Yin Feng considered all the trade routes of the Zhonghua Company. He found that Foshan, Guangdong, the production center of the iron smelting industry in the Ming Dynasty, already had a commercial hall of the Zhonghua Company. The Foshan branch of Huaxing Co., Ltd. existed. The government's control over the iron smelting industry in Foshan
The control was far inferior to that of the copper smelting industry. When the Ming Dynasty and Japan were still at war in Korea, a large amount of iron materials were sold to Japan by Chinese smugglers in the form of iron pots. Therefore, the channels for Chinese companies to obtain iron materials were smooth.
Therefore, after the Battle of Macau, the Chinese Company began to produce cast iron cannons in small batches. This first required major improvements in iron smelting technology. Fortunately, Taipei's coal mines provided sufficient iron smelting fuel. After many tests,
Iron materials that can fully meet the requirements of cast iron cannons have been released. Yin Feng does not understand these related processes. They are all busy by Li Yue, An Heping and others. Yin Feng has been supervising the research and development of hand grenades in the weapons research department.
The four-person Rainstorm Gun research team: Lin Qing, Zhang Xiaohai, Wang Gong, and Li Hetian. These four young senior craftsmen were enthusiastic about hand-thrown bombs. They were not discouraged because the experimental samples were destroyed in the gunpowder magazine explosion. They have since
Inspired by the iron material of the cast iron cannon, he began to experiment with a black powder grenade made of thin iron sheets. In Yin Feng's opinion, this kind of grenade was too bulky. Each grenade weighed at least eight kilograms. It was almost fast.
Even the 12-pound cannonball could be caught. The largest man selected from the escort infantry could only throw it 30 steps away.
"This is not enough. Not many people can throw it such a distance." After the experimental sample exploded, Yin Feng stood at the explosion point and observed the effect. Li Hetian was the oldest and seemed to be the leader of the four-person group. He hurried away.
He came over and explained: "The reason why the ship owner made it so big is because of the explosive power of the explosive. If it were made smaller, less explosives were installed, and the explosive power was not enough, then the shell of the bomb might not be able to explode.
If broken, the damage would be too small."
"Yes. There is a problem with the amount of explosives. Is this the best explosive we use?" Yin Feng immediately thought. The problem lies in the explosive power of black powder. To achieve the explosive effect, the amount of explosives must be increased. As a result
That means the weight of the entire grenade increases.
"Yes. It is made according to Western granular gunpowder*, and then carefully selected gunpowder is added to it." Li Hetian replied.
Upgrading black powder to nitroglycerin explosive. Yin Feng believes that he does not have such a level of knowledge. According to the current technology on the island of Taiwan, it is estimated that it will cost several lives to engage in nitroglycerine. And it may not be fruitful. These four firearms
Experts are the treasure that Yin Feng finally found among thousands of craftsmen. He does not want to waste these talents in vain.
"Okay. Think about it. How can you increase the throwing distance of this kind of bomb? Or, just think about how to use machinery or cannons to launch this type of bomb. What do you think?"
The four young senior craftsmen's eyes lit up. They looked at each other and nodded together.
A servant of the Tseng family had been waiting outside the testing ground for a long time. A carriage was parked on the roadside. The handlebar pulling the carriage chatted with the horse boredly: "Look at you, you beast. You eat better than me. This Taiwan
It’s unique on the island.”
This is true. This carriage was brought from Macau as it was. This horse is a precious Andalusian horse; it was only because of injury that this guy who was originally a mighty war horse was reduced to a horse pulling a carriage.
Yin Feng left the gate of the weapon testing ground. The servant came up to greet him: "Young Master. The master has returned with his guests. He is waiting for you to discuss."
Yin Feng nodded. He got on the carriage and shouted his nickname on the handlebar: "Uncle Ma. Come back to the city quickly."
…
Zeng Qi accompanied Xu Huai, the close steward of Fujian Governor Xu Xueju, and Xie Huimin, the governor's yamen master, on a tour of Taiwan Island under the control of the Chinese Company. They visited various indigenous villages and communities, and also went to Tuntian farms and sugar cane plantations. Visit the sugar workshop, bell workshop, glassware workshop and other places.
Xu Huai and Master Xie came to Taiwan secretly on behalf of Xu Xueju. After spending two full days of inspection and sightseeing, the two received many "gifts" and returned to Taiwan Port with satisfaction. Then, they brought Xu Xueju to Taiwan. In the end, all the conditions for recruitment and security were revealed: Taiwan's various clans recommended Yin Feng as the main one and submitted his books to the Fujian government; then, Taiwan was set up as a Tusi County. Yin Feng was given the title of Dusi and appointed as the magistrate of Taiwan's Tusi County.
