Beijing, Dongcheng District, on the edge of the Datong River.

Hundreds of large water wheels are lined up, and the "squeak" automatically rotates non-stop.

The waterwheel drove the sledgehammer and bombarded the steaming armor and components.

There are also more than a dozen huge waterwheels, driving more than a dozen simple drilling machines of different sizes to drill holes in the barrels that have been pressed out one by one.

The various workshops that are densely packed and spread over a radius of several miles are full of all kinds of craftsmen, and the sound of tinkling blows is endless.

Not far from the newly built large wharf on the banks of the Chase River, there are two simple blast furnaces that are not too big or small, and there is also a coke oven nearby, both of which are crowded with a large number of people.

Ships of all sizes, pulling boatloads of ore, coal and other materials, came to the big dock to unload, and then left quickly.

In the heat wave, amid the neat shouts of many craftsmen, two furnaces of red molten iron flowed out of the blast furnace.

"Add charcoal powder!"

"Add that bucket of ore powder on the right! Add slowly! ”

"Quick! Stir! Stir hard! ”

"Hurry up, get the slag out immediately!" ……

In the shouting and scolding of several master craftsmen, the orderly but busy scene can be seen everywhere in this area.

It is true that there is great power in numbers, and it is true in ancient and modern times.

With tens of thousands of blacksmiths, gunsmiths, and gunsmiths, as well as the command of 100 masters and experts, and the unforgettable Zhu Youxiao, it is only natural that all kinds of steel of ordinary quality are produced in large quantities.

The craftsmen of this era have reached a peak in terms of craftsmanship.

As long as someone clicks on their brains, it is easy to make breakthroughs, and various steels such as high-carbon steel and alloy steel will naturally follow.

Who has the most people in today's capital?

In addition to the homeless people, it is the craftsmen and their families who have the most.

Nearly twenty days have passed since Zhu Youxiao raided his family and wiped out his clan, and almost all the craftsmen in the vast area of Shuntian Mansion and Yongping Mansion have been brought to the capital by Xiao Xuanzi by various methods.

This is already more than half of the various craftsmen in Beizhili, not to mention that the capital originally had the most and best craftsmen in the entire Ming Dynasty.

Not counting those displaced people, the proportion of artisans who fled from all over the country to the capital is extremely high.

Artisans from other places, and many more, were on their way to the capital under the escort of CIA personnel.

From now on, in less than a month, more than half of the artisan households in the entire Ming Dynasty will gather in the hands of Zhu Youxiao, together with their families, the number is estimated to exceed four million.

But for Zhu Youxiao, it is just two or three hundred large farms along the super official road, and all the families of these artisans can be settled.

It's as simple as it gets, and there's no stress.

"Your Majesty, come and take a look."

As soon as Zhu Youxiao arrived, he was taken to the side of the big school by Sun Yuanhua and others, who got up to greet him.

I have to say that the technographers who are engaged in technology, when they get excited, basically don't care about any etiquette.

"Your Majesty, this is our latest double-barreled flintlock pistol, which is upgraded from the combination of the Lumi Gun and the Three-Eyed Gun, which is much easier to use than the Three-Eyed Gun you said!"

Sun Yuanhua took two new-style muskets from a craftsman beside him, one long and one short, and said to Zhu Youxiao: "According to your reminder from the emperor, coupled with the improvement of steel materials, we have easily designed these two muskets and a new Furang machine gun. ”

"The rifling problem has also been solved, and it is easy to use a large water wheel to drive the drilling machine, and when the barrel and barrel have not yet cooled down, the rotation and stretching speed of the special drill bit are strictly controlled."

"However, these are breech guns, and there is no way to solve the problem of rear-loading guns, bullets and shells you mentioned, so we need to study it further."

Sun Yuanhua is a technical nerd, and when he talks about it, it is endless.

Obviously, he was already in a state of extreme excitement.

"Damn, isn't this the double-barreled shotgun that my grandfather used?"

Zhu Youxiao took a look at this new musket and found that it was very similar to the double-barreled shotgun he had seen his grandfather use when he was a child.

That kind of shotgun, which also uses black powder, is also a flintlock pistol, which is extremely powerful, and can kill a wild boar with one shot, and it is lethal for more than 100 meters.

It's just that it was turned in later.

There is no way, even wild boars are not beaten, it is illegal to shoot birds, and even more so if you have a gun, you will go to jail.

"Uh......"

Zhu Youxiao was a little speechless, what he needed most now was not guns, but also sophisticated armor, weapons, bows and arrows, and strong crossbows.

It's good now, the three guys who were appointed to form the Royal Military Equipment Department are all gun experts and enthusiasts, and it is estimated that more than half of their energy is used to develop guns, right?

Well, guns are an inevitable law of historical development, that's right.

However, you three gunnerds, you must first arm my 700,000 new army before you study these things?

"Your Majesty, this is a new Franc cannon!"

Sun Yuanhua was still unconscious, and continued to explain to Zhu Youxiao with one mind, pointing to a small and medium-sized artillery cannon with a steel and copper core next to him, and said:

"This new Franc cannon is a barrel that we cast using the segmented condensation method inside and outside the iron mold, and the quality is very good, and we designed it to fire flowering and scattering shells, and the firing speed is extremely fast."

"With the concerted efforts of too many craftsmen, flowering shells and propellant packs are easy to make, and with the effect of rifling, it is still easy to shoot a few miles in one shot."

The more Sun Yuanhua spoke, the more excited he became, "The red-coated cannons of those Westerners are not as powerful as our new artillery. ”

"We have carried out fine processing and proportioning of black powder, and each process is strictly operated, and we have tried various gunpowder ratios and obtained several optimal formulas."

"And the Blossom Bomb is one of the recipes, and there's a new explosive pack, a large explosive pack, which can basically blow up any city gate ...... today."

Sun Yuanhua talked endlessly, and Zhu Youxiao was not easy to interrupt his words, and after listening to his chatter for more than a quarter of an hour, he patiently watched him command the craftsman to fire a few shots and shoot a few shots.

"Sun Aiqing, you have done a good job of guns, but you still have to continue to upgrade, and you can build dozens of new Franco cannons first."

Zhu Youxiao encouraged him, and then asked, "Now that the problem of steel has been solved, how are the current armor and bows and crossbows made?" ”

With so many craftsmen and the support of unlimited money and food, if this guy doesn't complete this most important thing, he will go crazy.

Guns, I'll tell you, do I have an artifact? I can make a few super cannons casually, and there is no problem in deterring the enemy.

Musket artillery, within three or five months, really doesn't need much, or rather, it's not in a hurry for the time being.

It is necessary to cast a large number of guns and cannons, at least after the urgently needed armor and bows and crossbows are completed, the army will be armed before getting it.

"Back to the emperor, the construction of today's armor is being taken care of by several masters."

As soon as he heard those cold weapons, Sun Yuanhua lost interest, "Listen to them, more than a dozen semi-manual and semi-automatic assembly lines have been basically completed." ”

"Yesterday they also came to report that in more than a month at most, they will be able to complete the manufacture of one million sets of armor and tens of thousands of bows and crossbows, and they will not miss a major event."

He was a smart man, and he still knew what was important, although he was extremely obsessed with the development of guns.

This emperor is a murderous emperor, Sun Yuanhua does not dare to defy the law.

Just kidding, those weapons supervisors and officials who will be imprisoned are still cold in their bones!