Chapter 34

Blanco returned to São Vicente with his team in regret. However, both sides did not come away entirely without results. Privately, Blanco, representing himself and a group of Brazilian-born white plantation owners, expressed a desire to act as agents for the East Shore Company's products in the São Paulo region, of course limited to ordinary goods and military knives without export restrictions.

In return, they would provide the East Shore Company with agricultural products from their plantations at preferential prices. Additionally, they could supply the much-needed coal for the time-travelers, even specifying the exact proportion of coal in each transaction. It was unknown where they obtained the coal, whether from the Portuguese or the British.

At the end of June, Captain Coet arrived late with three large ships moored at the dock. Strangely, no ships had docked since April. The Executive Committee analyzed the situation and believed it might be due to the impact of the pirate attack in January, which only now began to show its effects. During these three months, various supplies had to be heavily drawn from existing stocks.

This also highlighted how fragile the time-travelers' current foundation was. Previously, they had considered selling cannons to the Brazilians, but if the Dutch West India Company found out (which was almost certain), the Dutch might not react, but if they deemed it intolerable, they could simply send a few warships to patrol the waters outside Tartan Port, intercepting various ships, which would plunge Tartan Port into a significant crisis and greatly slow down or even halt the development of the East Shore Company.

Captain Coet's three large ships carried 502 European immigrants, over 100 livestock, and more than 250 tons of various supplies.

The 502 immigrants lined up in a makeshift wooden house at the dock for health and disinfection procedures, with Mo Xiaoxi from the Health Bureau and a group of sisters assisting the Internal Affairs Department police in the quarantine.

In fact, these European immigrants had already undergone a natural selection before setting foot on Tartan Port. The weak and sick had already been thrown into the sea by the crew. The remaining 502 people looked relatively healthy, including 265 French Huguenots, 129 Netherlanders, and 108 English Puritans.

This was the last porcelain transaction between the time-travelers and Captain Coet. The time-travelers' remaining 318 sets of porcelain were sold for 216,300 ducats. After deducting the costs of the immigrants and the goods, the time-travelers received 203,925 ducats from Captain Coet, equivalent to 407,850 yuan.

After the transaction, Captain Coet expressed his willingness to continue business with the time-travelers. Although the lucrative porcelain trade was over, the profits from other goods were still substantial. Coet left two people behind, renting some warehouses at the dock as a warehouse, indicating a long-term development plan.

After the new immigrants were quarantined, they would be transported by river boats to the Dinyuan Fort settlement area. The 5th Production Team of the Pioneer Brigade and the newly established 6th and 7th Production Teams of the Harvest Brigade were all short of labor for farming. These three production teams could accommodate 300 people, and the remaining 202 people would be assigned to Dinyuan Fort. Two new kilns and a cement kiln had been built there, and the city might need to expand in the future, currently lacking manpower. Xiao Bailang had already complained to the Executive Committee several times. Previously, about 200 Czech and Finnish immigrants had been assigned to him, and now 202 more people would be assigned, which would somewhat satisfy his needs.

On June 30, the 1st and 5th Production Teams of the Pioneer Brigade and the 6th and 7th Production Teams of the Harvest Brigade in the Dinyuan Fort settlement area collectively planted 3,500 acres of potatoes.

In mid-July, Peng Zhicheng and Ma Jia entered the firearms manufacturing workshop located on the south bank of the Big Fish River.

The firearms manufacturing workshop, after gradually adding personnel, now had over ten craftsmen and forty apprentices. Previously, their work included repairing firearms and, at the request of the Executive Committee, replicating several types of firearms purchased from Europe by the time-travelers.

These firearms came from various countries and were mostly matchlock muskets, with similar designs. The workshop used wrought iron to forge the barrels, which were then polished using a water-powered boring machine. Other parts were made using molds. The replicated firearms performed similarly to the originals, with some parts using better materials, potentially extending the life of the guns. However, the competition with Europeans was not favorable, and the current demand for firearms among the time-travelers was not high. Therefore, the Executive Committee and the Army did not pay much attention to this, only instructing them to regularly produce small batches of muskets to maintain the technology.

