"Your work is done well, especially this improvement, which is quite good. It not only reduces a part, reduces production costs, but also moves the fire door forward so that soldiers don't have to worry so much about the fireworks generated by the burning of gunpowder that smokes into their eyes when they shoot. This will be a great advantage on the battlefield."

Zhou Shixian handed the improved coercion in his hand to Wang Yinglai on the side. He had talked with Sun Hu several times and now he also knew about coercion. Then he nodded repeatedly: "Sun Hu, the battalion officer of Jinwu Camp, told this prince-in-law that many musketeers, especially those recruits, dare not open their eyes when they fired, for fear that gunpowder would blow into their eyes. This improvement can effectively reduce the soldiers' psychological panic and maintain the musket formation on the battlefield."

The two craftsmen were suddenly called in. They were originally panicked and worried. After being praised by Zhou Shixian several times, they finally let go of their hearts. At this time, they were even quite proud.

Wang Ying looked at the weapons bureau he was in charge and was appreciated by the prince-in-law Zhou Shixian. The corners of his mouth were slightly raised without any trace, and his fat face was so happy that he squeezed into a ball.

After Zhou Shixian said that, he turned to look at Wang Yinglai and asked, "Mr. Wang, how much silver should I be rewarded for this improvement according to the regulations promulgated by this son-in-law?"

Wang Yinglai quickly put down the musket in his hand, bowed his sleeves and replied, "Return to the prince-consort, the rule set by the prince-consort before was to give him 50 taels to the individual, and the monthly salary was upgraded to one level, and the team rewarded him 100 taels. When the officials accepted the case, they had already ordered people to reward according to their personal inventions. Wei Jiangtou's monthly salary had also been upgraded to level 5, three or five cents."

"Okay, just follow the rules. If such improvements in the future are proven to be effective after being tested in the weapon test site, rewards and promotions must be implemented immediately, and there must be no delay."

Zhou Shixian paused and continued to encourage: “Only in this way, our craftsmen will have the motivation to improve their weapons, our weapons will become stronger, more useful, and cheaper, and our soldiers will die less on the battlefield and win more battles.”

Although the "patent system" cannot be produced in a short while, the layout of assembly line production cannot be achieved overnight. The establishment of craftsmen schools, craftsmen crash courses, and batch training of various craftsmen are still being formulated.

However, Zhou Shixian, a modern man who came from four hundred years later, proposed various measures, such as "innovation rewards", "pieces and salary calculations", and "dividing up labor and cooperation" have actually inspired the enthusiasm of craftsmen and greatly improved the production efficiency of weapons workshops.

You know, the equipment of the Ming army in Jiangnan is a joke in the face of real field battles. The firearms in the treasury are even more old and unusable. Zhou Shixian has a very high demand for muskets, cannons, armor, swords and guns.

Not to mention that according to his plan, he would continue to expand his army in a year, expanding his troops to more than 60,000, and all equipped with high-quality musketeers and armor. Even now, all the musketeers among the 20,000 boatmen were equipped with musketeers. In addition to the part that Joshua Tsang and Shi Kefa were arranged to purchase, the gap was more than 5,000.

In traditional musket manufacturing methods, the manufacturing of a musket takes a craftsman for a month. Although the quality of the muskets made in this way is also excellent when ensuring the materials, they take a long time and are expensive. The time, labor and fiscal costs are unbearable to Zhou Shixian.

After all, the soldiers under his command need more than muskets. Each person needs a basic weapon configuration of two layers of armor, a helmet, a dagger, a waist knife or axe, the shield of the sword and shield hand and the Qi family knife, the spearman's spear, the archer's archer's archer's archer's artillery, and the artillery's artillery. Each item requires a lot of resources and manpower. There are less than four hundred craftsmen responsible for the musket.

However, after the division of labor in the manufacturing process, the Weapon Bureau can recruit a large number of novice craftsmen, and after simple training, they can work, which greatly alleviates the shortage of excellent craftsmen and limited production capacity, and greatly shortens the manufacturing cycle, reducing the manufacturing cost of muskets to the level of more than four taels of silver per piece, which makes it possible for Zhou Shixian to complete the equipment of the army within half a year.

"Mr. Ji An improved the drill bit for drilling the barrel in the workshop a few days ago. Now we can drill a barrel for five days faster than before. A musket can be completed in just twelve days. Our two musket workshops can produce more than 1,100 muskets a month. The subordinates also rewarded him with fifty taels of silver according to the rules."

Wang Ying said, laughing: “Now these craftsmen have seen the opportunity to make money, and they are all very motivated. Many people don’t even go home after work. They just stay in the workshop to study. Some even think about how to improve when they are having dinner.”

