novelSusiti Chapter 133 Raiding houses can really be addictive.
Chapter 133 Raiding houses can really be addictive.
Chapter 133 Raiding houses can really be addictive.
Chapter 132 Since the Battle of Shuangchengwei, the Jurchens suffered heavy casualties. They were pursued by Chen Boying for more than 1,300 li from Shuangchengwei. The firearms and cannons of the Shahe New Army and Daning New Army under Chen Boying left a deep impression on the Jurchens.
Since Nurhaci established the Chiyan Banner and appointed Li Yongfang as its leader, the Chiyan Banner has 29 Niru under its command, with a full strength of over 8,700 men. Nurhaci has no shortage of Han soldiers. At its peak during the occupation of Liaodong, he had nearly 4 million Han soldiers. Although he killed more than 3 million of them, he still had 500,000 to 600,000. Even if he formed 30,000 to 40,000 Han soldiers, he would still have no shortage of manpower.
The personnel problem was easy to solve, but the equipment problem was difficult to solve. In the Battle of Sanjiang, the Shahe New Army suffered heavy casualties in its first actual battle. Although Daishan tried his best to recover the firearms left behind by the dead and wounded Shahe New Army soldiers on the battlefield during the retreat, at least a hundred firearms fell into the hands of the Jurchens.
Li Yongfang studied these muskets and found that they were no different from the normal quality muskets of the Ming army. The only difference was that the stock was more ergonomic and the gunpowder was changed from powder to granular. Because the gunpowder exploded faster, the lead bullets shot out faster. In addition, the lead bullets were polished, so their decay rate was not as fast as that of the Ming army's standard matchlock muskets.
The Ming army's standard firing technique had some accuracy within thirty paces, but beyond that, it was all guesswork. The problem was that the musketeers of the Shahe and Daning New Armies didn't have to endure massive casualties in every battle, holding out until they were thirty paces from the Jurchen army's lines before firing in unison. Even at that distance, while the hit rate wasn't high, it wasn't inaccurate. Moreover, muskets fired in volleys, so even if one musket missed, the others would still hit the target.
The soldiers of the Shahe New Army were still training when they discovered that if they aimed at an enemy fifty paces away, they could hit the head and drive them away. If the enemy was eighty paces away, they had to raise their aim by one inch and aim at the top of the head. To put it bluntly, the bullet drop caused by the firing of the cannon can actually be overcome. With a fixed amount of gunpowder and a fixed number of bullets of the same caliber, the error is actually basically controllable.
Li Yongfang, the banner leader of the Chiyan Banner, sadly discovered that it was almost impossible to catch up with Chen Boying's technology by relying on the Jurchens' existing reserves. More importantly, while the firearms of the Shahe New Army were only slightly more reliable and powerful than the shoddy ones used by the Ming army, they were not fundamentally different. However, the flintlock muskets used by the Shahe New Army were different in every way. The most obvious difference was that they had no matchlock. Without a matchlock, how could they ignite the gunpowder? The clever craftsmen provided the answer: these firearms were different from others. They contained a flint inside. Pulling the trigger and striking the flint with the hammer would ignite the gunpowder and launch the lead bullet. This was extremely convenient, and it was also the key to Chen Boying's two great victories over the Jurchens.
The structure of the flintlock musket is not actually that complicated. Although the Ming craftsmen captured by the Jurchens could also make this mechanical device, it is necessary to explain that even without Chen Boying, the Ming Dynasty had invented the flintlock musket. However, due to the country's financial problems, this flintlock musket was not widely equipped by the troops.
Although Li Yongfang and his craftsmen managed to replicate this type of flintlock musket, the problem was that the manufacturing cost of each flintlock musket had skyrocketed to over sixty taels of silver. Not only was the barrel difficult to forge, but more importantly, the firing mechanism required repeated manual forging and testing, which increased the cost. Although the Jurchens successfully replicated the flintlock musket, they discovered that the misfire rate was extremely high. Even the best quality flintlock muskets had a success rate of less than 40%. The craftsmen were beaten so badly that they were covered in blood, but they still couldn't find a solution.
