The Australian Revolution of 1828

In order to stimulate the enthusiasm and creativity of the boatmen, Han Qingyun convened a symposium with all the factory workers to listen to their opinions on issues such as technology and experience.

In response, Han Qingyun made a promise that as long as the boatmen made technological innovations, improvements, and inventions, the Governor's Office would reward them with corresponding silver dollars based on the technological achievements.

As for the relevant detailed clauses, similar to the "Patent Law" at the technical level, Han Qingyun instructed the shipyard to formulate them.

The following instructions were given: management is allowed to have leadership achievements, but no one is allowed to plagiarize the shipwrights' inventions, nor is it allowed for shipyard management to use their positions to steal the shipwrights' technological achievements.

To put it bluntly, the Governor's Office would not recognize any of the shipyard management's technological inventions, but it would acknowledge their leadership in technological development.

Once a shipyard worker makes a technological innovation or invention, after evaluation by the relevant functional departments of the Governor's Office, the shipyard worker will receive the appropriate reward, and the shipyard management will also receive leadership rewards.

If shipyard management disregards the interests of the shipyard and its workers and steals their innovations and inventions, they will be severely punished by the Governor-General's Inspectorate once the report is verified.

These rules and regulations are intended to ensure the healthy development of the shipyard.

From the perspective of shipyard development, the promulgation of the Patent Law is very beneficial. It can encourage shipwrights to bring their family-inherited skills to the forefront, so that they do not end up as lost "secret" techniques.

The implementation of the Patent Law can incentivize shipbuilders to actively create more useful technologies, thereby achieving the goal of vigorous development of the shipbuilding industry.

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The symposium lasted until 3 p.m., finally concluding amidst the boatmen's excited expressions.

After handing over all matters related to the Patent Law to Deng Jian, Han Qingyun prepared to return to Hanyang City, saying, "Director Deng, I'm leaving the boatmen's affairs to you. You need to think carefully and put your heart into this matter."

"As managers, we must do our best to stimulate the creativity and enthusiasm of the boatmen, and never be greedy for petty gains and ignore the role of the boatmen."

"We must take a long-term view and prioritize the overall situation in Hanyang."

The implication was that Deng Jian should set a good example, prioritizing the shipyard and protecting the interests of the shipwrights. He shouldn't let the shipyard's development be hindered by a few silver dollars.

Deng Jian has firsthand experience in this regard.

Having worked in the shipyard for so long, they have a clear understanding of the shipwrights' skills. If the family traditions of each shipwright could be made public for all shipwrights to discuss and learn from, it would surely stimulate technological innovation in the shipbuilding industry.

Of course, it's a bit early to say this now; we need time to reflect.

After Han Qingyun's earnest instructions, Deng Jian was full of confidence and enthusiasm, saying, "Please rest assured, Your Excellency, the shipyard is my life, and I will definitely prove it with the best ships."

With such drive, Han Qingyun believed he had made the right choice in selecting the right person.

After leaving the shipyard, Han Qingyun did not choose to return to Hanyang City. Instead, he made a last-minute decision and, taking advantage of the early hour, went to the arsenal outside Hanyang City.

Because the governor's carriage had not been notified in advance, it was blocked at the gate of the arsenal.

Captain Han Shiwei intended to reprimand him, but the sentry responsible for guarding the arsenal fired a warning shot, clearly stating, "Military restricted area, please leave immediately!"

The arsenal was heavily guarded. A shot fired by a sentry alerted the guards who were resting inside. The personal guards stood ready, guns drawn, facing off against the arsenal's soldiers, fearing any unforeseen events.

Han Qingyun was not annoyed by this; on the contrary, he appreciated the sentry's action of firing a warning shot.

In this era, the prevailing ideology was officialdom. The fact that the sentry dared to fire a shot even though he knew it was a carriage belonging to the governor's mansion shows that the arsenal was strictly managed.

This is itself a problem with the Governor's Office's procedures; they failed to communicate this to the arsenal! It would be inappropriate to come here rashly and blame the sentries.

Han Qingyun was not there to show off his status; his real purpose was to inspect the arsenal. He instructed his attendant captain, Han Shiwei, to deliver the message.

With a wary heart, Han Shiwei walked straight over, showed his identity badge from the Governor's Mansion, looked at the guards present, and said, "Who's in charge here?"

The guard in charge of the arsenal was a squad leader who, with his sharp eyes, had already identified the owner of the carriage and the identity of Han Shiwei, who was wearing the rank of captain.

He glared at the sentry who had just fired the shot, then gave a standard military salute to Han Shiwei and said, "Reporting to Captain Han, I am the squad leader of the guard platoon, in charge of today's guard duty."

Realizing that his squad leader had guessed his identity, Han Shiwei relaxed a little, but still kept a straight face and said, "Notify your factory director that the Chief of Staff is here to inspect the work of the ordnance factory."

The squad leader in charge of the duty did not dare to slack off. He saluted again and ran back to the factory area to report to the management of the ordnance factory.

Seeing the squad leader's cowardly appearance, the young sentry who had just fired the warning shot was also a little scared and worried about being punished. He signaled to the sentry on duty with him to remove the roadblock and said, "Captain Han, please wait a moment. Deputy Factory Director Yang will be here soon."

Just as the announcement was being made, Han Qingyun lifted the carriage curtain and observed the perimeter of the arsenal.

