Luoyang, Beijing. West Park Arsenal.

After receiving a lot of technical support, the West Park Arsenal was immediately put into production. In fact, the craftsmen gathered by Emperor Ling of Han were able to make the muskets they needed.

The barrel of the arquebus was mostly done using casting techniques, which was difficult for the craftsmen of this era, but not too great, and with enough rewards, many problems could actually be solved.

Emperor Ling of Han inspected the production situation here.

"Your Majesty, be careful." Zhang Rang said cautiously to Emperor Han Ling. Emperor Han Ling was very excited. Because they can produce muskets themselves.

"How's this musket?" Emperor Han Ling asked Zhang Rang. The craftsmen on the side were careful to deal with it, and the muskets they made were a bit heavy. The early models of the Republican Army's muskets weighed twenty-five pounds, and the later models were basically reduced to about eighteen pounds. The weight of the first imitation product of the Xiyuan New Army is about 23 catties, which exceeds the early products of the Republican Army.

"Your Majesty, this musket weighs twenty-three pounds, which is about five pounds heavier than the Republican Army's current musket, but our musket can be used even more, the barrel can be fired continuously, and twelve bullets will only heat up." Zhang Rang said.

"Hmm. Well done. Yes, this musket is a bit heavier than the Republican one, but it shows that your skills are good. There are a lot of problems that can be solved, and I should be very happy. You're doing a great job. Emperor Han Ling said. Although the muskets made by the Xiyuan Arsenal were a little heavier, Emperor Han Ling was still very happy, first, this was the musket produced by the Xiyuan Arsenal itself, which meant that they got rid of the situation of achieving musket equipment through trade, which was an extremely favorable situation for them. The second is that the muskets produced by Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty believe that the quality is not as bad as the muskets produced by the Republican Army, especially in some places where the muskets dissipate heat. He felt that his product surpassed that of the Republican Army.

The musket will have the problem of overheating the barrel after continuous firing, for example, the Republican Army's current eighteen-pound products will have such a situation, after they have fired eight times in a row, the barrel must be cooled down, so the Republican Army rarely organizes large-scale intensive and rapid shooting, because in that case, there will be problems. And if you want to maintain a certain amount of firepower on the battlefield, the best way is to maintain a certain rhythm, and through rhythmic control, it is a practice to prevent the musket from overheating. This is a tactical improvement by the Republican Army through scientific and technological means. But on the part of the imperial court, they could not do such a situation, for the simple reason that they did not have a very high chance of using muskets in actual combat. There was a lot lacking in tactics, as well as in use, plus the musket was expensive. This led to a very passive change in the court's tactical innovations. They simply don't get the relevant development.

"Good. It is very thick, and only such a weapon can greatly satisfy our needs, without such a weapon, our situation will become extremely difficult. Therefore, such a weapon is the kind of weapon and equipment that we need the most. Emperor Han Ling said.

Emperor Ling of Han was not an expert in firearms, what he needed was a weapon, and he wanted to use the equipment of this weapon to deter most of those with ulterior motives. Only in this way can his country be stable, and all his things can become favorable, this is the method that Emperor Han Ling needs most at present, as for the rest, he will not think about it at all, because if there are too many, it will not be of much use at all.

"Your Majesty. This way. Zhang Rang carefully guided. The West Park Arsenal has three branches. A research institute. The three branches are, the musket factory, which is mainly used for the production of muskets, and he has two production lines. It is expected to produce 20 muskets a day. But this kind of output still made Emperor Han Ling very dissatisfied, what he needed was to produce more than one hundred and fifty a day. And then there's the bullet factory. The bullet factory uses all female workers.

In the early days, muskets were very cumbersome to load, ** in a gourd, or in a cowhide bag. It takes more than fifteen steps to reload a bullet. If one of them goes wrong, the musket may not be able to fire accurately. Later Shang Wu simplified a little, mainly in the bullet progress. Trade has improved some of the new conditions in the base areas, which means that they have more resources. For example, animal fat, they can be made into grease paper, this paper can be used to produce bullets, warheads, *** can be packed together, when used, can be used in a variety of ways to achieve such a situation. So, the improvement of the bullet is also a way to speed up the rate of fire. The Republican Army has specialized bullet factories. Because the consumption of ammunition is very large. In addition to this, women workers also produce some shells. Because a single solid shell simply cannot cope with all situations that occur.

