Chapter 625

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The constant whistling of steam engines echoed in the military machinery department, and Chen Qi’s approaching voice was somewhat muffled by the prolonged whistle.

Noticing this, Xiao Ming stopped and looked at Chen Qi. After asking him a few questions when he got closer, Xiao Ming understood what he was saying.

“Really?” Xiao Ming asked again.

Since adopting the converter steelmaking technology, he was very confident in the quality of Qingzhou steel. The advanced production process was now sufficient for Qingzhou steel to reach the 19th-century standard.

This standard was enough to drive the industrial revolution in his state because the quality of steel met the manufacturing requirements for most machinery.

The criterion for discerning the quality of this steel was to use it to manufacture cannons. If it could withstand the strength requirements of cannons, then applying it elsewhere would not be a problem.

“Your Highness, half a year ago, the military machinery department used steel produced by the steel machinery department to cast a cannon. For the past six months, we have been using this cannon for firing. This cannon is in no way inferior to bronze cannons.” Chen Qi stated.

Xiao Ming nodded. This indicated that the quality of the new steel was up to par, and its strength met the standards for use as cannon steel. This would allow him to save copper for manufacturing other items, as the Great Yu Empire was currently a copper-poor country.

“In that case, the production of field guns should be able to increase now, right?” Xiao Ming asked.

Overall, the number of cannons in the army was still a bit low. All the field guns combined totaled only about 200. These field guns were sufficient for one war, but not enough if facing two wars. Furthermore, Xiao Ming now had colonies like the Sanmyo Kingdom overseas, and these colonies also needed to be equipped with standardized weapons.

Chen Qi smiled, “Your Highness, that is exactly what I was going to say. It is no longer an issue to cast field guns using steel. Thus, the machinery department will no longer have to worry about copper. It is just that we do not know how many field guns the army still requires.”

“Producing another 300 units, bringing the total number of field guns in the army to 500, should be temporarily sufficient,” Xiao Ming said after a moment of thought.

For him, these field guns were primarily aimed at the barbarians. Compared to the cumbersome cannons of the past, these field guns were very convenient for transportation on the grasslands. He never forgot this barbaric tribe that had caused suffering to the Great Yu Empire. To achieve the revitalization of the Great Yu Empire, this northern hidden danger had to be resolved.

“Yes, Your Highness, I will then arrange for the artisans to continue production,” Chen Qi said.

After discussing this matter, the three also talked about other firearm production issues. According to Song Changping, he and Lin Wentao were attempting to establish a steam engine-based assembly line.

This assembly line would integrate gun barrel manufacturing, standardized parts production, and final assembly into a single production process. The first two steps would be achieved by using steam engines to power lathes. Currently, some lathes from the lathe workshop had already been transferred to the military machinery department, including drilling machines, milling machines, and grinding machines.

“This matter sounds simple, but it is very difficult to implement. For this, you must set up artisans specifically for inspecting the dimensions of parts,” Xiao Ming said after a moment of hesitation.

During Western industrialization, standardization and precision manufacturing were applied in various factories. Among the resulting innovations were inspectors who used toolboxes to check the product qualification rate.

Now, Lin Wentao and Song Changping were preparing to implement assembly line production using steam power, and this step was unavoidable.

“Lin Wentao also mentioned this. He has sent a batch of measuring tools to the military machinery department,” Song Changping said.

Xiao Ming looked at Chen Qi, who also nodded. Then, he sent someone to retrieve the toolbox from inside the machinery department.

Soon, an artisan came before the three. He opened the toolbox and spread it on the ground. Long and short measuring tools appeared before Xiao Ming.

“Your Highness, this is what Lin Wentao sent.” Song Changping took out a caliper from it. The values on it were precisely the units of millimeters, centimeters, etc., that Xiao Ming had drawn.

After he unified the measurement standards, the prefectures and counties within the state adopted this set of measurement units. Bowen Academy was the same, and Lin Wentao also learned these from there.

Scanning the wooden box, Xiao Ming felt at ease seeing rulers, compasses, protractors, and other measuring instruments arranged on the upper and lower layers of the box.

“Not bad.”

Xiao Ming smiled. For him, the industrialization of his state would always be the foundation of his standing. If his state could reach the level of industrialization in Britain now, he would not care about the other vassal princes of the Great Yu Empire.

However, time was limited to four years, and industry had remained in the small circle of Qingzhou, not extending to other prefectures and counties of the state.

It was not that Xiao Ming was unconcerned about the industrialization of his state. Rather, four years of continuous warfare had led him to invest most of his financial revenue into war consumption. It was already fortunate that his state had not suffered economic collapse during these years.

Therefore, military-related machinery departments were very prosperous, but extending to other consumer industrial products was not feasible.

And the most important point was that merchants profited from war. They were more eager to invest silver in war to earn quick money. Although Xiao Ming realized this, he had no choice, as war required money.

It was precisely because of this that he realized how extremely difficult it was to industrialize without a stable domestic environment. For this reason, he was eager to achieve a stable surrounding environment.

Wang Xuan’s intelligence stated very directly that the King of Chu had already made contact with the French. If the King of Chu eventually cooperated with the French, this would be a threat to him because the French would not only bring advanced weapons to the King of Chu but also some different ideas.

And this thing called “ideas” was the most dangerous.

After discussing assembly line production with the two men, using various measuring tools, Xiao Ming returned to his princely estate. The emergence of such advanced industrial methods in the military machinery department was a good thing. According to Xiao Ming’s experience, any technology was first applied for military convenience before slowly transitioning to civilian use.

If the military machinery department’s production system matured, it would also drive changes in civilian industry.

Upon returning to his princely estate, Xiao Ming began preparations for his enthronement. Although he knew that this ascension to the throne was merely to legitimize himself and would not change the decision of Prince Yan, Prince Zhao, and Prince Liang to attack Qi, it was clear from Pang Yukun’s reaction that this would cause a tremendous stir in the state.

This was because the soldiers of the state would no longer be fighting for a vassal prince, but for an emperor. This encouragement of belief would make his army display even greater will and power than before.