Zhu Hongyu began to visit the gun-making workshop in front of him under the leadership of Old Liu Tou.
Old Liu Tou pointed at the lathe in front of him and said.
"Thanks to the research institute for developing this lathe and the high-strength cutting tools used in the lathe!"
"The polishing of the gun barrel can be done by machinery, which saves workers a lot of effort and greatly improves production efficiency!"
"In the past, polishing the rough cannon was a laborious job!"
"It's still the kind of manual work that can only be done by a master!"
Zhu Hongyu nodded and said.
"Science and technology are the primary productive forces. This is true!"
The two talked in detail about the various problems that the arsenal faced in its daily work.
Old Liu Tou said.
"Your Highness Jianguo, a technician has made some suggestions on improving artillery production. I don't know if it is feasible!"
"Please give me your advice, His Highness the Supervisor!"
Zhu Hongyu nodded slightly and said.
"Whether it is feasible or not, this innovative spirit is worthy of praise!"
"Tell me, what exactly is the suggestion?"
Old Liu scratched his head and then said.
"Fit the cannon!"
"Since muskets can fire, what about cannons? Can they also be used?"
Zhu Hongyu touched his chin, thinking with a pensive look on his face, and then spoke.
"Um!"
"Installing flintlock engines to cannons is indeed a development direction worth studying!"
At least Zhu Hongyu knew that artillery using match ropes as fuzes would be eliminated sooner or later!
The future development direction of artillery is indeed flintlock!
Not to mention anything else, in terms of naval guns alone, the accuracy of fusillade-fired naval guns is far superior to that of naval guns that use match ropes to ignite fire.
Because the burning of the match rope is delayed, and when the warships of both sides are bombarding each other on the sea, the hull is shaking all the time due to wind and waves.
In other words, Shooting Zhuyuan has been changing irregularly!
The longer the firing delay, the lower the accuracy of the artillery fire!
It is precisely because of this that naval guns that use match ropes to ignite fire are very accurate in terms of shooting accuracy.
If you use a flintlock to ignite the fire, although the time you can save is not much, it can reduce the firing delay to the greatest extent.
The accuracy of shelling can naturally be greatly improved!
Thinking about this, Zhu Hongyu spoke.
“Go ahead and try boldly!”
"Don't be afraid that your idea is wrong. If you don't do experiments and verify it, you will never be able to prove whether an idea is right or wrong!"
"Try ten thousand new ideas, even if you make nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine mistakes, as long as one is successful, you will not lose money!"
"The world is constantly progressing. Stopping means falling behind. We have stagnated and stopped developing. Other countries and nations in the world will not stop and wait for us!"
"Only by daring to try and constantly innovating can we keep moving forward!"
After Zhu Hongyu finished speaking, Old Liu Tou spoke.
"I would like to be taught, I understand!"
Zhu Hongyu continued to speak.
"In fact, the development direction of artillery is not only from match rope ignition to flintlock ignition!"
"And rifling!"
"Since the rifle is rifled, the range and accuracy of the gun can be greatly increased."
"What about the artillery?"
"Is it possible to rifle a cannon?"
"Try boldly and don't be afraid of making mistakes!"
Zhu Hongyu patted Lao Liu on the shoulder and said.
Lao Liutou nodded vigorously and then spoke.
"Don't worry, Your Highness Jianguo, I will arrange for the craftsmen below to conduct relevant experiments when I get back!"
Zhu Hongyu nodded slightly, and then he went to visit other workshops under the leadership of Old Liu Tou.
Zhu Hongyu just walked around the arsenal, and he didn't even look at many of the workshops.
The first place we went to was the gun workshop!
The musket is currently the main weapon equipped by the Liberation Army and has a very high weight.
At present, there are two main research directions for the Liberation Army in muskets!
One is rifling the musket, and the other is developing the breech-loading gun!
Needless to say, the arsenal of the Liberation Army can definitely do it.
The biggest problem is that it cannot be mass-produced on a large scale. Zhu Hongyu has no choice but to wait for the steam engine and machine tools to be put into production.
Then use machine tools driven by steam engines to solve this problem!
When it comes to loading the gun, after Zhu Hongyu provided the drawings, the arsenal has already produced the finished product.
Of course, it's not a breech-loading needle gun, and it doesn't have metal fixed bullets.
The ignition method is still flintlock, but the loading method has changed from front loading to rear loading!
It's just a pity that due to sealing problems caused by machining accuracy, the firing rate of the breech-loading gun is indeed much faster.
But its performance in terms of range and power is very impressive.
Once against the heavy armor of the Qing Dynasty, it may not be able to break the armor even if it is close to the face!
Quite impractical!
Zhu Hongyu put down the breech-loading gun in his hand, patted the researcher on the shoulder, and said.
"keep it up!"
"Breech-loading guns must be the direction of the future, but the current technical conditions are not enough to manufacture them!"
Next, the group went to the bullet workshop.
The Guangfu Army's bullet workshop produced a total of two types of bullets with different specifications, and one type was ordinary paper-cased custom bullets.
The other is mini bullets specially supplied for rifled guns!
The later development direction given by Zhu Hongyu is metal fixed-loading bullets, but until Lei Gong can mass-produce them, metal fixed-loading bullets are actually just an idea.
Speaking of which, it goes back to chemical research.
Zhu Hongyu visited the various workshops that followed one by one.
Bayonets, armor, shells, rockets...
Needless to say, bayonets and armors, if you want product performance to leap forward, you must achieve technological breakthroughs in materials science.
As for artillery shells and rockets, the two workshops are joining forces to develop trigger fuses!
The flaws of the wooden cartridge fuse are still too big!
But no one knows when the results will be produced!
Because the current trigger fuze is just a PPT product, not even a laboratory product.
Because even the laboratory can’t do it!
…
After finishing his inspection of the arsenal, Zhu Hongyu still had no intention of going back to handle government affairs.
After finally getting out, he planned to inspect the shipyard!
For now, the navy is still the lifeblood of the Liberation Army!
The reason why Zhu Hongyu was able to harass the coastal areas of the Qing Dynasty was because of the speed advantage brought by the fleet and its ability to transport supplies for the army.
So that the army can advance lightly!
Otherwise, how could a group of infantrymen of the Liberation Army pursue and intercept the Qing army's cavalry in the Battle of Suixi River on the Leizhou Peninsula?
Compared with the Cavite Shipyard controlled by the Spanish, the current Huaxing Shipyard has more than doubled in size.
The floor space and number of workers are constantly increasing!
Zhu Hongyu personally met with the person in charge of the shipyard.
"I will see His Royal Highness the Supervisor!"
Everyone said in unison.
Zhu Hongyu just waved his hand.
"No gift!"
"Take me to the slipway to visit!"
After that, he motioned to the person in charge of the shipyard to lead the way.
Zhu Hongyu followed him in stride.
On the largest slipway, the hull of a half-built battleship lay quietly.
The keel has been laid, and riveting technology is being used to install the ribs and side plates for the hull.
"Your Highness Jian Guo, this is the first third-level sailing battleship built independently by our shipyard!"