Ming Dynasty: A mere unruly commoner is rebelling against the heaven?

Chapter 255: Concubine Ning is summoned, and a fire breaks out in the harem!
"The musket team hit seventy-seven of the five hundred straw targets."

After hearing this, the soldiers of the Shenji Battalion of the Fire Gun Group looked a little relieved.

Of the five hundred straw targets five hundred meters away, seventy-seven were hit, with a hit rate of one and a half percent, which is a very remarkable hit rate for a musket.

This is better than their usual training data.

But then, the data reported by the soldier in charge of counting the targets made them change color.

"Flintlock Group, five hundred straw targets, one hundred and forty-three hits."

Out of five hundred straw targets, one hundred and forty-three were hit, a hit rate of 28%!
This is equivalent to twice the hit rate of the musket group!

The musket group was completely defeated in the competition with the flintlock group!
"it is good!"

Zhu Youtang clapped his hands, his face flushed and his expression filled with joy.

With the intuitive comparison, Zhu Youtang realized that the flintlock rifle had become so advanced.

Whether in terms of accuracy, loading speed, or ease of firing, the flintlock rifle is overwhelmingly superior to the musket!

Zhu Youtang called Jia Jun over and asked excitedly, "What are the production output and manufacturing cost of this flintlock rifle and bullet?"

Jia Jun had read these data by heart, and answered immediately: "Your Majesty, the Ministry of Industry can now produce 500 flintlock rifles at a time, and it will take about half a month to complete a batch."

"Today, the cost of a flintlock rifle is about 17 taels of silver, but if it is mass-produced, I can control the cost to less than 14 taels of silver."

"As for the bullets, it mainly depends on the amount of black powder. The Ministry of Industry can produce 45 kilograms of gunpowder and 700 bullets every day."

"As for the cost, it's about 30 copper coins per bullet. Even if we mass-produce it, we can probably only lower it to less than 20 copper coins... The main reason is that the materials for black gunpowder are hard to find and the production cost is high."

In that period of time just now, including flintlock rifles and muskets, the Shenji Camp fired 5,000 rounds of bullets.

Assuming thirty cents per bullet, that would be one hundred and fifty taels of silver.

It is equivalent to one year’s military pay for ten border troops.

The development of firearms is simply a bottomless pit, and countless amounts of silver will be burned.

No wonder the size of the Shenjiying has remained small over the years. This is entirely because of the Ming Dynasty’s financial situation, which cannot afford to support such a gold-consuming army.

But fortunately, the current Emperor of the Ming Dynasty is Zhu Youtang.

Zhu Youtang was not only good at making money, but in just two years after he ascended the throne, he had saved up more than 30 million taels of silver for the treasury.

He also saved money and used the intensive, large-scale and specialized production methods of later generations to reduce production costs.

Zhu Youtang thought for a moment and said, "If we build factories in a centralized manner, each factory will only produce one type of flintlock parts, and then send them to the Ministry of Industry for assembly."

"And each craftsman in the Ministry of Works is only responsible for assembling a part. Once the assembly is completed, it will be handed over to the next craftsman to assemble the next part, and so on."

"In this way, how much can the cost be reduced? How much can the output be increased?"

Zhu Youtang's words were not easy to understand, but Jia Jun only listened to them once and understood what he meant.

He first lowered his head, frowned, and thought carefully.

Then his thoughts suddenly became clear, and the more he thought about it, the more excited he became. His admiration for Zhu Youtang arose spontaneously and he couldn't stop talking.

"Your Majesty is wise! Your Majesty is wise!"

"In this way, the cost of each flintlock rifle can be controlled below ten taels of silver."

"And the more we produce, the cost per flintlock will actually decrease!"

"And the production of flintlock rifles can at least double. We can produce a thousand flintlock rifles at the same time, and the production time can be shortened to about ten days!"

"If we use this method to make bullets, the cost of each bullet can be controlled within fifteen copper coins!"

"Your Majesty's move can save the Ming Dynasty tens of thousands of taels of silver. Your Majesty's meritorious service is immeasurable!"

Having each craftsman only responsible for the production and assembly of one component can not only reduce costs and increase output, but also prevent leaks!
Even if these craftsmen have ill intentions and intend to sell out secrets, or secretly make them themselves.

But they only knew one of the steps and were unable to make a complete flintlock rifle.

And if the craftsmen in every link came together and wanted to make a flintlock rifle... then what is Zhu Youtang waiting for?
Directly clean out all the craftsmen in the Ministry of Industry!
Seeing that this method was feasible, Zhu Youtang let Jia Jun go ahead and do it: "In this case, the factory construction will be handed over to you."

"The necessary expenses will also be paid from the inner treasury. Just report to Wang Zhi and keep a record."

"Hurry up and make this flintlock for me. I want all the Ming army to be equipped with this flintlock!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

Jia Jun was overjoyed and immediately agreed.

Zhu Youtang's actions showed that he highly recognized the work and efforts of the Ministry of Works during this period.

If he can gain the favor of His Majesty, it will not be difficult for him to advance to the next level and enter the cabinet.

Logically speaking, the funds for the Ministry of Works to produce firearms for the Ming army should have been drawn from the national treasury, that is, the Taicang Warehouse.

But the problem was that the Taicang warehouse was in deficit every year, with only a mere one million taels of silver to maintain the normal operation of the Ming court.