What Li Yongfang didn't know was that Chen Boying could reduce the cost of firearms. Firstly, his gun barrels were cast in one piece. The reason was actually quite simple: he used a refining furnace to refine molten iron into molten steel, and then poured the molten steel into a cooling tank, just like casting an iron pot. Of course, iron pots are cast from molten iron, while gun barrels are cast from high-manganese steel, all in one piece. To use the cold casting process, it was necessary to control the smelting temperature of the molten steel and the carbon content in the molten iron. In later generations, there were instruments to solve these problems, but in the Ming Dynasty, everything depended on the furnace master's skills.
Chen Ying selected only nineteen furnace foremen from thousands of blacksmiths, which is no exaggeration to say that they were one in ten thousand. After controlling the technical standards and various parameters of the remelting furnace, the biggest technical challenge was error, especially the barrel mold. Because the inner diameter was too small, it required high-temperature resistant ceramic clay as the refractory material, and repeated experiments were also needed. More importantly, even if the barrel was cast, it still needed to undergo surface heat treatment. If any quality problem occurred in any step, the barrel would have to be scrapped.
Chen Ying's greatest advantage is that his refining furnace can be reused. Even if the gun barrels are discarded, the loss will not be too great. There are two key technical elements that affect the misfire rate of guns: the steel parts of the gun must be elastic enough, and the gunpowder must be granular. Even the guns of the Shahe New Army, which use powdered black powder, have a misfire rate of over 30%, close to 40%.
Nurhaci was not a good-tempered person. He could provide Li Yongfang with craftsmen and manpower, but the muskets and cannons he produced were far inferior to those equipped by the Shahe New Army. Li Yongfang was also severely punished. He was made to kneel outside the palace for two days and one night. This was the least he could endure. On the worst occasion, Li Yongfang was used as a target and shot with more than a hundred arrows. He was so scared that he wet his pants.
To solve this problem, he proposed to Fan Yongdou that he could purchase the new military equipment and cannons from Shahe. In addition to the reward given by Nurhaci, Li Yongfang also planned to offer the Han slaves of his Chiyan Banner. It should be noted that not all the people of Liaodong were wiped out as a whole family. Many had fled to the interior of China and held high positions. If he could redeem these people, Fan Yongdou would gain a lot of favors.
Fan Yongdou was a smart man and wasn't easily fooled by Chen Ying. He asked to inspect the goods. Three days later, at Tongzhou Wharf, late at night, under a dark and windy sky, a large truck was parked by the wharf, loaded with wooden crates covered with tarpaulins.
Fan Yongdou's trusted steward, Fan Shaozeng, personally escorted the cart, bringing back twenty flintlocks and a cannon. Fan Yongdou was a wealthy merchant whose fortune rivaled that of a nation, so obtaining live animals to test the guns was extremely easy for him. With a single order, several strong bulls and camels were brought to them, and then the gun tests began.
Fan Yongdou loaded his bullets and fired at the bull's head. A gunshot rang out, a bloody hole exploded in the bull's head, and it collapsed with a thud, not even having time to scream. He then fired at the belly of another bull, which also developed a large bloody hole, gushing out blood mixed with feces. The bull swayed a few times and then collapsed; it was doomed.
Li Yongfang, using the alias Li Chengxian, quickly ordered three layers of hardened cowhide to be wrapped around the belly of a bull. Then they opened fire, but the bull still fell to the ground; the three thick layers of hide offered no protection. Li Chengxian—no, Li Yongfang—slumped to the ground, staring blankly at the bull convulsing in the pool of blood, his face deathly pale, speechless.
