Pawn Crossing the River

Several people in the Taoist sect were a little surprised, not only by the ruthlessness of this woman, but also by her ability.

It is easy to kill someone alone in the vast sea, but it is not easy at all to return to Fenglinzhou with gold and silver and reach a deal with the local lord.

Pirates on the sea are all first-class villains, and the vast sea is a lawless place. If you want to come back alive from the sea surrounded by thieves, you must have both ability and luck. Even if you return to Fenglinzhou, everything will not be fine. Not everyone can make a deal with the feudal lord. These feudal lords are not Taoist sects who cherish feathers. A good-looking woman brings so much gold and silver to see them. It's like a three-year-old kid carrying gold through the busy city. If he's not careful, even the person and the money will become the pockets of those famous people. Taking a step back, it is more cost-effective to take this woman as a concubine and take advantage of her gold than to seal a flag. However, the lord of Songjiang Domain did not do this. Not only did he seal the flag, he also let her take charge of such a large iron-making enterprise. The workshop is already very illustrative.

This is not a simple woman, and she cannot be simply regarded as an ordinary banner.

Fan Ji put down the Zhongqi in her hand and made tea for several guests herself.

The layout of this house abandons Fenglinzhou's traditional wooden floors and ceiling stoves, and is rather a combination of Chinese and Western styles. The Chinese tables and Western sofas are not too out of the ordinary. It may seem strange to many people in Fenglinzhou, but people in the Taoist sect will find it familiar. After all, the Taoist sect also pays attention to Western learning.

While Huan Ji was making tea, she asked, "I wonder what Qi Gaogong's purpose is here?"

Qi Xuansu did not answer directly: "This 'coming here', if it comes to Fenglin Continent, then I can answer that our Taoist sect came to Fenglin Continent to quell the rebellion at the invitation of Prime Minister Toyotomi."

"For my small banner, this proposition is a bit too ambitious." Fan Ji smiled, "Of course I asked Qi Gaogong why he came to my small array house."

"It's not small." Qi Xuansu said, "It's more of a workshop than a formation house. This kind of workshop is almost as good as the third-class workshop of our Tianji Hall."

Fan Ji said: "It turns out that Qi Gaogong came for my iron-making workshop."

"You can say that, but there is no need to worry too much about Fan Ji Qiben. We are not here to seize other people's property." Qi Xuansu raised his hand and said, "I'm just curious."

Tang Yongshui immediately sent the long gun. As the director of Tianji Hall, he was the only one who had Xumiwu. This was mainly because he carried a large number of firearms. If these things were not stored with Xumiwu but carried with him, they would be easy to carry. Cause certain accidents.

Qi Xuansu took the long blunderbuss and placed it in front of Huan Ji.

Fan Ji just glanced at it: "We don't make firecrackers."

Qi Xuansu said: "Making fire guns requires raw materials, which is steel. I am not from Tianji Hall. Chief Tang, please explain it to Fan Ji Qiben."

"Yes." Tang Yongshui responded, and then looked at Fan Ji, "Fan Ji Qiben has traveled around the world, and is no stranger to fire guns. When the projectile is fired, the power generated by the explosion of gunpowder will push the projectile through the gun If the projectile fails to slide out of the barrel smoothly when fired, there are many reasons for this, such as poor design of the gun, poor manufacturing of the barrel, and insufficient material in the barrel to prevent the projectile from being ejected. Obstacles, etc. The last one can be avoided through daily maintenance, so cleaning the gun tube is one of the key tasks in fire gun maintenance.”

"I will focus on the second point, the manufacturing process of blunderbuss tubes, that is, the blunderbuss blanks are cast and forged into bars in the steel workshop, and then sent to the weapons workshop for subsequent processing. After receiving the bars, the weapons workshop cuts them into sections and removes them. If there are many defects in the outer skin, then use a deep hole drill to drill a through hole in the center of the steel rod.”

"In short, a blunderbuss tube requires cooperation between a steel workshop and a weapons workshop. Fanji Hatamoto said that you don't make fire blunderbuss. Of course, there is no problem, because that is the matter of the weapon workshop. Let's not talk about the weapon workshop first. Just talk about steel workshops.”

"The gun tube is often in an environment of high temperature and high pressure. Under such conditions, the structural strength of the gun tube is very strict. The iron rod used for the gun tube is not an ordinary iron rod, it is called a gun tube blank. The materials required to make high-quality gun blanks are It’s very difficult to obtain. The first batch of ‘fire guns’ produced by Prime Minister Toyotomi at that time used gun blanks purchased from our Tenjido.”

"Although our Tenji Hall later taught the corresponding smelting technology at the request of Prime Minister Toyotomi, we never leaked the relevant technology to the local feudal lord, so we I’m very curious when Fenglinzhou had this technology.”

As the owner of the iron-making workshop, it was impossible for Fan Ji not to understand what Tang Yongshui said, and the smile on her face gradually faded: "I didn't expect that this mage is also an expert in this way."

After saying that, she pushed a cup of tea in front of Tang Yongshui.

