In the spring and April of the twenty-seventh year of Chengshun, in the Dongcheng District of Jinling City.
In the newly established pharmaceutical laboratory, Luo Zhixue was conducting an inspection with a group of officials.
The pharmaceutical laboratory was just established five days ago. Some of the researchers inside are personnel from several government-run pharmaceutical factories, and some are medical experts and chemical experts from several universities.
As for why there are chemists in pharmaceutical laboratories...that's because many drugs are chemical compounds.
Generally speaking, there are actually only two categories of drugs. One is biological drugs. For example, various vaccines that are common in later generations are very typical biological drugs. The drug itself is a kind of living thing;
Another type is chemical drugs. Almost all drugs used daily are chemical drugs. For example, amoxicillin, the broad-spectrum bactericidal drug that people come into contact with most every day, and penicillin, which often appear in historical texts, are both Antibiotics... Although these antibiotics are released in the form of biopharmaceuticals, these substances themselves are still compounds, the kind with molecular formulas...
Of course, some people will say that in addition to these two categories of drugs, there are also a lot of botanical drugs or mineral drugs or other messy 'medicines' in empirical medicine.
Well, most of them are useless and belong to the category of placebos or simply superstitions. These can be excluded from the ranks of medicines. Some of the useful botanical medicines are also strictly chemical medicines because they are a certain type of botanical medicines. A chemical substance plays a medicinal role.
For example, the cinchona tree can treat malaria because it contains quinine...
There is also willow bark. The reason why it can relieve pain and reduce fever is because it contains salicin. After taking it, it will be converted into salicylic acid, which can then treat diseases. If salicylic acid is combined with acetic anhydride, it becomes acetylsalicylic acid. ,What's this? It is the famous aspirin, one of the three miracle drugs of mankind.
Aspirin is a serious chemical.
Willow bark in ancient empirical medicine and aspirin in modern medical theory are actually the same thing.
Medicine, that’s what it is. Empirical medicine developed scientifically step by step, and finally became modern medicine.
Well, the premise is that you don't talk about the five elements, yin, yang, dampness and heat. That stuff belongs to the category of metaphysics and has nothing to do with medicine.
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Find and extract effective ingredients from botanical medicines in empirical medicine, and then find ways to synthesize them artificially.
This is an important channel for early drug research under modern medical theory. From the second half of the 19th century to the early 20th century, many of the blockbuster drugs came from this way, such as quinine, aspirin, morphine, etc.
Therefore, a series of chemical theories and methods are very important and even indispensable in the pharmaceutical field.
Therefore, it is inevitable to introduce a large number of chemical experts into pharmaceutical laboratories. Of course, there are many types of chemists. The chemists who work in pharmaceutical laboratories are basically chemists who have carried out extensive drug research before. To be precise, they are medicinal chemists.
At the same time, this group of medicinal chemists are also the main professors of pharmacology in several colleges and universities.
In order to achieve a major breakthrough in the pharmaceutical field, the Dachu Empire adopted a method of concentrating manpower and material resources. It not only concentrated domestic researchers from several large pharmaceutical factories directly under the Ministry of Industry, but also concentrated pharmaceutical professors in high-efficiency factories. They have also been centralized and conducted concentrated research on various drugs.
As for funds... that's not a problem. In addition to the own R&D funds of several universities and many pharmaceutical factories, the Ministry of Industry has invested 800,000 yuan in pharmaceutical laboratories, and these funds are only preliminary R&D funds. , these institutions will continue to invest in research and development funds until results are achieved.
From a legal perspective, this pharmaceutical laboratory is a commercial laboratory jointly invested by the Ministry of Industry, multiple pharmaceutical factories, and multiple universities.
Of course, all the above-mentioned capital belongs to official capital.
This model of pharmaceutical laboratories using university-enterprise-Ministry of Industry (or local industrial departments/departments/sections) multi-party official capital for joint commercial operations and profit sharing is also the current model for a considerable number of government-run research institutes in the Dachu Empire. , the basic model of the laboratory.
Even government-run research institutes specializing in arms research, such as the Firearms Research Institute and the Artillery Research Institute, have adopted a commercial operation model after reform.
For example, the famous Jinling Firearms Research Institute used to be directly affiliated with the Ministry of Industry and did not participate in commercial activities. Its research results directly belonged to the state and did not engage in commercial operations.
However, after the reform, the Firearms Research Institute was independent for commercial operations. Jiangnan Arms Company held the majority of the shares, the Ministry of Industry retained a part of the shares, and the Royal Institute of Technology also held a part of the shares. Its research and development results will be authorized through patents. The method is awarded to Jiangnan Weapons Company, which profits from it and then continues to maintain the research and development of weapons.
