There is no doubt that this is a flintlock rifle.

To be precise, this is a percussion flintlock rifle that was developed based on the revolver-type flintlock rifle.

The so-called revolver flintlock was invented by German watchmaker Johann Kiefers. It was the world's first firearm that could be fired without a lit fuse.

It replaces the matchlock clip on the matchlock pistol with a steel wheel with a spring that originated from a clock. Pull the hammer, the spring tightens; pull the trigger, the spring drives the wheel to rotate at high speed, rubbing against the flint on the firing port to ignite the spark, igniting the gunpowder, and bang, the bullet is fired!

This kind of gun has a complicated structure, is expensive, and difficult to repair. Soon after its introduction, it was improved by the Spanish into the percussion flintlock gun in Zhao Hao's hand.

It eliminated the snail-shaped spring steel wheel on the revolver flintlock gun, clamped a flint in the jaws of the hammer, and installed a small anvil next to the fire hole.

When shooting, you pull the trigger. Under the action of the reed, the flint hits the anvil next to the trigger heavily, causing sparks to fly, igniting the gunpowder, and bang, the bullet is fired!

This percussion flintlock greatly simplified the shooting process, improved the firing rate and shooting accuracy, and was easy to use. Moreover, compared with the revolver flintlock, the cost was greatly reduced, which was conducive to mass production.

Zhao Hao remembered that at this time, the Frenchman Mahan should have invented another kind of flintlock. Compared with the Spanish-style bolt, the French-style bolt had a more reliable and more complete firing mechanism and safety mechanism, and was the best-performing gun of this era.

However, the structure of the French bolt was more complicated, requiring more fine processing, more screws, and complex and tiny grooves on the sear, which required too high a level of craftsmanship and manufacturing technology. As a result, the Spanish switched to the Spanish flintlock, which was simpler to manufacture and cheaper, after only one year of switching to the French bolt.

At present, the manufacturing level of the Ming Dynasty Weapon Bureau is far inferior to that of the Spaniards. Under the premise that there is no essential difference between the two types of bolts, it is self-evident what choice to make.

Zhao Hao handed the musket to Gao Wu and said in a deep voice: "Don't forget to remind me to give it to Shi Zhen when I get back."

Brother Gao nodded heavily. He never expected that the young master's memory was worse than his.

~~

Kunshan County reserve warehouse.

Inspector Lin, accompanied by Yuan Fang and Xing Sili, carefully inspected the burned Type A warehouse.

The results completely verified what Xu Yang and others said; there were too many suspicious points about this fire.

He stood with his hands behind his back in the burnt-out warehouse, looking up at the blackened roof, and asked faintly:

"Sixteen thousand shi of grain were burned to ashes, and the entire warehouse was blackened? Even the roof was fine?"

"Reporting to the court, the reserve warehouse in this county is a fireproof granary supervised by the Ministry of Works. The wall of this warehouse is more than three meters high, and the roof is also fireproof. Even if the grain inside is burned out, the warehouse will not be set on fire." Xing Sili explained: "In this way, even if it is accidentally caught on fire, only one warehouse will be burned, and it will not affect other warehouses."

"Hehe, where is the charcoal ash from burning so much grain? And what about the leftover grain? It's impossible that not a single grain is left. It must have been burned all, right?" Lin Xun'an sneered.

"When we were fighting the fire, we cleared out everything along the way, and the remaining food was sent to the dike and eaten." Xing Sili spread his hands, thinking, what kind of nonsense is this? But he could only follow Xu Wei's instructions.

"Hahaha, what a case of no evidence!" Lin Xunan raised his head and laughed, then asked his attendant, "Yuan Fang, what do you think?"

"Sir, I think Kunshan County is suspected of destroying evidence and covering up the truth." The relative said in a deep voice: "It seems that what Xu Yang and others said may not be a lie. There may be another hidden story in the Kunshan County warehouse arson case!"

"That's right." Inspector Lin smiled coldly and looked at Officer Xing and said, "You were the one who produced this file. As an officer in the criminal department, you didn't notice such obvious doubts?"

