Chapter Thirty-Fifth: Private Manufacture (Seeking Recommendations and Favorites) Worry-Free

  Yang Qiu directly smashed his own brain, it's all because of YY, what Xinhai period was full of Mauser C96s and Madsen M50s, actually where did they come from?

  After the Russo-Japanese War, the Qing government saw the power of machine guns and indeed began to equip the Beiyang Army with machine guns. However, by the end of August, in order to conduct this year's Yongping Autumn Exercise, due to the delay in the arrival of imported machine guns, the Qing government borrowed a large number of machine guns from various armies across the country, almost depleting the nation's entire stockpile of machine guns.

  Originally, the Hubei New Army had never been equipped with Maxim guns, and now even the few Hotchkiss guns have been taken away. Throughout the entire army, except for a few gate-facing Hotchkiss guns in the Governor's Office and Zhang Biao's hands, almost no machine guns can be seen, to the point where during the Yangxia Defense War, the militia used "six-barreled divine artillery" to counter the heavily armed Beiyang New Army.

  The Madsen M50 was the same, although the Guangzhou Arsenal began to imitate it in 1908, but the scale, output and technical level of the Guangzhou Arsenal were not as good as those of Hanyang, with only 2-3 guns produced per month.

  In the movies, anyone can easily handle a machine gun, but that's completely fake. Madison is okay, but the Madsen machine gunner is absolutely a technical job that requires very high standards and does not accept professional training, and even loading bullets is not feasible.

  20 heavy machine guns, 100 Madsen M50 light machine guns, and 300,000 rounds of ammunition were sold to Yuan Shikai for no less than $3 million. Was it all just a waste? Yang Qiu gritted his teeth, if there was really no other way, he could only wait until the uprising began and then select soldiers for crash training.

  According to later records, the Yangxia Defense War lasted more than 40 days. In addition to the six or seven days of buffer after the Wuchang Uprising, shouldn't a few be trained in a crash course?

  After finishing speaking, Lei Meng immediately jumped up like a rabbit, who was competing with several soldiers. This rolling knife meat is now very obedient to Yang Qiu, but the big thing in his heart, Yang Qiu temporarily didn't dare to tell him and Yue Peng, after all, it's only been half a month, and he hasn't experienced the life-and-death experience of Xiao Anguo and Ma Kui.

  A moment later, Bingwen also ran over. Since Yang Qiu had already encountered an assassination attempt, even Li Yuanhong reminded him to bring several soldiers wherever he went. Seeing the two still carrying long guns, which was not convenient at all, Yang Qiu smiled and said, "Let's go, to the arsenal, see if we can get you a few handguns."

  "Really!"

  Lei Meng suddenly jumped up, that day Yang Qiu introduced two semi-automatic pistols to Su Hongsheng, his eyes were red, eager to grab one and leave, unfortunately, Yang Qiu didn't keep the pistol later, and the gun factory couldn't make it either. Although according to regulations he was a groom and could be issued a revolver, after seeing Browning and self-loading guns, who would still want to use a revolver? So every day he snatched the task of wiping guns from Yang Qiu to get a thrill.

  "Sir, I......" Bingwen was also delighted, but he had always felt that not telling him about the assassination attempt on Yang Qiu left a lump in his heart. Just as he opened his mouth, Yang Qiu grabbed him and whispered, "Can you tell me what really happened that day now?"

  Wen thought for a moment and explained the whole story.

  It turned out that when he went to Hankou last time, he inadvertently overheard Jin Li's subordinates talking about killing Yang Qiu, so he rushed to protect Xiao Anguo and Yang Qiu. Unexpectedly, he was seen by Jin Li, and later, when he went out again, he sent more than a dozen hooligans from Hankou to block him.

  He had wanted to tell Yang Qiu, but felt that Yang Qiu had become less and less like the revolutionary big brother he used to be, so he didn't say anything. He didn't expect something would happen that night when he went to the Governor's Mansion for a banquet, so in his heart, he always felt that many things were not worthy of him.

  "So you're saying that when I saw you on the school grounds that morning, you had just been chased and beaten by those thugs?"

