lovenovelstory Chapter 78 "Designer of the Standard Rifle for 20,000 Han Dynasty Militia"
Chapter 78 "Designer of the Standard Rifle for 20,000 Han Dynasty Militia"
Chapter 78 "Designer of the Standard Rifle for the 20 Million Militia of the Great Han Dynasty"
Gun engineer Hall was noticeably hesitant about the cooperation terms proposed by the Great Han Institute of Physics.
Hall is already fifty-five years old this year; it's unknown how much longer he has to live.
Hall also has his own businesses in the United States, including a sawmill in his hometown of Massachusetts.
I worked for a long time in an arms factory in the United States, where I achieved standardized mass production of rifles.
However, the US military's orders were limited, totaling only around 30,000 units over the past decade.
Hall wasn't particularly sensitive to this kind of data, thinking that 30,000 rifles over a decade was already a lot.
But after learning about the situation of the Han army, Hall's worldview was quickly overturned.
The need for 20 million militiamen is considered almost limitless; the number is far too large.
Hall also felt that his standardized production technology was very suitable for the huge demand from the Han people.
So Hall came to the Han Dynasty hoping to secure a huge order, the key being the production of the largest number of mass-produced firearms.
But Hall hadn't expected that the Great Han wouldn't order rifles separately, nor would it pay according to the production quantity.
The rifles ordered by the United States were sold at a rate based on the market price of the rifles, with Hall receiving a percentage of the cost.
The Han Dynasty explicitly refused to take a cut, offering only a fixed technical support fee and an official position of unknown rank.
So Hall is now somewhat disappointed and conflicted, finding it difficult to quickly decide whether he should accept it.
Colt, who was in his early twenties, agreed on the spot.
In Colt's view, the Han imperial family and the court were the biggest investors in the Han Dynasty and the monopolists of all key basic industries, and other private and foreign merchants were not qualified to participate.
The Han army was indeed extremely large, and there was indeed a huge market hidden within it. However, this market was a closed market directly monopolized by the Han court, and outsiders had no chance to participate.
Military needs and production were handled internally, rendering military patents meaningless in the Han Dynasty.
Moreover, Colt himself did not apply for a patent in Han Dynasty.
Even if the Han Dynasty directly used his designs to produce firearms for the Han army without providing him with any compensation, he would not resist or change anything.
The fact that the Han Dynasty was willing to give me money to buy a nominal right of use was already considered generous.
Colt was more than happy to work as an engineer in the factory of the Great Han.
Colt already knew the status of Han Dynasty officials; obtaining an official position was equivalent to having political power in Europe and America, and one could directly manage certain specific positions.
Although the ninth rank is very low, only one rank higher than the lowest-ranking official, it is still an official position.
As long as the big man pays him the bare minimum, Colt is more than happy to add this resume to his resume.
You can use this resume to showcase yourself in various circles in Europe and America, thereby gaining tangible benefits.
"Designer of the standard rifle for the 20 million militiamen of the Great Han Dynasty"—this title is definitely a sensational one.
Moreover, the Han Dynasty court and army wanted to acquire Hall's production experience, and Colt wanted to acquire it as well.
Working with Hall on this project will allow me to learn from this experience and apply it in the future.
So Colt not only accepted the conditions, but also took the initiative to persuade Hall: "Mr. Hall, you may not have a concept of the rank of the seventh grade. Let me put it this way: "An official in the Han Dynasty who manages tens of thousands of people in a county, and an officer who manages ten thousand militia households, is only a seventh grade official."
"This position is equivalent to a government employee. Unless there is a serious misconduct, you will not be dismissed. At most, you will no longer be in charge of specific duties."
Even after retirement, when you no longer have to work, you will still have a monthly income to support yourself.
"Therefore, as long as one can become an official of the Han Dynasty, one will never have to worry about making a living for the rest of one's life."
"The key point is that our involvement in this project could potentially lead to the creation of the most produced firearms in history!"
"Just imagine the significance of being the designer of the standard rifle for 20 million militiamen in the Han Dynasty!"
After pondering for a long time, Hall asked the two burly Han officials opposite him, "How many of these rifles does the Han Dynasty plan to produce?"
The ordnance officer of the military council replied to Hall: "If this rifle is indeed effective in the army, it has a good chance of becoming the standard rifle of the Han army."
"If it were just for equipping the regular army, there would be at least a million units produced."
"If the militia were equipped with them, they might even produce tens of millions, or even hundreds of millions, of guns."
"It is precisely because of the enormous usage and the difficulty in simply calculating the price of military supplies that the Han Dynasty could not possibly pay patent royalties based on a percentage of the sales price."
"If you are willing to cooperate, the Ordnance Department can provide technical support fees, official positions, and long-term employment fees."
"If you refuse to cooperate, then Dahan will develop and produce similar products on its own."
"It just takes a little more time."
