When Zhao Ming separated from Guo Zhong at sea, he told Guo Zhong that after taking the Red-Farewell prisoners back, he asked them to cast firearms for Jintang Island.

After Guo Zhong returned to Jintang Island, he conveyed Zhao Ming's instructions to Chen Mingyu and Ma Shiao. Ma Shiao placed more than 20 red-haired Yi in the weapons workshop to cast muskets.

Now the logistics system of the Ming Dynasty has long collapsed. The weapons produced by the court were pitifully few and the quality was worrying. After Zhao Ming decided to use Jintang Island as his base, he prepared to build his own weapons.

Although the Qing Dynasty was a barbarian, the manufacturing of weapons, clothing and armor actually surpassed that of the Ming Dynasty.

Of course, this is not because the Qing army invented any new manufacturing method. In fact, the Qing army's armor was basically copied from the Ming Dynasty's manufacturing skills. The reason why the Ming army's equipment was backward was mainly due to the corruption of officials, which resulted in the shoddy manufacturing of the equipment.

The Qing army was difficult to defeat, and one of the important reasons was that the Ming army's equipment was not as good as the Qing army.

The Eight Banners soldiers were well-equipped, especially their armored soldiers, many of which were double-layer cotton armor.

These armors have been specially processed and are lined with iron leaves. Not only are they difficult to hurt by swords, guns, bows and arrows, but they can also prevent the attack of firearms.

The Ming army's firearms were difficult to penetrate their cotton armor, and they were not opponents in close combat, so it was no wonder that they could not defeat the Eight Banners.

If Zhao Ming wants to defeat the Eight Banners soldiers, he must create more sophisticated equipment. Historical trends tell Zhao Ming that developing firearms will be an important choice.

The Ming army's bird guns were difficult to break through armor, so they made more sophisticated flintlock rifles.

Therefore, after Zhao Ming captured Hongmaoyi, he ordered Guo Zhong to let these Hongmaoyi cast firearms for him.

At this time, a month and a half had passed since the captive of Hongmao Yi. Zhao Ming wanted to know whether there was any progress in his workshop after Hongmao Yi joined and whether he had made a flintlock rifle.

When Zhao Ming and Chen Ming met down the hillside, they walked directly to the workshop at the foot of the mountain. It was a row of dirt houses with five tall chimneys and black smoke.

Outside the workshop, several soldiers stood with spears in their hands. When they saw Zhao Ming and his group saluted immediately.

Zhao Ming waved his hand and entered the craftsman workshop. Outside were fifty or sixty craftsmen, who were busy creating waist knives and gun heads.

Now Taiping Camp is in short supply of equipment. Not only do many people have no armor, but they don’t even have weapons, so they can only hold a bamboo spear.

Now Zhao Ming is also considered a king's army. If the king's army uses this appearance to break into the Yangtze River, it may not only not scare the Qing army, but also disappoint the people and make people laugh at it. The king's army must at least be well-clad. What's the matter with a manure fork?

Ma Shiao actually put some effort into equipping Taiping Camp, but the island was short of resources and could not create so many weapons.

The workshop was able to start construction because Cheng Bi recently bought some iron ingots to start forging weapons.

When it comes to weapons creation, the workshop does not have any fancy weapons, and the most popular ones are both economical and affordable gun tips.

At this time, the craftsmen were busy in the workshop. Zeng Hualong saw Zhao Ming coming in and hurried over, "How is the general?"

Zeng Hualong was in his forties, not Zeng Hualong, the governor of Denglai, but a blacksmith in Jiangyin City. He was good at casting weapons. When defending Jiangyin, he shot many crossbows and arrows to help the rebel army defend the city.

Zhao Ming looked at him, with thick hands and thick feet, and a very sturdy figure, but his eyes were not dull, but he was a little shrewd.

Zhao Ming smiled and said, "I'll take a look at the big guys and instantly see what the weapons are like."