Tang Yongshui glanced at Lu Yuting. After Lu Yuting confirmed that the tea was not poisonous, he picked up the tea cup and took a sip of tea to moisten his throat, and then said: "The structure of this fire gun is very simple, and it is still at the stage of a matchlock gun, but The forging technology is very amazing. Using such materials to make a matchlock gun is a waste of resources, which shows that the level of the weapons workshop is very low. "

"Generally speaking, there will be progress only when there is demand, and weapons workshops are at the forefront. The weapons workshops came up with a new design that greatly increased the power of the fire blunderbuss. Then they found that the blunderbuss tube could not withstand it, so they asked the steel workshop to forge it. A better gun blank. Even if there is a deviation, the difference between the two will not be too big, just like a pair of twins. But this fire gun is very interesting. The smelting technology far exceeds the weapon forging technology, so we I would like to ask Fan Ji Hatamoto to give an explanation.”

Fan Ji said: "How come Qi Gaogong and Master Tang believe that this fire gun came from my workshop?"

Qi Xuansu said: "We got this fire blunderbuss at the junction of Iishi County and Kuzu County. Not long after we arrived in Izumo Country, this group of people is most likely a local force in Izumo Country. Matsue Domain has always been famous for smelting iron and steel. In Fenglinzhou, fire guns must be produced by oneself. They will not buy fire guns from outside, let alone spend a lot of money to buy a batch of high-quality gun blanks from the Prime Minister's Mansion, and then cast them into this kind of match rope gun with a rather ordinary design. ”

Fan Ji was silent for a long time, and sighed: "Qi Gao's skills are as clear as a candle's light, and Fan Ji admires it. Yes, these gun embryos did come from our workshop, and the smelting technology was brought back from the West. If there is no such technology, the local lords will also I will not be allowed to take charge of this workshop. As for the forging technology of fire gun, Fenglinzhou Daofu and Toyotomi Prime Minister's Office have strict control, and it is difficult to obtain. Except for a few powerful daimyo, ordinary daimyo are still stuck in matchgun. stage." Qi Xuansu and Lu Yuting looked at each other.

】

Fan Ji's answer cleared up the doubts in his mind. Sure enough, it came from the West. However, the good news is that the Holy Court did not take the initiative to spread the news. From this point of view, the Holy Court has not yet reached out to Fenglinzhou.

But be prepared for a rainy day. If you let it go, it will be a matter of time.

It’s not that the Taoist sect dislikes Fenglinzhou. Regarding farming and people’s livelihood technologies, there is no problem in spreading them to Fenglinzhou, but when it comes to military and national affairs, it must not be done carelessly. Feng Linzhou has always been ambitious, so in this regard, it must be guarded against.

Qi Xuansu thought for a while and said: "Fan Ji Hatamoto has such technology, don't you think it is an indignity to just make a small flag in Izumo Country?"

Fan Ji's eyes flashed: "Is Qi Gaogong trying to recruit me on behalf of the Taoist sect?"

Qi Xuansu did not answer directly, but changed the topic: "Fantasy Ji Ben, who are those two void monks?"

Fan Ji seemed to have expected that Qi Xuansu would ask such a question, and did not go around in circles: "One out of every ten nihilistic monks is a secret agent. These two nihilistic monks who came to my workshop are naturally not ordinary nihilistic ones??? ??????????It’s so simple, they are members of the imperial court.”

Qi Xuansu said: "Our Emperor Ming Yong of the Wei Dynasty in the Central Plains once said that the imperial court is just a few palaces, and food should be eaten in separate pots."

Fan Ji understood and could only say: "Okay, they are loyal to His Majesty the Emperor and brought me the Emperor's imperial edict."

Qi Xuansu asked: "Can I read the imperial edict?"

Fan Ji got up and went to the inner room. When she came back, she had a piece of silk and a wooden shaft in her hand, which was similar to the imperial edict of the Central Plains.

Qi Xuansu accepted the imperial edict and actually understood it, because 90% of it was in Chinese characters. The beginning was: God bless, preserve the lineage for eternity, the emperor will live for thousands of years, and the emperor of Fenglin Kingdom will pardon his life. A large seal is used in the middle, the font is large seal script, and the four characters "Feng Lin National Seal" are written on it.

Qi Xuansu closed the imperial edict: "The emperor wants to make Huan Ji Qiben a viscount?"

Fan Ji said: "I heard that His Majesty the Emperor intends to follow the example of the West and the Central Plains and establish a new title system, that is, Duke, Marquis, Uncle, Son, and Son. The Guan Bai of the public family and the general of the Wu family are both dukes. Guan Bai plus There are six current regents, including the Toyotomi family, known as the six regents. There are also the feudal lords of the Choshu, Satsuma and other major lords, and the Kusei Hana family. The other daimyo lords and ministers are generally marquises. Or a count. There are so many close ministers under the lord, such as the elders, and as for us bannermen, it would be good to be a baron. "

Qi Xuansu said: "But the emperor made you a viscount, and your Majesty the emperor is quite generous."

Fan Ji smiled and said, "It's just a big pie. It's natural to use something that doesn't belong to you to buy people's hearts and use a false name in exchange for someone else's hard work. And under this title system, the one who benefits the most is the royal family, from the emperor to the prince. , all theirs.”

"It seems that Emperor Fenglinzhou has a big plan." Lu Yuting said softly, "Now it seems that the situation in Fenglinzhou will reach this point, and the royal family's power is also 'taking great credit'."

Qi Xuansu said: "This is natural. In the so-called 'respecting the king and fighting against the Tao', 'respecting the king' must come before 'fighting against the Tao'. Don't forget that our Emperor Daxuan cannot also serve as the Grand Master, but the Emperor of Fenglinzhou can concurrently serve as the Grand Master." The leader of Tianmen."