This current state is exactly what Zhou Shixian wants to see. As long as there is a suitable stage, many people can stand out and realize greater value, and their potential can be developed.

All the system improvements that Zhou Shixian did were actually to use his knowledge beyond the times to build such a stage to promote technological improvement and scientific emergence.

In a sense, the anti-Qing Dynasty was to prevent such a stage from disappearing from the entire country and nation. The barbarity and cruelty of the Qing Dynasty were beyond imagination.

Ji An, who was standing beside Wei Chunlai, was another craftsman in the musket workshop. He was also a very old musket craftsman in the Nanjing official workshop. However, he was very dull and didn't know how to speak. When he heard Wang Yinglai's name, he felt extremely frightened and said quickly: "Attached...Attached...Attached, the prince consort, they were all arranged by the adults, and the young ones dared not take credit for it."

"Hahahaha, Ji Jiangtou doesn't have to be modest. If you do well, you should be praised and rewarded. Otherwise, those who have no performance should be fired?" Zhou Shixian comforted.

"The prince consort is wise!"

Wang Yinglai was not these two craftsmen, so he immediately flattered: "The rewards and punishments are clear and clear. It is really a blessing for us to do things under the prince-consort! "

Zhou Shi waved his hand without commenting. He then asked about the bayonet again, but the reply he received was still not feasible.

"Mr. Prince Concubine, in the past month, the officials have arranged for craftsmen to test dozens of times and made more than twenty samples, but the quality is very poor. The steel knife is very fragile when fighting and cannot pierce the armor at all." Wang Yinglai replied nervously. He could feel that Zhou Shixian attaches great importance to this issue.

After hearing this, Zhou Shixian nodded. He actually thought that it was not a simple thing to install a bayonet on a musket. Not only to install a bayonet, but many things that can be improved are difficult to achieve in actual operation. However, he still instructed the workshop to try it. In addition to having a little luck, he also had the intention of acquiescing failure. After all, scientific research is inevitable.

"Well, my prince-in-law understands that if this is the case, then slow down beforehand. Now the most important thing is to speed up production and meet the equipment needs of the army. Wang Yinglai, you make a plan and arrange this matter after the staff is sufficient later."

What he needs now is to quickly produce a large number of cheap and easy-to-use muskets to equip the troops and complete the first phase of military expansion mission.

The news that Li Zicheng's Shanhaiguan War failed and the capital was occupied by the Qing Dynasty had already reached Nanjing.

However, compared with the original history, Li Zicheng retreated slowly. After Yuan Zongdi led his army into Shandong, he was summoned to the capital to protect his troops before he could return to Henan, which made the Qing army dare not pursue him wantonly.

But the overall trend remains unchanged. Although Li Zicheng set up the so-called defense line in Shanxi, he did not take charge personally. The Ming army that had just surrendered rebelled one after another, and the so-called Shanxi defense line was about to collapse.

The Shun Army quickly lost the Northern Zhili, the entire Shandong region, most of Shanxi, and the small area of ​​Henan. The territory was changed back to before the Eastern Expedition, and the old camp soldiers lost nearly half of them.

In this way, there is not much time left for Zhou Shixian. He must complete the equipment and training of the army before February next year, that is, half a year later, and basically control the four military leaders in Jiangbei. Otherwise, with his more than 20,000 troops, he would not be able to defend against such a vast land.

The military reorganization of Gao Jie, Huang Degong, Liu Zeqing, Liu Liangzuo and others must wait until he meets his needs.

"Yes, the prince consort!" Wang Yinglai responded immediately.

"How is the weapon test site being built? Is it starting to operate?" Zhou Shixian stood up and prepared to leave.

Seeing this, Wang Yinglai quickly followed and replied: "The weapon test site has been initially built according to the requirements of the prince-consort. After discussing with several craftsmen, he is ready to start the test with the musket. I believe that the evaluation effect will be released soon."

"Okay, Mr. Wang is very capable in his work, and his future will definitely be limitless."

Zhou Shixian nodded and encouraged: “The army will soon organize various weapons improvement needs and will be sent here soon. You should improve these points step by step.

For example, if the problem of musket is heavier, you have to find a way to see if the gun body should be longer or shorter, how thick the barrel should be, how much bullets should be used, how much gunpowder should be used, how thick armor should be broken within a hundred steps, and whether it can be improved while maintaining lethality.

All these tests must be recorded. Each improvement needs to be used by the army to ensure performance before mass production can be produced. You have to arrange people to do such things.

If the new gun experiment is successful and can be put into production, the corresponding craftsmen will have bonuses, and the craftsman level and the moonlight level must be raised accordingly. This prince-in-law will never treat you badly."
Chapter completed!