Since receiving Zhu Jinsong's invitation, Howard, Pierre and others have been extremely happy, and they only wish they could see the firearms that the Ming Emperor mentioned earlier.

Anyway, the matter of negotiating with the Ming Dynasty to open the treaty port is already a certainty. What is left is just some time and effort. If we can take the opportunity to find out the firearms used by the Ming Dynasty army, it will be like pie in the sky.

What an unexpected surprise.

Howard, Pierre and others all felt that this time was not in vain.

However, in the 4483rd year of the Yellow Emperor, the 418th year of the Ming Dynasty, and the 51st year of the Qing Dynasty, on the morning of Yihai, the second month of spring, Howard, Pierre and others followed Zhu.

After the men sent by Jinsong left the city together, Howard and Pierre wanted to curse their mothers.

It was a carriage with no windows, and the door of the carriage was covered with cloth. It was hard to know how far it traveled and how many turns it took along the way. Howard, Pierre and others only had

It feels like I've been messing around for a long time, but I haven't gotten any useful information at all.

After the carriage finally stopped, the man sent by Zhu Jinsong opened the curtain at the carriage door and jumped out of the carriage first.

After Howard, Pierre and others got off the bus, a building like an archway appeared in front of Howard, Pierre and others. Under the archway was a sentry post. There was a path outside the sentry post. Next to the path was antlers.

Juma, behind Juma is a straight road leading deep into the military camp.

But what disappointed Howard, Pierre and others was that at the gate of the military camp in front of them, there was only one wooden sign that said Unit 02304. The remaining wooden signs were covered with cloth, making it impossible to judge at all.

What useful information came out.

Howard, Pierre and others secretly resented it - you said that even if you put up a sign like a certain association and a certain town like the Tatar army, then we would be able to judge some useful information, right?

Now it's a good idea to just put up a sign for Unit 02304 and block the rest? How strong is this secrecy awareness, you bastard!

What's even more damning is that the man sent by Zhu Jinsong didn't seem to have any intention of leading them into the military camp. They just stopped more than two hundred meters away from the military camp, pointed at the military camp and said: "This is where I am."

The carriages can no longer move forward at the station of Ming Dynasty 02304 troops. Please follow me."

After finishing speaking, the men sent by Zhu Jinsong took Howard, Pierre and others directly around the military camp and walked towards the back of the mountain.

Howard, Peele and others who followed closely wanted to kill the bastard in front of them.

We have already arrived at the military camp. We only need to walk a few more steps to see the mysterious Ming military camp, and we can get up close and personal with the mysterious Ming army.

Well now, with this bastard's flippant words, the great opportunity was gone.

Where is Troop 02304? Then you should explain what 02304 means, bastard!

Howard, Pierre and others were thinking to themselves as they followed the men sent by Zhu Jinsong towards the back mountain. When Howard, Pierre and others were almost knocked out, they finally came to what looked like a shooting range.

The place.

But what makes Howard, Pierre and others want to scold them even more is that the door of the shooting range in front of them is the same as the gate of the military camp they saw before. There is a wooden sign for the 02304 unit shooting range, and another wooden sign next to it is

It's completely covered.

Obviously, what is covered up should be the real number of this army, and the so-called 02304 should be a code name made up at random, with no useful information at all.

When they entered the shooting range, what caught Howard, Pierre and others' eyes was Liu Heming, the commander of the First Army of the Ming Dynasty who had been waiting for a long time. Behind Liu Heming were rows of targets, and there was a door in the distance.

A cannon with its barrel raised.

As Howard, Pierre and others entered the shooting range and arrived in front of Liu Heming, after the two sides introduced each other, Howard took the lead and asked: "Excuse me, my dear commander, on the way here, we saw hanging outside the shooting range.

The brand is 02304, I wonder what 02304 means?”

Liu Heming laughed loudly and said, "It's nothing, it's just the code name of this shooting range."

Joseph Howard, Pierre and others looked suspicious. Liu Heming is new. Do I want to tell you that 02 represents the first army, 3 represents the regiment level combat unit, and 04 represents the first army.

