A few days later, a strangely shaped observatory appeared in the center of the arsenal outside Qinwangzhuang.

Due to the tight construction period, the platform was built relatively simply. Watchtowers are made of masonry and stone, with several compartments to accommodate troops, arrows and ammunition, and there are shooting holes in the towers.

However, the platform is mostly made of wood and has no walls on all sides, making it look like a modern frame structure. Its biggest feature is that it is high, as high as more than ten zhang, not only to step on all the nearby buildings, even if it is put in Xi'an City, it is definitely second to none in height, I am afraid that only the Big Wild Goose Pagoda and the Small Wild Goose Pagoda can be compared with it.

This platform was built in three days by Zhu Youzhen who stopped all the work of all the workers, concentrated all the manpower that could be mobilized, and rushed to work day and night, and all the places that could be simplified were simplified. If the masonry structure were to be used, it would not have been completed in a matter of months.

In addition to this platform, Zhu Youzhen also ordered people to build a high wall around the arsenal and keep it heavily guarded. In this way, people from the outside can't see what's going on inside, while people inside the arsenal can use the high platform to spot people trying to approach it in time.

At this time, Zhu Youzhen led a large group of people to climb the stairs, climbed to the top of the observatory, overlooked Qinwangzhuang, and had an unobstructed view of the surrounding scenery. Because there is almost no pollution in this era, the visibility of the atmosphere is excellent, and everyone climbs up and looks at it, and can see the city of Xi'an more than ten miles away, and can't help but praise it repeatedly.

"There are poems and clouds in the Tang Dynasty: the sun is at the end of the mountain, and the Yellow River flows into the sea; If you want to be poor, go to the next level. Sun Chuanting smiled and said, "Poetry is a good poem, but it is too exaggerated." Thinking that the stork tower is only three floors, at most seven or eight zhang high, how can it be poor for thousands of miles? If he comes here to look, he will know the meaning of 'going to the next level'! ”

Rui'er, Qiulina and other female dependents were also intoxicated by this magnificent scenery, pointing to the distance, jumping and laughing excitedly.

Zhu Youzhen didn't have this Yaxing, he immediately ordered: "Send a team of regiments to watch out here day and night, and report immediately if there is any hostile situation!" Okay, Sun Yuanlong, it's time for you! ”

It turns out that this platform is not only used for lookout, but also mainly built for Sun Yuanlong in the arsenal!

Sun Yuanlong was moved by the order, and immediately got busy with the craftsmen on the second top floor of the observatory. It turns out that the countertops on this floor are all paved with bluestone, and a small blast furnace is placed in the center of the platform! At this time, except for one craftsman who put the charge on the top of the furnace, all the other craftsmen were shirtless, blowing the air in shifts at the air inlet at the bottom of the blast furnace, and they were sweating profusely.

The temperature in the furnace gradually increased, and finally the ore was melted into a very hot silvery liquid metal, which flowed from the furnace into a large container along a special channel.

At this time, Sun Yuanlong took matters into his own hands, using a special large stone spoon with more than a dozen leaky holes, filled a spoonful of lead water from the container, and shouted loudly: "The people below are all out of the way, and they are about to drip down!" ”

The people around the lookout were busy scattering far away, only to see Sun Yuanlong holding the stone spoon with both arms and stopping in the air inside the lookout. In a short time, the lead leaked out of the hole and fell downwards like a drop of water.

Countless beautiful silver lines were crossed in the air, only to hear the sound of "dong dong dong" and "snort" endlessly, and all the lead beads fell into the large sink that had been prepared under the stage.

In a short time, the spoonful of lead had been drained. Sun Yuanlong immediately repeated the above action, and at the same time asked the other craftsmen to follow suit, using more stone spoons to drip lead water downward.

After a while, the lead liquid quickly solidified in the air and could no longer hold it. Sun Yuanlong immediately ordered the craftsman to stop and personally inspect the sink below. Zhu Youzhen also followed, but his heart was in his throat, and he didn't know what the effect of Sun Yuanlong's method of making lead bullets was.

"It's a success!" Sun Yuanlong excitedly scooped up a large handful of lead bullets from the sink, held it in front of Zhu Youzhen's eyes and said, "Helper, look!" Woooooo

It turned out that he couldn't suppress the great joy in his heart, and cried loudly!

Zhu Youzhen picked up a few of them and took a closer look, and it was indeed a perfect spherical shape, and the size was generally the same, and he couldn't help but be overjoyed: "The deputy director of the arsenal has improved the production process of lead bullets, and has achieved outstanding results, and he will be rewarded with a first-class merit and a reward of 1,000 taels of silver!" The rest of the craftsmen will be awarded a hundred taels of silver each! ”

It turned out that this was the method of producing lead bullets that Sun Yuanlong pondered by himself. In fact, it is easy to say, after any metal becomes liquid, due to the existence of surface tension, in the process of falling, it will form a perfect spherical shape like mercury.

Although Sun Yuanlong did not understand the theoretical knowledge of surface tension, he found this truth in his long years of labor. Therefore, he thought of using the free fall of the lead to cool the liquid lead quickly in contact with the air. As long as the descent is long enough, the lead resolidates into a hard sphere. As for the sink below, it is used to cushion the force of the fall of the buckshot.