Three layers of tanned cowhide were enough to stop the heavy arrows fired by the Jurchen white-armored soldiers. Even compared to the iron armor of the red-armored soldiers, the defense was slightly stronger. But the problem was that Bull was still killed with one shot. This meant that the Jurchen's armor, which they relied on to win, was as fragile as paper in front of bullets fired from muskets. Jurchen warriors were practically naked in front of Chen Boying's gunmen.
"What a powerful musket!"
Li Yongfang suddenly jumped up, grabbed Fan Yongdou, and growled, "No matter how much money it costs, do everything you can to buy more, as many as possible! Great Jin needs weapons like these!"
Fan Yongdou complied, instructing Fan Shaozeng to contact Chen Boying's men. Faced with such a sucker, Zhang Changgeng, who was in charge of negotiating with Fan Shaozeng, demanded an exorbitant price: "Eighty taels of silver per musket, twenty-five thousand taels of silver per cannon. Cash only, otherwise no deal, and the deposit is non-refundable!"
Fan Shaozeng, naturally, could not feign anything. After reporting to Fan Yongdou, he agreed to the deal, purchasing 2,000 firing pins at a price of 80 taels of silver each, along with 16 breech-loading cannons, 200,000 lead bullets, and 1,500 cannonballs.
The total price of this transaction exceeded one million taels of silver. After receiving the silver, Zhang Changgeng earnestly told Fan Shaozeng that this was a vital military and national asset of the Ming Dynasty and should absolutely not be sold to the Jurchens. Fan Shaozeng sneered inwardly, thinking, "If we don't sell it to the Jurchens, what use are these weapons to them?"
After the transaction was completed, Chen Ying was very happy to see the more than one million taels of silver in cash. His bank reserves had increased to nearly three million taels of silver.
Song Xianze said with some worry, "Brother-in-law, what if these firearms fall into the hands of the Jurchens—"
"Are these just obsolete items?"
"disuse?"
"Yes, you wouldn't believe it, but I've established an even larger artillery bureau in Yongning, where we're developing four-inch and five-inch cannons. These cannons, or firearms, are all for practice. Their primary purpose is actually to train artisans!"
Chen Ying smiled faintly, "After producing these twenty to thirty thousand rifles, my workers have mastered the technical essentials. More importantly, the rifled guns and rifled cannons have entered the testing phase. By then, my rifles will be able to hit the enemy at two hundred paces, and the cannons will be able to fire more than ten miles away. Even if they get their hands on these weapons, they'll just be wasting their time. Besides, this is a sting operation. If they can actually transport these weapons to Shenyang, then Fan Yongdou is truly capable!"
No scientific and technological research and development can be accomplished overnight; it requires repeated exploration. More importantly, it requires high welfare and high pay to stimulate the craftsmen's enthusiasm for invention. In fact, the Ming Dynasty did not value research and development work. Craftsmen were lucky to get fifteen taels of silver for their inventions.
Of course, the Ming Dynasty, especially in the late Ming period, actually invented a lot of advanced equipment. This was mainly because officials could be promoted for making inventions. This was the case for Zhao Shizhen, Mao Yuanyi, and Sun Yuanhua. So it attracted a large number of officials to be enthusiastic about research and development.
Chen Ying not only raised the wages of the craftsmen, but also gave them status and respect. Previously, in Shahewei, the chief supervisors of the various construction bureaus enjoyed the rank of a seventh-grade battalion commander—a military officer. In the Ming Dynasty, military officers weren't actually valuable; even a second-grade officer like Chen Ying wasn't highly regarded. After becoming the chief supervisors of the Daming Military Command, these bureau chiefs also concurrently held positions as clerks in various departments of the Daming Military Command, receiving civil service treatment.
More importantly, they lived in Yongning, where there were no civil officials to suppress them, and no civil officials dared to go to Yongning to take up their posts. Shahe Guard was also to be moved from the capital to Yongning, forming Xingzhou Wutun Guard and Shuntian Prefecture Jiutun Guard in Yongning, for a total of fourteen guards.