The entire arsenal covered an area of ​​approximately 10000 square meters and was surrounded by high walls. Guards stood atop the walls, responsible for protecting the surrounding area.

Beyond the high walls lay open fields, from which the walls of Hanyang could be seen at a glance.

At that very moment, after being informed by the guard sergeant, Yang Yi, the deputy director of the ordnance factory, ran over, gave a standard military salute, and said in a strong and clear voice, "This humble servant is Yang Yi, the deputy director of the ordnance factory. I was unaware of the arrival of the Chief of Staff. Please forgive me."

The arsenal was part of the military establishment and had military personnel. Yang Yi, as the deputy director, held the rank of lieutenant.

Looking at the young man in front of me, I realized he had undergone a complete transformation. He was no longer the deputy captain of the attendants; he was now showing signs of being able to stand on his own.

After getting off the carriage, he patted Yang Yi on the shoulder to show his closeness and said, "Your factory director is stationed with the Left Commander-in-Chief in the navy. Now you're in charge of the factory's affairs. How does it feel? Are you getting used to it?"

Yang Yi, deputy director of the arsenal, is from Huai'an, Jiangsu Province. He was born on December 21, 1808, and is currently 20 years old. He was once Han Qingyun's deputy captain of the guard.

Although he was no longer serving in the Imperial Guard, the two maintained their close relationship and spoke to each other without any formality. He said, "It's a habit of mine to study firearms. I hope the army in Hanyang can be equipped with the breech-loading guns that the Chief Constable mentioned."

Han Qingyun had always wanted to equip the army with breech-loading rifles.

After succeeding as governor, he transferred Yang Yi to the position of deputy director of the arsenal, where he was responsible for the production of rifles and artillery while also researching breech-loading rifles.

It's been two months now, and I still don't know if there have been any results.

However, since it was an inspection, it was necessary to understand the progress, so he said, "Deputy Factory Director Yang, your good friend Deng Jian has built a steam paddle steamer. You are a little lower in rank than him, so I can give you a little more time."

"But if you can't catch up with Deng Jian by then, don't say I didn't take care of you!"

While there was some bias in his words, young people in their early twenties are all competitive. If Deng Jian could build a steam paddle steamer, why couldn't Yang Yi build a breech-loading rifle?

Yang Yi couldn't afford to lose face like this!

With his neck stiffened, he took out the still-unfinished muzzle-loading rifle and said, "General, you underestimate me. Director Deng can build ships, and I can build guns too."

"Although my breech-loading rifle is not yet fully finalized and cannot be mass-produced, a prototype has already been produced."

The rifle being discussed is actually a breech-loading shotgun, a copy of the Dreiser rifle, specifically the Dreiser M1841 needle gun.

The invention of Dreiser's M1841 needle gun was not as easy as one might imagine, and it involved many twists and turns.

Johann Nicholas von Dreiser, a German, was born on November 20, 1787, in Sömerda, Electorate of Mainz, the son of a locksmith.

Between 1809 and 1814, Dreiser experimented with several breech-loading guns at the Paris gun factory, but none of them were successful.

In 1814, following the victory of the Sixth Coalition against France, Dreiser left the Paris arsenal and returned to his hometown of Cémelda, where he established a factory to produce percussion caps.

In 1836, it was in this factory that produced percussion caps that Dreiser completed the design of the entire needle gun, which was loaded from the rear.

A needle-fire rifle, as the name suggests, is a rifle that uses a firing pin to fire bullets. When a soldier pulls the trigger, the long rod-shaped firing pin on the bolt pierces the paper cartridge case, strikes the primer, ignites the propellant, and propels the bullet out.

In 1841, after Dreiser solved some key problems with the needle-fire rifle, the Dreiser rifle was purchased by the Prussian army and designated as the M1841 rifle.

Caliber: 15.4 mm (0.61 inches)

Weight: 4.7 kg (10.4 lbs)

Length: 1420 mm

Barrel length: 910 mm

Ammunition: Acorn-shaped lead bullets in paper casings

Loading method: Post-loading

Rate of fire: 10-12 rounds/minute

Initial velocity: 305 m/s (1000 ft/s)

Effective range: 600 meters (650 yards)

Feeding: Single-shot feeding

The Dreiser M1841 needle gun uses the "needle" firing principle, with the bullet, detonator, and black powder all contained in a cylindrical paper cartridge case.

However, the detonator is not placed at the tail of the cartridge case, but in the middle of the bottom surface of the projectile.

When the trigger is pulled, the force of the spring releases the slender firing pin, which pierces the bottom of the cartridge case inside the chamber from the front of the bolt, and continues forward until it pierces the detonator at the bottom of the bullet and detonates it, igniting the black powder inside the cartridge case.

Thus, a shot was completed!

After firing, before the bolt is opened, a lever behind the firing pin must be moved first, and then the bolt can be rotated and opened to load the next bullet. Then the bolt is pushed into place and rotated to close the chamber.

Before firing a second time, you need to use your hand to raise the wrench at the back of the firing pin and rotate it backward to the firing position.

This was the world's first bolt-action rifle, which brought the Prussian army a huge technical and tactical advantage in both the Second Prussian War and the Austro-Prussian War.

It can be said that the Dreiser M1841 needle gun played a pivotal role in the history of rifle development.