He had been working on the idea for at least five years, but it was not adopted by the officials in charge because it was completely different from the traditional craftsmanship and the time-consuming and laborious construction of the high platform.

Later, Sun Yuanlong's life could not go on, and he also became a fugitive craftsman. Without Zhu Youzhen's strong support, then his idea would have completely disappeared with his personal death. I don't know what year and month the invention of this process will have to wait.

For Zhu You's reward for the craftsmen of the arsenal, many people still have a lot of complaints. For example, the militia group practiced Xie Yong and said quite jealously: "When we go into battle to kill the enemy, it is a matter of pinning our heads in the waistband of our trousers." However, after killing five ordinary bandits, he was given a third-class meritorious service and a reward of thirty taels of silver. This surnamed Sun just burns the stove, and he can make a first-class meritorious service and receive a reward of 1,000 taels of silver! Helper, this is a bit unfair! ”

Zhu Youzhen glared at him, and said with a slap in appreciation: "What do you know!" You think it seems simple, but you don't know that the improvement of this process is enough to make buckshot dozens of times faster! There are still too few firearms available, and the next step is to equip each of you with a bird gun and a pistol. Then you will not have to fight the enemy face to face, but you will kill the enemy with firearms! If you only have firearms and not enough ammunition, can you do it? ”

"Firearms? Is that good? Xie Yong was still a little unconvinced, "I still think the big knife is easy to handle..."

"You'll know when the time comes," Zhu Youzhen said with great interest, "At that time, the number of enemies you killed was not five, but fifty, five hundred!" ”

"Good fellows! Can it be that powerful? Xie Yong stuck out his tongue in fright.

"That's it! Don't covet other people's first-class work, come with me to train now! Zhu Youzhen scolded with a smile.

It turned out that Zhu Youzhen had imitated his previous life and created a merit reward system. This system was not limited to Tuan Yong, but extended to all workers, craftsmen and students.

Among them, the third prize is ordinary merit, such as killing five ordinary bandits, killing one leader, or a worker who exceeds half of his production for a month in a row, and a student who has achieved the top ten in the exam, can be awarded. The reward standard is 30 taels of silver, of course, because the students are still young, they should be reduced by half.

The second prize is for important achievements, such as the killing of 20 ordinary bandits, the killing of 3 leaders, or the fact that the workers have exceeded their production by half for half of the year in a row, and the students have won the top three in the exam. The reward standard is one silver and one white tael.

The first prize is a very significant achievement, such as the capture of the enemy's main general, or the major improvement of the production process by the workers and craftsmen, and the first place in the examination by the student. The standard reward is one thousand taels of silver, which is already an astronomical amount for an ordinary person.

There is also a special prize on top of the first prize, so it has to be an earth-shattering achievement. The reward standard is even more terrifying, starting from 10,000 taels of silver, and there is no cap! Of course, there is no such great credit now, and Zhu Youzhen's establishment of this award is just to let his subordinates have a head.

At this time, Zhu Youzhen left the arsenal and came to the training ground of the militia again. From today onwards, in addition to the previous physical training and combat training, Tuan Yong's daily training content has also increased firearms training. Because the regimental warriors had hardly touched firearms in the past, they have made firearms a top priority in the past few days and conducted assault training.

Due to Sun Yuanlong's efforts, more than 80 bird guns, which could not be used, were reassembled and made into 20. plus the dozen guns that could be used originally, a total of more than thirty guns.

Zhu Youzhen was not enough, and ordered Li Zicheng to do everything possible to buy more than 20 guns from various channels, making a total of 60 guns.

But now there are 500 people in Tuanyong, and these 60 guns are certainly not enough. Zhu Youzhen first selected sixty clever ones to act as the first batch of bird guns.

When everyone was given a gun, they all felt fresh, and some even aimed their eyes at the barrel of the gun to see what structure was inside.

Seeing this, Zhu Youzhen immediately shouted: "Give me the gun!" ”

The group was startled, and hurriedly flinched and handed the bird back to Zhu Youzhen.

Zhu Youzhen took the bird gun and said to the group braves solemnly: "The bird gun is different from the big knife and spear, it is a hot weapon, and if you are not careful, there is a danger of misfire and explosion. You remember to me that as a bird-bearer, there is one of the most basic principles: as long as there is a breath of air, the muzzle of the gun can only be pointed at the enemy, never at oneself, let alone at one's comrades! ”

"Yes!" The brave men of the regiment listened enthusiastically and agreed in unison.

"Okay, let's start training now!" Zhu Youzhen returned the bird gun to the Tuan Yong and immediately gave the order.

Since there were no professional instructors, Zhu Youzhen had to invite a firearms craftsman to teach Tuan Yong. He started from how to hold a gun, and then to loading, charging, loading the fire rope, igniting the fire rope, aiming, firing, and reloading, and each link was explained in detail.

The group warriors listened to the book of heaven, staring at each other with big eyes. After talking about it again, the craftsmen were dry-mouthed, but the group warriors didn't remember much.

Zhu Youzhen said with a smile: "It's useless to talk on paper. You demonstrate it first, and then teach them step by step! Don't be afraid to waste ammo and hit me open! ”