I, the Ming Dynasty, can still save me

Chapter 368 Test firing a flintlock gun

With Jin Yiwei's actions, the situation in North Korea has become increasingly turbulent and confusing.

As the instigator, Zhu Youxiao will have to wait at least half a month before he can understand the current trends in North Korea.

But he was not idle during this period. Ever since he talked to Xu Guangqi about the flintlock gun in early July, he had been very interested in it and thought of going to the Tongzhou Firearms Workshop to have a look.

Especially when news came from Xu Guangqi at the beginning of this month that Bi Maokang had successfully developed a flintlock gun, this greatly increased his interest.

I thought about leaving the palace to have a look, but this proposal was not only opposed by everyone in the cabinet, but even Xu Guangqi secretly objected.After all, the imperial court had its own system before going to the Beijing camp, and the cabinet could not say anything.

But if we go to Tongzhou, it is not only a long way to go, but there is also a firearms workshop there. The site is extremely dangerous. If there is an explosion while Zhu Youxue is inspecting, the inside and others cannot afford it.

Therefore, Liu Yisui and others objected after hearing this and refused to let Zhu Youxiao go out.In the end, Zhu Youxiao had no choice but to settle for the next best thing and changed the venue for observation to the grass field.

"I was thinking that Xu Aiqing secretly transported two newly refined Krupp cannons to Licaolan Field for me to observe. He also showed me many firearms, and I even shot them myself. As for the gun and bird blunderbuss. Now more than half a year has passed. Not only has the Krug gun been refined on a large scale, but the previous bird blunderbuss has also been turned into a flintlock gun."

In the grass field, Zhu Youxiao looked at the flintlock gun on the table in front of him. While holding it up to observe, he reviewed the past to Xu Guangqi, Chen Liangbi and others.

"It's all because of His Majesty's sage and wise use of talents that our Ming Dynasty firearms have reached a higher level and are not inferior to those of the West. After nearly a year, not only have the firearms been changed, but the number of talents has also increased."

Chen Liangbi stood behind Zhu Youxiao, listening to the emperor's words, and immediately picked up the conversation. As he spoke, he looked around at the people behind him.

"For example, Shilang Bi, I heard that he is a master of firearms before. I didn't expect that after being recommended by Xu Shangshu, he would develop a self-generating fire gun so quickly."

Bi Maokang, who was over fifty years old, was wearing court clothes. He was slightly short but stood upright and looked very energetic. Now that he heard Marquis Taining boasting so much, he said in a neither humble nor overbearing tone:

"The Marquis of Taining is overly praised. It was Weichen who came up with the idea for this item. Xu Shangshu, Dr. Sun and even the craftsmen in the firearms workshop all worked together, but Weichen didn't dare to take credit for it."

When Zhu Youxiao, who was still playing with the flintlock gun, heard this, he immediately turned around and said:

"You don't have to be self-effacing. I know it's mainly your fault. Mr. Bi, come here and explain to me in detail what the benefits of this fire blunderbuss are, how much it costs, and whether it's easy to make."

Zhu Youxiao met Bi Maokang for the first time today. He had already heard about this famous firearms expert in the late Ming Dynasty and the No. 1 flintlock gun in China.

Now I just take this opportunity to ask him to tell me something so that I can get to know him better.

Upon hearing this, Bi Maokang bowed to Zhu Youxiao, then walked slowly to Zhu Youxiao's side, picked up the flintlock gun placed on the seat, and introduced Zhu Youxiao solemnly.

"Your Majesty, this kind of self-generated fire gun is about four feet six inches (156 centimeters) long and weighs about ten kilograms. This kind of fire gun only needs to be fired by striking flint against hard iron parts to generate sparks and ignite the primer.

Compared with the matchlock gun, it saves the time of lighting the matchlock and can be ready to fire at any time, which increases the firing speed of the firearm.Secondly, the flintlock gun does not require a continuously burning match, making it easier for soldiers who shoot at night to hide it. It can be described as very sophisticated. "Zhu Youxiao also played with the other flintlock gun in his hand after listening to it. He looked carefully at the flintlock part and saw that there was a flint on a spring leaf. Every time it was fired, the flint would hit it. A fire sickle was placed in front, which caused sparks to ignite the gunpowder.

At this glance, he knew how difficult it was to make a flintlock gun. In order to ensure that every firing of the flintlock gun was powerful, it must have a spring leaf. But Zhu Youxiao knew that this thing was not easy to make. So he asked aloud:

"This iron piece inlaid with flint looks very delicate, but it must be very troublesome to develop."

Bi Maokang couldn't help but be startled when he heard this, and couldn't help but glance at Xu Guangqi, thinking that the emperor still knew a lot about firearms.

"What your Majesty said is true. This iron piece has actually troubled Weichen for a long time. It has to be soft and hard, and has both hardness and elasticity. It is very difficult to deal with. Weichen thought about it for a long time, but there was no way. This This is also the problem with developing self-generated fire guns.

But since I arrived at the Tongzhou Firearms Workshop, I and Xu Shangshu spent a lot of money to encourage craftsmen to develop it. In the end, a craftsman had worked in a mine before and had smelted similar spring blades, so he worked hard with everyone and finally succeeded in developing it.

Xu Shangshu rewarded the craftsman 500 taels of silver for this, and also said that he would use His Majesty's "Patent Law" to write his patent into it. "

Zhu Youxiao couldn't help but nodded when he heard this. He had also heard that springs were actually invented in the Ming Dynasty. He didn't expect that springs were smelted based on this.

Thinking of this, he spoke to Bi Maokang and Xu Guangqi.

"It's so good. Only by working together can we achieve good results. Xu Guangqi did a good job. This kind of people should be well rewarded and must not be buried. It is said that a thousand gold buys horse bones. With his encouragement, I believe other craftsmen will also work hard to develop new products." Technology, new items, don’t be stingy with rewards when the time comes.”

"Your Majesty, don't worry. I will definitely do things impartially."

Xu and Bi nodded in agreement after hearing this.

"Very good. I also know the benefits of this self-generating fire gun, otherwise I wouldn't let you work hard to develop it. And in my opinion, its production is not difficult. It only needs to be slightly modified on the basis of the matchlock gun. , the others can be used as they are.

I remember Xu Aiqing told me before that the cost of making a bird gun has reached one or two silver, so how much does this kind of self-generated fire gun cost? "

Bi Maokang began to think after hearing this, and then turned his attention to Xu Guangqi. He was usually only responsible for research and development, and this production matter also depended on Xu Guangqi.

"Your Majesty, if you produce a single one, it will be more expensive, maybe one or two or six cents of silver. The main reason is that the spring piece is not easy to develop and is easy to break. But if it is mass-produced, the cost can be reduced to One, two or three denarii.”

When Zhu Youxiao heard what Xu Guangqi said, he secretly thought that the cost of this flintlock gun was quite high. If the entire equipment of the Beijing camp plus bullets was estimated to be more than [-] taels, this did not include the manufacturing of Krupp cannons. It was really a gold-eating beast. .

When Xu Guangqi saw the emperor thinking silently, he felt that the emperor must think it was too expensive, so he raised his hand and started talking.

"Your Majesty, I have a method that can significantly reduce the cost and benefit the people."

(End of this chapter)