During the period of the Jinggangshan Repair Institute, the Chu army had the ability to manufacture artillery, and the imitation of the new Furlong machine artillery had a long range, great power and fast rate of fire, and was well received in actual combat.

After the Huguang War, most of the repair institute moved to Hengyang, expanded into Hengyang Arsenal, purchased and manufactured a number of relatively advanced production equipment, the scale of personnel was expanded by two times compared with the original, and the production capacity was doubled, and in the form of production, there was already the prototype of a modern factory...... Such a speed of development is unprecedented in the Ming Dynasty, not only is it extremely terrifying in the eyes of outsiders, but even Fang Zhengzheng, the direct supervisor, can't believe it.

Wang Kefan felt that it was very ordinary, or rather, it was far from it.

The starting point of Hengyang Arsenal is low, the foundation is thin, and the development speed of the initial stage is definitely relatively fast, but due to the limitations of technical level and personnel, Hengyang Arsenal still has a long way to go...... Science and technology are the primary productive forces, without the production technology leading the times, without advanced machine equipment, it is impossible to replace manual labor with machine production, and it is impossible to shift from manual production to large-scale machine production.

Because of the limitation of objective conditions, for a long time, the production technology of Hengyang Arsenal will not have a qualitative breakthrough, and it is closer to a super-large manual workshop, rather than a modern factory based on machine production.

There is still a long way to go, and it is full of bumps.

But that's the way of the future!

So when naming, Wang Kefan still chose the name "Hengyang Arsenal" instead of the workshop.

After the efforts of one generation or even several generations, there will come a time in the future. She will turn into a real factory.

For the time being, whether it is a factory or a factory, as long as it can meet the needs of the war. Even if it meets the requirements. However, with the completion of the naval division, the Chu army's demand for artillery suddenly soared, and although the Hengyang Arsenal was in full production, there was still a big gap.

Because of the lack of artillery, many of the ships of the naval division were bare-plate ships, and they could only be trained on wooden models in the reserved gun emplacements. Sharpshooters are fed with bullets, and sharpshooters are about the same. The sailors practiced loading, aiming, and shooting against the wooden cannons every day, but they always felt plausible. Not much improvement.

Towards the end of the inspection, the group walked and watched, Wang Kefan and Ye Jinghai, the master of the water division, were in front, and not far behind. Shi Lang quarreled with Fang Zhengzheng.

"The training is okay. If there is a real fight, you can't still use wooden cannons, right? Eight new ships have been launched this month, and only 12 guns have been installed, and there are more and more guns missing, what are you doing with food?! I don't know what to do?! Shi Lang raised his voice and kept arguing at Fang Zhengzheng.

Because of Wang Kefan's presence, Shi Lang was quite restrained, but his personality dictated. A mouth is unpleasant, and no matter how unpleasant it is, how to say it. It's just that I barely slapped the table and scolded my mother, in the eyes of others, it was still a bit too presumptuous.

"Shi Lang! You don't want to spew blood! It's not your turn to point fingers at the Hengyang Arsenal! Fang Zhengzheng is from a technical background, and his temper is more blamed than Shi Lang, in front of Wang Kefan and everyone who was scolded and angry, his face immediately turned red, Tengteng rushed up in two steps, stretched out his hand and pointed at Shi Lang and scolded back, his fingers trembled, and he almost poked his nose.

"The battalions of the land division have been fighting, of course the new artillery created must be close to them, the water division is idle anyway, give you twelve cannons, a lot of ......"

Fang Zhengzheng is the director of the Hengyang Arsenal, and also serves as the director of the Hengyang Shipyard, and the Cheng Wen interface of the logistics department, and is directly responsible for Wang Kefan, and his role in the Chu military system is similar to the "deputy director of the General Armament Department".

In the past few months, as long as Fang Zhengzheng and Shi Lang meet, they will definitely have a big quarrel. Shi Lang only has a sailor in his eyes, never considers the difficulties of others, Fang Zhengzheng is proficient in Gewuxue, belongs to a technical cadre, is sensitive and arrogant and not good at communication, the two of them are like Mars touching the earth, every time they meet, it is a world upside down.

"Phew! You're still a man, like a shrew! ”

Shi Lang suddenly withdrew his troops, turned his face and hung up the war-free card, and muttered: "Good men don't fight with women, good men don't fight with women, Lao Tzu will ignore you." ”

Shi Lang was born with a strange temper, a stinky mouth, and a full-level bonus with a mocking aura, seeing who offended whom, but he was not two hundred and five, he had his own sense of proportion, and when he saw Fang Fuzi's desperate posture, he simply hugged his shoulders with both hands, looked at the sky with both eyes, and ignored him.

Ten steps ahead, Wang Kefan was talking to Ye Jinghai about something, and when he heard the noise behind him, he turned his head and scolded in a low voice.

"Enough! Are they still children? ”

“……”

Shi Lang and Fang Zhengzheng didn't dare to say more, glared at each other, and each moved out of the way.

