Although he learned about the progress of the development of the artillery from Wang Chaoyong, two days later, Zhang Feng still went to Shanghai, and Zhang Feng needed to see many things in person. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

For example, the repair and transformation of those sail warships in the Shanghai shipyard, the production situation of the Baoshan Iron and Steel Plant, the location of the artillery factory, and most importantly, Zhang Feng needed to see the progress of Song Yingxing's research and development of smokeless gunpowder.

I went to the Shanghai shipyard first, and some sail warships are already being repaired and renovated, basically completely according to Zhang Feng's intentions, part of the cabin will be renovated, the transportation capacity will be increased, the hull will be reinforced, and a new 70-mm gun will be installed.

The situation of Baoshan Iron and Steel Plant is also good, after the completion of the expansion, there is a blast furnace put into use, the production capacity is further expanded, and the annual output of steel is approaching 100,000 tons from tens of thousands of tons a year.

A 100,000-ton steel plant, in modern terms, is nothing at all, a million-ton steel plant is not a big factory, modern large steel group enterprises, their production capacity is millions of tons, but remember, this is hundreds of years ago at the end of the Ming Dynasty.

The 100,000-ton steel plant is absolutely epoch-making, and it is also the world's largest and most advanced steel plant in this era.

With an annual output of 200,000 tons of steel, it can not only meet the needs of railway construction, the construction of ironclad ships, all kinds of weapons and equipment, and all kinds of machinery and equipment manufacturing needs, but it is estimated that some steel can be sold to meet civilian needs.

The steel of Baoshan Iron and Steel Plant is now famous, and almost the entire people of Nanzhili know that Baoshan Steel is a good thing, even if it is a little more expensive, it is completely hot in the market, and many people can be proud of having a kitchen knife made of Baoshan Steel, scissors and the like.

In addition to the Baoshan Iron and Steel Plant, Zhang Feng naturally also went to the artillery factory in the site, when Zhang Feng arrived there, there were many people busy, one of whom Zhang Feng knew, and he could name it.

This person's name is Duan Lihua, more than 30 years old, big, burly, used to be a blacksmith, and later Zhao Zuolin's right-hand man, one of the backbones of the Shanghai Machinery Manufacturing Bureau, because he had studied for several years and was literate, he was personally appointed by Zhang Feng to be responsible for the construction of the artillery factory, and it is estimated that he will be the director of the artillery factory in the future.

Seeing that Zhang Feng was coming in person, Duan Lihua hurriedly greeted him and made a simple report to Zhang Feng, the survey work had begun, followed by planning, and then leveling the land to start construction.

Zhang Feng was very satisfied, it could be seen that Duan Lihua's thinking was clear and thoughtful, Zhang Feng promised Duan Lihua that when the construction started, he would transfer 3,000 laborers to participate in the construction of the artillery factory, such a commitment made Duan Lihua very happy and happy.

After looking at the artillery factory in the site, Zhang Feng went to the Shanghai Machinery Manufacturing Bureau not far away.

Breech loading artillery is a must-see, as Zhang Feng expected, because the foundation is there, everyone can skillfully produce and manufacture front-loading rifled guns, this 70 mm caliber breech loading gun is not a problem, and the progress is relatively smooth.

Even, several sample shells have been manufactured, the quality is not bad, breech-loading guns, copper-shelled shells used, quantitative charges, so that the ballistics are stable and more accurate.

In addition, the gunpowder used in this copper-shelled shell is no longer black powder, but smokeless gunpowder, and the copper shell is designed and manufactured according to the charge of smokeless gunpowder, which looks like it is of good quality.

However, smokeless gunpowder is still under development, and I don't know if it can catch up with the development progress of artillery.

Zhao Zuolin said: "Commander-in-chief, our copper-shelled shells have been trial-produced according to your requirements, just waiting to be filled with smokeless gunpowder, but ......"

Zhang Feng naturally understood what Zhao Zuolin meant, and Zhang Feng said: "We have to believe in the old Song Dynasty, I believe that they will be able to develop smokeless gunpowder with very stable performance." ”

Seeing Zhang Feng say this, Zhao Zuolin's worry in his heart was much less, and he even looked forward to it, "Lord General Soldier, I heard that smokeless gunpowder is much more powerful than black powder, and there is basically no smoke and dust, I don't know what a cannonball using smokeless gunpowder will look like." ”

Zhang Feng waved his hand and said, "Let's go, let's go to Lao Song's laboratory with me to have a look and see how Lao Song's smokeless gunpowder development progress." ”

Zhao Zuolin became interested and said happily: "That's a good feeling, I haven't been to Lao Song's laboratory for a few days, I really want to take a look, I hope Lao Song and they can give us a big surprise." ”

Zhang Feng nodded, at this moment, what Zhang Feng hoped for most was a big surprise, which was basically consistent with Zhao Zuolin's thoughts.

If there is smokeless gunpowder, then all breech-loading guns produced in the future can use smokeless gunpowder copper-shelled shells, and grenades can also use smokeless gunpowder, and it can be predicted that the power of grenades using smokeless gunpowder will definitely be doubled.

