prosperous age

"We can make ten of these in half a month. I need six hundred gun barrels?"

Although it was somewhat different from what Wei Guangde originally wanted, he just wanted to try to combine the revolver and the falconet to create a weapon with fast firing and reloading speed.

However, now that he has come this far, Wei Guangde can roughly imagine in his mind what this weapon will look like when it is fired.

Well, just like the primitive rocket "Yichunfeng" equipped by the Ming army, it relied on gunpowder to propel arrows to fly quickly and kill the enemy.

Of course, "Swarm" is actually a single-soldier weapon, that is, the launcher holds the rocket launcher and shoots the enemy directly in front of the formation.

The thing in front of Wei Guangde is definitely not something a single soldier can get. There are so many gun barrels, and they are not light.

"What did you base this on?"

Wei Guangde vaguely remembered seeing a rocket atlas that showed a similar weapon mounted on a tank that fired dense rockets.

At this moment, Master Lei and Master Sun were still discussing the manufacturing speed of the things, whether they could complete ten sets of such weapons within half a month, and suddenly heard Elder Wei asking this question, so they interrupted the conversation and replied: "I dare not deceive Elder Wei, this is actually made according to the military's firearms carriage."

"Yeah, I think so too. I feel like we've met on the fourth floor before."

Wei Guangde chuckled.

Jiang Zhi, who was standing at the side, saw Wei Guangde saying this and thought that he was also interested in rocket weapons, so he smiled and said, "Here in the workshop, there is also a yard dedicated to designing rockets.

The swarm of bees, seven-star arrows, flying arrows with open flames, and fire dragons emerging from water used in the army were all originally made here.

Afterwards, the Ministry of War contacted the Armory Bureau to manufacture it, and later local garrisons also began to imitate it. "

These were all the achievements of the Ministry of Works, except that the victories were all attributed to the Ministry of War and the Armament Bureau, which made Jiang Zhi, the Minister of Works, very dissatisfied.

"You're right, the craftsmen also deserve credit."

Wei Guangde echoed, “Tell the craftsmen that if they have any merits in the future, I will have them included as well.

However, it seems that there is also such a workshop at the Arms Bureau, so all the firearms you develop in the future must have complete records. "

Wei Guangde certainly would not refuse something that was beneficial and cost-free.

This money was also issued by the imperial court, and it was not paid by Wei Guangde, so he would not say anything else here.

"Lord Wei, Lord Jiang, Lord Liu."

At this time, Master Lei and Master Sun finally reached an agreement and came over and bowed.

"How is it, can it be completed?"

Although this thing looks simple, it was a different era. Wei Guangde didn't dare to overestimate the industrial level of that era, even though the craftsmen of the Ming Dynasty represented the highest level of handicrafts of that era.

“If I work overtime for half a month, I can still get what the adults want.

But this is a design workshop, and we need the full cooperation of the production workshop, and we need a group of skilled craftsmen to help with polishing.”

It doesn’t take much time to make the blank, but to make it usable, the craftsman needs to polish it inside and outside.

"Shunqing, you will supervise this matter with all your strength. I want the Jinyiwei to deliver ten sets of these rapid-fire muskets within half a month."

Wei Guangde said to Jiang Zhi.

Jiang Zhi nodded slightly, indicating that he understood.

Mobilizing the craftsmen was just a matter of words for him and it was not difficult.

"By the way, can this rapid-fire musket be used now?"

Wei Guangde suddenly looked at Master Lei and asked.

“Yes, it has not been tested, but it has been manufactured.

If Lord Wei agrees, we can go to the backyard to conduct the test immediately."

Master Lei answered hurriedly.

“Can we test it in the back yard?”

Wei Guangde looked at the workshop manager and asked.

“There’s space in the backyard where we can test firearms.”

The person in charge replied hurriedly.

"Since we are here, let's take a look at this rapid-fire musket and see if it can be used for demonstration at the parade."

Wei Guangde said to everyone with a smile.

When the person in charge heard what Wei Guangde said, his eyes lit up instantly.

It was demonstrated during the grand review, so of course he knew what it meant.

He was also an official of a certain rank in the imperial court, albeit a low-ranking one. However, if he performed well in the review, he might get a share of the credit when it came to rewards.

When the time comes, I can upgrade the grade and transfer it to other places. It will be much better than guarding such a workshop.

The projects under the Ministry of Industry can generate good profits in just one place.

Here in the workshop, apart from deducting some wages, even if he wants to increase the material costs, the profit is far less than those workshops engaged in production.

He didn't dare to think about losing face in front of the emperor. That was not what an official like him should think about. He just hoped to get a lucrative job.

Soon, the person in charge took them to the weapons testing site in the backyard.

