In the early morning of the next day, when Zhao Yu appeared in front of the stewards in the mansion with two black circles under his eyes, everyone was startled, but they could see that the prince was in good spirits, and he couldn't figure out the situation for a while, and he didn't know what the kid wanted to toss, so he didn't dare to keep an eye on his every move.

"Ah, Director Zhou, tell everyone about the situation!" Zhao Yu yawned and said to Zhou Xiang, he knew that the weapons supervisor of the Song Dynasty had a set of systematic inspection standards and processes, but thinking of the corruption of the imperial court in the later period, he felt still uneasy last night, so he stayed up all night at the test shooting field, and this young body was a little difficult to support high-intensity work, it was okay when he was nervous, and as soon as he sat down, he felt that sleepy insects were flying all over the sky.

"Yes, Your Highness." After Zhou Xiang stood up and saluted the prince, he turned to the crowd again, "After many days, His Highness's improved bed crossbow has been successfully trial-produced, and after dozens of shooting tests last night, it can be put into use. This crossbow can throw five catties of stone projectiles at 400 paces with full strength, and the remaining strength can still break through heavy armor; Within 350 steps, a two-foot-thick rammed earth wall can be destroyed; Brick-clad walls can be destroyed within a step; Three hundred steps can break a one-foot-thick stone wall, and the power of iron bullets should be even stronger. If you change to a bullet slot, you can also fire long arrows, but the time is in a hurry, and it is estimated that there is no indestructibility within 100 steps. ”

"Master Zhou, it sounds powerful, but I don't know if I can shoot it?" Zhao Mengjin knew that the power of weapons such as trebuchets was not small, but if the distance was a little farther, it often referred to the west and the east, and the accuracy was too poor, so he asked this question.

"General Zhao, we test the shooting of a target with a height and width of five zhang, and the craftsmen will act as the shooters. Within 100 steps, you can be 89 out of ten, within 300 steps you can be 56 out of ten, and you can still be 1 out of 10 within 400 steps. If you switch to a skilled shooter in the army and use it during the day, it will definitely improve a lot. Zhou Xiang said proudly.

"Director Zhou, this bed crossbow is hugely powerful, how many people will be used to operate it, and can it be used on the ship?" Liu Zhu listened and asked anxiously, if the warship was equipped with such a sharp weapon, it would take advantage of the battle, and think about how pleasant it would be to be shot by his own side outside the range of the bow and crossbow, and even be able to sink the enemy ship.

"Hehe, General Liu, this crossbow can be placed with only two zhang square, and only five sergeants are needed to control it, so of course there is no problem in using it on the warship." Zhou Xiang explained with a smile.

"That's wonderful, this crossbow must be allocated to our navy." Liu Zhu clapped his hands and shouted.

"Your Highness, we still owe a lot of bows and crossbows for our infantry army, so we should allocate the infantry army first." Huang Xianyao stood up and saluted the prince, he is smart and tight, His Royal Highness still has to have the final say in this matter, and it is useless to put Zhou Xiang's ink.

"There's no need to rob, there's no need to rush, the bed crossbow has just been made, and none of you can take it. The top priority is that your navy army and infantry army each select a hundred smart and calm sergeants, and learn to use them first. Zhao Yu raised his eyelids and said.

"Hehe, Your Highness, this method is the best, no one will use it to allocate it to you, it is up to you how much you can get." Zhao Mengjin laughed and said, these days he is also a big head, the most lacking thing in the house now is ordnance, and there is nowhere to buy money, fortunately, His Royal Highness got some from Zhang Shijie, but it is not enough, all the armies are scrambling, just now I was worried about how to deal with it, but I didn't expect His Highness to block it for him.

"Director Zhou, your craftsman bureau should also hurry up and dispatch reliable manpower to hurry up the manufacturing, within ten days this king will see twenty bed crossbows, if it is completed on time there will be a reward, and if it is delayed, you will be asked. Don't delay the other things, I will see the finished product in two days. Zhao Hao was so sleepy that he couldn't open his eyes anymore, and waved his hand to let everyone stop arguing.

"Yes, Your Highness rest assured, your subordinates will supervise the completion." Zhou Xiang clenched his fists and saluted, but he was thinking about how to complete it.

"General Liu, General Huang, this king has already said in advance, every time the craftsman bureau completes a piece, it will be given priority to the best group, don't blame this king if you don't get it then, how to assess this king and then send it to you." Zhao Yu said to the other two.

"Yes, Your Highness!" Liu and Huang also knew that things could not be changed so far, and it was useless to say more, so they could only obey orders.

"If there is no other thing, the king will go and sleep for a while. If there is an emergency, find Manager Cai to deal with it," Zhao Yu looked at the people.

"Your Highness has worked hard, go and rest quickly!" Cai Wanyi got up and said, he was originally worried that Yu Rugui would threaten his position when he came, but now that the prince said this, he showed his attitude......

When the exhausted Zhao Yu finally lay down on the bed, he couldn't sleep, his mind was full of new weapon research and development, and this state was still in front of the crossing, at that time, as the head of the project, he had to devote himself to it, lest something go wrong, and the biggest wish in his heart was to get a good night's sleep. But in the days of being alone on the lonely ship, he missed the fulfilling days very much, but he didn't expect God to fulfill his wish again.

