On the outskirts of Nanjing, there is a workshop that sits on a very wide area, and the people here are full of people, and occasionally there is a crackling sound like popping beans, but the people who live within a radius of ten miles of this workshop have never seen anyone come out here.

As soon as it is used in life, every ten days, there will be a special escort car to send it over, which can be described as a very mysterious thing, and the workshop is full of alien alien towers and a full five hundred households of officers and soldiers, which makes this place a taboo place for people and animals not to enter.

And on this day near the end of the year, a large number of brocade guards were added to this already heavily guarded place, and even the elite of the Beijing camp, which was rare for the people of Pingsuli, also dispatched a lot, dozens of generals with helmets and armor, and at a glance, the distinguished generals also appeared and appeared here.

With such a big battle, even ordinary people know in their hearts: His Majesty the Emperor is coming!

What kind of place is this where the emperor's body can be visited?

Could it be that this is the place where the treasury is located, as the rumors say, and there are countless treasures of gold and silver?

Of course it can't be, this is just a firearms workshop under the jurisdiction of the Daming Ordnance Bureau.

This firearms workshop, which has been established for six years since the first year of Jianwen, can wait for Zhu Yunwen, the emperor, because a great invention was born here: arquebus!

Since his accession to the throne, Zhu Yunwen has split and merged the firearms manufacturing units under the jurisdiction of the Military War Bureau and the Yu Heng Division, separating the manufacturing and production of thermal weapons from the traditional cold weapons, and leaving the General Staff Department fully responsible for and protecting them, and allocating a large number of scientific research funds, hoping that the firearms of the Ming Dynasty can make a technological leap.

The fire gate gun left in the Song and Yuan dynasties, the technical development has reached a bottleneck, and if you want to go further, there is only a big leap, which requires a technological leap, and after waiting for six years, the evolution of the fire door gun was finally born.

The arquebus is the prototype of modern firearms, and the emergence of the arquebus will directly change the main means of warfare in war, and is regarded as an important node in the transition from cold weapon warfare to thermal weapon warfare.

Zhu Yunwen learned the news more than a month ago, but at that time, the arquebus had just come out, and a large number of tests were still needed, so it was delayed for more than a month for safety reasons, and it was not until today that he made a special trip to visit here with Zhu Di and others.

"After six years, I finally figured it out."

Holding the arquebus in his hand that had just been produced and there was still a light amount of oil on the surface, Zhu Yunwen sighed sincerely.

As a traveler who has no understanding and knowledge of the military industrial system, the only thing Zhu Yunwen can do is to encourage the craftsmen of the Ordnance Bureau to innovate and create on their own, and he depicts the form of firearms in later generations, and the rest of the things are realized by the craftsmen of the Ming Dynasty in this time and space.

Six years is not a long time, but it is definitely not a short time.

Compared to those climbing technology trees of one year arquebus, two years of flintlock pistols, and five years of rocket artillery, it took six years for Daming to build an arquebus, and Zhu Yunwen didn't know if he had any hope in his life to see the advent of the flintlock pistol when he was alive.

"Is there any experimental data?"

Zhu Yunwen looked at Officer Lang of the Ordnance Bureau and asked the latter, "Including lethality, range, and the speed of reloading and reloading." ”

Lang Guan hurriedly took out a notebook and opened it, which was full of dense small characters and some graphics that Zhu Yunwen couldn't understand.

"A total of 100 of these muskets were selected for testing, and the pass rate was 80%. The effective data of lethality is that leather armor can be worn within 20 zhang, and it takes about one minute to reload and reload. ”

The scientific research records left by Su Song in the Song Dynasty about Zhongyi, with the efforts of more than 150 years in the Yuan and Ming dynasties, the first purely mechanical motion table clock that does not rely on water transportation and armillary sphere has been born now, and the concept of minutes proposed by Zhu Yunwen has begun to be used frequently, fifteen minutes a moment, and half an hour is sixty minutes.

Now Yu Hengsi is working hard to develop and strive to develop the first mechanical watch that can be brought to his hand as soon as possible, but the sample is already available, but it is too big, and it is almost the same on the waist.

"Eighty percent pass rate, one minute of reloading?"

Hearing this data, Zhu Yunwen suddenly frowned.

"To continue researching, the data has to be completely revolutionized. Are there any other questions? ”

At present, there is an obvious gap in the research and development of firearms in the Ming Dynasty, a bunch of technical problems with weak muskets, and artillery with simple principles is improving every day.

Giant ships were unrealistic before there was no steam engine, and the Fuchuan was already the pinnacle of shipbuilding technology in this time and space, and there was no room for growth if you wanted to innovate.

"The first is the traditional problem of muskets, the ballistics are unstable, and the hit rate is low.

By igniting the external fuse to trigger the trigger, and then firing the projectile in the chamber to cause damage, then the ignition hole and primer pot need to be cleaned at all times to avoid gunpowder residue blockage. ”

Lang Guan explained the characteristics of this first-generation arquebus to Zhu Yunwen, the emperor, one by one: "And when the ammunition is fired, the fire is dazzling, and it is very easy to burn the eyes. In a humid environment, the arquebus is difficult to ignite. ”

Listening to Lang Guan's introduction, Zhu Yunwen's frowning brows became deeper and deeper.

