It's better not to join in the fun at this time. If I get blown up, the consequences will be serious.
Zhu Youxiao values his life very much. He does not live for himself, and he absolutely cannot afford to have any problems.
Bi Maokang naturally didn't know what the emperor was thinking, he just wanted to perform well.
He was very excited and waved the signal flag, telling the people below to prepare to fire.
At this time, the people in the distance also moved.
They worked in groups of two, carrying a wooden box in their hands, and came directly to the mortar.
Then they opened the box and took out the shells, holding them carefully in both hands.
After seeing this scene, Zhu Youxiao's face was full of excitement.
Finally I saw the thing with tail fins behind this shell!
After seeing this thing, Zhu Youxiao was so excited that he couldn't control himself.
Good stuff, good stuff!
Zhu Youxiao was somewhat impatient to see the final results of the experiment.
After these people took out the shells, they began to position them with their fingers and quickly adjusted the shooting angle.
The last person held the cannonball and placed it directly on the muzzle. As he let go, the cannonball fell directly into the barrel, followed by a bang.
Zhu Youxiao watched through the telescope as the cannonball flew out in a spin and then landed heavily on the ground not far away.
With a "boom", the shell exploded instantly.
After seeing this scene, Zhu Youxiao couldn't help but stand up excitedly.
Bi Maokang, who was beside Zhu Youxiao, jumped up with joy and shouted loudly: "It's done! It's done!"
It was obvious that Bi Maokang was also very excited, and he couldn't help himself.
After a while, Bi Maokang came back to his senses and quickly bowed to Zhu Youxiao, saying, "Your Majesty, I was overly excited. I have lost my manners in front of you, Your Majesty. I beg Your Majesty to punish me."
Zhu Youxiao glanced at Bi Maokang, not knowing whether he was acting or not.
But it doesn't matter. As an emperor, you have to endure this.
Zhu Youxiao smiled and said, "My dear minister, you have worked hard to create such a good thing for the Ming Dynasty and have persisted for such a long time. Now that it is completed, my dear minister, you should naturally be very happy. I will record your contribution and will definitely reward you well."
"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Bi Maokang said hurriedly with a bright smile on his face and an excited tone.
Wasn't Bi Maokang's words just to get His Majesty to reward him well? He had his own ideas. Now that His Majesty said this, everyone was naturally happy.
"Let them fire again." Zhu Youxiao looked at Bi Maokang and said, "Let's see how powerful they are."
It's impossible for this thing to fire just one shot, and even for a test, it's impossible for it to fire just one shot.
So the test began again, this time with more than a dozen guns firing at the same time.
Looking at the dust raised by the bombing on the opposite side, Zhu Youxiao was so happy.
This now has some meaning of artillery. What was the artillery called before?
However, Zhu Youxiao did not interfere afterwards. The testing of this kind of thing has an overall process. The test intensity and inspection of any problems were not things that Zhu Youxiao could interfere with.
If he fired a few more cannons just to please himself as the emperor, the barrel might explode later. Zhu Youxiao would naturally not do such a thing. After all, everyone here was his treasure. The death or injury of one would be a huge loss for both him and the Ming Dynasty.
Bi Maokang arranged for people to continue the experiment, to what extent the barrel would not be able to withstand it, to what extent it would affect the firing rate, in short, all the tests were carried out one by one.
But Zhu Youxiao doesn't need to accompany me for this kind of thing.
Bi Maokang brought Zhu Youxiao to another testing site.
Here, Zhu Youxiao saw the artillery.
Unlike previous artillery pieces, this was a breech-loading metal cannon that used fixed metal shells. And judging by its shape, it resembled the famous French Miss, a more familiar name in later generations: the Italian Cannon.
This artillery piece is the French M1897 75mm gun, developed in France in 1897. As it was the world's first artillery piece equipped with a recoil device and a firing rate of 15 rounds per minute, far exceeding other artillery pieces of the same era, it performed brilliantly in World War I, with production and sales reaching over 100,000 pieces.
During World War I, Italy produced a large number of these cannons. After the war, they exported the discarded cannons to China. Because there were many Italian words on the cannons, these cannons were called Italian cannons in China.
This thing is actually very famous in China, but it is not actually the best artillery at that time. After all, there were many places in the country that could manufacture artillery.
The production technology level of the Jiangnan Arsenal Artillery in Shanghai was already capable of producing artillery of the same caliber and technical level.
The Krupp 14x 75mm mountain gun, which was successfully copied in 1905, basically achieved nationwide production of parts, with a total production of nearly 500 guns.
Even some arsenals led by visionary local warlords produced larger caliber and more advanced artillery. For example, the Shenyang Arsenal of Fengtian warlord Zhang Zuolin produced 100mm, 105mm and even 240mm heavy howitzers.
The Taiyuan Arsenal of Shanxi warlord Yan Xishan also produced 75mm and 88mm mountain and field guns.
However, since the September 18th Incident, the domestic arsenal has shrunk severely, and the ability to manufacture artillery has declined significantly. Originally, there should have been better artillery, but at this time, there was none, making this almost obsolete French Miss a very scarce commodity.
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