My father Zhu Gaoxu

Chapter 807 The First Arsenal of the Han Dynasty

"Bah, bah, bah~"

In the Han's First Arsenal, several muskets fired one after another, hitting the armored dummy in front of him into pieces.

When the shooting was completed, someone immediately came forward to test the effect of the shooting, and then ran back with a happy face to report: "Your Highness, the power of yellow gunpowder is amazing. Even if the loading powder is reduced by half, it can still penetrate two layers of armor." !”

"Good! Great!"

Zhu Zhanhe clapped his hands excitedly and said.

When he first got this yellow gunpowder, Zhu Zhanhe was worried about whether there would be any problems in practical use? But he didn't expect that after the yellow gunpowder was delivered to the arsenal, everything went very smoothly. With half the original powder charge, twice the original shooting effect could be achieved.

"Your Highness, this yellow gunpowder is good, but it also brings us a problem!"

At this moment, Tao Lin, who was promoted by the Firearms Bureau, walked up to the front with a serious look on his face.

"what is the problem?"

Zhu Zhanhe, who was in high spirits, was also stunned when he heard this, and immediately asked.

"Your Highness, please think about it. This yellow gunpowder is so powerful that it will definitely put more pressure on the barrel of the gun when it explodes. Although we have reduced the amount of powder to prevent the chamber from exploding, it will greatly reduce the service life of the gun."

Tao Lin replied helplessly.

The guns currently used in the military are designed and manufactured according to the specifications of black powder. If they are replaced with more powerful yellow powder, it will definitely have a great impact on the guns.

"This is indeed a problem. Then change the design of the gun, use better steel, or thicken the barrel. Don't be afraid of spending money. As long as you can increase the power of the gun, it will be worth it!"

When Zhu Zhanhe heard this, he immediately waved his hand.

After several upgrades of firearms in the army, the power still failed to meet Zhu Zhanhe's requirements. Now that there is better gunpowder, it is just a good opportunity to upgrade them uniformly.

"With your words, Your Highness, then there will be no problem in lowering the rank!"

Tao Lin's eyes immediately lit up when he heard this, and he immediately patted his chest and assured that after all, as long as the court is willing to pay, everything else will not be a problem, and the more the firearms are upgraded, the more important it will be to highlight the importance of their firearms bureau, nothing else. He said that the firearms bureau of Han Dynasty is much more important than the firearms bureau of Ming Dynasty.

"By the way, how are you studying the two things I told you last time?"

Zhu Zhanhe suddenly asked Tao Lin again.

"Your Highness, the first thing you told me is not difficult. We have already done it, and the effect is indeed very good, but the second thing is..."

When Tao Lin talked about the second thing, he also had a troubled expression on his face. Although money can solve most problems, sometimes no matter how much money the court gives, they still can't do some things.

"Take me to see the first thing first!"

Zhu Zhanhe was not angry after hearing this, but immediately ordered.

"Yes, Your Highness, please come with me!"

Tao Lin immediately agreed, and immediately took Zhu Zhanhe out of the training ground in person, and then came to the front half of the First Arsenal.

The Han Dynasty now has two arsenals, both of which are under the control of the Firearms Bureau. This first arsenal, in particular, is responsible for the research of new firearms, and Tao Lin is almost always stationed here.

Zhu Zhanhe followed Tao Lin to the front of the arsenal. There were workshops one after another everywhere. Each workshop had a master craftsman who led some craftsmen to study a project together. For example, some people studied the manufacturing of gun barrels. , some people study flint firing and so on.

Finally, Zhu Zhanhe came to a workshop, where he saw a gray-haired old craftsman leading seven or eight craftsmen to study something.

After Tao Lin entered the workshop, he immediately saluted the old craftsman and said, "Uncle Qi, the prince is here!"

The old craftsman immediately raised his head after hearing this. When he saw Zhu Zhanhe, he also hurriedly stepped forward and saluted: "Your Majesty, Tao Qing, pays homage to His Highness the Crown Prince!"

"Master Tao, there is no need to be polite!"

Zhu Zhanhe said very politely when he saw the old craftsman named Tao Qing.

This Tao Qing was also from the Tao family, and was the close uncle of Tao Qiong and Tao Lin. Not only was he good at making muskets, he was also proficient in various casting techniques. His exquisite skills could be said to be second to none in the Tao family. If it weren't for his dedicated research Technically, if you don't like being an official, Tao Lin won't be promoted to the Firearms Bureau at all.

"Your Highness, the rifling idea you proposed before is simply amazing. I have already led someone to make it, and after it is installed on a musket, it really increases the accuracy of bullet shooting. If this kind of musket is used on the battlefield, it will definitely be More accurate than a bow and arrow!"

Tao Qing was impatient and immediately spoke excitedly when he saw Zhu Zhanhe.

Rifling was the first thing Zhu Zhanhe told Tao Lin. The previous muskets, whether they were matchlocks or flintlock guns, could only be called smoothbore guns because there was no rifling in the barrel, so the bullets fired were nothing at all. Accurate.

Therefore, when today's muskets are used on the battlefield, the musketeers line up in a row and then shoot forward together, using quantity to make up for the lack of accuracy of the guns. But if there is rifling, the accuracy of the bullet can be greatly improved, and it can even penetrate the poplar with a hundred steps. However, if an archer wants to do this, he must go through years of hard training and a certain amount of talent.