This time, Peng Zhicheng and Ma Jia came together mainly because they had heard that the two types of flintlock muskets purchased from abroad had been studied and tested and could now be mass-produced. They hurried over to see the situation.

Currently, the main weapon of the time-travelers was a Swedish-style Snaphaunce matchlock musket, which was considered one of the best matchlock muskets of the era. In 1630, King Gustav II of Sweden improved this German-invented matchlock musket, reducing its weight and increasing its firing rate, leading to widespread imitation across Europe.

However, matchlock muskets had a fatal weakness: the matchcord would fly out after each shot, requiring it to be relit, which slowed the firing rate. In contrast, flintlock muskets used a flint to strike a frizzen, producing hot iron filings that ignited the powder in the pan, which in turn ignited the main charge in the barrel, firing the bullet. The principle clearly demonstrated the superiority of flintlock muskets.

Early flintlock muskets were called dog locks because the hammer that held the flint resembled a dog. The time-travelers had two models of flintlock muskets, one from Britain and one from the Ottoman Empire (only a few, and it was unknown from whom they were obtained). The principles of the two models were almost identical, but the Ottoman muskets were clearly superior in craftsmanship and aesthetics, with exquisite workmanship.

Peng Zhicheng had tested both models, and they had similar power, range, and weight. After further examination, he and Ma Jia decided that the Ottoman musket was more aesthetically pleasing and better designed, so they chose to standardize and produce a small batch of this model.

The lock mechanism of this musket used a spring-loaded sear. The sear was linked to the trigger, and when the hammer was pulled back to the cocked position, it made a sound, indicating that the sear was holding the hammer in the ready position. When the trigger was pulled, the sear released the hammer, which struck the frizzen, producing sparks (actually hot iron filings) that ignited the powder in the pan, which in turn ignited the main charge in the barrel, firing the bullet.

This flintlock musket was used by European countries for two centuries, and later models were based on this design, making it the progenitor of flintlock muskets. The time-travelers, with limited technical expertise, could only guide technological development based on their knowledge, with the actual work being done by craftsmen from various countries.

For example, the development of the flintlock musket was a typical case. The time-travelers knew that flintlock muskets were superior to matchlock muskets, but they were clueless about how to make even matchlock muskets, let alone flintlock muskets.

By the end of 1631, the time-travelers, under the guidance of European craftsmen, finally understood the principles of matchlock muskets and produced their first handmade matchlock musket. Similarly, at the end of 1631, they purchased 50 dog lock flintlock muskets from Britain, and due to various delays, it was only recently that they successfully replicated the two models of flintlock muskets.

Climbing the technology tree was not easy, especially for outsiders.

Peng Zhicheng and Ma Jia discussed and decided to produce a trial batch of 50 of the 32-A model flintlock muskets to be tested by the Army. After the Army's trial, they would submit a report including their experiences and suggestions for improvement, which would help the firearms manufacturing workshop refine the design.

The conditions for mass-producing this musket were now in place. The other parts of the flintlock musket were easy to make, with existing molds, and did not take much time. The most time-consuming part was the barrel, specifically the boring of the barrel, but with the use of water-powered machinery, this was no longer an issue.

Five water-powered boring machines were lined up along the river in the workshop, using high-carbon steel drill bits to bore a barrel in a day, producing 150 barrels a month, which was dozens of times more efficient than manual production. The entire workshop adopted a production line method, with craftsmen focusing on their specific tasks, significantly increasing the production rate. Producing 150 qualified flintlock muskets a month was entirely feasible. Moreover, the workshop was currently overstaffed, and if they wanted to increase production in the future, they could simply expand the machinery, with the personnel already in place, making it very convenient.

On August 5, 1631, the first batch of 50 flintlock muskets was delivered to the First Battalion of the New Army at Dinyuan Fort for testing.

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