Zhao Hao came to Jeju Island this time with three main purposes: to attend the graduation ceremony of the Coast Guard School, to watch the sea trial of the new warship, and to inspect several newly occupied islands.

So on the second day of the graduation ceremony, three new warships named "Prajna", "Mantuo" and "Jia Luo" of Jiangnan Shipyard quietly cast off in the mist and set sail.

Of the three leaders of the garrison, except for Zhu Jue who stayed on duty, the other two went out to sea together. Although it was a trial voyage at the shipyard, from the sailors who operated the ship to the captain who commanded the ship, they were all crew members selected by the garrison.

In fact, the garrison area has sent marine officers and soldiers to participate in the construction of these three warships since the first piece of wood was cut. This allows a better understanding of the structure and manufacturing process of each part of the warship, which is very important in this era when one must be able to repair ships as well as sail.

The test fleet and Mr. Zhao were escorted by 20 large and small warships, led by the Zhenwo. The Jiangnan Group blocked the financial paths of too many forces, and undercurrents were surging on the seemingly calm sea, so they could not be careless at all.

After the test fleet left Chengshan Port, it first sailed to the garrison shooting range north of Niu Island. Mr. Zhao couldn't wait to see the new artillery that his nephew had devotedly developed!

Chu Liuxiang, who was the gun tester, had already familiarized himself with the use of the gun. He took out the key, unlocked the lock, and opened the wooden box covering the firing port.

Zhao Hao saw that the small hole for inserting the fuse on the cannon had disappeared, and was replaced by a device similar to a flintlock.

The flint-fired paper that Zhao Shizhen showed Zhao Hao at the beginning finally became a reality after 18 months of research and development.

In fact, the gun is small and the cannon is big. If the bolt can be made, the flintlock cannon with the same principle is naturally even easier to make. However, how to perfectly integrate it with the gun body, how to improve the success rate of flintlock, how the gunner fires, etc., each of these topics requires time to explore. Zhao Shizhen has a genius intuition. If someone else were to develop it, it would probably take several years to figure it out.

At this time, the loader completes the loading of ammunition, and the assistant gunner quickly puts a pull rope on the trigger.

Behind the gun mechanism, there is a mountain-shaped sight with scales. Chu Liuxiang used the sight to turn the "elevation screw" with both hands to take the initial aim.

After the initial aim, the assistant gunner loaded the propellant into the chamber, covered the wind cover, then stepped back one step, tightened the rope, and entered the firing ready state.

Chu Liuxiang also took a step back, stood in a safe position directly behind the artillery, and leaned over to make the final aim through the sight.

In the sight, the big white circle drawn on the mountain wall two miles away rose and fell with the waves. When it was two squares below the crosshairs, Chu Liuxiang shouted decisively: "Fire!"

The assistant gunner pulled the pull rope violently, and the hammer hit the anvil, sending out a cluster of sparks that ignited the propellant. Almost at the same time, there was a loud bang, and the shell whizzed out and hit the bull's eye!

Young Master Zhao took the lead in applauding.

Chu's six-shot artillery group ignored the leader's confusion and quickly cleaned the barrel, reloaded, reset, aimed, and fired. Ten shells were fired in succession, all of which hit the target, and seven of them hit the bull's eye!

"Good, the design is very successful! The Cannon King's skills are also superb!" Zhao Hao's ears were buzzing, and he did not forget to cheer.

"How is it, uncle? Is everything okay?" Zhao Shizhen came forward happily.

"I see." Zhao Hao nodded and said, "But it's useless if I say yes. We still have to see how the user experience is."

"Then tell me, tell me quickly." Zhao Shizhen urged Chu Liuxiang who was on standby.

"This cannon is very good, twice as accurate as before." Chu Liuxiang thought for a moment and replied, "The flintlock is great, but the sight and elevation screw are also very useful. And the 'geometry basics' and 'plane trigonometry' learned in the artillery class are also very useful..."

"Good fellow, it's true that a man should be looked at with new eyes after three days of absence. Chu Liuxiang, who used to be a stubborn man, has now become a well-rounded man." Wang Rulong couldn't help but laugh softly to Jin Ke beside him, "I'm afraid that your contribution will be wiped out."

Jin Ke naturally pretended not to hear.

"In short, it is definitely much better than before." Chu Liuxiang concluded.

"Is there no disadvantage?" Zhao Hao asked with a smile.

"The firing rate is just 2 seconds slower than before, but it's not a big problem. All gun groups can easily fire a shot within 30 seconds." Chu Liuxiang thought for a moment and answered.

Because the firearm is operated by one person, the flintlock can fire much faster than the matchlock.

However, artillery is operated by a multi-person crew, and the flintlock cannon is not as fast as the matchlock cannon...mainly because the latter omits the loading of propellant.

However, in response to the problem of bronze cannons firing too fast during the previous war against Japan, which caused the barrels to overheat and deform, the Gun Research Institute suggested that the garrison district revise its drill manual to stipulate that "unless in an emergency, the firing rate should be maintained at one round per half minute." So this problem is not a problem.

"It seems that the Cannon King has a very high opinion of you." Zhao Hao smiled and said to Zhao Shizhen: "I'll give you credit for your achievement. If there is no problem after the test, we can start mass production later."

"That's great. Uncle, can you give Oda City to your nephew this time?" Zhao Shizhen asked happily.

