Sun Heding took over the new flintlock gun from Shang Yi, looked at it carefully, tried it again, and was full of praise for the gun: "Westerners are proficient in skillful mechanisms, and it is true that they made fire."
The gun is also much more refined."
Then Alonso opened another box, took out a short gun from it, handed it to Shang Yi and said: "Mr. Qian, take a look at this revolving gun."
The so-called revolver repeater is actually an early revolver. Of course Shang Yi knew that the first truly successful and widely used revolver was invented by American Samuel Colt in 1835.
It was invented and later became the standard weapon of Western cowboys.
However, in the era of matchlocks and flintlock guns, there were many primitive revolvers. However, due to the poor craftsmanship at that time, they were expensive, and when using them, you still had to turn the revolvers by hand, which was quite difficult to use.
Inconvenient, it was not widely used. Of course, early revolvers also had the advantages of simple structure, reliable action, and safe use. It was not until 1818 that three Americans, including Collier, successfully invented a flintlock revolver.
For the first time, the action of the firing mechanism was combined with the rotating wheel, making it the earliest revolver in use.
However, Shang Yi knows that any new weapon has a process of gradually moving from immaturity to perfection. This is true for matchlocks, flintlock guns, and artillery. First, make a few revolvers and come back, slowly study and slowly improve.
, I have a few structural diagrams of revolvers, which should save me a lot of detours.
Then Alonso led Shang Yi to see the eight artillery pieces brought, four large and four small. Each artillery was equipped with a matching wooden gun carriage, which not only could fix the artillery and reduce the reaction force, but also facilitated
To carry, an artillery piece weighing about three to four hundred kilograms can be pulled by just one horse.
Compared with the continuous improvement of artillery, the structural changes of artillery are not many, mainly in the size and supporting artillery carriage, artillery shells and gun casting materials. Compared with Chinese artillery, European artillery in the same period had tube
The wall is thicker, the barrel becomes thicker from front to back, and the diameter is larger. Therefore, the range is relatively high, the lethality is enhanced, and it is less likely to explode. In addition, the barrel of Western artillery has a front sight and a light
The door is used for aiming. There are lugs on both sides of the artillery, so that the artillery can be set up on the gun carriage or gun mount, so that it is more convenient to adjust the shooting angle.
After looking at the samples of these firearms, Shang Yi was also very satisfied. However, there was no way to test fire in the warehouse, so Shang Yi asked Alonso: "How many of each type of firearm did you bring in total?"
Alonso replied: "There are three hundred and thirty-five old-style flintlock muskets, each with fifty taels of silver, which is sixteen thousand seven hundred and fifty taels of silver. There are fifty-seven new-style flintlock muskets, each with fifty taels of silver."
Seventy taels of silver is equivalent to 3990 taels of silver. Fifteen revolvers, each worth 80 taels of silver, is equivalent to one thousand two hundred taels of silver. Four medium-sized artillery pieces and four small artillery pieces are worth a total of one
Ten thousand taels of silver, a total of thirty-two thousand one hundred and forty taels of silver, and fifteen rounds of gunpowder for each musket."
Shang Yi nodded, took a big bag from a soldier, and said: "Very good, early tomorrow morning, I will send someone to pick up the goods and test the gun. There are 10,000 taels of silver here, plus I will pay in advance."
The deposit of 3,000 taels is a total of 13,000 taels. The remaining silver will be paid immediately after I count the quantity and complete the test firing."
Alonso also smiled and breathed a sigh of relief. After completing this transaction, he and Costa can take 30% as commission. The two of them can get more than 4,800 taels of silver if they split it equally, excluding other expenses.
The total profit is about 4,000 taels of silver. Use this money to buy some goods and ship them back to Europe. It can be tripled or quadrupled at least. Making money is the second priority. Guan Jian is the credit of the two after completing this transaction.
The strength has also been greatly improved, which will be of great benefit to future business, which cannot be bought with ten thousand taels of silver.
However, in order to complete this business, the two of them also paid a lot of money. Not only was it very difficult to obtain this batch of muskets, but neither of them was a wealthy businessman. Therefore, they could not get together the funds to advance the amount, and finally
The two people had mortgaged their properties and shops in Macau, and they also kept Scola in Macau, like a hostage. They finally got this batch of guns together, and now they can finally deliver them smoothly.
The group of people walked out of the warehouse and were about to say goodbye when the captain of the Portuguese mercenary suddenly said to Sun Heding in blunt Chinese: "Sir, what do you call Mr. Sun Yuanhua?"
Sun Heding was stunned for a moment and said: "That's my father, you are..." As he said this, he looked the veteran up and down, and suddenly said with surprise and joy: "You are..."
The captain of the mercenary was also very happy. He grabbed Sun Heding's hand and said, "Have you thought about coming? I am Correa, Teixeira x Correa. I never thought that I would see you again. Almost there."
It's been ten years, right? How is your family?"
Sun Heding was also very excited and said: "Everyone is fine, everything is fine! Mr. Correa, how have you been doing these past few years?"
Correa smiled and said: "It's not bad. I recruited another mercenary group in Macau. This time they are the materials we escorted. I didn't expect to meet you again."