"The coast of Dongfan is an important area for the imperial government to prevent Japanese pirates. Governor Xu gave you such generous recruitment conditions. It can be said to be a special case among special cases. Our country set up the land of the surrendered Fanyi as the chieftain's jurisdiction. This was in the early years of the country. Yes. Originally, the imperial court had a proposal to repatriate the chieftain from the southwest. However, the interests of all parties were entangled and the involvement was too wide. There has been no conclusion." Master Xie said to Yin Feng, who came in a hurry: "Mr. Yin has returned from overseas. We know the rules of the court very well. We, your lords, have spoken beforehand. We have set up a discussion in Tusi County. My lords will try their best to deal with it in the court. However, this matter is too sensational and may attract criticism from the ministers of the DPRK. Therefore, in case of Tusi County, The proposal will not work. Mr. Xu will report to the imperial court. Taiwan will establish official counties. The imperial court will send officials to oversee all civil affairs. Mr. Yin can be an official in another place. The official rank should be no less than six grades; of course, you can also serve as the director of the Taiwan Guard. Sir, this may be more convenient for you."
Yin Feng smiled and nodded. He stretched out his hand and put a roll of tissue paper in front of Mr. Xie. He said very politely: "Thank you, Mr. Xu, for worrying about me. He manages things for us in the court. It also costs some money. Here are ten You can exchange silver notes for 10,000 taels of silver at Huaxing banks in various provinces. In addition, there are 50,000 taels of silver in cash. They are all high-quality Japanese silver. Someone Yin presented them with both hands. They have already been packed for you two. I’m taking a boat ride.”
Banknotes are a new thing. The business scope of China United Company extends to the entire Ming Dynasty, all parts of the East and West, as well as Ryukyu and Japan. The trade routes cover East Asia, coastal areas of Southeast Asia, and South Asia. The industries and categories of goods sold are wide and comprehensive. In order to facilitate the settlement of long-distance sales, Yin Feng was the first to create a bank account bureau and a bank account institution in the business process of the Chinese company. He was the first to open financial deposits, loans, and exchange businesses. This is also unique in the world.
The bank exchange business launched at the end of last year is the most convenient for overseas merchants who have been trading overseas for a long time; merchants who sell long-distance in the mainland. In the past, merchants in the Ming Dynasty relied on personal credit to issue promissory notes to exchange silver. Now Finally, there is a commercial organization that can handle this business. So, in just over half a year, counterfeit banknote accounts have appeared in Fujian.
Mr. Xie quickly put the "check" into his cuff and said with a smile: "Mr. Yin, thank you for your trouble. I will definitely put in a good word for you in front of the governor."
This aspect of the government has been stabilized for the time being. Yin Feng turned his attention back to the main island of Taiwan: after the reorganization of the infantry convoys, they launched their first attack on the Dadufan Kingdom in central Taiwan. The Dadufan army started to compete with the Han residents who immigrated to the Tuntian Farm for land. started a "rebellion" and attacked many farms and plantations owned by the company.
The reorganization of the escort started after returning from the Battle of Macau. Although the Battle of Macau was easily defeated, it was the result of a sudden attack and quantitative and qualitative advantages. There were still some problems during the battle. Due to the limitations of the communication technology at the time .Generally, the Ming Dynasty troops relied on golden drums to deliver orders and officers' passwords. Although Yin Feng introduced conch trumpets, trumpets and other means of signaling to his troops, his troops were modern firearms troops. Once the battlefield was full of firepower, Amidst the roaring of guns and artillery, there will still be people who cannot hear the signal. Therefore, the number of personnel in the army unit must be reduced. The number of officers at all levels must be increased. However, this will inevitably increase the level of command. The level of orders from top to bottom will increase. .In this way, the quality requirements for officers at all levels on the battlefield will be even higher.
The traditional hereditary garrison officer system of the Ming Dynasty was completely unsuitable for the needs of this modern firearms battlefield. The new tradition of recruiting troops initiated by Qi Jiguang and others actually did not develop within the Ming army after the Japanese pirates subsided. The promoted officers among the soldiers were all included in the hereditary guard system. They soon fell in line with the chaotic and corrupt system of the Ming army at that time; the military promotion system only focused on personal force and writing skills. The Ming army was actually not well-formed at that time. military education system and officer selection system.
Therefore, Yin Feng established a military academy system in Taiwan that was brought from later generations. Soldiers who were brave in combat, focused on discipline and collective consciousness and proficient in writing were selected. After entering the military academy, they were first trained to instill a complete set of strategic and tactical systems in a short period of time. Then, after passing the assessment, they will be transferred to the troops. The trainee officers will undergo another elimination and selection training during actual training and actual combat.
