Xishan Island, in the center of the island.

Chenjiawu, surrounded by mountains, has built a high cement wall with deep trenches outside the wall. The wall is also covered with thorns. There is a watchtower every mile. Security guards are on guard in the tower day and night.

This extremely hidden secret base is the Ordnance Research Institute affiliated with the Ordnance Bureau of the Nanjing Ministry of Industry.

However, the leaders of the Ministry of Industry and the Ordnance Bureau didn’t even know that this research institute was on Xishan Island.

Zhao Hao only holds the title of director in Jiangnan Company, but he personally serves as the director of the Ordnance Research Institute, which shows how much he values ​​it.

Moreover, this research institute does not belong to Jiangnan Company, but is wholly owned by Singularity Investment, which is solely owned by Zhao Hao.

Because Hua Bozhen, Jin Ke and others regarded it as the young master's top secret and did not allow anyone to approach Chenjiawu.

The only entrance and exit of the institute has three guard posts, and people entering and leaving have to go through layers of inspection. It's not just because Mr. Zhao came to inspect today that they are pretending.

Once inside, you can see that the institute is rectangular in shape. At the east end, there is a row of neatly constructed concrete buildings, and a small blast furnace chimney is emitting smoke.

These are the institute's materials laboratory, forging workshop, and assembly workshop.

Because this is just a place for testing firearms, the scale is not large and there are not many people.

But as the saying goes, a sparrow may be small, but it has all the necessary facilities. Although these few rooms and dozens of people can complete the entire process of producing muskets, it can be said to be a genuine small arsenal.

Today, everyone in the institute put down their work and excitedly came to the shooting range at the west end to watch the acceptance test of the gun.

It was the first flintlock rifle in the Ming Dynasty that they made with their own hands.

On the long table covered with a blue tablecloth were three types of guns, five of each.

One is the bird-beak gun imported from Guangdong, which is also the best quality matchlock gun in the Ming Dynasty.

One is a Spanish-made flintlock rifle that Mr. Zhao bought from the Portuguese in Macau at a very high price.

Finally, there are five Longqing-style flintlock rifles that were copied by the research institute without any effort.

Judging from the appearance alone, the Longqing type is better than the Guangdong-made one and slightly inferior to the Spanish rifle.

This is a gap in the level of craftsmanship, but it is not a big problem. In this era, the eldest brother should not laugh at the second brother, because no one is much better than anyone else.

Zhao Shizhen, the chief researcher of the Firearms Research Institute, caressed a flintlock rifle with deep affection and explained to Mr. Zhao:

"Don't think my girl is not as pretty as that Thai girl, but she has a simpler bolt mechanism, which reduces 20% of the parts and has a higher success rate."

Young Master Zhao couldn't help but shudder, and hid behind a bunker with Zhao Liben who was visiting with him, saying, "Let's fire a few shots and see if he's bragging."

Several gunsmiths stepped forward, picked up the Guangzhou-made matchlock rifles and began to load them.

They first poured the primer into the primer pot and closed the lid. Then they added gunpowder, compacted it with cleaning rods, filled it with bullets, and compacted it again.

Finally, the fuse was lit and fixed on the fuse clip, and the preparation for firing was finally completed.

Several other gunsmiths also picked up the Longqing-style flintlock rifles and began loading them.

In fact, the steps are basically the same, except that the steps of lighting and fixing the fuse are missing, and the time saved is not obvious.

Zhao Shizhen told Zhao Hao that after repeated calculations, each shot saves about one-fifth of the time.

Moreover, when the matchlock is fired, the explosion gas will blow the fuse away, and it must be re-lit and clamped.

So each shot can save one-fifth of the time, which is considerable when added up.

The real advantage of the flintlock rifle lies in its firing efficiency. A matchlock rifle needs to pull the trigger twice to fire successfully, but a flintlock rifle can fire nine times out of ten times.

Moreover, if a matchlock gun misfires, the matchlock needs to be re-clamped, while a flintlock gun can be fired again by simply pulling the hammer.

A lot of time is saved here and there.

When all five Longqing-style guns had used up their five rounds, the Guangdong-made guns had fired four rounds, and the guns with the least rounds had fired only two rounds...

The gap is still very obvious.

Then, the gunsmith tested the Spanish rifle and the Longqing rifle at the same time. The design speed of the two was comparable, but the range of the Longqing rifle was slightly inferior, but it was not a big deal.

This indicated that the Ming Dynasty's musket technology had caught up with that of European powers.

Mr. Zhao expressed his satisfaction, rewarded the people involved in the research and development on the spot, and encouraged them enthusiastically.

"Sir, I dare to guarantee that once this Longqing-style rifle is released, it will immediately replace the bird gun." After everyone left, Gao, the executive of the institute, sighed with emotion, "I didn't expect that the fire gun could be fired in this way."

"I will not embarrass myself with such a half-finished product." Zhao Hao's expression changed and he shook his head decisively: "With such a slow firing rate and no improvement in range, how can it defeat the cavalry? How can it help General Qi fight the Tartars?"

With Mr. Zhao's discerning eyes, how could he be satisfied with a musket that has been developed by Westerners for more than ten years?

Zhao Shizhen's face flushed red when he heard this, as if his own daughter had been insulted. It was only because it was his uncle who said this, otherwise he would have been furious.

"Uncle, give me some more time, I will definitely be able to increase the firing rate!"

"What do you think?" Zhao Hao asked.

"My nephew is working on a musket that can be loaded from behind based on the principle of the Portuguese lance." Zhao Shizhen became excited again and said, "We can load the gunpowder and lead bullets into the musket in advance. Then, we can just insert the powder wick into the rear of the musket and remove the powder pool."

"This method should be fine for matchlock guns, but if we change to the Longqing style, we'll have to think about how to fire it." Zhao Shizhen said with some regret.

Zhao Hao blinked when he heard this, looked at his nephew for a long while, patted his shoulder vigorously and said, "You are a fucking genius!"

This is the original fixed bullet.

"Ah, uncle, so my nephew's idea is correct?" Zhao Shizhen was extremely surprised. His ideas were wild and imaginative, but without his uncle's far-sighted scientific guidance, he would inevitably take countless detours.

"Yes, that's right. It's just that your steps are too big and you'll get hurt." Zhao Hao said with a grin, "You're using a breech-loading rifle with fixed ammunition. Its airtightness is much worse than that of a current muzzle-loading rifle. With the current level of black powder, the range is nothing to worry about."

"Ah..." Zhao Shizhen couldn't help but feel deflated.

"So, when it comes to firearms, no matter how advanced the concept is, it still needs to be practical." Zhao Hao gained great pleasure from teaching the hall-level master of firearms.

Seeing that Zhao Shizhen was a little depressed, he smiled and said, "But you can first make some paper shell bullets. They are easy to make and you can make them without being taught. They can also increase the firing rate by a lot."

"Let's make a bayonet and let's just finalize the Longqing style for now." Zhao Hao was generous and approved the design.

"Didn't the young master say that this gun couldn't be used yet?" Gao the blacksmith couldn't help but wonder.

"I mean you can focus on formulating standardized production specifications to improve the quality of gun barrels and the power of gunpowder." Zhao Hao said to Zhang Zai beside him, "You can help Shi Zhen and try to build the manual boring machine as soon as possible..."

Before he could finish his words, Xiwa came running in with a panicked look on her face.

ps. Third update, please give me your monthly vote!