The sixth year of the Qingli period was a special year for the Song Dynasty.
It was not just that the Western Xia suddenly attacked Qingtang, forcing the Song Dynasty to join the war and dispatch troops to the northwest to confront the Western Xia.
It is also because starting from this year, the industry of the Song Dynasty is proceeding in an orderly manner and has begun to be laid out nationwide.
The first to start construction was the Nanyang Iron and Steel Plant, built in Nanyang County, Dengzhou, which is the later Nanyang City. Preparations began as early as the fourth year of the Qingli period and production began in the fifth year of the Qingli period.
Then, in the sixth year of the Qingli period, various steel mills began to spring up like mushrooms after a rain. Basically, after the document from the Political System Council was issued at the beginning of the previous year, the transport envoys in various regions began to respond to the national call and officially built steel production lines in their regions.
For this reason, Wu'an Iron and Steel Plant stopped military industrial construction and began to mass-produce steel production furnaces. It also continued to train various skilled workers, first providing talent to Nanyang Iron and Steel Plant and then sending guidance to the whole country.
If the Northeast is the eldest son of the Republic in later generations and the production base of heavy industry in our country, then Wuan Iron and Steel has now become the eldest son of the Song Dynasty and has begun to help its younger brothers and sisters thrive.
It was also the bad luck of the Western Xia and Liao dynasties. If they had started two years earlier, steel mills across the country would not have been built. The Wu'an Steel Plant alone would not have been enough to supply firearms to so many troops across the country, which meant that firearms construction at the time was not yet fully developed.
But now, the Song Dynasty's army of over 600,000 soldiers had completely upgraded their firearms. Besides the ring-handled swords worn at their waists, their only cold weapons were the detachable bayonets developed by the School of Physics on the front of their rifles.
It was early July, and Zhao Jun and Fan Zhongyan were standing on the stage at the imperial army training ground in the northern suburbs of Bianliang, watching the roaring sound coming from the training ground in the distance. The "bang bang bang" sound of explosions never stopped.
Amidst a cloud of dust, a small earthen hill about four or five meters high collapsed, splashing up countless dust.
In the artillery position in front of Zhao Jun, more than a dozen gunners were loading ammunition from the rear of the cannon, cleaning out the remaining gunpowder in the magazine, then stuffing the shells into the barrel, igniting and firing again. In just one minute, they fired three shells.
This is actually the maximum loading speed of ancient muzzle-loading artillery shells. An experienced crew member can quickly complete the tasks of cleaning, loading, and firing after firing, thus reaching a speed of 23 rounds per minute.
But as mentioned before, doing so will maximize the life of the cannon.
Therefore, during the Napoleonic era, unless in a particularly urgent situation, a cooling item would generally be added, that is, a firing rate of one round per minute or one round per two minutes to complete the artillery mission.
Although breech-loading shells also have concerns about exploding, the loading speed is much faster than that of muzzle-loading shells. Although the steps are the same, cleaning and loading, the loading part does not require a plunger to poke the shell in, which greatly increases the firing rate.
Without considering the limit of barrel explosion and lifespan, they can even reach seven or eight rounds per minute. If there are hundreds of guns, they can completely complete the artillery coverage bombing, which can be said to be extremely powerful.
After watching the breech-loading cannon experiment, Zhao Jun and Fan Zhongyan went to inspect the test firing of the breech-loading musket.
Compared with the original Nimi bullets and fixed ammunition, the firing rate of breech-loading muskets has been improved to a higher level, and it can basically be declared that it has reached the strongest technology and combat effectiveness in the gunpowder age.
"That's right. I didn't expect the School of Physics to be so capable. Two years ago, I told them how to design and manufacture it. Last year, they had the design finalized. It was almost finished in March of this year. After several months of refinement, the results are impressive."
After watching the test firing, Fan Zhongyan nodded with satisfaction.
He visited the School of Physics in March and found that it had been completed. It had been under improvement for several months and had basically reached the level for mass production.
Zhao Jun smiled and said, "Such rapid efficiency is inseparable from two conditions. First, the emergence of steel mills. The birth of industry led to a huge increase in steel production. Second, the cultivation of a scientific environment. With a large group of like-minded people engaged in scientific research and exploration, miracles will naturally emerge."
"You've done all of that."
Fan Zhongyan said.
"Yes, these eleven years of hard work have not been in vain."
Zhao Jun said lightly.
When I read history in the past, I saw that other time travelers would just build steam engines with their hands and quickly start the Industrial Revolution.
Only he knows how difficult this journey is.
The Industrial Revolution was not accomplished by simply building a steam engine, but required a complete system.
Otherwise, a screw, a lever, or even a sealing problem inside might be enough to stump everyone.
During these eleven years, Zhao Jun, in the first few years, at most improved the gunpowder formula based on the Song Dynasty's own firearms, allowing the Song Dynasty to manufacture grenades and artillery.
The rest of the time, we were cultivating various talents, promoting basic junior high school mathematics, physics and chemistry education, and providing a research platform for talents interested in science such as Su Song, Zhang Zai, Jia Xian, Wan Zhichen, and Yan Su.
It is only through this two-pronged approach that we have achieved what we have today.
"Now that Xixia and Liao are plotting against us, if we officially start production at the military factory, we should be able to send them to the front lines for use in the battle."
Fan Zhongyan said.
"Well, have the Ministry of War draft a document this afternoon to produce a batch first so that the Bianliang Imperial Guards can equip themselves with new equipment."
Zhao Jun said, "The Song Dynasty has already fully equipped its troops with muskets. Replacing them with muskets would be too expensive. We've only just solved the problem of redundant troops, so we can't immediately start increasing military spending so much again."
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