It was rare for Zhu Youxiao to come to the arsenal, so it was naturally impossible for him to go back after inspecting the new weapons.
Although most of the firearms and firearms in Shenji Camp today are still matchlocks, they are far from what they used to be.
These were all manufactured under the supervision and review of Bi Maokang and Zhang Zhiji, and there was basically no lack of workmanship or rough manufacturing.
Therefore, the sergeant no longer has any fear when using it.
Therefore, he has no idea of equipping a large number of divine weapons in a short period of time. The current matchlock guns are enough.
Moreover, the manpower, material resources, and financial expenditure required for the entire army to change their uniforms are not small, and the current Ming Dynasty simply cannot support it.
In fact, the firearms of the Ming army were not bad at all, but due to the cutting of corners by the War Bureau and the corruption of officials, all they produced were defective products.
Historically, the reason why soldiers of the Ming Dynasty did not dare to use firearms was because there were too many situations such as the chamber exploding, gunpowder being unable to be ejected, or clogging.
The battlefield is extremely dangerous. When the two armies are fighting, such an unexpected situation will be completely fatal.
Therefore, Jiannu never paid attention to the Ming army's muskets. They were just afraid of the cannons.
So Zhu Youxiao decided that the arsenal would mainly manufacture Hongyi cannons and Folang machine guns. In this era, firepower coverage is king.
More advanced heavy artillery must be developed to increase its power and range.
Yuan Keli's naval fleet is already small in size, and naval ships must naturally be equipped with heavy artillery. Otherwise, where will the firepower come from?
The Hongyi cannons imitated by the Ming army were those captured by foreigners in naval battles.
It's just that the emperors of the past dynasties didn't pay much attention to the ocean, and the officials kept silent about it, so the Hongyi cannon was reduced to a cannon used to defend the city.
Moreover, now is the best time for the Ming Dynasty to develop its navy. At this time, the European powers are all vying to become the maritime hegemon. In the melee, they have no time to look east.
But it won't be long before the basic structure of Europe will be slowly laid down.
Countries such as the Netherlands and Spain, which have long colonial histories and have always been maritime hegemons, will be replaced by Britain.
Moreover, Taiwan is still in the hands of the Dutch, and Zhu Youxiao must recover it.
Although the current ships are not as good as those in the early Ming Dynasty, as long as we pay attention to them and develop slowly, it will not be long before we can catch up with European countries by relying on the profound foundation of the Ming Dynasty.
"My dear, make the artillery as powerful as you can, and as far as the range can be. Don't be stingy with money. I will fully support you, just go ahead and try it."
"Back then, gunpowder was developed by us Han people. I don't believe it. Now, our Ming Dynasty's weapons will lag behind those barbarians."
"Your Majesty, don't worry, I will do my best."
Bi Maokang is actually not very good at artillery, but since His Majesty trusts him and he is the general manager of the arsenal, it is not easy to refuse.
And how could Zhu Youxiao not know this?
In fact, Bi Maokang's main research direction throughout his life was muskets, and the military illustrations he wrote were mainly about this aspect.
"Ai Qing, please discuss more with Mr. Xu Ge. He has been dealing with foreigners since he was a child, and he also has a deep understanding and knowledge of foreign weapons and artillery."
Bi Maokang immediately said:
"Please remember this!"
"only………"
"Just what? What else do you have to worry about, Aiqing?"
"Your Majesty, would you like to recruit more craftsmen to increase your manpower?"
Additional manpower? Zhu Youxiao thought about it and decided to forget it. There are now more than 10,000 craftsmen in the arsenal.
The scale is already quite large, and the expenditure every day is huge. As long as the national treasury is not fully filled, there is still no need to expand.
"No need, the manpower is just right right now. If there is really a shortage of manpower, then we can transfer manpower from the gun factory to increase the manpower of the artillery factory."
"The production of Shenwu fire guns and matchlock guns can be reduced appropriately, as long as the normal demand of the Shenji Battalion can be guaranteed."
"I don't require you to achieve a high monthly output, but the level of workmanship must be up to standard."
"All muskets must be strictly tested before being delivered to the army. A Shenwu musket must be fired at least twenty times to ensure that it is correct before it can leave the factory."
"Every musket produced must be engraved with the name of the craftsman on the handle, and the year, month and day should be indicated. If something goes wrong, we can arrest it from the source."
"I don't want the soldiers of my Shenji Battalion to die on the battlefield holding fire sticks."
In this regard, he also learned from Zhu Yuanzhang. He engraved the names of the craftsmen and chief officials, and although he did not say 100% guarantee, the quality must pass the test.
There will be no cutting corners or rough manufacturing.
Governor Zhang Zhiji, Chief Controller Bi Maokang, and Director Li Yongzhen did not expect why His Majesty would have such an idea.
But since you've been given an order, you have to obey.
After all, this is still an era dominated by cold weapons, and the military's tactical thinking and thoughts on war are still too backward.
In the final analysis, the low-level sergeants are just farmers. No matter how brave they are, at most they are not afraid of death. This is not possible in a firearms war.
If you want to create an elite force that mainly uses firearms, you must first improve the military's tactical thinking and literacy.
And this cannot be accomplished overnight.
This kind of reform of thought and form is not a simple sentence.
At present, it is enough to have tens of thousands of firearms elites from the Shenji Battalion.
Furthermore, his current strength and energy are only enough to train an elite team of Shenji Battalion.
Moreover, the technology of muskets has reached a bottleneck period. All muskets now are smoothbore guns.
Even a flintlock gun is still loaded with gunpowder pellets, which is extremely unstable. The stability is still unsightly, and pellets often block the barrel.
Therefore, if you want to take the musket to the next level, the industrial standards of craftsmen and manufacturing are extremely high.
After all, the next step is the rifled gun, which cannot be manufactured manually.
If you want to make a breakthrough, with the current level of industrial technology, you can't even think about it.
And even a smoothbore flintlock gun is enough to face the current war.
You know, smoothbore flintlocks have been used in Europe for more than two centuries. During the Opium War, Britain's main weapon was smoothbore flintlocks.
After wandering around for a while, it was approaching dusk.
Today, Zhu Youxiao rewarded more than 10,000 taels of silver to the craftsmen who developed new weapons as a mark of recognition and reward.
He is never stingy in this regard, and he has to spend money when he has to.
As long as money can solve it, it doesn't matter.
"I feel relieved that the arsenal has been handed over to you. I hope that good news will come as soon as possible. I am in the palace, waiting for good news."
The three of them shouted in unison at the factory gate:
"Congratulations to Your Majesty!"
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