It is difficult to start with this method. It is really difficult to train high-quality officers among the children of fishermen, pirates, and farmers who generally have low levels of education. Finally, after more than two years of hard exploration, Yin Feng now basically has a group of middle and lower-level officers in his hands. Officers are young people who are easy to accept new things. Many are children of former military families. However, there are very few 36-year-old men like Zhao Tie. But Zhao Tie was born to be a soldier. Working hard in Manila is simply a waste. His talent. He only studied with Portuguese mercenary instructors and Dutch instructors for half a year. He has completely mastered various firearms tactics. He can also defeat these foreign instructors in exercises and training.
Therefore, Zhao Tie is now the commander of the 1st Infantry Regiment. Now, Lin Xiao is dispatched by the security department to establish a military supervision department in the escort team. The escort team consists of military supervision department, operations department, logistics department and other departments. Troop organization The structure is still the system of battalion, sentry, team and unit. There are 10 people, one captain and one deputy each; three units are teams, one captain, one deputy and one deputy. They have jurisdiction over 35 soldiers; three teams are the sentry, with one captain and two mates. In addition to the personnel directly under the sentry commander, each sentry has an establishment of 120 soldiers; each sentry has one supervisor, who is responsible for military affairs and discipline. It is called the sentry supervisor; five sentries form a battalion. The battalion commander has one chief and two deputy. The one who supervises the army is called the supervisor. One The camp is full with 650 men.
Regiments are set up above the battalion level. Three battalions constitute a regiment. The chief military officer at the regiment level is called the commander, and the chief officer supervising the army is called the supervisor. The troops under his jurisdiction include the teams directly under the regiment. The full strength is 2,000 people. Now the infantry of the escort team has The establishment of two regiments is Zhao Tie's first regiment "Hurrying Regiment" and Mai De's second regiment "Gale Wind Regiment". Together with a professional artillery battalion directly under the leadership of President Yin Feng, the escort infantry totals nearly 4,500. people.
In the plan, towns will be set up at the regiment level and above as a unit that is solely responsible for one side's military; divisions will be set up at the town level and above. If the division level establishment is expanded, an army will be set up. But that is something that needs to be considered when large-scale group operations are needed in the future. .
Yin Feng announced at the escort infantry playground: "In order to adapt to the needs of our army's expansion and preparation for war, the military system will be changed this time. The main thing is to establish a two-level organization of regiments and towns above the battalion-level establishment. Two to five regiments will form one town. .In the future, if our territory expands, our army will also expand. It will be divided into two towns or five towns as one division..."
Yin Feng has no scruples in speaking here. However, several company executives such as Zeng Jingshan and Han Ping are also present. There is also a special person present today. Li Lihua. They are all here to watch the first full exercise of the escort team after its reorganization. of.
Han Ping lowered his head and looked at his son Han Jing. He nodded understandingly. He whispered to his son: "It seems that what you said is correct. Captain Yin has a very long-term vision."
Han Jing whispered in his father's ear: "Captain Yin's goal is not just the people with connections in Manila. His military establishment can be expanded endlessly. The rivers and mountains in his heart are very broad."
The meeting venue moved to Yin Feng's office in the infantry camp of the escort team. It is a place known as the captain's hall. Books and documents were piled up everywhere. It seemed a little messy. However, all the officers above the sentry commander of the escort team who participated in the meeting stood upright and looked intently. He listened silently as Yin Feng continued to lecture. Among them were Mai Dahai, Ye Hua and other naval officers. Colonel Kutre was also present.
"...the army will now add a chief military officer who will be in charge of military discipline. The chief military officer at the sentry level is still called the sentry commander, and the chief military officer is called a sentry supervisor; the chief military officer at the battalion level is called the battalion commander, and the chief military officer is called a supervisor. .The chief military officer at the regiment level is called the supervisor; the chief military officer at the regiment level is called the commander, and the chief officer at the supervisory level is called the supervisor; from now on, the chief military officer at the town level is called the town general, and the chief military officer at the regiment level is called the military envoy. Under the regiment-level organizational system There is a combat department, a military supervision department, a department director, and a history officer. Under the town-level organization, there are a combat staff department, a military supervision department, and a logistics department. There is one director and two members. Within two months from now on. All personnel have begun training according to the new organization. They must be fully familiar with fighting in the new organization during the assessment exercise in two months."
In the outside reception room, Han Jing whispered to his father: "Is this a foreign minister or something like the title of the imperial court?"
"I seem to have heard of this title. But the actual duties are completely different. Son, you see Captain Yin is quite careful. In the army establishment, the titles of rank-and-file officers should be avoided as much as possible with those of the imperial court. There is no need to use the title of commander or commander at all. Look. He still has some scruples." Han Ping sighed for no reason. He seemed to be dissatisfied with Yin Feng's cautious attitude.
Han Jing looked at the soldiers and officers coming and going outside the window. He also sighed: "We can fly back to Manila soon. I really want to see what our home in Barianne has become now."