After inspecting the Shenwei Artillery Factory, Zhu Cihong then went to the Shenji Firearms Factory of the Jiangnan Ordnance General Bureau on the Yangtze River to inspect the work.

This is the most advanced firearms factory in Daming, and it is also the only arsenal directly under the Military Research Institute, with the most advanced firearms in the world.

According to Zhu Cihong's understanding, the world's first rotary bolt-pull rifle (breech gun) was produced here.

The breech gun newly developed by the Academy of Military Industry has not yet been officially named, and is tentatively named "Wu Shi Rifle", which means that Tianwu has been successfully developed in ten years.

According to the rules, it should be named after whoever invented it, such as the rifled gun invented by Sun Heding that year, Zhu Cihong gave it the name "Heding rifle", which was installed in the entire Ming army.

However, the research and development results of this time were replaced by "Wushi rifles", Zhu Cihong was a little puzzled, so he asked Zhao Jinglin, the secretary of the Ordnance Department next to him, what was going on.

Zhao Jinglin replied: "Your Majesty, this new rifle was not developed by people from the Military Industry Research Institute and various arsenals, but a small arms dealer ......."

Zhu Cihong was surprised: "Oh? Let's talk about it. ”

Zhao Jinglin received the order and began to narrate the twists and turns of the development of the first breech gun of the Ming Dynasty.

Because the new policy of Tianwu encouraged the development of commerce, some businessmen who were good at combining policies saw the ambition of Emperor Tianwu and knew that the future foreign wars of the Ming Dynasty were indispensable, and firearms, as the main weapons of the army, naturally attracted the attention and investment of merchants.

In the past ten years, gunsmithing and clock manufacturing have gradually become the emerging industries of the rapid development of the Ming Dynasty, and many craftsmen who are proficient in both have appeared.

Daming is full of talents, and there is never a shortage of bigwigs who stand out, what problems can stump them?

The big guy who invented the breech gun is named Chuan Jianguo, born in Yingchuan, Dayu's hometown, and is the son of a locksmith.

When he was young, Chuan Jianguo worked as a craftsman in a military factory in Fengyang, manufacturing Heding rifled guns on the assembly line.

Because of the strong atmosphere of innovation in the military factory, and the people of Sichuan Jianguo, as their name suggests, have a strong great feeling of building the Ming Dynasty in their hearts, they boldly tried several breech guns at the risk of death, but they were unsuccessful.

The test of breech guns is not simple, the gap between the bolt and the barrel will lead to excessive gunpowder gas leakage, there is a great safety hazard, and if you don't do it well, you can be blown up and disfigured.

Fortunately, the patriotic Comrade Chuan Jianguo did not suffer any major crimes, but his face was burned red by the leaked gunpowder, his forehead was burned, and he became bigger, but the overall situation was okay, and his facial features were normal.

In the end, Chuan Jianguo took early retirement due to a work injury.

Daming's military craftsman system is very perfect, and the benefits are also the best in all industries, Fengyang Military Factory did not treat him badly, and applied for heavy compensation for him according to his work-related injury.

In this way, Sichuan Jianguo returned to his hometown with a large amount of compensation, and used the money to open a Jianguo Gun Factory in his hometown in Henan Province to continue to engage in the work he loved. (In the Ming Dynasty, it was legal for people to make firearms)

Chuan Jianguo continued his unfinished experimental research while building fire guns and selling them to the landlords and wealthy people for self-defense.

Finally, the hard work paid off, and in the ninth year of Tianwu, Chuan Jianguo designed a needle pistol in his own fire pistol!

A needle pistol, as the name suggests, is a rifle that uses a firing pin to fire a bullet, and after pulling the trigger, the long rod-shaped firing pin on the bolt pierces the paper bullet case, hits the primer, ignites the propellant, and shoots the projectile out.

Since Zhu Cihong proposed the primer fire and other research courses, the military industry of the Ming Dynasty has been studied for more than ten years, and the technology has long been formed, and the Military Research Institute has also developed a rifle that fires the primer, with a rate of fire as high as eight or nine rounds per minute.

It's just that the rifle needs to be loaded with a bolt and loaded from the front of the chamber, strictly speaking, it is still a breech gun, and it has a very serious gas leakage problem, so there is no large-scale mounted army, only some border troops use it.

For example, the cavalry brigade of the Northern Protectorate was equipped with this kind of rifle, and with its reloading speed against the sky, they swept and pursued the Cossack cavalry of Tsarist Russia on the Siberian ice field.

After Chuan Jianguo completed the design of the needle for the rear-loading gun, he contacted the local military as soon as possible, wanting to contribute to the Ming army.