In addition to these, there are artillery factories, which produce artillery. Unlike the Republican Army, the Republican Army began to produce artillery pieces of more than four inches. The artillery materials they used were all bronze, because only bronze could meet such a need, and guns under four inches were uniformly cast with iron. Because this is the only way to reduce costs and at the same time increase the number of artillery.

Unlike the Republican Army, the artillery factory of the New Army in the West Park. They don't use iron. Because large quantities of copper coins were transported to the north in exchange for more artillery. muskets, as well as related technical equipment. At the same time, in order to reduce production costs, although Emperor Ling of Han attached great importance to the construction of the Xiyuan Arsenal, the problem was that their artillery factories also needed to reduce costs. Therefore, their artillery uses a large amount of cast iron, because only in this way can the cost be reduced, and their situation can be even better. It's something they have to do. So, when the new army in the West Park used artillery of its own production. They were all very excited.

Because in order to achieve the effect of firing a five-inch gun, the gun needs to be constantly thickened. His weight was as high as 5,000 pounds, and such a heavy cannon was extremely difficult to carry. Especially when fighting on the front lines. Such artillery. Twelve cows are usually required to transport. Even more cattle are needed to complete the long haul. If bronze is used, such a situation can be greatly reduced. But as a result, in order to reduce costs, the West Park Arsenal took a path that had never been taken before. The weight of the artillery could not be lowered for a long time. The speed of artillery was much lower than that of infantry. This greatly limited the use of artillery firepower.

In addition, there is a research institute, which is equivalent to a place for craftsmen to study, and at the same time, it is also a place where the West Park Arsenal produces, because they produce a wide variety of weapons. For example, **, hands**, and various rumored shells. That is, ***.

The spies of the imperial court are not stupid. They actively collected information about the IRA. For example, they disguised themselves as businessmen and entered the vicinity of the Republican Army's factories, training grounds. For any new type of weapon that appears, the number of the unit must be collected. Through this kind of collection, we can meet a demand for our own production. They're all doing it. It can be said that only in this way can they greatly satisfy their situation.

Coupled with a series of seizures on the battlefield before, for example, they have begun to produce a telescope to meet the needs of front-line reconnaissance and command, but the production is not high. The quality is also not good. But there's a lot of room for improvement. In addition to this, they will also solve these problems in other ways. Like what**. Hands **, they don't understand how they do this. For example, ** can be produced, but the production is extremely slow, and many of them are produced by extremely skilled craftsmen. Such a way will only increase their burden. This can make their situation very unfavorable.

This is basically the situation of the West Park Arsenal. Of course. In addition to the Xiyuan Arsenal, there is another arsenal, that is, the Luoyang Arsenal. It was the arsenal established by the great general He Jin.

These two arsenals have a common feature, that is, the ancient yamen-style management mode, rather than the modern enterprise management model. There's a big difference.

The IRA places military orders and then produces them in large quantities. They remain technologically advanced. Then make the purchase. Although they are also one of the government's assets. But they have their own business model, and managers also have to think about the corporate profits of the factory. To do this, they had to export some low-grade products in exchange for a large amount of profit. That's why the IRA has three arsenals, and in fact, they all have a competitive relationship. In this way, the vitality of the business can be maintained.

And the West Garden, as well as the Luoyang Arsenal, they are just a yamen institution established by the imperial court, and they are a kind of enterprise under the jurisdiction of the yamen. They need to issue production tasks according to the needs of the rulers, and as for things like considering costs and profits, this is not a matter for them to consider, because they are iron rice bowls. Although there were some rewards at first. Encourage innovation, invention and creativity. But this backward mode of production is destined to be in a bad situation for them, because it is extremely inconsistent with their current situation, in which they can complete their production tasks very well. But they still have a lot of difficulty in solving all the problems. Because it takes more and more time to solve such a problem.

In short, the situation at both arsenals is not too rosy. They lack a certain dynamism.