Zhu Ying had already thought about the arrangements for Yao Guangxiao when he went to Tianjie Temple to find him.
Such a person is of no use in the capital.
First, go to Goryeo to get familiar with it, then go to the Western Regions and the desert. I guess by next year, I can go directly to Annan to coordinate.
Zhu Ying was still very confident in Yao Guangxiao's abilities.
At the gate of the Gunpowder Department, Lan Yu came with Zhu Ying, and with them were dozens of Jinyiwei Tiqi.
"Greetings, His Royal Highness Chang Sun!"
"Get up."
At the gate of the Gunpowder Bureau, many eunuchs rushed over upon hearing the news and came to pay their respects. This time, Zhu Ying rode his horse directly over, not giving the Gunpowder Bureau time to prepare to welcome him.
Welcoming is a kind of ritual. For the royal family, it is a symbol of dignity and is indispensable.
If there is anything that is not thorough, you can be directly held accountable.
"Take me to see the arquebus."
Zhu Ying said directly, and then followed the eunuch in charge into the rehearsal venue.
Soon, several eunuchs came over with muskets.
"This is the matchlock gun!" The moment he saw the matchlock gun, Lan Yu, who was originally a little unconcerned, suddenly became excited.
Although he had not seen its power yet, Lan Yu was familiar with firearms. He knew at a glance at its structure that this matchlock gun was a single-soldier musket.
The fire guns equipped by the Ming army now are not used to kill, but to disturb the enemy, or to scare the horses.
The main function of large and small artillery is also to attack cities.
Even so, the status of firearms in the army cannot be ignored, but when it comes to real killing, bows and crossbows and swords are the mainstream.
Zhu Ying took the musket and looked at it carefully.
Judging from the current style, it is very similar to the matchlock gun in our memory. Perhaps because it was forged by the royal family, there are auspicious patterns of dragons and phoenixes carved around the wooden stock of the matchlock gun.
The entire matchlock gun looks not only exquisite, but also luxurious.
Including the protruding barrel in the front, it was polished very smoothly, even giving people a feeling of lathe work, but Zhu Ying knew in his heart that it was completely hand-polished by a master craftsman.
I checked the smoothbore inside the barrel, which was also in place. I tried to pull the trigger on the matchlock gun. The trigger device drove the match hanging on it directly into the gunpowder chamber.
"Where's the fire bomb?"
Zhu Ying immediately became interested and asked.
The eunuch next to him heard this and came over with a plate covered with a red cloth.
When the red cloth was lifted, Minié bullets were neatly arranged on it.
The Minié bullet that Zhu Ying saw now was more like a shotgun bullet in later generations, with a larger caliber.
It is relatively gentle compared to the barrel of a matchlock gun, but the fire bullets that look like they were machined are, if you look closely, quite different in size.
These Minié bullets are also entirely handmade.
The dozens of stones shown to Zhu Ying had some carvings on them and were polished relatively smoothly.
Zhu Ying picked up one and stuffed it directly into the barrel of the gun, but it got stuck easily.
The eunuch next to him immediately handed over the putter.
Zhu Ying took it, pushed it in, and immediately felt that the fire bomb was in place.
"Gunpowder."
Zhu Ying opened the lid of the gunpowder chamber on the matchlock gun, and found it was empty, so he asked.
"Your Highness is worth a fortune. This matchlock gun was made not long ago. If there is any accident, we cannot afford it."
The eunuch next to him heard what was happening and obviously realized that His Royal Highness Chang Sun wanted to test the gun himself, so he immediately knelt on the ground and said in panic.
"Oh, all right then, get someone over to test the gun."
Zhu Ying did not insist. He was a person who valued his life. In the past, he risked his life to stay alive. Now, there was naturally no need for him to take risks. Handmade things sounded high-end.
But it is also the most prone to accidents. If the barrel really explodes and you blow yourself up, that would be hilarious.
Upon hearing this, several eunuchs who were accompanying him immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
Although this gun has been tested and no problems have occurred, it is better to be safe than sorry.
If anything happened and hurt or frightened His Royal Highness Chang Sun, all the eunuchs in the Gunpowder Bureau would be dead.
"Your Highness, I would like to try this matchlock gun. I hope Your Highness will allow me to do so."
Lan Yu, who was already excited, couldn't help but speak at this moment.
Zhu Ying heard this, smiled and handed over the matchlock gun, saying, "Well, even if it is the first shot of Liang State, it is not bad."
When Lan Yu touched the gun, he immediately felt like he couldn't let it go, just like a warrior loves his weapon, a BMW.
Especially the fire bomb just now, which gave Lan Yu a feeling of surprise.
The middle of the fire bomb is hollow, and the tail of the fire bomb is sealed with oil paper. There is also a light grease on the surface of the fire bomb.
