Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Zhu Youjian proposed the metal fixed-load bullet, thinking that it would be difficult for people at that time to understand and he needed to explain it carefully.

Unexpectedly, Xu Guangqi, Bi Maokang and others quickly understood after hearing it.

Bi Maokang said:

"Your Majesty, the metal fixed bullet you mentioned is like the sub-gun of the Portuguese cannon, right?"

"Put the bullet in front of the sub-gun, and then add the primer at the back?"

Zhu Youjian was confused because he didn't know much about Portuguese cannons. He was more concerned about the firearms of the Ming Dynasty.

It was not until the inner court's weapon bureau brought a very light Portuguese cannon that he understood what the "sub-gun" that Bi Maokang was talking about was.

Looking at the sub-gun in his hand, Zhu Youjian said happily:

"Bi Qing is right. This sub-gun is indeed close to metal fixed bullets."

"The part that holds the gunpowder can be called a cartridge. The bullet is added to the front and the primer is added to the back, and then it becomes a completely metal fixed-load bullet."

"You can think about it, if we use metal fixed bullets as bullets and shells, wouldn't the firing speed be faster, even faster than a bow and arrow?"

(Comparing the structure of modern artillery shells with that of the Portuguese cannon, we can see that the sub-gun of the Portuguese cannon is equivalent to the cartridge of the shell, which is the prototype of the metal fixed ammunition)
The ministers listened to the emperor's idea and thought about the firing speed of the Portuguese cannon. If the bullet and the cartridge were combined and fired, the firing speed would indeed be faster, possibly exceeding that of a bow and arrow.

In that case, the Ming army would no longer need to be equipped with bows and arrows, and the bows and arrows, which are the Jianlu's best weapon, would lose their advantage in front of the Ming's muskets.

Yuan Keli, who understood this, said happily:

"The power of a fire gun is stronger than a crossbow. If it has the same firing speed as a bow and arrow, the army will no longer need bows and crossbows."

"I believe that metal fixed-load ammunition should be developed as soon as possible as the top priority of the Equipment Research Institute."

Zhu Youjian had the same idea, but he knew the difficulty and production would be a big problem. So after thinking about it, he said:

"You can put the primer aside for now, but you can figure out how to combine the cartridge and the bullet."

"For example, put the arrow-shaped bullet in the cartridge and ignite it with a fuse."

This reminded him that the arrow-shaped bullets they had developed before were derived from armor-piercing discarding sabot bullets, and it would be very suitable to be converted into artillery shells.

After hearing this, Xu Guangqi immediately said:
"What your Majesty said is absolutely true."

"The powder bag of the arrow-shaped bullet is easy to fall off the bullet body. Temporary winding during firing is also very time-consuming."

"If it can be put in a cartridge, there won't be this trouble."

"It can even eliminate the need for silk pill bags, reducing the cost of flechette bullets."

After hearing this, Zhu Youjian realized that the arrow-shaped bullet he had proposed before still had this problem when used.

This made him nod and say:

"Silk powder bags still need to be developed to quantify the gunpowder used in artillery."

"To prevent the gunner from panicking and loading too much gunpowder, causing the cannon to explode."

"But once the arrow-shaped bullet is loaded into the cartridge, the silk bag can be dispensed with."

He looked at the Portuguese cannon in front of him and asked:
"This Portuguese cannon should have a very small caliber, right?"

"How much is the total weight?"

The eunuch from the Armour Bureau replied:
"This Portuguese cannon has a caliber of one inch according to the old system, which is 32 millimeters according to the metric system established by Your Majesty."

"The barrel of the mother gun is five feet long and weighs more than thirty kilograms."

"There are also smaller Portuguese cannons, with a caliber of only five centimeters, which are also lighter."

Five centimeters is sixteen millimeters, which surprised Zhu Youjian. He did not expect that the Portuguese cannon could be made so small.

It is no wonder that the northern armies of the Ming Dynasty did not like the long-range fire guns, but preferred the short-range three-barreled guns. This was because the large number of small-caliber artillery had replaced the fire guns in the army to a certain extent.

This made him feel that the heavy musket he had previously finalized was actually a bit flawed. If it were treated as a cannon, the soldiers would be more likely to accept it.

Thinking of this, Zhu Youjian said to Bi Maokang:
"Can we develop a new musket based on the light musket and heavy musket using the sub-gun structure?"

"Is it difficult to develop a musket that looks like a Portuguese cannon?"

Bi Maokang thought for a moment and said with some embarrassment:

"It is no problem to use a light fire gun. Zhao Shizhen once developed a six-gun breechblock based on his improved Rumi gun, and also developed a Yingyang gun that used six guns."

"It's not difficult to develop a 20mm Portuguese cannon."

"It would be very difficult to modify the heavy musket."

"The breech of the Portuguese cannon needs a hole, and the sub-gun is also heavier, which will increase the weight a lot and make it difficult to use like a musket."

(The sub-gun of the electric gun already has the prototype of modern bullets. The warhead and ammunition are all inside the sub-gun, and there is also a sub-gun bag)
Whether it is more than 30 kilograms or more than 20 kilograms, the Portuguese cannon is not suitable for holding in the hand and needs to be set up to fire. That is why it is called a cannon, which is different from the fire gun operated by a single soldier.