"Don't be impatient. The time is not right yet. We will not get involved with the three Japanese islands this time. We will just inspect our several small islands during the trial voyage and then go back." Young Master Zhao was sweating.

It is now the fifth year of Longqing, 1571 AD, the second year of Genki in Japan. Oda City's husband Asai Nagamasa betrayed his alliance with Oda Nobunaga just last year, and it will take another two years before he can be conquered.

Ah Shi's husband is still alive, and it is really inappropriate to want to get her now, even though it is exciting... and it is impossible to do it.

Zhao Hao had no choice but to continue to promise his nephew: "Wait a little longer, at most in two or three years, this will definitely be accomplished."

"Oh, okay..." Zhao Shizhen sighed in disappointment.

In fact, he is the same age as Zhao Hao, only 18. Master Zhao doesn't know why he is so anxious?

This is what it means to be an uncle. A full man does not know the hunger of a hungry man...

~~

After watching Chu Liuxiang fire the cannon, Master Zhao prepared to return to the cabin.

Chu Liuxiang led the artillery crew to salute Master Zhao.

"Oh, you're already a police officer, not bad." Zhao Hao looked at the thick red stripe embroidered on his training uniform and smiled with satisfaction, "You're making rapid progress."

Chu Liuxiang then grinned naively, hesitated for a moment, took out two eggs from his pocket and handed them to Zhao Hao with both hands.

"What is this?" Zhao Hao took it and looked at it. There was a small "happiness" character pasted on the egg. "Happiness egg? Did you give birth?"

"Well, today is my 100th birthday, so I'll treat you to some festive eggs." Chu Liuxiang smiled happily and said, "I cooked them this morning."

"Have you eaten?" Zhao Hao asked with a smile Jin Ke and others beside him.

"He ate it after one month." Wang Rulong and others laughed, "This kid is worthy of being called the Cannon King. He hit the target with his first shot and became a father in ten months! And he has twin sons."

"Good fellow, you are really good." Zhao Hao smiled happily and said, "Have you chosen a name?"

"One is called Chu Zhongzhao, and the other is called Chu Fengzhao." Chu Liuxiang quickly said with gratitude on his face: "Let them never forget that everything in the Chu family, including their lives, was given by you, young master!"

"Oh, don't say that. This is mainly the result of your own efforts." Young Master Zhao waved his hand modestly and said with a smile: "We didn't help much either."

~~

After returning to the cabin, Master Zhao convened an equipment meeting and announced that the flintlock cannon would be classified as top secret.

This means that all flintlock guns and gun mechanisms must be numbered and registered, and kept secret, and no one is allowed to leak the secrets. When a gun mechanism is damaged, it must be transported back to the base before it can be replaced with a new one. If it is abandoned, lost, or deliberately damaged, it will be severely punished.

Moreover, flintlock cannons are only installed on capital ships and should be locked and stored when not in use. If a shipwreck occurs and the ship is abandoned, the flintlock mechanism should be dismantled. In short, we should imitate our competitors as much as possible to maintain this advantage for a long time.

In addition, Zhao Hao also consulted the opinions of major generals and agreed with Zhao Shizhen's report on equipping new warships with larger caliber artillery.

During this year and a half, Zhao Shizhen also completed the test of two large-caliber artillery, 148 mm and 163 mm, to solve the problem that Yongle cannons were difficult to penetrate the thick hulls of Western warships at a distance of 300 meters. The power of the artillery was significantly improved. The shells of these two types of artillery, reaching 8.3 kg and 11.6 kg respectively, can penetrate the defense of galleons at a distance of 300 meters. Especially the latter, after being shot into the hull, it will cause great damage.

Previously, due to the limited structural strength of traditional Chinese sailing ships, even the strongest Wanhu Wuwei Ship could only be equipped with 117-caliber Yongle cannons, and no more than 20 cannons. Otherwise, if the number of salvos was too large, there was a risk of disintegration.

Now that we have a stronger hull structure, this limitation has been lifted, and the larger the caliber of the artillery, the better.

Of course, the consumables of the two large-caliber artillery are astonishing. The copper required for a 163-caliber cannon can be used to cast two Yongle cannons.

Fortunately, Jiangnan Group is now financially strong and can afford to spend this money!

Zhao Hao named the 148mm cannon the Super Yongle Cannon, and the 163mm heavy cannon the Hongwu Cannon.

As for the best number of doors to install, we have to slowly explore it through actual combat.

~~

In fact, testing the gun is not the point. The most important thing about this sea trial is to test the actual effects of the three types of sails.

Over the next few days, the three boats were put through rig testing together.

The result was as Yang Fan expected. In the favorable wind, the Mantuo, equipped with a square sail, took the lead. In the unfavorable wind, the Boro, equipped with a tack sail, was far ahead. The Jialuo, which combined the two sails, took the second place twice.

In the following turning test, the Boro was very easy to operate and its turning was the most flexible.

During the strong wind test, it was easiest to retract the sails for the Boro, and the crew only needed to stay in the safe after cabin, without having to work on the foredeck in the strong winds and waves and risk getting wet.

In terms of damage and repair testing, the superiority of the sail is unparalleled. Not to mention, the sail only requires one-tenth of the sailing staff of the Western sail...

In the end, the judges gave Pengfan extremely high scores.

But two Portuguese judges, former Portuguese Navy Captain Pinto, and former Oriental Princess chief shipwright Blanco, had different opinions.

p.s. This is yesterday’s update, there are two more to go.