Although it had been determined that he would become a vassal domain, considering the education of the emperor's son and many other issues, Li Xuan did not let King Qi and King Zhao immediately set off to the fiefdom to become a vassal.

They will continue to study at the Royal School to continue their studies, and Li Xuan is also preparing to wait for them to graduate from college before letting them go to the fiefdom, now, it is still a little early.

In addition, in this case, there is a buffer of time, and when they become adults, it is estimated that Australia and Fuso will be almost solved, and it is just right to go directly to the domain, and there is no need to worry about really going to Osumi Prefecture or Banten Napo for several years.

After learning that their son did not need to go to the fiefdom for the time being, their biological mother and the White Empress Dowager were also relieved, at least they could stay for a few years, and they did not have to leave their homeland to go to overseas territories at the age of sixteen.

After dealing with the issue of establishing a prince and the issue of sealing the king as a vassal, Li Xuan once again devoted his attention to the development of armaments.

Now that the development of all aspects of the country is on the right track, Li Xuan doesn't have to worry about it.

Now he began to focus more on the development of armaments, in preparation for the subsequent war of expansion.

In terms of the army, Li Xuan did not pay much attention to other affairs, and most of the army's affairs were developed step by step, and judging from the current technological development, there would not be much change in the meeting for a while.

Although Li Xuan has long begun to let the Royal Institute of Technology start to develop a new generation of rifles, and the new generation of rifles is rifled rifles, whether it is a later Mini rifle or a breezed rifled rifle, this belongs to the category of rifled rifles.

However, if you want to use rifled rifles, there are still many technical problems, the most critical of which is the problem of machining accuracy.

Because whether it is a front-loading rifled rifle such as the Mini rifle, or a rear-loading rifled rifled rifle with metal bullets like the Mauser, there is a very critical technical problem here, that is, the problem of machining accuracy.

In later generations, the Mini rifle, which was praised by many people, was not at all simple to mass-produce that thing, and it was definitely not something that a few craftsmen could make in batches with primitive tools, because the requirements for processing accuracy were very high when this thing was mass-produced.

The requirements for the entire industrial base are very high!

And to be able to reach the industrial base for the manufacture of mini rifles, in fact, it is possible to directly mount a rear-loading rifled rifle with metal bullets.

This is also why the Mini rifle has only been equipped for more than 20 years in history and should not be eliminated, because when this thing can be made, it can basically be directly engaged in a breech-loading rifled rifle.

According to the current industrial level of the Tang Empire, it is still somewhat difficult to mass-produce rifled breech-loading rifles.

In terms of artillery, it is basically the same, and the technology of rear-loading rifled artillery still only exists on the drawings, and it is not generally difficult to build it, so it can only continue to use front-loading smoothbore guns.

Since the two main weapons of the army, guns and artillery, which have not been equipped in a short period of time, have not fundamentally changed, then the tactics will not change much.

Therefore, in the expansion and rearmament of the army, it can basically be done step by step, and Li Xuan does not need to pay too much attention.

Now the army things that can make Li Xuan personally pay attention to are steam ironclad trains and steam tanks.

There is nothing special about the ironclad train, but it is just to arm the train, put on armor and hit the artillery, and the army people are very interested in this, and plan to wait for the railway network to be completed, and make a few cars to play.

But the steam tank is not easy to do, although now the high-pressure steam engine has been made, the volume is much smaller than the previous low-pressure steam engine, but if you want to reach a certain power, the volume and weight are still not small.

When Li Xuan asked those technicians to develop steam tanks, many people were dumbfounded.

If you really want to build a steam tank according to Li Xuan's requirements, the weight and volume are not small, and to protect the body, you have to put on armor, so it will be heavier, and you need a steam engine with more horsepower.

And that's not even counting the coal and fresh water that comes with the car.

Later, these technicians calculated and found that this thing could not run on a flat road, let alone go cross-country.

And then the generals of the army also maintained great suspicion of the steam tank, although according to the drawings or something, this thing will be draped in steel plates and equipped with artillery, and its protection and firepower are absolutely amazing!

But the problem is, the mobility of this thing is too poor, not to mention that it will become a live target on the battlefield, and the army generals are even more worried about whether this thing can successfully reach the battlefield?

With the power of the steam engine, can it drag such a large lump of steel around?

Maybe you can still walk two steps on the official road with a smooth road, but after leaving the official road, this thing can move?

The generals did not doubt this, because the relevant designers of the Royal Institute of Technology told them very clearly: no!