For another super weapon, the rocket, Zhao Hao is even more bottomless in his heart. If you want to say that the ballista has something to do with what you learned in your previous life, at least it is a mechanical thing, and this one is purely a layman, and what you know is purely theoretical, without practical experience, and the danger of trial production is not comparable to that of a ballista, because the core of the rocket is black powder, and if something happens, it will be earth-shattering. And the rocket itself is a relatively simple thing.

In fact, Zhao Yu knew very well that the Song Dynasty was the transition from the era of cold weapons to hot weapons, and at this time, black powder had also been used in the military for more than 100 years. During this period, gunpowder has been developed considerably, with different functions such as combustion, poisonous gas, smoke screen, etc., but its formula has not yet had a strict quantitative ratio, the raw material composition is complex, and the purity is not enough, so it still cannot effectively exert all the properties of gunpowder, especially it does not have the most essential thing of gunpowder - explosive power.

Therefore, improving the formula of the black powder formula has become a top priority, Zhao Yu adjusted the formula according to his own knowledge, in addition to trying to use the French invented 'wet method' to make gunpowder, and the process is also complicated, only need to soak the various ingredients in water first, and then mix them to make a large cake, after drying or air drying, crushed, sifted through a fine sieve, the gunpowder powder will become small granules, and then packed in a large barrel to grind off the edges and corners of the particles.

The components of gunpowder manufactured by this method form a relatively stable structure between the molecules, which is not easy to decompose during long-distance transportation, and the combustion space between the particles is large, so that it is easy to burn evenly, shorten the detonation time, and improve the power. Of course, the specific work does not need Zhao Hao to do, but in order to keep it secret, he still taught the formula to Ni Liang, let him lead the soldiers to be responsible for weighing and mixing the materials, and then let the craftsmen operate according to the process.

Of course, what Zhao Yu is going to build is not the kind of rocket that has a medicine bag tied to the barrel of the arrow, but the ancestor of missiles and launch vehicles, the Drill Monkey. The first time rockets were used in warfare was not the Chinese, but India, who tied a cartridge containing gunpowder to a balance bar made of wooden sticks and fired it into the enemy camp using the thrust generated by the burning of gunpowder. Later, the British learned how to make it and improved it in the battle against it.

After several years of exploration, the Briton Congreve created a practical rocket with a range of up to 1800 meters using a new type of gunpowder. After continuous improvement, the range can reach three or four kilometers. At first, it mainly killed the enemy with tail flame incention, and later it was equipped with a blasting warhead. Rockets were initially equipped for the Navy for naval artillery and marines to launch from warships or specialized rocket sampans, and later were equipped with Army cavalry artillery units to form separate rocket artillery companies. Because compared with the artillery of the early nineteenth century, the rocket has the characteristics of fast rate of fire, long range, and flexibility, which makes it stand out before the emergence of new artillery, and is called "the soul of artillery without a cannon body".

Of course, this kind of rocket is not without shortcomings, that is, the accuracy is too poor, and it is normal to deviate by 180 meters. But there is also a reason why Zhao Yu wants to install it, because there are too few guards and there is a shortage of weapons. The rocket is simple to manufacture, fast to launch, can be mounted on a large scale, and the salvo can achieve the effect of covering the shot, coupled with the sound and light effect it produces, it will have a great deterrent effect on people and war horses, which can just make up for the shortcomings of the slow rate of fire of the ballista......

"What's going on, what's the noise outside?" Just when Zhao Hao tossed and turned and couldn't fall asleep, there was a noise outside.

"Your Highness, Director Zhou has an urgent matter to see, and the little one asked him to go to Manager Cai, but he said that only His Highness can solve it, and his voice was louder, and he made a noise." Wang De ran over and said.

"Ask him what's going on, so anxious?" Zhao Yu said angrily.

"Your Highness, Director Zhou said that the new gunpowder was made, but the craftsman caught fire instantly during the trial, and burned his head and face, I want to ask His Highness to take an idea!" After a while, Wang De ran in again and reported.

"Eh, how did I forget this, change my clothes quickly!" Zhao Yu was taken aback when he heard this, he didn't expect that something would happen if he was careful, but he immediately thought of the problem. At this time, because of the composition ratio, the gunpowder has a high ignition point and a slow burning speed, and it cannot be ignited directly with fire, and can only be ignited by using a red-hot iron cone. And the craftsmen didn't know that the new gunpowder burned very quickly, and if it was burned with an iron cone, the gunpowder would explode in an instant, and it would be strange if it didn't burn.

Because of the accident, Zhao Hao couldn't sleep, so he hurried to the scene to deal with it. The two craftsmen who tried to ignite the gunpowder had black faces, their hair and eyebrows were curled, and their clothes were full of small holes, which looked very scary, but fortunately it was not serious after cleaning, but the head, face and arms were red, and there were a few more blisters. However, it also shows that gunpowder is very sensitive and basically meets the requirements. The solution is actually very simple, just use the lead as a medium instead. Under the guidance of Zhao Hao, the paper fuse was installed, and then they made several large medicine bags for testing, and their power surprised and amazed the old craftsmen.

The successful trial production of gunpowder marks half the success of the rocket manufacturing. Next, Zhao Yu ordered the blacksmith to make several iron cartridges with a diameter of three inches and a length of three feet and three inches from the iron sheet, filled them with gunpowder and weighed them, and then ordered the carpenter to cut several wooden rods five feet long. Then the cartridge and the wooden pole are tied together for a balance test, which is a key step in whether the rocket can take off smoothly......