These days, Li Xiao has been wandering around the land of Liaodong non-stop, inspecting various arsenals and various scientific research institutions in Liaodong. Every year, the imperial court allocates large sums of money to support these institutions. Although scientific research is like buying a lottery ticket, Li Xiao also has to see if these guys are fooling themselves.

Thanks to the love of Xinjueluo, Liaodong was once the most turbulent place in the Ming Dynasty, and there is no one to say. If Li Xiao hadn't been born, the Jurchen Tartars would have been circling in front of Shanhaiguan by now.

But now that there is Li Xiao, the nightmare of the Jurchens has come from here. Seeing Li Xiao grow from a small to a big one, from a small warlord who has no name, to now he has grown into a marshal who holds the world's soldiers and horses. Liaodong, the base of Li Xiao has always been.

This provided Li Xiao with soldiers, all kinds of war materials, and all kinds of weapons and ammunition. Even, Liaodong already has the longest railway mileage in the country. If Li Xiao wants, he can take the train from Shanhaiguan to Mohe. Don't stop until the majestic Heilongjiang River blocks the way!

The Jinzhou Arsenal has become the busiest arsenal in the country, because according to the division of labor. The Jinzhou Arsenal is responsible for the manufacture of bullets and shells of various models, which are consumables. In addition to combat, I also fought a lot during training.

Li Xiao stood in front of the huge glass window and watched as the workers were painting the bullets. Water curtains are hung on the walls around the perimeter to ensure that not a single trace of dust escapes. Workers wearing pig-mouth gas masks are carefully spraying bullets.

"The workers in the spray workshop worked hardest, and at noon, their faces were stamped because of wearing gas masks for a long time. It's okay now, it's as hot as a steamer in the summer. Everyone walked out as if they had been fished out of the water. I am studying with the factory whether everyone will work six hours a day and change from three shifts to four shifts a day. In this way, the workers can also rest for a while. It's just that since then, it will be necessary to add a shift of workers. Expenses will also increase! Zheng Sen looked down and introduced to Li Xiao.

"Can this process be saved? Save the workers from this sin! I remember the first bullets, they didn't need to be painted. Ao Canghai, who was accompanying Li Xiao, was a little unsightly, he didn't expect that the bullets that he couldn't look at would be so hard to produce.

"My Ao Ye! This is something that can't be helped, and the first bullet that the teacher gets out of it is copper-shelled, so there is no need to paint. But we are short of copper, and it is too wasteful to use copper shells to make bullets. Only bullet casings can be made of steel!

But the bullet casing made of steel will rust after a long time, and there is no way to add this process. Even then, bullets have a storage life. Bullets that have passed their expiration date have to be scrapped. Zheng Sen glanced at Li Xiao and helplessly explained to this Ao Ye.

"If copper is expensive, then it's better to get paper."

"I've thought about using paper, but paper shells have the problem of paper shells. The biggest disadvantage is that the airtightness is not good, and the ammunition is easy to get damp in a humid environment and become a stinky smell! Supply your troops with this stinking thing, and you don't bring your soldiers to raid my arsenal. ”

"In the long run, it's better to use an iron shell. This is something that can't be helped, who makes God not have long eyes, we are very short of copper. A few days ago, I heard Mr. Zhang talk about ancient times, and when he talked about the Qin and Han dynasties, the gold they talked about was actually copper. Emperor Lao Tzu rewarded people with money, all of which were awarded pieces of copper.

Bullets are consumables, and cartridge casings are necessarily consumables. It's not cost-effective to make it with copper! Li Xiao saw that Ao Canghai had begun to talk nonsense, so he pulled the topic back again.

"Although bullets are consumables, you must control the quality well. It is absolutely impossible to send out a stinky bullet, and a bullet that does not sound on the battlefield is likely to kill the soldiers. ”

"No! We must strictly control the quality! Zheng Sen hurriedly bowed his head and promised.

When the big leaders come to inspect, they must make a symbolic inspection. Two porters were severely criticized by Li Xiao for not wearing pig-mouth gas masks. Paint is poisonous, and long-term inhalation of this stuff can cause serious lung disease. Tuberculosis is still an incurable disease in this era.