However, some basic research projects, especially pure theoretical research laboratories, and research institutes are still directly under the Ministry of Industry or under major universities. The main reason is that these pure theoretical or basic research cannot directly generate economic benefits...
For example, the group of mathematicians who study number theory, the theoretical physicists who study theoretical physics, and the astronomers who study astronomy... Although what they study is very important, what they study is too high-level to be compared with ordinary people. It really doesn't matter, and it's difficult to generate economic profits in a short period of time.
These basic theoretical research projects naturally require the support of official funds, otherwise the group of mathematicians and a group of theoretical physicists will starve to death...
Therefore, in the current Great Chu Empire, there are many various research projects, and the sources of research funding are also diverse.
Generally speaking, the source of funding for purely basic theoretical research is financial funds, the kind that are directly allocated from the government... This is true for mathematics, theoretical physics, and other cutting-edge theoretical research, etc. Some of these studies are Relying on the development of various universities, the finance department allocates funds to universities, and universities allocate funds to research projects. Others are research institutes and laboratories that directly belong to the Ministry of Ethics and Education, the Ministry of Industry, or other departments. This is simpler and uses the financial allocations of each department directly.
There is also official capital. This official capital and fiscal funds are not the same concept. Fiscal funds are used directly from tax revenue and are part of the government budget. Official capital mainly refers to the Ministry of Industry, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Finance of the Dachu Empire. The funds of government-run enterprises controlled by various ministries of the Ministry of Ethnic Affairs and local industrial departments were part of the economic system of the Dachu Empire.
Government-run enterprises take the lead in R&D investment, the most typical of which are various weapons research, steam engine research, etc. The three major steam engine manufacturers are all wholly owned by the Ministry of Industry.
Part of it is private capital. These private R&D funds are actually very huge. The private capital in the Dachu Empire is still very huge. The scale and output value of Li's Iron Company are not small, and Li's Iron Including subsidiaries, the scale of R&D investment in various fields is very large.
There is also Suqin Textile Company, which has invested heavily in research related to the textile industry, such as cotton selection and breeding, research and development of textile machinery and equipment, research and development of dyes, etc., not to mention traditional businesses.
In recent years, Su Qin Textile Company has expanded very rapidly and is developing towards diversification. It also invests heavily when it gets involved in new fields.
In addition to the textile field, Suqin Textile Company is also involved in various chemicals, mainly coatings and daily chemicals. Last year, one of its subsidiaries also obtained a gunpowder production license and entered the gunpowder field.
Why would a textile company get involved in the fields of gunpowder and daily chemicals?
Because they themselves have the largest and most technologically advanced dye factory and research and development level in the Chu Empire.
Dyes themselves are a large collection of compounds!
Su Qin Textile Company not only maintains a group of chemical experts on its own, but also maintains cooperation with many universities to jointly develop various messy compounds.
With more research on these messy compounds, many chemical by-products have emerged.
Twenty-five years ago, they developed a new yellow dye, but accidentally discovered that it was easy to explode... but its powerful explosive power quickly attracted the attention of the military.
The military allowed them to continue their research and even obtained a gunpowder production license for them.
The military is counting on them to continue to improve this kind of explosive and then use it for military purposes... But it is unlikely to be available for a while. This ghost thing is too dangerous to research and use, and it is difficult to do it!
The Su Qin Textile Company will not be able to produce new explosives for a while. It will not add much to the existing national defense strength of the Chu Empire. The military support is only for the future... and the military has many various support projects. Su Qin's new explosives project is just one of them.
On the other hand, many of the new gunpowder results from the Jinling Gunpowder Research Institute were great, which greatly promoted the development of the defense industry of the Great Chu Empire.
The copper flash cap used in the flash cap firing gun used by the Dachu Empire today was produced by this research institute.
At the same time, they have continued to make various improvements to black gunpowder, making various attempts from technology to proportional ingredients. Recently, they have also developed a gunpowder with a slower burning speed. This black gunpowder is lighter in color than previous black gunpowder. It appears maroon and is also called maroon gunpowder.
At present, this kind of maroon gunpowder has been used in various experiments, and it is found that it is very effective as a gunpowder propellant. The relatively slow burning speed can make it burn stably, and it is not easy to explode when more propellant is used.
A simple description is that the black gunpowder pushes out the cannonball at maximum speed at the moment of explosion, while the maroon gunpowder burns slowly and slowly, and then gradually accelerates the cannonball out.