What is the designation of the artillery regiment directly under the First Division of the Army?

Isn’t that nonsense? The method of converting this code name to a specific unit is strictly confidential even in our Ming Dynasty!

Liu Heming suddenly skipped this topic, and Liu Heming chuckled and said: "Our arrangement today is very simple. The first item is to test the flintlock guns you brought, and the second item is to let you try the flintlock guns produced by our Daming.

The third item is for you to watch the artillery salvo."

As Liu Heming's words fell, Howard, Pierre and others who had been secretly admiring the Ming army's sense of confidentiality just now couldn't help but secretly curl their lips, feeling somewhat disdainful in their hearts.

Because Howard, Pierre and others really couldn't figure out how advanced the flintlock guns used by the Ming army were. After all, the most advanced flintlock guns in the world now are the brown basses that Howard gave to the Ming emperor.

Flintlock gun.

Liu Heming naturally noticed the trace of disdain flashing in the eyes of Howard and others, but Liu Heming just smiled softly and ordered to the soldiers around him: "Let's get started."

The soldiers following Liu Heming immediately accepted the order and left, but what happened next made the "envoys" from other countries turn their attention to Howard.

For what Howard calls the most advanced Brown Bess flintlock gun, you first need to open the lid on the powder tank, then take out the small paper bag containing the projectiles and gunpowder, bite the part containing the gunpowder, and pour out part of the gunpowder.

In the medicine tank, then cover the medicine tank, stuff the remaining gunpowder and projectiles from the front of the muzzle, and compact it with a purge, and then complete the firing process.

Of course, it doesn't matter if you don't use the gunpowder. After loading the gunpowder and projectiles into the muzzle, you can turn the Brown Bess flintlock upside down and hit the ground with the butt of the gun, which can speed up the loading.

This is already the most advanced flintlock gun in the world.

But why don’t the flintlocks used by Ming soldiers have flints? Why don’t they have powder pools? Why do they use bullets to load bullets faster than the Brown Bess flintlocks that directly hit the butt of the gun?

Even the shooting accuracy surpasses the Brown Bess flintlock gun?

This is what you Howard said, the Brown Bess flintlock is currently the most advanced flintlock in the world?

Facing the strange, questioning and sarcastic looks of envoys from other countries, Howard couldn't help but feel a little angry. He shouted directly to Liu He: "Wang Defa? Can you let me try?"

Liu Heming laughed loudly and ordered the soldiers beside him: "Let him try."

But this test allowed Howard to discover the difference between the two flintlock guns.

The bullets used in the fusiliers equipped by the Ming army were not the type of gunpowder and projectiles used in the Brown Bess flintlocks, but a pointed lead bullet with a cork-like thing behind it.

The tube has spiral rifling,

These are two completely different firearms from the Brown Bess flintlock gun.

Strictly speaking, this can no longer be called a flintlock gun, but should be called a percussion gun.

Don't underestimate the advantages of removing the gunpowder pool and flint - ordinary rainy weather can affect the Brown Bess flintlock, but it has little effect on the percussion gun equipped by the Ming army, even under the same weather conditions, it is removed

Powder pool percussion guns reload faster.

Faster reloading speed and higher shooting accuracy, these two points together are enough to affect the outcome of a war.

Howard handed the percussion gun in his hand back to the Ming army soldier, squeezed out an ugly smile like a dead father and mother on his face, and said to Liu Heming: "Congratulations, you have developed such an advanced musket."

But Liu Heming laughed and said: "It's just an ordinary musket. It's not worth making such a fuss about. Your envoy might as well pay attention to the next artillery salvo."

After Howard nodded in despair, Liu Heming turned to the soldiers around him and ordered: "Next item, artillery salvo!"

But as the rumbling cannons sounded one after another, Howard, Pierre and other "envoys" were even worried about death - the brown Bess flintlock gun could not compare with the percussion gun equipped by the Ming army.

