I Build an Aircraft Carrier in the Ming Dynasty

On December 10, more than 230 craftsmen from Shaoxing, including more than 1,300 relatives, arrived in Suzhou.

Wu Changqing personally came to the weapon workshop to meet Feng Jian, the official in charge of leading the team. Feng Jian was the minister of labor in the court of the Lu Dynasty. This time, he was responsible for bringing this group of craftsmen to Suzhou and managing this group of people.

Obviously, Zhu Yihai and Fang Guoan were careful, for fear that these craftsmen would fall into Wu Changqing's hands completely, so they arranged for someone to come over to supervise them.

"Meet Wu Guogong." Feng Jian bowed and saluted.

"Master Feng doesn't need to be too polite, we are officials of the same dynasty, no distinction is made." Wu Changqing said politely.

Later, Wu Changqing asked Liu Baojun to arrange the work of these hundreds of craftsmen.

Originally, there were already 300 senior craftsmen and more than 800 apprentices in the weapon workshop. With the addition of these two hundred and 30 people, another batch of apprentices could be recruited, and the size of the weapon workshop could almost double.

At the same time, Wu Changqing and Feng Jian also visited the weapons workshop together.

When Feng Jian was visiting, her eyes kept rolling, she was a full-fledged spy. Unfortunately, if he can master those advanced technologies at a glance, then the technology is not called advanced technology.

"The grandfather here is majestic and the scale is magnificent. No wonder the grandfather has been able to win the battle all the time."

Feng Jian sighed with emotion, he had never seen such a large-scale arsenal before. Moreover, the way the workers in the arsenal worked was somewhat different from what he had seen before.

There are many places that Feng Jian can't understand, such as the manufacture of gun barrels.

At present, the manufacture of gun barrels in other places is to forge a large iron rod first, and then the craftsmen drill holes by hand, which is very difficult.

Here, the method they used was to first forge a relatively brittle small iron rod, and then build a coat around the small iron rod to form the barrel.

Because the small iron rod is relatively brittle, it can be easier to drill a dozen times more easily, which makes the manufacturing speed of the barrel several times faster.

This is the barrel manufacturing process invented by Guan Mengfei, which is much more advanced than the previous ones.

This idea may seem simple, but it is actually not easy to achieve. Guan Mengfei also accidentally discovered ironware with different ingredients, and their hardness is different, so he came up with this idea.

Relying on this advanced technology, the manufacturing speed of flintlock guns in Suzhou Weapons Workshop can now reach fifty shots per day, which is quite good. When the Qing army went south again, they could almost produce another 3,000 flintlock troops.

The daily output of arquebuses is now higher, and nearly a hundred shots can be made every day. At this rate, Wu Changqing will soon be able to completely eliminate cold weapons and completely change his clothes.

Ordinary arquebuses are rubbish and have a slow rate of fire, but as long as they are well trained and have proper tactics, they are still better than cold weapons.

At present, Wu Changqing has an arquebus force of 5,000 people. Most of these arquebuses are seized and purchased by smuggling, plus some are built by himself.

The combat effectiveness of this 5,000-strong army is also quite good.

"With this group of craftsmen, Wu Guogong will surely be able to recover Nanjing faster."

Feng Jian also mentioned the matter of recovering the old capital of Nanjing, which is the most urgent matter for Zhu Yihai.

"It should be fine next year."

Wu Changqing gave him a reassurance to prevent him from asking endless questions.

In fact, Wu Changqing didn't want to retake Nanjing, so that he could rely on the Yangtze River to resist the Manchu cavalry. However, he really doesn't have that power right now.

"So good."

Feng Jian said.

"Teacher, the students are incompetent, there is still a good way to solve the problem of precise ignition for the time being."

After that, everyone came to the place where the artillery was made. Guan Mengfei put down his work and came out to meet and report on the work.

"Don't worry, take your time. The most important thing is to pay attention to safety. Those dangerous things are left to others to do. You just need to use your brain."

Wu Changqing said.

Precise firing is a real problem, involving the speed at which the shell is flying, among other complicating factors.

If the ignition time cannot be controlled well, this shell cannot be applied to actual combat.

The ignition is early, and the shells explode before they reach the enemy's head, so they can only scare the enemy with momentum. If it's too late, the enemy will have time to escape if it falls into the enemy pile and still doesn't explode.

Wu Changqing's words made other people feel envious, jealous and hated towards Guan Mengfei. This kind of caring and attention can only be enjoyed by Guan Mengfei alone.

Feng Jian silently wrote down Guan Mengfei in his heart. He could see that he was a key person who was highly valued by Wu Changqing.

After visiting the weapons workshop, Wu Changqing couldn't help but sigh, this is probably the largest arsenal in the world right now. There are more than 7,000 people living in this weapons workshop with craftsmen, apprentices, family members and guard soldiers.

Although it still looks primitive, there are already some prototypes of modern factories, which should be the most advanced in the world.

As long as this arsenal is in his hands, Wu Changqing does not worry about the war on the front line. There is only one problem for him to expand the army, and that is the manufacturing speed of firearms, and there is no shortage of people at all.

The population in the territory he now controls is close to 4 million, and it is very easy to form an army of 100,000. More importantly, the training of the musketeers is very easy, they can basically take shape in one month, and they can almost become elites in two months.

They don't need to master too many skills, they just need to learn to line up and obey

Military discipline will do.

If it is a cold weapon unit, it takes at least half a year for a recruit to train into a qualified soldier. Archers and cavalry will take longer, at least a year or two.

For Wu Changqing, there are as many troops as there are weapons.

After visiting the Weapons Workshop, Wu Changqing arranged for Gu Yanwu to accompany Feng Jian and clean him up.

He is a dignified governor, but there is no need to accompany him in person.

After receiving Feng Jian, Wu Changqing called Liu Baojun, the general manager of the weapons workshop.

"The new batch of people is a problem in terms of loyalty, so let them make some non-core parts first. Some core craftsmanship cannot be touched by them."

Wu Changqing reminded.

In this weapon workshop, most of the technology is not very important. For example, the manufacture of cold weapons and gun barrels is not a secret. There are many people in the outside world who know this technology.

As long as the spring, flint, and gunpowder recipes are carefully considered, these craftsmen will not be able to steal any useful secrets.

"At the same time, it is necessary to strengthen the control of the weapon workshop. No one is allowed to enter or leave easily. Your approval is required. Special attention should be paid to Feng Jian. If there is a chance, you can use some means to try to win bribes."

Wu Changqing continued to exhort that Feng Jian was an official of the imperial court after all, and he had no way to restrict his personal freedom. It was a hidden danger to some extent, and it would be best if he could win over to his side.

"My subordinate understands."

Liu Baojun replied that his current power and status were given to him by Wu Changqing, and he naturally worked for Wu Changqing.