"Let's get out of the way! That thing can't be used for the time being, find a few people with apprentices for small-scale manual processing, there is no quantity requirement, how much can be made, our Marine Corps has a total of more than 300 people, and there is no place to use it if you do more. By the way, the development of rifled guns has also been slowed down for the time being, and you can do it yourself when you have time, and the fewer people involved, the better. I have already submitted the report to the council, and I am afraid that the Imperial Metal Group has also allocated a part of its manpower to specialize in the manufacture of ordnance, which is separate from ordinary civilian products, mainly to prevent the spread of technology, and the specific details will be discussed with you. ”

For the rifled gun, Hong Tao is still a little entangled. You say mass production, the empire has to set up an army, then the military spending will increase a lot, which is not very beneficial to the development of the empire. The army relies on numbers, and there must be enough numbers to have combat effectiveness. You get hundreds of people, and unless everyone has an MG42 and unlimited ammo, it's still no fun to go to land fighting.

According to the current situation of the Golden River Empire, a large-scale land war is definitely not needed, and the population base of the empire cannot support such a large-scale land war. Besides, what's the point of fighting this kind of war? What's the use of conquering a city? With a stable sea trade route, the empire can exchange more benefits for a smaller price, so why bother to compete with others for territory? Don't you need to govern if you grab it? Are there no clashes of ethnicities, histories, religions, and cultures? Apparently impossible.

If this is the case, if you use 10,000 troops to seize the territory of a country, you will have to invest more manpower and material resources to maintain the rule of this land, and what will you get in the end? Except for hatred and killing, there is basically nothing to gain, and it is a loss-making business.

With these investments, it is better to build a few more warships and a few armed merchant ships to traffic goods around the world. In this era, he again has enough maritime power to occupy only a few necessary strategic ports. can affect the world economically, so why do you have to go to land and break your head with others? Therefore, guns are a chicken rib for the current Jinhe Empire.

The reason why it is chicken ribs is that it still has a pity to abandon it. That's right, Hong Tao will not give up all the opportunities to develop firearms, he just is not in a hurry to blindly waste resources on this little thing in the current form. But this technology can't be thrown away. He will still apply to the parliament for special funding to continue to develop and improve the technology of front-loading rifled guns. Once it is needed in the future, it only needs to build enough production lines and invest enough manpower to quickly produce it on a large scale.

In fact, this kind of backhand Hong Tao is mainly left to Da Song, although he said that he has been disappointed in Da Song, but the obsession in his heart has not been completely eliminated. As long as Da Song could have the slightest chance to change his weak physique by himself, he would spare no effort to help it.

At the appropriate time, Hong Tao planned to recommend the rifle, a new weapon that changed the mode of warfare, to the army of the Great Song Dynasty, and let the Southern Song infantry, armed with smoothbore guns or even rifled guns, go to the Mongol cavalry to face off. Let's see if the infantry is more powerful, or the cavalry continues to lead the way.

In addition, from the perspective of economics, no matter what the new product is, it is reasonable to make full use of its economic value. The front-loading rifled gun is the successor of the front-loading rifled gun, if the rifled gun is directly launched, the economic value of the smoothbore gun will be reduced or completely lost, which is not in line with Hong Tao's habits.

The weapon itself is also a commodity. Good weapons are gunner goods, so why not use them to make money? The research and development of their own ideas and craftsmen are all costs. Why not let the fruits of their labor be turned into real money? Only when craftsmen see the benefits of developing new technologies will they consciously and voluntarily engage in these boring experiments, and can they promote the faster development of science and technology, which is a virtuous circle.

Until the full value of the smoothbore gun was fully discovered, rifled guns could not be mass-produced, and were limited to the officers of the Imperial Marine Corps and the Royal Navy as self-defense weapons.

"That's fine. lest I be on guard all day long as a thief against other craftsmen, not even my son and my apprentices. It's done, I don't have anything to do, you go and get busy with your big ship. A good emperor is not right, he has to go to the sea to play for his life. I don't know what you're trying to do. Hong Tao explained the problems of rifled guns and rifled guns in one go, and also made plans for the future of the Imperial Metal Group, so Qi Zu had no questions to ask. Although he doesn't like sailing, he also knows that the sea is the lifeblood of Hong Tao, and it is okay to complain, but he doesn't dare to really oppose Hong Tao's shipbuilding.

Hong Tao's second stop is Wen Xiaoqi and Wen Si's office, since you want to build a ship, no matter what kind of keel it is, it will eventually have to rely on the shipyard to make it, and Qi Zu can't build a boat no matter how good he is, even if it's a small sailboat on the river.

