Ma Cheng looked at the remaining pairs of armor, pointed to the pair of mountain text armor and asked, "Mr. Zhang, can I give this pair of mountain text armor?" Ma Cheng really likes this pair of exquisitely crafted armor. Although he can't wear it now, it doesn't mean he can't wear it in the future. Ma Cheng has been training with the soldiers for more than ten days, and he will definitely be able to wear it when his physical fitness is improved in the future.

Zhang Guozhu was going to give this pair of mountain armor to Ma Cheng, but after Ma Cheng said this, Zhang Guozhu smiled and said, "The second young master likes it, so he can take it!"

Ma Cheng nodded with satisfaction, pointed to the fish-scale armor all over his body and said, "Mr. Zhang, there are 111 subordinates. How many such armor are there? Give me one hundred and eleven sets!"

Zhang Guozhu couldn't help but kick him to death when he heard Ma Cheng say this. What did this second generation ancestor think this is? Is the paper armor that fools people?

Fish-scale armor is actually a type of Chinese zither armor. The zither armor appeared very early and began to be equipped in large quantities during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. The zither armor is a large rectangular iron piece with four to six holes in the iron piece. Then the iron piece is firmly fixed to the raw cowhide with hemp rope.

In the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, because the production technology was not good, the armor was just ordinary armor, and its protection against long-range weapons such as bows and arrows was limited. In the Han Dynasty, the improvement of iron smelting technology made the armor plates very small. At the same time, the Han Dynasty invented folded armor plate woven the technique, pressing each armor plate on the top and pressing the left and right, so the force point was borne by the original armor plate to five or six armor plates around, so the protection ability was greatly enhanced. Because this layered armor is shaped like a fish scale, it is also called a fish scale armor.

This type of fish scale armor has outstanding protection and beautiful style, so it was basically armor worn by senior generals in the Han Dynasty. However, the army focused on team combat. Several people might have equipped this gorgeous armor, but hundreds of thousands of soldiers across the country could not be equipped with this armor. Therefore, the armor reached its peak during the Southern and Northern Dynasties. However, during the Sui and Tang Dynasties, with relatively simple production technology, the armor, such as the armor with cumbersome craftsmanship, gradually declined.

In the Ming Dynasty, millions of troops were all over the country, and the economy of the Ming Dynasty was far less powerful than that of the Tang and Song dynasties, so the Shanwen armor was not affordable. In addition, the large number of firearms in the Ming Dynasty were used, such as Mingguang armor and Shanwen armor, which could no longer defend against lead bullets, so the cotton armor that had a simple technology and had a certain defense against firearms began to become popular.

Zhang Guozhu took out these sets of armor and was all high-quality, and they were worn by the generals in the army. Ma Cheng now needs a hundred sets as soon as he opened his mouth. Not to mention that Zhang Guozhu didn't have them, he couldn't even give them to Ma Cheng even if he could take them out.

If other generals dared to speak to Zhang Guozhu like this, they would definitely be scolded. However, Ma Cheng had a special identity, so Zhang Guozhu had to say patiently: "Second Young Master, these armors are all prepared for generals in the army. Ordinary soldiers cannot afford this kind of armor. If the Second Young Master wants to equip his subordinates with armor, please take a look at this!"

After saying that, Zhang Guozhu pointed to the pile of armor piled in a corner of the warehouse. Ma Cheng stepped forward and picked it up and took a look. This kind of armor was equipped with armor pieces only on the front chest. It was not the stacking technology of fish scale armor, but was connected by more than twenty pieces of iron pieces the size of palms.

Ma Cheng looked at the iron sheets. They were not the kind of wrought iron they just saw. They looked like they were cast from cast iron with molds and were covered with sand-eye bubbles.

This kind of armor is okay to defend against swords and guns, and it cannot defend against bows, arrows and muskets at all. Ma Cheng turned around and asked, "Mr. Zhang, is this armor worn by ordinary soldiers?"

In fact, the military preparations in the late Ming Dynasty were abolished. In addition to the border troops who had better equipment to fight against Mongolia and Qing dynasties, there were no armors like this in the Central Plains. Because Zhang Guozhu was the governor's governor's yard, he had priority equipment, so he could get these pretty good armors from the Nanjing Military War.

Zhang Guozhu sighed and said, "Second Young Master, these armors were only distributed by the general manager who bribed the eunuchs in charge of the military affairs bureau. We don't have many such armors, only five hundred pairs, which are just enough for the standard equipment."

Ma Cheng understood Zhang Guozhu's difficulties when he heard that. The whole country has become rotten from top to bottom, and this is not a problem that individuals can solve.

Ma Cheng was not forcing Zhang Guozhu to give him armor. In Ma Cheng's plan, his army had to equip all firearms and defend the enemy from the range of bows and arrows, so it was not necessary to equip such bulky armor. However, cotton armor still needed. This kind of cotton armor had certain defenses on firearm bows and arrows. At the same time, because it was made of cotton, it also had certain warmth.

"Mr. Zhang, are there a hundred sets of this pure cotton armor?"

Zhang Guozhu nodded when he heard Ma Cheng say this: "There are many such cotton armors that can meet the needs of the Second Young Master!"

"Okay, but these hundred sets of cotton armor should be red, and one color looks good when worn!" There were many colors of cotton armor in the Ming Dynasty, most of which were mainly red, blue and blue. Ma Cheng wanted red, of course not for the sake of good looks, but the muskets used black* gunpowder, and smoke filled the fire. If you don't wear a brightly colored military uniform, it is easy to be unable to tell the enemy and me on the battlefield.

