After Zhu Qizhen returned from his personal expedition, he only went to court once and then disappeared.
All the officials have become accustomed to it, especially those Qingliu. At the beginning, they shouted every day, you are the emperor, you want to go to court, and you cannot slack off...
Later I discovered that it was quite pleasant to work without the big boss.
As for Zhu Qiyu, he is nothing more than a high-level wage earner. Since everyone comes out to work, no one should make things difficult for anyone.
After a long time, I got used to it.
On the outskirts of the capital, Wang Gongchang, Xishan.
The first batch of flintlock muskets were tested in actual combat and showed great power. At the same time, many problems were also exposed.
Among them, the biggest problem is that the quality of the steel is not up to standard, which causes the barrel of some firearms to heat up or even explode after being fired multiple times in a short period of time.
The quality of granular gunpowder also needs to be improved, otherwise a large amount of smoke and gunpowder gas will be produced during the firing process, and in severe cases, the shooter may even be burned.
Li Shulin compiled and summarized all the feedback information, and led a group of craftsmen to conduct experiments day and night to find solutions.
After Zhu Qizhen inspected the improved muskets of Wang Gong Factory, he found that the performance had indeed been improved to a certain extent.
"Your Majesty, I want to show you a gadget."
Li Shulin handed over a wooden box. When Zhu Qizhen opened it, he found it was a short blunderbuss that looked like a pistol.
"The power and range of this short blunderbuss are relatively poor, but it is very convenient to carry. The emperor may wish to keep it with him in case of emergency."
Zhu Qizhen picked it up and played with it for a while, then went to the shooting range, loaded the ammunition, and fired a shot.
Gunpowder filled the air, and a hole was punched through the target in front.
"Not bad, very lethal at close range!"
"Your Majesty, please see, this is Weichen's modified ammunition."
Li Shulin picked up a bullet, which was made by molding granules of gunpowder into a cylindrical shape. The outer layer was wrapped with special oil paper. The radius matched the gun bore. A steel ball was glued to the front end. When loading, he only needed to turn the bullet upside down from the gun.
Insert it into your mouth, then compact it with a purge, and you can fire.
There are two advantages to this kind of bullet. One is that the gunpowder is quantitative. There is no such thing as too much gunpowder to explode the chamber, or too little gunpowder and insufficient power.
Secondly, when firing, the flint is struck by the hammer to ignite the fire. At the moment when the gunpowder explodes, the outer layer of paper will be burned away, and the embers will fly out of the chamber with the explosion. Therefore, there is no need to use it with the old-fashioned fire.
Like a gun, the barrel of the gun must be cleaned after each shot, thereby effectively increasing the rate of fire.
For a front-loading flintlock gun, this modification has reached the extreme. Except for the steel that still needs to be improved, the rest is basically impeccable.
Seeing the pride on Li Shulin's face, Zhu Qizhen knew very well that due to its own structure and principle, this kind of gun can only make limited improvements and cannot achieve qualitative improvement.
However, I want to further transform, but I don’t know how to start.
After all, I am not a firearms professional. At most I can provide some ideas about flintlock guns, but I know nothing about the complex principles of modern firearms.
I vaguely remember that in chemistry class, I mentioned something about the ingredients of smokeless gunpowder, which seemed to be nitric acid or something.
Li Shulin didn't know what Zhu Qizhen was thinking, and continued: "Weichen suggested that research on the triggering mechanism of landmines should be increased. As for grenades... we should put them on hold for the time being, because it was found in actual combat that the power of grenades is too small.
If you want to increase the power, you can only increase the amount of gunpowder. In this way, the size and weight of the grenade will also increase. However, the strength of a soldier's arm is limited. The greater the weight, the closer the throwing distance."
Zhu Qizhen shook his head secretly. This is not to blame Li Shulin. Under the current technical conditions, it is easy to fall into this misunderstanding.
"Have you ever thought about continuing to improve gunpowder and increase its power without changing the amount of gunpowder?"
"This..."
Li Shulin looked embarrassed and said: "Weichen and a group of craftsmen have conducted hundreds of experiments. The current gunpowder ratio and granulation are already the most powerful."
"What I mean is to develop new gunpowder and find a material that can replace black gunpowder."
"New gunpowder?"
Li Shulin scratched his head. Isn't gunpowder just black powder? Are there other categories?
Zhu Qizhen didn't know what to do, so he had to say: "I suggest you check the records related to saltpeter and sulfur in ancient books. You may find new discoveries."
Although Li Shulin didn't understand it very well, he could only nod his head in agreement.
At this time, Li Zhen rushed over in a hurry.
"Your Majesty, you are looking for me!"
Zhu Qizhen nodded and said: "I remember you mentioned that if all soldiers were equipped with flintlock rifles and ammunition bags, would it be extremely inconvenient to move around?
"That's right!"
Li Zhen nodded and said: "When fighting alone, you use flintlock guns for long-range shooting, and you must use knives for close combat. This is equivalent to an extra piece of equipment on the soldiers, which will inevitably affect the agility of the battle. Three
The situation was better when the Qianying Battalion was all cavalry, but if it were replaced by infantry, the impact would be obvious."
"Therefore, Wei Chen suggested that the arms should be divided into specific categories. For example, gunmen are only equipped with muskets and no swords. The same is true for rattan hands, spearmen, and sword and ax hands. When fighting, all arms should perform their own duties.
Responsibilities, close cooperation."
Zhu Qizhen asked: "In this way, the limitations of individual arms are revealed. Take the musketeers as an example. They are not equipped with melee weapons. What should they do if the enemy gets close to them?"
Li Zhen scratched her head and said: "Your Majesty, there are trade-offs in everything. If you want to maximize the power of the musket, you can only sacrifice other aspects. As a humble minister, as long as the long-range shooting ability of the musketeer can be used,
Even if your melee combat ability is zero, it’s still worth it.”
Zhu Qizhen was well prepared and immediately called Li Zhen and Li Shulin to the study.
Not long after, a sketch appeared in front of the two of them.
Li Shulin was still a little confused, but Li Zhen saw the clue at a glance and said excitedly: "This is a good idea. With a short knife and a musket, you don't have to worry about the choice!"
Zhu Qizhen nodded and said: "The dagger can be worn on the body at ordinary times. When necessary, it can be taken out and combined at the muzzle of the gun to immediately form combat effectiveness."
Li Shulin also understood and couldn't help nodding in praise.
"Li Shulin!"
"I'm here!"
"Find some skilled craftsmen to design a slot at the muzzle that can fit a short knife!"
"Please rest assured, Your Majesty, this is easy to handle!"
Zhu Qizhen looked at Li Zhen again and said: "You can use a wooden stick of similar length to replace the gun body, tie a dagger on it, let the troops train first, and find the matching tactics in the shortest possible time!" p>
Li Zhen saluted and said: "I will go and prepare now!"