The five divisions of the National Guard Army increased their recruits by 250,000, of which about 50,000 were field soldiers.

It would be very difficult and almost impossible to equip all the 200,000 new recruits of the National Defense Army with rifled rifles in a short period of time.

However, the number of craftsmen in the Bingzhan Bureau has reached 20,000, and they will all be equipped within one year.

Flintlock muskets have no rifling and are relatively simple to make. Zhu Cixiang planned to equip the field soldiers with flintlock muskets.

Even if the field soldiers are equipped with flintlock guns, they should still be the most advanced firearms in the world.

At present, flintlock guns have not been fully popularized in the West, and most countries still use matchlocks.

After leaving the Tianxiong Army station, Zhu Cihong rushed to the military battle station without stopping.

He also brought 200,000 taels of silver as a year-end reward for the craftsmen and scientists.

Currently, all units of the National Guard Army are in urgent need of rifled guns. The Military War Bureau has been working overtime and the craftsmen are working very hard.

However, they also earn a lot of money. The masters who are fast and skilled can earn ten taels of silver a month.

Zhu Cihong said hello to General Qian of the garrison military warfare bureau, but did not let him inform him about entering the military warfare bureau directly.

This is the busiest moment in the history of the war bureau. As soon as Zhu Cixi entered the courtyard, he heard the sound of iron tools clashing.

He stood for a moment at the door of dozens of workshops and found that no one spoke. The craftsmen were all concentrating on making firearms.

Zhu Cixi could still see smiles on the faces of many craftsmen. He nodded with satisfaction and took Hu Bao to the Academy of Sciences.

The Academy of Sciences is located inside the Military and War Bureau, one test site away from the Military and War Bureau vehicles.

There is still a hundred soldiers guarding the gate outside the Academy of Sciences.

This is where Daming firearms are designed and developed, and safety and confidentiality are both important.

Seeing the arrival of the crown prince, Baihu hurriedly led his subordinates to kneel down and kowtow:

"Join His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!"

Zhu Cihong stretched out his hand to help Baihu up, and waved to the other soldiers:

"No need to salute, just give me a military salute when you see me in the future, no need to give a big salute!"

"Thank you for your grace, Your Majesty. I will go and report it immediately!"

"It's okay, don't disturb them, I'll go in and take a look!"

Hundreds of households hurriedly saluted:

"Congratulations to Your Highness!"

Zhu Cixiang went to see Zhao Yuanhua first. As soon as he arrived at the door, he heard several people discussing something.

Zhu Cixiang immediately slowed down and walked gently through the door, only to find that Zhao Yuanhua, Sun Heding, Sun Hejing and others were discussing something.

These people were very serious, and they didn't even notice the two people coming in outside the door.

They didn't hear footsteps until Zhu Cixi walked in front of them.

Everyone looked up and found that the Crown Prince had arrived, and they hurriedly stood up and saluted:

"Meet Your Highness!"

Zhu Cixiang waved his hand and said with a smile:

"Excuse me, what are you discussing? Are you encountering any difficulties?"

While Zhu Cixiang was talking, he saw a sample of the gun that he had given him before and then installed gun parts.

At this time, the breech-loading gun had been dismantled to pieces by several people. It seemed that several people had been thinking about it for a long time.

Hearing the Crown Prince's question, several people looked at each other with a little embarrassment on their faces. Zhao Yuanhua cupped his hands and said:

"Your Highness, we are discussing this breech-loading gun. It can be built with the current capabilities of the Academy of Sciences and the War Bureau, but the launch problem cannot be solved for the time being..."

Sun Heding said:

"Because it is a breech-loaded gun, the ignition and bullets should be different from those of a rifled gun. I wonder if your highness has any bullet samples?"

When Zhao Yuanhua and Sun Heding were talking, the other three people stared at Zhu Cixiang. He really hoped that the crown prince would take out the bullets and study them!

Don't think that Zhao Yuanhua and others are not good at making a breech-loading gun even if they have a sample.

