Chapter 222 Bloody List

Chapter 222 Bloody List

Chapter 222 Bloody List

On the ninth day of the second month of the fifth year of the Tongzhi reign, Shao Quanzhong arrived in Baoji.

The newly formed first railway engineering corps of the Qing Dynasty, a battalion of more than 500 people, was here to welcome Shao Quanzhong and unload a large number of nitroglycerin solid explosives and detonators from the special train.

This is the first batch of products of Nobel's branch in Hailing. The Qing Dynasty signed a contract with Britain and the United States to build 40,000 kilometers of railways, and the demand for solid explosives was huge. Nobel certainly would not give up this opportunity to make money.

The two brothers who came to China with Nobel took the technical information of Nobel's new inventions to various countries in Europe and the United States to register patents and organize production.

Nobel himself stayed in Hailing to work for Shao Quanzhong, and personally presided over the work of the Huaxia branch.

During his time in Hailing, Shao Quanzhong established the "Hailing Patent Office" at the Hailing Arsenal to encourage Chinese talents to invent and create. Nobel's solid safe nitroglycerin explosive became the first invention registered in the Hailing Patent Office.

Hailing Patent Office cannot represent the Qing Dynasty, but with the credit guarantee of Shao Quanzhong, the patents registered in the territory controlled by the Huai Army and the Self-Strengthening Army are protected. With the recognition of Britain and the United States, it is an internationally legitimate patent review agency.

Shao Quanzhong did not anticipate the time it would take Nobel to develop solid glycerin explosives. The reason why he sent engineers to help with the construction was that he wanted to use TNT to break mountains and split rocks. This thing had to be kept secret and could not be patented and made public, so he needed his own team to do it.

But the Huai Army's TNT had not yet been produced, and since Nobel's engineering explosives had come out first, it was acceptable to use Nobel's product first.

"Boom! Boom!"

When Shao Quanzhong's troops were riding towards Lanzhou, the Railway Engineering Battalion had already started blasting construction for the Baoji to Tianshui section of the railway in four sections, based on companies. The construction speed was expected to be greatly accelerated.

Charles Crocker, the American construction supervisor, sighed and said he was convinced. Technology is developing rapidly. Mark Twain was right. Shao was indeed the general who was best at using new technologies.

On February 21, Shao Quanzhong arrived in Lanzhou, stayed there for a while, and then hurried to the newly built Lanzhou branch of Wen’s Arsenal, where he met Ding Gongchen, who was in charge of the construction of the branch.

It will take some time for Ding Shoucun to be transferred here to take up the post. Now Ding Gongchen is still in charge here.

"Lord Zhongcheng, our arsenal has been built, and the people and machines are ready. It is also convenient to transport Jin coal here, but the metal materials have to go through Longju Village, which is a bit troublesome. Basically, we can start production immediately."

"Don't rush to produce. Your first task is to develop new explosives, shrapnel and hand grenades, mines, explosive packs, blasting tubes, and imitate fire detonators. Mainly produce these things. Once the electric detonators are designed, you will also be responsible for their production."

Ding Gongchen was full of questions. "Is it so easy to research new explosives? The technology of shrapnel, hand grenades and land mines has been perfected. What else do we need to research? What are explosive packs and blasting tubes? Oh, by the way, Shao Yigu sent a large amount of raw materials for making yellow dye to our factory. Was it the wrong one? What do we make dye for?"

Shao Quanzhong waved his hand, and Hu Liuniang took out a precious recipe from her pocket and handed it to the confused Mr. Ding.

"This dye can be used as a safe explosive. We will produce it in large quantities in this factory. The formula must not be spread and must be in the hands of absolutely reliable people. TNT is slightly inferior to nitroglycerin in its ability to split rocks and mountains, but it is much cheaper and much safer. It will not explode even if it is ignited by fire without a detonator. This is still secondary. It can be used in artillery shells, grenades, and torpedoes, and can also be made into powerful explosive packs and blasting tubes..."

Ding Gongchen just didn't know the existence of TNT. As a top arms technology expert, once he learned of the existence of the new explosive, he didn't need Shao Quanzhong to remind him of its other applications.

Instead, he immediately reminded Shao Quanzhong, "If this explosive is as powerful as Lord Zhongcheng said, the spring of light field artillery will come again. Its power will definitely exceed that of the Williams rapid-fire cannon. At least they each have their own uses."

Shao Quanzhong slapped his forehead and said, "Thanks to Lord Ding for reminding me. Liu Niang, send a telegram to Hailing immediately and order another 20 batteries of 4-pound Armstrong light field guns from the British. Telegraph the Hailing headquarters of Wen's Arsenal that the production of Hale rockets will be stopped immediately on the day the light field guns are delivered to the front line."

