanied the British here a few days ago and even tried to shoot a few shots. If there was any mistake when the emperor arrived, he would be guilty of the crime and he would always be clear in advance. He hurriedly bowed and replied: "Your Majesty, don't worry about this. My brother and the Seng King (this refers to Senggelinqin) have already tested it. As long as you adjust the range slightly, you will not be able to lose it."

"That's good. I see the streets here are crisscrossing and there are tens of thousands of soldiers, and I can't be injured by stray bullets."

"Yes. The emperor's heavenly words, and I will remember them."

"Let's go, go to the martial arts venue." The emperor waved his hand and headed straight: "Look at how powerful the British artillery cannons cannons are before making a decision."

"Zha! Rong Cai guided the emperor."

The group of people led the emperor to the cannonyard not far from the street, which was already ready to stop. On the dragon platform, which was three and six feet high in the martial arts field, the dragon flag was swaying, and a yellow tent was set in the middle, with an imperial throne inside.

On the open space not far from the martial arts field, there were several black iron guys, short, entrenched on the ground like a few iron lions. They had been wiped in advance. The cannon barrel was tied with red silk, which looked majestic and majestic. There were several wooden boxes next to the cannon, containing shells. The soldiers in their troupes knelt on the ground and greeted the approaching emperor.

The emperor went over to inspect it himself, but he didn't understand it very much, but Yi and Senggelinqin understood it, and explained to him: "Your Majesty, this is a spiral rifled cannon that can fire the 12-pound shells mentioned in the British, and can shoot a range of ten miles."

On this side, Senggelinqin asked the soldiers to open the bullet box. The emperor walked over and took a look. The shape of the shell was between the round shell and the conical shell. The whole was shorter, the rear tail was thicker, and the front end was whole. It looked like an enlarged half-parted olive, more like a shell.

"Where is the loading? Can you fill it up and take a look?"

The emperor has his life, how can he say that? Yi and Senggelinqin commanded the soldiers to take out a shell, pull the bolt of the spiral rifled gun, fill it in, then quickly close the bolt, and stand aside again. Only then did he notice that this kind of cannon was actually loaded from the back! He knew nothing about this kind of military knowledge, but he understood the most basic point: from the back loading, it requires the technology of bottom fire - have the British already so advanced?

Seeing that he was a little dazed, the people around him dared not interrupt, and the scene became quiet. After a while, the emperor smiled and nodded: "Where are other artillery? Let me introduce it!"

"Yes." Yi and Senggelinqin led the way and introduced several other mortars and howitzers to the emperor. After walking around, everyone surrounded the emperor and sat down in the yellow tent on the martial arts stage.

The emperor sat in the middle, took the monocular lens handed over by Yi, leaned over his eyes and looked out: "What are those...? How far is it?"

"When you go back to the emperor, those places are pre-prepared gun targets. It is exactly four miles away from where the emperor lives."

"Have you discussed with the British? What can I use to fight?"

"Yes. I have already discussed it. Use spiral rifled cannons, mortar cannons and howitzers to fire each. Please ask the emperor to read Longmu Yu!"

The emperor smiled unanimously: "Let's start."

"Yes!" Senggelinqin took the order, got off the stage, and went to the bottom to give an order. A gunner quickly loaded the shells again. When the soldiers holding the flag waved the red flag to give orders, they immediately pulled the bolt. With a loud bang, a ball of fire came out of the muzzle, and the shells with smoke drew a graceful parabola in the sky and fell from a distance.

The measurement was probably not very accurate. The shells fell down a little far from the target. The bomb fell to the ground and exploded. The emperor saw it clearly with a telescope. A large area of ​​soil at the landing point was ploughed up by the artillery fire, and the earth fog spread out!

"Okay!" The emperor slapped the armrest of the imperial seat hard: "Shot a few more shots, fire a few more shots!"

The soldiers below the stage swung continuously, and the gunners were loading quickly and skillfully. Amid the deafening sound of bombardment, the shells flew out of the cannon chamber with a whistling sound of slashing through the air, and fell densely around the gun target. Several shells fell on the target. The target had been loaded with gunpowder and tung oil in advance. After being ignited, they immediately turned into larger explosion points. The thick smoke rose into the sky with the flames, and the scene was spectacular.