When Zhang Guozhu heard that Ma Cheng had such a request, he had no choice but to smile bitterly and nodded in agreement.

The armor problem has been solved, and the next step is musket.

Ma Cheng looked at the warehouse full of armor and no muskets: "Mr. Zhang, all the 100 people of the Mo General need to be equipped with muskets. Can you let the Mo General see what firearms are in Lord Zhang's hands?"

Zhang Guozhu didn't expect that Ma Cheng would equip all the 100 soldiers with muskets, and even the elite troops in the army were not 100% equipped with firearms. But Zhang Guozhu had no choice. He just hoped that Ma Cheng, the vampire, would get out quickly.

Zhang Guozhu led Ma Cheng to another warehouse, where all the firearms were placed. Although Zhang Guozhu didn't have much armor here, he had a lot of firearms and placed a large warehouse full of them.

Ma Cheng thought that the Ming army had only two types of firearms equipped with muskets and cannons, but when he entered the warehouse, he realized that he had thought it was wrong. There were many types of Ming munitions, and Ma Cheng found more than a dozen of them at a glance.

Later generations Mr. Lu Xun once said a famous saying: "Foreigns use gunpowder to make bullets to defend against enemies, but China uses it to serve as firecrackers to respect the gods; foreigners use compass needles to navigate, but China uses it to see Feng Shui." Because later generations Mr. Lu Xun had a lofty position in the literary world, many people believe that China lags far behind the West in the use of firearms.

The author himself has always respected Mr. Lu Xun, but he really cannot agree with this sentence. China's use of gunpowder for military purposes began during the Southern and Northern Dynasties, and the use of firearms in the Song Dynasty reached a peak. However, the ratio of gunpowder at that time was unscientific and there were many types of firearms, so firearms were just auxiliary means in combat.

In the Yuan Dynasty, by absorbing the use of Western firearms and the intelligence of Chinese craftsmen, the numerous firearms in the Song Dynasty were simplified and gradually equipped with metal-body-built weapons in the army.

By the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang's Northern Expedition, the number of firearms and equipment in the army reached half. During the Zhu Di period, the Shenji Camp with all firearms was also established in the Imperial Guard. According to records, the Shenji Camp of the Ming Army had 5,000 soldiers and 3,600 muskets, basically reaching one man. At the same time, the Shenji Camp was equipped with field artillery and 160 general artillery. At the same time, the artillery was equipped with 400 hand-held guns, which is a short musket. This firepower density was not enough in Europe at that time, even the British army during the Raven War in later generations. Of course, this only refers to the proportion of firearms equipment. If compared with the power of firearms, the Ming army was definitely not as good as the British army.

The Ming Dynasty's firearms were ahead of Europe in the early stages, and gradually surpassed Europe in the middle and late stages, but the number of firearm equipment was several times that of Europe.

In the late Ming Dynasty, some intellectuals realized that firearms lag behind Europe, so some people had begun to learn from Western firearms to gradually improve Ming arms. The most famous of them was Zhao Shizhen.

Zhao Shizhen improved and invented more than a dozen types of firearms throughout his life, among which Thunder guns, electric guns, and Lumi guns have surpassed similar weapons in Europe and become standard equipment of the Ming army.

Now Ma Cheng is holding a Thunder gun. This kind of musket consists of five barrels and has a grip behind it. It can be fired continuously during combat. Ma Cheng is very curious when seeing this strange musket in his hand. Isn’t this the kind of hand-cranked Gatling in the movie?

Ma Cheng looked up and down, left and right, and although this weapon could reach a fire density of one to five, this kind of multi-barrel musket was very complicated to load. No wonder this kind of multi-barrel weapon was not popular in later generations. Only when the metal fixed ammunition appeared can the spring of multi-barrel weapons come.

Put down the Thunder gun and Ma Cheng picked up the electric gun. This kind of musket is a small-caliber Folang machine. In fact, Zhao Shizhen also referenced the electric gun invented by Folang machine. This kind of musket has a bullet cabin at the back of the barrel, which is used to put the sub-gun and then fire it with a fuse rope. Each electric gun is equipped with six sub-guns, which can form continuous firepower.

However, the disadvantages of this kind of musket are also very obvious, that is, the airtightness is insufficient, resulting in a very close range. In addition, the power of gunpowder in the Ming Dynasty is insufficient, so the effective range of the electric gun is only thirty steps, which is more than 40 meters.

Ma Cheng looked at this electric gun and felt it was flashy. This kind of musket was not as refreshing as a large Folang machine.

The next musket is the famous Lumi gun. Lumi was referred to in Turkey in the Ming Dynasty. This musket was also improved by Zhao Shizhen from the Turkish musket. This musket has basically the characteristics of later flintlock rifles, with aiming mechanisms and fire devices. In addition to firing, it also requires a flintlock rifle.

Ma Cheng weighed the Lumi gun with his hand, weighing about seven or eight kilograms and a length of about seven feet. Ma Cheng asked, "Mr. Zhang, how long is this musket shooting range?"

The ambassador who was in charge of the warehouse next to him quickly stepped forward and explained: "Sir, this kind of Lumi gun is charged with four cents of medicine and three cents of lead bullets at a time, with a range of three hundred steps!"
Chapter completed!