The Ming Dynasty did not revolutionize

Chapter 34: Still a few years to go
After Zhu Jianxuan introduced the protective suit to his elder brother, he also showed him the musket that had been modified to fit the percussion cap.

There were smoothbore and rifled guns that fired directly from the percussion cap, as well as revolvers that looked a bit strange to the prince.

But they are undoubtedly very useful things.

It was only after the prince got the real thing that he realized the biggest advantage of the percussion cap firearm over the traditional musket.

The percussion cap fire gun finally no longer needs to be ignited.

Of course, both the matchlock and the matchlock gun need to be ignited, and the flintlock gun uses flint to strike out sparks for ignition.

Therefore, the final position of the gun chamber must leave a channel for the "fire" to pass through, there must be a certain gap, and it cannot be completely stuck.

The flash hider can be completely locked mechanically.

The hammer strikes the back of the primer, which ignites the gunpowder in front.

Not only was the efficiency of the musket no longer affected by the weather, but the sealing of the barrel was also improved again.

It was this characteristic that gave birth to the true repeating rifle, which was the early revolver musket.

This further gave rise to the Dreiser striker gun, the ancestor of the modern bolt-action rifle.

When the prince learned that the revolver could fire continuously, he was surprised and immediately had an idea:
"This... should be very suitable for cavalry, and also very suitable as a secondary weapon for musketeers. It is also useful in close-quarters conflicts."

Zhu Jianxuan nodded gently:
"My brother's idea is probably good. You can consider how to use it later. I won't worry about these things."

The prince was stunned for a moment, then put down his gun, looked around, and saw a two-wheeled cart by the wall.

The prince seemed very curious and asked:
"What kind of car is this? The two wheels are arranged front and back, and there is no way for it to stand on its own. Is it for performance?"

Zhu Jianxuan walked over with the prince and introduced:

"I call this a bicycle. It's a small, lightweight vehicle that you can pedal by yourself."

Bicycles appeared very early in history, with their prototype appearing in the late eighteenth century.

But those early bicycles were very rudimentary and far from the typical bicycle of the 21st century.

It only has two wheels and a frame. The bike is only used to bear the weight of the human body. When riding, you need to pedal the ground to move forward.

The modern bicycle did not reach maturity until the late 19th century or early 20th century.

Zhu Jianxuan now took out a bicycle that looked like a complete one.

There is a diamond-shaped frame that looks like two triangles, wheels made of spokes and steel rims, and tires made of vulcanized rubber.

Plus the simple and easy-to-use pedal wheel, and the most important chain drive.

Zhu Jianxuan recruited a young craftsman and asked him to ride the bicycle and circle around the laboratory yard.

Zhu Jianxuan then pointed at the craftsman and continued to introduce him to the prince:
“A normal adult can usually learn to ride a bicycle in two to three hours and can maintain normal operation without falling over.

“As long as you adapt for a few days, you will develop body habit and be able to ride very smoothly.

"It can be faster than normal walking, and it can save more energy to walk the same distance, which is suitable for workers and clerks to go to work.

"After becoming proficient, they can carry dozens of kilograms of cargo, making them suitable for peddlers to carry and sell goods.

"It is also suitable for infantry to travel across country. It can carry dozens of kilograms of rations and equipment, and even several vehicles can tow small artillery with ropes.

“Of course, sprinting is not as fast as riding a horse, but if there is a difficult place to pass, you can get off the bike and carry it through.

“There is no need to carry horse rations or maintain horses.

"In short, this thing may not look impressive, but it is very suitable for both military and civilian use."

The prince perked up after hearing this, and he grabbed Zhu Jianxuan's shoulders and exclaimed:

"Brother Xuan...you really are the living Lu Ban!"

Zhu Jianxuan smiled and shook his head:
"This thing is really useful, and its structure looks simple, but it's not very easy to manufacture..."

Zhu Jianxuan asked the craftsman on the bicycle to push the bike back and park it on the flat ground in the middle of the warehouse, and then asked the craftsman to get a few things.

"The manufacturing process requirements for these fine steel spokes, bearings, and chains are not low, and they require special machine tools just like making guns.

“The early production costs will not be too low. There must be enough sales to spread the costs and have the opportunity to continue to upgrade the process to reduce costs.

"So we need to license it as widely as possible to attract private manufacturers to participate in production and sales."

The prince turned the bearing around, observing the processing marks inside, and couldn't help but nodded:

“It’s really hard to make. If Brother Xuan hadn’t improved the steelmaking process, it would be impossible to use this steel to make cars.

“But Brother Xuan’s direction is also correct. Now that we have the technology, the key is to monetize the technology and then reduce costs.

"We have fewer llamas in the Ming Dynasty, so this kind of machine, which can replace horses to a certain extent, is very valuable.

"The Governor's Office will definitely be interested in this type of bike, and merchants in the Ming Dynasty should be happy to invest in this type of bicycle."

Zhu Jianxuan casually echoed:
“Indeed, there will be a huge demand for this kind of machine among the people of Ming Dynasty, and it may be popularized to most ordinary people in the future.

“However, even good wine needs to be hidden in a bush. It is very important to let more businessmen know about it and then invest in it.

“I am not good at dealing with businessmen, so I will leave the overall arrangement of the exhibition to my Royal Brother.

"I don't have any ideas for the plan. If you need any information, please ask me."

The prince naturally agreed:

"Don't worry, Brother Xuan. Just do what you want to do. I will arrange the rest."

The prince walked around the laboratory, checked and asked about Zhu Jianxuan's various inventions, and went to see the subsequent improvement projects of the original inventions.

After chatting with Zhu Jianxuan for more than an hour, he seemed very reluctant to say goodbye to Zhu Jianxuan and left the laboratory in his carriage.

