I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 150 Is this firearm good or bad?

Outside the west gate of the capital, in the new army camp, four rows of people stood in the empty playground. They were wearing the mandarin duck jackets commonly worn by the Ming army, wearing straw hats on their heads, and holding muskets.

Zhu Yijun, Zhao Zhenji, Wu Dui, Liu Tao, Zheng Jing, Li Zhi and others sat on a platform nearby, surrounded by a circle of shields.

They are all large shields made of thick wood covered with copper, supported by wooden frames.

Feng Bao stood behind Zhu Yijun, tiptoed and looked towards the playground.

What new things does His Royal Highness want to see today? He even asked for leave from the Emperor and came here.

Liu Yi was at a distance, leading the officers and soldiers of the Warrior Camp to watch the entire scene.

Song Gongliang stood on the left and Fang Liang stood on the right.

One of them led the Embroidered Uniform Guards, and the other led the Imperial Stable Guards, and they surrounded Zhu Yijun closely.

Zhao Zhenji introduced: "Your Highness, colleagues. What I will show you later are four types of muskets made by the Firearms Bureau. They will fire in turns. Your Highness and colleagues, please wait and see their power."

"it is good."

The Firearms Bureau was transformed from the Firearms Inspectorate.

Since the Hongwu and Yongle periods, the Qing Dynasty attached great importance to firearms, considering them as sacred weapons. A special Firearms Supervisory Bureau directly under the Imperial Household was established to manufacture firearms.

However, after the Zhengtong period, the firearms supervision was plagued by many problems, the forging technology deteriorated day by day, and the quality became worse and worse.

Later, the border troops of the nine borders refused to use the firearms from the Firearms Inspectorate.

I can’t afford to be hurt!

Since Hu Zongxian presided over the suppression of Japanese pirates in the southeast, a large number of Eastern Japanese and Western firearms were seized, and a group of Eastern Japanese and Western craftsmen were captured, which led to rapid progress in the firearms manufacturing technology in the southeast.

It once set a record of producing tens of thousands of muskets and hundreds of cannons in one year.

As the Japanese invasion in the southeast was eliminated, a supervisory office was established. Emperor Jiajing transferred the Firearms Administration to the supervisory office, and Zhu Yijun appointed Zhao Zhenji to be in charge of it concurrently.

He was also a capable official. His governance methods were no worse than Zhang Juzheng's, and he was even more radical than Zhang Juzheng in promoting the New Deal.

After Zhao Zhenji took over the Firearms Bureau, he took Zhu Yijun's "order" and conducted an unceremonious investigation. He checked the warehouses and account books and found a number of corrupt officials. Without saying a word, he confiscated their properties and executed them.

The Firearms Inspectorate belongs to the Internal Affairs Department, and those who are in charge there are considered royal slaves. The civil servants in the outer court will not speak for these people and will just kill them.

After Zhao Zhenji's rectification, he changed the Firearms Supervision Bureau into the Firearms Bureau, which consisted of the Gunpowder Department, the Cannon Department, the Firearm Department, the Foundry Department, the Inspection Department, and the Research Institute.
An iron foundry was set up in Kaiping, and a gunpowder factory, a cannon foundry, a musket factory and a machinery factory were set up in the Huangcun area on the banks of the Lugou River in Wanping.

They were concentrated in one area and surrounded by a wall. The Beijing Battalion and the Embroidered Uniform Guards were on guard, and the Eastern Depot had secret agents planted to prevent the secrets from leaking out.

Each factory was separated by a sufficient safety distance. Zhao Zhenji learned some safety production tips from Zhu Yijun and absorbed the experience of the Shaofu of the Former Qin Dynasty in manufacturing military equipment, thus forming a firearms manufacturing management system integrating design, supervision, main manufacturing and manufacturing.

Then, all the skilled craftsmen who made muskets and cannons in the southeast, as well as the blacksmiths who were good at casting iron and forging steel in Suzhou in South Zhili and Foshan in Guangdong, were recruited to the capital, added to the Firearms Bureau, and distributed to various factories.

Following Zhu Yijun's advice, craftsmen were divided into grades: general workers, grade E and D craftsmen, grade C, B and A craftsmen, master craftsmen and the highest grade, Great Liangzao.

Different levels are given different salary benefits, including food and accommodation, just like the state-owned enterprises in later generations. Class C craftsmen are awarded the ninth-rank Dengshi Zuolang, Class B craftsmen are awarded the eighth-rank Xiuzhi Zuolang, and Class A craftsmen are awarded the eighth-rank Digonglang.

The chief craftsman was granted the rank of seventh-rank Zhengshilang, the senior chief craftsman was granted the rank of seventh-rank Chengshilang, and the great Liangzuo was so awesome that he was directly granted the rank of Fengzhi Daifu and Fengyi Daifu.

After all these measures, the Firearms Bureau was completely transformed. The craftsmen worked diligently and actively offered suggestions. They improved the cannons and muskets introduced from Eastern Japan, the West, Rumi and other countries, as well as the firearms "designed" by Zhu Yijun, and perfected the craftsmanship.