Chen Ying also needed a large sum of money to settle his loyal followers, and Fan Yongdou's intervention at this time was like sending charcoal in snowy weather.
Fan Shaozeng led hundreds of strong men, each with a short knife hidden at their waist, and drove over a hundred flatbed four-wheeled carriages, making a grand procession along the official road toward Zhangjiakou. Fan Yongdou had strong connections in Xuanfu, and the dozens of patrol inspectors were like blind men. These important military and national weapons were openly and officially transported to Shenyang via Zhangjiakou.
Just as Fan Shaozeng breathed a sigh of relief after leaving the capital, they only needed to travel less than a hundred miles before the Jurchens came to meet them, thus completing the transaction.
However, just as they set up camp, countless torches suddenly lit up the surroundings, and Chen Ying, the commander of the Da Ning Army, rode out of the darkness on a tall horse, followed by hundreds of fully armed soldiers of the Shahe New Army.
"Fan Shaozeng, you have colluded with the Jurchens and smuggled contraband weapons. I am acting on the orders of the Imperial Household Department to arrest you!"
Chen Ying pointed, and the soldiers of the Shahe New Army stepped forward, roaring, "Lay down your weapons and surrender! Anyone who dares to disobey will be killed without mercy!"
Fan Shaozeng's expression changed drastically. Even without thinking, he knew what was going on: Chen Boying personally sold them weapons and then led his troops to capture them—it was a trap.
Fan Shaozeng turned to run, but was tackled to the ground by two soldiers of the Shahe New Army. His men tried to resist, but were held back by a dense barrage of swords and spears and could not move.
The wooden crate was opened, revealing neatly stacked cannons, muskets, and hand grenades. Each item was inscribed with "Shahe Ordnance Bureau."
The words "[illegible]" provide irrefutable evidence.
Almost simultaneously, the news reached Zhangjiakou, where the Commander of the Northern Garrison of the Embroidered Uniform Guard was overjoyed and immediately ordered: "Seize all of the Fan family's properties in Zhangjiakou!"
His Imperial Guards split into several groups and headed to Shanxi to raid Fan Yongdou's hometown and his properties in the capital. Fan Yongdou was at home drinking and making merry with his wives and concubines when he suddenly heard a deafening knocking at the door. He opened the door and saw a squad of fully armed Imperial Guards.
Xu Xianchun coldly said, "Fan Yongdou, your crime of colluding with the Jurchens is irrefutable. Your property is hereby confiscated by imperial decree. Arrest him!"
"Lord Xu, is this a misunderstanding?"
Fan Yongdou also wanted to bribe Xu Xianchun. He gave a wink to the steward beside him, who understood and hurriedly took out a large stack of silver notes, which amounted to at least several thousand or tens of thousands of taels of silver.
However, Xu Xianchun didn't even glance at it, and shouted sternly, "Fan Yongdou, you dare to bribe this official! Your crime is compounded!"
"It's over!"
Fan Yongdou collapsed to the ground, his face ashen. He watched as the ruthless Imperial Guards began ransacking his home. They seized not only his personal wealth, but also his sixty-three concubines, the courtesans he kept, and other household prostitutes—a total of 357 beautiful women and over 670 servants.
Three days later, the list of items to be confiscated was delivered to Wei Zhongxian's desk.
"In cash, there are 3.3 million taels of silver, 130,000 taels of gold, more than 1,600 qing of farmland, more than 1,410 shops, and countless jewels, jade, antiques, and paintings. The total value in silver exceeds 16 million taels."
Wei Zhongxian looked at the list and couldn't stop smiling.
Chen Ying stood aside and said calmly, "Eunuch, according to the previous agreement, the amount of silver is 31.31. His Majesty's share has already been sent to the palace. The Grand Eunuch's share is four million taels. I have kept four million taels for myself."
"Boying, since Fan Yongdou is so rich, then Cao Sanxi—"
Wei Zhongxian discovered that confiscating property was a quick way to make money.