"Boom" With the sound of a cannon, a hot projectile flew out, and the entire cannon was also covered by gunfire. However, the well-trained gunner next to him rushed into the gunfire without hesitation, and immediately began to clean the cannon chamber, cool down and other processes. Their movements were extremely skillful, and the whole process was like flowing water, which made people feel pleasing to the eye.

After the second shell was loaded, Liu Shu shouted "Stop", and Li Zhang next to him also stopped counting. According to his count, the interval between the two shells was almost ten breaths. This speed was really not fast, at least not much faster than the bulky bed crossbow.

"Prince, these are already the most skilled gunners, but even they can only reach this level. The gunners of the front-line army may not be as good as them. Therefore, after the artillery was used in the army, although the soldiers in the army were very satisfied with the power, they felt that the fire rate of the gun was too slow. Even if we had already used fixed-load ammunition like muskets, the speed could only be increased to this level." Liu Shu introduced to Li Zhang at this time.

The reason why Liu Shu called Li Zhang today was to ask him for help with the problem that the cannon was that the fire speed was too slow. For this problem, Liu Shu also organized all the craftsmen with rich experience in firearm monitoring. He thought hard for several months but had no good idea.

Li Zhang did not speak immediately, but walked to the cannon and looked carefully. He was also involved in the development of the cannon, but later he had too many things, so after the cannon test was successful, he no longer involved in the cannon matter.

I saw that this cannon was similar to the style of the cannon he participated in the development. It was all front-mounted cannons with fine fronts and thick backs. However, it used to be copper cannons, but now it is iron cannons. This shows that Liu Shu and the others have not been idle for this period of time and have actually made iron cannons, which means that the cost of cannons will also be greatly reduced. After all, the Song Dynasty was too short of copper. Even if the use of copper coins was reduced due to the money supply, copper was still equivalent to money in the Song Dynasty.

In addition to the materials, although the style of the artillery has not changed, some details have also been improved. For example, the gun stand has been carefully designed to adjust the height and thus change the range of the artillery. These are quite a progress.

After observing the cannon, Li Zhang came to the back of the cannon and looked at the cannon shells. This was also the most surprising thing about Li Zhang, because the cannon also used quantitative ammunition, which was obviously inspired by the musket. However, the cannon was loaded more troublesome. Its ammunition was divided into three parts, with the front being a projectile, the middle being a wooden bullet holder, and the last one was a medicine bag. These three were firmly tied together to form the most primitive fixed-load shells.

It is precisely because of this fixed-mounted shell that the firing rate of this cannon can exceed that of the bed crossbow. It can be said that the power of the cannon has completely overwhelmed large-scale long-range weapons such as the bed crossbow. Especially after changing the cannon from copper to iron, the cost of the cannon is lower than that of the bed crossbow. Although most of the bed crossbows are made of wooden, the cost is actually quite expensive. In addition to the Song Dynasty's ability to equip bed crossbows on a large scale, even the Liao Kingdom is reluctant to manufacture bed crossbows on a large scale. Otherwise, the bed crossbows would be useless and their national treasury would be exhausted.

After observing the cannons and shells, Li Zhang stood up and then said to Liu Shu next to him: "You are doing well, especially this iron cannon has been made. It is really beyond my expectations. As for how to increase the fire rate of the cannon..."

Li Zhang deliberately paused when he said this, which made Liu Shu scratch his head anxiously. Finally, he couldn't help but urge: "Prince, please tell me quickly, what can I do to increase the rate of fire of the artillery?"

Seeing Liu Shu's anxious look, Li Zhang smiled and shook his head and said, "There is basically no way. Now you have increased the firing rate of the front-mounted artillery to the extreme. Unless there is a significant improvement in technology, it is impossible to increase the firing rate of the front-mounted artillery."

Li Zhang's words also hit Liu Shu's head like a blow, which made him unable to react for a long time. After all, he always regarded Li Zhang as an omnipotent god. Because Li Zhang had put forward too many ideas on firearms, and each one proved that he was right, so Liu Shu also placed his last hope on Li Zhang, but he didn't expect that Li Zhang would tell him that it was impossible to increase his firing rate anymore, which made him a little unacceptable.

But at this moment, a young official with a dark face next to him came forward and asked, "Prince, you just said that you installed artillery in front. Could it be that there are still artillery in the world with rear-mounted artillery?"

This young official was Bao Zheng. He came to the Firefighting Supervisor with Han Qi, but his position was lower and his official career was not as good as Han Qi. However, after Han Qi was promoted, Bao Zheng took over as the Firefighting Supervisor.