The yard is not big, it is a long and narrow yard, but it is nearly a hundred meters long. The key is that the bricks and stones around it are very high, obviously because they are worried about accidents during the firearms test.

This kind of weapons testing site is actually best built in the suburbs.

But apparently, the people from the Ministry of Works found it troublesome and did not want to leave the city, so they specially designated this place for firearms testing.

"The Arms Bureau is testing firearms at the Imperial Stables' horse ranch."

Jiang Zhi also whispered.

There is a special horse farm in the Forbidden City. In addition to being used for the emperor to ride horses, it is also used to train the imperial horse guards and test firearms of the Armory.

Wei Guangde nodded and said softly: "It is better to conduct this firearms test in the Beijing Camp Training Ground in the city."

Jiang Zhi smiled bitterly and said, "It's too troublesome. We have to contact the Ministry of War and get the approval document, otherwise we can't enter the Beijing camp."

"You want a separate area?"

Wei Guangde looked at Jiang Zhi and asked.

"That's right. There is a vacant lot in the outer city near Baizhifang, Guangning Gate. The Ministry of Industry intends to build a new workshop there and put both the design and production workshops there."

Jiang Zhi answered in a low voice.

"Public land or private land?"

Wei Guangde didn't pay much attention to the outer city, most of his properties were in the inner city, so he asked.

“Most of it is Crown land, and some is privately owned, but it can be exchanged for Crown land elsewhere.”

Jiang Zhi whispered in Wei Guangde's ear.

Wei Guangde was unsure whether Jiang Zhi had any plans for this, so he asked tentatively, "You are the Minister of Works, can't you do this?"

"The Beijing camp wants to use that piece of land to build houses for the families of the soldiers.

But there is a lot of land in other places, just not as large as this.”

Jiang Zhi smiled bitterly.

Wei Guangde nodded and said, "I will discuss this with Duke Dingguo later and give you a reply."

After Wei Guangde finished speaking, he suddenly thought of something and asked in a low voice: "By the way, do you have land there?" Hearing Wei Guangde say this, Jiang Zhi had a strange expression on his face and did not answer.

Wei Guangde didn't ask any more questions. He just pointed at Jiang Zhi and said nothing more.

Over there, Master Lei and Master Sun, along with two apprentices, had already set up the iron rack, while the other apprentices were loading gunpowder and bullets into the gun barrels.

Beside them, Liu Shouyou and Luo Bingliang watched their every move with great interest.

To be honest, not only do they want to find out the truth, but it is also the duty of the Jinyiwei.

Now many of these gun barrels have been loaded with medicinal stones. If someone here has bad intentions, it would be like using a bird gun to kill indiscriminately.

Damn, there is a cabinet minister and a minister here, both of whom are powerful people.

Therefore, the best approach is to stand aside and watch.

More than 30 gun barrels were filled with medicine stones, and then Master Lei and Master Sun inserted them one by one into the round hoop in front. The front sleeve of the gun barrel was pressed against the round hoop, and then the round hoop at the back was installed. It was still supported by the round hoop at the back of the gun barrel, and then the slipknot was locked, and a "multi-barrel machine gun" was assembled.

Afterwards, two more apprentices began to insert fuses into the gun barrels one by one, and finally thirty fuses were tangled together.

At this point, the automatic musket can be fired.

On the opposite side, the person in charge and a few others had already placed several straw man models at a distance of about twenty feet, and had placed several archery targets behind the straw men.

Obviously, the equipment in this test site is quite complete. After all, some rockets are sometimes tested here, and they are all useful things.

Wei Guangde and Jiang Zhi were standing at the back. Seeing that Master Lei and the others were ready, they simply said to Liu Shouyou, "Siyun, you light the fire, and let Master Lei take charge of aiming."

The gun rack is movable and can be moved up, down, left and right by grabbing the earrings on the round hoop.

Of course, in fact, using firearms in ancient times was also very risky, and that was the risk of barrel explosion.

At the time of Bengshanbao, Wei Guangde knew that the Ming army's firearms had some flaws.

In the past two years, Jiang Zhi has carried out a thorough cleanup.

Although there are probably still people profiting from this, it is much better than before and the defective rate has been reduced a lot.

Wei Guangde could only let the Ministry of Works and the Armory Bureau take charge of the acceptance checkpoint, and unqualified firearms were absolutely not allowed to be stored.

Despite this, news from Jizhen, Liaodong and Xuanfu showed that 20 to 30 percent of the qualified firearms shipped there were still defective.

Well, without the strict supervision of Wei Guangde and Jiang Zhi, I'm afraid that even 50% of the products would not be qualified.

The workshop manager and his men retreated to the back. Wei Guangde signaled Liu Shou to light the fire, while Luo Bingliang stood aside with his hand on the Embroidered Spring Sword.

