The muskets had not yet been made, so the amphibious battalions had to use bows and arrows instead. However, the firearms craftsmen of the Zhu Mansion had been arranged to be sent to a military factory in the mountains to use a vertical kiln to make iron to try out guns. Only half a month later, the first flintlock pistol was built.

The technology required for the flintlock pistol is not difficult, but the difficult thing is the whimsy of making the gunpowder fire quickly, which is not a difficult task for Zhu Houwei. Since the military factory was about 100 kilometers away from the capital, Zhu Houwei asked the craftsmen to come to Li Zhen with flintlock pistols.

The next day, the Zhu Houzhao brothers arrived in Li Zhen after class, and the craftsmen had already been waiting there with flintlock pistols, so everyone ran to the original Da Li Zhuang and the current warehouse to test the gun.

There are 2 craftsmen who came this time, one is more than 50, one is less than 40, the older one is the head of the former craftsman, surnamed Zhou, and the younger one is the best craft, surnamed Sun. This time, a total of 3 flintlock pistols were brought in, and Zhu Houzhao and Zhu Houwei each picked up one and examined it carefully.

Next to him, Craftsman Sun explained the situation of the guns.

There are two types of flintlock pistols, one is a rotating flintlock pistol, and the other is a percussive flintlock pistol. Born in the mid-16th century into a family of gunsmiths, locksmiths and watchmakers, Mahan was determined to change the evils of the revolver. In his eyes, the revolver musket was complex, expensive to build, and could not reliably fire when the drum was contaminated. As a result of Mahan's efforts, he eventually removed the clock-bearing steel wheel and instead clamped a piece of flint between the jaws of the hammer. He also had an anvil on the side of the fire hole, and if he needed to shoot, he pulled the trigger, and under the action of the spring, the flint hit the side of the fire door heavily, and sparks appeared, igniting the gunpowder.

Compared with the flintlock pistol used in Europe now, there are several very prominent problems, first, the fuse must be lit in advance, second, if the fuse is not fired after being lit for a long time, then the fuse will be burned out, the third will produce fire when burning, which will be detected at night, and fourth, once the weather is bad, in case of strong winds, heavy rain arquebuses will be greatly affected and cannot fire.

The flintlock pistol can solve these problems very well, which is why Zhu Houwei chose this gun in the first place. This time, the gun was made according to Zhu Houwei's standards, so when Craftsman Sun explained, both Zhu Houzhao brothers could understand it as soon as they heard it.

Craftsman Sun took the third gun and said to the two brothers, "Your Royal Highness the Prince, Second Highness, please see, this musket has a total length of 1560 mm, a caliber of 18 mm, a total weight of 5.5 kg, and the lead bullet used weighs 31 grams. ”

The barrel of the musket plus the butt is basically almost 1.6 meters, Zhu Houzhao is fine, but Zhu Houwei has some difficulty holding the gun, and the gun is more than 10 centimeters higher than others when it is erected on the ground. However, the stock of the musket is made of fine pear wood, and it is also carved with exquisite patterns, which are not only for good looks, but also for the user to grasp more firmly. In order to allow more soldiers whose physique is not particularly high to use, Zhu Houwei has reduced the caliber and weight a little. The barrel looks good with iron, and it has been brushed with oil, so it is dark and has a cold glow, and it looks very pleasing.

Craftsman Sun saw that the two brothers had almost seen the whole of the gun, and continued to explain, "Two highnesses, please see, this curved iron piece is a striking iron, which is used to fix and accelerate the flint, which is the main spring, mainly to provide power for striking the iron, in front of the flint is the buckle spring, the flint is the steel bar, and the bottom of the buckle spring is the gunpowder pool, which is the place where a small amount of gunpowder is added to receive the spark. ”

Three of these four parts are outside the gun, and the two brothers can see it very clearly, and the craftsmen of these parts are also very meticulous.

Craftsman Sun continued, "Here is the buckle reed, which is connected to the lid of the powder pool, and on rainy days, the shooting of the gun will not be affected, and there is also a movement, a stopper and a stopper spring in the gun. ”

Zhu Houzhao said with some eagerness: "Okay, let people set the target and test the power of the musket." Craftsman Sun nodded yes.