"Iron Wakiki Wooden Ship! You should go to my grandfather and my uncle for this matter, the two of them have made a ten-meter sailing boat to try in the galaxy all day long, and I and Xiaosi have gone up to help, it is indeed a good ship. The center of gravity is lower, and the weight is about the same as that of a pine boat, and lighter than that of teak and rosewood. It's just that there is one bad thing, that is, the steel keel loves to rust, and it will rot in less than two years. ”

Wen Xiaoqi and Wen Si were not in the shipyard, but built an independent courtyard in the east of the shipyard, and the workers in it were all relatives of the Wen family, and outsiders were not allowed to enter. The reason for such secrecy is that the test specimens of the three steam engines, since Da Hongtao approved the two of them to conduct the steam engine test, in addition to the daily shipbuilding work, the two of them with the trusted craftsmen in the family have devoted themselves to these machines, and they don't care about anything else. The two of them were more addicted to new power than shipbuilding.

"The two of you are embarrassed to say, how old are your grandfathers, and they have to help you plan for the future, so you don't know how sorry you feel sorry for them?" Hong Tao didn't expect Wen Xiaoqi and Wen Si to give up the study of shipbuilding technology, devote themselves to the research and development of steam engines, and get their semi-retired grandfather out again to continue to work, a little unhappy.

"It wasn't the idea of the two of them, it was our brother's will. In addition to the two of them who are good at shipbuilding, the Wen family also has five sons and three young grandsons. But to say that to play with this machine, the two of them still have the ability. Since they are willing to learn one more trade, which is a good thing, a family can't hang themselves from a tree, I think that since Your Majesty taught them, it will definitely be possible, let them get it. ”

Before Wen Xiaoqi and Wen Si could explain, Wen Lao Er and Wen Lao Da walked in together. No one else knew that Hong Tao was going to build a new flagship, and the two of them would definitely not have heard about it, so they took the initiative to chase after them without waiting for Hong Tao to find them. For an old shipwright who has been building ships all his life, it is not hard work to be able to build a new type of big ship by himself when he is old, but happiness.

"Well, if I say it in vain, if you two are willing, then I don't have any opinion, and it just so happens that I am going to find your second elder too. This time, I plan to build a wooden-hulled ship with a displacement of more than 2,000 tons, and use steel as the keel of the ship, so that the length and width ratio of the ship can be increased and the speed can be faster. I have already drawn the simple drawings, but the detailed construction drawings have to be perfected by your second elder. ”

The thoughts of the two old men of the Wen family, Hong Tao, understood that since they were willing to let the younger generation learn some new things, there was no need for them to stop them. Although the two old men were not very good at their legs and feet, and could no longer climb around the slipway to personally supervise the shipbuilding, it was still okay to let them help them refine the design drawings and construction drawings. A lot of shipbuilding data is stored in their heads, and they can tell accurate data without calculating the force size, weight, and deformation amplitude of each material.

"Go out, all of you, and don't listen with your ears fixed here. There are things that should be listened to, and some things that should not be heard, and if you listen too much, you will have a heart disease, so get out of here! Wen Lao Er listened to Hong Tao's words, but instead of being elated, he frowned. After glancing at Boss Wen, he suddenly began to clear the scene, blasting out all the people in the room, and even Wen Xiaoqi and Wen Si didn't stay.

"Uncle Wen, what are you doing here, the secrecy can't be kept from Xiao Qi and Xiao Si, they still have to supervise the construction of new ships, it doesn't hurt to hear it." Hong Tao really didn't think much about it, and fought for Wen Xiaoqi and Wen Si to have the opportunity to discuss together.

"This ship can't be built!" But Wen Lao Er didn't listen to Hong Tao's suggestion at all, and even pushed and banged out all the people in the house, and after closing the door, Hong Tao was stunned with one mouth.

"It really can't be built, those steel beams are strong, but they are corroding so fast that they have to be replaced in less than two years. My second brother and I built three steel beam boats, and changed the keel three times in less than four years. It doesn't matter if you change the keel of a small boat, but it will be troublesome to change the keel of such a large ship. Even if His Majesty's new ship changes the keel once every two years, it will have to lie on the slipway for at least five months in this year, and it will not be able to drive for more than half a year, and it will be useless to build it! Boss Wen felt that Boss Wen's conclusion was too simple to convince Hong Tao, and immediately gave a specific answer.

“…… What if I used a thicker steel beam? Isn't it going to be able to delay a little longer? For example, once every five years...... "Boss Wen's rust problem gave Hong Tao a blow to the head, and the ships built before this basically had no rust problem, except for wood, all metal fittings were made of alloy copper. This problem is indeed a big problem, but Hong Tao is not dead yet, he urgently needs a high-speed boat.

(To be continued.) )