Chapter 700: Aiming Point

"You may all return." Hearing about it is not as good as seeing it for oneself.

Zhao Xu now wanted to see the results of Wang Ying and Wang Chong's work with his own eyes, so he hurried Liu Fu and the others away.

The gazes of Liu Fu and the other two were somewhat resentful; their official ranks in the Imperial Court were higher than those of Wang Chong and Wang Ying, but in his eyes, it seemed those two were the real treasures.

He was exceptionally affectionate toward them, which made them quite jealous.

Zhao Xu could not be bothered to pay them any mind and went straight out of the study with Wang Ying and Wang Chong.

The three of them first went to the Steam Engine Workshop.

Indeed, a steam engine the size of a locomotive was lying on the ground here.

However, there were still some parts that had not been installed.

"With a slight modification, it can become a steam locomotive," Zhao Xu said to Wang Chong.

The mechanical blueprints he had given Wang Chong included the steam locomotive.

Therefore, Wang Chong was quite familiar with the concept of a steam locomotive.

Hearing this, he said, "Manufacturing a steam locomotive is already in my plans. Once this steam engine is properly assembled, the next step is to manufacture the steam locomotive head."

Zhao Xu nodded; he was very much looking forward to this.

Thinking of something, he continued, "However, this is ultimately a single-cylinder steam engine with limited performance. Next, you must expand the performance of the steam engine and research and build a triple-expansion four-cylinder steam engine."

If the steam engine Wang Chong was currently manufacturing belonged to the large steam engine category, then the triple-expansion four-cylinder steam engine belonged to the ultra-large steam engine category.

This type of ultra-large steam engine was specifically for giant steam ships and ironclad warships.

The steam engine of the Titanic was a triple-expansion four-cylinder steam engine.

A single-cylinder steam engine could only be matched with small steam ships.

However, it was enough to tow sailing warships forward.

"I have already let a team of students explore this kind of giant steam engine," Wang Chong said, wiping the sweat from his forehead upon hearing this.

With the arrival of the steam age, there were too many machines that needed to be researched and built, and they were becoming increasingly complex; his pressure was not small.

Seeing this, Zhao Xu patted him on the shoulder, "I can only continue to trouble you."

"Your Highness, you are too kind. This is my interest to begin with. I am only worried that I might delay your important affairs," Wang Chong said.

"It is fine, I know you have done your best," Zhao Xu smiled.

After thinking for a moment, he said, "In order to stimulate more enthusiasm among the students and create a good research atmosphere, I have decided to establish a Research Institute."

"At that time, I will choose a quiet place to build the Research Institute, and at the same time, I will equip you with complete laboratories and living facilities within the institute. From now on, people will take care of your food, clothing, housing, and transportation; you only need to focus on research."

"Also, the monthly salary of the students in the Research Institute will be greatly increased, with a minimum of thirty taels of silver per month and a maximum of three hundred taels of silver per month. For every research result produced, the students of the corresponding team will also receive rewards. How about that?"

Before Wang Chong could speak, Wang Ying said enviously, "Your Highness, with such generous treatment, even I am a bit tempted."

His own monthly salary was only fifty taels of silver.

If he were to research a few more things, plus the rewards, it would be no less than his own.

"Your Highness, is this appropriate?" Wang Chong asked. He was a bit worried; wouldn't this make their treatment much higher than that of the officials?

He was moved in his heart by the importance Yan Wang placed on them, but he was also a bit flattered.

Zhao Xu's tone was resolute, "You deserve this silver. Whatever I give you, you just take it."

He did this not only to motivate the students participating in the research but also to set an example for the students of the Technology Academy.

To let them study hard and strive to enter the Research Institute.

After all, once the Research Institute was established, it would have a threshold.

Only the elite among the elite would be able to be selected.

After discussing this matter, they went to the Armory and inspected the Steel Workshop.

Just as they entered the gate of the workshop, a wave of heat rushed toward them.

Zhao Xu saw that above the Steel Workshop, an iron cable moved continuously from south to north, transporting buckets of molten iron hanging below to the space above the converter in the middle.

The craftsmen then poured the molten iron into the converter below.

Seeing this scene, Zhao Xu felt as if he had entered a modern steel plant.

No, not as if.

This was a real modern steel plant.

Following the iron cable, he passed through a door; next to the converter was the blast furnace.

At this moment, molten iron gushed out from the blast furnace and flowed into iron buckets with iron skins on the outside and refractory materials on the inside.

When the iron cable rose from under the blast furnace workshop, the craftsmen hooked the hooks onto the iron buckets.

The iron cable rose, pulled the iron buckets up, and then moved toward the converter.

The power for the iron cable came from the steam engine fixed under the floor of the Steel Workshop.

After these molten irons were smelted in the converter, they became molten steel.

The craftsmen opened the valve at the bottom of the converter, and the molten steel flowed out into various molds, turning into different shapes.

"Truly a phoenix rising from the ashes," Zhao Xu joked.

The amount of steel smelted by such a Steel Workshop every day was enormous.

The era of cheap steel in Yanzhou had arrived, and the conditions for manufacturing railway tracks were already in place.

"Your Highness's words are a fitting description; isn't it exactly a phoenix rising from the ashes?" Wang Ying laughed.

When he witnessed the first furnace of molten steel flowing out of the converter, he was shocked beyond measure.

Compared to the steelmaking scenes of the past, it was truly a world of difference.

"Hahaha..." Zhao Xu and Wang Chong also laughed.

After wandering around the Steel Workshop for a while longer, Zhao Xu followed Wang Ying to the Firearm Workshop.

Here, he saw gun barrels manufactured using converter steel.

Unlike previous gun barrels, the barrel Wang Ying manufactured this time had a trapezoidal protrusion at the front and a piece of iron with a depression in the middle.

This is the Front Sight of the firearm.

Because the Rifled Musket currently used by the Prince's Mansion army was modified from the previous Flintlock.

The gun barrel did not have a firearm device like a Front Sight.

After all, the Flintlock relied on dense volleys to kill the enemy.

Even the modified Rifled Musket still adopted the Flintlock formation to kill the enemy, only it was slightly better in accuracy than the Flintlock.

But if soldiers were to be able to accurately aim at enemies on the battlefield, they still needed the assistance of a Front Sight.

Therefore, since he was manufacturing new gun barrels this time, he simply had Wang Ying add a Front Sight to the barrels.

In this way, their soldiers would be even more threatening to the enemy.

Moreover, he could even train some snipers.

After all, the Rifled Musket using the new-style gun barrel had an effective range reaching five hundred meters and a maximum range reaching nine hundred meters, which could be used as a sniper rifle.

If suitable tactics were adopted on the battlefield, it would be a serious threat to enemy Artillerymen and commanders.

"Currently, three thousand new-style gun barrels have been bored out; in three months, sixty thousand gun barrels can be bored out," Wang Ying introduced to Zhao Xu.

Zhao Xu nodded slightly; this time he only planned to manufacture sixty thousand new-style Rifled Muskets to replace those for the frontline troops.

After all, a Rifled Musket with an effective range of three hundred meters was sufficient.

Furthermore, without a sniper equipped with a Telescope, at a distance exceeding three hundred meters, the opposing soldiers were just dots the size of peanuts.

It was difficult for soldiers to shoot at enemies accurately, and in the end, they still had to rely on dense volleys to inflict heavy casualties on the enemy.

Therefore, there was no need to replace them all.

When the need arose, large-scale production would not be too late.