Chapter 422 I Don't Want to Owe Others Favors Anymore
"Bang...bang...bang"
North of the capital of the Great Xia Dynasty, in the Shenji Battalion's garrison in the Changping Camp, a row of ten Shenji Battalion soldiers are test-firing muskets.
Since Wang Yushi returned from her high-ranking post, she began the trial production of muskets. Since Qin Mo agreed to her request to replicate them, she did not make any more demands, after all, the Ministry of Works had been researching and developing them for half a year.
Before casting cannons, Wang Yushi's royal workshop mainly engraved magic arrays and crafted various elemental equipment, all of which involved meticulous work. Nowadays, firearms are not particularly difficult to make, but the output is extremely low. After several months, only a few dozen have been produced. However, at least Wang Yushi has been given a satisfactory result, so she was invited to come and see the progress today.
"Qin Yumu, how powerful is this rifle? How does it compare to that type of rifle produced by the Da Yuan?"
At that time, Wang Yushi took the sample gun that the traitor had stolen and sold back to the official and handed it over to Qin Mo. Qin Mo then gave her ten Type 1 rifles as samples for her to compare and build. Now that her own musket has finally been completed, she naturally wants to have it compared and tested.
Qin Yumu jogged over and reported, "Your Majesty, some of the rifles made by the royal workshops are almost identical to the Type 1 rifle produced by the Da Yuan in terms of range and penetration. However, a few other rifles are slightly inferior, which is probably due to the craftsmen's lack of skill. This does not affect their use!"
"Different aiming points? Let me see them!"
"Bang...bang...bang"
After Wang Yushi test-fired three rifles in a row, her spirited eyebrows furrowed slightly. Her craftsmen were among the best in the Great Xia Dynasty, yet after several months, the rifles they produced still had some flaws, which she found hard to understand.
Actually, you can't really blame the craftsmen in the royal workshops. When they were replicating this rifle, they had never even come into contact with anything like "rifling."
While this kind of rifling is not a problem for magic array masters who can engrave magic arrays, for craftsmen who do not understand what "pitch" is, engraving rifling is entirely based on personal feeling, so how can the power of the rifle be the same?
Wang Yushi then had Qin Yumu bring the official's rifle. After testing it in turn, they discovered another problem.
"Do you think this high-ranking official's Type 1 rifle is exceptionally accurate?"
"Your Majesty, that is indeed the case. The high-ranking officials' rifles are easier to use than ours, but once we get used to them, we can also shoot accurately with our own rifles!"
Wang Yushi summoned the manager of the Royal Workshop and pointed to the rifle's front and rear sights, saying, "Why weren't these two parts made according to the sample rifle? Didn't we say you weren't allowed to make any changes without permission?"
Wang Yushi's perception was far stronger than Qin Yumu's; she only had to test fire a few times to realize the difference between the products made by high-ranking officials and those made by the royal family.
The positions of the front sight, rear sight, and barrel of the rifle are very uniform and standardized, allowing ordinary soldiers to quickly learn how to use it and shoot accurately.
The rifles made entirely by hand in the Royal Workshop, with each craftsman's work having its own style, are less user-friendly than the Type 1 rifle.
"Your Majesty, please forgive me. All the master craftsmen are men of strong temper. I have been trying my best to discipline them, but they said...!"
"What did they say?" Wang Yushi's eyes began to slant upwards, and the sharp look in her phoenix eyes made the foreman of the craftsmen shudder.
“They all thought their rifles were the best, and said that the high-ranking official’s rifles were too rigid and lacked spirit.”
"Spirituality? Are they asking them to inscribe magic arrays? Are they asking them to forge elemental weapons? What need does a standard weapon have for spirituality?"
The term "standard weapon" slipped out of Qin Mo's mouth during a casual chat with Wang Yushi. Under Wang Yushi's inquisitive gaze, Qin Mo had no choice but to explain to her the interchangeability of standard weapon parts and their importance in manufacturing and use.
"Your Majesty, the barrel material and precision requirements for this rifle are too demanding. Not only is it time-consuming and laborious to manufacture, but it also produces an unusually large number of scraps. The cost is about the same as that of a high-quality Yuan Qi weapon."
The foreman of the royal workshop continued with a bitter face, "It's one thing that these rifles are expensive to produce, but the production volume is ridiculously low. Only master craftsmen can engrave the rifling on the barrel, as Her Majesty knows. Those master craftsmen cannot be rushed. I thought... perhaps it's the same as the Ministry of Works..."
"No! The Ministry of Works may be shameless, but we absolutely cannot harm the soldiers on the front lines. What use is a rifle without rifling? How many shots would it take to kill those strong orcs?"
As soon as the manager showed any intention to emulate the Ministry of Works, Wang Yushi became furious and decisively nipped his idea of cutting corners in the bud.
The Ministry of Works had already begun to imitate the Type 1 rifle of the Grand Yuan, but they were not as wealthy and powerful as Wang Yushi's Royal Workshop, which used precious magic array masters to rifle the rifles, and their attitude towards craftsmen was not as kind as that of the Royal Workshop.
If the officials in the Ministry of Works treat skilled craftsmen like servants, how can you expect them to produce straight rifling and high-quality rifles?
The poor performance of the imitation rifle infuriated the officials in charge of the Ministry of Works, who then intensified their exploitation of the Ministry's craftsmen. This vicious cycle resulted in the Ministry's imitation process making no progress for several months, and several accidents of barrel explosions occurred, injuring several soldiers from the Central Army who were test-firing the rifles, causing the Ministry of Works to lose face.
Faced with the accusations and urging from the Central Military Commission, a genius emerged from the Ministry of Works who came up with a "genius" idea: eliminating the rifling in the gun barrel and creating the world's first smoothbore gun.
The Da Yuan Type 1 rifle was an improvement by Qin Mo based on the Minié rifle. Because it was difficult to load a rifled muzzle-loading gun, the bullet was made slightly thinner than the barrel, and a cork was added behind the bullet to ensure a seal.
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