Chapter 944

Rapid footsteps came from outside the imperial study.

Soon, Chen Qi’s figure appeared. He walked up to Xiao Ming, bowed, and called out, “Your Majesty.”

“First Song Changping, now you, Chen Qi. You two always visit without prior appointment. Let me guess, you must have made some progress in artillery, right?”

Chen Qi’s face showed some weariness, but his eyes gleamed with excitement. He said, “Your Majesty, that’s right. After years of accumulation and diligent research, the artillery factory has finally put its efforts into one successful manufacturing of the first rifled breech-loading cannon.”

“Is that so? Today truly is a good day. First, we have metal bullets, and now breech-loading cannons. It truly is a double blessing!”

Xiao Ming’s smile grew richer.

In fact, Chen Qi had been researching rifled cannons for a long time. It was just that the development of firearms was too rapid, which made Chen Qi constantly change his initial designs. It wasn’t until the Han-style rifle was finalized that he suddenly felt all the previous problems were resolved. Thus, the rifled breech-loading cannon was also born.

Of course, Xiao Ming understood Chen Qi’s research. He had simply given him some materials and then left him to it. Previously, he hadn’t interfered because he knew that the industrial foundation at the time couldn’t produce qualified breech-loading cannons. But now, all conditions were clearly met, and all results would naturally come to fruition.

However, speaking of breech-loading cannons, this type of artillery actually appeared very early. For instance, the “Franks” cannons used by Ming Dynasty soldiers in contemporary times were typical breech-loading cannons.

The structure of this cannon was divided into two parts: one was the barrel, and the other was the breech-loading chamber. It was as if a complete cannon was cut into two sections. Each time it was fired, soldiers would load the cannonball and ammunition into the chamber, align the chamber with the barrel, and then ignite it.

This way, after each shot, they only needed to replace the chamber.

According to historical records, this type of cannon was popular in Europe from the late 15th to early 16th century. Its inspiration came from the falconet cannon and it could fire continuously, ejecting fire like a snake. It was also known as a quick-firing cannon.

Now, metal bullets were actually a natural extension of the Frankish-style breech-loading chamber.

In this era, the West also had this type of artillery. The Dutch had once described this artillery to him in detail and even tried to sell it to him, but he refused.

The reason was simple: coming from modern times, he completely looked down on this breech-loading structure. Facts proved his decision was correct, because in just a few years, Qingzhou produced 19th-century standard breech-loading artillery.

“Heh heh, Your Majesty, this time I, your humble servant, have not fallen behind. Instead, I have utilized all previous technological accumulations. Rifling, breechblock, and pull-ignition three technologies are all complete. This artillery has greatly improved in both range and accuracy compared to previous field cannons,” Chen Qi said excitedly.

Xiao Ming nodded in satisfaction. The rifling technology came from the rifling technology of firearms. The pull-ignition tube came from the pull-ignition technology of hand grenades. Only the design and manufacturing of the breechblock were completely new processes.

It could be said that this evolution of artillery was a byproduct of industrial development.

“If that’s the case, I will take the generals of the Grand Council to see your masterpiece.” As the saying goes, “seeing is believing.” He too was now itching with anticipation.

Moreover, the development of weapons in the 19th century basically set the tone for later generations. Subsequent developments were merely partial improvements. Therefore, if Han-style rifles and this type of artillery were officially equipped, it would mean that the Great Yu Empire army had truly modernized.

With that, the three exited the imperial study. As they passed the outer palace, he had Qian Dafu summon Niu Ben and Luo Quan.

The group arrived at the military machinery department under the protection of imperial guards.

“Your Majesty, this is our metal bullet production line,” Song Changping said proudly.

Xiao Ming looked in the direction Song Changping pointed to the factory building. At this time, machinery inside the factory building roared with the sound of metal clashing, operated by workers. Workers were sending boxes of separated bullet casings and bullets to the adjacent factory.

Some workers in this factory were assembling primers, propellants, bullet heads, and bullet casings.

“Your Majesty, the production speed of these metal bullets is truly much slower. It’s like a sheep shitting,” Niu Ben frowned. Previously, the conical bullets used by muzzle-loading guns were produced by casting. Lead was poured onto numerous molds, allowing for mass production in one go.

Comparing the two now, he immediately felt the disparity. “According to our past battle statistics, after the appearance of trenches, it takes an average of two thousand six hundred bullets to kill one enemy. And this is when they are not familiar with our firearms. Your Majesty, if this is the production speed, I, your humble general, believe it’s better to use the previous paper cartridges.”

Luo Quan nodded upon hearing this. “That’s right. Paper cartridges are sufficient. The production of these metal bullets is so troublesome, and I estimate the price is not cheap. It’s more than enough for dealing with Goryeo or Japan.”

Xiao Ming smiled upon hearing this. The two speaking this way meant that they were qualified generals to him. Blindly praising weapons while ignoring cost-effectiveness would not make one a qualified general.

Considering the current situation, the Great Yu Empire indeed had no urgent need for such high-cost bullets. Han-style rifles using paper cartridges were sufficient.

Just as Western nations had long possessed rifled firearms, but they did not mass-equip them, still largely using smoothbore guns until they were heavily defeated by rifled guns in war before realizing their mistake.

For Xiao Ming, he naturally understood this principle. However, the Great Yu Empire had its own national conditions. Its vast territory and long border forced him to deploy a large army for defense.

Goryeo and Japan would not be completely settled down for a while, and also needed troops stationed. This way, the number of soldiers he could use for overseas colonization would decrease, and he could not infinitely expand his army, because he needed to migrate the population to Guandong, and even Siberia, to consolidate the occupied territories.

In the future, after driving out the Golden Tent Khanate from the grasslands, controlling the grasslands would also be a headache.

All these factors meant he could only rely on a generational advantage in weaponry to compensate for the insufficient number of troops. Europe, precisely by this advantage, could control large colonial areas with a small army.

After explaining his thoughts to the two, Xiao Ming continued, “Currently, Europe is on edge because of the rise of the Great Yu Empire. They are surely striving to catch up with us in weaponry. Therefore, maintaining a generational gap is necessary. However, as you said, metal bullets and cannonballs are expensive to produce and slow to manufacture. But we can completely stockpile them and use them when necessary.”

Niu Ben and Luo Quan exchanged glances and nodded. Sometimes, they still couldn’t keep up with this Emperor’s thinking.