The next day, according to Li Xiao's plan, everyone began to take action separately.

Wu Liang and Mo Changrong and others went to recruit craftsmen. Tian Wei and Wang Yishou and others went to recruit refugees. Chen Houzi and Hou Dao took the pirates and team B, and sailed along the No. 2 Fu Ship to Laizhou, preparing to sell silk, cloth, fur, Dongzhu, musk, ginseng and other goods.

Li Xiao decided to leave 40 tiger skins, 60 mink skins, 100 large East Beads, 50 centenarian ginseng and 100 deer antlers from the items on the ship, and put them in the warehouse for the purpose of visiting Shangguan or handling the relationship in the future.

Then Li Xiao arranged for Quandun's family to follow the existing craftsmen to work together as long as they could work, in order to build the remaining straw houses as soon as possible so that everyone can have a place to live. All the cavalry, shield soldiers and snooker teams were uniformly arranged for training.

Li Xiao himself sat on a rock in the sun and talked about firearms with Zhao Jie, who was appointed as the head of firearms by him.

As the conversation deepened, Li Xiao was surprised to find that Zhao Jie, who was given to him by Shen Zhixiang as a bonus, had a great background.

It turned out that Zhao Jie was the great-grandson of Zhao Shizhen, a master of firearms in the Ming Dynasty. Like his great-grandfather, he was quite good at studying firearms. He studied the "Divine Artifacts" and "Preparing the Border Train Cars and Gunstones" and other books left by Zhao Shizhen repeatedly and was familiar with them. Because he was obsessed with firearms, he never got a fame. In the third year of Chongzhen, Sun Yuanhua, who was a favorite disciple of Zhao Shizhen, was promoted to the governor of Denglai. After pleasing to the descendants of his mentors, he also loved his firearms and his talents. Therefore, Zhao Jie invited Zhao Jie to the army and served as his assistant to assist in researching firearms and forming artillery and musket troops. Zhao Jie also mastered all the "Western Frame Divine Machinery" and "Jingwu Quanshu" written by Sun Yuanhua, and was familiar with them.

Zhao Jie raised his head and sighed, and continued, "It's a pity that Kong Youde deceived Lord Sun Yuanhua to trust, captured Dengzhou, and captured Lord Sun Yuanhua and all of us. Later, Lord Sun was released to the court, and his life and death are unknown. We were forced to supervise craftsmen and build firearms to fight against the imperial court's official army. Later, the rebel Kong Youde was defeated by the official army and retreated north on a boat to cast gold. All of us were taken on a boat together. Fortunately, the Dongjiang Town Navy intercepted the pirate ship carrying me and escaped from the sky below. It's a pity that after we arrived in Dongjiang Town, we found that the officers and soldiers here were all living in a mess, and they could only waste their time every day."

When Zhao Jie said this, he couldn't help but sigh.

"Mr. Zhao, there is no need to worry about the past. Now our army is just starting out, and it is time for talents like you to have great potential." Li Xiao comforted with a smile.

Zhao Jie thanked him repeatedly. Li Xiao asked again: "Mr. Zhao, if our army wants to use all these firearms now, how many people will it use?"

Zhao Jie replied without hesitation: "Sir, the angle and spacing of the red cannons need to be measured, and cleaning and preparation is also more troublesome, so each door needs to be equipped with 5 people. The Franc and Tiger Squat cannons are relatively simple, and each door is equipped with 3 people. Each Lumi Gunner is equipped with 1 person, and a total of 150 people are required."

Li Xiao nodded: "Don't worry, I will recruit all the personnel as soon as possible. I hope Mr. Zhao will train them with all his heart in order to hope that they can go to the battlefield as soon as possible."

Zhao Jie hurriedly said: "Please rest assured to Li Qianhu. If you make up, you will be able to make your mind work. Try to make them familiar with the firearm within three months."

Li Xiao was shocked and took off and said, "Oh, does it take so long?"

Zhao Jie hurriedly said, "Sir, I heard that all the people who are recruited by the adults are refugees. These people are all people who don't know a single word. Besides, they don't have a familiar handwriting. How can they learn things quickly? They can only start from scratch step by step. But these three months have been quite nervous."

Li Xiao was silent when he heard this. He knew that it was not easy to let these refugees master the operation of these artillery and fire guns in a short period of time. At that time, the East India Company of the British Empire recruited soldiers in India. It took a full two months to let the illiterate natives in India understand how to turn left and right. Although the Chinese are much smarter than the Indians, it is impossible to let these illiterate people learn things in one go.

As for the Dengzhou Firearms Camp at that time, it took nearly a year to make those illiterate soldiers fully familiar with and master the operation and use of firearms. From this point of view, what Zhao Jie said took three months, but it was still quite fast.

Li Xiao suddenly thought of something again, and he asked: "Mr. Zhao, now our army has blacksmiths. Can we make our own firearms?"

"Sir, no."

"Oh." Li Xiao was stunned again.