Therefore, the emergence of rifling can definitely be called a major reform in firearms use. This is why Zhu Zhanhe specifically ordered Tao Lin to create rifling.

"Great, do you have a sample? Let me see!"

Zhu Zhanhe was also very excited when he heard this, and immediately asked Tao Qing.

"Have!"

Tao Qing nodded fiercely, turned around and took out a gun barrel, then handed it to Zhu Zhanhe with both hands.

Zhu Zhanhe took the barrel of the gun and looked at the muzzle. He saw that the muzzle was no longer a smooth circle, but had four yin and yang lines. If he looked inside the barrel, he could see that the four lines were spiraling inward. extend.

Zhu Zhanhe stroked the uneven rifling with his fingers and said with great excitement: "Sure enough, it worked. Master Tao, you guys are really amazing. You actually got the rifling out so quickly!"

Hearing Zhu Zhanhe's compliment, Tao Qing was a little proud at first, but then he smiled awkwardly and said: "Thank you for the compliment, Your Highness, but although we have figured out the rifling, we have not been able to succeed with the other bullet you ordered. .”

"Is Master Tao also responsible for the bullet?"

Zhu Zhanhe also looked at Tao Lin next to him in surprise when he heard this.

Tao Lin immediately stepped forward and explained: "Your Highness, the copper-cased bullet you mentioned seems simple, but in fact, when I really studied it, I found that it is very difficult. There are few people in the entire firearms bureau who dare to take the job. A master craftsman, so in the end I handed it over to Uncle Qi, but I didn’t expect that Uncle Qi wouldn’t succeed either.”

Fixed-load ammunition had long been produced by Zhu Zhanhe, but it was just a paper shell. To use it, you need to bite open the paper shell, pour the ammunition into a part of the gunpowder tank, and then stuff the paper shell and bullets into the musket, and press Then shoot after it's done.

This kind of paper shell has many advantages, such as fixed-loading ammunition, which makes shooting safer and more accurate. In addition, the paper shell wrapping the bullet can also strengthen the sealing and increase the range of the bullet.

However, paper shell bullets also have some shortcomings, such as being afraid of water. When it rains, the musket cannot shoot. Even in some windy days, the use of the musket will also be affected.

In addition, when the musket is at sea, because the moisture is too high, the paper shell bullets are easily affected by moisture, which will also affect the use of the musket.

Therefore, under this situation, Zhu Zhanhe wanted to produce copper-cased bullets, which are the kind of bullets used in later generations. The bullets have primers and are fired with a firing pin. They are not affected by the weather at all and are not susceptible to moisture.

Even after this copper-cased bullet is developed, the gun will undergo a major reform, such as changing from front-loading to rear-loading. The design of the gun will also undergo huge changes, and it will also lay the foundation for the emergence of the gun. solid foundation.

The emergence of machine guns represents the complete decline of cold weapons, because the most powerful cavalry in the cold weapon era was completely vulnerable to machine guns.

Of course, it is still a bit far away to bring a machine gun, but as long as we get out the copper-cased bullets, and then design a simple rifle with rifling and rear loading, with this kind of rifle, it will be enough for the big man to defeat all the invincible enemies in the world. .

"Master Tao, what are the problems in the manufacturing of copper-cased bullets?"

Zhu Zhanhe also asked Tao Qing seriously at this time.

"Your Highness, please follow me!"

Tao Qing did not answer immediately, but took Zhu Zhanhe to a workshop next door.

I saw various tools placed here, and several craftsmen were also working. On one of the tables, there were many copper bullet casings, which looked very similar to the bullet casings of later generations.

So Zhu Zhanhe stepped forward, picked up a cartridge case and looked at it carefully. He found that this thing was only similar to those of later generations. But if you look carefully, you will find that the cartridge case is a bit rough and has no primer. Obviously this The kind of cartridge case is just a showpiece, and it cannot be used even if it is loaded with gunpowder.

"Your Highness, the biggest problem now is that after the gunpowder is loaded into the cartridge case, it cannot ignite. We once thought of opening a small hole at the bottom of the bullet so that the gunpowder inside could be ignited, but in this way, the bullet would not be sealed. , completely losing the meaning of this kind of bullet."

Tao Qing picked up another bullet case and explained to Zhu Zhanhe with a frown.

"Can a more sensitive gunpowder be placed at the bottom so that it can detonate upon impact, thus igniting the gunpowder inside?"

Zhu Zhanhe reminded that this is also the principle of primer.

"Of course you can do this, but we don't have this kind of gunpowder at all. Neither the original black gunpowder nor the yellow gunpowder just delivered can meet the requirements you said."

Tao Qing replied helplessly with his hands spread out.

"Leave this matter to the Yiren Institute to resolve. As for the design of this copper-cased bullet, let's pause for a while and wait until the Yiren Institute invents gunpowder that meets the requirements. Then you can continue to study this copper-cased bullet. bomb!"

Zhu Zhanhe thought for a while and then said again.

Without a primer, it was indeed impossible to make a bullet. It seemed that he was still a little impatient.

(End of this chapter)