The Industrial Revolution in Britain is not very far from this era. If Britain had started the Industrial Revolution first, there would have been no doubt that Britain would have taken the lead and would most likely become the world hegemon. Even if Ming Guo struggles to catch up in the back, the final result is likely to be the embarrassing position of the second thousand-year-old.

Preemptive strike, for the revolution of all industries, is absolutely right. The first industrial revolution made Britain the world hegemon. The second industrial revolution made the United States the world hegemon. These are all facts of historical development! If the first industrial revolution broke out in the Ming Kingdom, there is no doubt that the Ming Kingdom could definitely become a world hegemon.

"Really?"

"That's great!"

After listening to Xu Xingxia's words, the expressions of several craftsmen became even more excited.

Before, the reward Xu Xingxia promised was quite generous, a few hundred taels of silver! Each meritorious craftsman has a large amount of dozens of taels of silver, which is enough for them to do a lot of things. In the past, the artisan households were the most miserable group in Weizhenbao, with no food and clothing, and it was indescribable. Now, the overall standard of living can be higher than that of ordinary military households, and food and clothing are no longer a problem.

However, this is not the most critical, the most important thing is to have face! In the past, craftsmen have always been looked down upon, and not many people even like to deal with them, but now, it is finally reversing this situation. Liu Dachun's marriage fully shows that they, the craftsmen of Weizhenbao, have gradually been accepted by others.

Listening to Xu Xingxia's tone, it seems that the status of these craftsmen can be promoted in the future. This made them feel happier and more determined to follow Xu Xingxia closely. Only by following Xu Xingxia closely can their wish come true. If anyone can't get along with Xu Xingxia, they can't get along with them. It's as simple as that.

Stimulated by the abundant material rewards, the craftsmen put forward many suggestions for improvement. Some of these suggestions are immediate, some require detailed consideration, and some are purely whimsical and fanciful. However, it doesn't matter. As long as you make suggestions and can practice them yourself, Xu Xingxia will support them. Whether the final result is good or bad, it means that you have worked hard.

What is genius? Genius is 99 percent perspiration plus 1 percent inspiration. You have to put in enough sweat before you can reap that little bit of inspiration. It is absolutely impossible to make a technological breakthrough without doing anything. Countless technological inventions have been made little by little in the years of research. No one can do it overnight. Even if there is, one cannot count on it.

Xu Xingxia may not be able to do anything else, but it is still possible to promote a technical atmosphere of hard work in the craftsman's workshop. He wanted to consciously turn the craftsman workshop in Weizhenbao into a scientific research center for the White Clothes Army. Every craftsman here is a scientific researcher for later generations. They should be well paid and have sufficient funding for scientific research.

The research undertaken by the craftsman's workshop should include not only weapons, but also other aspects. As long as it is a study that is beneficial to the development of the Ming Empire, it should be actively supported. As long as each of the craftsmen uses their brains and brainstorms, they will always achieve breakthrough technical results. More and more scientific research results are piling up, and the industrial revolution, maybe at some point, will suddenly erupt.

Of course, for the time being, the craftsman's workshop is still very rudimentary and cannot take on too many tasks. The main tasks at the moment are all carried out around rifled guns. Judging by the sample shooting of rifled guns, there are still many things that need to be improved, and it is not yet possible to finalize the model immediately. Zhao Mengji considered it purely from a technical point of view, and Xu Xingxia also had to consider it from the perspective of the army, and only a rifled gun that was acceptable to both sides could be finalized.

Undoubtedly, this is definitely not an easy thing to do. The craftsmen have the requirements of the craftsmen, and the white-clothed army has the requirements of the white-clothed army, and everyone wants to make it as convenient as possible for themselves. As a result, the two sides negotiated for three days, considered the technical and practical aspects in detail, and finally determined the basic specifications of the first batch of Yueyue guns.

The caliber of the barrel of the Moon Gun is still half an inch (about 16.7 mm), and it has not changed. The length of the barrel was determined to be three feet three inches (about 1100 mm). The length of the butt, determined to be one foot (about 330 mm). The length of the bayonet was determined to be one foot three inches (about 433 mm). In this way, the length of the whole gun is five feet three inches (about 1.863 meters), which is almost taller than a person. This, of course, was the result of the bayonet attached.

Without a bayonet, the whole gun was four feet three inches (about 1.43 meters) long, which was basically equivalent to the position of a normal adult's chest, and it was relatively easy to load it upright. Without a bayonet, the weight of the whole gun was about ten pounds. If a bayonet is installed, it weighs more than twelve pounds. The main reason for the increase in weight compared with the sample gun is that Xu Xingxia requested that some parts be strengthened and made of 100 steels of just the right quality.