"Sir, if you want to make firearms, you must first have suitable tools, secondly, have skilled craftsmen, and secondly, you must have available iron materials and other materials. Generally, the iron-made iron is difficult to use. It requires Fujian iron produced in Fujian, and at least it needs to be used with Guangzhou iron. Our army does not have these conditions now. If you want to make these firearms, you can only make them after the conditions are complete in the future." Zhao Jie said sincerely.

Li Xiao pondered in his heart. Zhao Jie's words were not a rude word. There was a reason why he said that he should use Min-iron.

During the Ming Dynasty, iron was the most famous in Fujian. During the Chongzhen period, Fang Yizhi once said in "Physical Knowledge": the southern iron is the best, the Guang iron is second, while the Chu iron can only be used as a hoe.

Mao Yuanyi said in "Wu Bei Zhi" that the use of Fujian iron to make the Weiyuan cannon, followed by Jin iron.

Zhao Shizhen said in "The Artifacts Or Question": Fujian iron must be used to make guns, but other iron cannot be used. If iron is smelted, charcoal is the best. Charcoal is expensive in the north, and coal has to be used instead, so there are often many explosions.

Li Xiao, who has studied modern steel industry, knew in his heart that the reason why Min iron is so popular is because its iron has high iron content and fewer impurities. Second, because Min iron is fired with charcoal, unlike the north where coal is used to craft iron, it can greatly reduce the sulfur content of the iron, so that the made of iron is pure and less complicated, and the firearms made are also strong and durable. Although the ancients did not understand the truth, they still have these simple experiences.

It seems that my ambition is not so easy to display.

Let's do it step by step.

Li Xiao believes that as the future development direction of military, firearms must find ways to overcome difficulties in the future, keep up with the development trend of this era, and ultimately make well-used artillery and fire guns to equip the army.

However, compared to developing firearms, Li Xiao attaches more importance to the heritage and temperament of the army.

"Master Zhao, this firearm can be made as soon as possible, which is the best. But compared to having a good firearm, I value the quality of the army and the courage and perseverance of fighting more." Li Xiao said calmly.

"What does Lord Li mean?"

"General Zhao, have you ever thought about the fact that when Lao Nu rebelled against the Ming Dynasty in Hetuala, our Ming army, both firearms and armor, were far superior to the Tartars, but they were defeated repeatedly and lost to Liaozhong and Liaonan. Now they have to have a corner of western Liaoning, but why?"

"I haven't thought about this yet." Zhao Jie scratched his head and couldn't answer for a moment.

"General Zhao, according to my official's opinion, regardless of the government interference, or external factors such as strategy and use, just in terms of field formation battles, the Tartars can defeat our Ming Dynasty's official army, and even win more often, rely on a strong aura of fearlessness, rely on a moderate battle formation, strict command, clear rewards and punishments, and excellent personal qualities such as martial arts, shooting skills, and riding skills. In comparison, our Ming Dynasty's official army has been training for a long time, disorderly battle formations, fear death, and martial arts and riding skills. Therefore, the generals are afraid of fighting for personal gain, and the soldiers are busy living. Compared with these two, it is not that my official self-deprecating, the comprehensive quality of our Ming Dynasty's official army is far inferior to the barbaric Tartars who are good at white mountains and black waters. I believe that this is the fundamental reason why the Tartars with backward equipment can defeat our army repeatedly."

After Li Xiao finished speaking, he sighed without realizing it.

"I think my opinion is very reasonable. However, the freezing three feet of ice is not as cold as a day. The accumulation of our Ming Dynasty officials and soldiers has become deep, but it is difficult to change suddenly." Zhao Jie sighed and said.

"Hmph, I, Li Xiao, don't believe it. My Ming official army can only sink into this! I can only allow the vulgar and barbaric Tartars to defeat our army, kill our people, and seize our city! I, Li Xiao, cannot change others, but can start with myself. I believe that if our army has been trained and tempered, we can also compete with the Tartars!"

After hearing Li Xiao's powerful words, Zhao Jie felt very glad. He seemed to be a coincidence that he met someone who could truly be loyal to him.

The two chatted for a few words, and the topic turned back to the firearm.

"Sir, even if we can't build artillery fire guns for the time being, our army can also make simpler firearms such as the thunder of the sky."

Zhao Jie's whisper made Li Xiao illuminate without realizing it.

Yes, I am still a time traveler, so why didn’t I even expect these things?

Li Xiao remembered that the book "The General Yao of Wu Jing" had already said that as early as the Song Dynasty, a variety of ammunition that could be thrown by hand could be made by hand. In the early Ming Dynasty, the Ming army was equipped with an iron-shell explosive firearm, which was named Zhentian Thunder. Zhentian Thunder cast shells with pig iron, which was shaped like a jar, a bowl, etc., and contained gunpowder and small holes for placing leads. After ignition, the gunpowder burned in the closed iron shell, producing high-pressure gas, causing the iron shell to explode and injure people. In addition to its power, it was almost the same as the grenades hundreds of years later.

"Mr. Zhao, what you said is very reasonable. Let's do this. In the past few months, you have trained firearm sergeants well. When you have the conditions, you will first make thunder and then develop artillery fire guns." Li Xiao patted Zhao Jie's shoulder with encouragement.
Chapter completed!