Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

"Is this the bolt of the electric rifle?"

Pointing to a movable iron piece at the tail of the electric gun, Zhu Youjian asked.

This piece of iron was quite similar to the wedge-type breechblock he knew, but it was much simpler and not as good at sealing air.

He had already begun thinking about how to improve this breech block by imitating the gun breech block.

Lu Xiang did not give a name to this piece of iron, but the term "gun bolt" is indeed quite vivid.

Moreover, he, who was born as a carpenter, was inspired and said:

"This piece of iron really looks like a door bolt, and it can be called a gun bolt."

"Maybe it can be made into a plug-in type, so it can hold air more tightly."

Zhu Youjian nodded in approval, thinking that Lu Xiang's idea was correct.

The wedge-type breech block is indeed like a door bolt inserted into a hole. It is one of the mainstream breech blocks in later generations and is divided into vertical wedge type and horizontal wedge type.

However, for muskets, he knew another way to hold his breath, which was the rotary lock commonly used on firearms in later generations.

This locking method is also used on artillery, that is, the screw breechblock is commonly used like the wedge breechblock.

Their principle is also very simple, similar to the lid of a pressure cooker. After rotating the raised part, the two parts are tightly combined together.

Zhu Youjian simply drew a shape, and Lu Xiang didn't understand it at first. But after Zhu Youjian instructed him to carve a model out of wood, he soon understood it.

This locking method is more troublesome than the wedge locking method, but it can seal air more tightly. It can be used not only for muskets, but also for artillery.

(The picture above shows a revolving bolt with two locking protrusions; the picture below shows a screw-type breech block with two raised ribs. Both are rotary locking, insert - rotate 90 degrees - lock)
So he excitedly proposed that this kind of breech block could be used in the Portuguese cannon to solve the problem of air blocking in breech-loading cannons and make the cannon more powerful.

After thinking about it, Zhu Youjian also felt that it would be more profitable to use it for artillery.

On the contrary, in terms of firearms, the electric gun is difficult to put into practical use.

Because the manufacturing of sub-guns was immature, it was difficult to produce bullets on a large scale like in later generations.

Moreover, the submachine gun has no primer and needs a fuse to ignite it.

This means that when loading the musket, it must be loaded at a certain angle to leave a firing hole to facilitate ignition with the fuse.

With this leaky firing port, leakage is inevitable no matter how good the locking method of the musket is.

It would be better to use it on artillery, where the impact would be relatively smaller.

So he approved of Lü Xiang's idea and asked him to improve the Portuguese cannon, trying both the wedge-type breechblock and the screw-type breechblock to see which locking method was more convenient.

The locking method of the electric gun also needs to be developed, but it is not for the main musket.

Instead, they improved the pistol and made a spring-loaded pistol that used a sub-gun.

Compared with rifles, pistols have lower range requirements, but higher firing speed requirements.

So Zhu Youjian asked Lu Xiang to make a spring-wheel hand cannon to see how much the firing speed could be increased and whether it could replace the crossbow.

If feasible, a spring-wheel musket with a longer barrel can also be manufactured. It is similar to the carbine of later generations and is used by cavalry and officers.

Cavalry needed a firearm that could be quickly loaded to replace the trireme.

Officers did not pursue long range, but needed weapons with fast firing speed for self-defense. Moreover, equipping these people with spring-wheeled muskets was not too expensive, and the court could afford it after they were manufactured in the future.

Therefore, Zhu Youjian ordered the development of spring-wheel hand cannons and cavalry cannons that used sub-guns, and included them in the research and development plan of the Equipment Research Institute as auxiliary weapons.

More effort was put into researching the breech block to improve breech-loading guns.

