After the successful development of the steam locomotive, Zhu Cijiong was a little impressed by the technology of Song Yingxing and others, he originally thought that the steam locomotive would have to be developed for at least a few months, tossing back and forth a few times before it could move, but he didn't expect it to succeed once, although there was no brake, no steering system, but that was just what he forgot to tell others, he mentioned it a little, Song Yingxing understood, I believe that it will not be long before these problems will be satisfactorily solved.

After returning to the palace, Zhu Cijiong's mood was still not calm for a long time, his first few cronies have now fully grown up, and even surpassed him in some fields, but he lacks the experience of his previous life, so it is difficult to develop new things, after all, not everyone can be like Einstein, with the talent to create inventions and lead the progress of the times.

However, with Zhu Cijiong, the 'well-informed' emperor, it doesn't really matter whether they have the talent to create inventions or not, as long as the technology arrives at home, sometimes all they need is a hint, and they can turn what they imagine into reality.

In recent years, Zhu Cijiong has been busy dealing with the eunuchs, cleaning up the Donglin Party, dealing with the peasant uprising, defeating the Houjin to recover the lost land in Liaodong, and there is not much time to consider the problem of invention and creation, now it is different, although it can not be said that the four seas are leveling, but the Ming Dynasty has basically stopped the decline of decline, and slowly moved towards recovery, it can be said that the Ming Dynasty has no worries, it is the time to rise, and at this time, countless inventions and creations are needed to promote the development and progress of the Ming Dynasty.

What is the most needed 'invention' right now? Naturally, it is something that strengthens the combat effectiveness of the army, that is, weapons.

What kind of weapons should I 'invent'? Zhu Cijiong began to recall the weapons of his previous life, what planes, tanks, missiles, atomic bombs ......, well, these are not very realistic, if they can be made, they can naturally sweep the world, and the world is invincible, but with the current technology, there is no need to think about it.

What can be done now is muskets and artillery, in fact, there is not much room for improvement in artillery, limited to the explosive power of black powder, and now the lethality of artillery actually mainly depends on the weight of the cannonball itself, that is to say, the larger the cannonball, the greater the lethality, and the real explosion power of the flowering projectile can't kill a few people. Of course, if tons of black powder can be thrown into the enemy's formation, it can also cause huge damage, but the volume of one ton of gunpowder, if you do a little less to build a cannon with a caliber of more than one meter, the weight of that kind of behemoth is at least dozens of tons, and it is not realistic to move it at all.

Therefore, the most realistic thing now is to improve the musket, as an engineer from a military factory, he is naturally familiar with firearms, what pistols, machine guns, submachine guns, semi-automatic rifles, automatic rifles, sniper rifles, ......, he doesn't know how many kinds of guns are loaded in his mind, what is good to make?

After thinking about it for a long time, Zhu Cijiong was ready to try out a few simple firearms first:

First of all, the revolver, in fact, this revolver Bi Maokang had already made a sample years ago, but his sample was too big, just like a hand drill, it was not convenient to carry at all, Zhu Cijiong was ready to let him change to the size of a normal pistol, although the firing distance and lethality would be reduced, but at least it was convenient to carry, like artillery, generals at all levels, etc., it was inconvenient to bring rifles, with a pistol, the enemy should rush over with swords, guns, swords and halberds and other melee weapons, and directly take out the pistol to break through the enemy.

Then there is the revolver rifle, which is also improved on the basis of Bi Maokang's revolver, no need to shrink, as long as the barrel is as long as an ordinary flintlock pistol, this rifle Zhu Cijiong is intended for cavalry, the reason why the cavalry has not been equipped with a gun is because the current flintlock pistol is too troublesome, and it is impossible to change it on horseback. This kind of revolver rifle is different, there are six rounds in one revolver, and it can be equipped with several more revolvers, and several revolvers, several revolvers, are fully loaded with ammunition before the war, and when the time comes, it is still possible to ride a horse and change the revolver.

The last is the sniper rifle, this is what Zhu Cijiong is going to use to Yin the other general, in this era of combat, whether it is a field battle or a siege, it is generally believed that three miles away is a very safe distance, if you can make a sniper rifle with a range of about three miles, and then with the scope made by Xu Guangqi, it is definitely the best weapon for the Yin people. If you want to have this kind of sniper rifle, Huang Taiji has been killed by him several times, how can he still fight to death, and in the end he ran away.

After everything was considered, Zhu Cijiong asked Cao Huachun to invite Xu Guangqi and Bi Maokang to come together.

These two people can be said to be his cronies among his cronies, Zhu Cijiong has always been quite kind to them, considering that this time is to discuss the issue of 'invention and creation', Zhu Cijiong specially invited them to his private study, that is, the place where he painted the ghost, and specially prepared tables, chairs and tea for them.

This study was newly arranged by Zhu Cijiong, mainly for the convenience of drawing drawings, after all, the imperial study is a place to deal with state affairs, if he transforms it too outrageously, it will be a bit undignified, so he simply got a private study.

Here, he can get whatever he wants, anyway, it is his private territory, and ordinary ministers can't get in, so the layout is quite trendy.