Combined with the gunpowder chamber of the matchlock gun, this is equivalent to using two layers of gunpowder, and the power can be imagined.
When the eunuch saw that it was the Duke of Liang who came on the field, he stopped trying to dissuade him. Instead, he took out a leather bag and poured granules of gunpowder into the matchlock gun.
“Huh.”
Lan Yu couldn't help but exclaim when he saw the granular gunpowder. It had always been in powder form before, but he had never seen the current style before.
However, Lan Yu quickly realized that this was probably the work of His Royal Highness Chang Sun.
Without asking too many questions, after the granular gunpowder was loaded, the eunuch next to him covered the gunpowder chamber and pointed to a decoration on the matchlock gun and explained:
"Duke Liang, please look. The one above is called the crosshairs. There is also a protrusion in front. Aim the center of the protrusion at the center of the empty ring. That's aiming."
"According to the teachings of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, this matchlock gun is currently capable of sufficient lethality and accuracy at a distance of about a hundred steps. I hope the Duke of Liang will be aware of this."
From the perspective of overall structure, today's matchlock rifle is more like an enlarged version of the sniper rifle of later generations. Of course, something as simple as a front sight is indispensable.
Upon hearing this, Lan Yu couldn't help but ask, "You mean, the accuracy of this matchlock gun can be compared with that of a bow and crossbow?"
This was somewhat unbelievable in Lan Yu's heart.
The fire control system currently used in the military has no concept of accuracy at all. It is just a vague feeling. Whether or not you can hit the target depends entirely on luck.
When aiming in the same direction, the difference between left and right can even reach five meters.
Therefore, in many cases, when the military used muskets, they fired in large numbers, like carpet bombing.
"Of course it is possible. You will know when you use it later, Duke Liang."
There was a hint of pride on the eunuch's face. Although this musket was made under the guidance of His Highness, they also put a lot of thought into it.
The results produced now are beyond their imagination, and they are now proud of it.
The eunuch still remembered the shock that this matchlock rifle brought to everyone when it was test-fired at the training ground a few days ago after it had just been completed.
At the eunuch's signal, someone quickly carried an archery target to a position about fifty steps away.
When Lan Yu saw the target appear, his eyes lit up.
Normally, the test firing of muskets is done on a seven or eight foot long white cloth, but now it is put on the target, which means that the Gunpowder Department is very confident in the accuracy of the musket.
Under the guidance of the eunuch, Lan Yu held the matchlock with both hands, and the eunuch took out a fire starter and prepared to light the match for him.
"Duke Liang, be careful and use a little force. The vibration of this musket will be quite large." The eunuch warned before lighting the fuse.
"Why are you talking so much? How much strength can you have? Hurry up." Lan Yu said impatiently.
The eunuch didn't dare to say anything when he heard this and quickly lit it.
After the fuse was lit, Lan Yu began to aim at the target, and when he was almost there, he pulled the trigger.
The fuse is struck into the gunpowder chamber through the trigger device.
boom!
As the white smoke rose, a loud noise was heard. Because Lan Yu was caught off guard, he staggered and almost fell down due to the recoil.
“Good fellow!”
Lan Yu was not angry but happy. He quickly waved away the white smoke and looked towards the target.
On the left side of the target, a hole the size of a fire bomb appeared, and Lan Yu's eyes widened.
Zhu Ying was watching the whole time. At least Lan Yu's shot did not miss the target. Although it hit the edge, the power made Zhu Ying very satisfied.
Although the target's ability to withstand impact is slightly weaker than plate armor, the difference is not that big.
This is enough to show that the power of the matchlock gun, driven by two layers of granular gunpowder, can penetrate plate armor within at least fifty steps and cause powerful damage.
This type of individual firearm can, for now, be declared a complete success.
"Your Highness, Your Highness, is this a matchlock gun? This is simply, so fucking awesome. With such power, if it is deployed in a large army, there will be no enemy in the world that can stop it."
"Too strong, too strong."
Lan Yu held the musket tightly, and was extremely excited. He had already begun to imagine himself leading a large number of soldiers equipped with muskets to sweep away the enemy.
Lan Yu's keen sense of war made him realize that with the series of operations of the matchlock gun just now, it would only take a period of training in the army before the cavalry could be equipped with this kind of firearm.
By that time, the combination of cavalry and muskets will have no advantage over the Mongolian cavalry.
The biggest advantage of the matchlock gun is that it is easy to carry. Coupled with its powerful killing power, it is a complete weapon for war.
Lan Yu even thought of a name for the cavalry team: Fire Cavalry!
"Duke Liang, don't be too happy too soon. It will take a long time to get large-scale equipment." Zhu Ying shook his head when he heard this.