Overall, the Jinzhou Arsenal is not bad. The ammunition produced by one arsenal can supply two field divisions of the Liao Army.

"Jinzhou City, don't develop to the factory side, there is so much ammunition here. An explosion is no small thing! Seeing that a building was being built outside the factory, Li Xiao frowned. In later generations, there were still not one or two large explosions, each time causing serious casualties. What's more, the plant itself produces ammunition.

"That's the workers' dormitory! Some workers' homes are so far away from the factory that they can travel for an hour. On a rainy and snowy day, the workers were all miserable. There was no choice but to build a few dormitory buildings. Workers who are willing to move over will be given a house. In this way, the inconvenience of their commuting is solved. ”

Li Xiao sighed helplessly, it was indeed inconvenient to travel in the snowy days of Liaodong. Sometimes, you just can't have it both ways.

After Jinzhou, Shenyang has become another important town in eastern Liaodong. Located on the bank of the Hunhe River, Shenyang City, once the capital of Nurhachi's Later Jin. Today, it has become a very important industrial base in eastern Liaoning.

The Shenyang Arsenal has become one of the most important arsenals in the Ming Dynasty. It is capable of producing 10,000 "Big Eight" rifles per year, as well as 4,000 Acre 47 rifles. It is capable of producing 100 120-mm howitzers per year, and another 20 155-mm howitzers.

As for mortars, five thousand are produced every year. It's just that the troops are not so much needed. Just a few hundred doors are produced every year!

Li Xiao is particularly focused on the production of the Acre 47 rifle, and the main divisions below will be equipped with this rifle. This kind of rifle, which can produce great power within 300 meters, is definitely the hegemon on the battlefield. The Mongols, who still used traditional rifles, were no match at all.

From the barrel, which is the most difficult to machine, to the receiver and even the trigger, it is all produced in this factory. The arsenal had a strict division of labor, and the workers in their own department knew only what they were responsible for doing. After the product is released, it is unified and summarized in the assembly workshop.

The wages in the assembly workshop are higher than in other places, because only people with clean fortunes and who have not been disposed of by the yamen are recruited here. They are responsible for assembling piles of parts into a handful of murderous weapons. Moreover, every gun has to go through a test shot before leaving the factory.

At the bottom of a small hill, more than a dozen iron tongs loaded with sand were arranged in a row, and several workers were holding Aka 47 rifles and fighting at a distance of 100 meters. Ordinary people have a lot of interest in guns, but these workers have no interest in guns. The reason is that they fight too much, and their ears are numb when they listen to the gunshots every day. Even when you hear a gunshot, you can tell the model of the gun.

It's strictly forbidden to move around! Li Xiao held up the binoculars and looked at them for a while, and found that the hands of these workers really smelled. "Crackling" played, and there were only one or two gun holes in the tin cylinder. This is simply a slap in the face of Li Xiao, you must know that the Aka 47 rifle, whether it is in terms of range or accuracy, although it is not the best, it is definitely not so rubbish.

Walked up to the workers, picked up an Acre 47 rifle, loaded it with bullets and fired at the target in the distance. The bullets hit the tin bucket continuously, and streams of sand leaked out of it.

Ao Canghai also fired a few shots, and he liked the Aka 47 rifle very much. Before going to the northwest, he blocked the factory gate and insisted on walking 5,000 branches.

The factory director saw that Li Xiao's face was a little dark, and he was so frightened that his legs and stomach were tendoned. But he couldn't help it, a young man who loved guns, less than a month after he was transferred here, he began to get tired of guns. It's like everyone likes to set off firecrackers, but being responsible for setting off firecrackers all day long is a bit tiresome.

Originally, they were arranged to have dinner in the arsenal, but Li Xiao and Ao Canghai left angrily. Zheng Sen glared at the factory director fiercely, and followed behind his buttocks.

"It's not that I'm angry at their attitude, it's that I resent them for not respecting the labor of others. We all watched it when we were in Jinzhou, how difficult it was to produce bullets. But these guys, shooting in the sky, I feel distressed when I look at it. ”

Zheng Sen pouted and didn't speak, whoever tested the gun was to check whether it was loud or not. Who wants to use this opportunity to train sharpshooters? Besides, the sharpshooter now has an optical sight as well. It's still rough, but it's better than nothing.

