"You've done a great job, especially this improvement, which is quite good, not only reducing one part, reducing production costs, but also moving the fire door forward, so that soldiers don't have to worry so much about the smoke from the burning of gunpowder getting into their eyes, which will be a great advantage on the battlefield."

Zhou Shixian handed the improved arquebus in his hand to Wang Yinglai on the side, he chatted with Sun Hu a few times, and now he also understands arquebuses, and then nodded again and again: "Sun Hu, the battalion officer of the Jinwu Battalion, said to Ben Ma that many musketeers, especially those recruits, did not dare to open their eyes when they fired, for fear that the gunpowder would explode into their eyes. This improvement can effectively reduce the psychological panic of soldiers on the battlefield and maintain the musket formation. ”

The two craftsmen were suddenly called in, and they were originally panicked and uneasy, but after being praised by Zhou Shixian several times, the hanging heart finally let go, and they were even a little proud at this time.

Wang Ying looked at the Weapons Bureau in charge of him and was appreciated by the horse Zhou Shixian, the corners of his mouth raised slightly without a trace, and the fat face was so happy that he was squeezed together.

Zhou Shixian said that, he turned his head to look at Wang Yinglai again, and asked, "Wang Shilang, how much silver should be rewarded for this improvement, according to the regulations promulgated by this concubine before?" ”

Wang Yinglai hurriedly put down the musket in his hand, folded his sleeves and replied: "Back to the horse, the rule set by the horse before is that the individual reward is fifty taels, the monthly salary is promoted to one level, and the team is rewarded one hundred taels. ”

"Okay, just follow the rules. In the future, once such improvements have proved to be effective after experiments at the weapons testing ground, rewards and promotions must be implemented immediately, and there must be absolutely no delay. ”

Zhou Shixian paused, and continued to encourage: "Only in this way will our craftsmen have the motivation to improve their weapons, and our weapons will become stronger and stronger, easier and cheaper, and our soldiers will die less on the battlefield and win more battles."

Although the "patent system" is not something that can be created in a moment, and the arrangement of assembly line production cannot be achieved overnight, the plan for setting up a craftsman school, a crash course for craftsmen, and training all kinds of craftsmen in batches is still being formulated.

However, the various measures proposed by Zhou Shixian, a modern man from 400 years later, such as "innovation rewards", "piecework and salary", and "division of labor and cooperation", really stimulated the enthusiasm of craftsmen and greatly improved the production efficiency of weapons workshops.

You must know that now the equipment of the Ming army in Jiangnan is a joke in front of the real field battle, and the firearms in the treasury are even older and unusable.

Not to mention that according to his plan, he will continue to expand the army a year later, expanding the soldiers and horses in his hands to more than 60,000, all of which are equipped with high-quality muskets, artillery and armor, that is, now, all the musketeers in the 20,000 slender men are equipped with muskets, except for the part that Tang Ruowang and Shi Kefa are arranged to buy, the gap is also more than 5,000.

The traditional musket manufacturing method, the manufacture of a musket requires a craftsman for a month, although in the case of ensuring the material, the quality of the musket produced in this way is also superior, but it takes a long time and the cost is expensive, and the time cost, labor cost, and financial cost are difficult for Zhou Shixian to bear.

After all, the soldiers under his command needed more than just muskets, according to the basic weapon configuration of two layers of armor per person, a helmet, a dagger, a waist knife or a short axe, the shield of the sword and shield hand and the Qi family knife, the spear of the pikeman, the foot bow of the archer, and the artillery of the artillery, each of which required a lot of resources and manpower, and the musket was only handled by less than four hundred craftsmen.

However, after the division of labor in the manufacturing process, the Ordnance Bureau can recruit a large number of novice craftsmen, and after simple training, they can go to work, which greatly alleviates the problem of lack of excellent craftsmen and limited production capacity, and greatly shortens the manufacturing cycle, so that the manufacturing cost of the musket is reduced to the level of more than four taels of silver, which makes it possible for Zhou Shixian to complete the equipment of the army within half a year.

"Horse, Ji An improved the drill bit for drilling the barrel in the workshop a few days ago, and we can drill a barrel five days faster than before, and a musket can now be completed in only twelve days. Our two musket workshops can produce more than 1,100 muskets a month, and the lower officials also rewarded him with 50 taels of silver according to the rules. ”

Wang Ying said, hehe smiled: "Now these craftsmen see the opportunity to make money, and their enthusiasm is very high, many people don't even go home after finishing work, they rely on the workshop to study, and even some are thinking about how to improve when they eat."

Now this state is exactly what Zhou Shixian wants to see, as long as there is a suitable stage, many people can stand out, achieve greater value, and human potential can be developed.