As if being poured with a basin of cold water, Lan Yu immediately asked: "Your Highness, why is this? Such a killing weapon is naturally equipped by the army."
Zhu Ying did not answer directly, but said to the eunuch of the Gunpowder Department next to him: "This matchlock gun also has fire bombs. What is the current production volume?"
The eunuch was a little embarrassed when he heard this, and couldn't help but say: "Your Highness, there are only two masters in the Gunpowder Department who can make a matchlock gun, and they need the cooperation of the master carpenter."
"Even the production of fire bombs requires several master craftsmen. At present, it is estimated that the Gunpowder Department can produce six matchlock rifles and 120 fire bombs per month."
Lan Yu was immediately upset when he heard this and scolded, "Six guns a month, 120 rounds of fire bombs, what's the use of this? What is the purpose of your Gunpowder Department? Why are you so lazy in preparing?"
Six matchlock guns and 120 rounds of fire shells. If they were really used, the shells would be used up in less than half an hour.
What is the difference between a matchlock gun without fire bullets and a fire stick?
Lan Yu was just thinking about saying a few nice words to His Royal Highness Changsun and getting himself an army of 100 musketeers.
Well, with this level of output, it's far from enough to equip the Imperial Guards. We don't even know when it will be the army's turn.
"Duke Liang doesn't know this." Upon hearing this, the eunuch complained and began to explain.
"This matchlock gun is too powerful, and copper castings are very easy to damage, and the life span is too short. Only fine iron can do it."
"The Gunpowder Department does not have much refined iron reserves. Most craftsmen do not have the ability to forge refined iron. Looking at the entire Gunpowder Department, there are currently only two master craftsmen who can use refined iron to accurately forge matchlock gun barrels."
"And the construction of the gunpowder chamber is much more difficult than the previous fire gun. Under the guidance of His Royal Highness Chang Sun, the gunpowder has become more powerful. The gunpowder chamber must also be tighter, otherwise it will easily explode."
"Duke Liang also saw the accuracy of the matchlock gun just now. The main reason for this is the pipe engraving taught by His Royal Highness Chang Sun. This kind of engraving technique must be done inside the pipe, which is particularly complicated."
"There is also the production of fire bombs. Although they can be made of wrought iron or copper, the size of the polishing is also a delicate job. If it is too big, it cannot fit into the tube. If it is too small, it will be too loose. It must be neither too big nor too small to fit into the tube."
Zhu Ying listened, but was not surprised.
In the absence of lathe processing, pure manual work is almost entirely done with water grinding. There are very few craftsmen who are capable of making the joints of a bullet or a matchlock gun.
But this is only because it is just the beginning. As more craftsmen learn how to make it, the output of matchlock guns and fire bombs will naturally increase.
However, this growth trend is obviously not very optimistic. It may take a long time to equip the military on a large scale.
Lan Yu couldn't refute the explanation after hearing it, and no matter how jealous he was, there was nothing he could do.
I just tried a shot, and I don’t know when I can try again.
Zhu Ying asked, "How many matchlock guns and fire bombs are there now?"
"We currently have four muskets and fifty-nine fire bombs." The eunuch in charge of the gunpowder department replied immediately.
Zhu Ying nodded and said, "Leave one musket behind, and I'll take the rest."
"I obey your order." The eunuch bowed and replied.
After leaving the Gunpowder Department, Ye Yueqing rode on a horse with a matchlock gun hanging beside him.
Although Ye Yueqing didn't say anything just now, her mouth was almost open all the time, and she was in shock.
Having lived in Goryeo for a long time, she had never seen such firearms. Even ordinary muskets were almost never seen. The most commonly used weapons in Goryeo were cannons.
When Zhu Ying gave the matchlock gun to Ye Yueqing for safekeeping, Ye Yueqing immediately felt that he was fully trusted.
He kept holding the musket and other equipment in his hand.
The matchlock gun is made of fine iron and comes with many other things.
For example, there are long and short brushes for cleaning the residue in the barrel and the gunpowder chamber, oil brushes for maintenance, as well as leather bags for placing granular gunpowder, push rods and a series of other things.
For example, a matchlock gun needs to be maintained every three days at the latest to prevent rust. If it is in use, it needs to be cleaned and maintained every day to ensure its power and safety.
"Lead the troops."
After Zhu Ying climbed onto his horse, he gave instructions to the Jinyiwei cavalrymen who were accompanying him.
Lan Yu's eyes lit up as he asked, "Your Highness, do you have any new weapons in the Armory?"
Zhu Ying smiled mysteriously and said to Lan Yu, "This time we are going to the Armory Bureau to provide the production of matchlock guns. If everything goes well, I think it won't take a few months for the musket soldiers under the Duke of Liang to be equipped."