After listening to Wang Shoutang's brief report, Yang Zhen was not very satisfied.

Because the quantity of gun production reported by Wang Shoutang was not in line with Yang Zhen's previous expectations, it could even be said that the gap was not small.

Before Yang Zhen crossed the sea to conquer the Wonu Kingdom, he expanded his army here in Jinhai Town. Now the size and quantity of the various troops have increased, but the quality of the weapons and equipment has not been completely improved.

The current number of front-loading smoothbore flintlock muskets produced by the Beicheng Gun Factory in Lushun is difficult to meet the needs of all the newly expanded troops in Jinhai and Denglai towns.

It is hard to say whether the production capacity of the Lushun Beicheng Gun Factory alone can fully meet the needs of the three major regiments and battalions of the expanded Eastern Expeditionary Army, let alone the increasingly strong demand for guns and artillery from other parties.

Fortunately, this time when he crossed the sea to conquer the Wonu Kingdom, Yang Zhenlian captured and extorted many iron cannons used by the Wonu Country's iron cannon Ashigaru.

These so-called iron cannons are actually just matchlock guns of decent quality.

In terms of range and power, these front-loaded smoothbore matchlocks cannot compare with the flintlock muskets improved from the Lumi gun equipped by the musket regiment of Yang Zhen's Eastern Expeditionary Army.

But their advantage lies in their large quantity, and with Jinhae Town's homemade gunpowder and lead bullets, their power can also be improved.

Generally speaking, it makes sense, and equipping other people will not be a hindrance.

When Yang Zhen thought of this, the dissatisfaction in his heart temporarily dissipated.

However, his rhetorical question and the long silence that followed after listening to Wang Shoutang's report made everyone present a little nervous.

Especially Wang Shoutang.

He thought that after he reported on the output of various gun factories in the ironworks in the past few months, Yang Zhen would be full of praise for his father and son as he had done in the past.

Unexpectedly, the production capacity and output of the various gun factories of the Iron Works still could not meet Yang Zhen's requirements for gun production.

But in the face of Yang Zhen's questioning, Wang Shoutang knew that he couldn't escape, so after being stunned for a while, he swept away his previous complacency and stood tremblingly and said:

"Well, Governor Rong said, the furnaces in the smelting plants of the Iron Works have indeed been built a lot in recent months, but the iron and steel smelted everywhere are used not only by the gun factory, but also by the ammunition factory.

To use.

"There are also shipyards in Jinzhou and various farm implement factories. They all use it, and the amount used is quite large. They are all ordered by the Operations Office. I don't like to favor one thing over another.

"So it's not that the old father and son are not trying their best. It's really that good iron and good steel are not easy to smelt. It's a business that requires slow work and careful work. But please rest assured, Governor, after all the new blast furnaces on Yuncong Island are put into operation, the situation will definitely be great.

different!"

After Wang Shoutang finished speaking these words with half justification and half assurance, he immediately lowered his head and waited for Yang Zhen's "defeat".

It was also at this time that Zhang Degui and Shen Zhixiang, who had been implicated in Wang Shoutang's words, stood up and said to Yang Zhen with an apologetic smile:

"Captain, what Old Wangtou said is correct. In the past six months, the Camp Office has indeed transferred a lot of iron materials and steel from the iron factory. This was also the Commander's previous order. It is needed in all aspects, and the Camp Office has also

It’s not good to favor one over the other.”

"Yes, the governor doesn't know. The shipyard is actually a big user of iron materials and Tuan Steel. In the past, we produced too little good steel, so many places could only use copper materials instead. But copper materials are expensive, so why?

To save money, use more steel——"

"Okay, okay, okay, you are over-concerned, Old Wangtou, you are also over-concerned. I have no intention of holding anyone accountable. Good steel is used on the blade. Everyone wants to use good steel. This is human nature.

, this is normal. After all, I am a little impatient."

"No, no, no, Governor, in the final analysis, it is the old man and his son who failed to live up to the Governor's expectations and failed to make enough good steel——"

Faced with Yang Zhen's somewhat self-deprecating "self-blame", Wang Shoutang became even more frightened and scrambled to admit his mistake.

"Okay, Lao Wangtou, I know the hard work of your father and son. It's not bad to be able to achieve the current situation. Let's look forward to the future together."

