For example, Ming general Fan Chenggong reported in 1639: "The bandit generals attacked Songshan fiercely on the 25th and 26th, and found more than 601 cannons in the city, all weighing more than ten

For example, Ming general Fan Chenggong reported in 1639: "The bandit generals attacked Songshan fiercely on the 25th and 26th, and found more than 601 cannons in the city, all weighing more than ten kilograms. Currently, there are 37 red barbarian cannons installed on the south wall. After the Songjin War, most of the Ming army's artillery outside the pass fell into the hands of the Qing army. Only Wu Sangui's troops stationed in Ningyuan still had more than ten Hongyi cannons. At this time, the Qing army stationed in Jinzhou already had nearly a hundred Hongyi cannons. The Qing people once threatened: "With a hundred cannons deployed, how can any city be worthy of a three or four-day attack?" Tang Ruowang, a famous Western missionary and arms expert who was serving the Ming Dynasty, exclaimed: "They (referring to the Qing army) have strong men and horses, sharp arrows and strong bows. They have already defeated me in many ways, and their recent firearms are comparable to mine. Who knows that my wonderful skills are all his." "The current firearms are there. After all, the enemy was not only present, but now widespread. This passage reflects Tang Ruowang's shock and illustrates a harsh truth that is irreversible. In 1642 AD, Huang Taiji ordered the leaders of the Eight Banners of the Han Dynasty. He led his artillery staff to Jinzhou to cast Shenwei general cannons, and in 1643 he sent people to Jinzhou to supervise the production of Hongyi cannons. Sending officials in batches to build cannons like this shows that Jinzhou at that time had become a manufacturing base for Qing military firearms. Huang Yinong, a modern man, believes that the quality of the 35 "Shenwei General" artillery pieces with iron cores and copper bodies that were cast at that time has reached the highest level in the world. This artillery piece is made of copper and is thin at the front and thick at the back. It is 2.83 meters long and has four bulges. , weighing 1950 kilograms, uses 2.5 kilograms of medicine and 5 kilograms of iron. It is mounted on a four-wheeled artillery cart. It has the advantages of long barrel and large ammunition. After the Qing army entered the customs in 1644, it was a weapon. Although the peasant army could still use its original small-scale artillery and newly-made artillery to compete with the Qing army, which was proficient in mounted archery and good at field combat and artillery battles, they could no longer stop the Qing army, which was mainly equipped with advanced Hongyi artillery groups. During the Shunzhi period of the Qing Dynasty, out of the need to suppress the peasant army and eliminate the Nanming resistance regime, the momentum of firearms production continued to increase. The Qing government established artillery factories and gunpowder factories in Beijing, which were under the unified management of the War and War Bureau. The second climax of firearms production in the Qing Dynasty cannot but be said to have had a profound impact on Chinese firearms. For more than two hundred years, the Qing Dynasty made a large number of imitations, which were very popular for a while. It can be said that the style of the Hongyi cannon was It has become the standard of military artillery, thus suppressing the development and equipment of other advanced firearms. On the whole, the Qing Dynasty did not make any technical innovations in the Hongyi cannon, but only blindly increased the weight in order to increase the range and manufacturing process of the artillery. It was far behind the West. During the First Opium War, the cannons of the Humen Fortress weighed 8,000 kilograms, but their range was not as good as the British naval guns. After the Second Opium War, the Jiangyin Fortress was actually equipped with a 10,000 kilogram iron cannon called "Yaowei". "General". These cannons looked mighty, but in fact their range was not as good as those of the red barbarian cannons imported from the Ming Dynasty. In addition, the loss of explosive shells caused great losses in the confrontation with the British army. The mid-19th century was a period of great upgrading of Western weapons. Artillery technology has been greatly improved: the industrial revolution enabled the weapons manufacturing industry to use power machine tools for finishing of steel artillery, and rifled cannons and breech-loading cannons also began to be equipped with the army; the theory and tactics of artillery shooting were newly developed in Napoleon's practice; at the same time Due to the advancement of chemistry, picric acid explosives, smokeless gunpowder and mercury fulminate began to be used in the military, and the power of artillery shells increased exponentially. On the other hand, the artillery of the Qing Dynasty still used clay molds to cast the cannon, resulting in a large number of trachoma in the cannon body, frequent explosions in the barrel, and the processing of the inner barrel was also very rough. Not as good as the Ming Dynasty! The Hongyi Cannon, the advanced weapon of the Ming Dynasty two hundred years ago, has lost its glory two hundred years later. It is too old and unable to resist the invasion of Western powers.Hongyi cannons are originally Western firearms. Most of the red cannons used in the Ming Dynasty were imported. Although there were imitations, the quality was far inferior to the originals. Since the craftsmen of the Ming Dynasty could not make good Hongyi cannons themselves, how could they help Hou Jin make them? Later Jin Dynasty lagged behind the Ming Dynasty in all aspects of economy, science, culture, technology, etc., and it was impossible to build better cannons by itself. Therefore, the cannons built by Later Jin Dynasty must rely on external forces, and there were many people around Hou Jin Dynasty. The only country capable of producing more cannons than Hongyi was Russia. Looking back at the Kangxi period, the emperor personally sent 10,000 Qing troops to fight against 600 Russian troops. After the victory, he not only released all the Russian prisoners and returned the weapons, but also made stipulations in the treaty signed later. They made huge concessions and allotted large tracts of land to the Russians, which really didn't look like what the Japanese troops had done. The two events taken together seem to lead to the conclusion that the Hou Jin Dynasty exchanged the land in northern Manchuria for the Russian support in firearms, and when the Qing Dynasty stabilized its rule in the Central Plains, it drove the Russians out of the North. Full, only a piece of land west of the Ergun River was given. This is a bit like a replica of Zhang Yi of the Qin State during the Warring States Period who deceived the King of Chu with 600 miles of land.