The artillery was also crushed by the artillery equipped by the Ming army. How can this be fun?

And Liu Heming obviously had no intention of letting Howard, Pierre and others go.

As the saying goes, the upper beam is not straight and the lower beam is crooked. The three views of Zhu Jinsong, the Ming emperor, are not very straight. Just like the three views of Liu Heming, the commander of the First Army who followed Zhu Jinsong in the rebellion from the beginning, they are even more unbiased.

where it goes.

Artillery volleys were fired to suppress fire, artillery soldiers advanced in formation with the support of artillery, and other war methods of the flintlock era were basically demonstrated by Liu Heming.

It wasn't until Howard, Pierre and others were shocked and dumbfounded that Liu Heming weighed the musket in his hand, pointed at the artillery and asked: "Are my Ming dynasty muskets sharp? Can my Ming dynasty artillery be rough?"

Is it long?"

Howard, Pierre, Thomson and other "envoys" all secretly hated it, but they had to admit: "The Ming dynasty muskets are indeed sharp, and the Ming dynasty artillery is really thick and long. We can't wait."

Liu Heming laughed loudly and said: "They are just some muskets and artillery. If you are interested, it is not impossible for Ming Dynasty to sell them."

…

Howard, Pierre, Thomson and others, who were shocked to the point of losing their minds, had just returned to their residence when Ke Zhiming, the intelligence chief of the Ming Empire, came to the door.

Howard's house.

Ke Zhiming said straight to the point: "What do you think of the muskets and artillery you saw today?"

Howard was stunned, thinking that this stepmother didn't look like she was talking about business. How could she ask others what they thought about arms?

After coming back to his senses, Howard considered and said: "The muskets and artillery developed by your country are indeed powerful. If your country is willing to sell them, but I don't know the price?"

But Ke Zhiming did not answer Howard's question directly. Instead, he laughed and said, "I wonder what your country thinks of France?"

Howard was stunned again and said, "Isn't Mr. Ke going to discuss the trade of muskets and artillery? Why did he suddenly get involved with those despicable French frogs?"

Ke Zhiming said with a smile: "There is a saying in our books in the Central Plains, which is called "Can revenge be taken in nine lifetimes? It can be done in a hundred lifetimes." There is also a saying among the people that "a gentleman takes revenge not too late in ten years."

"I know something about the Hundred Years War between your country and France, so I asked your envoy, what do you think of France?"

After hearing this statement, Howard basically understood what was going on.

Is this the purpose of poking at the heart of the British Empire?

However, when he thought about it further, Howard thought of an even more terrifying possibility.

Howard's face darkened and he said: "Your Excellency is here to tell me about the Hundred Years' War between the British Empire and France. I'm afraid someone next door will tell Pierre of France about the Hundred Years' War, and even say that the British Empire must

I will buy your Ming Dynasty muskets and artillery, right?"

Ke Zhiming laughed loudly and said: "Mr. Howard's guess is absolutely correct. It is indeed like this. Of course, you can also choose not to buy it. I just don't know if France will buy it?"

Hearing what Ke Zhiming said, Howard's face couldn't help but become even more ugly. He couldn't help but snorted coldly: "Master Ke, please don't forget that your Ming Dynasty still needs our warships and whalers."

"Also, our British Empire can also make muskets and artillery. Don't you, the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, worry about our British Empire joining forces with France to attack you?"

But Ke Zhiming laughed loudly and retorted: "Mr. Howard, you should know how far it is from the British Empire and France to our Ming Dynasty. Are you really confident that you can project troops across such a long sea distance?

"

"Even if you don't care about the logistical pressure of projecting troops over long distances, how can you guarantee that you will win? Rely on the Brown Bess flintlock? Or are you planning to rely on the same rifling, which is lower in accuracy and power?

Hongyi cannon?"

"Besides, how can you guarantee that France will definitely unite with you?"

Howard was even more angry and looked at Ke Zhiming and said: "You are blackmailing! Naked blackmail! If you do this, you will only cause a war without getting even a little benefit!"
Chapter completed!