Zhao Ming glanced at the workshop. The craftsmen were very enthusiastic. Like the soldiers of Taiping Camp, they had no money now. They all rely on the breath of killing the enemy and revenge, and tried hard to temper their weapons.

This touched Zhao Ming very much, but Zhao Ming knew that this state of unpaid labor could not last too long. If the workshop had a better development, it was necessary to establish a reward and punishment system to give enough money.

There are two reasons why craftsmen in the Ming Dynasty did not work hard. One is that they felt wronged, and the other is that they made less money.

Zeng Hualong bowed and said, "I just got some iron ingots in the workshop, and now I just create some waist knives and gun tips, and everything is here.

Zhao Ming looked at it and found that there was really nothing to look at, so he asked, "Where are those red-haired Yi?"

Zeng Hualong said: "Those red-haired and powerful people are locked in the workshop behind!"

Zhao Ming then said, "Take me to see?"

Zeng Hualong nodded and said sideways: "Please please, General!"

Zhao Ming followed Zeng Hualong to an outside of a dirt house behind. The door was closed and there were soldiers outside holding spears.

"General, these red-haired and powerful people are not obeying discipline and often attack us, so they can only lock us up!" Zeng Hualong said.

Zhao Ming asked: "Did they build flintlock rifles?"

When talking about flintlock rifles, Zeng Hualong became interested. He knew that Zhao Ming was talking about the Dutch muskets and hurriedly said: "General, Hongmao Yi's self-produced muskets are much stronger than our bird guns. Not only does it not require ignition, but it also has a longer range and is more powerful."

Zhao Ming raised his voice, "Oh~ Has the workshop tested?"

Zeng Hualong said: "I have studied it myself. Our bird guns have an effective range of only about seventy steps, and some crossbows can shoot so far, so they have no advantage in shooting. Hongmaoyi's self-generated musket can shoot more than 60 feet away, with an effective range of up to 100 steps, and can break armor within fifty steps, which has excellent performance."

When Zhao Ming heard Zeng Hualong say this, he became more determined to build a flintlock rifle and couldn't help asking: "Did those Red-haired Yi build a flintlock rifle?"

Zeng Hualong shook his head, "General, these red-haired and powerful people have not cooperated and have not made a flintlock rifle yet."

Zhao Ming frowned slightly and walked to the window to look at it. He saw more than 20 Dutch people inside, lazily shaping the iron rods on their hands, while some simply sat and lie down and fell asleep in a daze, and suddenly became furious.

Zhao Ming first asked someone to transfer a team of soldiers to come, then kicked the door open, surrounded by the brigade of soldiers, rushed into the workshop, and then shouted angrily: "You white ghosts, all of you stand here for me!"

Seeing this, Hongmaoyi in the workshop changed his face and was escorted by the soldiers. He stood in the middle of the workshop. Several Hongmaoyi wanted to resist, which immediately attracted a blow and kick from the soldiers of Taiping Camp.

When Aoi saw this, she hurried forward, "God General, you cannot abuse us. We have surrendered. The company will redeem us with money."

Zhao Ming sneered, "I honestly tell you that I have all died and left here. From today on, you will be slaves to the workshop. I don't raise useless people here. If you want to survive, it will prove your worth. Otherwise, I will throw you into the sea to feed the fish!"

When Kui understood Zhao Ming's words, she said horrified: "You have deceived me!"

Zhao Ming said coldly: "I promise that I will never break my promise if I say this time!" As he said that, Zhao Ming turned his head to Zeng Hualong and said: "Give them a task every day, if it fails to complete, the quality is not up to standard, and they will be engaged in military law!"

Zeng Hualong shivered when he heard the words, "Yes!"

Zhao Ming patted his shoulder, "China follows the principle of conquering people with virtue. Barbarians emphasize conquering people with power. China should conquering people with virtue. China should conquering people with virtue when dealing with barbarians. Barbarians fear power but not virtue, and will remain unchanged throughout the ages. Misuse methods, harm the people and the country. They are barbarians, and you don't have to be scruples, and you will treat you well!"
Chapter completed!