Chapter Fifteen: The Sighting of Firearms

  As he walked in, there was no thick bulletproof glass or heavy iron bars like those found in modern banks. Instead, it was just a ordinary counter with several accountants behind it quickly working on their abacuses. The atmosphere was very quiet. Jiang Feng looked around and found that no one came to greet him. However, he noticed two guards standing in the corner, and despite the dim lighting inside, he saw what they had holstered at their waists - handguns, short-barreled handguns.

  This era is the age of large-scale use of firearms, but Jiang Feng only thought of it now. In his impression, he always thought that the warriors and soldiers of this era were fighting with knives, guns and bows and arrows. Just seeing the guard's waist with a pistol made him break out in a cold sweat.

  He never thought that firearms had already appeared, relying on his leading eight extremes fist (a boxing method that emerged in the mid-Qing dynasty) to dominate the Ming dynasty.

  Two guards with firearms were staring at Jiang Feng, who was standing there motionless. At first, it was okay, but later he felt uneasy all over and didn't know what the other party wanted to do.

  Finally, someone came over to greet Jiang Feng at the counter and said in a warm tone:

  "General, is there something I can help you with here?"

  Jiang Feng finally came back to his senses from his distraction earlier, and tossed the bundle of cloth onto the counter with a loud clang. To his surprise, it produced a metallic sound, indicating that the counter was made of iron. The expression on the face of the rounded and plump accountant who had called out to Jiang Feng didn't change in the slightest.

  Obviously, the officials who were used to seeing the embroidered uniforms of the Imperial Guards coming in and out with silver ingots found it strange. Looking at the appearance and attire of this big man in front of him, he was at most a small school teacher on the street. He could only make some extra money by extorting or doing some small business.

  As usual, people would go to the countryside to buy land and accumulate wealth slowly, becoming a small landlord. What's the point of coming to a money house? This place doesn't accept transactions under 100 taels. However, professional habit kept the accountant silent, but he secretly thought that the other person might be a swindler or an extortionist.

  He cast a glance at a colleague behind him, and the accountant in the back understood the implication, got up and left the room. The person facing Jiang Feng smiled all over his face as he opened the package.

  Jiang Feng was still staring at the waist of his opponent, where a gun was holstered. The style of this gun was similar to the fire guns he used to make when he was a kid on the streets, but its structure had been refined significantly. The two guards were made uncomfortable by Jiang Feng's stare, and they also became vigilant in their hearts, both of them putting their hands on their waists.

  The moment the package was opened, the shopkeeper felt his eyes dazzle, and the gold and silver inside sparkled with a beautiful light. He stretched out his hand to weigh the gold and silver ingots, and he knew that the contents of the bag were all high-quality gold and silver. The smile on the shopkeeper's face suddenly became somewhat stiff.

  The fingers felt around on top and found no hidden marks or bumps (in ancient times, money houses and some wealthy families had their own gold and silver with hidden marks, equivalent to the watermark on current banknotes. Experienced accountants and tax officials could basically tell whose family it was by touching it). This shows that even if there is a problem with the origin of these gold and silvers in front, they cannot be traced back.

  In other words, the gold and silver in Jiang Feng's hands are now his no matter what. Thinking of this, a sincere smile spread across the face of the accountant, who put down the gold ingot in his hand and said to Jiang Feng with a flattering tone:

  "General, please wait for a moment and have a cup of tea first. Are you going to store these gold and silver in my humble abode or exchange them?"

  Jiang Feng thought for a moment before answering:

  "Can you exchange money here in Shandong?"

  The shopkeeper hastily replied:

  "No problem, Dingzhou Prefecture and Daming Prefecture both have branches there, which can be exchanged."

  Although I knew a bit about the financial and economic development of this era, I was still surprised that silver could be exchanged like modern banks.

  Jinzi and Yinzi together were worth 2,700 taels of silver. Jiangfeng exchanged them for 200 taels of small change in silver, 10 taels of gold beans, and the rest were made into receipts placed on the cabinet. The accountants who had been quietly working inside came over to attend to him diligently. After all, one person suddenly having 3,000 taels to take care of business was no small matter. The small change in silver and gold beans would need to be brought over from the large warehouse in the back.

  Taking advantage of this leisure time, Jiang Feng walked to the two armed guards with a smile on his face and asked them to take a look at the firearms at their waist.

  The two guards finally let out a sigh of relief, and it turned out that the reason they were staring at him earlier was because of this. They also found it strange in their hearts. The Divine Machinery Battalion, one of the three major battalions in the capital, is the most skilled in firearms. What are you doing here looking at our two broken guns? However, in Beijing City, it's rare for the Imperial Guards to speak with a smile on their faces. The two people didn't dare say anything more and pulled out from their waists.

  When he got it in his hand, Jiang Feng's hands were slightly trembling. The style of this fire gun was like a modern shotgun with a shortened barrel and stock, but the firing mechanism at the back looked strange, resembling a wheel. Jiang Feng thought to himself that he came from modern times and should know more about firearms than ancient people, but no matter how hard he looked left and right, he couldn't understand how this gun was fired.

  I had to somewhat embarrassingly follow the two guards and ask, watching Jiang Feng politely ask for guidance. The two guards were very knowledgeable, it turned out that the rear wheel was a spring-like thing, after loading the ammunition, when firing, as long as the trigger was pulled, the wheel would rotate, igniting the gunpowder.

  To Jiang Feng, it was something he had never heard of before. The oldest gun in his impression was also the kind that struck a flint to ignite and fire (this type of gun is called a flintlock gun, which should have appeared only fifty years later), how could there be such a wonderful thing.

  Jiang Feng was very excited to know this, and he repeatedly thanked the two guards who were somewhat at a loss. At the same time, Jiang Feng also knew where to get this kind of gun, whether it was bought from the Franconian merchant under the Maritime Trade Office or registered in Shuntian Prefecture.

  At that time, apart from the matchlock gun, there was also the flintlock gun, which used a spring to strike sparks and fire, but it was prone to misfires due to the failure of the mainspring, so the most reliable one was still the matchlock gun.

  Today I went up on recommendation, what are your collections and recommendations, the more the better, throw them over, it will definitely get more and more wonderful later.