It can be said that the level of firearms in the Ming Dynasty has made great progress every day.

Zhao Zhenji continued to introduce: "Your Highness, everyone, what we are demonstrating now is the Portuguese heavy musket imitated by the Firearms Bureau."

At his signal, an officer waved a flag.

In the distance on the drill ground, an officer saw the flags waving and the whistle blowing, and a group of soldiers walked out in a line, until they came to a row of wooden targets, about thirty steps away.

Another group of soldiers stood in front, holding wooden forks. The soldiers took off the heavy muskets on their shoulders and put them on the wooden forks. An officer waved a triangular red flag and pointed forward.

"Bang-bang!" Ten muskets fired almost at the same time. The wooden targets were covered with iron armor, and sparks flew everywhere.

Feng Bao was so frightened that his neck shrank, but Zhu Yijun and the others stood up.

"Report to His Highness! The distance is thirty steps, and the ten armors have broken the five armors."

Ten armors were broken and five were left intact. It is possible that the target was not hit. Nowadays, if the target is over 30 meters, it depends on luck to hit it.

"Okay, continue!"

Zhao Zhenji introduced: "What we are showing now is the bird gun.

After obtaining the heavy muskets of the Portuguese, craftsmen from the Japanese domains of Tanegashima and Hirado Island in the East Japan made elaborate imitations of them, and after repeated improvements in many actual battles by their domains, they finally made a heavy musket. After we obtained it, we compared it with the Portuguese heavy muskets, improved it, and made this bird musket. "

After one round of firing, at a distance of forty steps, ten armors could break six armors, which was more effective than the Portuguese heavy musket.

"Now, our Firearms Bureau's Firearm Factory imitated the firearms of Rumi Country, and improved them after continuous training and actual combat in Liuhe. We also call it a matchlock heavy gun."

After Zhao Zhenji finished his introduction, he signaled to start the firing demonstration in the distance.

After a burst of gunfire, an officer came to report: "Fifty steps, ten armors break eight!"

"Good!" Everyone cheered happily.

After waiting for a while, Zhao Zhenji said proudly: "What I am demonstrating now is the latest weapon made by my Firearms Bureau. It uses the drawings provided by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. We also call it the Crown Prince's Flintlock Gun."

As the flag waved, a team of soldiers, carrying long-handled firearms on their shoulders, lined up and walked to a position forty steps opposite the target and stood still.

Wu Dui had sharp eyes and noticed the difference immediately.

"Hey, why don't these musketeers use wooden pitchforks?"

Zhao Zhenji laughed, "Brother Huanzhou has a good eye. The previous three types of muskets were heavy, powerful and shaky when fired. In order to shoot accurately, they had to be placed on wooden forks.

The prince's flintlock gun is no longer needed."

Ten soldiers raised their flintlock rifles and opened fire at the wooden targets.

"Forty steps, ten armors break six armors."

Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment. The power and accuracy of this flintlock rifle were similar to those of a bird gun, but worse than a matchlock heavy rifle. Was it good or bad?

Zhao Zhenji waved his hand, signaling several officers and soldiers to come over.

"Tell His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and the other superiors which of the bird guns, matchlock heavy guns, and flintlock guns is better to use."

"To reply to your superior, flintlock rifles are useful." An officer replied, and the other officers and soldiers echoed him.

"Why?" Liu Tao asked.

"The flintlock musket is light, weighing only two-thirds of the bird-fired musket and half of the matchlock musket."

"The flintlock gun is also very accurate. You don't need a wooden fork. If you aim it well, you can basically hit the target within thirty steps."

"The flintlock is faster to load than the musket and the matchlock. The musket and the matchlock require help from a loader, but the flintlock can handle it by itself."

Everyone nodded.

Zhu Yijun concluded: "The advantages of the flintlock are obvious. Previously, some officers and soldiers raised doubts, saying that the flintlock is easy to suffer in close combat. I gave them a suggestion, which is to put a long iron spike on the muzzle of the gun. Mr. Dazhou, you ask them to install it."

"Yes."

The officer waved the flag, and the soldier carrying the flintlock rifle pulled out an iron spike more than two feet long from the leather holster at his waist and put it on the muzzle of the gun. It suddenly became a spear as tall as a person, shining with a cold light.

Everyone's eyes lit up.

Zhu Yijun smiled with relief.

Before you traveled through time, you used matchlocks, and after you traveled through time, you still used matchlocks. Then didn’t my travel through time be in vain?
At Shuizhai Port Area in Qingdao, Zhang Juzheng inspected the construction site and asked Zhang Kai for the secret of how to invest first and then make money.

A close attendant came hurriedly to report.

"Governor, Admiral Lu of the Beihai Navy has brought a naval force to Qingdao Water Fort. He has just sent a lead ship to enter the fort."

"Okay! Take me to the water fort. I want to pay a visit to Admiral Lu."

(End of this chapter)