Chapter 1555 The Development of the Firearms Workshop

The next morning, Yun Zheng and Qin Qihu rushed to the firearms workshop.

Due to the rapid expansion of production scale, the firearms workshop also expanded a lot.

Correspondingly, more soldiers were sent to guard the firearms workshop.

When Yun Zheng and his team arrived, the firearms workshop was working overtime to produce naval guns and shells.

After hearing that Yun Zheng and the others had arrived, Yue Sheng hurried over.

"Okay, stop saluting."

Yun Zheng stopped Yue Sheng who was about to salute, "Being able to fulfill my request is better than any other salute!"

"This one……"

Yue Sheng laughed dryly and looked at Yun Zheng bitterly.

"What, are you having trouble?"

Yunzheng asked.

No way?

Since June last year, all resources have been tilted towards the firearms workshop.

The task he proposed cannot be completed, right?

“It’s a bit difficult indeed.”

Yue Sheng replied: "There is no problem with the number of guns and shells. It's just that the navy was in a hurry and there was no time to test many of the guns. Those that can withstand two shots were directly delivered to the navy..."

The firearms workshop has been working day and night for a long time.

The number of cannons and artillery shells required by Yun Zheng can definitely be completed as scheduled.

But he really couldn't guarantee the quality!

He also wanted to test each gun a few more times, but the navy could not give him so much time!

The navy dragged the cannons away to install them immediately on the warships!

What he is most worried about now is that one of the cannons might accidentally explode, and then he would have to cause trouble for them.

"This is indeed a nuisance."

Yun Zheng rubbed his head. "Well, you try your best to ensure the quality. I also know that slow work produces fine work, but time waits for no one! As long as you make sure that each gun is tested twice, I will not blame you if there is a problem! But there is one thing, if there is a problem with the shell, I will not forgive you!"

Yun Zheng still attaches great importance to this matter.

Don’t be like the late Qing Dynasty, where the cannons were awesome but the shells couldn’t fire.

If that happens, all their efforts will be in vain.

"Don't worry, Your Highness. As for the shells, I can guarantee it with my head!"

Yue Sheng tried hard to straighten his hunched body.

"Okay! I believe you!"

Yun Zheng nodded and smiled, "Okay, take us inside for a look!"

"Your Highness, please! General Qin, please!"

Yue Sheng raised his hand in a gesture of invitation.

Under the leadership of Yue Sheng, they first entered the cannon casting workshop.

Today's cannon casting technology has become nearly mature.

There are still technical difficulties in casting five-inch guns. The technical difficulties of four-inch guns have been solved, but because of the rush to produce naval guns, the firearms workshop has no time to further improve the technology of four-inch guns.

The cannons being cast nowadays are all three-inch cannons.

Almost half of them are rear-loading naval guns, and the other half are front-loading guns.

This is also what Yun Zheng requested.

The range of a muzzle-loading gun is still longer.

Moreover, they started with muzzle-loading guns, and the technology of muzzle-loading guns was more mature.

The naval battle was just the appetizer.

After the naval battle, there is still the landing operation.

At that time, these muzzle-loading artillery will be able to exert greater power.

At this moment, although it was still bitterly cold outside, people were busy inside.

Many people were casting cannons with their bare chests.

Yun Zheng looked at it for a while, then asked Yue Sheng: "Have you implemented the plan that Zhang Xu suggested to you earlier, which is to use a windmill and iron sand to polish the barrel of the gun?"

“It’s implemented, it’s implemented!”

Speaking of this, Yue Sheng couldn't help but show admiration, "Master Zhang is a great talent! If it weren't for Master Zhang's suggestion, even if His Highness threw my old bones into the furnace, we would not be able to complete the task His Highness assigned us."

Yue Sheng was extremely impressed by Zhang Xu.

Zhang Xu's suggestion to polish the gun barrel saved them a lot of time.

Moreover, the gun barrel polished using the method Zhang Xu mentioned was also smoother.

Zhang Xu is not here either.

If Zhang Xu were here, he would want to kowtow to him.

Now, they not only used windmills to drive the cannons to roll, but also used water wheels.

These have greatly saved manpower.

"That's good."

Yun Zheng smiled and instructed Yue Sheng: "Tell everyone that after this matter is completed, everyone will have half a month's vacation. In addition to the reward I promised before, three months' salary will be added!"

In order to motivate the people in the Firearms Workshop, he had promised that as long as they completed the tasks on time and in quantity, everyone in the Firearms Workshop would be rewarded with six months' salary.

After visiting the firearms workshop today, he realized how hard these people worked to complete their mission.

They worked so hard, and I was generous with my rewards.

"Thank you, Your Highness!"

After Yue Sheng thanked him, he immediately shouted to everyone: "My dear men, His Highness just said that as long as the mission is completed, everyone can take a half-month vacation! In addition to the previous reward, three months of monthly salary will be added!"

"Thank you, Your Highness!"

Everyone shouted excitedly and instantly felt more energetic.

"Just do your damn job!"

Yun Zheng stopped everyone, "Don't let the molten iron spill out! If anyone gets burned by the molten iron, I will make him enter the palace and become a eunuch!"

After hearing Yun Zheng's words, everyone burst into laughter and immediately got back to work.

Yun Zheng smiled and called Yue Sheng, “Let’s go to the shell warehouse! Today, I will randomly pick ten shells for testing! As long as eight or nine of the ten shells are fine, they will pass! Otherwise, I will not show any mercy!”

Yun Zheng still did not have the strict requirement that all ten shells must be fine.

Even the artillery shells manufactured with high-precision equipment in the past had duds.

He also couldn't be too picky.

"Ah."

Yue Sheng nodded solemnly.

After leaving the cannon foundry, they went to the shell workshop to check.

The shell workshop is some distance away from the cannon casting workshop.

This is a relatively dangerous place, so stay away from other workshops.

Otherwise, after an explosion, all the technical talents that Yun Zheng had spent so many years training would be wiped out.

Due to the danger of the artillery workshop, Yun Zheng just took a quick look and went to the warehouse where the artillery shells were stored, despite being stopped by Yue Sheng and Qin Qihu.

Yun Zheng and Qin Qihu each selected five shells and prepared for testing.

"What is that pile of stuff?"

At this time, Qin Qihu noticed a small pile of black things in the corner.

Yun Zheng was attracted by Qin Qihu's words and looked over.

The next moment, Yun Zheng's face was filled with astonishment, "Is this a grenade?"

He had only mentioned some of this stuff to Yue Sheng and the others.

They figured it out, too?

"Correct."

Yue Sheng nodded, "However, this grenade cannot be pulled. It needs to be ignited with an open flame to explode! We originally wanted to continue to improve it, but later on, in order to complete the task assigned by the prince, we put this matter on hold..."

"How much is this?"

Yunzheng asked immediately.

"Not many, probably only about a hundred."

Yue Sheng answered.

According to the standards proposed by Yun Zheng, these can only be considered as prototypes and not finished products at all.

Now, they have some ideas, but they don’t have time to verify their ideas.

Yun Zheng thought about it and immediately ordered: "Ship these away later!"

What the hell!

Take this thing with you first!

I'll kill as many as I can...