Craftsman Sun and Craftsman Zhou respectively took the guns in the hands of the two brothers, and then began to load ammunition. First of all, the flintlock pistol must be adjusted to the half-firing position, otherwise it is easy to misfire, and then take out the gunpowder, pour a small part in the gunpowder pool, then pour gunpowder and bullets into the barrel, and then use the whole strip to poke the bullet, pull out the whole strip, and then hand the gun to the two brothers, after the two brothers got the gun, they were adjusted to the full firing position in the craftsman's explanation, mainly because Zhu Houzhao needed to explain, and Zhu Houwei knew how to use it. The two then aimed at the target at a distance of 50 meters and opened fire. In no particular order, the two gunshots rang out, the flintlock pistols each emitted a burst of white mist, Zhu Houzhao's arrow target pierced a hole, and Zhu Houwei's arrow target was unharmed, Zhu Houzhao looked at the two arrow targets at a glance and heard the anxious "Second Highness" behind him, looking back, Zhu Houwei was still holding a gun in his hand, but the person sat on the ground, his expression was still a little flustered, and he couldn't help laughing unscrupulously. Zhu Houwei also came back to his senses, stood up with the support of Craftsman Sun, and rolled his eyes at Zhu Houzhao.

The targets were then placed at 70 meters, 80 meters, 90 meters and 100 meters to test the performance of the guns. In the end, the result was that 70 or 80 meters still penetrated the target very accurately, 90 meters had no accuracy, and it was difficult to hit the target at 100 meters.

It is better to fire at 70 meters from a flintlock gun, beyond 90 meters it is useless. This data is similar to what Zhu Houwei thought in his heart, after all, it is just a smoothbore gun, and the firing range is basically about 140 meters, and it is completely up to luck to hit the enemy if it exceeds 100 meters. However, this is already a longer range than the bow and arrow of the steppe horse, and the northern steppe army generally does not release arrows until 50 meters, causing casualties, and no longer than that, they can't wear armor at all.

Zhu Houwei asked, "How much does it cost to build one, and how many days does it take?" Craftsman Zhou replied, "The cost of this one is about 20 taels, and it takes 4 to 5 days, mainly because the barrel needs to be polished little by little, so it takes a long time." ”

Zhu Houwei nodded, "I will give you an assembly line production method, it is estimated that the speed will be accelerated, and I will continue to increase your manpower, and I will divide a group of people to study rifled guns." Craftsman Zhou couldn't help asking, "Second Highness, I don't know what this rifled gun is." Zhu Houwei glanced at him, "There must be lines and tracks in the barrel, so that the bullet will rotate, and the range and strength will be improved." By the way, there is also gunpowder, which is wrapped in paper and divided into two ends, the small one is poured into the powder pool, and the more one is poured into the barrel, and the bullet will be loaded faster, and the other end of the strip is equipped with a gun cloth, which is convenient for soldiers to carry. This early musket is good, all craftsmen are rewarded with 10 taels, and the name of the craftsman will be engraved on the gun in the future, and if there is a problem with the quality, it is easy to find someone to be responsible. The two craftsmen of Zhou and Sun immediately knelt down and said, "Thank you, Your Highness, for the reward, the villain and others will definitely do their best to make every firearm." ”

Zhu Houwei said, "Okay, you guys are here to experiment with the life of the barrel, let's go first." As he spoke, he snatched the gun from Zhu Houzhao's hand and handed it to the craftsman, and then pulled Zhu Houzhao away.

Zhu Houzhao was still a little unhappy, "Leave me one, 2 experiments are enough." Zhu Houwei shook his head slightly, "How can you use it with confidence if you don't experiment with the life of the barrel, in case it explodes, it's not like you haven't seen it, and you don't want a few if it's built in the future." ”

Zhu Houzhao also remembered the situation when the fire gun exploded during the training of the Shenji Battalion, and he couldn't help but shudder, and then went to Lao Li's house with Zhu Houwei to see his senior sister.

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