On the long table in front of Zhu Youzhen, there were rows of firearms in turn, all of which were made by Sun Yuanhua after he rectified the firearms making workshop and selected the most skilled craftsmen.

The firearms are arranged from left to right, starting with the three-eyed guns that are the favorite of the Liaodong cavalry or the northern border army. The style of this three-eyed gun looks very familiar to Zhu Youzhen. He soon remembered that this thing was not used by the villagers in the southern countryside to worship the gods or to send funerals to ward off evil spirits, but in later generations, it was only loaded with * without bullets.

Sun Yuanhua introduced the three-eyed gun to Chongzhen, "... The gun tube is about one foot long, and the mouth of the gun is as big as a bird's gun, which can hold three buckshot shots... Heavy armor can be broken within thirty steps, and a target without armor can be severely damaged in about fifty steps, and there is no lethality beyond a hundred steps..."

Zhu Youzhen secretly estimated that thirty steps, that is, 49 meters up and down, fifty steps, close to 80 meters away. Considering the speed of the cavalry, this attack range is already quite good.

However, to ignite a fire on a bumpy horse, this is a technical work, and to carry out this technical work on a battlefield with a complex situation, this undoubtedly increases the difficulty several times.

In Zhu Youzhen's opinion, the three-eyed gun is most suitable for cavalry raids on infantry positions, by disrupting the infantry array, thus creating an opportunity to storm the infantry array.

But in the duel between the cavalry and the cavalry, as long as the opposing cavalry can endure a wave of attacks, the Ming cavalry with the three-eyed gun will be in a hurry.

When the Mongol horse charged with a heavily armed cavalry, the speed was about 12 meters per second, and it took less than 8 seconds to impact the distance of 80 meters, which was not counting the speed of the Ming cavalry advancing on its own.

Ignite the Three-Eyed Bolt to attack enemy cavalry for 8 seconds, and there is little other way to do it than to reduce your own speed. And a cavalryman who loses his speed undoubtedly loses his greatest weapon.

After thinking about it for a long time, Zhu Youzhen said to Sun Yuanhua: "The cavalry battalion shall not be equipped with more than one-third of the three-eyed guns, except for attacks on the infantry, it is forbidden for cavalry to use three-eyed guns in any battle, and this article will be added to the cavalry combat regulations." ”

Sun Yuanhua, who was still a little proud of the excellent quality of the three-eyed gun made this time and exceeded the general standards of the Ministry of Industry in the past, was stunned for a moment, but he quickly returned to normal.

"It seems that His Majesty the Emperor does not attach much importance to firearms. But His Majesty has demanded that so many fine guns be made*, where can they be used without these firearms? Sun Yuanhua was a little puzzled.

He put down the three-eyed gun in his hand and began to explain the three firearms in the back for the emperor, namely the bird's beak gun, the Lumi gun, and the Western gun.

The beak gun weighs five or six pounds, the bend handle (not against the shoulder), the barrel is three feet long, the lead bullet is three coins, the particles are three coins, the medicine bullet is equal in weight, and the diameter of the lead bullet and the gun mouth is basically the same. There is no play, the front sight and the door are complete, and you can aim and shoot.

The Lumi gun is actually a longer and larger bird gun, five or six feet long, weighing eight catties, three coins of lead bullets, and four coins of charge, which can break the heavy armor of bright light.

The Western gun, a penny of medicine, eight points of bullet, weighs five catties, its tube is five or six feet long, and the firing range is long.

After Sun Yuanhua recounted the specifications and power of these firearms, Zhu Youzhen casually asked: "As the saying goes, it is better to see than to hear." No matter how much Director Sun said, it would be better to actually shoot a few shots, which would be more revealing. Ask someone to bring some old armor, and I'll test it. ”

The official in charge of the firearms factory hurriedly ordered the officials around him to bring armor and iron bullets.

While waiting, Zhu Youzhen picked up the bird's beak and watched. After looking at it carefully, he asked Sun Yuanhua with some hesitation: "There are two seams on this pipe, is it possible that this pipe is connected section by section?" ”

Sun Yuanhua said disappreciatively: "Your Majesty's magic eye is flawless, and you can see it at a glance." The barrels were indeed made in three sections and then forged together. ”

Zhu Youzhen suddenly asked a little dazed: "Why?" ”

Sun Yuanhua blinked, he had never thought about this problem, because the craftsmen had always made it this way, making him think that the barrel was made this way.

The workshop supervisor on the side couldn't answer the emperor's question, but a small official answered this question for Chongzhen.

Because when craftsmen exercise wrought iron, the iron pieces should not be too long and too large, otherwise the iron will be unevenly trained, so it can only be forged separately.

Zhu Youzhen suddenly sighed in his heart, it seems that before there is no hydraulic forging hammer, the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty can only accept this kind of three-cut forged pipe.

It is no wonder that the border troops in the north do not like to use bird guns, compared with the stable south, the border troops who often have to go to the battlefield must have a higher chance of encountering explosions than in the south. Therefore, the border soldiers preferred to use the small power of the three-eyed gun rather than the larger bird gun.

After the servants of the firearms factory put their armor on a stake and erected it at a distance of 100 meters. The director of the firearms workshop politely handed over the medicine and asked the emperor to try it.

