Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 330 Basics
Zhu Shenzhui knew very well what continuous high-intensity shooting meant in war. If he could possess a large number of such revolvers, he could form a barrage of bullets by relying on five consecutive shots. Even if the enemy was an elite cavalry, as long as he was well prepared and had enough revolvers to alternate, the enemy would not be able to break through at all.

Such power is unmatched by ordinary muskets, so it is worth it even if the loading speed is a little slower.

The emergence of this weapon can directly change the mode of war, gradually developing from primary firearms tactics to more advanced tactics. However, the disadvantages of this gun are also real. In addition to the trouble of loading, there is the problem of range.

Qi Jiguang's Wulei Shenji can shoot up to 120 steps, which is about 200 meters. But the revolver developed now is more advanced than Wulei Shenji, but its range is much shorter. According to experiments, due to the sealing problem and serious air leakage, and the current use of black gunpowder, the maximum range is only 80 meters, the effective range is about 20 meters, and the accuracy is not as good as the bird gun, which is far behind Wulei Shenji.

This data may not seem very good when compared, but Zhu Shenzhui did not care about it. He knew that the range of the revolver was relatively low, but its continuous shooting and single high-speed shooting were unique in this era, and it was more suitable for war than Qi Jiguang's Five Thunder Machine.

No matter what kind of advanced firearms, there will be problems of one kind or another at the beginning, which does not negate its technological progress. On the contrary, many problems can be gradually improved through technology and craftsmanship, and the same is true for revolvers. The emergence of revolvers will allow Zhu Shenzhui's soldiers to increase their firepower on the battlefield and ensure the possibility of continuous fighting. The problems mentioned above are not real problems, especially the range. In the case of close combat between the two sides, what is the difference between 20 meters and 30 meters?

In his joy, Zhu Shenzui rewarded Zhao Da and Yao Yuan generously. As for the old carpenter who made great efforts, Zhu Shenzui did not forget him. He specially called him over to encourage him. Not only did he reward him with gold and silver, he also decided to let Zhao Da lead the old carpenter and Yao Yuan to form a special firearm research and development team. He asked them to use their brains to use the structure and reference of traditional mechanisms to further improve the revolver. At the same time, they could also develop other new types of firearms.

In addition, Zhu Shencui also promised the old carpenter an official position. This news made the old carpenter ecstatic. As a craftsman, being able to become an official was what all craftsmen dreamed of. The old carpenter instantly became energetic and kowtowed to Zhu Shencui to express his gratitude.

Even Yao Liang, who helped to come up with ideas, was rewarded. However, considering that Yao Liang was more proficient in gunpowder and his interest was more focused on gunpowder, Zhu Shenzhu still let him continue to develop gunpowder and percussion caps. In addition, Zhu Shenzhu talked to Yao Liang privately and instilled some knowledge about chemistry in him so that he could delve into this area.

After all, traditional black powder has reached perfection, and it is unlikely to make further progress. If we want to make a breakthrough, we can only start from the chemical aspect, but it is very difficult to achieve this.

Today's science has not reached this level yet. Apart from Taoist priests who make elixirs, basically no one in the folk would tinker with these things. Even though some Taoist priests have developed things like green vitriol oil (sulfuric acid), they have no idea about the principles behind it and they made it completely by accident.

Although Zhu Shenzui was not a chemistry major, he took chemistry classes when he was in school and had some basic knowledge of chemistry.

Sulfuric acid is a basic raw material for many industries and is essential for the manufacture of modern gunpowder.

Mixing sulfuric acid and glycerin in proportion can produce nitroglycerin, which is a powerful explosive. The famous Nobel developed this kind of thing in history. Using natural fibers, such as cotton wool and nitroglycerin, to make its performance change from active to stable, the final product is the smokeless gunpowder invented by Nobel.

Zhu Shenzhu had some knowledge of these general directions, thanks to the compulsory education and popular science books of that year, but it was impossible to ask Zhu Shenzhu to explain them clearly. To be honest, he had never seen green vitriol oil (sulfuric acid) before. He could not recognize it even if it was placed in front of him, let alone further research and development.

However, Zhu Shencui still told Yao Liang about this, so that he could start from this direction. But he also reminded Yao Liang that once the green vitriol oil was mixed with other raw materials, there would be great risks, and the research process must be cautious. As for how glycerin was made, Zhu Shencui had no idea. He only vaguely remembered that it was extracted by saponification of oil, and he knew nothing about the steps.

Faced with Zhu Shenzui's suggestions and explanations, Yao Liang immediately perked up. He was willing to accept the task and give it a try.

