Rise From the Humble

It was precisely because of his intention to worship Zhu Pingan that Yu Dayou came from Zhenhai to pay his respects when he heard that Zhu Pingan was about to arrive in Shaoxing yesterday. It was only because he was waiting for the Chief Envoy and others to visit first, and because Zhu Ping'an's father-in-law and his entourage arrived that Yu Dayou could not be disturbed, so he came to visit early this morning.

From the moment the breakfast was prepared, Yu Dayou felt that he had made the right choice. This kind of care and attention was something he had never experienced before during his previous visits.

"Sir, I have practiced martial arts since I was a child and have a large appetite. Although I have already eaten breakfast, these breakfasts are not a problem."

Yu Dayou said movedly.

"No need, General Yu. Too much is too little, and it won't be nice to hold on. Since we've already had breakfast, let's take it down and keep it for my lunch. The master chef on the stove is good at his craftsmanship. I'll have lunch Have a good taste.”

Zhu Pingan waved his hand and said with a smile.

"Thank you Zhu Butang for your concern. I haven't congratulated Mr. Butang on his promotion yet. I know that Zhu Butang is good at using firearms. It happened that he fought with Japanese pirates at sea some time ago. Although he suffered some losses, he destroyed a Japanese ship. On the boat, several red-haired Japanese pirates were killed, and a pocket fire gun was seized from one of the red-haired Japanese pirates, which was specially presented to the Lord for self-defense. He borrowed flowers to offer to Buddha, and Lord Liahebutang was promoted. "

Yu Dayou presented an exquisite box. When he opened it, he found a pocket-sized musket, which could barely be called a pistol.

This pistol is about forty centimeters long. It is bulkier than modern pistols, but much smaller than a blunderbuss. It can be carried in a sleeve or worn on the waist.

The decoration on the gun body is very exquisite. The barrel is inlaid with arabesques, and the gun body is decorated with relief and gold plating. There is also a wolf head emblem, which may be the family emblem of the owner of this pistol.

This pistol was considered advanced in the Ming Dynasty. Instead of a matchlock for ignition, it had a revolving spring wheel to turn the musket, but it was not a flintlock gun. It used a spring wheel as the ignition device, a bit like the traces of a clock.

This may be the spring wheel pistol in the evolution from European matchlocks to flintlock guns. Its main components are the grinding wheel and flint. The firing principle is to pull the flint clamp and wind the grinding wheel at the same time. In this way, when the trigger is pulled, the flint The entrained flint collides with the rapidly rotating grinding wheel, causing sparks to ignite the ignition powder, which then ignites the propellant powder and launches the projectile.

Compared with the matchlock gun, the spring wheel pistol is certainly an improvement. It gets rid of the matchlock and improves practicality.

However, its technology is too complex and precise, there are too many parts, the production is too cumbersome, and it is expensive. It is not possible for large-scale installation. Only the royal family and some nobles can afford it, for hunting, self-defense or equipment. batch. The badge on this spring wheel pistol also confirms this.

This pistol can be studied by Ou Zhige and others, or it can help them open up certain ideas and help them develop a flintlock gun.

Thinking of this, Zhu Ping'an was not polite. He took the spring gun handed by Yu Dayou with both hands and thanked him, "Thank you, General Yu. This item is useful in the Zhejiang Army Equipment Battalion's research and development of firecrackers, so I accepted it shamelessly."

"Zhu Butang said something serious. It's my honor." Yu Dayou returned the gesture with fists clasped.

"A few months ago, at the Sea Sacrifice Ceremony, you and I fought side by side, and we are still in front of our eyes. From now on, you and I can fight side by side again. General Yu is also a veteran. In the future wars in Zhejiang, we will have to rely more on General Yu." Zhu Ping'an wrote to Yu Dayou He poured a cup of tea and said with a smile.

"The word 'reliance' is really embarrassing." Yu Dayou smiled bitterly, and then said with a serious face, "On that day, the Japanese pirates hid in the sea sacrifice ceremony, and suddenly attacked at night, trying to destroy the sea sacrifice ceremony. If it weren't for the Lord of the Ministry, The Sea Sacrifice Ceremony was feared to turn into a river of blood and become the laughing stock of the world. At that time, the general was also embarrassed by the Japanese pirates' raid. Thanks to the Lord of the Ministry of Commerce who stood up and turned the tide, Suzhou was able to turn defeat into victory not long ago. The great victory was achieved by Zhu Butang’s own efforts. If I want to rely on you, I will also rely on you in the future. Zhejiang will definitely take on a new look.”