After testing, the effective range of the official specifications of the moon gun and Mini bullet exceeded 200 meters. Within an effective range of 200 meters, it is completely possible to directly kill a war horse, if it is hit in a vital part. Even if it is not hit in the vital part, it can effectively make the war horse fall down. This is very important for the fight against cavalry.

In general, the cavalry of the Tatars sprinted relatively fast. With a distance of one hundred and fifty meters, it only takes half a minute to rush over. In half a minute, how many times can the moon gun be launched? Up to three times. At such a distance, it is more difficult to shoot directly at the Tatar cavalry themselves, and it is more realistic to directly put down their horses. If the cavalry has no war horses, it is no longer called cavalry.

At a distance of 300 meters, if the guns are fired in a row, they will still have a certain effect. With no obstacles in the way, Mini can fly even further. However, how far to fly, Xu Xingxia did not have the conditions to test. It would be too laborious to find the landing point of a Mini bullet within a range of several hundred meters. He didn't have that time to waste.

Once the specifications are determined, we will go all out for production. No matter how powerful the Moon Gun is, no matter how long the range is, in essence, it is still a front-loading gun. The defect of the slow rate of fire of the front-loading gun, which it could not solve. Historical facts have proven that even a well-trained shooter can fire a maximum of six Minnie rounds per minute when shooting with a Minnie gun. In other words, the fastest speed is also every 10 seconds.

Obviously, one or two moon guns have no effect. In the face of Tatar cavalry, it takes at least fifty or more moon guns to fire a salvo to inflict heavy damage on the enemy. This is a weapon that completely depends on quantity to win, and naturally it must be produced in large quantities and cheaply. The lower the cost of production and the faster the speed of production, the faster the growth of the White Army.

After a detailed study, the production plan of the moon gun was basically determined. What Xu Xingxia values most is, of course, the technical secrecy and assembly line production of Yueyue. The core secrets of the Moon Gun can only be mastered by a few core craftsmen. Judging from the structure of the moon gun, except for the rifling of the barrel, the other structures of the moon gun are no different from the general fire gun. This means that the production of the moon gun must be operated on an assembly line.

Well, to be precise, it's not completely without a difference. The parts of the moon gun are more than the other fire guns, and there is one more bayonet. The bayonet method took the form of a card holder, which was popular in later generations, and as long as it was stuck on the muzzle, it was quite stable. Due to the large caliber of the barrel of the Yueyue gun, the wall of the pipe is relatively thick, and the quality of the 100-for-steel is very good, therefore, when it comes to hand-to-hand combat, it does not suffer at all. An ordinary scimitar, a knife is cut on the barrel, and the barrel is basically without marks.

Of course, the purpose of the bayonet is not to fight hand-to-hand all the time. The hand-to-hand combat function of the bayonet cannot be compared with ordinary hand-to-hand combat weapons. Only in exceptional cases will bayonets be used. It's better to use the moon gun for hand-to-hand combat, and it's better to make a spear directly! Having said that, the cost of making a good spear is about the same as making a moon gun, but the power is the difference between heaven and earth.

In the end, Xu Xingxia decided to divide the manufacturing process of the moon gun into nine processes, which were handled by nine different craftsmen, and finally the core craftsmen were responsible for assembling. With the current capacity of the craftsman's workshop, it is estimated that about five pieces can be made every day if the production starts overnight. However, due to the problem of 100 steel, the cost of the barrel is still quite high. The full cost of a moon gun is about thirty taels of silver.

Zhao Mengji asked expectantly: "My lord, how many are you making?" ”

Xu Xingxia thought for a while and said slowly: "Let's make a hundred first!" ”

The cost of a hundred moon guns is three thousand taels. Xu Xingxia can get this money. However, more money will have to wait. Take a bite of the rice, and you have to take it one step at a time. There are many places where money is needed. In fact, the biggest bottleneck in the manufacture of Yueyue is not money, not technology, but the raw material of 100 steel.

Among the various components of the Moon, the most expensive is of course the barrel made of 100 steel. The quality of 100 steels is indeed good, but the production capacity is too low. There is not enough hundred steel, there is not enough barrel. However, it takes a long time to repeatedly hammer ordinary wrought iron into 100 steels that meet the quality requirements. A skilled blacksmith also has to beat three or four times repeatedly to forge a small piece of steel. Therefore, the output of 100 steels is too small to meet the needs at all.

(To be continued)