Zhu Youjian thought about Bi Maokang's words, touched the thick musket in his hand, and asked:
"This sub-gun is made of iron, right?"

Bi Maokang immediately replied:
"The main gun can be made of either copper or iron, but the secondary gun must be made of wrought iron."

Zhu Youjian thought about the shell materials of later generations, which were originally made of copper, and later copper-clad steel and painted steel. He asked:

"Why not use copper sub-guns?"

“It should be thinner.”

Bi Maokang explained carefully:

"Copper muskets are easy to deform. Some muskets are made of copper, but they have iron frames."

"Besides, the price of copper is relatively high. This type of iron-framed copper-covered musket is rarely used nowadays."

Zhu Youjian now understood that copper has good ductility, so after using it once or twice, it might be deformed and no longer fit the mother gun.

In addition, the price of copper is relatively high, so after wrought iron muskets matured, wrought iron was soon used instead.

Thinking that most bullets in later generations were disposable and reloaded bullets were rarely used, Zhu Youjian realized the difference and asked:

"If we use a disposable copper bullet, how thin can we make it?"

"You guys use copper sheets to roll bullets and see if they work."

Bi Maokang was very surprised when he heard this. Xu Guangqi next to him said:

"Even if it works, it can only be used once."

“Compared to the silk kit, the cost is probably higher.”

They had never thought of using copper sheets to make disposable bullets.

Because copper could be used to directly make coins in the Ming Dynasty.

Copper-skinned bullets may cost more than silk-skinned bullets.

Zhu Youjian also knew this. After all, later generations of China used copper-clad steel and painted steel bullets instead of copper-cased bullets. The reason was nothing more than the lack of domestic copper mines, the high price of copper, and the high cost of bullets.

However, the Ming Dynasty at that time did not have the technology to make copper-clad steel and painted steel, and it might not even be able to produce bullets rolled out of iron sheets. It could only use copper sheets, which had better ductility and plasticity.

This is inevitable in the development of bullets, Zhu Youjian said firmly:

"As long as it can be used, please pay attention to the recycling of copper sheets."

"Also, we can make the copper skin thinner to save copper materials. Or we can use iron to cover copper and develop copper-clad steel that can be used to make bullet casings."

"The bullet casing will be very thin, the weight will be much lighter, and more bullets can be carried."

"The breech of the fire gun does not need to be made so large, which can save weight and be controlled within the range of a single soldier's operation." "This is very important for the Ming Dynasty and is the key to whether it can defeat the Jianlu."

The reason why the status of bullets was raised so high was that Zhu Youjian knew that it would be easy to manufacture machine guns after the appearance of metal fixed bullets.

Even though a fully automatic machine gun is a bit difficult to make, a hand-cranked Gatling machine gun is very simple.

(A Gatling gun mounted on a wheelbarrow, with a crank at the back for manual cranking. The ammunition feeder is on top)
He simply drew the structure of the rotary machine gun, as well as the canvas belt, drum, magazine and other feeding devices. Bi Maokang was excited when he saw it:

"This is a rotating reloaded Thunderbolt, which allows more ammunition to be fired without increasing the number of barrels."

"Zhao Shizhen once made a five-barreled Xunlei Gun, but because it could only fire five rounds in a row, he later made an eighteen-barreled gun."

"If we can load and fire continuously, there is no need to increase the number of tubes."

(If the Thunder Gun can rotate and automatically load ammunition, it will be a rotary machine gun)
Zhu Youjian was even more surprised when he heard this. He didn't expect that the Ming Dynasty already had multi-barreled firearms similar to the rotary machine gun. This made him quite curious and learn about it.

After learning that Zhao Shizhen not only improved the Rumi gun, but also designed the lightning gun, the thunder gun, and the Yingyang gun, and that the rocket chute he invented was the prototype of a rocket, Zhu Youjian exclaimed:

"Zhao Shizhen is a genius in the development of firearms!"

"I wish this person could be resurrected!"

He then ordered:

"The light fire gun is based on the Rumi gun, and Zhao Shizhen also made contributions."

"Confer the rank of Great Liang Zao posthumously, and his descendants will inherit the title of Hundred Households or Knights. The Ministry of Rites will draft a posthumous title."

"In addition, a team will be set up at the Light Weapons Research Institute of the Equipment Research Institute to develop a rapid-fire rifle."

"If you can develop it, I will grant you the title of hereditary thousand households or baron!"

"We also need to research weapons like rocket launchers, and try to build rocket launchers."

When the ministers heard this, they were all surprised, because the emperor's previous rewards were basically limited to the hundred households, that is, hereditary knights.

Unexpectedly, based on the bounty of the Thunder Gun, he was directly promoted to Baron.

This made the ministers realize that the emperor attached great importance to the Thunder Gun, even more than artillery.

Bi Maokang was also envious of Zhao Shizhen, who was posthumously awarded a title by the emperor. Bi Maokang was even more determined to develop more weapons. Who knows, which weapon might be favored by the emperor and he would give him a title.