  Bingwen nodded, and Yang Qiu's eyes turned cold. He put his arm around the shoulders of the doll-faced girl and said, "Bingwen, trust me, I will never be a running dog for the Manchu dynasty. Many things that happened today were just misunderstandings. As for what I'm going to do, you'll know soon."

  "Brother Yang, don't worry, Brother Xiao has already told me your thoughts." Bingwen recounted the events of Xiao Anguo coming to find him. Yang Qiu didn't expect that Xiao Anguo, who looked like a thin and dark old farmer, would be so protective of himself. He turned his head to glance at the barracks behind him, feeling a warm current in his heart, and smiled: "Bingwen, do you want a Browning or a Mauser?"

  "Adult, I don't care, Mauser is fine." Bǐng Wén hadn't even spoken yet when Léi Měng beside him jumped up rudely.

  Yang Qiu suddenly cursed: "Idiot!"

  "Idiot?" Lei Meng hastily pulled Xing Wen and asked, "Xing Wen, why did the boss scold me as an idiot?" After spending a few days together, Xing Wen also slowly became familiar with this big guy and smiled, "If you had seen the power of the boss's two guns, I'm afraid you wouldn't have chosen Mauser."

  When Dollface spoke, he was full of admiration and envy. Lei Meng understood and thought to himself, "Look at him? No wonder Dollface is so pale but can still be a groom! His flattering skills are indeed not as good as mine!" He immediately turned around and chased after him, shouting loudly: "Sir, I understand now, Bolangning is better..."

  "Are you sure?"

  "I've made up my mind, as a samurai, I must always be in sync with my lord."

  “......。”

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  In front of the machine, a gun barrel was slowly rotating with the gear, and the ring-shaped knife in the center of the barrel was engraving precise rifling. This is an extremely delicate task, also the most testing of skills, so it must be operated by the most experienced master.

  Today, Su Hongsheng stood in front of the machine tool, but he couldn't muster up any interest at all. Even when a few apprentices asked him questions, he just gave them perfunctory answers. His mind was preoccupied with those two semi-automatic pistols. He wasn't unfamiliar with semi-automatic weapons; there were still several light machine guns in the factory that they had copied during their support mission to Guangzhou. But machine guns and handguns were different - being able to make something so exquisite was truly a rare sight in his life.

  He couldn't put his mind at ease, so he simply walked out of the factory and came to his own narrow office, took out a piece of paper and started writing and drawing on it. In just a few strokes, the rough appearance and structure of the two guns he had seen that day appeared, but this was not an accurate design drawing after all, so it was still like looking at flowers in the fog.

  "Ah, if only I had stayed back then...". Su Hongsheng thought of the words Yang Qiu left behind that day, and remembered that his proud skills were actually just following in others' footsteps. He couldn't help but sigh: "Twenty years, my hair has turned white."

  "What would Su Lao be doing if he had another twenty years?"

  Su Hongsheng had just crumpled the painting paper in his hand when he suddenly heard a voice, looked up to see that his son had already arrived at the door with Yang Qiu, and his eyes lit up instantly. He hastily paid his respects, saying: "I didn't know General Biao was coming, I'm afraid I've been remiss......"

  "Su Lao is so polite that I don't even dare come in." Yang Qiu laughed and walked into the house.

  "Little rabbit, why didn't you come to report first?" Su Hongsheng scolded and glared at Su Xiaohu to bring his treasured Longjing tea, while he himself glanced at Yang Qiu's pistol and asked: "Sir, have you come for the bullets?"

  When he saw Yang Qiu's smiling nod, Su Hongsheng's smile suddenly froze, and he walked to the back and took out a small cloth package from the cabinet: "Browning and Mauser each 500, sir please choose."

  Yang Qiu knew that the Qing government had strict control over bullets, and the arsenal had strict registration from raw materials to finished products. Even ordinary soldiers did not have bullets in their guns at ordinary times, and they would only be issued before executing tasks. So he asked: "Su Lao, I'm new here and don't understand the rules, do we need to register this?"

  "Don't worry, sir, I've already registered it for you at the manufacturing office. You can use it with peace of mind."