This thing is immature, and the army also has cavalry, regardless of whether it is heavy cavalry or light cavalry, the army has it, and now the cavalry combat effectiveness of the Tang Army is not weak, at least in the same number of large-scale cavalry engagements, the Tang cavalry is able to beat the Tatars most of the time.

Cavalry has to be mobile and mobile, and it has to have impact power, which is not much better than the thing of a steam tank.

But Li Xuan was unwilling!

A modern army, how can it do without tanks!

He also wants gasoline engines, oil extractors and other internal combustion engines as power tanks, but the key is that there are no two things, and now there is only a steam engine on hand, although this thing is a little worse, and there are more problems, but it is also a coal burner, not a grass-eater.

Besides, as a traverser, it's too unreasonable not to engage in tanks, many of the predecessors who crossed didn't even have a steam engine, they didn't have the conditions to create conditions to engage in tanks, people dared to armor the carriage and get a horse-drawn tank, he Li Xuan now holds a whole empire at the beginning of the industrial revolution, and there are high-pressure steam engines, so it's normal to engage in a steam tank.

He Li Xuan prides himself on being a normal person, otherwise he would have been engaged in horse-drawn tanks in his early years, and now this steam tank is more difficult and less practical, but even if it is built, it is good!

When the battle comes, directly pull this steam tank to the front line by train, and then slowly move to the front line, even if the steam tank arrives at the battlefield, the battle is over, but it can also let the steam tank swagger into the enemy's city, so that the locals can see the mighty war machine of the Tang Empire!

I don't know, in the future, the strategic deterrent power of this thing will be stronger than its actual combat capability.

Take 10,000 steps back, even if this thing is useless, but you have no regrets after trying it.

As a traverser, I haven't even played a steam tank, and I'm embarrassed to say hello to other traversal seniors when I go out in the future: shame!

As a result, at the insistence of the Son of Heaven, the army had no choice but to launch the 'steam tank' plan and sent a design consultation to the three major domestic weapons companies and the Royal Institute of Technology.

When they saw a series of technical parameters put forward by the army, many people were speechless!

In fact, the technical parameters proposed by the army are not many, nor are they high, and they can even be said to be the minimum standards.

They demanded that the steam tank could be transported by train, so there was a limit on the width and at the same time a certain limit on the length.

In addition, the steam tank should be able to reach a speed of 10 kilometers per hour on a smooth road, and 5 kilometers per hour on a generally flat field, which is basically based on the speed of walking and trotting.

In terms of protection, it is required that the front of the steam tank should be able to resist the direct hit of the nine-pound gun at a distance of 100 meters, the side and the back should be able to resist the firing of the Yuannian type sui firing gun within 20 meters, and the top should be able to resist the projectile attack of the bow and arrow.

The above-mentioned protection requirements basically only require a relatively thick armor plate to be installed at the front, and a few millimeters of steel plate on the side and back, and a steel plate on the top.

In terms of firepower, they require this kind of steam tank, it is best to be able to equip a nine-pound gun, if the nine-pound gun cannot be loaded, then at least the least, you have to bring a five-pound gun, if there is not enough firepower, then there is no point in engaging in such a complex steam tank.

In terms of endurance, they required the steam tank to be able to travel 20 kilometers on its own power alone.

This kind of requirement can be said to be not too high, but in the eyes of many designers, it is still an impossible goal.

Judging from the power of the current high-pressure steam engine, it is almost impossible, because it cannot be carried at all.

Although this task was almost impossible in the eyes of the technicians, this was the request of the Son of Heaven, and they naturally had to grit their teeth and design it.

It's a pity that they didn't come up with a plan to make the steam tank run in the field!

On the side of the army, it began to engage in steam tanks, while on the navy side, it engaged in steam warships.

Compared with the unreliable steam tanks on the army's side, the navy's steam warships are much more reliable, even if they are thousands of tons of warships, they dare to design and build, because the hull of the battleship is much larger, and there is no pressure to install the current steam unit, and the power of one steam engine is not enough, so there are two units, two are not good, then three or even more.

It is rumored that the Ministry of Shipping has several neurotic problems, and has also come up with a design plan for a 10,000-ton battleship built of pure steel, and is preparing to install more than 20 steam engines and boilers on the hull in a frenzy......

I almost didn't scare Li Xuan half to death, these people's brains are too big, and they don't want to think that this thing is useless, most of the load is given to the steel hull itself, and the rest is used to install steam engines, and there are not even a few coal bunkers, it is estimated that the coal on the ship will be burned out as soon as they leave the port to be reinforced.

As for the artillery, excuse me, they didn't design it at all!

1 second to remember Aishang:. m.