The journey of the only child of a peasant family to take the imperial examination

Zhang Ping'an opened the letter only after the bailiff left.

My sixth brother-in-law said that he attached great importance to his letter after receiving it, and told me in detail about the progress and situation of his current research on the fire egg gun, which can now be used preliminarily.

However, iron and gunpowder were very expensive, his financial resources were limited, and he was not sure about the effect and usage after large-scale production.

He also said that if more powerful weapons are needed, he has made certain improvements not only to muskets, but also to bows and crossbows.

Improved drawings are also included.

This is undoubtedly good news for Zhang Pingan.

The emergence of firearms will definitely change the face of war. First of all, it will increase lethality and long-range strike capability, and it will also change the form of war from close-range hand-to-hand combat to long-range firepower confrontation.

This will in turn affect the overall layout and strategy of the war.

Sixth brother-in-law has no money, but he does!

The reason for keeping so much cash is to prepare for emergencies.

Thinking of this, Zhang Ping'an couldn't wait to get up and write a letter back to his sixth brother-in-law, hoping that he could come to Ci County to help him temporarily for a while. His sixth brother-in-law's position in the Ministry of Industry was a sinecure, so it should be no problem for him to take a temporary leave for a while.

It would be best if you could bring a group of skilled craftsmen. The wages can be negotiated and a silver note will be attached.

After writing the letter, Zhang Ping'an was still a little worried. After all, his sixth brother-in-law was rather dull and not very good at communication. It might be difficult for him to handle this matter.

After thinking about it, he wrote another letter to Lin Junhui, asking him to help.

After all, if the Fire Egg Gun could really be successfully produced and put into use, he would definitely report the matter to the court. Not to mention that he didn't intend to hide it, the most important thing was that he couldn't hide it!

As for whether the above will accept and use it, it depends on the above ideas.

At this time, Chief Secretary Tao came back after meeting with the Su family.

"Sir, I have already paid Su Erlang's family one month's salary in advance as you instructed. They are currently being temporarily accommodated in the inn."

"Well, okay," Zhang Pingan nodded, "Is their whole family here?"

"Yes, the whole family is here," Tao Zhubo nodded.

After saying that, he smiled again, stroked his beard and said, "By the way, he also brought you a lot of bayberries. The fruits are quite big, but they are not ripe yet, so they are probably very sour!"

"It's okay, it's just right to brew it with sugar. You can send someone to deliver it to my wife in the back court," Zhang Ping'an said with a smile.

It’s not stupid that you even know to bring some local specialties!

Speaking of this, Zhang Pingan couldn't help but sigh in his heart: the upper class has enjoyed the benefits of the times at least a hundred years earlier than the lower class!

While the lower class was still struggling to eat candied haws, the upper class was already using white sugar to flavor it.

For example, the fermented rice wine or fruit wine that my wife eats are all made with white sugar.

Moreover, it had been used by two generations ago and was shipped from Persia at a high price.

It is a real luxury nowadays.

Although Zhang Ping'an didn't know the specific process of making white sugar, he knew that brown sugar could be converted into white sugar. The main thing was to use yellow mud and sand water to absorb the impurities in the brown sugar.

If he hadn't been the county magistrate, he might have spent some time researching it. After all, this was also a way to get rich.

But the current situation is so chaotic, and there are so many things to do in the county government office, so I'll just have to wait until later to express my wish!

In a blink of an eye, it was two days later.

As expected, the sixth brother-in-law did not disappoint Zhang Ping'an's expectations. With the help of Lin Junhui, he brought more than ten craftsmen to Ci County.

"Sixth brother-in-law, thank you for your hard work along the way," Zhang Pingan said with a smile, feeling very touched.

He quickly asked the servants to serve the meal.

The sixth brother-in-law was invited directly to the flower hall in the back court to eat, while the other craftsmen were first sent to the post station to eat and rest.

"Did you have a safe journey this time?" Zhang Pingan asked with concern.

Yu Shiqi waved his hand and smiled faintly, "It's fine, quite safe, and nothing happened. Your classmate surnamed Lin made very good arrangements. In addition to the blacksmith I'm familiar with, he also found ten weapon forgers from the Ministry of Works who specialize in forging weapons!"

"He's always been thorough in his work," Zhang Ping'an agreed, nodding. "Professionals doing professional things will definitely produce better results. So how long can these ten weaponsmiths stay here?"

Yu Shiqi thought for a moment and said, "Three to five months shouldn't be a problem. I recommended these ten weaponsmiths to Brother Lin myself. They are all honest and skilled, and none of them are troublemakers!"

After saying this, he smiled a little embarrassedly. "This is the first time I've been entrusted with such an important task. Don't worry, I will definitely bring people to make the things as soon as possible. Iron and gunpowder are too difficult to obtain. Not to mention the silver, these raw materials alone will take a lot of effort. We can't let them go to waste!"

"How many did you bring this time? How many fire egg guns can you make?" Zhang Pingan asked.

After a careful calculation, Yu Shiqi replied, "The raw materials I brought aren't too many, but they're not too few either. I can probably make about fifty swords. This is a delicate job, and it requires repeated refinement."

"Is that so?" Zhang Pingan lowered his head and pondered. "Then can you guys urgently make five to ten of them? Next month, I'm going to send some people to sea with my fourth uncle's people to fight pirates. If we have fire guns, we can have a better chance of victory and reduce casualties."

"There's still almost a month left, so that's no problem. I'll lead my team to work overtime and we'll definitely be able to get it done," Yu Shiqi replied confidently. When he talked about the area he was good at, his whole body was glowing.

It made that not-so-attractive face look a bit more handsome.

In this way, Yu Shiqi and a dozen craftsmen settled down temporarily in Ci County.

There happened to be several vacant mansions in the family of Yu County Magistrate who had been beheaded. Zhang Ping'an directly allocated one of the more spacious ones to be used as a workshop for everyone.

There are special maids to do laundry and deliver meals.

Yu Shiqi was originally very interested in this, but no one in his family paid attention to him since he was a child, and he did not have that much money to spend on it, so the progress of the invention was very slow, and it was accumulated bit by bit.

Now I have this opportunity to show my talents. I don’t have to worry about not having enough money, wasting money, or being accused of not doing my job properly.

Psychologically, I felt very relaxed.

Now I am completely immersed in it.

In less than five days, the first complete fire egg gun was made.

When Zhang Pingan found out, he felt excited, surprised, and emotional.

This epoch-making invention was actually completed right under his nose, which made people feel confused for a moment.

After seeing the finished product, I was even more excited. Although the gun body is still a bit heavy, it is already far superior compared to other weapons of this era.

Yu Shiqi, with his unshaven beard, scratched his head and explained, "Actually, the fire egg gun I made before was only a foot and a half long, and it could hold less ammunition. At the time, it was mainly because I didn't have enough silver and channels to obtain iron and gunpowder, so I made it shorter. This time, we are going to use it to go out to sea to suppress pirates, so I made the gun body a little longer as I originally planned. Although this is more expensive and the cost is higher, it can hold more ammunition."

"I understand. Don't worry about the cost," said Zhang Ping'an.

After saying that, he patted his sixth brother-in-law on the shoulder and said solemnly: "Just go ahead and do it. Don't worry about the money and raw materials!"

This invention is much more valuable than silver and raw materials!