  "That's good." Yang Qiu took the bullet and suddenly walked to the table, unfolding the crumpled paper that Su Hongsheng had drawn on, laughing: "I didn't expect Old Su to have such a good memory, not bad, not bad."

  "Old, twenty years without progress." Su Hongsheng still thought Yang Qiu was laughing at him, and he pointed at the newly arrived Su Xiaohu, saying: "If it weren't for this scoundrel, I would have returned to my hometown to enjoy a peaceful life long ago."

  Su Xiao Hu's neck shrunk, knowing that the old man had been in a bad mood for days, he didn't dare to talk back and immediately put down his tea and went to the courtyard to brag with Lei Meng and Bingwen. Yang Qiu saw this and burst out laughing: "Haha... I didn't think Su Lao was still angry about my nonsense, Yang Qiu is really going to die."

  "Uphold the literary (or writing) spirit."

  Before Su Hongsheng could speak, he beckoned to Bingwen who was waiting outside. The latter immediately brought in the package that had been taken from him when they passed by the military camp earlier. Yang Qiu didn't open the package and instead asked: "Old Su, if I decide to manufacture a few handguns, what procedures do I need to go through?"

  Su Hongsheng saw Bao and had already guessed a few points in his heart. He excitedly and hastily said the procedures he was going to handle.

  The arsenal has its own rules, especially since the revolutionaries have been causing trouble in the city recently, so the management of firearms is very strict. Although Yang Qiu is already a Biao Tong, he still needs to go through layers of registration and report to the Admiral's Mansion for filing. Hearing that the procedures are so complicated, Yang Qiu frowned and looked at Su Hongsheng, saying: "Su Lao should have heard about my situation, if it weren't for these few guns, I'm afraid..."

  Yang Qiu's assassination on the street had already spread throughout the three towns. Su Hongsheng thought he was afraid of exposing his own gun secrets, and seeing him hesitating to open the package, he was really anxious. He knew that Yang Qiu had just taken office and didn't understand the rules, so he thought for a moment and then said in a low voice: "Don't hide from you, sir, if you trust me, it's not bad to make a private one."

  "What's wrong with me?"

  Su Hongsheng hastily closed the door and explained.

  It turned out that since the gun factory started operation, there have been officials and military officers coming to order firearms, most of which were not registered. Over time, a private manufacturing convention was formed. Private manufacturing is not about privately finding small workshops to produce, but also going through the proper channels, only with certain restrictions: first, the quantity cannot be too large, at most one or two dozen; second, the cost is higher because you need to bribe officials at all levels; third, no long guns are made without matching bullets, and each gun has a special mark left on it, so that in case of any problem, the origin of the gun can be traced.

  Yang Qiu did not expect that there were so many rules in this, no wonder the guns were rampant during the Republic of China period, and later there were many single-handed gunsmiths. Now looking at the source, it's probably from this kind of private manufacturing.

  It's also a matter for later, but this private manufacturing is quite convenient for now. Yang Qiu pulled out a thick stack of drawings from his bag: "The detailed drawings of the two types of handguns are all here. Within half a month, Old Su can make a few, how about that?"

  He eagerly took over the drawings, not caring that Yang Qiu was still beside him. Su Hongsheng spread them out on the table and began to study them. Although there were only two types of handguns, the drawings were extremely detailed, taking Yang Qiu three nights to copy. Just thinking about it made his mouth twitch with bitterness. Handguns were already so troublesome, let alone the big machines in the database... He estimated that they would drive him crazy! Was he going to spend the rest of his life stuck in the house drawing blueprints every day?

  Su Hongsheng didn't notice that the drawings seemed too thick for a simple handgun, and his eyes shone brightly, especially when he saw that various accessories on the drawings indicated dimensions, models, and even material requirements were written next to them. There was no need to take physical measurements again, and he could definitely make several within ten days. He rubbed his hands excitedly, wishing he could immediately hug the drawings and sleep in the factory.

