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"Your Majesty, with the continuous improvement of the pliers steelmaking technology, the hardened steel produced by the pliers and weight stones is used in large quantities for drill bits, which has enabled the lathe to be widely used.
With the continuous improvement of lathes, the qualification rate of gun barrels processed by the Military Equipment Supervision Bureau has been greatly improved, which not only improves efficiency and quality, but also reduces costs by about 35% compared with before. If it is produced in large quantities, the cost should be able to be reduced a little bit. "
In the Gongchang government office, Wei Yuan, the right assistant minister of the Ministry of Works, spoke eloquently and looked very happy. A while ago, Qin Mu ordered the Ministry of Revenue to allocate 700,000 dragon coins as a special fund for the production of flintlock rifles. Now the Nanjing Military Equipment Supervision Bureau reported such good news, which was a great achievement.
Qin Mu was also very happy to hear this. Although people are the decisive factor in war, the improvement of weapons is equally crucial. History has proved that weapons not only change the pattern of war, but also change the fate of farming and nomadic peoples and change the course of history.
Qin Mu never relaxed his research on weapons. Some things were easy to produce in later generations, such as military pistols, which could be copied in some simple small workshops.
But in this era, we have to solve many basic problems first.
For example, for a breech-loading howitzer, based on Qin Mu's memory, he couldn't say that he could draw every component, but at least he knew its principles. However, it was impossible to produce the actual object.
The chamber pressure problem alone cannot be solved now. It requires continuous improvement of basic materials.
But flintlock, rifling, and fixed paper shell Minié bullets were technologies that could be overcome in this era. Facts have proved that the Qin Dynasty's Military Equipment Bureau not only overcame the problems in production technology, but also made many improvements to make the guns more effective, with higher range and accuracy.
He asked cheerfully, "How much does it cost for the Military Equipment Bureau to produce a Type 69 rifle now?"
The so-called Type 69 rifle. The biggest difference between it and the Type 68 rifle that was already in service with the army is that the original Type 68 rifle still used a matchlock to ignite, but the current one has been changed to a flint-fired rifle, with a rifling added and the barrel length increased by two inches.
Don't underestimate the additional rifling and two-inch barrel. Not only does it make the trajectory more stable, but the effective range is also said to be 50 steps longer than before.
Wei Yuan replied: "Your Majesty, according to the data reported so far, the cost of producing one Type 69 rifle is 17 dragon coins. If mass-produced, the cost should be reduced to around 16 dragon coins."
Qin Mu thought about it. 17 dragon coins were equivalent to about 12 taels of silver. If 1 tael of silver was exchanged for 300 RMB, then the cost of producing a rifle by the Military Equipment Bureau would be about 3,600 RMB. This was not cheap, but it was acceptable for the financial resources of the Qin Dynasty.
The 700,000 dragon coins just allocated by the Ministry of Revenue, minus the cost of ammunition, will not be a problem in producing 20,000 Type 69 rifles. This will be a qualitative leap for the Qin army's equipment. Unlike now, only a few troops can be equipped with Type 68 rifles.
"Since it has been tested, we should stop producing the Type 68 rifle altogether. We should switch to producing the Type 69 rifle."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Qin Mu thought for a moment and said, "The cost of the tongs steelmaking method is too high and it is not suitable for large-scale application. It can only be used to smelt some special steels, so we need to continue researching the improvement of the smelting furnace. We need to further increase the furnace temperature. By the way, the smelting process can also be stirred continuously like refining glass to see if we can reduce impurities and improve the quality of steel."
"Your Majesty, Anshan Mining and Metallurgy has already applied this method. Through constant stirring, it can effectively remove impurities and improve the quality of steel. However, the furnace temperature must be improved in the end."
Qin Mu then asked, "How is the mining progress of the Anshan iron ore in Liaodong?"
"Your Majesty, we have added ten large smelting furnaces to Dagu Mountain and Dong'an Mountain respectively. It is estimated that in two years, the steel production will be no less than that of Ma'anshan Mining and Metallurgy."
The iron ore mining in Liaoning was not initiated by Qin Mu. In fact, as early as when the Liao Dynasty ruled Liaodong, there was a large-scale iron smelting industry there.
The Anshan area not only has rich iron ore reserves, but also has good quality. The iron smelted by the Khitan in Liaodong became one of the strategic commodities imported from the Khitan by the Northern Song Dynasty.
After the Qin Dynasty took control of Liaodong, it naturally would not give up on developing the mining and smelting there. The fact that Qin Mu asked about this during the war also shows how much he valued the smelting industry.
All of these can be regarded as the war background of the Qin Dynasty.