The Ming Dynasty could not collect taxes, so there was no silver in the Taicang warehouse.

Zhu Youtang's silver was all confiscated from officials from various places, so it was naturally impossible for him to send it to the Taicang warehouse.

In addition, the silver stored in the Ming Bank was directly sent to the internal treasury for management, and officials from the Ministry of Revenue were not allowed to interfere.

Therefore, the current situation of the Ming Dynasty court is that the court is extremely poor, while Zhu Youtang himself is extremely rich.

As a result, the officials of the Ming Dynasty will inevitably suffer, and the blame will be borne by Qiu Jun and Wang Zhi.

It was much easier for Zhu Youtang to do things on his own. Gao Shun was watching the actual combat performance of the flintlock rifle, and his heart was filled with shock.

Although he had attached great importance to Ming Dynasty's firearms before, because the performance of muskets in actual combat was often unsatisfactory, he only used the Shenji Camp as an auxiliary force for the Sanqian Camp and the Wujun Camp.

The real absolute main force of the Ming army is still the Xianzhen Camp under his command.

But now, the performance of the flintlock made him shocked and frightened at the same time.

The excellent performance of the flintlock rifle made him think that if heavy cavalry like the Xianzhen Camp could also be equipped with such a convenient flintlock rifle.

On the battlefield, they will surely be able to unleash amazing combat power.

But this flintlock rifle was too long, making it inconvenient for cavalry to use it while on a raid.

If this flintlock rifle could be shortened to the length of a forearm and used by the Xianzhen Camp, it would surely be invincible!

Thinking of this, Gao Shun turned to Zhu Youtang, knelt on one knee, and bowed to ask.

"Your Majesty, can such a divine object be worn by the entire army of the Xianzhen Camp?"

Zhu Youtang looked at Gao Shun and nodded with some doubt: "Of course, Xianzhen Camp is my strongest and most loyal army. All equipment should be supplied to Xianzhen Camp first."

"General Gao Shun's words make me seem petty."

Gao Shun quickly explained: "Your Majesty has misunderstood. I have absolutely no such intention."

"But although this flintlock rifle is powerful, the barrel is too long, which makes it inconvenient for the Xianzhen Camp to use in a fight. Can this flintlock rifle be shortened to the length of a forearm?"

Zhu Youtang didn't say anything, but just looked at Jia Jun.

Jia Jun thought for a moment and said, "This is not difficult, but the power needs to be smaller, otherwise there will be a risk of explosion."

The Ming Dynasty still has a short musket called the three-eyed gun, which has average power and a slow loading speed, so its scope of use is not wide.

But this also shows that the Ming Dynasty's Ministry of Works had no problem with the technology of converting long firearms into short firearms.

Gao Shun was overjoyed: "It doesn't matter if the power is smaller. The trap camp is all about close combat. No matter how powerful the enemy is, one shot will kill them!"

"Okay, then Minister Jia should open another production line to produce short flintlock rifles specifically for the cavalry."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

This is not a difficult task, Jia Jun readily accepted the order.

At this point, Zhu Youtang had achieved the purpose of his visit to the Xishan military camp and immediately returned to the palace.

As Zhu Youtang's troops were leaving the Xishan military camp, the hundreds of thousands of soldiers in the camp still saluted Zhu Youtang respectfully.

"Best regards to His Majesty the Emperor!"

……

Forbidden City.

The Hall of Nourishing Heart.

Zhu Youtang returned to the hall and just sat down to rest for a while, Luo Xiang came in front of Zhu Youtang with a tray in his hand.

"Your Majesty, please turn over the cards."

Zhu Youtang resumed his habit of flipping the cards yesterday, so when the time came today, Luo Xiang had to come to work with a tray.

Zhu Youtang scanned the signs on the tray, his eyes lingering on Lady Gu's sign for two seconds, before finally turning over Concubine Ning's sign.

"promise."

Luo Xiang left holding the sign. At three quarters past three in the evening, the Imperial Kitchen Supervisor brought a midnight snack, and then Concubine Ning Chen Yuanyuan came to meet the emperor with a happy look on her face.

"I greet your majesty!"

Chen Yuanyuan saluted Zhu Youtang with a smile, her figure becoming more graceful and more feminine.

Zhu Youtang waved his hand and said, "Come here, come before me."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Chen Yuanyuan came and sat down beside Zhu Youtang, feeding him some food with her own hands, while also not forgetting to complain a few words.

"Your Majesty has been back for so many days, but you didn't summon me until today. I thought Your Majesty was tired of me."

Zhu Youtang didn't mind the concubines occasionally showing some temper, as it could enhance the relationship between the couple and make them seem less distant.

"I've just been busy these past few days. Tonight, I'll make it up to you."

Chen Yuanyuan smiled seductively and whispered in Zhu Youtang's ear: "Then I'll have to trouble your Majesty..."

"Hahaha!"

Zhu Youtang laughed out loud, ate his meal in a hurry, rinsed his mouth, then carried Chen Yuanyuan and walked onto the dragon bed.

After the drizzle and strong wind in the middle of the night, the Yangxin Palace gradually returned to calm in the second half of the night.

But suddenly, a panicked shout was heard in the harem.

"The water is gone! The water is gone!"

"Someone come quickly! Help!"

(End of this chapter)