Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

The research on the bastion would not produce results in a short time. After Zhu Youjian showed Huo Weihua's memorial to a group of privy ministers, he transferred the city wall construction part of the Wensiyuan Construction Research Institute to the Equipment Research Institute.

A Fortification Research Institute was established in the Equipment Research Institute to specialize in the construction of castles, fortresses and field fortifications, as well as research on offensive and defensive tactics and the required equipment.

"In the future, the Ming Dynasty's equipment should be mainly firearms, and cold weapons such as swords, guns, bows and arrows should be gradually phased out."

"The goal of the Equipment Research Institute is to bring Ming Dynasty equipment into the era of firearms."

After giving this instruction, Zhu Youjian asked Bi Maokang:

"What firearms are there in the army that can replace flying stones?"

Bi Maokang thought for a moment and said:

"There are many firearms that can replace flying stones. Cannons can completely replace it."

"If it is human-powered throwing, you can use an iron pomegranate."

"Recently, a kind of Ten Thousand Enemies has appeared that can be thrown when artillery is difficult to use."

The method of making Wanren Di is to fill a hollow clay ball with gunpowder, add poison fire and divine fire, install a fuse and surround it with a wooden frame for easy transportation. When the enemy arrives, light the fuse and throw it. It is a weapon for defending the city.

Zhu Youjian was delighted to hear this, knowing that the Iron Pomegranate and the Ten Thousand Enemies were the original grenades. Even the name of the grenade came from the Iron Pomegranate, meaning that it was like a pomegranate, with many seeds inside.

So he immediately said:
"From now on, this type of weapon will be uniformly called a hand grenade."

"Use steel to cast a stronger shell for easier storage and transportation. Fill it with gunpowder and steel marbles."

"The shape of the shell can be oval or cylindrical, with a wooden handle at the back to make it easier to throw farther."

"The grenade throwing event I set up at the martial arts tournament is hand grenade throwing."

"In the future, we will set up special grenadiers in the army and select soldiers who are good at throwing grenades to join."

Bi Maokang agreed to what he said, and Xu Guangqi frowned and said:

"If the steel is too thick, gunpowder will have trouble breaking it apart."

"I think the shell can be made of ceramic, and we just need to be more careful when storing it."

Zhu Youjian highly appreciated his proposal and said:

"You can try the ceramic shell."

"The steel shell can be made thinner and grooves can be added to make it easier for the gunpowder to explode."

"This kind of prefabricated fragments can be used in various explosive weapons."

Xu Guangqi's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he said:

"Your Majesty is right. Prefabricated fragments can also be used for mines and shrapnel shells fired by artillery."

Zhu Youjian was very surprised to hear that there were both landmines and shrapnel bombs.

Thinking of the arrow-shaped shrapnel shells that Lu Xiang had developed some time ago, he asked:
“How did the mine explode?”

"What kind of fuse is used for shrapnel?"

Xu Guangqi immediately replied:
"The mine was invented by Zeng Xian. It can store fire wire in bamboo tubes and ignite it when the enemy arrives."

"You can also make a steel wheel firing mechanism like a spring wheel lighter. After winding up the spring, use a long wire to connect it to the ground. When the enemy arrives, as long as they step on the long wire, it will trigger the steel wheel to ignite, and then detonate the mine."

"There is also a ground-breaking mine. Connect it to the brazier with a live wire. It will explode when the enemy touches the brazier."

"There are various ways to ignite it, and there are also underwater mines that can be ignited by using incense and thrown into the water."

Zhu Youjian was amazed to hear that there were so many ways to ignite landmines. He really didn't expect that the Ming people had invented so many ways to ignite landmines without fulminate of mercury.

However, although there are many ways to ignite fire, most of them are not very practical. Qi Jiguang banned landmines, swarms, etc., and only kept shrapnel bombs.

For example, when lighting a brazier, the success rate cannot be guaranteed, and the enemy may not necessarily touch the brazier, allowing the fire in the brazier to ignite the fire line.

It is even more dangerous to ambush people and ignite the fire line.

Although the success rate of steel wheel ignition is guaranteed, the cost is too high.

If you can make so many steel wheel ignition mechanisms, you might as well make spring wheel muskets. There is no such money to spend on one-time mines.

Therefore, Zhu Youjian's need for fulminate of mercury became more urgent, and he sighed:
"It would be great if we had fulminate of mercury. We could make simpler firing devices, and mines, grenades, and grenades would all become more practical."

I hate myself for not paying enough attention to this aspect and not knowing how to make fulminate of mercury.

The ministers had heard the emperor mention fulminate of mercury many times and knew that the percussion cap and primer needed to be made of fulminate of mercury.

But they really had no idea about it and didn't understand why fulminate of mercury could be ignited with just a slight impact.

They even doubted whether such a thing existed and how the emperor knew about it.

Xu Guangqi asked:

"Your Majesty, what exactly is fulminate of mercury?"

"Your Majesty is so worried."

Zhu Youjian did not want to explain these things to the ministers who did not understand at the court meeting.