Bullet, yellow powder, and primer issues must all be solved before it can become a true breech-loading gun.

Especially the primer is the most difficult. Historically, the transition from front-loading guns to breech-loading guns took almost three hundred years to solve.

When loading ammunition in a muzzle-loading rifle, the barrel must be held vertically, which is not only time-consuming and labor-intensive, but also requires large movements and can easily expose the target.

The reloading speed and firing speed of the breech-loading rifle are greatly accelerated, and it is also more convenient to use.

There is no need to raise the gun body when loading. Soldiers can load ammunition while kneeling, lying down, or crawling, and completely lift the muzzleloader.

Zhu Cixiang took out ten bullets and placed them on the table:

"This is a breech-loaded gun bullet, a trinity. The warhead propellant and primer are concentrated on a small bullet. When the bullet is loaded into the breech, it is fired instantly with the impact of the firing pin..."

"Bullet? Trinity, rear loading..."

Brothers Zhao Yuanhua, Sun and Ding stood up in surprise, and almost simultaneously stepped forward to grab a bullet...

Zhu Cixiang did not disturb them, put down a bullet manufacturing process drawing and primer formula and left quietly.

Song Yingxing had been studying steam engines, and when he couldn't figure it out, he stopped and wrote Tiangong Kaiwu.

After entering the Royal Academy of Sciences, he studied steam engines in the morning and wrote "Tiangong Kaiwu" in the afternoon.

Bi Maokang's target was artillery. Now the Ming Dynasty's steelmaking technology has matured.

Bi Maokang is already experimenting with developing a variety of cannons. Due to the use of steel and the development of yellow gunpowder, the weight and range of the cannons have been greatly improved.

Sun Hedou had already developed a grenade and used yellow gunpowder, but he was also stumped by the primer.

Wrapped inside the grenade is the firing pin of the grenade. When the safety pin is pulled out and the grenade is thrown.

The tightened spring begins to return and drives the latch to pop open the safety lever. At the same time, due to the action of the spring, the firing pin violently hits the primer.

Primers contain impact-sensitive materials that can ignite upon impact or friction.

The fuse connected to the primer is a special chemical material that can delay the explosion.

The fuze will burn for roughly 4-5 seconds before reaching the detonator at the other end. The detonator is eventually ignited by the fuze and explodes, causing the high-energy explosive loaded inside the projectile to burn violently.

The burning of high explosives forms a large amount of high-pressure gas inside the projectile. As the high-pressure gas continues to expand, it exerts huge pressure on the shell of the projectile, eventually causing the projectile to break.

Because there are pre-made grooves and protrusions on the projectile body, the projectile shell begins to break into hundreds of shrapnel along the grooves.

The scattered shrapnel is thrown at high speed and finally hits the target, even approaching three times the speed of sound. This is the entire process of most grenades exploding.

Sun Hedou developed a simple wooden-handled grenade that is common in China, but the ignition and explosive devices are similar.

This kind of machine is cheaper and simpler to throw, and can be thrown farther. The process drawings were given to him by Zhu Cixiang.

After Zhu Cihong learned about the situation, he pointed out a way for Sun Hedou and asked him to go to his elder brother's place to have a look.

Zhao Yuanhua, Sun He Ding and the others are studying bullets. Once Sun He Ding and the others develop the primer, the grenade ignition problem will be solved!

Before Zhu Cihong left, he held a meeting with several scientists and decided to reward each of the craftsmen with five taels of silver and give them three days off.

The craftsmen were tired from working overtime every day, so Zhu Cixiang wanted them to rest for three days. After three days, they would be more motivated.

However, several scientists smiled at each other. Dean Bi Maokang raised his hands and said:

"Your Highness, it would be great if they could take a day off. These craftsmen are not willing to take a day off after tasting the benefits.

They were driven away by force every day, and they came again early the next morning. I have never seen such dedicated craftsmen in my decades of life..." I like the Ming Dynasty. In the prosperous period, I invited everyone to collect it from the time when the prince supervised the country: (
Chapter completed!