All this that Zhou Shixian has done, the improvement of the system, is actually to use his knowledge beyond the times to build such a stage to promote the improvement of technology and the production of science.

And the anti-Qing resistance, in a sense, is to avoid such a stage from disappearing from the level of the entire country and nation. The barbarism and brutality of the Manchu Qing were beyond imagination.

Ji An, who was standing next to Wei Chunlai, was another craftsman in the musket workshop, and he was also a very senior firearm craftsman in the Nanjing government-run workshop, but he was very wooden and didn't know how to speak...... Attach...... Attached, the horses, are all arranged by adults, and the small ones and the small ones dare not take credit. ”

"Hahahaha, Craftsman Ji doesn't have to be modest, if he does a good job, he should be praised and rewarded, otherwise those who have no performance should be dismissed?" Zhou Shixian said soothingly.

"Wise pony!"

Wang Yinglai is not these two craftsmen, he immediately flattered: "The rewards and punishments are clear, and we are discerning, we can do things under the horses, it is really a blessing for three lives!" “

Zhou Shixian waved his hand, and was noncommittal, and then asked about the bayonet, but the answer he got was still not feasible.

"Donkey, in the past month, Xia Guan has arranged for craftsmen to test dozens of times, and more than 20 samples have been made, but the quality is very poor, and the steel knife is very fragile when it engages in battle, and it can't pierce the armor at all." Wang Yinglai replied a little nervously, he could feel that Zhou Shixian attached great importance to this issue.

Zhou Shixian listened and nodded, he actually thought that it was not a simple matter to load the musket with a bayonet, not only with a bayonet, but also many things that could be improved in practice, but he still instructed the workshop to try it, in addition to holding a little luck, there was also the meaning of acquiescing to failure, after all, scientific research is inevitable to fail.

"Well, this horse understands, if this is the case, then this is slowed down in advance, and the most important thing now is to step up production to meet the equipment needs of the army. Wang Yinglai, you make a plan, and then arrange this matter after the back is fully manned. ”

What he needed now was to quickly produce a large number of cheap and useful muskets to equip his troops and complete the first phase of the army expansion.

Li Zicheng failed in the Battle of Shanhaiguan, and the news that the capital was occupied by the Manchus had reached Nanjing.

However, compared with the original history, Li Zicheng retreated more slowly, and after Yuan Zongdi led the army into Shandong, he was summoned to the capital to escort him before he could return to Henan, which made the Qing army not dare to pursue wantonly.

However, the overall trend remained the same, although Li Zicheng arranged the so-called defense line in Shanxi, but did not personally sit in the town, those Ming troops who had just surrendered rebelled one after another, and the so-called Shanxi defense line collapsed at the touch of a button.

The Shun army quickly lost the whole area of Beizhili, the whole of Shandong, most of Shanxi, and the small part of Henan, and the territory changed back to before the original Eastern Expedition, and the old battalion soldiers lost nearly half.

In this way, there is not much time left for Zhou Shixian, he must complete the equipment and training of the army before February next year, that is, half a year later, and at the same time basically control the four army leaders in Jiangbei, otherwise with his more than 20,000 soldiers and horses, he will not be able to defend such a vast land.

And Gao Jie, Huang Degong, Liu Zeqing, Liu Liangzuo and others' armies are reorganized, and the required armament replenishment will have to wait until he meets his own needs.

"Yes, colt!" Wang Yinglai immediately responded.

"How is the weapons test site being built and is it starting to operate?" Zhou Shixian stood up and prepared to leave.

Seeing this, Wang Yinglai hurriedly followed and replied: "According to the requirements of the horses, the preliminary construction of the weapon test site has been completed, and after discussing with a few craftsmen, the lower officials are ready to start the test from the musket, and I believe that the evaluation effect will come out soon." ”

"Okay, Wang Shilang is very effective, and his future is bound to be limitless."

Zhou Shixian nodded, and encouraged: "The army side will soon sort out the improvement needs of various weapons, and they will be sent over soon. You have to improve these points step by step.

For example, if the musket is heavier, you have to find a way to see whether the gun should be longer or shorter, how thick the barrel should be, how many bullets should be used, how much gunpowder should be used, how thick the armor should be broken within 100 steps, and whether it can be improved while maintaining lethality.

All these tests must be recorded, and every improvement needs to be used by the army to ensure performance before it can be mass-produced, and you have to arrange people to do such things.

If the new gun experiment is successful and can be put into production, the corresponding craftsman will have a bonus, and the craftsman level and the moon level will be raised accordingly, and this colt will never treat you badly. ”

"The subordinate will obey the orders of the colt and will not let the colt down." Wang Yinglai bowed his waist and arched his hand.