How many guns were equipped in Dengzhou in the early Qing Dynasty?

How many red cannons were equipped in the capital of Dengzhou in the early Qing Dynasty?

Hongyi cannon was introduced from Europe in the late Ming Dynasty. After successful imitation, it often attracted attention in the wars in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, such as the battle of Ningyuan, the rebellion of boarding, the battle of Jinsong and the battle of Yangzhou.

Being located at the forefront of the maritime confrontation in the Ming and Qing Dynasties (later Jin Dynasty), Dengzhou Prefecture (then Governor of Denglai) was equipped with the Red Yi cannon very early. Unfortunately, these elite firearms were not used in foreign wars, but spread to many counties in the Ming Dynasty-Kong Youde launched a rebellion. After Chongzhen captured Dengzhou for five years, these red guns were seized and used to attack Laizhou and other places. Among them, Xu Congzhi, governor of Shandong Province, Laizhou Fucheng, was shot dead. Pingdu may also fall under the bombardment of hongyi artillery.

It is certain that Dengzhou was equipped with the Red Yi Gun at the end of Ming Dynasty and the beginning of Qing Dynasty. However, the specific number is not recorded in detail. However, through the records of the Shunzhi edition of Dengzhou County Records, we can also get a general glimpse of its equipment.

According to "Fu Zhi" records, at that time, there were four doors in the southeast and northwest of Dengzhou, all of which contained red Yi cannons. Among them, there are four Hongyi cannons in the East Gate (the unit in the original government records was "bit", but now it is customary to use "door" and one cannon), three in the South Gate, one in the West Gate and three in the North Gate, making a total of eleven doors (doors).

Seeing this amount, some friends may feel less. In fact, Hony Gun was just a kind of artillery with higher specifications at that time. In addition, there are other types of equipment, such as bronze cannon, Weiyuan cannon, French machine and ancient philosophers cannon. If all statistics are made, this figure is quite large. For example, in the east gate of Dengzhou Prefecture, in addition to the four Red Yi cannons, there are also one Qingzhou cannon, two bronze cannons, six Buddha Lang machines, fifty Weiyuan cannons and two ancient philosophers cannons.

In the narrative order of local chronicles, Hony's artillery ranks first in the above equipment, and its position at that time can also be seen.

It is worth mentioning that, due to the high level of Hony Gun, at that time, only Fucheng in Dengzhou was equipped with this kind of equipment, while subordinate counties were only equipped with Weiyuan Gun and Folang Machine (for example, Laiyang is a big county, and the county is only equipped with 54 guns of Dawei and others, but there is no Hony Gun).

Generally speaking, apart from the "Kong Youde Rebellion", the Hony Gun in Dengzhou was not used in actual combat many times (after the Qing army entered the customs, Shandong was mainly decided by conscription). In the eighteenth year of Shunzhi, in July, Qixia people once again sent troops to fight against the Qing Dynasty in Yashan. The following year (the first year of Kangxi), the Qing court sent troops to suppress it. According to legend, in this battle, the Qing army also used the Red Yi cannon. However, this matter is more common in later writings, and the original historical records have not been seen for the time being.