  Yang Qiu didn't disturb Su Hongsheng, who was staring at the drawings with shining eyes. He saw him leaning on the table, his fingers moving non-stop along the blueprint, and a smile slowly appeared at the corner of his mouth. Especially when he saw his fingers quickly flipping to the last few pages, he narrowed his eyes.

  Su Hongsheng, who was focused on his work, didn't notice the strange situation beside him. Subconsciously, he turned page after page until he finished looking at Mauser's design drawings and turned to the next page. His eyes suddenly froze, and he hastily flipped through the following pages in a hurry.

  The blueprint was no longer a handgun, but a light machine gun that looked very familiar to him. He asked in a hurry: "Isn't this the Guangdong-made Light Quick Gun (domestic Madsen M50)? Sir, how did you get the blueprint?"

  What's the point of making something as complicated as the M50? And it's extremely troublesome to replace the barrel. It's just that I had no choice but to buy one to temporarily fill the gap! So Yang Qiu immediately smiled and said, "Su Lao, take another look."

  The bipod, the high-mounted ammunition box, and the disassembled gun mechanism all looked very familiar, but... Su Hongsheng's fingers slid over the blueprint, quickly spotting the differences in shape. Yang Qiu was secretly delighted, but also scratching his head in dismay. If it weren't for Hanyang's poor technical conditions, inadequate stamping technology, and materials... especially the barrel being unable to withstand high firing rates, he could have directly adopted the simple and easy-to-produce MG42, even if only twenty or thirty guns were made, there would be no need to worry about the Beiyang Army. Unfortunately...

  "Ah, look at my memory, I grabbed the wrong one." As soon as Su Hongsheng finished glancing over it, Yang Qiu pretended to pat his forehead and was about to put away these few sheets of unnamed model Czech-made ZB-26 light machine gun design drawings. However, Su Hongsheng had already been drawn in by them and couldn't let him take them away easily. He hastily pressed down and said: "This isn't the Guangdong light machine cannon, it just looks a bit similar, but there are many fewer parts......"

  "Haha...... I designed it in my free time, mainly because I think the light machine gun has many shortcomings. There are 127 small parts, and after firing a burst, the barrel heats up and needs to rest. So I thought, can't we modify it to make a more convenient machine gun that's easy to change barrels? I didn't expect it to end up here." Yang Qiu intentionally chuckled and pretended to put away the ZB-26 light machine gun design papers. Su Hongsheng was anxious now - this thing is even simpler than the light machine gun, and can quickly change barrels on the battlefield, achieving continuous firepower! Good heavens, this thing is simply a divine artifact!"

  "Is this... what you designed?" Su Hongsheng's eyes widened in shock.

  "Hehe... just playing, just playing." Yang Qiu immediately put away the drawings and deliberately smiled: "You haven't even seen a light machine gun before, so it's just for fun. Moreover, Han Yang hasn't made any light machine guns on this side, even if I gave it to you, you can't make it."

  "Made, made it! I still have several of our own Han Yang-made light and fast machine guns there! Don't mention this small bump, we've even measured the Maxim gun!" What's going on?! Seeing Yang Qiu rolled up, Su Hongsheng was really anxious! Although he spent the first half of his life following others, it doesn't mean he has no vision. This blueprint is basically a completed design, and based on years of experience, making it will definitely work! If not, we must study it!"

  "What did you say? Have you ever made a light machine gun? And have you also designed the Mauser?" Upon hearing this, Yang Qiu's heart began to beat faster. If Su Hongsheng wasn't lying, then this meant...

  Su Hongsheng saw that Yang Qiu did not believe him, so he quickly explained. It turned out that when Guangzhou was imitating the light machine gun and quick-firing cannon, they encountered technical difficulties. In the end, it was Su who led a dozen or so old technicians from Hanyang to help solve the problem. During the imitation process, he secretly drew diagrams, and after returning, he imitated and made several more. He had even petitioned the imperial court to allow Hanyang to join in the imitation, but the price of the light machine gun was too expensive, with each one costing almost 600 taels of silver. At that time, Hanyang was fully engaged in the development of the 57mm mountain cannon and the renovation work of the Hanyang-made cannons, so the proposal was rejected. Later, due to negligence, several machine guns were damaged by flooding and rusted away. This matter has been a source of regret for Su Hongsheng for many years.