As an important military industrial base, Lanzhou Arsenal was of course connected to a dedicated telegraph line. After Hu Liuniang recorded Shao Quanzhong's order, she ran to send the telegram.

Liao Rong had already set out for South America and was leading his troops on the Atlantic Ocean. Fortunately, the Huai Army was an old customer of the British, so there was no need to bargain and there was no problem in placing orders directly in Shanghai.

Mr. Ding lamented that the Hale rocket production plant he built had become obsolete in just a few years.

Ding Gongchen took over the detailed manufacturing drawings of the fire detonator from Hu Liuniang, which were sent to the Hailing Patent Office by Nobel Baba. As long as the Lanzhou Arsenal copied the fire detonator and did not sell it to the Huai Army, the patent law would not be able to control it.

Although the electric detonator is advanced, it has not been released yet. Even if it is released, it cannot replace the fire detonator in artillery shells, blasting tubes, grenades, torpedoes and other things. Only mines and explosive packs can be operated with electric detonators in some occasions, and detonated safely and immediately. After explaining to Mr. Ding, Shao Quanzhong did not go to the Governor's Office to visit Mr. Qiao. He led the guard platoon and 60 army graduates who returned from studying in Puzhou and rushed to Suzhou without stopping.

…………

Japan, Kyoto, Nijo Castle, Honmaru Palace.

"Governor-General of the Imperial Guard" Yoshinobu Ichibashi stood with his hands behind his back, looking into the distance to the west and sighing.

Choshu, you traitor, I tolerated you respecting the emperor and expelling the barbarians, but now you are clamoring to respect the emperor and overthrow the shogunate all day long, and you are fighting against the shogunate. The damn Satsuma clan is secretly supporting Choshu. Humph, it seems that I haven't killed enough people in Ikedaya.

Shogun Tokugawa Iemochi has already begun to mobilize his troops, preparing to stay in Osaka and attack the Choshu clan. But now the shogunate is weak and powerless, and the 21-year-old shogun is not in good health. It is hard to say whether the second Choshu battle can be fought and whether it will be successful.

The power of the shogunate is declining. Is it possible that the foundation passed down by Lord Ieyasu will be destroyed by his own generation?
The Choshu and Satsuma clans, who were rebelling against the shogunate, should all be punished by heaven.

"Squeak-"

There was a slight sound in his ears, and Ichihashi Yoshinobu felt a flash before his eyes, and a dark shadow knelt down in front of him.

Huh? When did the martial arts of his ninjas improve to this level? It was amazing.

After a closer look, he found that he did not recognize the person who saluted him. Moreover, more than a dozen black shadows appeared on the window next to him. They were carrying two Japanese swords and revolvers on their waists. They were not his men at all. How did they get into the heavily guarded Nijo Castle?
Not good, "There's an assassin!"

The two senior ninjas who were guarding him reacted later and rushed out with hand hooks in hand.

The man in black who saluted him laughed loudly, stood up, and several iron bullets whizzed out from his hands. The two jonin only felt the iron bullets whizzing past their ears, and they were immediately frightened and dared not move.

"Your Highness, we are here to help you. We are the Kirishitan ninjas from Southeast Asia. Although we have been expelled, we still have our hearts set on our homeland. In this time of crisis, we are willing to serve the shogunate."

Yoshinobu Ichihashi was still very calm. With the force shown by the other party, he could have killed me long ago. If he didn't do anything, could he really be helping me?
"How can you, just a dozen ninjas, help me?"

"We can't play any role on the battlefield, but we can join your Shinsengumi and assassinate the rebel leaders who need to be punished one by one."

"After the Ikedaya incident, the rebels have strengthened their defenses..."

"So you need to send the Shinsengumi ninjas to lure the tiger away from the mountain, and we will be responsible for the real assassination. This is the shogunate traitor who we have investigated, Akiusuke or who secretly communicated with the Choshu domain, and they are on the list of people to be assassinated."

Yoshinobu Ichibashi took it and looked at it.

The list was written in cinnabar, and each name was as red as blood. It was not just those from the Choshu and Satsuma domains.

Ichibashi Yoshinobu read them one by one, his voice trembling, "Ito Hirobumi, Yamada Akiyoshi, Matsudaira Yoshiyasu, Sakamoto Ryoma, Saionji Kimmochi, Katsura Kogoro, Saigo Takamori, Okubo Michitoshi, Yamagata Aritomo..."

"Once these people are punished by heaven, the authority of the shogunate will surely be revived and they will firmly grasp the power of our Fuso again."

When Itohashi Yoshinobu looked at these righteous men from Southeast Asia, he was excited. He didn't expect that among those who were expelled, there were so many loyal and righteous men of the shogunate.

Suddenly, there was a strong killing force in his hand. Ichihashi Yoshiki's eyes flashed with ferocity, and he waved his hand, "Kill! Let all these traitors die!"

(End of this chapter)