What kind of trendy method is it? First of all, the windows are not traditionally carved, but glass, which is convenient for colored light; Then the desk is not a traditional single desk, but a large conference table, which is convenient for him to draw; The bookshelf is directly saved, which is not the place to read; All four walls were whitewashed, and his drawings hung everywhere.

Then the pen, ink, paper, and inkstone were also changed, the brush was not, he was really not used to that thing, he used a quill and a fine charcoal pen here, and the ink was also ground in a bottle, and the paper was not ordinary paper, but a blank newspaper, as for the inkstone, it was directly saved.

Xu Guangqi and Bi Maokang were stunned when they came in, this style was a bit too surreal, and they really couldn't accept it. When Zhu Cijiong asked them to sit down, they didn't dare anymore, joking about a table, you sit on one head, we sit on both sides, doesn't this make us sit on an equal footing with you, on an equal footing with the emperor, who would dare!

Zhu Cijiong had no choice but to let them stand.

After a few words of greeting, Zhu Cijiong slowly got to the point, and he first asked Xu Guangqi: "Master, I don't know how that scope is doing?" ”

When Xu Guangqi heard this, his expression was a little embarrassed, he hesitated for a moment, and finally put his hand into his arms, took out a cylinder two fingers thick, about the length of chopsticks, and handed it to Zhu Cijiong.

Zhu Cijiong took it in his hand and saw that it was a telescope, copper-shelled, with an extremely smooth surface, just like a delicate handicraft, but he didn't expect Xu Guangqi to have a hobby of playing with gadgets. He didn't say much, but took it and looked out the window, about two miles away, and if a transparent crosshair was drawn in front of it, it would be a scope.

Now that the scope came out, there was hope for this sniper rifle, and he turned his head and asked Bi Maokang: "Meng Hou, can you make a flintlock pistol with a shooting distance of about three miles?" ”

When Bi Maokang heard this, he thought for a while and replied: "Your Majesty, if the barrel is thickened and lengthened, and then the medicine room is increased to three miles, it is not a problem, but the gun is estimated to weigh more than 20 catties, and it is difficult for a soldier to lift the gun." ”

Zhu Cijiong said indifferently: "This is easy to do, just stand in front of someone, put the barrel on your shoulder, and then someone will be responsible for aiming and shooting." ”

Bi Maokang thought about it again, and said a little curiously: "This is okay, but isn't the rate of fire reduced a lot, and it can only stand in a single row, and the actual combat effect is far inferior to the 24-type flintlock pistol." ”

He can think of the actual combat effect, Zhu Cijiong felt very pleased, but he completely thought of the wrong direction, he thought that this gun was to be equipped on a large scale, just kidding, if it is to be equipped on a large scale, it is estimated that it will cost a million taels of silver to equip a legion, and the cost of such a gun is not cheap, and I am afraid that a scope alone will cost dozens of taels of silver.

Zhu Cijiong had no choice but to point out the function and said: "This kind of gun is named a sniper rifle, and it is used to sneak attack enemy generals, not for large-scale operations. ”

Bi Maokang made a big red face, and he was a little embarrassed to speak.

Zhu Cijiong hurriedly encouraged: "Meng Hou, don't care, it is necessary to invent new things and imagine boldly, and it is also necessary to demonstrate carefully, especially in the development of new types of guns, we must consider the needs of actual combat." A revolver like the one you did last time was a bit of a minority. “

Bi Maokang hurriedly arched his hand and said, "Please correct the emperor." “

Zhu Cijiong patiently explained: "The pistol I am talking about refers to a musket that is easy to carry and used for close defense, and it is really inconvenient to carry it with you, so it must be made smaller, preferably the size of a palm, and that is called a real pistol." “

Bi Maokang said ashamedly: "It's Weichen who thought wrongly, for convenience, borrowed a lot of parts of the two-four type flintlock pistol, so that it was made so big, and now I think about it, it is indeed very different from the emperor's original description." “

Zhu Cijiong comforted: "It's okay, it's new, there are very few successes at one time, don't be afraid to make mistakes, you have to do it first, you can change it if you make mistakes." And the sample you made last time also reminded me, think about it, if the barrel is made as long as the Type 24 flintlock pistol, wouldn't it be a six-shot flintlock rifle with a rate of fire increased by a factor of how many times? And changing one wheel is equivalent to changing six bullets, and how many times has the speed of changing bullets increased? This gun has a new name, called a submachine gun, and even cavalry can be equipped after it is made! “

When Bi Maokang heard this, his eyes lit up, and he said convincingly: "The emperor is wise, Weichen didn't expect this at the beginning." “

Zhu Cijiong shook his head and said modestly: "It's not my credit, you've done it all, I just lengthened the barrel a little at the end." “

Bi Maokang hurriedly humbly conceded: "Weichen doesn't dare to take credit. “

Zhu Cijiong smiled and said: "I will remember the credit for you for the time being, and I will reward you well after the pistol, submachine gun, and sniper rifle are all made." “

Bi Maokang was grateful, and Zhu Cijiong took advantage of the situation to encourage: "Meng Hou, in the future, you should think more, try to make more, don't be afraid to make mistakes, I will check for you, I believe that you will be able to make more and more practical firearms." “