  As for the Maxim gun, it was indeed measured and drawn. During the Russo-Japanese War, the Beiyang government somehow obtained a damaged Maxim gun and gathered the best workers in the country to measure and draw it. Unfortunately, the Maxim gun was too complex and difficult to manufacture, and the machine gun was damaged, so they didn't continue to work on it and instead directly purchased it from Germany.

  Yang Qiu was about to put away the drawings, when Su Hongsheng's heart suddenly felt like it was being scratched by seven or eight cats. He hastily pressed down and said: "Sir, if I may... let me take another look?"

  "Take another look?" Yang Qiu's eyes twitched involuntarily, and he smiled: "Even if you let me make a few light machine guns, two or three per month... at this speed, I think it's better for me to sell them to foreigners for money!"

  "What a ridiculous thing to say!" Su Hongsheng jumped up like he had been stepped on, "Sir, although you may not think highly of Hanyang, no matter what, the Hanyang Arsenal is the best in the army! Not even Jiangnan dares to say it's better than me! As for Guangdong? Ha! I'm ten times better than them!"

  Su Hongsheng's words are not false, at the end of the Qing dynasty, the Hanyang Arsenal was a well-known military industrial base in China. If it were not for poor management and closure of the arsenal, the 75mm Krupp gun would not have been produced in Hanyang. Therefore, whether in terms of equipment or technology, Hanyang was superior to other manufacturing bureaus in the country. The decline of Hanyang at the beginning of the Republic of China is largely attributed to the destruction caused by the Xinhai Revolution and the removal of nearly half of its machinery and old technicians by Yuan Shikai, which gradually led to the loss of its position as the number one military arsenal in China.

  "But didn't you say that private manufacture of long guns is not allowed?"

  "This... I didn't make it, absolutely didn't make it, just took a look, took a look." Su Hongsheng's old face turned red, and he hastily said.

  "Sū lǎo, it's not me bragging, this gun seems to be better made than the light machine gun, but in reality, it's not simple at all, and the technical requirements are very high, I'm afraid...". Yang Qiū hadn't finished speaking when Sū Hóngshēng patted his chest and said: "General Biao, rest assured, if I say I can make it, I definitely can make it. At most, it'll be a bit slow at the beginning, but...I'm just studying it, this gun can't be made without an imperial order!"

  Su Hongsheng deliberately paused, and Yang Qiu also heard the implicit meaning, so he intentionally pretended to be very worried: "Old Su, it's not that I don't trust you, this thing is my treasure. You're an expert in guns, you should know what a big deal it would be if...this gun were lost."

  "Don't worry, sir. I swear on my life that the drawings will not fall into a third person's hands." Su Hongsheng hastily made an oath, but Yang Qiu still didn't believe him. Pointing at Su Xiaohu outside through the glass, he said excitedly: "Sir, look at Xiaohu! This kid is born with a big temper and has even studied at Wu Gao Academy. If I had more sons, I wouldn't have let him continue being a soldier, fearing that he would become a bandit! You can take him back and discipline him for a few days, which will also be helping me."

  This time Yang Qiu was stunned, having seen infatuation before, but never to the point of voluntarily "mortgaging" his own son. What kind of thing is this?! He hastily waved his hand: "Mr. Su, don't take me for some kind of fool! It's just a blueprint, leave it here for half a month, and after half a month, let Xiao Hu bring it back to me. How about that? But the words must be clear! First, you cannot reproduce it! Second, you cannot imitate it. If something happens, my head...

  "I won't, absolutely won't!" Su Hongsheng's eyes were narrowed with a smile as he hastily snatched the drawings and carefully tucked them into his bosom. He chuckled and said, "In half a month, I'll personally bring both the handgun and these drawings to the main camp."

  Seeing Su Hongsheng's satisfaction, Yang Qiu raised an eyebrow: "Old Su, I want to borrow two light machine guns, what procedures do I need to go through?"

  "This is simple, just you... wait a minute, you want to borrow a machine gun?!"