The room goes through the late Ming Dynasty, and the back door leads to North America at the beginni

Liu Sheng remembered that in history, there was a major plague outbreak in Hebei and Shandong in 1644.

Li Zicheng's ability to easily conquer Beijing was partly related to the outbreak of plague in the city.

Similarly, its subsequent defeat at Shanhaiguan had something to do with the spread of plague and other diseases among the Shun army.

Although in this time and space, the city of Beijing was breached in advance and is now controlled by Damei.

But plague outbreaks are still possible.

The plague is spread by rats, but its source is not the original rats in the city, but the rats that migrated south from the grasslands.

During the Little Ice Age, the rats on the grassland could not withstand the severe cold winter and spontaneously migrated south, bringing the plague virus with them and passing it on to rats in Guanhai and then to humans.

The Qing army later took control of Beijing. The reason why they seemed not to be affected by the plague was related to the season. It would be better to say that they had a strong immunity to the plague.

Just like they were less immune to smallpox.

···
At this meeting, which was planned in advance to prevent and respond to this year's natural disasters, Liu Sheng only mentioned a few words about epidemic prevention without going into details.

Because most of the officials present are non-professionals.

Specific matters should be left to professionals, so Liu Sheng planned to hold a special meeting with Ministry of Health officials later on preventing and responding to epidemics.

Specific measures, such as preventing smallpox through vaccination with cowpox and reducing the possibility of plague outbreaks through rodent control, were passed on to the health department by Liu Sheng during the Weibu period.

Such specific matters no longer require his intervention.

For example, when promoting cowpox vaccination, it is enough to check the progress from time to time.

If he has to intervene in various specific matters, no matter how energetic he is, he can't stand it.

Not to mention, he is not a workaholic. In addition to working in the harem, he also takes time to relax and exercise.

A conference on disaster response was held all morning.

In the afternoon, Liu Sheng took the guard group to inspect the Nanjing Gun Factory.

The Nanjing Gun Factory was built the year before last. The management staff and backbone of the craftsmen all came from the Ruyang Gun Factory. All aspects of production and management were naturally copied.

Mainly responsible for the production of matchlock guns, field guns, and tiger squat guns.

Although Liu Sheng planned to equip the Guards with flintlock guns first, the production of matchlock guns could not be suspended for the time being.

Because even if the equipment is updated, it is impossible to field all troops quickly.

Besides, the Guards, the Standing Army, the Garrison Army, and the Civilian Army are divided into different ranks, and their equipment should naturally be different.

Therefore, the matchlock gun will still be one of the standard weapons of the Yi army for a long time to come.

It's just that the equipment of the Guards may be withdrawn first, and then the equipment of the standing army... until finally it is no longer produced and completely eliminated.

Liu Sheng's visit to the Nanjing Gun Factory was not to inspect the production of matchlock guns, but to inspect the production of new cannons.

With the information and guidance provided by Liu Sheng, as well as enough craftsmen and even educated military talents, the Yi army's artillery was also iterated.

In fact, the Yi army's gunpowder had been continuously improved before, but it was not as big as this time.

For example, the field artillery used by the Wei army was collectively called the Qianyuan No. 1 field artillery, but now it is called the Qianyuan No. 2.

What are the differences between the two?
First, the steel used in Qianyuan No. 2 is of higher quality, or more suitable for casting steel cannons.

Secondly, a practical first-generation screw elevator and a steel gun carriage were developed.

As a result, the Qianyuan No. 2 field gun has almost become an all-steel structure, making it much easier to adjust the design elevation angle.

Third, a new blooming bomb was developed.

Two years ago, Liu Sheng passed down the native method of refining and making yellow explosives using yellow fuel.

However, the output at that time was very small, and it could only be used to make explosive bags to blow open the gates of some fortified cities. Later, in a series of battles, the Yi army encountered few fortified cities. Even if there are, they are often easily captured because the defenders are too weak, such as Nanjing.

Therefore, although yellow explosives are sharp, the Wei army did not actually use them much.

Although Da'ei now has the talents and resources of fourteen provinces, after all, it was only two years after the founding of the People's Republic of China and there is no chemical industry at all. It is naturally impossible to produce picric acid (the main component of yellow explosive) through chemical methods.

Today, Yijun's yellow explosives are still refined using local methods, but because of the large number of manpower and sufficient resources, the output has been greatly increased.

On this basis, Liu Sheng instructed the ammunition factory to develop a new blooming bomb, that is, a blooming bomb mixed with yellow explosive.

Take Qianyuan No. 2's conventional explosive bomb as an example. The lethality of its explosion is at least three times that of the previous one!
At the same time, hand grenades mixed with yellow explosives and mortar shells were also developed.

The Nanjing Gun Factory's mortars were actually improved from the Tiger Crouching Cannon.

Since the field gun has been improved to the Qianyuan No. 2, the Tiger Crouching Cannon has naturally been improved to a new model.

Liu Sheng saw that it resembled the mortars in later movies and TV dramas, so he simply changed the name of the Tiger Crouching Cannon and called it a mortar.

In addition to using better steel, the gun is also equipped with a more usable bracket.

The bracket and barrel can be combined and disassembled.

There are two models: large and small. The large mortar can be picked up and moved by one person, but for longer marches, two people are required to carry it.

Even if the small mortar is combined with the bracket, a soldier can hold the gun, making it very light.

However, due to the addition of blooming bullets, its firepower is more powerful than before. In the past, the Tiger Crouching Cannon did not use blooming bullets. If the blooming bullets made mainly from black powder were too small, they would be very weak and impractical in war.

After inspecting the production lines of the Qianyuan No. 2 field gun and Dawei mortar, Liu Sheng was quite satisfied and asked: "How many of these two types of artillery can your factory produce in a month?"

The factory director said: "Your Majesty, if the supply of raw materials is sufficient, we can produce 300 Qianyuan 2 field guns and 1,800 mortars a month."

Liu Sheng nodded.

This data is not much different from what he estimated.

The Nanjing Gun Factory is larger than the Ruyang Gun Factory.

Now some steam machine tools have begun to be launched, significantly improving production efficiency.

The factory director said that he could produce 300 field guns a month, which is equivalent to ten guns a day, which is relatively conservative.

Sure enough, the factory director explained: "The main reason is that the production speed of screw jacks is relatively slow, followed by wheels, axles and other components. As for the gun barrel, it consumes the least time and labor."

"If we are producing the Qianyuan No. 1 field gun, how many can we produce in a month?"

"At least nine hundred doors!"

Liu Sheng was just asking, so naturally he would not allow Qianyuan No. 1 to be produced.

After a few words of encouragement to the factory director, officials and craftsmen, and instructions to pay attention to production safety, Liu Sheng went to inspect the military camp.

As for the ammunition factory, it was too dangerous and he was not prepared to go there.

The new grenades have been distributed to the Guards, and the soldiers will first be allowed to practice and adapt.

When he went to inspect the Guards barracks, he could naturally see the power of the new grenades.

···
Far away in Xi'an.

Li Zicheng was laughing.

The one-eyed smile almost turned into a line.

But it was Dashung who had just completed a deal with the Qing Dynasty - buying more than 3,000 war horses with gold, silver and a small amount of grain! (End of chapter)