"Yes, yes, Governor, please rest assured. The venues on Yuncong Island are larger and more grand than those in the northern city of Lushun. You will definitely be able to use them in the future!"

Hearing what Wang Shoutang said, Yang Zhen first smiled and waved his hand, asking him, Zhang Degui and Shen Zhixiang to sit down again, and then said:

"Good iron and steel are not easy to produce, especially good steel is extremely hard to come by. It should be used only when it is critical. By the way, Wang Shoutang, is your newly made cannon cast iron or cast steel?"

"This, cast steel is not easy to come by. Nowadays it is mostly used for forging musket barrels. As for cannon casting, cast iron is still the main method, with copper as the supplement."

"Or a cast iron cannon?"

"It's still a cast iron cannon."

"Okay, cast iron cannons will be cast iron cannons. We have to do it step by step, but in the future we will have to work hard on cast steel cannons."

Yang Zhen also knew that under the current conditions, it would be difficult to turn a cast iron cannon into a cast steel cannon in one fell swoop.

Regardless of whether it is tundished steel made by the steel filling method or tundished steel "fried" by the steel frying method, it is currently more suitable for forging steel or blunderbuss tubes.

When the temperature of the blast furnace and the steel-making technology are not enough to melt the steel into molten steel that can be poured, Yang Zhen's desire to obtain a cannon made of cast steel can only be a wishful thinking.

"I understand that I and my son will do their best!"

"Well, the matter of cast steel cannons cannot be rushed. We will first double the production capacity of cast iron cannons. The production capacity of guns and cannons must keep up with our pace of arms expansion and war preparations."

"I understand!"

"In addition, Wang Shoutang, when it comes to making guns and cannons, I have some arrangements for you today. In addition to the expansion of production capacity just mentioned, you must also refer to the nine-headed bird we used before, and use

Tuan Gang forges new nine-headed birds, the faster the better, the more the better!"

"Nine-headed bird?"

"It's what the military calls a gun, a heavy matchlock gun with a barrel several times thicker and longer than a shotgun."

"I understand. But carrying the gun is cumbersome and requires two people to use it. The governor had abandoned it earlier. Why now-"

"Haha, during this time of crossing the sea to conquer the Japanese slave country, I discovered that the large barrels used by the Japanese were quite powerful. In the future, they will be used for long-range sniping, and they will definitely be better than bows and arrows."

Yang Zhen suddenly mentioned the matter of raising the gun again, which was certainly not a sudden whim, so when he saw that Wang Shoutang was quite puzzled and others also looked puzzled, he immediately made some explanations.

"Our army has heavy artillery that is famous for its range, and it also has sky cannons that are famous for their close-combat firepower. However, between sky cannons and muskets, as well as grenadier flying generals and other throwing firearms, there is no one that is more convenient than artillery.

Carrying a heavy musket with a longer range than the Lumi gun.

"The number of such heavy muskets does not need to be too large, but they must be sophisticated. You have already mastered the technology of built-in flintlock bolts. The newly built Nine-Headed Bird should also use flintlock bolts as much as possible.

"The governor will come from Jinhai to the entire army of the second town, select a group of sharpshooters, and form a special gun-carrying team as a guard directly under the general town government, under the personal command of the governor!"

Having said this, Yang Zhen suddenly realized that it was too late, so he immediately turned his attention to Zhang Degui and said loudly to him solemnly:

"Old Zhang, today you will ask the Assistant Battalion Affairs Office to conduct a levy on the major regiments and camps of the Eastern Army and Jinhai, come to the Assistant Guards General Military Mansion in the Second Town, and ask them to hold a musketeer competition before the end of the year, and

Those with outstanding performance will be reported to the town hall for selection!

"As for the number of candidate sharpshooters recommended by each ministry, it is up to you to allocate them. In short, you must select the best among the best, and select at least 300 people for me!"

"I humbly obey my orders!"

Although Yang Zhen has not yet figured out how many people should be composed of such an elite rifle-carrying team similar to a sniper unit, he is becoming more and more sure that he will select and equip such a sniper specifically for cold shooting.

The team is very necessary and very important.

Among the soldiers of the Qing Dynasty, the Bagala soldiers, later known as the vanguard soldiers, were the best soldiers selected from among the elites of the Eight Banners to carry out special operations.

