308 Night Talk

After sending Zhao Yi away, Qian Qianyi looked a little embarrassed:

"Ahem. Commander Pang, Chief Zhao has always been talking to Meng Lang and has done countless things. He used to help people repair firearms in the frontier army. After he was transferred to the Nanjing Military Headquarters, he still went to the craftsman camp every two days. He was a little obsessed with this thing.

Already."

Pang Yu nodded, thinking that this was a technical talent who specialized in musketry. It was rare to find such an outlier among a bunch of nerds in the Donglin Party.

But then I heard Qian Qianyi say:

"Zhao Fengxiang is obsessed with firecrackers, while his senior brother Sun Yuanhua is addicted to artillery manufacturing... Alas, Xu Zixian's students are like this. If they become obsessed with something, they will fall into it."

"Hmm... hmm? Sun Yuanhua? Xu Zixian... Xu Guangqi?!"

Pang Yu dealt with it casually at first. He was also a little tired, but after hearing the names of Sun Yuanhua and Xu Guangqi (Zixian), he suddenly became energetic again:

"Zhao Yi is Xu Guangqi's student?"

"...Ah? Yes. Back then, Xu Zi first translated Western books, with Sun, Zhao and other students as assistants. As a result, the Xu family's descendants were all keen on these Western Yi paths and miscellaneous studies, but they were quite partial to the authentic Chinese studies. Eh.

What a pity - they are all great talents, but they have gone astray..."

In fact, Qian Qianyi's favorite epigraphy, ancient books, poems, lyrics, and music were not necessarily the right path in the eyes of the Neo-Confucian community at that time. They were just a fool at fifty steps. However, people are always like this, and they are not accustomed to things they do not like.

East and West, it is inevitable to exaggerate. Qian Qianyi is keen on Chinese studies, and of course he has a deeper prejudice against Western learning. Pang Yu can only smile at this, he does not have the confidence to debate the advantages and disadvantages of Eastern and Western cultures in front of this master of Chinese studies.

The two chatted for a few more words. Seeing that the night was getting darker, they went back to their cabins to rest. The official ship treated "Pang Military Advisor" well and assigned him a large cabin alone. However, Pang Yu was very cautious, so he let two

The guards also move in together and take turns on duty at night, so that they can sleep peacefully.

Not even a few minutes after lying down, Pang Yu suddenly heard someone knocking on the door softly. Pang Yu was startled, wondering if there was any "unexpected service" here? But then the call of "Master Pang" came from outside the door.

But it was a broken gong voice that he had just heard... Pang Yu smiled bitterly, but still went over and opened the door. As expected, it was Zhao Yi who was outside, his eyes bright, and he could hardly take his eyes off the musket in the hands of the guards behind Pang Yu, with an eager look on his face.

Zhao Yi expressed that he wanted to "talk" more, and Pang Yu was also interested in chatting after learning about the sect he was taught by, so he invited him in and made a pot of coffee. The two chatted...

Director Zhao is indeed a firearms maniac. He has probably been guessing the internal structure of the Qionghai rifle since he returned just now. In just a short time, he actually drew several sketches. In some places, he actually guessed it**

No less than ten. However, more things are still puzzling. After all, the firing principle of the Qionghai rifle is completely different from that of the traditional matchlock gun, and it cannot be seen just by looking at it.

So Zhao Yi took the liberty to come to ask for advice overnight. He was very motivated to "seize the day and night", but Pang Yu was a little embarrassed - he asked the soldiers to demonstrate the power of the muskets on the ship, which was originally issued to him by the Lingao headquarters.

The order asked for an opportunity to scare these arrogant Ming Dynasty envoys on the road, so that they would not show off when they arrived at the headquarters of the Chuanzhong. That place was no better than Qiongzhou Prefecture, and there were many young and energetic young men. If anyone was angered, there would be trouble.

Get up, everyone is embarrassed.

I didn't expect that there would be such a "professional" in the other side's delegation. Deterrence was necessary, but the possibility of leaking weapons secrets was another matter. Pang Yu regretted talking too much just now, so he didn't even have bullets afterwards.

Dare to show it to Zhao Yi.

Moreover, the identities of the two parties are really not suitable to talk about. Qian Qianyi is very smart, and it is good to see this gun. He just praised it twice, but did not say anything off-topic - saying it was in vain for both parties.

Embarrassing. However, Zhao Fengxiang, Director Zhao, obviously lacks this kind of sensitivity. He came to ask so carelessly. Do you really think that these short-haired people are loyal ministers of the Ming Dynasty?

Pang Yu had no choice but to hesitate a few words and talk about it, hoping that Zhao Yi could recognize him. After all, Zhao Yi was also a civil servant with an imperial examination background, so he didn't even have such a look, right?

