Chapter 544: Testing the Gun

The group quickly entered the Hundred Crafts Institute.

After several expansions, the Hundred Crafts Institute had grown considerably in scale. Besides research personnel, it had also recruited many highly skilled artisans.

The role of these artisans was simple—to turn what was researched into physical objects. Compared to the designers and researchers, these artisans played a critically important role, for they possessed many skills that others had never mastered, and during production, their ideas also mattered greatly.

As he walked into the Hundred Crafts Institute, Zhu Youxiao occasionally glanced around.

Come to think of it, it had been quite some time since Zhu Youxiao had last been here. Aside from providing money, his level of involvement with this place was truly very low. Now it already felt somewhat unfamiliar to him.

Zhu Youxiao glanced at Bi Maokang and said with a gentle smile, "Take Us on a tour around."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Bi Maokang hurriedly acknowledged, taking the lead a few steps before suddenly thinking of something and adding, "Your Majesty, we can walk through the area up ahead, but for places farther away, we may need to take a carriage."

The Hundred Crafts Institute was simply too large—in the past one could walk everywhere, but not anymore.

Zhu Youxiao nodded and said, "Fine, no rush. I have plenty of free time today."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Bi Maokang acknowledged once more, turned to lead the way, and introduced, "This is where artillery shells are made."

"After the designs were finalized, this place mainly produces two types of shells. One is mortar shells, and the other is mountain gun shells."

Zhu Youxiao nodded lightly.

This he knew—the Great Ming currently had only two finalized types of artillery, not because he didn't want to expand, but because conditions were limited and only two could be produced for now. And in Zhu Youxiao's view, these two types were sufficient.

One of them was the mortar—its purpose went without saying: light in weight, used for short-range attacks.

The second was the mountain gun, which adopted the form of the French Mademoiselle, also known as the Italian cannon.

Besides these two types of artillery, a naval gun had also been successfully developed, but it had not yet gone into production.

This type of cannon was mounted on warships. It had already been installed for trials, and if suitable, it would go into mass production. The navy had begun setting up production bases, and after obtaining first-hand data, modifications would be made and construction would commence.

Under Bi Maokang's guidance, Zhu Youxiao went inside for an inspection, focusing mainly on the copper-made shells.

Speaking of which, the Great Ming was at a considerable disadvantage in this regard—easily mined copper deposits were not plentiful. If the Great Ming needed more copper, it could only find ways to plunder from outside. Joseon and Japan were both within the scope of plunder.

Beyond that, there was also the south, where copper mines were relatively abundant. Once Zhu Youxiao finished dealing with the north, he would naturally reach toward the south, and by then the Great Ming would have ample shells to use.

After leaving the artillery manufacturing area, the group boarded a carriage.

After traveling some distance, they stopped at the entrance of a courtyard.

Zhu Youxiao once again stepped down from the carriage.

Bi Maokang caught up at this moment and said, "This is the Artillery Academy, where cannons are researched and cast. Your servant has already arranged a demonstration—in a moment, we shall perform a drill for Your Majesty."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Youxiao directly shook his head and said, "The weather is so cold, don't go to all that trouble. I already saw it last time. I know of your contributions, and I won't let them go unrecognized. Once this production task is completed, you will all receive the rewards you deserve."

"Your servant thanks Your Majesty." Bi Maokang said, feeling deeply moved inside—working under an emperor like this was truly too comfortable; ask for money and you got money, ask for policy and you got policy.

In fact, Zhu Youxiao was very clear about the thoughts of people like Bi Maokang, and rewards had never been delayed. On holidays and festivals, extras were even given—it could be said their treatment was extremely generous.

Moreover, Bi Maokang and his people held very high status; most had been given official positions, albeit honorary titles, but all the corresponding benefits were fully provided.

After touring the artillery factory, Zhu Youxiao grew excited. He hadn't come here merely to see the artillery factory.

He had known about these things for a long time—he had already seen them before leaving last time.

He had even seen the rocket factory, which produced brand-new rockets equipped with a new type of ignition, with greater power and longer range. With the new ignition method, all one needed to do was pull a cord—no need to light it manually.

Zhu Youxiao regarded this type of rocket as a strategic-level weapon, giving a tremendous advantage in battle. In this regard, Zhu Youxiao would not reduce investment.

Whether it was the later man-portable rocket launcher or multi-barreled rocket launchers, in the era of the Great Ming they held special significance, and they could also be applied to the navy with extremely, extremely good results.

Missiles were not yet the time for that, but research investment in this area could not be reduced—it had to be increased.

What truly attracted Zhu Youxiao to come here was that Bi Maokang and his people had produced metal cartridge bullets. This was something Zhu Youxiao had long been anticipating.