This first-generation arquebus, I don't see many advantages, but there are a lot of faults.

If Zhu Yunwen was familiar with the history of arquebus, then he would not be so awkward.

Although flintlock pistols were introduced in the 16th century, the value and presence of muskets on the European battlefield were not high due to the popularity of heavy cavalry and full-body armored cavalry in European countries.

In the famous Battle of Pavia, the musketeers relied on the presence of trenches to intercept the advance of cavalry, which created a large amount of lethality, and once the trenches were lost, the muskets were not enough to provide much flexible firepower for a war.

Even in the early stage of the Opium War, the Qing soldiers who relied on traditional cold weapons and bird guns as weapons still had a complete advantage in the small war against the Gallic chickens.

Neither arquebuses nor flintlock pistols are invincible. The crux of the problem is the cumbersome and time-consuming reloading.

It was not until the birth of the rear-loading gun that the musket completely became the invincible hegemon that dominated the direction of the war, because the most terrible technological breakthrough of the rear-loading gun was that it made the continuous fire gun come out, and the birth of the light and heavy machine gun also made the cavalry withdraw from the stage of history, so that all nomads lost the strategic advantage that had come and gone for thousands of years.

No one can save a whole corpse in a metal storm.

"A lot of questions have been raised, is there any idea for improvement in the Ordnance Bureau at the moment?"

Zhu Yunwen didn't come to listen to the problem, what he wanted to hear was whether the Ordnance Bureau had any ideas and achievements that could be used.

"Lower the caliber."

As soon as Lang Guan opened his mouth, Zhu Yunwen was stunned, this answer was beyond his expectations.

In the study of firearms, not only him, but also all craftsmen subconsciously pursue large caliber and great lethality, reducing the width of the caliber, the use of projectiles is bound to shrink, the power is not enough, and if it is lowered, what war value can it have?

"The advantage of lowering the caliber is that it reduces the effect of moisture on the musket."

Seeing that Zhu Yunwen was puzzled, Lang Guan explained: "And it is very helpful to stabilize the trajectory and improve the hit rate, although it sacrifices part of the power, but it can be used to a greater extent, and the reduced caliber of the barrel also makes the weight of the musket reduced, and the use of iron jaws, the bayonet on the installation is also more stable." Even if the muzzle of the gun is damp, it is not much more convenient in melee combat than a spear. ”

Zhu Yunwen's eyes brightened a lot when he said this, and he nodded frequently.

For Daming's current musket, Zhu Yunwen didn't have any too high expectations, let alone rely on the musket to dominate a war, his emphasis on muskets was more for the purpose of giving the craftsmen of the Ordnance Bureau the fighting spirit to improve and improve.

During the Song Dynasty, the musket was developed, but because the power was too poor, it was not valued by the imperial court, and the imperial court did not value it.

For nearly 400 years since the invention of the musket, the ruling class has been blind to the power of the musket, and with Genghis Khan's expedition to the west, gunpowder was brought to Europe, and it was favored by Europeans.

They developed the first musket from scratch, and in just four hundred years, they achieved a frantic evolution of arquebuses, flintlock pistols, breech-loading guns, and heavy machine guns.

And the current Ming Dynasty, if it weren't for Zhu Yunwen, the traverser, the fire pistol born in the Song Dynasty has also gone through nearly four hundred years of development, and it will be restored to the ground, and it will have to wait until the Portuguese bring the musket to Japan, and then the Japanese invade the coast, and the hands of Qi Jiguang make the Ming Dynasty obtain the technology of the arquebus, and then Bi Maokang researched the flintlock pistol.

A sentence "Yilu is most afraid of China, and firearms are also." It can be said that the Houjin at that time suffered a lot, but it is a pity that the national finances in Chongzhen were tight, and they were unable to vigorously develop and improve the technology of flintlock pistols.

The illustration of the weapons left by Bi Maokang was banned and destroyed by Qianlong, and the flintlock pistol technology was lost again, and the hope of progress was lost.

"Let's go, take me to see it."

Just listening to it was not enjoyable, Zhu Yunwen still decided to see the power of this arquebus with his own eyes.

Of course, the work of testing the gun cannot be operated by Zhu Yunwen himself, the arquebus will bloom when it is ignited and fired, and the quality of the gunpowder is also very poor, and the pass rate cannot be 100%, in case the gun is blown up and Zhu Yunwen is injured.

The test gun was operated by a craftsman himself, and the target was a standing target ten feet away, and a scarecrow wore a thin layer of armor.

Reload, close the primer pot, and light the fire rope.

But when I heard the 'bang', a layer of red-black flames bloomed at the fire door, and then the fire burst out in the chamber, and the muzzle of the gun trembled and leaned up, and it was gone.