"Come on, let's sum up, how to equip all the warships with cannons."

The warship has no artillery, it is a useless ornament, Wang Kefan beckoned, called everyone to sit down, work on the spot, and solve the problem on the spot.

Everyone can finally communicate calmly, if there is any problem with the water division, put it on the table, if there is any problem with the arsenal, it will also be put on the table, and if there is any problem with the logistics department of the Chu Army, put it on the table together, and unify and coordinate the deployment, and the best solution can be found.

If the current pace of development is maintained, it will take at least half a year to form a certain combat effectiveness, and if we want to completely defeat the Qing army's naval division, we will even have to wait another two years...... That's too slow.

The Hengyang Arsenal also had its own difficulties.

The first is the limitation of technical conditions. Except for a small number of hydraulic machinery, there was no other machine that could replace manual labor, and all work had to be done by hand, and it was difficult to greatly increase the production speed.

If this problem is to be completely solved, it is not possible in the short term.

Wang Kefan is not a science student, and his level of mathematics, physics and chemistry is not much stronger than that of high school students, so he can only provide some help in the basics, and more importantly, the craftsmen have to explore it themselves. European countries are stronger in this regard, and they can learn from them, and Shigu Academy has been doing this all along, but in the short term, it is difficult to produce immediate results.

And Wang Kefan also knows that at this time, European countries are also in the accumulation stage, and the framework of modern scientific theories has not yet been formed, for example, the scientific giant Newton is still a five or six-year-old child, and Newton's three laws will not be born until a few decades later.

But then again, the inch is long, the ruler is short, what should be learned should be learned, and what should be learned should be learned, Wang Kefan did not expect Hengyang Arsenal to immediately enter the era of steam engines, as long as the existing conditions can be used to improve production efficiency, just walk in front of this era.

In a word, although it cannot be completely solved, it can be improved step by step through the efforts of all parties.

The second is the limitation of funds. Arsenals and shipyards are bottomless pits for burning money, and the funds needed a year are more than a few hundred thousand taels of silver, and 12,000 taels of silver are invested in it, and there is no sound at all.

The shipyard and arsenal are Wang Kefan's baby bumps, and the entire Chuxun Group leans towards them, trying to ensure the funds they need. However, with such a large stall as the Chu army, money was needed everywhere, and even if the army of more than 100,000 troops sat still, it would cost 200,000 taels of silver every month, and after deducting these operating costs, the arsenals and shipyards would have limited funds.

This problem is also difficult to solve.

In the cold weapon war, more than 90 percent of the military expenditure is used to pay the army, and the cost of raising soldiers is very high, but to fight a war is to fight people, and even after a few hundred years, the tactics of crowds are still infinitely powerful. In order to fight against the Manchus, the Chu army not only had to maintain a certain size, but also continued to expand the army, constantly expanding the scale, and the cost of raising troops would only get higher and higher.

The territory of Huguang and western Jiangxi has just been won, and the income from the output is limited, and in some places there is even a reverse investment. Now to maintain the operation of the Chu army, more is the imperial court appropriations, commercial and mineral income, as well as war dividends, etc., before the "land reform" has an effect, the Chu army has to tighten its belt to live.

It's hard to solve, but there's a way.

Wang Kefan also has some special sources of funds, such as "Long Maochang", such as Hong Kong, which has begun to see benefits, can provide a part of the funds, the amount of this fund is not too large, and it is not very conspicuous in the entire Chu army system, but it can have an immediate effect by subsidizing the Hengyang Arsenal and shipyard alone.

"Before the end of next month, I will give you 100,000 taels of silver, and then add another 100,000 taels every three months, is it enough?" Wang Kefan had just won the Battle of Nanchang, and he made a small fortune from both the imperial court and Jiangxi, and with the sponsorship of Tan Tai, the captain of the transportation brigade, there was no problem in taking out the first 100,000 taels of silver...... As for where the silver came from, it has not yet been settled, but Wang Kefan is not worried.

"That's a big deal! As long as Wang Junmen is true to his word, as soon as the money arrives, I will immediately start construction and build ships and cannons for the sailors! Fang Zhengzheng was excited and glanced at Shi Lang.

Shi Lang stretched out his hand and pointed at him, pouting and threatening: "What you said, if you procrastinate when the time comes, don't blame me for complaining to Wang Junmen......"

The third is the limitation of talents. The arsenal first lacks skilled craftsmen, the second lacks management personnel, especially the kind of comprehensive management personnel who understand technology, military affairs, and administrative management.

Craftsmen can be trained through the Guò Shigu Academy, but there is no reliable source for administrators. According to the ranking of the peasants and merchants, the status of craftsmen is only a little higher than that of merchants, and no official is willing to do this...... The imperial court opened several enkes and sent many young officials to Hunan, but they preferred to wait for vacancies rather than serve in the arsenal. (To be continued......)