Chapter 704 Crosshairs
"You all go back." Seeing is believing.
Zhao Xu wanted to see the achievements of Wang Ying and Wang Chong with his own eyes, so he drove Liu Fu and others away.
Liu Fu and the other two looked a little resentful. They held higher positions in the court than Wang Chong and Wang Ying, but in their eyes, they seemed to be the real treasures.
They were particularly affectionate to them, which made them jealous.
Zhao Xu didn't bother to pay attention to them, and went straight out of the study with Wang Ying and Wang Chong.
The three went to the steam engine workshop first.
There was indeed a steam engine the size of a locomotive lying on the ground.
However, there were still some parts that had not been installed.
"With a little modification, it can become a steam locomotive." Zhao Xu said to Wang Chong.
The mechanical drawings he gave Wang Chong included steam locomotives.
So Wang Chong was quite familiar with the concept of steam locomotives.
Hearing this, he said: "The manufacture of steam locomotives is already in my plan. After this steam engine is assembled, the next step is to manufacture the steam locomotive head."
Zhao Xu nodded, and he was looking forward to it.
Thinking of something, he continued: "But this is a single-cylinder steam engine after all, and its efficiency is limited. Next, you have to expand the efficiency of the steam engine and develop a three-expansion four-cylinder steam engine."
If the steam engine Wang Chong is currently manufacturing belongs to a large steam engine, then the three-expansion four-cylinder steam engine belongs to an ultra-large steam engine.
This ultra-large steam engine is specially used for giant steamships and ironclad ships.
The steam engine of the Titanic is a three-expansion four-cylinder steam engine.
A single-cylinder steam engine can only match small steamships.
But it is enough to tow a sailing warship forward.
"I have asked a team of students to explore this giant steam engine." Wang Chong heard this and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
With the advent of the steam age, there are too many machines that need to be developed, and they are becoming more and more complicated, and he is under a lot of pressure.
Seeing this, Zhao Xu patted his shoulder and said, "I can only continue to work hard for you."
"Your Highness, you are too serious. This is my interest. I am just worried that I will miss your important event." Wang Chong said.
"It's okay. I know you've tried your best." Zhao Xu smiled.
After thinking for a while, he said, "In order to inspire more enthusiasm among the students and create a good research and development atmosphere, I have decided to establish a research and development institute."
"At that time, I will choose a quiet place to build the institute, and at the same time equip you with complete laboratories and living facilities in the institute. In the future, your food, clothing, housing and transportation will be taken care of by special people, and you only need to concentrate on research and development."
"Also, the monthly salary of students in the research and development institute will be greatly increased, with a minimum of thirty taels of silver per month and a maximum of three hundred taels of silver per month. For each research and development result, the students of the corresponding team will also be rewarded. How about it?"
Before Wang Chong had time to speak, Wang Ying said enviously, "Your Highness, such a generous treatment, I am a little tempted."
He only has a monthly salary of fifty taels of silver.
If he develops some more things, plus the reward, it will be no worse than his.
"Is this appropriate, Your Highness?" Wang Chong said. He was a little worried. In this way, wouldn't it be much higher than the treatment of officials?
He was touched by the attention that the King of Yan paid to them, but he was a little flattered.
Zhao Xu's tone was firm, "You deserve these silvers. This King gives you, just take it."
He did this not only to motivate the students who participated in the research and manufacturing, but also to set an example for the students of the Science and Technology School.
Let them study hard and strive to enter the Research and Manufacturing Institute.
After all, after the establishment of the Research and Manufacturing Institute, there is a threshold.
Only the elite of the elite can be selected.
After talking about this, they went to the Armory and inspected the steel workshop.
As soon as they entered the workshop gate, a wave of heat rushed towards them.
Zhao Xu saw that above the steel workshop, an iron chain stretched from south to north, and the iron lock kept moving, transporting the barrels of molten iron that fell below to the top of the converter in the middle.
The craftsmen then poured the molten iron into the converter below.
Seeing this scene, Zhao Xu felt as if he had entered a modern steel plant.
No, not as if.
This is a real modern steel plant.
Following the iron chain, he passed through a door. Next to the converter was a blast furnace.
At this moment, molten iron poured out of the blast furnace and flowed into an iron barrel with iron sheets on the outside and refractory materials on the inside.
When the iron chain rose from the bottom of the blast furnace workshop, the craftsmen hooked the hook on the iron barrel.
The iron chain rose, pulled the iron barrel up, and then moved it to the converter.
The power of the iron chain came from the steam engine fixed under the steel workshop.
After smelting in the converter, the molten iron became molten steel.
The craftsmen opened the valve at the bottom of the converter, and the molten steel flowed out and entered the molds one by one, turning into different shapes.
"It's really a country chicken turning into a phoenix." Zhao Xu joked.
The amount of steel smelted every day in such a steel workshop is huge.
The era of cheap steel in Yanzhou has arrived, and the conditions for making rails are already in place.
"Your Highness's words are apt, isn't it a country chicken turning into a phoenix?" Wang Ying laughed.
When he saw the first batch of molten steel flowing out of the converter, he was shocked beyond words.
Compared with the steelmaking scenes in the past, it was a world of difference.
"Hahaha..." Zhao Xu and Wang Chong also laughed.
After wandering around the steel workshop for a while, Zhao Xu followed Wang Ying to the musket workshop.
Here, he saw the gun barrel made of converter steel.
Unlike the previous barrels, the barrel made by Wang Ying this time has a trapezoidal protrusion at the front and a concave iron sheet in the middle.
This is the sight of the gun.
Because the rifled guns used by the Wangfu Army are modified from the previous flintlock guns.
There is no sight on the barrel.
After all, the flintlock gun relies on dense shooting to kill the enemy.
Including the modified rifled guns, they still use the flintlock array to kill the enemy, but the accuracy is better than the flintlock gun.
But if the soldiers are to accurately aim at the enemy on the battlefield, they still need the assistance of the sight.
So, since a new barrel was made this time, he simply asked Wang Ying to add a sight to the barrel.
In this way, their soldiers will be more threatening to the enemy.
Moreover, he can even train some snipers.
After all, the rifled gun with a new barrel has an effective range of 500 meters and a maximum range of 900 meters, which can be used as a sniper rifle.
If appropriate tactics are adopted on the battlefield, it will be a serious threat to the enemy artillery and generals.
"Currently, 3,000 new barrels have been drilled out. In three months, 60,000 barrels can be drilled out." Wang Ying introduced to Zhao Xu.
Zhao Xu nodded slightly. This time he only planned to make 60,000 new rifles to replace the front-line soldiers.
After all, rifles with an effective range of 300 meters are enough.
Moreover, if it is not a sniper equipped with a telescope, the enemy soldiers are just peanuts at a distance of more than 300 meters.
It is difficult for soldiers to shoot the enemy accurately, and in the end, they still have to rely on intensive shooting to injure a large number of enemies.
Therefore, there is no need to replace them all.
When needed, it is not too late to mass produce.