The military attaches great importance to this maroon black gunpowder and has conducted various practical tests. At the same time, it has organized the Zhenjiang Gunpowder Factory to conduct preliminary trial production. If nothing unexpected happens, the military will use this maroon gunpowder on a large scale to serve as a launcher for artillery. Medication use.
Well, only propellant for artillery, preferably large caliber artillery.
However, this thing is not suitable for use as propellant for muskets.
If maroon gunpowder can be widely used in the future, it will also have a great effect on improving the performance of various artillery in the Dachu Empire.
Luo Zhixue, who learned the news, watched a test firing of a new type of artillery organized by the military in late April.
What was tested was not only the propellant such as maroon gunpowder, but also the artillery itself, because the new artillery that participated in the imperial test this time were all front-loading rifled artillery.
Although based on the current basic industrial level of the Da Chu Empire, it is relatively difficult to produce rifled artillery, and its cost will be very high. However, the huge power displayed by the rifled artillery is such that the military cannot refuse.
Front-loading rifled artillery has huge advantages over previous smooth-bore artillery. One is the effective range. Because of the existence of rifled artillery, the artillery can easily be fired several thousand meters or even farther while maintaining great accuracy.
The second one is power!
Because front-loading rifled artillery uses cylindrical shells, it has a larger charge, and a larger charge means greater explosive power.
This can be seen from the power of the Navy's 150mm front-loading rifled gun that was previously tested and equipped. Its caliber is only 150mm, but its explosive power exceeds all other large-caliber smoothbore artillery currently in service in the Chu Army, including those More than two hundred millimeters of heavy siege artillery.
This makes this 150mm front-loading rifled gun the most powerful artillery piece in the Chu Empire at present!
These two major advantages are enough for the military, especially the navy, to ignore the high cost and low barrel life of rifled guns.
On the other hand, although the Army is also very interested in front-loading rifled guns and has also tried to develop front-loading rifled guns, it is not as determined as the Navy and wants to carry out a comprehensive replacement.
For the Army, the power of artillery is important, but the cost is also very important, and the service life is also very important.
After all, the army's artillery is used much more frequently than the navy's, especially many troops deployed overseas. During a war, they can fire out dozens of shells. If there is a tough battle, one artillery can fire hundreds of rounds. It is possible to fire artillery shells.
If you give them rifled artillery that can only fire one or two hundred rounds, the Army will be scolded... because this means that the artillery may be useless before a battle is completed.
Then there is the cost issue... The Army is more sensitive to the cost of artillery. Unlike the Navy, where each warship costs hundreds of thousands, the price of naval guns will not have a big impact if the price of naval guns is more or less.
At the same time, naval battleships have become more troublesome in hull design due to the development of steam engine power, and the space for deploying artillery is also more troublesome. Therefore, they are currently more inclined to have less equipment, but have longer range, higher accuracy, and greater power. Naval gun.
The overall idea is to use the power of steam engines and rifled guns with longer ranges, use wind formation tactics, and kill opponents as far away as possible, and then avoid queuing up and shooting at close range with enemy ships at a distance of two to three hundred meters!
The navy's development path also provides greater competition space for front-loaded rifled guns.
Therefore, this time's new artillery test firing mainly focused on the navy's front-loading rifled guns.
As soon as Luo Zhixue arrived at the testing site, the first thing he saw was a row of dark artillery in front, and one of the cannons caught Luo Zhixue's attention.
This thing is huge, obviously larger than other new artillery pieces around!
Without Luo Zhixue asking, the officials on the side took the initiative to explain. Through the explanation, Luo Zhixue knew.
This is the latest 200mm front-loading rifled naval gun developed by Dangtu Heavy Artillery Factory. The gun weighs more than ten tons. Just looking at the weight, you can tell that this thing is a typical large-caliber cannon and can only be used as a naval gun or fortress artillery. .
The effective range of this thing can reach more than five thousand meters. Well, this is the performance of the artillery itself, but if you want to hit a long distance, the premise is that the gunner can accurately aim... It is fine on land, but if it is on the sea, then Basically, you have to catch someone blind.
In today's situation, just relying on primitive sighting methods, if you want to hit an enemy more than 5,000 meters away in a naval battle, it will be useless if all kinds of gods come to pray for you!
In addition to this big gun, there are more front-mounted rifled guns of other calibers and different categories. Among them, the most attention-grabbing one is not the big 200mm naval gun, but a new type of 150mm naval gun. And this thing is the new naval gun that the navy attaches most importance to and prepares a large number of equipment.
