My Pen Pal Zhu Yuanzhang

Chapter 223: A jaw-dropping new gun

As the supervisor of the production of new guns, Liu Sanwu could only eat and sleep at the Armament Research Institute all day long. Even his family members didn't know what he was busy with.

For a while, his wife even thought that he had committed a crime and was arrested by the Jinyiwei. She brought her children to the imperial prison crying and shouting to look for him, which gave Mao Xiang a headache for a while.

Mao Xiang still admired Liu Sanwu's character. After reporting this little matter to Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Yuanzhang was at a loss whether to laugh or cry, but he also admired the courage and boldness of Liu Sanwu's wife.

This person was the first in the Ming Dynasty to dare to go to the imperial prison to demand someone's release.

He had no choice but to issue an imperial edict to comfort her and reward her with a lot of silks and satins, which finally dispelled Mrs. Liu's doubts.

Liu Sanwu didn't know about the minor troubles his wife had caused to the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the current emperor, and he was not in the mood to care about them at the moment.

Because the manufacture of the new gun is almost successful!
Thanks to the ready-made drawings and detailed manufacturing process, the manufacturing of the Type 56 semi-automatic rifle was relatively smooth. Many of its components, such as the piston, receiver, bolt, firing mechanism, magazine and buttstock, had already been manufactured.

Several samples of the most difficult barrels and return rods were also produced.

At this time, all the parts of the firearms were placed on the big table of the Armament Research Institute. Everyone looked at the results of the past few days, feeling both excited and nervous.

Liu Sanwu had already memorized the structure of the gun by heart. He assembled the gun carefully. After a while, in the expectant eyes of everyone, a brand new rifle appeared in front of everyone.

The new gun was shiny and glossy, giving off a cold metallic glow. Compared to previous needle-fired guns, it had a certain peculiar mechanical beauty.

Everyone was becoming more and more excited. Even though the gun had been made, they still didn't know how effective it would be.

The gun is brand new, the bullet is brand new too, whether it will fire smoothly, whether there is a risk of explosion, everything is unknown.

Liu Sanwu stroked the gun body as if he were stroking his own child, then picked up the bright yellow bullet and walked resolutely towards the shooting range.

Everyone hurriedly followed and arrived at the shooting range. Not daring to breathe, they nervously watched Liu Sanwu load the bullets into the magazine one by one.

As Liu Sanwu raised his gun and aimed, everyone's heart was in their throat, but Liu Sanwu took a deep breath and pulled the trigger without hesitation.

With a crisp gunshot and then a "ding dong" sound, the shell was automatically thrown out, forming a beautiful arc.

That sound was so beautiful in everyone's ears. Then, there were several "bang bang" shots in succession, and several bullet casings were thrown into the air. In everyone's eyes, it was like a beautiful dance, intoxicating.

After firing ten bullets in one breath, Liu Sanwu put down his gun. After everyone reacted, they instantly burst into warm cheers!
"Success! We finally succeeded!"

Many people were in tears. The hard work and battles during this period finally paid off. They will also make a significant contribution to the development of Ming Dynasty's military equipment!
Liu Sanwu was very calm. He waved his hand and asked everyone to be quiet. "Don't worry, everyone. We have to pass the tests of the Ministry of War and the Beijing Camp before we can be considered a complete success."

He paused, then continued, "Report to His Majesty immediately. We will go to the martial arts arena right away to test the new guns!"

When Zhu Yuanzhang led Xu Da and others to the martial arts arena, Liu Sanwu had been waiting for a long time.

At such an important moment, it was natural for Zhu Di, Xu Huizu and Li Jinglong to join in the fun.

Looking at the brand new gun, Zhu Yuanzhang felt excited. He took the new gun from Liu Sanwu, held it in his hand, and observed it carefully without letting it go.

The gun body is shining with a cold light and is full of mechanical texture. It feels solid when you hold it in your hand.

After many days of hard work, weapons that can further change the form of war were finally produced. Looking at the bullets brought by Liu Sanwu, each one was yellow and orange, shining with dazzling light, looking like golden beans, which was very lovely.

Picking one up at random and turning it over and over in his hand, Liu Sanwu took the opportunity to say:

"Your Majesty, with these brass bullets, you no longer have to worry about the bullets getting wet when it rains or at sea, and..."

He paused, then continued, "Moreover, this type of ammunition can be recycled when the soldiers clean up the battlefield after the battle, which can also save copper materials."

"Well, that's good!" Zhu Yuanzhang nodded. He had no idea about this, but it would be good if he could save money.

However, when Li Min and Yang Siyi heard that the bullet casings could be recycled, they immediately became interested. Your Majesty really doesn't know how expensive firewood, rice, oil and salt are without being in charge of the household. Although there are several large copper mines being mined, the price of copper ore is much higher than that of iron ore!
At first, Yang Siyi felt a little painful when he saw those carts of copper being made into bullets. This was not making bullets with copper, this was making them with money!
Now that I know that bullet shells can be recycled, the painful feeling has instantly disappeared.

Xu Da was also jealous of the new gun and couldn't help asking, "Master Liu, how does this gun compare to the needle-fire gun in terms of range and power?"

Liu Sanwu had some doubts about this question when he first got the blueprint and saw the rifling, but now he can give an answer.

He said seriously: "My Lord, the barrel of the new gun uses a brand-new manufacturing process, which is called rifling. It uses a special machine tool to draw two lines, one yin and one yang, in the barrel.

The advantage of this is that when the bullet is fired, the bullet will rotate extremely fast as it passes through the barrel along the rifling, thereby increasing the muzzle velocity. The advantage of this is that it can greatly improve the range and accuracy! "

Everyone was shocked when they saw the rifling inside the gun barrel. How could they draw the rifling inside such a small barrel? It must be a very exquisite craftsmanship!
Liu Sanwu continued, “Not only that, because the bullet uses a brand new primer and propellant, the increased power it brings is also unmatched by the previous paper-wrapped bullets.

Let me put it this way, the maximum range of the needle-fired gun is 220 meters, which is about 70 feet, and the standard range of the new gun reaches 400 meters, which is more than 110 feet. As for the longest range, I haven't tried it yet."

Four hundred meters, more than one hundred and ten feet?
Everyone was shocked when they heard this and thought they had heard it wrong.

Now they are familiar with units such as centimeters and meters.

This new gun can actually shoot four hundred meters away?

Oh my god, four hundred meters is almost a mile!
And this is just the standard range. No one knows how far it can hit!
Although Zhu Yuanzhang had seen many surprises brought by Li Han, he was still shocked this time.

"The standard range is 400 meters, almost twice that of the original needle-fired gun. You, Chief Liu, are just bragging. I don't believe it!"

Xu Da said in disbelief.

Liu Sanwu smiled and said, "Duke Wei, please don't disbelieve me. I am not bragging. Not only does the range far exceed that of the needle-fired gun, but the power is also greatly improved.

The distance at which the needle-fired gun can exert its maximum power is seventy to one hundred meters, but as for the new gun, its power is still greater than that of the needle-fired gun even after the range exceeds four hundred meters!

Let's put it this way. Your Majesty and the other superiors may not be impressed by what I just said, so you can know if you try it yourself."

Just as Xu Da was about to speak, Li Wenzhong spoke first: "Your Majesty, I will do it. I am willing to test the gun for you!"

Xu Da immediately widened his eyes and looked at Li Wenzhong, "Well done, nephew. You don't learn good things but learn bad things, right? You have learned all the essence of our Xu!"

(End of this chapter)