Liu Juntao said with a smile: "I have a way!" ”

Everyone was also frightened by the huge output requested by Liu Juntao, and they were very sympathetic to Zhang Baigui in their hearts, thinking that Zhang Baigui would not be able to complete this task.

At this time, everyone was very curious when they heard that Liu Juntao had a way to increase the output of the military battle bureau in a short period of time, and they all looked at it.

Zhang Baigui couldn't wait and asked again and again.

Liu Juntao said: "Master Zhang, you tell the craftsmen of the War Bureau that from today onwards, in addition to their monthly money, for every new bird gun of acceptable quality, I will reward the craftsman with one tael and five dollars of silver to the apprentice!" However, if anyone uses shoddy bird guns to get to work, I will not only fine them ten times the cost of the work, but also send them to the Fish Mountain Salt Pond to work as coolies! ”

"Moreover, if the monthly output of an apprentice under a craftsman exceeds that of the master for three consecutive months, regardless of how many years the apprentice has just been studying, he can be promoted to a craftsman and enjoy the treatment of a craftsman."

"If the craftsman's monthly output is exceeded by his apprentice, he will have to pay a symbolic payment!"

Zhang Baigui was taken aback at first when he heard this, lowered his head and thought for a while, and then his face flushed with a hint of ruddy, and said, "Jun Tao, this idea of yours is good!" In this way, I am afraid that the craftsmen and apprentices of the War Bureau will have to rush to make new firecrackers day and night, and everyone will chase after me, work overtime, and with the help of hydraulic lathes, it may be possible to build 500 new birdguns in January! ”

"Of course!"

Liu Juntao said with a smile: "In addition, there is another point to pay attention to, that is, all the new bird guns created by the War Bureau must ensure that the size of each part is unified, especially the caliber of the gun tube, the error must be strictly controlled, and all the parts of the new bird guns created must be interchangeable, otherwise they will be regarded as shoddy waste!" ”

Zhang Baigui couldn't help frowning when he heard this, and said in a deep voice: "It's difficult to say this, what size should be used?" ”

Liu Juntao took a closer look at the sample of the new-style bird gun in his hand, and saw that although this bird gun was only a sample created by the War Bureau, it combined with all the efforts of Zhang Baigui and other craftsmen of the War Bureau, and the workmanship was very excellent, and it could even be called a work of art, far better than the bowl-mouth guns and other firearms equipped by the official army at this time!

So, Liu Juntao said: "Just take the size of this sample bird gun as the standard!" ”

Zhang Baigui took the sample bird, nodded heavily, and said: "Okay, I will unify the measurement tools of the War Bureau as soon as possible, and start to build new firearms in batches as soon as possible!" ”

At this time, Liu Zi'an next to him said: "Mr. Lian, I think that it is completely possible to sort out all the affairs and processes of the War Bureau and form a set of systems, so that the craftsmen have rules to follow." ”

Liu Juntao's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he said: "Very good! This matter is the responsibility of Master Zhang. In addition, the military and civilian ministries can do the same! ”

Guo Yongzhong and Gao Ran also discussed it roughly when they heard this, and put forward some suggestions, and Liu Juntao asked Liu Zi'an to send news to Zhang Xiaojun, Yan Hu, Chen Ziping, and Zhou Zongsheng, asking everyone to draft the required system and gather it here as soon as possible.

Later, Zhang Baigui, with the assistance of Liu Juntao, drafted a performance reward method for craftsmen of the War Bureau and a production regulations of the War Bureau, which made strict regulations on the technology, process, and standards for building various military equipment, and prepared to be implemented immediately in the War Bureau.

Next, Liu Juntao explained to Gao Ran about the construction of the black ~ gunpowder workshop.

According to Liu Juntao's idea, the place where the War Bureau manufactures black ~ gunpowder cannot be located in Yushanji Village, which is too dangerous, and once something happens, the entire Yushanji will be affected. A special yard should be built directly outside the Yushan market and north of the reeds in Yushan to make black ~ gunpowder.

"Gao Ran! The workshop that makes black ~ gunpowder should also send people to watch day and night, and the yard does not need to be built too well, nor too big, it can be sheltered from the wind and rain, and it must be put into use as soon as possible! ”

"Order!"

