America 1881: Legend of the West

There are many towns called Springfield in the United States, but none of them are as famous as this one in Massachusetts.

In 1777, when the founding father, Washington, personally selected this small town as the federal weapons warehouse, he probably would not have thought that the guns produced here would later contribute greatly to the federal victory in the Mexican-American War and the Civil War.

Located at the intersection of three rivers and four main roads, the geographical environment is extremely advantageous.

In 1787, the peasant uprising army led by Daniel Shays focused on the arms stored here, but was suppressed before they could start a prairie fire.

Until 1795, the Springfield Arsenal had not produced a single rifle, and at best it could only build some gun mounts.

Later, the director of the arsenal built a water-powered mill on the Connecticut River and used it as a driving force to start large-scale industrial production of guns.

Chen Jianqiu, accompanied by Captain Rhodes, stood at the commanding heights of the river valley and looked in the direction of the arsenal.

The original four workshops have now been expanded to about twenty; those hydraulic workshops are still there, but they have long lost their original functionality and been replaced by steam boilers.

White smoke emerged from the chimney of the workshop, drifting into the air along the river valley, and then into the distance.

"Mr. Chen, how is it? Is our production scale okay?" Lieutenant Rhodes touched the two curls of beard on his lips and asked Chen Jianqiu proudly.

He was about forty years old. He was originally a quartermaster of the Northern Cavalry Regiment. He found the position of "director" of the Springfield Arsenal through unknown means.

Chen Jianqiu nodded.

Today, he did not wear his black cloth robe, but put on an exquisite suit and top hat. Apart from his beautiful and unstructured beard and his plump body, he looked the same as a business tycoon.

"Are you still using steam power?" he asked suddenly.

Lieutenant Rhodes was asked such a question that Monk Zhang Er was confused. He looked at Chen Jianqiu with a blank expression:

"Um, are there any other power options besides steam power?"

Chen Jianqiu did not continue this topic.

He now understood somewhat why the state-run arsenal was so relatively inefficient.

He did not tell the "factory director" that all his branches in Liverpool, England, had been replaced with machine tools driven by electric motors alone.

Milling machines, planers, grinders, and drill machines are all available.

Not to mention the main factory in Roswell.

It is difficult to communicate with a frog at the bottom of a well.

Chen Jianqiu just smiled and said:

"Yes, yes, under your leadership, Lieutenant, the Springfield Arsenal will surely return to glory. The future is promising, and the future is promising."

Being so complimented by a recognized arms tycoon in the American industry, Lieutenant Rhodes felt a little dizzy and top-heavy for a moment.

"Mr. Chen, let me take you to the shooting range where we test new weapons." Lieutenant Rhodes rubbed his hands excitedly.

Chen Jianqiu happened to be hit by the wind at the top of the mountain and got a headache.

"Okay, Lieutenant Lao will show me around."

The two men got on their horses and slowly swung down the mountain road, followed by a group of followers.

Along the way, Lieutenant Rhodes happily introduced the business of Springfield Arsenal to Chen Jianqiu:

"Mr. Chen, this arsenal is now the only state-owned arsenal in the country. The army's guns are basically purchased from us."

"Oh?" Chen Jianqiu agreed smoothly, but his eyes turned elsewhere.

But from what Rhodes heard, the other party seemed to have a strong interest.

"It turns out there was a Harpers Ferry Arsenal, but it was burned down by fire during the Civil War." He began to popularize science, "So now we are the only one left."

"Don't look at the fact that the Army's orders are not many now, but maybe one day when the war breaks out, they will come up all at once. By then, as long as we work together, we will definitely get something done."

Rhodes winked at Chen Jianqiu.

Chen Jianqiu was introduced by the Ministry of War, and there was a guarantee there, so he didn't have to worry about quality and productivity.

This is a completely empty-handed job.

Besides, he is Party B and he is Party A.

As a rule, as long as the tycoon produces more and earns more, his share will be indispensable.

Why not do this kind of thing.

Chen Jianqiu responded with a polite smile to Rhodes's secret glance.

He really didn't want to refute Lieutenant Rhodes's interest.

After all, he is still the "factory director".

A group of people wandered into an open space outside the town.

It was close to the forest, and there were boundary stakes every ten meters around, with wooden signs nailed to them that read:

Military shooting range, please do not enter.

At the outskirts of the shooting range, everyone dismounted and tied their horses outside the shooting range.

Rhodes took the lead and walked at the front.

He led Chen Jianqiu into the shooting range.

There are two wooden tables placed not far away, and several long wooden boxes are stacked next to the tables.

Several Springfield Arsenal employees were already waiting for them there.

"Please allow me to introduce our products to you." Captain Rhodes took a rifle from an employee's hand and held it in his hand.

Chen Jianqiu took a look.

Naturally, he knew this gun, the Clark-Jonathan rifle shot by shot and loaded by load.

When the Union frontier troops surrendered, this gun was piled in a warehouse at Roswell Farm.

Except for the guns of the leading guys who were imprisoned after being prosecuted and still lying there gathering dust, the others were all returned to the soldiers when they were released.

Chen Jianqiu despised this broken gun.

Not even touched.

Because it has to be reloaded shot by shot, the rate of fire of this gun is too slow.

Needless to say, compared with the semi-automatic and automatic weapons he had, even compared with the conventional bolt-action rifles from Roswell Arsenal, they were all very out of date.

But Lieutenant Rhodes didn't feel this way.

He proudly introduced this rifle to Chen Jianqiu.

"Mr. Chen, would you like to try this gun? This is a standard weapon exclusively for the Army and is not available on the market outside." Rhodes handed the gun over.

Chen Jianqiu was not interested and shook his head.

When Captain Rhodes saw this, he thought that the Chinese businessman didn't know how to use a gun, and couldn't help but laugh secretly.

He suddenly came up with the idea of ​​showing off his marksmanship in front of Chen Jianqiu.

"Give me the bullet." He stretched out his hand to the employee beside him.

The employee took out a few rifle rounds from the box on the table and handed them to Captain Rhodes.

Rhodes opened the magazine cover on the side of the gun and inserted the bullets one by one.

Because the captain was eager to take the gun and shoot, he was a little hasty when loading, and accidentally dropped a bullet on the ground.