However, the army of the Ming Dynasty was accustomed to using front-loading guns, and the reception steward of the Eastern Military Governor's Mansion felt that this thing was too "non-mainstream", and the range was far inferior to the Heding rifle, so he didn't care, and smiled and left.

Chuan Jianguo was disappointed, he didn't understand why the military didn't believe him.

Thinking about the hard research and development in the past few years, and almost disfigured, the more Chuan Jianguo thought about it, the more angry he became, so he scolded several officers in front of him with disdain: "You are a group of terrible amateur soldiers, and your professionalism is very shameful!" ”

After scolding, he left with his new weapon on his back, and left directly to the Taiping Military Research Institute to continue to serve the Ming Dynasty.

As a department specializing in the study of firearms, the bigwigs of the research institute recognized the superiority of this "non-mainstream" rifle at a glance, so the military industry research institute immediately acquired this invention and secretly developed it as the most advanced secret weapon.

Chuan Jianguo's small private workshop is naturally not as good as the state-owned regular arsenal of the Jiangnan Ordnance Bureau, and the breech rifle he designed has big problems, such as short range and insufficient accuracy.

The effective range of the Heding rifle is 900 meters, while the effective range of Chuan Jianguo's rifle is only 600 meters.

However, the experts of the Military Industry Research Institute were overjoyed with the treasure that this rifle overcame the problem of serious air leakage from the breech gun and could be installed in the army on a large scale!

After all, in actual combat on the battlefield, the distance between the two sides is generally within 200 meters, and what is the difference between the range of 600 meters and 900 meters?

Safety, simplicity and rate of fire are the keys to victory!

In this way, Chuan Jianguo made another fortune, continued to expand his Jianguo factory, and also took the opportunity to become one of the first arms dealers in the Ming Dynasty to have close cooperation with the national military industrial enterprises.

Today, Chuan Jianguo was invited by the Shenji Gun Factory and also came to accompany him.

When Zhao Jinglin, the secretary of the Ministry of Ordnance, introduced the arms merchant Sichuan Jianguo to Zhu Cihong, Emperor Zhu's face was a little unnatural, and he stared at this benevolent brother, especially interested in his unique hairstyle.

Chuan Jianguo was burned to his forehead by gunpowder due to his last work injury, and a small scar was formed on his scalp......

The first time Sichuan Jianguo saw the driver, and saw the emperor staring at him, he looked very cramped, his right hand kept making small movements, touching the director of the gun factory next to him, wanting to grab his hand to relieve the pressure.

However, the factory master was even more panicked when he saw the driver for the first time, and he also made a small move, hitting his hand with a small amount of his hand, signaling Boss Sichuan not to make trouble.

Zhu Cihong watched it for a while, and then became bored, and began to let people test the performance of this "Wushi rifle".

This breech gun weighs nine and a half pounds, is one meter four long, after a year of improvement by the Military Industry Research Institute, the rifle invented by Sichuan Jianguo has been greatly improved, the bullet has been replaced with a paper shell acorn-shaped lead bullet, a single round of ammunition, the rate of fire from the initial six rounds per minute, increased to 10 to 12 rounds per minute.

During the test, even Chuan Jianguo, the inventor, was shocked, and he even suspected that the gun was not developed by himself.

Knowing this time, he realized how big the gap was between himself and the bigwigs of the research institute, and he was at best a person who threw bricks and jade......

"Good! What a gun! ”

Zhu Cihong couldn't help but praise.

This breech-loading gun is perfect, and the rate of fire is four or five times higher than that of a normal front-loading gun!

The only drawback is that the muzzle velocity is too low, and the effective firing range of the test is only 600 meters, and the range and lethality are slightly inferior to the Heding rifle.

Of course, this is not a big problem, and it is not an Olympic shooting competition, and with this rate of fire, it is enough to crush and Ding rifles.

In addition to the excitement, Zhu Cihong suddenly said: "The merchant Sichuan founded the country, valued the country over the family, was not afraid of hardships and dangers, overcame obstacles, worked hard in research and development, cast a sharp weapon, and gave him the title of viscount." ”

"Viscount?"

Chuan Jianguo's expression was in a trance, and his body stumbled and almost fell.

After a long time, he reacted and shouted: "I will never regret the hundred rivers to the sea, the founding of the country is dedicated to the Ming Dynasty, and the grass people thank God!" ”

.......

The prototype of the "Wushi rifle" refers to the Dresser rifle, a new rifle invented by the Military Industry Research Institute and equipped with the Northern Capital Protectorate, and the Hall M1819 rifle.