Next, Liu Juntao told Guo Yongzhong that he should transfer some older women from the village as soon as possible as the labor force of the gunpowder workshop, although these women are not as good as the young and strong women, but they are better than patience and carefulness, gunpowder preparation does not require much fine craftsmanship, nor does it require too much physical strength, as long as nitrate, sulfur and charcoal powder are added in proportion, they can be completely competent.

According to Liu Juntao's set for the special launch of gunpowder, the optimal ratio of nitrate, sulfur, and charcoal is 7 into 5, 1 into 1, and 1 into 5 respectively.

Zhang Baigui was also excited to record this ratio, as if he had obtained some secret recipe for immortality, and his eyes were shining.

Liu Juntao also instructed: "Master Zhang, this recipe must be kept confidential and must not be known to outsiders." Moreover, the women in the gunpowder workshop do not know this ratio, they can only be responsible for the production and purification of nitrate, sulfur and charcoal, and the final preparation must be done by yourself. ”

After that, Liu Juntao also explained how Zhang Baigui granulated black ~ gunpowder, which is an epoch-making technology, even the Shenji Battalion in the capital does not understand this technology at this time.

At this time, the power of black ~ gunpowder was not great, which led to the power and range of the gunpowder being severely limited.

However, when the black ~ gunpowder is granulated, it can be fully burned, and the power will increase several times, and the new type of firecracker made of high-quality wrought iron and stainless steel will be like a tiger, and the power and range will be greatly increased.

According to Liu Juntao's estimate, after the use of granular gunpowder, the shooting sound of the new bird gun will increase from fifty to sixty to seventy steps, and then it will form a real suppression of the archers!

In fact, Liu Juntao also knew the best ratio of gunpowder for artillery launches, and the ratios of nitrate, sulfur, and carbon were roughly 7 into 8, 8 points, and 1 into 4.

But now that Yushanji has a new bird gun, it can run rampant in all parties, so Liu Juntao has no plans to cast artillery for the time being, and is ready to replace it with a new bird gun as soon as possible, so he didn't bring it up, after all, this is not the chaotic era at the end of the Ming Dynasty, and the artillery is too eye-catching, and before he has enough strength, he will only bring trouble to himself.

Twelve days later, Liu Juntao was very happy to learn that the gunpowder workshop had been completed.

Since this gunpowder workshop did not need to be built very well, the masons recruited by the Ministry of Civil Affairs only found a hidden tidal flat and built a very simple courtyard, and the houses in the courtyard did not even have girders, it was completely a mud brick yard.

In this regard, Gao Ran also had a lot of complaints, suggesting that Liu Juntao must renovate this gunpowder workshop, which is too simple.

But Liu Juntao seemed to have his own ideas and never agreed, and Gao Ran no longer insisted when he saw this.

On this day, Liu Juntao was escorted by 21 guards to the newly built gunpowder workshop, and at this time Zhang Baigui had recruited more than 100 women in the village, and had divided everyone into three groups, respectively responsible for the production and purification of nitrate, sulfur, and charcoal.

Zhang Baigui, on the other hand, arranged for more than a dozen old men from the War Bureau to be in charge of preparing and granulating the gunpowder in a room in the innermost part of the courtyard.

Liu Juntao called Zhang Baigui to the room and said, "Master Zhang, I have thought about it for the past few days, and I feel that the launch process of the new firearm must be more simplified and quantified. For example, how much gunpowder needs to be poured into a shot should be quantified, so as to avoid excessive or too little charge of the young and strong guards in wartime, which will lead to the early scrapping of the barrel, and too little will be less powerful. ”

"So, in order to solve this problem, I decided to replace the existing reloading step with a paper shell fixed loading bullet, wrap the gunpowder needed for a shot with a paper shell along with the lead bullet, bite it directly with the mouth before firing, and stuff the paper shell bullet into the barrel as a whole!"

Hearing this, Zhang Baigui exclaimed: "That's right! I didn't think of this idea! In this way, even on the battlefield, the young and strong guards will not put more or less gunpowder because they are nervous! ”

Liu Juntao said with a smile: "Moreover, in this way, several steps can be omitted when shooting." As long as the young and strong guards fill the paper shell fixed ammunition, compact it, and then pierce the bullet body with a firing needle, and put the primer in the medicine pool, they can be fired! ”

After listening to Liu Juntao's words, Zhang Baigui's mind suddenly appeared in the scene of the young and strong guards firing collectively, which was spectacular!