The two came to Song Yingxing's laboratory together, only to see that Song Yingxing and the others were all excited, as if they had made great achievements, and they didn't even notice that Zhang Feng and Zhao Zuolin pushed the door in.

"We succeeded, we finally succeeded!"

Someone suddenly shouted, the joy and excitement on his face were clear at a glance, and Song Yingxing was holding some small black granular things in his hand, like a baby, looking left and right, he couldn't put it down, and after a long time, he muttered: "It's successful, it's finally successful, you can report the good news to the commander-in-chief!" ”

Zhang Feng and Zhao Zuolin glanced at each other, the two of them nodded lightly, and the two of them sped up, almost trotting all the way over.

Zhang Feng could see at a glance that this was granular-like smokeless gunpowder, the fine particles were relatively uniform, and it looked very pleasing, and it was placed in a glassware, which could be seen clearly, Zhang Feng was impatient to pour out a little and put it in the palm of his hand, looking carefully and slightly excited.

This is smokeless gunpowder, smokeless gunpowder with very stable properties.

It is very simple to produce smokeless gunpowder, but it is difficult to produce smokeless gunpowder with stable performance, if the performance of smokeless gunpowder is unstable, a slight collision, or even friction can detonate, so that unstable smokeless gunpowder cannot be used.

Only smokeless gunpowder with stable performance can be used with confidence, and can be used to produce bullets, grenades, shells, etc., undoubtedly, these small black particles in Zhang Feng's palm are smokeless gunpowder with very stable performance.

"Commander-in-Chief!"

Everyone finally reacted from the excitement and joy, and greeted Zhang Feng one after another, Zhang Feng nodded, took a serious look at the granular smokeless gunpowder in his palm, and said happily: "Old Song, you have succeeded, you have developed the world's first granular smokeless gunpowder with stable performance!" ”

Song Yingxing said proudly: "Commander-in-chief, fortunately, I have finally completed the task you gave me, we succeeded, and finally produced smokeless gunpowder with stable performance." ”

Zhao Zuolin was also excited, poured a little smokeless gunpowder in the palm of his hand, looked at it again and again, and said happily: "Old Song, this is our biggest surprise, with this thing, we are full of motivation in the development of breech-loading artillery." ”

Song Yingxing smiled happily and said modestly: "Everything is under the guidance of the commander-in-chief, if it weren't for the commander-in-chief to give us a clear direction of development, we would not have succeeded so quickly." ”

Zhang Feng said: "Old Song, don't be humble anymore, this time I want to reward you heavily." ”

Zhang Feng was very happy, Zhang Feng knew that with smokeless gunpowder and copper-shelled shells using smokeless gunpowder, the strength of his navy would be greatly improved, and in addition, the strength of the army would also be improved.

Zhang Feng did what he said, and really rewarded the personnel who had made meritorious contributions in the development of smokeless gunpowder, and Zhang Feng promised that when the breech-loading gun was successfully developed, he would also reward the meritorious personnel in the development of the breech-loading gun.

………

Port of Shanghai.

Today, a group of people came here, coming on a big sail ship, three big sail ships, under the escort of two 3,000 warships, these three big sail ships began to dock at Shanghai Port.

On the deck of one of the big sail ships, Zheng Chenggong looked slightly excited and a little curious. That's right, Zheng Chenggong came in person, took a sail ship, set off from Quanzhou Port, and finally came to Shanghai Port.

Standing on the deck, looking at the Shanghai Port that was built so hugely, Zheng Chenggong sighed with emotion, and thought in his heart, I don't know if I don't come, and I will be shocked when I come.

Such a big port, I couldn't think of it before, my Quanzhou port is like a countryside and a city compared with here, Quanzhou Port is too backward.

The construction of Shanghai Port used a lot of cement and stone, and even used steel bars in some places, which naturally looks big and very high-grade, no wonder Zheng Chenggong sighed.

After getting off the ship and stepping on the port of Shanghai, Zheng Chenggong saw that this port was not only big, but also very prosperous, with a lot of goods piled up in the port area, many merchant ships docked at the wharf, and a lot of people in the port, including porters, merchants, and even hawkers.

It feels completely different, as if he has come to another world, Zheng Chenggong is curious, take a look here, take a look there.

A colonel, with more than a dozen people, came over with neat steps, Zheng Chenggong also saw it, and guessed in his heart, this is probably to pick him up, looking at these people all in military green uniforms, wearing steel helmets, carrying muskets, the major also has a short gun and a saber around his waist, and is wearing leather boots, Zheng Chenggong thought in his heart, is this the new army of the legendary General Zhang.

The colonel really came to greet Zheng Chenggong, and took Zheng Chenggong and several others to the Shanghai Railway Station and got on a special train.

This time, Zheng Chenggong really entered the Grand View Garden like Grandma Liu, her head was completely insufficient, everything was novel, and at the same time, Zheng Chenggong became curious about Zhang Feng, and Zheng Chenggong's mood also changed unconsciously.

…………

Today's three watches, the second one is sent! (To be continued.) )