Shi Bufan took the initiative to introduce, thinking that the power of this gunpowder could actually be concentrated at one point. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 info relies solely on the explosiveness of gunpowder to kill enemies, which is actually not very powerful. Relying on its own explosive power to kill people was too difficult for people in the Tang Dynasty era to fight. As a result, during the Tang Dynasty, it was impossible to send too heavy gunpowder out, and it was impossible to guarantee the accuracy and explosion time. Really reliable explosive artillery, not so easy to make. With the current technical capabilities of the Tang Dynasty, the so-called gunpowder catapults, with the current technical capabilities of the Tang Dynasty, most of them are actually cost-effective

And if you set up all kinds of gunpowder traps on the battlefield, it is too long for the terrain and preparation time, so it is not realistic. The only possibility is to concentrate the power of gunpowder on a single point, so that the power can be concentrated and the enemy can be killed.

"Your Majesty, in fact, this gunpowder weapon, I think we can consider concentrating the power of this gunpowder into one point. The emperor should know that the same force, exerted on different areas, will produce different destructive power. For example, the sharp weapon of our sword is to concentrate the same force on a smaller area as much as possible, so that the sword can destroy the enemy's body and play a role in killing the enemy. ”

"And why can't we consider concentrating the explosive power of gunpowder at one point, so that the power of gunpowder is much more powerful than that of a sword, so that we can destroy the enemy's body and even all kinds of weapons, isn't it very powerful?"

Li Shimin hurriedly asked, "Do you have any way?" ”

Shi Bufan explained: "Your Majesty, in fact, my idea is very simple, I probably thought of a few methods. Of course, if you want to direct the gunpowder to explode, this must be difficult. Then why can't we make a very hard cylinder, and put gunpowder in it, and a ball of iron, so that the gunpowder can be detonated from the cylinder, and the ball of iron can be launched to hit the enemy. ”

Li Shimin's eyes really lit up, as an emperor with the best military talent, of course, he quickly analyzed the power of this weapon. As long as this weapon can be made, no matter how thick the enemy's formation is, if you directly shoot it, the formation will basically be penetrated.

"Wonderful, in the past, if I wanted to break the formation, I had to bring cavalry to break through. This not only has huge casualties, but also needs a brave general, and I personally led the troops to break the formation, which boosted morale. Otherwise, it would be difficult for the cavalry to take the initiative to break the formation, if there was really such a weapon, then I would shoot directly at the enemy formation, and the enemy formation would be penetrated. It doesn't take much, as long as there are ten of these things, then I will definitely be able to break the formation. No, five is enough, as long as there are five, then I can guarantee invincibility. Li Shimin said confidently.

Li Shimin was still very confident in this, believing that as long as he could have five of these firearms, he would definitely be able to break through the enemy's formation. This isn't much of a braggart.

"Your Majesty, in addition to this kind of thing, then why can't we equip ordinary soldiers with this kind of shrunken firearms as well? As long as we shrink those cylinders, and then shrink the bullets inside, then we can also have this soldier hold this gunpowder weapon and shoot at the enemy alone. Weapons simplify the way we shoot, allowing our soldiers to shoot at the enemy. In this way, our soldiers, the ability to pierce armor must be very good, and it is even easy to train. Even if it is powerful, it is better than a bow and arrow! ”

"With this kind of individual gunpowder weapon, then our soldiers can go to the battlefield after training for a month or two, but training crossbowmen requires years of training, so the benefits are obvious. And the crossbowman shot more than twenty arrows at a point, which was probably very tired. However, this gunpowder weapon can shoot continuously, and in principle, as long as there are enough bullets and gunpowder, it can continue to fight. ”

Li Shimin's eyes lit up even more, such a weapon is incomparably valuable. Datang's main combat weapons also rely on bows and crossbows. Unlike the ancient times that most people imagine were hand-to-hand combat, in fact, the main combat weapons in the rebuilding Tang Dynasty were bows and crossbows, and the so-called hand-to-hand weapons were actually used only when they had to be used at the last resort. On the frontal battlefield, the main lethal delivery relies on long-range weapons. Hand-to-hand weapons are only used when an enemy is approaching, or when pursuing an enemy.