As Liu Shouyou lit the Yin line, thirty fuses burned rapidly towards the end of the gun barrel. Master Lei squatted on one side, also with a nervous look on his face, his hands on the gun ears, trying his best to aim at the straw man in front of him.

"bang bang bang"

There were continuous sounds of gunpowder explosions, and a puff of green smoke rose from the front and back of the gun barrel.

There was no earth-shattering noise, just like a team of musketeers opened fire and then returned to calm.

Liu Shouyou and Master Lei quickly ran out of the smoke. Master Sun had already taken Sun Liu over and squatted down. They quickly opened the clasp and removed the rear hoop. Thirty gun barrels were removed one by one for inspection.

This is the drawback of firearms firing in this era. There is a lot of smoke, and every firearm firing is like ascending to heaven. The smoke in front and behind the position is like a fairyland, but it is a bit choking.

This automatic musket is even more powerful. After all, in such a small area, the smoke produced by firing thirty muskets is much greater.

"hehe."

Wei Guangde chuckled when he saw this. In later generations, there were special smoke bombs to protect the positions, but they were no longer needed these days. The smoke produced by gunpowder had the effect of a smoke bomb, which could protect the gunners while they were loading new gun barrels behind the smoke.

Master Lei breathed in some fresh air and returned to Wei Guangde and asked, "Master Wei, do you want to reload and fire again?"

"No need. Wait until the smoke clears and then put the gun barrel back."

Wei Guangde said with a smile.

Their actions were so fast just now that Wei Guangde didn't have time to say anything. Master Sun went up and opened the slings, removed the gun barrels and began to check.

"Let's go over and see the striking effect of this rapid-fire musket."

Wei Guangde said again, so he took Jiang Zhi,

Liu Shouyou walked forward and came in front of the straw man.

The smoke that rose earlier instantly made it impossible for people behind to see what was happening in front.

All I can say is that this weapons testing site is too narrow. To put it bluntly, it's just a slightly wider corridor.

These straw men were covered with cotton armor. At this time, the cotton armor on the chests of two straw men had been broken, and the bullets had penetrated the straw men.

Wei Guangde reached out and touched the cotton armor on the straw man, and his brows furrowed.

"That's how you fool yourselves."

He said in an unpleasant tone.

Wei Guangde was very satisfied with the armor-piercing effect he could see from a distance.

But when I got closer and touched it, I found that it was just a piece of low-quality cotton armor, which was basically unable to test the true armor-piercing power of this musket.

Of the thirty bullets, only a few hit the two straw men, while the other two were not damaged, obviously missing the target.

Well, nowadays, using firearms to hit people is all up to fate, so Wei Guangde was not angry about it.

However, it is obviously unacceptable for the Ministry of Industry to use inferior cotton armor for testing.

"This can be used during the review, but it cannot be used for firearms testing. It must be tested with the best cotton armor."

Wei Guangde gave instructions to Jiang Zhi and the head of the Ministry of Works.

Jiang Zhi just glared at the person in charge fiercely, and the person was now terrified and kept wiping the cold sweat from his head.

Only, Wei Guangde walked past the straw man and looked at the targets, which had obvious holes in them.

"Breaking armor with a force of twenty feet is the basic requirement, and thirty feet is the best.

Shunqing, please arrange for someone you can trust to monitor this matter and conduct the test with your own eyes."

Wei Guangde said something to Jiang Zhi, and it was obvious that he no longer trusted the head of the Ministry of Works.

He is already a veteran, what else can we expect from him?

After saying that, Wei Guangde glanced at Liu Shouyou.

Liu Shouyou was very smart and understood what he meant instantly.

Obviously, if this person in charge doesn't handle things properly, he will be in trouble.

The effectiveness of the weapons was obviously uncertain, so they quickly returned to the muskets.

"Master Lei, Master Sun, the rapid-fire muskets are just like this. Within half a month, make ten crosses for the Jinyiwei soldiers to use.

I need two sets of gun barrels. I need the Jinyi personal soldiers to be able to replace the gun barrels in the shortest possible time and fire two rounds."

Wei Guangde spoke to them, and naturally included some requests to Luo Bingliang.

After several people nodded, Wei Guangde continued: "Add a large shield at the front hoop position to protect the firing soldiers and prevent them from being threatened by enemy arrows."

When Wei Guangde said this, he was actually referring to the machine gun shield of later generations.

Although the bulletproof shield was later cancelled by most machine guns, Wei Guangde felt that in this era, it would still be beneficial to the shooter's safety if there was such a piece of iron sheet to block it.

After saying that, Wei Guangde squatted behind the musket, staring at the butt of the gun, thinking about how to talk to the craftsman.

Yes, Wei Guangde hoped that they could develop a firing device at the end of the gun. If they could directly solve the primer problem, the Ming rifle would have a chance to become a reality. (End of this chapter)