Of course, the Qing Dynasty Eight Banners' approach was not original, because this approach had been used in Chinese armies throughout the past dynasties. In fact, the so-called selection of fronts since ancient times refers to the elites of this type of army.

Now Yang Zhen is determined to select the most elite musketeers in his army to form an elite rifle team specially used for sniper battlefields. On the one hand, it is to better play the role of these sharpshooters in the army, and on the other hand,

In fact, it also provides them with a new level of advancement.

Of course, the most important consideration is still hoping to use them to play a decisive role at some critical moments.

The town hall meeting that afternoon lasted until dark.

In addition to initially deciding on the establishment of a gun-carrying team of the guards directly under the general town government and ordering Wang Shoutang to mobilize skilled craftsmen as soon as possible to supervise the production of a batch of long-barreled heavy-duty gun-carrying teams, Yang Zhen also ordered Fang Guangchen and Li Ji to continue to arrange manpower to inquire

The situation of all parties on the battlefield within the pass.

Of course, Yang Zhen did not forget to ask Fang Guangchen to draft a memorial for him to report his victory to Emperor Chongzhen.

Although Yang Zhen made his own decision to cross the sea and conquer the Japanese Nu Kingdom without reporting it to the court in advance, as long as he won the battle, Emperor Chongzhen and the ministers in the capital court would not say anything.

What's more, this time Yang Zhen also brought back the so-called Supreme Emperor Masahito of the Wonu Kingdom and several concubines and children in his harem. Such a harvest was unprecedented for the Ming Dynasty, at least since Wanli.

.

With such a victory in foreign war, it is enough to cover up all the ugly ones.

Even if Emperor Chongzhen was dissatisfied with Yang Zhen's unauthorized crusade against the Japanese slaves, a so-called country without conquests, he would certainly not attack at this juncture.

After all, for the Ming Dynasty, which was experiencing constant internal and external troubles, this foreign victory brought by Yang Zhen was like a timely rain, which could bring some comfort to Emperor Chongzhen.

Or at least it can be used as a fig leaf to offset the adverse effects of the intruders falling into Nanyang, the general soldiers being as fierce as tigers, and the death of the Tang king.

Of course, Yang Zhen also thought about killing the whole family of Emperor Gomizuo Masahito of the Wonu Kingdom.

But on the way back with the team, Yang Zhen thought about it and still thought that killing him now would not make much sense.

On the contrary, once the news spreads, it may cause new variables in the treaty reached with the Tokugawa Shogunate.

In addition, having the Gomizuo family under his control is equivalent to putting a rope around the necks of the Tokugawa shogunate.

Even if they were to find someone from the numerous branches of the Japanese royal family to take over in the future, with Hou Mizuo and his son in hand, they would have an honest excuse to continue to interfere in the affairs of the Japanese kingdom and even send troops to the Japanese kingdom.

Of course, Yang Zhen also repeatedly weighed whether he should take Emperor Gomizuo's Masahito family directly into his own hands, or whether he should keep them under the jurisdiction of Jinkai Town.

But in the end, he made the decision to simply send Emperor Gomizuo's family as captured trophies directly to the capital of the Ming Dynasty.

Although he had the best chance of keeping Gomizuo's family in his own hands, Gomizuo Masahito was the Supreme Emperor of the Wonu Kingdom after all. No matter what happened in reality, he was still the king of a country in name.

As a minister of the Ming Dynasty, it was not appropriate for me to keep Emperor Gomizuo's family under his control instead of handing them over to the imperial court.

At least under the current situation, if Yang Zhen does this, unless no one knows about it, he will soon be in trouble.

By that time, in addition to the lustful reputation that spread throughout the capital, I am afraid that he will soon be saddled with the reputation of being a defiant and disobedient person.

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Of course, Yang Zhenhui proposed to Emperor Chongzhen that the emperor himself pardon the Hou Shuiwei family and allow the Hou Shuiwei family to live leisurely in the capital of the Ming Dynasty.

However, the final decision-making power rested with Emperor Chongzhen himself. Whether he deposed Hou Shuiwei and his family as common people, or treated them as guests and gave them a residence and raised them in the capital, it was decided by Emperor Chongzhen and his court in the capital.

Because no matter what decision Emperor Chongzhen and the court would make next, it would not make much difference to Yang Zhen.
Chapter completed!