"This is?"
As a senior official in the Bureau of Armaments, Cao Zijun immediately recognized that this was a new type of weaponry, but its design was so strange that he had never seen it before.
The subordinate stroked his beard and said.
"It looks like a ballista, but there's no bowstring on it, so I don't know how to fire it."
The others were also scratching their heads, at a loss. Although they were used to working with weapons, they couldn't understand the things on the blueprints.
Mu Zian smiled and immediately began to explain.
"This thing is called a swarm of bees, and it doesn't need to be fired with a bowstring. It also requires very little manpower."
"In this battle, this item is one of the trump cards that our Duke has against the Zhou State."
Upon hearing this, the office of the Ordnance Bureau fell silent.
They were quite surprised to find that there were ballistae that could be fired without the need for bows and arrows.
"If the Armory Works were to put all its resources into manufacturing this item, how many could it produce?"
Upon hearing this, Cao Zijun began to ponder in his heart, and the surrounding officials also started to discuss it.
Mu Zian wasn't in a hurry and waited quietly.
After a moment, Cao Zijun stepped forward and said.
"With the fighting on the front lines intensifying, the Ordnance Bureau is under increasing pressure every day."
"However, thanks to decades of peace, there is a considerable amount of military equipment stored in the warehouses, which can now be used after a simple refurbishment."
"Even so, it still requires a lot of manpower, but if everyone in my Armory works hard, it won't be a problem to build a dozen or twenty vehicles a day."
Mu Zian also considered the situation and estimated that the army would be able to set off within a few days.
At this rate, with the manufacturing bureau and smelting bureau producing them together, it shouldn't be a problem to gather a hundred vehicles before setting off.
Although the swarm launcher itself is not very accurate, its advantage lies in the ability to launch multiple rockets at once.
With such a dense barrage of arrows, accuracy becomes less important.
Furthermore, the effective killing range of a swarm is over 300 meters.
Its lethality is extremely obvious when facing dense infantry.
At present, Mu Zian has three trump cards in terms of weaponry.
Crossbows, red-clad cannons, a swarm of bees.
These three things, while not enough to conquer the world, can certainly give the Zhao-Zhou allied forces a small shock.
Time was of the essence, and Mu Zian couldn't afford to waste any time.
The direct approach was to have Zhao Yun allocate funds from the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion to the Armory.
Mu Zian believed that you get what you pay for.
If you pay enough, you can whip a hammer until it's smoking.
The fact that Mu Zi'an was cooperating with the Bureau of Armaments could not be kept secret at all.
Soon, Liu Yi, the Minister of War, learned of this matter.
After summoning Cao Zijun and inquiring about the details of the matter, Liu Yi chose to turn a blind eye.
After all, he still had lingering fears about Mu Zi'an.
Moreover, dealing with the Zhao-Zhou alliance is the most important thing right now. As for what Mu Zian wants to do, as long as it doesn't interfere with his business, it's fine.
With Mu Zian's superpowers, the Armory and Smelting Bureau operated day and night.
Two days later, Zhao Shizhen arrived in the capital with twenty gongs.
After obtaining the specific data from the previous bombardment of the Six Burial Hall, Zhao Shizhen worked through the night to compile the data.
They managed to double the number of red-coated cannons they brought over.
Besides the Dongfeng, Zhao Shizhen also brought Mu Zian a surprise: two thousand matchlock guns.
Currently, these two thousand matchlock guns are being used by two thousand musketeer teams selected from the Qihuo Army, with Xu Hui personally leading the training.
Soon they will travel down the Yellow River with Han Shizhong and others to reach the capital.
At Mu Zian's suggestion, Zhao Shizhen also made some modifications to the matchlock gun.
The most important point is the addition of rifling inside the barrel to ensure accuracy.
"The matchlock gun is two to three feet long, straight on the outside and with a tube inside. It is made of refined steel billet, with a through-hole inside and a closed bottom. There is a curved rod on one side for passing the fire."
"From here, gunpowder is loaded, lead bullets are added, the gunpowder is compacted, the trigger is pulled, and the internal gunpowder is ignited by the match cord, thus achieving firing."
As Zhao Shizhen used it, he explained its structure to Mu Zi'an.
As Zhao Shizhen finished speaking, his finger pulled the trigger.
With a loud crack, gunpowder smoke billowed everywhere!
Then a bullet shot out and pierced through a straw man wearing armor in front of him.
Luo Cheng stepped forward and brought the person to Mu Zi'an.
Mu Zian stroked the hole that had been punched through her armor with satisfaction.
If it can be so lethal to those wearing armor, it will be even more lethal to ordinary soldiers.
After all, in a battle, those who can wear full armor are undoubtedly the elite.
These elite troops typically make up only one or two tenths of an army.
Zhao Shizhen, having put down his matchlock gun, said with some regret.
"However, the current method of loading the matchlock gun is a bit troublesome. Even a skilled operator can only fire less than twenty rounds in half an hour."
Half an hour is roughly seven minutes, so that translates to about 2-3 shots per minute.
Mu Zian took the rope gun from Zhao Shizhen's hand, examined it carefully, and then suddenly spoke.
"If the gunpowder and projectiles are wrapped in oiled paper, and then the paper is torn open to expose the gunpowder when needed, thus speeding up the loading process, could this result in more firings?"
Upon hearing Mu Zian's words, Zhao Shizhen immediately understood the key point, and then suddenly realized the truth, exclaiming with delight.
"Duke Zhenguo! You are truly a genius! If this is done, the number of those activated might double!"
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