After discussing this matter, Qin Mu was asking Gu Junen about the battle situation in Lintao when Huang Lianshan came in and reported several good news to Qin Mu. First, Wang Guichen captured the capital of Sulu, Hele, and Sultan Loran submitted a "Request to Submit the Map of Territory" requesting that the land and population of Sulu be incorporated into the territory of Daqin.
Then Hai Rufeng successfully captured Batavia, wiped out the Dutch forces in the Far East, and incorporated Java and Sumatra, which were originally Dutch colonies, into the territory of the Qin Dynasty.
The exact amount of spoils the two men had seized had not yet been reported to Nanjing, but it must have been a lot. Especially since Hai Rufeng took over the Dutch colony, it was equivalent to controlling the spice trade in Southeast Asia. This was a rare commodity with huge profits for both the East and the West.
Finally, there was the good news from Mobei. Aobai and Niu Wanchuan, with a force of 5,000 men, fought several fierce battles and annihilated more than 10,000 enemies, basically pacifying Mobei. They also seized property worth more than 2 million dragon coins from Norbu's royal tent.
According to preliminary reports, after the sweep, at least three to four million horses, cattle and sheep were obtained, which is also a huge fortune.
The delivery of these good news filled the government office with joy, and Sima An and others congratulated Qin Mu one after another.
This once again proves that although war costs money, the war dividends brought by victory are also astonishing. The dividends obtained from these three wars alone are probably no less than the annual income of the Qin Dynasty.
This gave Qin Mu more confidence to fight in the northwest. In his joy, he ordered someone to bring a pot of wine, and drank a few cups with Sima An and other ministers before asking, "My dear ministers, let's go through it one by one. First, let's talk about the Sulu Sultan's submission of land. What do you think should be done?"
Yang Chao, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, was so delighted to see another huge amount of wealth coming into his account that he said, "Your Majesty, the actual land area of Sulu is not large, so just include it in Luzon Province. It is enough to confer a hereditary marquisate on Lorraine."
"Yes, that's what I mean. However, the problem of Sulu is mainly a religious issue. This must be resolved as soon as possible. I mean that Luo Lan should immediately go to the capital to receive the title, and then we should fully promote Confucianism in Sulu, supplemented by Buddhism and Taoism. If there are any resistance, we should take them back to the southwest to build roads."
Qin Mu was filled with murderous intent when he said this. All the ministers knew that the emperor was extremely wary of Islamization. Although the promotion of Sinicization in Hetao had caused many ethnic minorities to turn to the Qitate, Qin Mu still had no intention of giving up Sinicization.
Rather than seeking peace in a compromise that will only cause endless trouble, it is better to destroy it once and for all.
Using swords and guns to change the beliefs of a place is the quickest and most economical way, and this method is also the most popular method of this era.
One of the most important things in Western colonization is changing local beliefs. This is actually a kind of cultural invasion, and it is an indispensable means to ensure the success of military invasion.
Qin Mu thought for a moment and said, "Among the seven ministries in the court, the Ministry of Rites is too idle."
Sima An understood the meaning of the music and said, "Your Majesty wants the Ministry of Rites to take charge of external education as well?"
"Yes, whether it is internal or external, we need to educate. The Ministry of Rites cannot just focus on the domestic situation. The sage said that there is no distinction between the two. This matter is of great importance. If we can influence the Chinese culture and make the four barbarians return to the Qin Dynasty, we can avoid many wars."
Li Yuan said: "Your Majesty is right. I also agree to set up a Foreign Affairs Department in Li to select talents and be responsible for external education."
To put it bluntly, the Department of Foreign Affairs is specifically responsible for cultural exports. We might as well let the Ministry of Rites select and export a large number of those corrupt scholars who only know how to talk about various things, and let them influence the barbarians.
Of course, not all people are like this. After all, cultural exports still require certain means.
This kind of corrupt scholar can be used like Western missionaries. They usually have one common characteristic, which is stubbornness, or perseverance. They are very suitable for this kind of work.
In terms of strategic coordination, we can select some flexible talents from the China Foreign Affairs University to manage these corrupt scholars.
In short, cultural output must be elevated to the level of a national strategy, complementing military expansion, or at least taking the lead in military expansion.
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ps: Brothers and sisters, please vote for the annual work. Currently ranked second in the history category, I urgently need your support. Please cast your precious vote. Looking at the number of votes, there is still a chance for the title of "King of History". I'm kneeling down to beg for votes! This critical moment is really important to Haozi. Please lend a hand. Many hands make light work. I eagerly look forward to your support! (To be continued...)
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