Zhu Jianxuan breathed a sigh of relief after watching his eldest brother, the crown prince, leave.

Zhu Jianxuan could see that his elder brother's surprise and astonishment were genuine. He really didn't know about his inventions before.

And his father, the emperor, knew about it, because there were people from the East Factory in his laboratory, as well as guards left by his father.

They not only protect themselves, but also have to report their situation to the emperor regularly and summarize their research results regularly.

But the emperor apparently did not pass this information on to the prince at all.

Zhu Jianxuan can now see that his elder brother must be under a lot of pressure as the crown prince. The emperor appears to trust and support the crown prince very much, but no one knows whether the old emperor really trusts him in his heart.

Although a year and a half ago, when Zhu Jianxuan was named King of Wu, he had already decided to establish a country overseas.

But it was impossible for the prince to completely let down his guard.

As long as they haven't actually become king in the vassal state, they can't completely let down their guard.

What's more, Zhu Jianxuan has an older brother from the same mother, the eldest son of the current queen, who is already sixteen years old this year.

No matter how you look at it, your biological elder brother, who has the same mother as you, will always be a rival to your legitimate elder brother.

Since the emperor father has failed in his attempt to put pressure on the prince, he may turn to using his own elder brother to do the same.

Unless the emperor, who is about to turn sixty, is really prepared to gradually delegate power to the crown prince.

Zhu Jianxuan himself was actually somewhat alert.

Zhu Jianxuan also has some other special inventions, but their true uses have not been specifically demonstrated.

Most of them are inventions of little use, or are minor improvements on existing technologies, and do not seem to be worth introducing separately.

For example, trinitrophenol, commonly known as "picric acid".

As a chemical explosive, picric acid is dozens of times more powerful than traditional black powder.

In Zhu Jianxuan's previous life, it began to be widely used in military affairs in the late 19th century.

However, picric acid was actually synthesized as early as 1771, which was the year when Zhu Jianxuan in this world was born.

So Zhu Jianxuan did not "invent" picric acid, but directly spent money to buy the early formula.

These early picric acids can actually be seen as products of alchemy, and the production methods were very crude and inefficient.

Zhu Jianxuan used his knowledge of chemistry to optimize the refining process.

Since it was not invented by Zhu Jianxuan himself, and now it is nominally just a "dye".

So like Zhu Jianxuan’s other small inventions and improvements, even if it was put on the list for the emperor to see, the emperor would not care.

Of course, there is no need to introduce it specifically to the emperor and the prince.

In Zhu Jianxuan's previous life, after picric acid was discovered, it was used as a dye for a full hundred years.

It wasn't until 1873 that someone discovered that this thing could actually explode, and then it gradually became a more typical military explosive.

Picric acid is now also being developed as a dye.

Zhu Jianxuan's craftsmen only treated it as a dye and an unimportant process improvement.

The successor to picric acid, TNT, suffered the same fate. It was invented as a dye in 1861, but was not discovered to be explosive until 1891.

Because compared to traditional gunpowder, these chemical explosives are too "safe".

Therefore, a special primer is needed to detonate it.

Therefore, Zhu Jianxuan arranged for craftsmen to specialize in the research of mercury fulminate.

In Zhu Jianxuan's previous life, mercury fulminate was synthesized in 1799.

In the Qing Dynasty in the 1840s, after coming into contact with European percussion caps, someone quickly imitated them.

It can be seen that the difficulty of developing it by traditional methods is not great.

Because before the Second Industrial Revolution, most industrial production was still workshop-based, especially those that required more complex processing methods.

For example, all kinds of firearms are hand-made by craftsmen.

Compared with the agricultural era, most handicraft industries have not yet changed in form, but have become larger in scale.

Equipment before the Second Industrial Revolution could usually be made by hand as long as there were enough experienced craftsmen.

In this era, there was no obvious distinction between large-scale industrial production and small-scale traditional workshops.

In other words, most of them are still "small traditional workshops".

Zhu Jianxuan's laboratory has begun to move away from the small workshop model.

There are very modern management and experimental processes in place, resulting in improved efficiency and safety.

Zhu Jianxuan now has mercury fulminate and picric acid, and can directly make powerful grenades and explosive packs.

However, Zhu Jianxuan did not do so directly. Instead, he continued to conceal the explosive properties of picric acid and prepared to mass-produce it as a dye.

Because the Ming Dynasty may not be stable in the next ten years or so, and large-scale unrest may occur.

Even if a revolution does not break out, large-scale natural disasters are certain to occur in the next few years. If the court fails to respond properly, there will be chaos in the country.

If bitter acid grenades become popular and all parties in troubled times master them, the casualties in the melee will be unprecedentedly huge.

For civilians, the best outcome is that one side in a chaotic situation has overwhelming power, quickly defeats the opponent, and reduces losses.

For myself, this picric acid explosive can help me gain an overwhelming advantage.

Therefore, before Zhu Jianxuan has enough autonomy, he will try his best to avoid the leakage of the explosive properties of picric acid.

Before that, Zhu Jianxuan will continue to focus on research and development.

Using the funds and craftsmen provided by the emperor, and taking advantage of the almost perfect scientific research conditions, he "invented" something that might be useful.

He did not get involved in royal disputes and only cared about his own kingdom overseas.

The plans regarding organizational structure and ideological construction were temporarily put under his backpack.

I am just a child now. There is no point in caring about these things, and there is no need to care about them so early.

The key is that anything you do under the watchful eyes of your father and elder brother will be very conspicuous.

Zhu Jianxuan has to wait for an opportunity to gain freedom.

We have to endure for a few more years.

(End of this chapter)