I never expected Yu Dayou to be so good at talking. He looks less like a military general and more like a scholar. Oh, come to think of it, Yu Dayou obtained the title of scholar at the age of fifteen. However, he never succeeded in passing the examination. In the end, he had no choice but to inherit the hereditary hundred households in his family. .

That makes sense.

However, since Yu Dayou is so talented in literature and martial arts, and so good at talking, why has he never been favored by Shangguan in history and was often suppressed? !

Zhu Pingan was a little confused.

However, if you don't understand it, don't think about it. As the saying goes, Lu Yao knows that horse power has long been recognized by people's hearts. He is the governor of Zhejiang, and Yu Dayou is a general in Ningbo and Taizhou. There is plenty of time to understand Yu Dayou and find out the truth of history.

"General Yu, I have been away from Zhejiang for a while. When I come back this time, I don't know much about the current situation in Zhejiang. Can General Yu tell me about the Japanese invasion situation in Zhejiang?" Zhu Pingan asked Yu Dayou.

"Of course. The Japanese pirates in our territory are mainly the Japanese pirates under Wang Zhi. They are very powerful. There are 780,000 Japanese pirates under his command. They occupy Ligang as the Japanese nest and collude with the Japanese Japanese pirates, which is very harmful. In addition to Wang Zhi, there are ten Several groups of small and medium-sized Japanese pirates, with troops ranging from hundreds to thousands, were not under Wang Zhi's control. Although they were not as powerful as Wang Zhi, they were even more ferocious; except for the Japanese pirates entrenched along the coast of Zhejiang, Nan Zhi The Japanese pirates Xu Hai and Maye from Li Tuolin also caused great harm to our Zhejiang province. In addition to Jiaxing being attacked by them, the counties and towns bordering Zhili in the north also suffered greatly!"

"A few months ago, after Wang Zhi's plot to coerce merchants with Japanese pirates failed, he launched a crazy revenge, instructing his Japanese pirates, contacting other Japanese pirates, and colluding with Japanese lords to attract tens of thousands of Japanese pirates from Japan. They sailed more than a thousand ships and landed in Zhoushan, Xiangshan and other places in Zhejiang. They robbed Taizhou, Wenzhou, Ningbo, Shaoxing, captured cities, killed and kidnapped residents, and committed all kinds of evil. The whole of Zhejiang was in constant flames, and smoke rose everywhere. Many counties had been broken by Japanese pirates, and Taizhou was almost captured by Japanese pirates."

"Every day, Japanese pirates plundered villages and towns, especially the coastal villages and towns in Zhejiang, where there was almost no peace."

Yu Dayou introduced in detail the distribution of Japanese pirates in Zhejiang and the situation of Japanese pirates' rampage. The current Japanese problem in Zhejiang is very serious.

"I know that the Japanese problem in Zhejiang is serious, but I didn't expect it to be so serious." Zhu Ping'an couldn't help but sigh after hearing this.

"I'm afraid it will be worse in a few days." Yu Dayou continued.

"Will it be worse in a few days?" Zhu Ping'an was stunned.

"Sir, yesterday a subordinate came to me to report that a large-scale Japanese ship sailed from Japan to Songjiang Prefecture. Judging from the number and size of the fleet, there are more than 2,000 to 3,000 Japanese pirates on board. They must be the real Japanese pirates in collusion with Takulin Xuhai and Ma Ye."

"According to my understanding of the Japanese pirates, this group of Japanese pirates came across the ocean and rested for a few days, and they will definitely plunder on a large scale."

"Takulin Xuhai and other Japanese pirates have always been accustomed to attacking everywhere. The first to suffer from their disaster is of course Nanzhili, but our villages and towns and cities in northern Zhejiang bordering Songjiang Prefecture cannot escape the looting of the Japanese pirates."

Yu Dayou explained.