If the breech-loading guns can be close to the muzzle-loading guns in terms of power and range after using the improved breech block, then the artillery of the Ming Dynasty will mainly be breech-loading guns, and the muzzle-loading guns will be gradually eliminated.
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Zhu Youjian was just thinking about this change happily, but a piece of news from Jinyiwei made him angry and afraid:
"There was a civil unrest in the west of Beijing. The remnants of the White Lotus Sect and bandits attacked the palaces of the kings and the university town."

"The Royal Guards noticed it early and requested reinforcements."

Zhu Youjian had never expected that civil unrest would suddenly break out near the capital.

Especially the remnants of the White Lotus Sect and the bandits, which reminded him of the targets of the crackdown in the past two years:
Last year's severe crackdown in the capital was mainly aimed at combating bandits.

This year's severe crackdown in Beijing is aimed at illegal religious personnel.

Now that these two groups have joined forces, is it because the imperial court is putting too much pressure on them?
Or are there some people who are dissatisfied with the court's policies and use them to express their dissatisfaction?
Thinking about the property tax he had enforced and the land survey in Shuntian Prefecture, Zhu Youjian immediately issued an order:
"Summon the Privy Council to the palace."

"Mobilize the elite troops of the Imperial Camp... Warrior Camp, and quickly go to guard the various royal palaces and the university city."

"We must protect the royal family and the teachers and students of the university town, and no major problems should occur."

He originally planned to mobilize the main force of the Imperial Camp, but thinking of the unclear situation in the capital, he finally decided to only dispatch the Warrior Camp and let the winners of the martial arts conference lead the elite troops to quell the rebellion.

He used this battalion as a training camp, and the soldiers in it were either very strong in individual combat or capable of serving as middle or lower-level officers. If the number of rioters was small, they could disperse them.

However, more troops are needed to completely wipe out the rioters.

In the case that he did not want to mobilize the main force of the imperial camp, Zhu Youjian thought of another army belonging to the inner court that he could directly dispatch:
"Send a message to the Cabinet Grand Secretary Xu Guangqi and the Minister of the Imperial Guard Liu Qiao, and have them mobilize the new troops of the Patrol Battalion and immediately leave the city to quell the rebellion."

"We must eliminate all the rioters and prevent them from disrupting the situation in the capital."

"Tell Xu Xueshi that I look forward to the performance of the new army. Let him show the new army he has trained."

After issuing this order, Zhu Youjian felt a little relieved.

At this moment, he was extremely grateful that in addition to the Imperial Camp under the Imperial Stables, he also had control of the Patrol Camp.

The patrol camp under the Weiwei Temple also belonged to the Jinyiwei. This agency was included in the inner court and could be directly commanded by him with imperial edicts.

This gave him enough troops at hand to quell the rebellion without mobilizing the main force of the Imperial Camp.

As for the main force of the Imperial Camp, their task was still to guard the Imperial City to prevent anyone from making a feint to the east and attacking in the west, whose target was actually themselves.

After issuing these orders, Zhu Youjian ordered Cao Bianjiao of the Warrior Camp to stay and tell him to send a message to Cao Wenzhao of the Divine Machine Camp, asking him to prepare to send troops to quell the rebellion.

At this time, the ministers of the Privy Council rushed to the palace after receiving the news.

These people were also shocked by the civil unrest occurring near the capital. Some demanded that the capital be guarded, while others demanded that troops be dispatched immediately to quell the rebellion.

Seeing that these people seemed to be merely arguing over strategy, Zhu Youjian suppressed some of his doubts and, after declaring martial law in the capital, ordered Yuan Keli, co-director of the Privy Council and chairman of the Suppression of Rebellion Committee, to mobilize troops in the capital and preside over the suppression of the rebellion.

After learning that the emperor had sent the Warrior Battalion and the Patrol Battalion out of the city to quell the rebellion, Yuan Keli did not let the troops of the Beijing Battalion leave the city immediately. Instead, he sent them to patrol the city and take over the city gates to prevent possible unrest in the city.

Then he dispatched the cavalry from the Beijing camp to go out of the city to quell the rebellion. (End of this chapter)