Sure enough, Zhao quickly noticed the coldness here, and his face changed a bit, but it was not the anger that Pang Yu expected, but a slight blush, with a bit of shame and disappointment:

"Hey, Military Advisor Pang, I, Old Zhao, am a reckless person, but I am not a fool either. I also know that you should not pry into such secrets, and you won't tell them if you do. It's just... ugh, I really can't bear to do it!"

Seeing Zhao Yi sighing with infinite melancholy, he seemed to be a man with a story. Pang Yu wanted to know more about this person, so he consciously inquired about it. Sure enough, Director Zhao immediately began to recall his life in the border town.

.

Zhao Yi and Zhao Fengxiang were from Shanghai County, Songjiang Prefecture, Nanzhili Province. They were from the same hometown as his teacher Xu Guangqi and had followed Xu a long time ago. However, they later parted ways for a simple reason - in order to learn Western culture, Xu Guangqi's family was baptized.

Catholicism. Although Zhao Yi also valued those learnings, he was unwilling to give up his traditional beliefs, so he left the Xu family.

At that time, Zhao Fengxiang was young and vigorous. He had no idea that the world was dangerous. Without the protection of his teacher, his temperament quickly led to disaster. He was already in Chinese style, and he was waiting for the election of officials in the capital, because

In a moment of quick talk, he laughed at a certain eunuch who was out of the palace to buy money. He was slapped on the ears for seventeen or eight times, and a tooth was knocked out without saying anything. Then he was fabricated by members of the eunuch party and sent to a border town in Liaodong to listen.

use.

"So...you are fighting the Manchus?"

As soon as he heard the word "Liaodong", Pang Yu's eyes narrowed slightly. Although they had never dealt with the post-Jin Dynasty regime in Manchuria during this period, they had already regarded it as their greatest enemy, weapons, and troops.

The organization, tactics... It can be said that the driving force behind their desperate development as a group is to have a serious collision with the political force that will take over the Central Plains in history.

Zhao Yi nodded. Although he was chatting in the boat, his eyes suddenly showed a hint of fear, as if the shadow left by that year was very deep:

"Yes, we are fighting against the Manchu Tatars...The Tatars are so powerful. They all rolled out of the mountains of corpses and seas of blood. They can kill people more smoothly than chickens. They are particularly skilled in archery. When fighting them, they have to fight every moment.

You must keep your ears open at all times. Whenever you hear the sound of the bowstring, you must quickly raise your shield or find a place to take cover. If you move slightly slowly, you will be killed by the bow and arrow... and they all ride on inferior horses.

, without a saddle or harness, he still gallops like flying, and comes and goes like the wind. It is really difficult for me, the Ming Military Commission, to resist."

Zhao Yi recounted several battles he had experienced with the Manchus. The Manchus' fast horses and stiff bows left a deep impression on him. Almost everyone in this nation that grew up among the white mountains and black waters and started out as fishing and hunting was good at fighting.

, The Ming army in Liaodong at that time was also very brave, but after the battle of Saarhu, where all the elite soldiers and generals were wiped out, they no longer had the courage to fight against the Manchurian army.

The wilderness was no opponent, and the Ming army could only retreat to the fortress. The Ming Dynasty's tactics in Liaodong during the Apocalypse were mainly fortress warfare. Fortresses were built everywhere in the vast northeastern land to delay and hinder the Manchurian attack.

Zhao Yi and Zhao Fengxiang were assigned to such a border fortress. They were responsible for guarding an important pass. If the Manchurian army wanted to go to densely populated areas to rob, they must pass through here. People are afraid of death.

The Ming army came here to garrison, and most of them did not dare to fight when the Manchurian army invaded. However, under the policy of the former Ji Liao governor of "defending Liao soil with Liao people", most of the Ming troops defending here were born and raised in the local area. For the sake of the safety of their elders behind them,

, whenever a Manchurian passed by, they would rush out and try their best to block the enemy. Therefore, this fortress naturally became a thorn in the side of the Manchurians. The Manchurian army mobilized heavy troops and attacked fiercely, trying to remove it.

As a scholar, Zhao Yi received some preferential treatment here, but as a battlefield, Zhao Yi inevitably had to join in the battle to defend the city. In fierce battles, he witnessed countless warriors falling to the arrows of the Manchus many times.

Under the arrow.

"The Manchurian army is invincible in cavalry and shooting..."

As Zhao Fengxiang's long sigh floated in the room, behind Pang Yu, the two guards straightened their waists somewhat unconvinced - when doing ideological and political work for the soldiers here, they often mentioned the Manchus and their fate.

To fight against enemies, it is necessary to get vaccinated in advance. However, in the propaganda here, the Manchus' self-proclaimed "invincible riding and shooting" has always been treated as a joke - training with Qionghai rifles

Of course, the soldiers of the short-haired army who came out could not understand the fear of the Northeastern Ming army when facing the Jurchen archers.

