In the Flood Soldier Yamen, General Manager Zhang Bo was smoking hibiscus ointment on a recliner in the back hall. He took a few puffs, took a big puff of air, and sat up contentedly.

The maid who was beating her leg next to her quickly brought a cup of tea over.

He rinsed his mouth, spit into the spittoon, and looked at the maid who wanted a figure without a figure and a butt without a butt. This was what his tigress had found for him, so he sighed and sang:

"The hibiscus cream comes from earth, the silk is light and the feather cloth is cheap...ah!"

'Hibiscus ointment', also called 'Fushou ointment', was given to him by a southern businessman. After taking a few puffs, he felt energetic all over.

Just as he was about to order dinner, his adopted son Li Ge hurried in and said:

"Father, Mr. Zhao from the Zhaguan Yamen is here, and I will arrange for him to live in the flower hall."

"What's he doing here so late!"

Li Ge continued: "I heard from Mr. Zhao that we were borrowing people to carry things at the dock. An hour ago, 20 boats came from the south and docked at Wuzi Qianqiao.

What’s strange is that no one on the boat has gone down to the dock yet.”

"Oh, weird things happen every year, but there are so many this year!"

While Zhang Bo was talking, he got off the ground, put on his shoes and walked to the flower hall.

Hanzhuang Fenbing Yamen has always been the territory of Mr. Zhang and his family.

These sixty or seventy years have passed, and it is basically hereditary.

The scale of the Yamen gradually expanded, from three to five courtyards, which was quite impressive.

In front of the flower hall, there are rockery fish ponds, pavilions, small bridges and flowing water, giving it a Jiangnan scenery.

Zhao Xiong is in the flower hall admiring the exquisite screen flowers made of nanmu in the flower hall. It is engraved with 108 kinds of exquisite patterns. Zhao Xiong is really amazed.

"Master Zhao sometimes greets you from afar when he comes to my humble residence!" Zhang Bo laughed and walked in.

Zhao Xiong couldn't help but sneeze as soon as he turned around. He looked Zhang Bo up and down.

The strange thing is that Zhang Bo's body smells faintly of honey, tobacco leaves and lime water.

However, when he saw Zhang Bo, his face was flushed and there was nothing wrong with it. He smiled and said:

"Brother Lide, your flower hall is so elegant."

"Everywhere, these are all left by our ancestors. I'm just a rough guy and can't understand these things."

Zhang Bo, Mr. Zhang, really has no interest in these gadgets. If his mother hadn't watched, he would have sold the gadgets he had in the yamen in exchange for longevity ointments.

"I heard from Ge'er that you helped us flood soldiers again. I'm really grateful. You asked me how many teams you needed."

"With 20 boats, we estimate that there are still 100 people!" Zhao Xiong replied after pondering for a moment.

"Okay, Li Ge, take Mr. Wang Qi and Mr. Shen to the dock to unload the goods."

Li Ge took the order and went out. Zhao Xiong, who was sitting there drinking tea, gave a few instructions to Zhao Lu'er next to him. Zhao Lu'er nodded and went out.

He, Zhao Xiong, wanted to keep a low profile on this matter. After all, civil servants and eunuchs were together, and it would not sound good if it was revealed. He still wanted to be promoted.

After everyone went out, Zhao Xiong smiled and said:

"Brother Lide, I have just taken office. Hanzhuang seems to be uneasy recently. As a local official, I have to keep peace!"

Zhang Bo listened to his words with a smile, looked at Zhao Xiong, who was now harmless to humans and animals, and recalled what he had heard a few days ago.

This Zhao Xiong killed five people in one night, and he still kept his face, muttering to himself.

You, Zhao Xiongba, are here. What idiot dares to come to Hanzhuang to cause trouble? You don’t want to live anymore, right?

Zhao Xiong continued:

"I have more than 20 people who can fight. I will set up an advance team of the militia first. When the militia is established, they will be used as the backbone to train new people.