Therefore, the power of long-range weapons determines the combat ability of Datang soldiers to a large extent. However, the disadvantage of the bow and crossbow is that it is too laborious, and if a soldier fires ten arrows in a row, his arm will be sore. And if you want to fire twenty arrows, that arm will definitely not be able to shoot anymore.

Of course, there may be some Hercules, but they must not be regarded as something that the whole army can have. There are not many such Hercules and they are of little use on the battlefield. The test of war is the overall battle, but it is not like in some novels, where the military generals single out one side and the army loses. The test of military combat in any era is the combat capability of the most basic and ordinary army, not the power of individual force and individual weapons.

If you can replace this bow and crossbow with a firearm, it will be much easier to train in the first place. The bow and crossbow also need to be trained for a year, and it will take at least half a year before they can go to battle. However, firearms only take a month or two, so the time is reduced by three times or more. The short training cycle means that more of the war potential can be exploited. A country's combat capability is not entirely determined by its economic strength, but also by how much advantage it can devote to warfare. The training cycle is short, which means that the war potential will suddenly increase a lot, and other countries will spend several times more time training than you, so the probability of defeating the enemy in this way will greatly increase.

"Okay, good, you just want such a weapon, I hope to get it out soon?" Li Shimin said.

Of course, Shi Bufan is very aware of the development process of this firearm, and the musket was almost eliminated by the bow and crossbow within a certain period of time. Many people mistakenly believe that the West attaches great importance to firearms, but this is not the case. The arquebus was almost eliminated in the West, because the arquebus could not be as fast as a bow and arrow, and it might not be as powerful. But the reason why he survived was because of the cost. A crossbowman must go through more than half a year of training if he wants to become an army, but the musket can be formed in an army in a month or two.

As for firearms, they are also lower than crossbows. The cost of a bullet is at least ten times lower than the cost of an arrow, so the initial firearms are not even comparable to bows and crossbows, and the power of range and so on is not comparable, and even almost eliminated. However, firearms have a huge advantage, that is, they are very cost-effective. Spend less and get more combat power. War must not only rely on high-tech weapons, but also depend on the cost-effectiveness ratio. Muskets survived only by cost-effectiveness, and history has proven that the development potential of firearms is far more powerful than that of bows and crossbows.

"Your Majesty, if you want to say that this firearm is out, I don't think it's really difficult. First of all, we must find a way to make high-quality steel, and only with a large amount of high-quality steel can we make this musket in large quantities, so that when the gunpowder explodes, it will not explode, but hurt your own soldiers. On the other hand, the design of firearms can also be considered to have excellent design schemes, so as to ensure that soldiers can use them with peace of mind. ”

"So I think that the smelting of this high-quality steel, as well as the design of the puppet firearm, can be included in the patent protection of the Ministry of Industry. If you can find a way to develop a sufficiently high-quality steel smelting method, and can come up with a sufficiently good firearm design, once it is adopted by the imperial court, the imperial court will pay the corresponding royalties. Specifically, it can be negotiated at that time, but the imperial court can recognize the relevant patents. ”

"It is even possible to form a unit dedicated to research, experimentation, the use of this firearm, to conduct a discussion. Ensure that it can be used, produced, and developed as a whole, which is good for the initial stage. ”

Shi Bufan's proposal is to set up an experimental army, and in fact, many countries have adopted this method, and it is impossible for any kind of weapon or tactic to be directly popularized by the whole army, and it is necessary for a unit to conduct experiments, discover advantages and disadvantages, and then carry out rectification and reform before popularizing it. The popularization of weapons is a long-term and complicated process, and it does not mean that the whole army can popularize them. It is also necessary to be cautious and set up an experimental unit, which will be of great help to the research of new weapons, new tactics, and even new technologies.

"Set up a new unit, manufacture research and use together? Well, that's what it was in the beginning. Then set up a regiment, and it will be directly under my personal command. Li Shimin said.