Looking at the scarecrow ten feet away, unscathed, except for the scorched smoke from his head.

The shot went high.

is only ten feet, and it can miss the target, and the level of science and technology is too poor.

However, judging from the recoil at the moment of firing, the kinetic energy of this arquebus is much stronger than that of the musket gun that was equipped into the army earlier.

"Change the gun."

Although the first experiment ended in failure, Lang Guan did not have too many feelings of disappointment, and he had seen the results of this experiment too many times during this time.

The arquebus in the craftsman's hand was taken down and replaced with a narrow one, but this time it hit the target ten feet away, accurately hitting the target ten feet away, breaking the thin armor on the latter's body, and the remaining projectiles barely stuck in the wooden body of the scarecrow.

"The effective lethality has changed from 20 zhang to 10 zhang, and the advantage is that it is more stable."

Lang Guan reported to Zhu Yunwen: "Therefore, the minister's idea is to carry out research and development on the basis of stability, and strive to further improve the lethality of this musket within a year, and at least achieve the result of penetrating thin armor from 20 zhang away." ”

Twenty zhang away to penetrate the thin armor, this lethality is enough to compare with the average crossbow, although it is still worse than the strong bow, but compared to the strong bow, the requirements for the user are not high.

A strong bow, that's not something that ordinary soldiers can pull out.

"Anything new?"

A firearms workshop, more than 1,000 people have been engaged in it for more than six years, and it would be too lazy to just innovate the musket of several generations ago and research such a thing that is just chicken ribs for the time being. Under the jurisdiction of the Ordnance Bureau of the General Staff Headquarters, how many firearms workshops are there?

"There's a big guy."

Lang Guan greeted, and saw several craftsmen not far away open a warehouse, and together they moved out a large wooden box from it, which made Zhu Yunwen's eyes widen after opening it.

A super arquebus that is more than a foot long and two feet wide!

This is the PLUS version?

"Good fellows, muskets of this caliber? It's artillery. ”

Zhu Yunwen was amused: "What's the difference between this thing and artillery, isn't it just to fire a cannonball directly by lighting the fuse." ”

"Your Majesty is right."

Lang Guan scratched his head and said with a smile: "However, the killing method of this thing is completely different from that of a cannonball, because the detonation technology of the cannonball has not been overcome for the time being, so it has always used a solid bullet made of copper and iron."

And this oversized arquebus uses all small iron lead bullets, using a large amount of gunpowder to promote, the momentum after firing is strong, and ten forging armor within fifty zhang can not bear it, one shot down, dozens of projectiles, people and animals are difficult to survive. ”

Is this a shotgun that came out?

Zhu Yunwen's eyes straightened when he heard this, and he clapped his hands happily: "If it is really as powerful as you said, I will be rewarded, and I will test it quickly." ”

"Your Majesty, please move another fifty zhang."

The power is too great, and once it is blown up, the risk is not small.

After Zhu Yunwen retreated to a relatively safe position under the guidance of Lang Guan, the latter waved the command flag, and the two craftsmen next to the oversized arquebus moved a large number of iron brackets to fix the musket, aimed at dozens of targets dozens of feet away, and after lighting the thick and long arquebus, the girl ran back.

"Boom!"

After a loud bang, the black smoke that covered the eyes rose, and when the smoke cleared, the people who watched the ceremony headed by Zhu Yunwen were all dumbfounded.

Dozens of targets were all beaten into a sieve!

The ground was littered with fragments of armor and small craters under lead bullets.

"Fuck it!"

Zhu Di swallowed his saliva and scolded: "When I went on a northern expedition with my third brother against the Yuan, if there were more than a dozen artillery in the army, and a few rounds of artillery would go down, all the problems would be solved." ”

After finishing speaking, he smacked his lips again: "It's just too bulky, and it's troublesome to fix, the range is not as good as the artillery, and there is a danger of exploding, this thing is placed in the military formation, in case it explodes, our military array will be all over." ”

Thinking about it carefully, Zhu Di shook his head and sighed, "This thing has no effect in mobile operations and large-scale operations, if it is used to set up ambushes, it is a super weapon." ”

Historically, this super arquebus has also been recorded, and the person who commissioned the development of it is also particularly famous: Oda Nobunaga!

The Japanese shogunate was in a melee, and the terrain was narrow and complicated, and Oda Nobunaga relied on this thing to take advantage of it.

Pumping, Leng sneaked up and shot it, and no bushido could carry it.

It's just that now more than 100 years in advance, this invention has become the patent of this time and space Ming.

"You can't use it on the prairie, but you can use it in the southwest."

Zhu Yunwen laughed happily: "Continue to study, we must ensure the success rate, even if we sacrifice a little power, it doesn't hurt, we must not explode the chamber after firing a few shots, damn it, Ma Dajun's bastard is blessed." ”

With this thing, throw it to Nantianzhu to fight positional warfare, and go down with a round of artillery, once the enemy is dense, at least thousands of enemies will be killed!

This thing is much faster than slashing people with a knife.

In the era of hot weapons, human life is not valuable.