Thanks to the explosion of information in later generations, and the fact that Lin Ziran is a person with a strong thirst for knowledge, he likes to inquire about everything he encounters, so the things he understands are mixed and messy.
Although what I know is only superficial and far from being proficient, it is enough for daily communication and pretending to be knowledgeable in front of people who don't know much.
Lin Ziran did not dare to say that he knew a lot about steam engines and even the broader industrial revolution, but he still knew what early steam engines were like, that there were low-pressure steam engines and high-pressure steam engines, and that there were multiple expansions and multiple cylinders.
After careful observation, Lin Ziran was able to tell that this was a large low-pressure steam engine, a single-expansion steam engine, and that it was an old man's steam engine from the first year of Yongchang.
On earth, this thing would be at the level of the eighteenth century at best.
Such a primitive steam engine obviously cannot meet Lin Ziran's expectations for the industrial level of this world.
He knows that the steam engines in this world can already be used to power ships and trains. To do this, it requires a high-pressure steam engine and a multi-cylinder steam engine.
Obviously, the steam engine in front of you cannot do it.
After seeing the steam engine, Lin Ziran asked Wang Jinquan to take him to the iron workshop, because that was the only place in the town that could make steel products such as farm tools, swords, and guns.
On the way, Lin Ziran learned from Wang Jinquan that this ironworks workshop could not only make agricultural tools, swords and other products, but was also responsible for making muskets and even cannons for the officers and soldiers in the town.
So Lin Ziran has a lot of expectations!
It didn't take long before they arrived at the ironworks workshop in the town.
The owner of the iron workshop is an old man in his fifties, surnamed Wang.
There is a neighbor next door!
Boss Wang was obviously overwhelmed by the arrival of a group of officials. Boss Wang looked extremely panicked and seemed to be a little unsteady on his feet.
If he were told that these 'officials' standing in front of him were actually a group of bandits, he would probably be frightened to death.
Lin Ziran was not interested in the farm tools and a few swords displayed in the ironworks workshop. He directly passed by these things and turned his attention to the furnace with bellows and several very primitive-looking machine tools.
Looking at these simple machine tools, Lin Ziran asked directly: "Can it make guns?"
Boss Wang showed a hint of confidence when he heard this, but he still said cautiously: "Sir, small workshops can make guns. Many of the muskets used in the town are made in small workshops!"
After hearing this, Lin Ziran nodded slightly. Although this workshop was a bit crude, it still had simple mechanical equipment. It would be no problem to make a gun or something, but don't expect a large output.
After receiving a positive answer, Lin Ziran nodded slightly to Luo Mazi.
Luo Mazi, a loser, always pays attention to Lin Ziran's movements and expressions.
Just as Lin Ziran nodded, Luo Mazi immediately strode forward and shouted: "The army is about to enter the mountain to suppress the bandits, and there are still hundreds of muskets missing. Please hurry up and make the muskets!"
After saying that, he returned a grin to Lin Ziran.
But when Lin Ziran heard this, he already frowned into a Sichuan shape.
In fact, Lin Ziran was not done even after nodding just now. He would reach out and say again: "Give me the gun!"
But who would have thought that Luo Mazi was so clever that he spoke first and asked the blacksmith workshop to make hundreds of guns.
You don't speak through your brain, and you still have hundreds of muskets. This is just a handicraft workshop, not one of those professional arsenals.
Let this handicraft workshop make hundreds of muskets, and we don’t know how long it will take.
Lin Ziran couldn't help it anymore: "Shut up and give me the gun!"
Only then did Luo Mazi realize that he seemed to have said the wrong thing: "Sir, please calm down!"
Taking the musket from Luo Mazi, Lin Ziran turned around and said: "Boss Wang, this servant is ignorant, I hope you won't blame me!"
Boss Wang naturally didn't dare to make excuses, so he immediately bowed his waist and said: "I don't dare, I don't dare!"
Lin Ziran handed over the gun directly, took out a small notebook from his pocket, opened it and said, "Boss Wang, see if you can carve this kind of rifling on this gun?"
Boss Wang took it carefully and took a look, he was a little unsure and asked: "Do you want to engrave this kind of rifling in the barrel of the gun? Or spiral rifling?"
Lin Ziran said with a smile: "Well, it's just a few spiral riflings carved into the barrel of the gun!"
What Lin Ziran drew in his notebook was not actually a detailed design drawing of a gun. In fact, it was just a simplified drawing of a rifled barrel.
And if rifling is carved into a muzzleloading musket, what does it become?
Naturally, it’s a muzzle-loading rifled gun!
Well, this thing is not new. There have been rifled muskets in this world for a long time. However, people have not been able to solve the problem of bullet loading and the matching of bullets and barrel rifling. Loading is extremely difficult, so it is not very common, and it doesn't matter.
For human use.
But Lin Ziran is also planning to let Boss Wang's workshop get some molds for melting cavity conical lead bullets and make mini bullets.
What will happen when the two are combined?
It will become the famous time-travel artifact ‘Minnie Rifle’!
Speaking of which, this was thanks to the fact that the world he traveled to was already in the period of the Industrial Revolution, and its industrial base was already sufficient to manufacture Minie rifles.
What is missing now is just a design idea.
Unfortunately, Lin Ziran, who came from Earth, had such an idea!
Of course, even in this world that has entered the industrial revolution period, it is very difficult to mass-produce and install Mini rifles on a large scale, at least in this small town of Qingshan, it is absolutely impossible.
But Lin Ziran didn't expect to mass-produce weapons in this ironworks workshop, or even mass-produce muskets. That was unrealistic.
He just wanted to let this ironworks workshop with a few simple machine tools carve rifling on the existing more than a hundred muskets.
The muskets equipped in their "Fifth Patrol Battalion" are Fuyuan muskets.
This gun is a musket produced by Fuyuan Ordnance Factory in Nanhai Prefecture City. It has a caliber of 18 mm, a total length of 1.4 meters, and a weight of only 4.3 kilograms. It is fired by a flash.
Because the gun's performance is not bad, and the most important thing is its low price, it is deeply loved by many vassal towns and bandits in Nanhai Prefecture and Linzhou.
In Lin Ziran's opinion, apart from missing a few riflings, this Fuyuan Musket is basically the same as the Mini Rifle on Earth.
Based on this gun, it was modified into a Mini rifle. Although its performance is not as good as that of a small-caliber Mini rifle, it should be barely usable.
After Boss Wang studied the sketch in the small book for a long time, he cautiously said: "This rifling can be carved, but it will cost a lot to modify the equipment."
Hearing this, Lin Ziran had a smile on his face.
Isn't it just money? It's a big deal. He just got two thousand hengyuan. If it's not enough, there should be some in Qingshan Town.
If it doesn't work, Lin Ziran doesn't mind putting the gun directly to Boss Wang's head. It is estimated that Boss Wang will take the initiative to lower the price or even charge no money.
So Lin Ziran said directly: "Money is not an issue. For every modified one, I will give you ten yuan!"
When Boss Wang heard this, his originally cautious expression immediately changed. Even Lin Ziran could see the greed on his face: "Don't worry, sir. Even if the craftsmen don't eat or drink, they will work day and night.
I'm here to help you modify these guns!"
When he said this, Boss Wang's breath was a little uneven. These days, the monthly salary of a soldier is only seven or eight yuan, and the price of a musket is only about twenty yuan. Lin Ziran just asked him to change the rifling.
The price was given at ten yuan.
Good things like this don't come across all the time. Naturally, if you can seize it, seize it.