But he felt that he could communicate with Xu Guangqi, so he said:

"Fulmethane is mercury fulminate, a very unstable, flammable and explosive substance."

"It only takes a slight shock or impact, a little spark to ignite it."

"With fulminate of mercury, the current firing devices such as matchlocks and spring-wheel lighters will no longer be necessary."

"As long as you use fulminate of mercury to make a percussion cap, primer, detonator and other detonating devices, you can easily ignite gunpowder."

Xu Guangqi understood a little bit now, and asked what mercuric fulminate was. After learning that it was made by the reaction of mercuric nitrate and something, he asked again:

"What is nitric acid? What is its relationship with nitric acid water?"

Zhu Youjian was also a little unsure about what nitrate water was now, and said:

"Nitre water is probably dilute nitric acid. To make nitrates such as mercuric nitrate, concentrated nitric acid is needed."

Xu Guangqi was delighted and said:
"I have a method of making stronger nitrate water, which I call Strong Water."

"When water is added to five metals, they all turn into water, except gold, which does not dissolve in water. Add salt and it will dissolve."

"I wonder if this strong water is the concentrated nitric acid that Your Majesty mentioned?"

Zhu Youjian was even happier because he remembered the nickname of nitric acid, which seemed to be strong water.

Nitric acid and hydrochloric acid can be mixed to form aqua regia, which can dissolve gold, just like the strong water after adding salt that Xu Guangqi mentioned.

After carefully questioning Xu Guangqi and learning that strong water was made from green sails and saltpeter, he was able to confirm that even if strong water was not concentrated nitric acid, it contained nitric acid.

After we have nitric acid, mercuric nitrate can be easily produced. Then, by reacting mercuric nitrate with other substances, we will eventually find fulminate of mercury.

Even nitrocellulose could soon be produced, and this flammable and explosive substance could be used as an ignition agent.

If we can successfully passivate and reduce its detonation speed, it can be announced that the era of smokeless gunpowder has arrived.

This made Zhu Youjian very excited, and he wanted to transfer Xu Guangqi to the Gunpowder Research Institute to be responsible for the research and development of gunpowder. But he knew that Xu Guangqi played a greater role in the court and could play a role in all aspects, so he asked Xu Guangqi:
"Do you have any students who are good at firearms?"

"I intend to send someone to research and develop nitrates."

Xu Guangqi said with some embarrassment:
"My disciple Sun Yuanhua has been sent by Your Majesty to the Western Ocean as an envoy."

"The other students aren't very good with firearms."

"On the contrary, Zhang Tao, a student of Li Zhizao, is very good at firearms."

This is another famous person who had contributed to the drawing of the "Kunyu World Map". Zhu Youjian had some impression of him and asked:

"What is Li Zhizao's current position?"

"Where is his student Zhang Tao?"

Xu Guangqi immediately replied:
"Li Zhizao is now unemployed in the capital. He was once in charge of making cannons as the Junior Secretary of the Guanglu Temple and the Langzhong of the Dushui Division of the Ministry of Works."

"His student Zhang Tao is currently the guerrilla general."

When Zhu Youjian heard this, he knew that Xu Guangqi wanted to take this opportunity to recommend this fellow church member.

After thinking about it, he said:
"The Shaofu Temple is still short of a Shaoqing, so let Li Zhizao take over as the acting official!"

"Zhang Tao was transferred to the rank of fourth-rank military commander, and as the assistant minister of the Equipment Department, he was in charge of the Equipment Research Institute, responsible for the research and development of nitric acid and nitrates, especially fulminate of mercury."

"Xu Qing needs to teach him more so that he knows how to do experiments."

Xu Guangqi happily agreed, thinking that there were now two more like-minded people in the court.

After Zhu Youjian made this arrangement, he asked what the fuse of the current shrapnel shells was. Bi Maokang rushed to answer:
"There are two types of fuses for shrapnel shells."

"One is a wooden fuse with a cord coiled around it. It takes a long time to burn out after it is ignited, and it will explode after it is launched."

"One is a paper fuse, which is cheaper."

Both of these fuses are relatively primitive methods. After the shrapnel is launched, the success rate of explosion is uncertain.

Although Zhu Youjian was somewhat disappointed, he thought that it would eventually explode, and said:

"From now on, shrapnel shells will be called grenades, to distinguish them from solid shells. Like hand grenades, they will add steel marbles to increase their lethality after the explosion."

"You can also use this kind of fuse for arrow-type shrapnel. Do more shell tests and try to make it explode in the air to cause the greatest damage to the enemy."

Bi Maokang replied:

"We are already conducting experiments, but they have not yet succeeded, so we have not reported it to your majesty."

Zhu Youjian's eyes lit up when he heard this and he nodded with satisfaction. He was very satisfied with Lu Xiang's experiment with arrow-shaped shrapnel.

Thinking of the Portuguese cannon he had seen before, he added:

"Fleet shrapnel can be placed together with gunpowder in the cannon's sub-gun to make a complete cannonball, which is convenient for firing when used."