Hall paused for a few seconds, then, under Colt's gaze, accepted the arrangement: "We used to run a sawmill, and designing and manufacturing firearms is my personal hobby."
"The designer of the standard rifle for the 20 million militiamen of the Great Han Dynasty, this title is simply irresistible."
"Therefore, I have no choice but to accept your terms and serve the Han Dynasty from now on."
The Han officials laughed after hearing the translation: "From now on, you will be subjects of the Han Dynasty, and you will be our colleagues."
With the intention to cooperate confirmed, everyone began to discuss the details of the cooperation.
Analyze the current situation and theoretical design goals, and discuss the factory's organizational structure and compensation distribution methods.
And most importantly, the requirements of the Imperial Academy of Natural Sciences, the Governor's Office, and the Military Advisory Office.
Qin Yang, the director of the Military Industry Department of the Imperial Academy, first held up the firearms designed by Hall and Colt, and compared them with several other similar rifles prepared on site: "Your firearms designs have unique features, but they still seem to have flaws."
"For example, as a breech-loading gun, the gas leakage is still quite noticeable, which shows that no special effort has been put into this aspect."
"With the same amount of propellant as a muzzle-loading gun, the penetration power is reduced by at least one-third."
"The situation with revolvers is more complicated; besides gas leaks, there's a high failure rate, and they're not very easy to control."
"The defense industry had previously designed something similar, like these rifles and pistols on the table."
"We have listed the advantages and disadvantages of these firearms, which can serve as a design reference for you."
"You need to redesign rifles and pistols, incorporating as many key advantages as possible."
"In particular, we must focus on improving sealing performance and narrowing the gap in range and penetration between breech-loading and muzzle-loading rifles."
After hearing these questions, Hall explained, "My rifle was designed from the outset to achieve a higher rate of fire, rather than greater power and range."
"Break-loading guns cannot guarantee that they will not leak air at all."
"I have considered further improving the sealing effect, which requires increasing the strength and machining precision of the closure structure."
"This requires higher performance steel."
"The sealing structure of the firearms themselves, as well as the processing equipment, require higher performance steel."
"Processing equipment also experiences wear and tear, which leads to a continuous increase in tolerances —"
After listening to the translation, Qin Yang, the director of the Ordnance Department, immediately said, "We understand that air leakage is unavoidable when assembling guns, but we cannot simply abandon the design to improve the sealing."
"There's no need to worry about steel; Dahan has no shortage of high-performance steel."
"Since none of you brought any equipment, you can start designing and manufacturing the processing equipment from scratch."
"Where steel is needed, steel can be used directly without having to make do with wrought iron or pig iron."
Upon hearing this answer, Hall and Colt recalled what they had heard in the past few days.
The railways and trains of the Great Han were all made of steel, using almost an unlimited supply of steel.
Holwu was still somewhat surprised to hear Qin Yang's statement: "Is it really possible to use steel as much as possible? Can using steel really guarantee production?"
"Will it reach the million or even ten million guns you mentioned earlier?"
Qin Yang also gave a clear answer with a straight face: "Of course you can. Don't use the size of the smallest European and American countries to speculate on the scale of the Han Dynasty's industry."
"The railways and steam locomotives of the Great Han Dynasty were all made of steel."
"There will be no shortage of steel for making muskets."
After listening, Hall took a deep breath and then exhaled slowly: "If the Great Han can really guarantee a sufficient supply of steel, then we can go all out."
"Further improve the performance of processing equipment, thereby enhancing the performance of the firearms produced."
"This is exactly what I've always wanted to do, and now it can be realized in the Great Han Dynasty."
Qin Yang was satisfied with Hall's statement, which meant that the target was now confirmed.
Both Hall and Colt wanted to further improve their designs.
The goal is to design a completely new breech-loading rifle based on the Hall M1833 carbine.
The tentative name is the Hanchang Type 2 rifle.
Based on Colt's current revolver, design a rifled pistol that uses tin foil bullets.
The tentative name is the Hanchang Second Year Type Pistol.
The Institute of Geology arranged for artisans specializing in metallurgy, military industry, and machinery to collaborate with Hall and Colt, and to direct ordinary workers dispatched by the Governor's Office to establish a new arsenal and build standardized production lines.
The factory was located in Beitongzhou, east of Beijing, and the steel and machinery needed were transported in by train.
Apart from the arsenals overseen by Hall and Colt, the other foreign technology cooperation factories that were negotiated were also mostly located in Tongzhou by the Gewu Institute.
This location is close to the capital, making it convenient for direct management. It also has a train station and a canal, facilitating the transportation of materials and products.
It can also be separated from the industrial base in Shenzhou.
To prevent these European and American engineers from knowing how the Great Han produced steel and steel pipes.
They were made to believe that the Han Dynasty was simply far wealthier than Europe, and that the crucible steel it produced was sufficient to meet its production needs.
Only factory-supporting facilities like the Lusac Tower must be built directly within the existing factory.