Pang Yu has been listening attentively, and from time to time he will take a small notebook to take notes. All their understanding of the Manchu armed forces comes from historical data, which should be said to be very accurate and detailed, but they lack the knowledge of Zhao Yi.

Personal experience.

"The only thing that can compete with the Tatar bows and arrows is firearms. Our fortress is too small to be equipped with cannons. All we can rely on are a dozen or so various firecrackers..."

——This is the reason why Zhao Yi worked hard to study the technology of fire guns. After the old craftsmen in the fort died in the battle, Zhao Fengxiang, the only one who could understand the principles of those fire guns, became the fire gun technician in the fort, responsible for the repair and maintenance of these guns.

arms.

After listening to Zhao Yi describe those weapons, Pang Yu couldn't help but be in awe of him - according to modern people's concept, they are just a pile of rubbish. There are three-eyed blunderbuss, bird blunderbuss, and Lumi blunderbuss.

The manufacturing era is also varied, the earliest can even be traced back to the Qi Jiguang era, and most of them are products left over from the war against the Japanese. As for the caliber and parts versatility... I am afraid Zhao Yi has never been aware of this aspect.

However, Zhao Yi put a lot of effort into these firecrackers. After his efforts to repair them, these primitive weapons in the eyes of modern people played a great role in defending the city. At one time, even the Manchurian troops did not dare to approach the stronghold too much.

The walls of the fortress became a strong barrier to protect the Ming Dynasty fortress, and Zhao Yi gained the sincere respect of all soldiers.

"As long as we use our strengths to avoid weaknesses and use them to defend the city, my Ming Dynasty's fire blunderbuss is still very useful!"

When Zhao Fengxiang said this, he was filled with pride and even straightened his waist. However, the soldier named Xiaomao made him feel discouraged again:

"What happened next?"

"...Later, I still lost."

In a deep voice, Zhao Yi recalled the most painful experience in Liaodong - after the Manchus repeatedly failed to attack, they brought in their most elite eagle shooters. It was the most skilled archery among the Jurchens.

Jing, a group of people with the best archery skills. In the face of their miraculous archery skills, the fire blunderbuss equipped by the Ming Dynasty army were far insufficient in terms of range, rate of fire, and power, and were completely suppressed.

"...The arrow shafts they used were as thick as a child's arm. The arrows were just round iron balls. When they hit a person's body, the muscles and bones were shattered. When they attacked the city, they shot directly at the city wall, and the arrow shafts were inserted into the adobe wall.

It can be used as a ladder for the infantry..."

Afraid of being disbelieved, Zhao Yi stretched out his hand to make signs. Even Pang Yu was horrified at this moment - can human strength really reach such a step? But looking at Zhao Yi's sad expression, it was unlikely that he was exaggerating.

"Except for me, everyone in the fortress died in the battle, and no one escaped... I lay among the dead for two days and two nights before I found a chance to escape. After I came out, I found out that we were fighting to the death to defend

The town had been captured a long time ago, and most of the men, women, and children were killed, or all of them were looted and made into slaves."

Zhao Yi's luck should be said to be good. After he escaped, he was sent to another military town to serve. He might have died there. But at this time, Tianqi died, the new emperor ascended the throne, and the eunuchs fell.

His teacher Xu Guangqi was appointed again not long ago. Although the master and the apprentice had a bad time due to religious issues, Xu Guangqi still helped his student and brought him to the Nanjing Ministry of War.

Although he only had a casual position in the Ministry of War, compared to the bitter cold of Liaodong, where the war was fierce and dangerous, being able to enjoy the sunshine and sunshine in the south of the Yangtze River was already a paradise. However, Zhao Yi and Zhao Fengxiang could no longer sleep peacefully. Every time

As soon as he closed his eyes, those brothers from Paoze who shouted for fierce battle and died heroically would appear in front of him.

He always felt that the fire blunderbuss he had improved was not strong enough and could not withstand the Jurchen tribe's magic archers, which led to the defeat and the sacrifice of those people. Therefore, Zhao Yi also made fire blunderbuss every day when he was in Nanjing.

I went to the craftsman camp to develop a more powerful fire gun with a faster rate of fire.

But no matter how hard he tried, he could not transform a weapon that could compete with the Jurchens' bows and arrows in his impression. He originally thought that there was no such weapon in the world, and that firecrackers would never be as good as bows and arrows. Until just now, he saw

The short-haired soldier's demonstration...

"Think about those good men who died in the border town. If they had such firearms in their hands at that time... I would not be reconciled, I really would not be reconciled!"

In the end, Zhao Yi couldn't talk anymore, but still stared at the Qionghai rifle in the guard's hand, with tears streaming down his face.
Chapter completed!