Chapter One Hundred and Twelve: Bird Shots Make the Most Expensive Iron
On the high platform of the main campus three miles north of Dushikou Fort, the supervisor Li Guofu raised his eyes to look at the high sun and felt dizzy. He took a moment to calm down and then looked at the groups of sergeants who were training in the distance.
After a long time, he finally spoke to Zhang Cheng: "The weather is so hot, but the sergeant is practicing non-stop. Can you bear it?"
Zhang Cheng smiled and said to Li Guofu: "Eunuch, if you practice hard on weekdays, you will have more ability to kill the enemy when you are fighting on the battlefield. If you are relaxed at ordinary times, I am afraid that you will only be a deserter on the battlefield.
.”
"Well, that's true, but our family is afraid that the sergeants won't be able to stand it if we practice like this."
"Well, what my father-in-law said is absolutely true. I originally wanted to give the soldiers more meat every month to replenish their physical strength. However, the place on the North Road is exhausted and full of waste. Now it only takes ten days to eat.
A meal of meat." Zhang Cheng said slightly helplessly.
…
In fact, even so, these sergeants are already very satisfied. Thinking about the days before they were recruited, not to mention three meat meals a month, some may not be able to eat three meat meals a year.
Although they are all strong laborers in each military household, they still have to consume food rations on weekdays. Some people even eat more grain than those who work hard day and night to cultivate real estate.
Nowadays, if you enlist in the army, you can receive settlement money or grain. Not only can you save food rations for your family, but after three months, if you can still stay in the army, you will officially receive your military registration number plate, and you will also receive monthly food and salary.
Available.
Even if Zhang Cheng's current infantry and cavalry soldiers, including officers, are only spending half the salary, it is still much better than nothing!
I think back then, military households like them had to be sent to garrison in various key areas on a monthly basis. Not only did they not receive food and salary, but sometimes they even had to provide their own clothes, armor and food, otherwise they would suffer from hunger and cold.
From time to time, I was bullied and scolded by my superiors.
As for the hardships of training in the military camp, it is actually not much harder than when they worked hard at home and farmed. However, they can still eat well and have clothes to wear. In their opinion, being in the army has its own fun.
These new recruits who have never been on the battlefield, have never killed anyone and seen blood, do not yet know the cruelty of the battlefield. They have only been in the army for less than three months.
Just because Zhang Cheng was eager to form an army, he divided them into battalions and practiced them first. If they didn't work hard or didn't practice seriously, they might still be eliminated in the end.
Zhang Cheng did this to reduce the pressure on Wu Zhizhong, so that he could free up his time to recruit thousands more capable people on Xiabei Road and East Road to expand his team.
As for food and salary, it is definitely insufficient, but we cannot stop recruiting soldiers just because we have no money. We must recruit soldiers first, train them, and then find a way to solve the problem of money and food. Otherwise, we may never be able to form an army.
…
At this time, Zhang Cheng said to Li Guofu who was sitting next to him: "Father, should we ask the soldiers to line up and take a look, or should we just practice like this, and I will accompany you for a walk to see how they are practicing?"
Li Guofu seemed to be very interested, and he asked cheerfully: "Will this affect the healing of the arrow wound on Admiral Zhang's body?"
"Haha, of course not. I can do it when I'm with others, but not when I'm with Eunuch Li."
"That's good, that's good!"
Li Guofu seemed to have noticed something, but he didn't need to say much. He just stood up and prepared to walk around. The two young eunuchs who were with him were about to come over to help him. Li Guofu said angrily: "Just rest.
Our family can still move."
The two young eunuchs didn't know what to do for a moment. Zhang Cheng had also stood up. He turned to Lin Fangping and said: "Fangping, you don't need to follow the guards in my military camp. I'll take a walk with my father-in-law."
If you stay, you can have the two little father-in-laws look around in this camp."
The two young eunuchs stole a hint of gratitude towards Zhang Cheng, but it passed quickly and returned to their aloof arrogance, waiting for Li Fangping to come over and greet them.
Relatively speaking, Zhang Cheng really likes the eunuch Li Guofu very much. He feels that this person is still somewhat popular. Although he still has the eunuch's proud and superior attitude in his speech and behavior, he is much more popular than other eunuchs.
A touch of sincerity, less artificiality.
Zhang Cheng turned around and said to the generals of the Dushi Bu Camp on the stage: "You can go and do your work later. I will accompany the supervisor to walk around the camp. I will order someone to summon you when necessary."
wait."
"Here!"
All the generals agreed in unison, turned around and retreated from the high platform in formation. Only Chen Zheng, the general sitting in the camp, remained where he was. Zhang Cheng looked at him and smiled and said: "Chen Zheng, if you have nothing to do, just go with me."
I will accompany the supervisor for a walk together."
Li Guofu held his head high and ran to the school grounds. Zhang Cheng and Chen Zheng followed him on the left and right. It was past noon and the sun was at its most fierce.
To the east of the school grounds are groups of sergeants practicing gunfire and artillery. When the infantry camp was first established, firearms were still used from the stocks of various places. The Yunzhou craftsman camp has also just begun to operate. Although there are many craftsmen,
However, there are many procedures for making firearms, and each one cannot be ignored.
Now all the preparation work has just been completed, and the division of labor has been clearly defined according to the skills that everyone has mastered, and then operation has begun. The fire blunderbuss are all made in a unified way.
Zhang Cheng didn't know much about the manufacturing process of muskets, and he didn't put forward any new improvement requirements. He just stipulated that bird muskets should be the standard muskets for his soldiers. They must be well-made, not afraid of being slower, but must be sophisticated and durable, and the standard must be
Unite.
After successfully making three bird muskets, they were all sent to Dushi for test firing. The effect was good, the weight was good, and the accuracy was acceptable. Now the Yunzhou Craftsman Camp is shooting birds according to Zhang Cheng's requirements.
The final and precise division of labor is carried out in the making of the gun.
At this moment, for the fire soldiers in the Dushi Infantry Camp and the Chicheng Infantry Camp, Zhang Cheng just selected various fine-looking muskets from the inventory to practice.
However, in order to achieve uniform results, Zhang Cheng still stipulated that the same musket should be used in every round. For example, the round they were watching now was practicing with a quick rifle.
"Father, there are four bureaus under one division of this monolithic infantry camp, two of which are the killer centurions, and two are the firearms centurions. This team is now the firearms bureau.
However, there are currently too few sophisticated muskets to equip the entire battalion of fire soldiers. Only one of the two firearms bureaus can use muskets, and the other can only use fast guns instead. It is really embarrassing!
"When Zhang Cheng said this, there was a sense of powerlessness in his tone.
Li Guofu watched the sergeant practicing very seriously. He was also in high spirits. When he heard what Zhang Cheng said, he asked casually: "We heard that the Ministry of War has allocated hundreds of military craftsmen to you, why don't you make it yourself?"
Zhang Cheng replied with a very embarrassed look on his face: "Although we have military craftsmen, making blunderbuss is the most time-consuming and requires more iron materials, especially fine iron. The remaining amount of North Road will not be able to cover the cost. It is estimated that