Zhu Youzhen looked at the bird's beak gun in his hand, although the barrels of these fire guns had been drilled, and the inner chamber looked relatively smooth, but he still couldn't make up his mind to try the gun himself.

"I'm not familiar with this, you're the head of the firearms workshop, so it's up to you to show me how to do it. Find two more people and test the other two firecrackers. Zhu Youzhen confidently handed over the firearm in his hand, and instructed the supervisor who was a little unresponsive.

After arranging for someone to test the performance of the three firecrackers, Zhu Youzhen asked Sun Yuanhua: "How much does the cost of these three firecrackers cost?" ”

Sun Yuanhua thought about it for a while, and then said: "The refined iron used to make fire guns must be refined using pig iron from Fujian, and every 40 catties gets 8 or 9 catties.

Western guns, beak guns are about 4 taels per door, only Lu Mi guns use double-layer guns, the production is complex, the drill is particularly difficult, even the master can not be made every time you must succeed, so each door is between 8-9 taels. ”

Just when Zhu Youzhen was talking with Sun Yuanhua, the first round of shooting had already been completed. I don't know where the beak gun hit, but the Western gun only left a white mark on the iron blade of the armor, and the projectile fired by the Lumi gun shattered the edge of an iron blade.

This achievement apparently made the officials of the firearms factory blush as the target kept getting closer. At a distance of 30 meters, the Lu Mi Gong finally penetrated the armor, and the Beak Gun finally penetrated the armor within 20 meters, and only the Western Gun could not penetrate the armor from beginning to end.

After the test was completed, the officials of the firearms factory were sweating profusely and pleaded guilty to Chongzhen, and Sun Yuanhua was also a little red-faced.

Zhu Youzhen didn't get angry as they thought, he was silent for a while before he said: "Obviously, we have exaggerated the records of these firearms, which also shows that in the production of weapons, we must not use exaggerated language to modify the tools, otherwise it will only bring trouble to future generations."

I don't think it's your mistake, but being able to make a good firecracker is already a great achievement. The next thing we're going to look at is how to expand the power of the firebolt.

Now the firecracker is only a single layer of armor, and I have heard that Houjin's white-armored soldiers often wear triple armor. The firecracker is slow to reload, and the battle is no more than two or three shots, if it can't repel the enemy's trapped armor, can the firecracker resist hand-to-hand combat? ”

Sun Yuanhua suddenly bowed down and said: "The minister is frightened, the minister thinks that if he wants to destroy the Houjin armor, he must have the cannon of Jiancheng." Our army is defending the city, the artillery is attacking from afar, and the fire is close to the defense, then the Houjin soldiers will not be able to win. ”

Zhu Youzhen immediately frowned, and categorically denied: "Field warfare against the enemy is the foundation of the establishment of the new army, and there is no need to mention it again in the future, and it is not allowed to be publicized in the army." In the future, whoever continues to propagate the use of artillery in the army will be dismissed from his post and retired immediately, and I don't need a bunch of waste who hide in the city and wait for the enemy to come to the door. ”

Sun Yuanhua suddenly stopped, it was the first time he heard Chongzhen refute it like this, relying on Jiancheng's suggestion to use cannons.

As far as he was concerned, except for the cannon used in the fortified city, he really couldn't see any chance of the Ming army winning in the field.

After watching the crowd around him kneel on the ground, he didn't dare to explain out loud. Zhu Youzhen slowed down and said, "You all get up, can kneeling on the ground solve the problem?" In my opinion, this matter is not without a solution.

Except for the Beak Gun and the Lumi Gun, other fire guns do not need to be made for the time being. Then, using the bird's beak gun as a prototype, an arquebus was designed that could pierce through three layers of armor within 30 meters. ”

Sun Yuanhua thought about it for a while, and then whispered: "If you want to pierce through the heavy armor, then it is better to imitate the turtledove of the Westerners." ”

Zhu Youzhen asked with some confusion: "What is a turtledove?" ”

"The Westerner turtledove is a militaristic weapon, the caliber is twice as large as the bird's beak, the total weight has reached more than 20 catties, the lead weighs one or two eight dollars, the charge is one or two two dollars, the gun pipe is 4 feet long, and the heavy armor will be broken within 60 steps.

However, this pipe must be forged at one time, and cannot be made without fine fine iron. In addition to the fact that Macao can make this sharp weapon, the minister heard that there are also people in Guangdong who can make it. Please ask Your Majesty to allow your ministers to go to Macao to buy a few turtledoves and recruit blacksmiths to build them in Beijing. ”

Zhu Youzhen shook his head and said: "The reason why the Beijing workshop can't create a turtledove is not a problem of craftsmanship, but that you don't know the principle of materials, so you feel that it is difficult to build a turtledove." ”

"What does Your Majesty mean by that?" Sun Yuanhua asked a little blankly.

Zhu Youzhen asked someone to take a bird's beak gun and said, "Do you know how this firearm fires a projectile?" ”

Sun Yuanhua replied hesitantly: "It should be the * burning power?" ”

Zhu Youzhen didn't speak, let people take an iron plate, and then poured in about 3 yuan *, and put a lead bullet.

He looked at the unknown crowd around him, and then lit it up*. Sun Yuanhua's eyes widened, but after the burning was finished, there was only one lead bullet left, and nothing changed, and he thought about the emperor's intentions with some surprise.