Shi Bufan took the initiative to introduce: "Your Majesty, the minister suggested that it could be named the Shenji Battalion, with an establishment of about 300 combat personnel, and about 200 people who developed and manufactured firearms. and set up a captain of the Shenji Battalion, who was a seven-rank officer. As for production, research and development, and related affairs, a general officer can be in charge of various firearms technical affairs. This can be called the chief engineer for the time being, and is mainly responsible for the corresponding firearms affairs. This is treated as a seven-grade affairs officer, but on a daily basis, it is still dominated by the captain of the Shenji Battalion. The chief engineer of this Shenji Battalion is an affairs officer, and most of them will not participate in the transfer of official positions. ”

Shi Bufan began to find a way to officially get a seven-grade affairs officer, first of all, a seven-grade affairs officer was directly arranged into this so-called Shenji Battalion, this Shenji Battalion is of course completely incomparable with the Ming Dynasty Shenji Battalion in later generations, but Shi Bufan thinks that this Tang Dynasty Shenji Battalion will definitely become bigger and bigger, and finally it can be compared with the Ming Dynasty's Shenji Battalion, because many armies and even many government departments have developed from small to large, not very large at the beginning.

Even this Shenji battalion uses production and R&D integration, so that what soldiers feel about using it can be directly fed back to the production and R&D units, so that they can make timely adjustments, and strive to adapt to the battlefield and soldiers' habits as soon as possible. Soldiers are the first people to experience, and their timely feedback will help the progress of gunpowder weapons.

In fact, although many soldiers do not know too advanced technology, they are specific users, real first-time experiencers, and they are what designers want to satisfy. It's just that if you go to the battlefield with a weapon that you don't have to take advantage of, isn't that your own initiative to weaken your combat effectiveness? Many weapon designers attach great importance to the opinions of soldiers, and even create an "ergonomic" discipline to meet the various needs of human beings.

If the designer is too unergonomic, he will be scolded for being "anti. Human".

"Once the firearms of this Shenji Battalion are mature, then the status of such an officer can also be greatly improved. At that time, the status of the clerk can be greatly improved, so that when the craftsman has exerted his position, then this can also provide the status of the craftsman, and even the productivity will increase, and the worker can be formally raised to the stage of history as a class. Shi Bufan thought.

Shi Bufan wants to improve the status of workers, this is not simply talking. Many traversers, hoping to improve the status of workers in ancient times, suggested that the emperor order protection. But in fact, this method is nonsense. The low status of workers is not because the court does not pay attention to it, but because the court attaches importance to you, you should also give a reason to pay attention to it! The number of farmers is large, and it is related to food security, so the interests of farmers are the most important.

However, in ancient times, workers were marginalized in society, and the proportion of the population was very low, so it was normal for the state not to pay attention to that. No one will give up a watermelon and value sesame seeds, but when the number of workers increases, then the national government will pay attention to workers. Workers don't just want to improve their status and can do so, and occasionally one or two people order them to improve, and that's useless. To say that Wu Zetian is still the emperor, but the status of women has not really improved substantially! And the United States O'Black Bull is not also the president, but the status of that black man is not high!

Without the whole group working together, it is impossible to pull the cart by barely relying on one or two people. Only by increasing the actual influence of these people, increasing their political and economic proportions, and giving them sufficient say and leadership, can we truly improve their status. Otherwise, no matter how much the court supports, no matter how much the traverser pulls, no matter how hard the emperor tries, it will be in vain in the end. If you are not productive enough, you will be very reluctant to improve even if you want to.

It is like the commercial tax in later generations has completely eliminated the agricultural tax, so that the state will pay attention to commerce. The Song Dynasty did not despise commerce, largely because commerce absorbed a large number of people who lost their land for job placement, and the proportion of commercial taxes had begun to be basically the same as that of agriculture, so that the Song Dynasty would not despise commerce.

What kind of group has any status, it still depends on how they exert their influence, not by pulling by others, nor by relying on charity, let alone by a certain phenomenon-level figure in the group can be reluctantly improved. Even if it is barely raised, it is inflated, not really high. Once a person dies, then the revenge will be more ruthless.

This Shenji Battalion also carries an important direction for the future. (To be continued.) )