The two talked for a few more words, and Sun He Ding turned around and told Shang Yi that it turned out that Teixeira Correa was the captain of a Portuguese soldier hired by Sun Yuanhua in Dengzhou. At that time, they were responsible for teaching the Ming army how to use and forge firearms.
.It’s just that after Kong Youde, Geng Zhongming and others rebelled in Shandong, most of the Portuguese soldiers were killed in the war, leaving only Correa and two other soldiers, one named Bento Jean Gomez, and the other
One is named Wangre*Paul.
After the rebellion in Shandong subsided, Correa returned to the Portuguese country for a time, enlisted in the army and fought for three years, and then retired from the army and opened a small shop. However, Correa was not good at management and did not have much savings.
Years later, he became destitute and his wife fell ill and died. In order to make a living, Correa had to return to his old business and took his two sons, one daughter and two former subordinates to the East for adventure. He started an employment team in Macau.
A soldier is actually a bodyguard, and this time he was hired by Alonso to escort him.
Sun Heding then introduced Shang Yi to Correa, and the two also greeted each other. Shang Yi also asked Correa to come to his barracks tomorrow to test-fire guns and artillery.
Early the next morning, Shang Yi, with Alonso, Correa and others, took the team out of the suburbs outside the city and conducted a test firing on the pretext of training soldiers. Meng Honggong and others did not pay much attention to this.
Thinking about it, Shang Yi was really strict in running the army, and it seemed that it was not unreasonable for him to win so many battles.
Among the Jin Yiwei, they heard that Mu Ling's army was practicing firearms, and Zhou Wei also wanted to see it, so he took Zhao Congfu and the two of them came together. Shang Yi also said that this matter could not be hidden from the Jin Yiwei, and everyone in the anti-guard knew it.
, just don’t ruin it in terms of face.
When we arrived at the outskirts, we first had the Portuguese soldiers test-fire, and then taught the Muling Army how to test-fire. All the muskets and artillery were tested one by one. Each musket was fired six times, and the artillery was fired three times. The quality was confirmed.
They all passed the test, and Zhou Wei also became interested for a while and wanted to play with muskets. In order to make Guan Shi a good friend with Jin Yiwei, Shang Yi did not refuse and asked Luo Yuanbin to teach Zhou Wei how to fire muskets, but he did not dare to let him
She plays with a flintlock gun. Because the performance of this gun is not yet mastered by the Muling Army, so they only dare to shoot her with a few rounds of blunderbuss.
Taking this opportunity, Shang Yi went to chat with Correa. After all, he accepted European military ideas. Correa admired the Muling soldiers' emphasis on the use of firecrackers. He also praised the Muling soldiers' formation and military appearance.
He spoke highly of it and believed that in Europe today, only the German army could have such organizational discipline.
Shang Yi was also quite proud that the Muling Army he had trained by himself could be compared with the ancestors of the German army in later generations. However, foreigners are straightforward. Correa went on to say that the muskets and artillery of the Muling Army were outdated products.
At this time in Europe, flintlock muskets began to be widely used. At the same time, the Muling Army's musket formation was very good, but the use of artillery was quite backward. This was also related to the problems of the artillery itself. The range was too short and there was no special equipment.
Although the gun carriage has used the ruler before, it is not yet proficient.
However, Correa also praised Mulingjun's use of bayonets. He believed that although this invention was small, it was of great significance. It gave the musketeers the ability to defend themselves in close combat. He also praised Shang Yi who came up with this idea.
Sigh, but it made Shang Yi ashamed.
After talking for a while, the two of them were quite speculative because they had a common topic. Shang Yi then asked: "Mr. Correa, how much income did you earn from this escort mission?"
Correa said: "According to your calculation method, it's about three hundred taels of silver."
Shang Yi nodded, sixty mercenaries, three hundred taels of silver, an average of one mercenary is only five taels of silver, and asked: "Then what is the annual income of an ordinary mercenary under you?"
?”
Correa said: "About thirty taels of silver."
Shang Yi nodded again. The price was similar to that of the Ming army. The monthly salary of the Ming army guarding the border was only about two to three taels of silver. So he said: "If I want to hire you, are you willing to come and fight here?"
?”
Correa was stunned for a moment and said, "What kind of battle are we fighting?"
Shang Yi said: "Of course it is with the Qing army. I can hire you for a long time. Ordinary soldiers get three taels of silver per month, squad leaders get seven taels, and you can give fifteen taels. Of course, it is up to you to decide how to allocate the commission.
, I will only pay you a total based on the number of people, and after winning the battle, there will be additional bonuses, what do you think of this condition?"
Correa was quite moved after hearing this. At this price, a soldier's annual fixed income is thirty-six taels of silver. Even if he takes a tenth of the money, it is more than thirty-six taels, and his income is very stable.
, and there are other bonuses. And my commission plus the proceeds from the search will amount to 300 taels of silver in more than a year. Such conditions are indeed very attractive.
So Correa thought for a while and said: "So how many people do you want to hire?"
Shang Yi said: "Of course, the more people, the better, but they must meet my requirements, be able to fight, and obey my orders. I don't want useless or disobedient people."
Correa also nodded and said: "Okay, I will send Alonso back to Macau, then recruit people and come back to you."