Everyone present was shocked. He really didn't expect that the artillery brought by the British would have such great power? If a few can be placed on the Dagukou fort, even if the barbarians from all directions had the idea of ​​being unjust, they would not have to mobilize thousands of troops. Just these few cannons would be enough to resist the enemy from outside the country, right?

For a moment, even the Neo-Confucian masters like Jia Zhen, who never agreed to discuss the purchase of military equipment with the British and foreigners, were deeply convinced that the emperor could have such a foresight and sincere admiration. Naturally, the words of praise for the saints came even more from the heart.

Everyone praised it from their hearts, and there was no falsehood. The emperor was very proud: No matter what, the power of the cannon is obvious to all. I saw it in the martial arts field in Xiyuan today. If it is spread through word of mouth in the future, it can always block the mouths of those idiots who think that "the heavenly dynasty has everything, and there is no need to communicate with the barbarians from all directions."

After the new artillery was completed, they were fired with mortars and howitzers, which were also shocking, causing people on and off the stage to shout endlessly.

When the martial arts field was quiet and the gunfire smoke disappeared, the emperor specially asked three British artillery companies to come to the emperor. Yi introduced them and comforted them with a few words. After the order was sent, they each had a reward without mentioning them. Then they also rewarded the generals, soldiers, and gunners who were responsible for training the soldiers during this martial arts process. This was a matter of course and there was no need to explain in detail.

After resting in the yellow tent for a while, the emperor looked at the ministers standing left and right: "Prince Gong?"

"My brother is here."

"This time you did a good job. Not only am I satisfied, the artillery will be placed on the front line of the coastal defense in the future, so that I can ensure that the vast seas of the heavens are safe. Speaking of which, it is also your work! "

"I dare not ask the heavens for my own achievements. This is all the strategies that the emperor has given. I am just following the orders to be executed by the emperor."

The emperor shook his head and smiled: "This is wrong." He said: "I treat people with a fair heart. How can I not be rewarded if I have a meritorious minister like you? I will give you a reward to Prince Gong with his eyes and a petite feather, and add a royal salary for one year."

"I thank you, my brother."

"One more thing," the emperor's expression gradually became serious. He said: "I have seen the notes on the General Administration's office. Each cannon produced by the British requires more than 6,000 taels of silver, and a hundred cannons cost 600,000. The Qing Dynasty's sea has a long range. How many cannons do I need to use? Have you ever thought about it? How much money will it cost?"

Everyone seemed to have a basin of cold water poured on their heads, and the enthusiasm just now was wiped out. He Rulin stood among the crowd, suddenly stepped out of the crowd and knelt down in front of the imperial throne: "What the emperor said is very true. In fact, I was thinking just now that instead of spending a lot of money to buy cannons produced by the British, it is better to take out the money and hand it over to our Tian Dynasty Martial Arts Office to visit the experts in the world to build our own cannons! First, there is no need to spend such a large amount, and secondly, I think it is not controlled by the British!"

"He Rulin's words make a big sense. People are not as good as me! Only those who have studied them themselves can keep them and grasp them tightly!" The emperor did not hide his praise in his heart and shouted out He Rulin's words: "However, my Chinese people have been educated by saints. Such strange tricks and tricks such as guns and cannons are difficult to compare with foreigners. So I think it is better to buy the British's military equipment temporarily, and send people to carefully explore them, not only to know the truth, but also to know the reason. At that time, you can get rid of these foreign teachers and make our own weapons. Moreover, you must make better than the British, with greater power and longer range!"

As he spoke, he pointed with his hand at Yan Jingming who was standing aside: "Yan Jingyan?"

"I'm here."

"Zeng Guofan recommended you to me before. I trust Zeng Guofan's vision and know your kindness. You are in charge of the ministry. This time, you will develop and buy British artillery items, which is very expensive."

Speaking of this, his expression became serious: "I give you a privilege today: to buy British artillery and future affairs. Anything you think should not be spent is not my fault for giving you the oral instructions in person. If anyone comes, you can just use someone to blow him out! You don't have to be polite!"

With a word, everyone's expression changed. Such power was a little too huge, right? Is this equivalent to handing over all the power of the imperial court's division into Yan Jingming's hands?

Yan Jingming still looked as if he was not loved in every way. He stepped forward and knelt down in front of the imperial case: "I understand, and I have also recorded it. If someone comes to the Ministry of Revenue for any wrong words in the future, I will beat him out!"
Chapter completed!