Chapter 87 Firearms that burn money

Zhao Jinrong finished firing a shot, opened the card slot, and blew the gunpowder residue.

Turning his head, he realized that something was wrong. I saw Tie Mo bending over and opening his mouth wide, like a fool.

Fortunately, there are no others in the military land, especially in this courtyard, otherwise, the image of Tiemo, the garrison general, would be completely ruined.

Looking at Tiemo's demented look, Zhao Jinrong raised his leg and kicked it, "Boy, are you stunned?" The old man asked you, how is this gun, does it meet your requirements? ”

"Huh? What the? Tiemo only had the spear in his eyes, and he could not hear what Zhao Jinrong said.

"I ask you, how is the gun?"

"This ...... Sharpshooter" Tie Mo snatched the gun into his hand, "Dad, your old man is really amazing, you don't need to light a fire rope, you don't need to stuff lead bullets into the barrel, a shot that touches it is accurate and far." ”

Zhao Jinrong was happy, as a craftsman, the happiest thing is that his works are liked. But soon, there was a hint of bitterness between the eyebrows.

"Hey, in fact, it's not the old man's credit. My father, when your grandfather was alive, had already figured out the idea of igniting gunpowder with flint. At that time, the new type of firearm had already been made, and several proposals to the Ministry of Industry were rejected. Disheartened, the old man sealed the flint firing device, and the old man only improved some of his ideas. ”

Speaking of Zhao Shizhen, Zhao Jinrong's mood was much weaker. Tiemo put the gun on the ground, grimaced, and said with a smile: "Dad, don't mention those unhappy things." Tell the kid what's going on with that ammunition? ”

"You said this" Zhao Jinrong took out a conical ammunition from the cloth bag, pointed to the tail, and patiently explained, "Actually, this thing is not complicated, it is the same as the Sky Monkey, but the paper shell is replaced with a copper shell, the tail is filled with gunpowder, and a little medicine twist is left after being pressed." ”

"The flint hits the flint, igniting the gunpowder in the groove, and the gunpowder ignites the twist, and then ignites the gunpowder in the copper case, and finally it goes out through the barrel."

What Zhao Shizhen said is very simple, but in fact it is very complicated. At least from breech loading to breech loading, it is a change of thinking, and it is also a technological breakthrough.

If it is not a conical bullet, the previous lead bullet is still used, and the breech is loaded, and the problem is guaranteed.

"Dad, can't you just hit the flint and ignite the gunpowder in the bullet? This would save you the hassle of pouring some gunpowder into the groove. ”

"Hey, you think the old man didn't think about it? But in order to do this, the impact position must be accurate, and the bullet must also be pre-loaded with velvet and other objects, which is too troublesome to do. ”

Tiemo slapped his forehead, secretly saying that he was too greedy. With the current level of technology, it is impossible to make bullets for future generations. Now almost all of them are handmade, the caliber of ammunition, filling gunpowder velvet, the process is extremely complicated, Zhao Shizhen's way of using gunpowder to ignite bullets is definitely the limit of what can be achieved under existing conditions.

But even so, it was an earth-shattering leap compared to the bird's gun.

Think of a bird's gun, after loading gunpowder, you have to fill the barrel with lead bullets, and finally you have to stab you with an iron bar, and you can shoot a shot in a minute.

This new type of flintlock pistol, as long as you master it, it is definitely not a problem to fire four shots a minute. Pour the gunpowder, fill the bullet, close the card slot, and raise your hand to shoot a shot, saving time and effort.

"Dad, see if you can fit a sharp blade on the barrel of this gun, like a conical knife. Many times, once in close combat, the gunner is only passively beaten! ”

Zhao Jinrong raised his eyebrows and smiled, took the musket, and pointed to the groove at the top of the barrel, "See this?" ”

As he spoke, Zhao Jinrong walked back to the warehouse and took out a sharp blade. The blade is like a spear head, but it is thinner and longer than the spear head, and the whole body is conical. The blade had a wooden handle with an iron ring on the handle that fit the barrel just in.

The blade rotates half a turn, and the handle is stuck right in the card slot. In this way, the blade is fixed to the barrel.

Seeing this spear, Tiemo seemed to have an illusion, as if he had seen the spear bayonet that arose in the eighteenth century.

"Okay, great, Dad, let's build this kind of gun, we can build as many guns as we can!"

Zhao Jinrong rolled his eyes and glared at his cheap son, "Xiao Tie, you can build as much as you can sure?" Do you know how much a shot of such a firebolt costs? ”

"How much?"

"I've calculated for you, a spear is at least a hundred taels of silver....."

"Poof" Tiemo almost spurted a mouthful of old blood on the ground, a hundred taels? This is only the cost of the gun, and the cost of later bullet maintenance is better, that is to say, if you want to get a hundred such guns, you must prepare at least 10,000 taels of silver.

This is just the foundation, the related iron and copper smelting, craftsman manufacturing, all the costs are counted, a hundred muskets, not 50,000 taels, don't even think about it.

This is the limitation of the times, the technology is limited, it all depends on manpower, and the cost is scary.

Firearms are very good, but they are also very expensive, no wonder the Ministry of Industry repeatedly rejected Zhao Shizhen's proposal.

The Ming Dynasty was as stable as a rock, there were no major worries, and it seemed that there was no urgent need to improve firearms. Even if there is a clown who jumps off the beam to make trouble, he can cope with it with his current firearms, so why spend a lot of money to replace firearms? Moreover, even if both the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of War agree, the Ministry of Officials will definitely not allocate funds.

Are those officials short-sighted? It's a bit short-sighted, but it's also understandable.

However, Tiemo has the memory of later generations, and he knows the importance of developing firearms, even if he burns money, he has to get it. Moreover, it is necessary to get not only muskets, but also artillery.

Thinking of the Hongyi cannon he is using now, Tie Mo feels a pain in his brain. There are five Hongyi cannons on the side of Datong Mansion, that thing is so heavy that it is going to die, and it takes a cannon to clean up the barrel for half a day, and the shells that are blasted out are still limited in lethality.

The most terrible thing is that the Hongyi cannon is best at fixed firing, and if you want to turn the muzzle and adjust the angle, it takes a long time, let alone pull it outside for a field battle.

If you think of it, you can do it, even if you don't have enough money now, at least you have to prepare first.

"Dad, you old man don't have to worry about money and materials, these things are handled by children, you just have to make firecrackers, you can get it as you think it is good, and find Miss Chang if you lack anything. If she can't solve it, you come to me. ”

"Really?" Zhao Jinrong's old eyes flashed with a burst of essence, and he thought that he could try many things that he had thought about but couldn't do.

"Of course, can I still lie to you? By the way, Dad, can you figure out the artillery thing? It's better to reduce the weight of the gun and make it easier to move, and see if you can use the flint firing method on the artillery! ”

Zhao Jinrong pinched his chin, thought for a while and said in a low voice: "It should be possible, but the old man is not proficient in artillery, but there is a person who has a lot of research on artillery." ”

"Who?"

"Sun Yuanhua!"

Sun Yuanhua? Tiemo muttered a little, I would like to get him over, but is it possible?

"Dad, can the child please his old man?"

"You? Naturally, no, wait for the old man to repair a book and make sure he is obedient! ”

"Really?"

Zhao Jinrong snorted coldly and went into the house with a gun to write a letter.