Fortunately, the next stop is the airship factory, which makes Li Xiao more satisfied! Because he saw an improved gasoline engine, to be exact, this thing already had a prototype of an engine. And this thing has a lot of power and a small size. What's more, the noise is also not as loud as the airships that are now in service. Reduced weight and volume also increase fuel capacity. So, this thing can fly higher and farther.

"This new gasoline engine is based on the drawings that Li Yongfang got back, and then combined with our tradition to make the most optimized revision. In the end, it was finalized like this, and the Xu brothers said that there was still room for further improvement in this thing. Zheng Sen was happy to see Li Xiao, and hurriedly stood on the side as a commentator.

"Hmmm! The more good things you have, the better. You can try to install one on the left and right hulls of the airship, which may not only increase the range, but also increase the speed. The most important thing is that two engines can fit a lot of things. "Nowadays, airships have a propeller at the back of the buttocks, because there is only one engine, and the speed and range are also guaranteed.

But it is precisely because of this design that the airship is stagnant. No wonder people say that quantitative change leads to qualitative change. Li Xiao very much wanted them to develop an aircraft engine, but it was not realistic. Compared to aircraft engines, what is being drummed up now is still large and not powerful enough.

Aircraft engines are the most dazzling pearls in the crown of industry, this sentence is said in Daming. The airship is the most dazzling pearl in the crown of the world's industry!

In the world, the only country that can build an airship is Daming. I heard that Wu Sangui is also researching, but I don't know what I can research.

However, Li Xiao knew that there was not much time left for him. Wu Sangui's big scientists from all over Europe may be able to understand the principle of Li Xiao's design of the airship next month. Moreover, Li Xiao also knew that Wu Sangui knew how this airship was built, and he would definitely do his best to imitate it.

Even Li Xiao knew that the airship that Wu Sangui built first would definitely be sent back to London to show off.

Her Majesty will be very pleased to give the Queen something that can carry people in the sky. Wu Sangui, the commander of the Indian Army, also sat more and more peacefully.

"Handsome! The production capacity of airships in our factory has reached the rate of one per month. And according to your requirements, we are preparing to design and produce an airship that can carry two or three hundred people and has comfortable seat pods, which is specially designed for long-distance aviation services. "The director of the airship factory is a fat man with a smile. followed Li Xiao for a while, and had to keep wiping his sweat with a handkerchief.

Li Xiao glanced at this guy, his eye bubbles were swollen, and there were black lines around his eyes. In addition, I was wheezing after walking a few steps, and I was sweating profusely. You don't need to ask Li Xiao to know that this guy is overly drunk.

A guy who is overly drunk, but he can make the airship factory prosperous, I have to say that this is also a kind of talent. When the forest is big, there are all kinds of birds, and what birds sing what kind of tune.

"He built this factory?" Li Xiao asked Zheng Sen with some suspicion.

"That's true, this man is very capable. But the disadvantage is that eating, drinking, prostituting and gambling are all wet! When I recommended him to be the director of the airship factory, I was not very willing, for fear that he would become yellow. Unexpectedly, in just three months. The people led the workers and agitated for the first airship. Then, he refined the process, and then formulated the division of labor models and standards. In this way, I can be regarded as a reliable airship. Zheng Sen was full of praise for the person in front of him.

"Oh! Such! Li Xiao shook his head helplessly, under normal circumstances, the imperial court would observe the performance of each parent official. That is, how much tax money has been added to the place under your jurisdiction. It's so dangerous, Li Xiao still sees it.

Along the railway line from Shenyang to Lushun, it can run through the entire industrial vein. A large steel mill was built in Anshan, where the fishermen are said to have studied the latest rolling technology, which they called collar rolling.

Fire and water are merciless! If something happens, it's the elite of the Ming science and technology community.

The train is still far away from Anshan, and you can see several huge pillars of smoke floating in Anshan. Underneath the chimney, there is often a large chimney with blue and white circles. The entire Anshan City is shrouded in a layer of dust.

Li Xiao smelled the smell of coke in the air, and let his children and grandchildren enjoy the treatment of the 21st century in advance, which was somewhat cruel. Li Xiao knows how much dust inhalation in the lungs will have on the body.