It's a pity that my yamen does not have suitable equipment. When I was in a dilemma, the chief shopkeeper gave me an idea. I took advantage of borrowing money to buy this batch of equipment from Brother Lide. I don't know what he wants.

Of course, I have reserved 10 spots for my brother as the advance team of the militia!"

When Zhang Bo heard this, he smiled and said without hesitation: "My armory is about to be renovated. Come with me."

The two of them held lanterns and went to the armory warehouse of the Flood Army Station.

To be honest, Zhang Bo hasn’t been to the armory for many years.

The armory in the west courtyard is made of large stones and is quite sturdy. The guard opened the wooden door covered with iron and lit the remaining oil lamps inside.

Zhang Bo fanned the dust with his hand and walked into the door with Zhao Xiong.

The armory is not big, only about 100 square meters. There are wooden shelves on both sides, and there are some weapons piled up, mostly swords, guns and antique three-eyed guns.

Zhao Xiong asked the warehouse clerk: "Don't you have blunderbuss, bows and arrows?"

The clerk in the warehouse looked troubled, and secretly looked at General Zhang Bo.

Zhang Bo closed his eyes calmly and reached out to touch his nose.

Then the little official understood the idea, nodded and bowed to Zhao Xiong and said:

"Master Xiong, there are no bows and arrows in the warehouse. Why don't you get some other firearms?"

In fact, Zhao Xiong's yamen also has a group of archers, but the bows and arrows used are only soft bows, and shooting at a distance of 30 paces can only break the skin of a person.

He despises these things. Once they come into contact with each other, they will become useless.

Moreover, it is now the 1800s, and the firearms of the foreign bandits have been upgraded.

He remembered that during the first Opium War, the British army's main battle musket, the Burka, was still a muzzle-loading gun, still used round-nose bullets, and the firing method was still tunnel-fired.

The shooting principle of this kind of gun is to fill the gunpowder from the muzzle, then place the projectile, and then use an iron rod to pound the gunpowder firmly.

Then hit the flint with a spring blade, the flint ignites the gunpowder, and the gunpowder pushes the projectile out of the gun body, causing damage.

The effective distance of the Burka rifle is about 200 meters, the effective shooting distance is about 90 meters, and it can shoot about 2-3 rounds per minute.

However, he has never seen the current Dakang field troops. He heard that there are plenty of firearms, but he doesn't know whose rifles are better.

It's just that muskets, artillery, hard crossbows, and strong bows are all life-saving items that generals know, and they are contraband on the market.

He and Zhang Bo weren't that good, so naturally they wouldn't lend it to him.

The clerk then led Zhao Xiong to a corner of the wall, pointed to the wooden frame above and said, "Master Xiong, here are firearms. Take a look."

Zhao Xiong took a closer look and frowned, okay!

They were all rusty blunderbuss, and the quality was worrying. There were dozens of blunderbuss placed on two wooden shelves. He browsed around and found that most of them were rusty, broken and unusable.

"Brother Zhao, I'll give you the next two days to clean up some of the muskets, then give them to the craftsmen to repair, and then send them to your yamen.

You also know that if grandma doesn’t care about our military station, uncle won’t come.

To tell you the truth, most of the firearms in the warehouse are more than 100 years old and were made during the San Francisco Rebellion. I really don’t dare to use them anymore.”

Zhang Bo shook his head and sighed.

Zhao Xiong smiled without making a sound. He picked up an iron pipe and looked at it. The iron pipe was about two meters long, like a water pipe with a diameter of 2.5 centimeters.

Insert a rocket into it and it should be fired after being ignited by a fire.

Isn’t this a typical and earliest standard firearm from the previous dynasty?

They have a history of more than 200 years, they are antiques!

Putting down the iron pipe, he picked up a firecracker with a rusty tip.

Not to mention, it really smells like a modern firearm.
Chapter completed!