"This..." Xing Sili hurriedly explained: "I am just a ghostwriter. Of course, I will write according to the instructions from the higher-ups."

"Oh? So, someone above you is putting pressure on you?" Yuan Fang asked quietly.

"Not really." Xing Sili waved his hands quickly.

"Nonsense!" Inspector Lin glared at the burning warehouse and asked sternly, "No one forced you to do that. How could you ignore such obvious doubts and directly issue a closing document?"

"I have been fighting the flood on the dike for days, and was only called back today to write documents. How can I have time to check the scene?" Xing Sili said with a smile: "Besides, investigating the scene is the job of the fast team and the fourth master. Isn't this the responsibility of the criminal department?"

“Humph, you’re trying to shirk responsibility!” Lin Xun An knew that what the other party said was the truth, but he still said arrogantly: “Send the person who has the final say to see me immediately!”

"My master has gone to the neighboring county to visit Magistrate Yi and will not be back for the time being." Xing Sili said in a low voice.

"Where is the county magistrate?" Lin Xun'an said with a gloomy face.

"Mr. He has gone to the government office to collect grain..." Xing Sili smiled apologetically, "What a coincidence."

"Then who is in charge of your county now?" Inspector Lin asked, suppressing his anger.

"It's Mr. Wu who welcomed the judge earlier." Xing Sili responded in a low voice, but did not reveal Xu Wei's existence.

Mr. Qingteng was afraid that his fame would scare Inspector Lin, so he specifically instructed Xing Sili to do so.

I'm not harboring bad intentions to harm the other person.

"How about I go and call Mr. Wu over right now?" Xing Sili asked tentatively.

"Get out!" Lin Xun'an waved his hand, and it was unclear whether he was simply asking him to get out or to go and call the writer over.

Anyway, it’s right for Xing Sili to get out first.

As soon as he left, Yuan Fang whispered to Lin Xun'an, "Sir, this is an opportunity."

"Hmm." Lin Xunan tried to hold his beard again, but failed again, so he touched his smooth cheeks. "You mean, there's no one to get in the way?"

"Yes." Yuan Fang nodded and said, "No matter how many doubts there are, we need solid evidence, otherwise we can't overturn the county's original verdict."

After all, it was Xu Yang's gang that set the fire, and that cannot be changed no matter how hard you try. If you want to exonerate the arsonist in an arson case, how can you do it without strong evidence?

"How do we find evidence?" How could Lin Xun'an, a young official who had been in office for less than a year, have so many rules in his mind?

"I believe what Xu Yang said. The county is out of grain, so I am going to use the fire they set to write off the 16,000 dan of grain that only exists on the books."

Yuan Fang said in a deep voice, "So where did the 16,000 dan go? Zhao Shouzheng has just taken office and is very wealthy. The possibility of him embezzling the grain is very small."

After a pause, Yuan Fang said in a deep voice: "Then there is only one possibility, that is, Kunshan County did not import that much grain! The so-called five grain ships coming every day are probably just a trick to fool people!"

"Ah, you mean..." Lin Xun's eyes lit up. "There's not that much food in those grain ships?"

"That's 100 percent true," Yuan Fang said firmly. "A quick calculation will show that they falsely reported at least 1,000 dan of grain every day. So there is only half of the grain on the five grain ships at most. As for the other half..."

He kicked the gravel on the ground. "Does that even need to be said?"

"It must be sand!" Lin Xun clapped his hands together and said excitedly, "The gravel all over the room was not used by them to put out the fire. The bags were originally filled with sand!"

At that moment, Lin Xun'an felt like he had become the Lord Judge of the Ming Dynasty. His face flushed with excitement and he reached a state of orgasm in his brain! !

He waved his hand and ordered loudly: "From now on, every shipload of grain shipped into Kunshan will be inspected by this court in person!"

ps. The first of three consecutive updates. I am back to ask for monthly votes! ~! ~!