Zhu Youjian really attached great importance to the Xunlei Gun, believing that if the rotary machine gun could be developed, the Ming Dynasty would have an absolute advantage over the Jianlu. The Hulu in the northern grasslands would not be a threat to the Ming Dynasty.

For such a weapon, a mere baron is nothing. He would be willing to give away even a higher title.

To his relief, the ministers had already adapted to the reward he offered. None of the Privy Council officials present raised any objection.

This made him feel that he could take bigger steps and offer rewards for some important technologies and solicit them from the entire Ming Dynasty.

I believe that with such a large population in the Ming Dynasty, there will always be geniuses emerging.

Some craftsmen would also share their secret techniques with generous rewards.

Previously, he used patent fees to attract private individuals to improve the flintlock, which was an attempt in this regard.

Now it seems that it is not enough, and the title can be used.

"Compared to fulminate of mercury and percussion caps, which may never be broken, flintlock ignition is more realistic."

"As long as the success rate of ignition is improved, the flintlock rifle can be equipped as standard equipment."

"This is the next generation weapon that is most likely to be finalized!"

Thinking of this, Zhu Youjian asked Shi Fenglai to draft an edict, offering a reward for the flintlock, and planned to hold a selection next year to reward the craftsmen who improved the qualified flintlock with a hereditary knighthood.

He even took out his share of the patent royalties from lighters as a bonus and gave it to the craftsmen who contributed to the improvement of lighters.

The ministers were speechless when they heard this. They did not object just now, just because they had just received the big gift package of the Protectorate General, and they obeyed the emperor on such a small matter. Unexpectedly, the emperor went even further and offered a title reward for a flintlock.

This forced Li Banghua to speak:

"Your Majesty, when training soldiers, you should not rely solely on firearms, but should focus on strengthening the army."

"It is better to reward the craftsmen with titles than to reward them with military officers."

Zhu Youjian frowned upon hearing this and said:
"Didn't your previous memorial also mention refining a divine weapon?"

"The flintlock musket is several times more powerful than the matchlock musket. Isn't it a divine weapon?"

"Isn't it right that I confer a title on the craftsmen who made this?"

Li Banghua said seriously:
"I did say we should refine divine weapons, but what is more important is to reorganize the army."

"The Ming Dynasty's firearms have always been stronger than the Jianlu, so why did they suffer continuous casualties?"

"Only by strengthening discipline and clarifying laws can we train good soldiers."

"Your Majesty's arbitrary rewards will hurt the morale of the army."

Zhu Youjian nodded thoughtfully:
"Rewards really shouldn't be given out at random, so let's discuss and establish a system."

"Those who play a key role in developing a new generation of weapons based on the previously finalized firearms can be awarded the title of hereditary centurion or knight."

"For important firearms such as the revolving thunder rifle, the reward will be increased by one level."

"The finalization of the heavy and light muskets was mainly due to Lü Xiang and Zhao Shizhen."

"Zhao Shizhen has been posthumously awarded the title, and Lu Xiang has also been granted a hereditary knighthood."

"Xu Guangqi and Bi Maokang, who participated in the finalization of the fire gun, will also be commended and will be rewarded in the future."

He also said to Yuan Keli, Bi Maokang and others:
"The Ministry of War and the Ministry of Equipment should work out a plan as soon as possible to reward the craftsmen who develop and improve firearms."

"We cannot let merit go unrewarded, or we will discourage the meritorious officials!"

Bi Maokang happily accepted the order, and Yuan Keli had no choice but to agree.

Li Banghua was somewhat helpless. He did not expect that the emperor would institutionally reward the craftsmen who developed firearms because of what he said.

From then on, rewards for craftsmen were no longer a one-time thing, but had clear standards.

More and more craftsmen will be given titles as a result.

Li Banghua opened his mouth and was about to say something, but Zhu Youjian had already blocked his mouth and said:
"In addition to refining divine tools, Li Qing also mentioned the flying stone in his previous memorial."

"What is this flying stone? Is it more powerful than a firearm?"

"Li Qing, please explain!"

Li Banghua could only explain:

"Flying stones is an effective tactic used when defending a city in Shu. The mission of the Beijing Camp is to defend the capital. I think we should practice it."

"In the third year of the Tianqi reign, Peng Jieshizhong, a military official, submitted a memorial that the Beijing troops should learn to fly stones."

"I also think that during the training of the Beijing Army, it is important to practice flying stones."

Zhu Youjian felt a toothache when he heard this. He looked at Li Banghua, who was speaking with certainty, and Peng Runan, the military official, and said:
"You two are kind-hearted, but Xi Feishi doesn't need to do that. We already have a better way to defend the city."

"Both firearms and artillery are more effective in defending a city."

"You two should study the bastion pattern that Huo Weihua submitted some time ago, learn how Westerners defend cities with muskets and cannons, and understand what crossfire is."

"If the Ming Dynasty wants to revive, it cannot stand still!"

He ordered someone to take out the memorial written by Huo Weihua after his inspection of Fort Zeelandia and let the Privy Councilor study it. (End of this chapter)