However, Yao Liang also proposed that he hoped to send more people. He might not be able to do it alone, especially because it involved chemistry, and he had no experience in this area. He had never even refined green vitriol oil. Zhu Shenzhui understood Yao Liang's answer. He told Yao Liang that he would find some people to help him, and even find a few Taoists who could make elixirs to assist him in this matter. However, this would take time, and he had to send people to find the right people and then invite them. At present, he could only give Yao Liang a few ordinary assistants and let Yao Liang tinker with them. As for how far he could tinker, it depended on his ability and luck.

After making arrangements for Yao Liang, Zhao Da also made instructions.

There are still some problems with the current smelting technology. The refined iron produced can be used to make ordinary weapons, although it is also possible to make ordinary firearms. However, compared with industrial products of later generations, these are still very primitive. The quality of the firearms made is much better than that used by the current Ming army, but it is still not satisfactory. This also makes it difficult to manufacture more sophisticated firearms and the size and weight of the firearms are too large, making them extremely inconvenient to use.

This is also unavoidable. In history, until the late Qing Dynasty, that is, during the reign of Emperor Guangxu, the quality of guns and artillery materials made in China was far inferior to that of developed European countries. The most representative of these is the manufacture of artillery. Zhu Shenzhu had seen a Qing Dynasty artillery fort while traveling in his previous life. There were two coastal defense cannons with a history of more than 100 years on the fort, one of which was made in China and the other was purchased from Krupp in Germany at the time.

A single cannon may not seem like anything special, but when you put two cannons together and compare them, you can tell the difference at a glance. Compared to the Krupp cannon with an extremely smooth, shiny black surface, the cannon you made yourself has a bumpy body covered with holes of all sizes. The body of the cannon is also thicker than the Krupp cannon because of the material, but the inner diameter of the barrel is thinner. The difference is very obvious.

The reason for this is technological backwardness. However, the gap between the East and the West has not reached such a huge level. On the contrary, the Ming Dynasty is still slightly ahead of the West in many technologies, including smelting and metal manufacturing.

But the gap has gradually narrowed. If history had not changed, after the first industrial revolution in Europe, Western technology would have advanced rapidly and soon caught up with and surpassed China. In China, the rulers with pigtails were still obsessed with the beautiful dream of the Celestial Empire, until the country was directly opened by foreign guns and cannons, which broke the dream.

It is extremely difficult for Zhu Shenzhui to change the world on his own. He now only owns a mine and workshop in Zhaowuling. The people in the workshop, such as Zhao Da, the Yao brothers, etc., are at best slightly outstanding craftsmen. Many craftsmen cannot even recognize a few big characters, and the skills they know are passed down from their ancestors. No matter how good their skills are, their creativity and thinking are limited.

It was simply wishful thinking to rely on these foundations to achieve technological progress. It was no different from daydreaming to want to achieve the level of industrial revolution with such a foundation. However, no matter how difficult it was, it had to be done. Even a slight improvement in technology would be a huge success. As for the real industrial revolution, that was a later story. With Zhu Shenzhui's current strength and ability, it was simply impossible to do it.

After explaining these things to Zhao Da, Zhu Shenzhui also asked Zhao Da whether he could further improve the revolver to reduce its weight and make it more suitable for combat, and at the same time make further adjustments to the details, with the possibility of subsequent mass production.

Zhao Da said he would try his best to do it, but because the structure of a revolver is much more complicated than that of an ordinary musket, and it also requires a higher level of precision, it is not easy to make it with the current manufacturing capabilities. Just like the revolver that Zhu Shenzhu tested today, it took nearly two months from design to completion, and it was not easy to make these parts alone.

If mass production is required, nearly half of the workforce must be deployed to specifically manufacture each component, and the manufacturing must be extremely precise. Once there is a difference in size, the entire gun cannot be assembled, or the power may be weakened or even malfunction may occur due to lack of accuracy.

Zhu Shenzhui expressed his understanding of this, but he still asked Zhao Da to transfer personnel to produce it. The emergence of the revolver would greatly enhance the firepower intensity in battle. Even if a linear array was not used to build a professional musket unit, just equipping the current new army with this revolver to replace the musketeers currently holding muskets in the Mandarin Duck Formation tactics would be enough to further enhance the combat effectiveness of the Mandarin Duck Formation.

Just imagine that if the previous musketeers were replaced by musketeers who could shoot five times in a row without reloading, the attack and defense capabilities of the Mandarin Duck Formation would definitely be improved. By then, each musketeer could be equipped with two revolvers, with a total of ten or more continuous shooting capabilities. With such attack intensity, coupled with the assistance of the Portuguese and the tiger squat cannon, Zhu Shenzui could not imagine any army that could withstand such an attack with the same or even slightly more military strength than his own.

(End of this chapter)