After metal-cased artillery shells had been developed, metal-cased bullets were put on the agenda, and the development of breech-loading rifles was also put on the agenda. These two things were what Zhu Youxiao valued most.

With metal-cased bullets, the hand-cranked Gatling's rate of fire could reach 1,200 rounds per minute. Such a rate of fire could form formidable attack power—when dealing with cavalry, this weapon was truly remarkable.

Beyond that, breech-loading rifles could have rifling engraved in the barrel, enabling precision shooting.

The old muskets required volley fire, but this new type didn't—one bullet to eliminate one enemy. Only under these conditions could that be achieved; otherwise, there was simply no hope.

"Your Majesty, this is the firearm factory." Bi Maokang said with a hint of pride in his tone.

Indeed, he had every right to be proud.

Zhu Youxiao nodded and took the lead walking inside.

Bi Maokang introduced from the side, "The front section here produces pistols, and the rear section produces long guns."

"Are there finished products? Bring one out for a look." Zhu Youxiao said directly.

"To answer Your Majesty, yes." With that, Bi Maokang gave a meaningful glance to the person beside him.

They had actually long since made preparations—everything had been readied in advance. The moment the Emperor arrived, they could show him immediately.

Soon, someone came forward carrying a box.

Bi Maokang took it and opened the box before Zhu Youxiao.

Inside the box lay a pistol, still and quiet. Its yellow body looked very sturdy.

Zhu Youxiao reached out and grasped the gun—it had substantial weight in his hand. This was a revolver.

At this time, the production process and difficulty of revolvers were much lower, and they were very practical.

"Are there bullets?" Zhu Youxiao looked at Bi Maokang and asked directly.

"To answer Your Majesty, yes." Bi Maokang acknowledged, then waved to another person in the distance.

This person ran over carrying a box.

Inside the box were the bullets.

In the presence of the Emperor, all danger should be avoided. When making arrangements, Bi Maokang had the bullets and the gun carried separately by two people, and had also arranged for people to watch these two, ensuring they never came together.

In plain terms, apart from the Emperor himself, no one could combine the bullets and the gun together.

Although everyone here was trustworthy, who knew whether someone might have a sudden lapse of reason?

The Emperor must absolutely never be placed anywhere near the edge of danger.

Shooting an appreciative glance at Bi Maokang, Zhu Youxiao nodded with satisfaction.

In fact, these things had been arranged long ago, and Zhu Youxiao's personal guards had already inspected them. Otherwise, they would never have allowed anyone to bring such items before Zhu Youxiao. Moreover, Zhu Youxiao's personal guards were watching behind those two men.

After opening the box, Zhu Youxiao saw gleaming golden bullets lying inside.

Seeing these things, Zhu Youxiao couldn't help reaching out to touch them.

Eight years — he had invested tens of millions of taels of silver into this.

In this era, that was an enormous investment, and now he had finally seen results.

With his own guidance, combined with the efforts of Bi Maokang's men, the bullets had finally been made.

Zhu Youxiao reached out and picked up the bullets, loading them one by one into the cylinder of the revolver, then gently snapped it shut.

Zhu Youxiao said to everyone: "All of you, stand behind me. I want to test the gun."

Everyone hurriedly took cover behind Zhu Youxiao.

Some wanted to step forward and advise against it — after all, this thing was far too dangerous; it would be bad whether it hurt him or His Majesty.

At the same time, some turned to look at Bi Maokang, their gazes carrying not only questioning but also threatening glares.

The meaning was simple: is this thing of yours safe?

Bi Maokang wore a bitter expression — he too didn't want the Emperor to test it.

Although the gun and these bullets had undergone repeated inspections, no one could guarantee one hundred percent success with this thing.

If anything went wrong and His Majesty was hurt, everyone would be finished.

Zhu Youxiao paid no attention to any of this. He spun the pistol twice in his hand, then aimed it forward.

Of course, there was no target or anything of the sort. Zhu Youxiao didn't intend to shoot at anything in particular — he just wanted to fire a shot.

He suddenly squeezed the trigger.

"Bang!" — smoke rose from the muzzle, and a recoil force instantly transmitted to Zhu Youxiao's arm.

It wasn't enough to knock him back several steps, but his body still swayed, and the hand gripping the gun trembled as the bullet flew off at an upward angle.

As for accuracy with this kind of shooting — forget it. Not shooting your own teammates would already be a stellar performance. Friendly fire wasn't entirely out of the question.

Though his arm was numbed by the shock, Zhu Youxiao was still delighted.

A fine piece of work.

Casually handing the gun to the guard behind him, Zhu Youxiao said: "Come on, let's continue looking — let's see the long guns you've made."

The world's first breech-loading long gun, firing metallic fixed ammunition — this was truly a fine thing.

Compared to the Minié ball, this was a groundbreaking invention.