Bi Maokang said:

"Master Lu did not use arrow-shaped shrapnel shells on the Portuguese cannon. Instead, he imitated the arrow-shaped shells, added tail fins to the back of the shells, wrapped them with silk powder bags, and loaded and fired from the front."

"Now we are using the tiger squat gun for testing, which is convenient for testing the effect of the fuse."

"The Tiger Crouching Cannon can also fire shotgun shells at close range to make up for the lack of firearms."

Zhu Youjian was very happy about this. He didn't expect that Lu Xiang could learn from his experience and use the tail powder bag of the arrow-shaped bullet on the arrow-shaped grenade.

This shell structure reminded him of later mortar shells, and then he thought of mortars.

(The mortar mainly consists of three parts: the base plate, the barrel, and the bipod. The mortar shells are placed with the powder bag above the tail fin, and the protagonist's arrow-shaped shells are also placed in this way)

(The tiger squatting cannon looks like a tiger squatting, hence the name tiger squatting cannon)

If we think about the appearance of the Tiger Crouching Cannon, it is not much different from the mortars of later generations.

Zhu Youjian roughly drew a picture of the mortar's appearance and said:

"The Tiger Crouching Cannon can be improved by adding a base that can be easily fixed to the ground."

"The gun mount can be changed into an adjustable bracket to measure the range at various angles."

"The gun barrel should also be made as light as possible. After fulminate of mercury is invented in the future, a primer can be installed at the tail of the shell and a firing pin can be added inside the gun barrel."

"In this way, when the shell falls, it will automatically hit the firing pin and ignite the gunpowder, and then automatically fire."

"The firing pin must also be able to be pulled, so that it can be pulled to fire when firing horizontally."

After explaining the principle of the mortar, Bi Maokang now understood the importance of fulminate of mercury. As long as fulminate of mercury could be invented, the power of the Tiger Crouching Cannon would be greatly enhanced.

The Ming Dynasty was even able to rely on this type of firearm to gain an advantage over the Jianlu in field battles.

This made him pay great attention to fulminate of mercury and he hoped to develop it as soon as possible.

After Zhu Youjian talked about mortars, he thought of many things and explained to his ministers the concepts he knew about caliber, times of caliber, etc.

Xu Guangqi could understand this kind of thing, because his disciple Sun Yuanhua had proposed to classify the uses of artillery by the size of the muzzle and barrel, the weight of the shell, and the weight of the artillery.

After Zhu Youjian explained, he said:

"In the future, the types and calibers of artillery must be standardized."

"The Tiger Crouching Cannon, a close-range artillery, can be called a mortar, abbreviated as PP. The first letter stands for artillery, and the second letter stands for mortar, distinguished by caliber."

"The caliber of the mortar should be 60, 80, 100, or 120 millimeters."

"We will then manufacture barrels of various calibers to see which caliber has the longest range, is most effective in striking the enemy, and is suitable for actual combat, provided that the weight is acceptable."

After Bi Maokang agreed, Zhu Youjian decided that the official name of the Portuguese cannon was the rear-loading mother-and-child cannon, abbreviated as PM, with the M behind it representing the mother cannon. It was also divided by caliber, starting from 32 mm, and various calibers were determined.

There were many types of artillery in the Ming Dynasty, and Zhu Youjian was dazzled. In the end, in addition to the Tiger Crouching Cannon, he chose a muzzle-loading cannon with a longer range, which could be forged with wrought iron. It was called the Weiyuan Cannon, abbreviated as PW.

These three types of artillery are all field artillery, weighing from dozens to hundreds of kilograms, and can be used with the army in field operations. They can also be used to defend cities or even as siege artillery.

However, their siege power was not great, so Zhu Youjian chose another type of artillery that could be used for city attack and defense and could also be used as naval gun. That was the famous Red Cannon, which he named the Red Cannon.

This type of artillery was obtained by the Ming Dynasty in the war between the Red Barbarians, that is, the Dutch. The Ming Dynasty also purchased some in Xiangshan Bay and recruited craftsmen to imitate it.

It played an important role in the previous Battle of Ningyuan and is now famous. Even the Jianlu are imitating this artillery.

It is cast and cannot be forged directly. Some of the casting materials are even made of copper, which is very expensive.

However, it was also very powerful and had a strong deterrent effect. Zhu Youjian ordered the Equipment Department to test various calibers and times to determine the standard artillery for large-scale equipment in the future.

In order to facilitate transportation and use, Zhu Youjian also drew the appearance of the later artillery he had seen, including the wheels of the artillery, the open-legged gun carriage, the front carriage of the artillery, etc., and asked the Equipment Department to test it. He also worked with the Imperial Household Department to find suitable draft horses and explore the four-horse and six-horse towing method.

At the same time, he also expected Sun Yuanhua and others who were sent to the West to bring back rubber trees so that the wheels of Ming artillery could be equipped with rubber tires for easier field maneuvers.

The abbreviation of Red Cannon is PH.

When used as naval guns and coastal defense guns, it is abbreviated as PJ.

The same is true for other types of artillery. When used on ships, they are abbreviated as PJ. The naval equipment agency will modify them according to the conditions on the ship. (End of this chapter)