Bao Zheng was originally a white-faced scholar, but in recent years he spent soaking in various firearm workshops. Sometimes there were craftsmen testing firearms together, and even injured several times, but he turned himself into a black face. If he was fatter, he would be exactly the same as the black faced old Bao in history.

Hearing Bao Zheng's words, Li Zhang laughed, and then said, "Yes, our current artillery is all front-loaded artillery, and the shells need to be loaded from the muzzle. This kind of artillery has the advantage, that is, there is no need to worry about air leakage behind, the range is long and powerful, but the disadvantage is also obvious, it is inconvenient to load and it is troublesome to clean. But if it is changed to load from the back, the speed will be much faster..."

Li Zhang said that, and then pointed to the position of the tail of the cannon and told Liu Shu and others the principle of a rear-mounted cannon, commonly known as the breech gun. However, his understanding of the cannon was very limited, so he could only explain a rough principle. As for how to build the rear-mounted cannon? Sorry, Li Zhang couldn't answer this question, so he could only rely on Liu Shu and others to explore and experiment.

Of course, there are many problems with rear-mounted artillery, such as the biggest problem is air leakage. You must know that the air pressure generated during the explosion is very terrible. If the process is not up to standard, the breeze leaks seriously, which will greatly reduce the range of the shell and its power will also be greatly reduced. Li Zhang thought that screws can solve this problem, but the problem is that it is difficult to manufacture screws, and it is quite troublesome to tighten the screws, so Li Zhang could only put forward some ideas for reference by Liu Shu and the cannon craftsman.

"In fact, the suggestions in the army are very pertinent. Due to the speed of fire of artillery, artillery can only be used to defend the city now. If it is a field battle between the two armies, the artillery may not fire a few shells at all. However, if the speed of fire of the artillery increases and the power of the shells increases, the artillery may become the master of the battlefield, and these all require your efforts." Li Zhang said again at the end.

"I understand, please rest assured, Commander, Liu must live up to expectations!" Liu Shu also assured excitedly at this time. After Li Zhang's guidance, he felt a sudden sense of enlightenment. Although Li Zhang did not teach them specific methods, he pointed out the right path for them. It was like lighting a lamp for them in the dark, and they just need to follow this path.

Li Zhang was also very relieved of Liu Shu, his old subordinate. After all, after he left the firearm monitoring, the development of firearms was not affected. This shows that Liu Shu was indeed very attentive. Even Liu Shu, a man who became a monk halfway through, has now become an expert in firearms, and many firearms have the hard work he has made.

It was rare to come, so Li Zhang visited the Firearms Supervisor. Although the Firearms Supervisor is called the First Supervision Office, it actually has countless workshops under its jurisdiction, such as iron smelting workshop, saltpeter workshop, charcoal workshop, etc. These workshops provide various raw materials for making firearms. After all, the materials required for making firearms are special, such as a gunpowder raw material that requires various purification, which are not available to the outside world.

Originally, the Firearms Prison was in the Imperial City, but later because the research on the Firearms Prison was too dangerous, it exploded several times a month, which made several surrounding yamen really unable to stand it. Finally, they reported to drive the Firearms Prison out, so the Firearms Prison simply moved to a location near the city wall on the west side of the Imperial City. There was a large open space here, which is now all assigned to the Firearms Prison.

There are too many workshops under the Firearms Supervisor, so it is naturally impossible to gather them all together. In fact, most of these workshops are outside the city, especially gunpowder workshops, which are too dangerous and must not be placed in the city. The firearms Supervisor in the west of the city is the headquarters, and it is not responsible for production here, but for research and improvement. For example, the iron cannon was successfully studied here.

Li Zhang was most concerned about the research on flowering bullets. He had already proposed this thing, and the flowering bullets were initially made, but because the shells were not up to standard, it was also troublesome to use. For example, it can only be used in mortars now, and the flowering bullets need to be ignited with a fuse, so the explosion time cannot be controlled at all, so it is very dangerous to use and cannot be put into practical use.

In fact, with the current black gunpowder, even if it is studied, its power is very limited. However, Li Zhang knew that flowering bullets are a historical trend. Especially if artillery wants to become the real king of war, it must go from solid bullets to flowering bullets, so flowering bullets must be studied, even if the investment is high, it is worth it.

However, after Li Zhang was walking around the firearms, his heart became heavier and heavier. It was not that Liu Shu and the others did nothing. On the contrary, Liu Shu, Bao Zheng and others managed the firearms in an orderly manner. Even if Li Zhang personally managed it, it was at most at this level, and might even be inferior to them in some aspects.

However, although the firearm supervision is good, Li Zhang saw some hidden crises from it, and it was not just the firearm supervision. He found that there were some other aspects that also had the same crises!
Chapter completed!