The next day, Liu Yan sent a fast horse to Lingshan Acropolis and asked the conduct officer Hu Zongming to dispatch a gunsmith. Hu Zongming responded to Liu Yan's request and directly sent a gunsmith named Cui Mingyuan. Several servants sent Cui Mingyuan over. In the evening of the next day, Cui Mingyuan, who was almost frozen, rushed to Wangjiazhuang Baihu Residence. At this time, Liu Yan had already arrived here with Qian Qian.
In the main hall of the Wangjiazhuang Hundred Household Office, a middle-aged man tremblingly held his fists in his hands and said: "My lord, my lord, and my little Cui Mingyuan, I have been ordered to come here..."
When Liu Yan saw this, he smiled and said, "I understand. Let's sit down and drink some hot tea to warm ourselves up. Later, you will have to learn the art of casting cannons from me all night long."
Cui Mingyuan is a nearly forty-year-old man. He is short and stocky with a long face, and his face is full of vicissitudes of life. He has been engaged in cannon casting in Lingshan Acropolis for more than ten years. He is considered an old cannon maker in Lingshan Acropolis and has the best cannon casting skills. one.
But when Cui Mingyuan heard that Liu Yan actually wanted to teach him how to cast cannons, he was stunned. This defensive master in his early twenties actually knew how to cast cannons?
Qian Qian, who had just been appointed as the flag commander of the artillery team and came to Wangjiazhuang Baihu Office with Liu Yan, was also surprised. He didn't expect that what Liu Yan said was true. Could he really know how to cast cannons?
Before Liu Yan rushed to Wangjiazhuang Baihu Station, he organized Qian Qian and all his subordinates into a banner establishment. A Tiger Cannon consists of a captain, an aimer and launcher, a loader, and a There are four gunners in total, and five Tiger Cannons make up twenty people.
Qian Qian, the chief flag officer and flag commander, also had a herald and trumpeter, a flag bearer, and four guards. There were a total of twenty-seven people in each artillery team.
Although the artillery team is not large, it is a new force in the Xiahezhai New Army. Liu Yan believes that with his own knowledge and the technical support of artillerymen such as Cui Mingyuan, the size of the Xiahezhai New Army artillery team will become larger and larger. The bigger.
At this time, Cui Mingyuan learned that Liu Yan knew how to cast cannons, and he was also surprised. He wanted to see what Liu Yan's cannon-casting skills were like. Cui Mingyuan was a well-known "technical maniac" in Lingshan Acropolis, and he was also curious at this time. Like a cat's claws.
So Cui Mingyuan hurriedly said: "Sir, I don't need to rest. I'm much better now. Why don't we go to the workshop now and have a look."
Liu Yan didn't refuse when he saw this. After all, time was tight now, so he smiled and said: "Okay, let's go to the Firearms Supervision Department now."
At this time, General Manager Chen Xun had already led his troops to gather at the Qianhu Station in front of Xiahe Village and was not here. Liu Yan took everyone to the Firearms Supervision Office. There was currently no place specifically for casting artillery, so Liu Yan called Tan Xiaoda to prepare to test the casting of artillery in the firearms workshop.
Tan Xiaoda was also very surprised when he heard the news, so he came together to find out.
So Tan Xiaoda directed his craftsmen to seize the time to make preparations and prepare all the iron materials and tools. During this period, gunsmith Cui Mingyuan also helped, instructing the apprentices and craftsmen to replenish some tools.
At the same time, Tan Xiaoda carefully selected 20 craftsmen from among his men as the main manpower for casting artillery, following the commands of Liu Yan and Cui Mingyuan.
Fortunately, the firearms manufacturing department has a lot of high-quality pig iron, so the main materials needed for casting cannons can be obtained directly.
Seeing that everything was ready, Cui Mingyuan also wanted to see what Liu Yan's technology was like and how it was different from the cannon-casting technology he knew, so he smiled and said: "Sir, shall we start cannon-casting?"
Seeing Cui Mingyuan's impatience, Liu Yan also smiled and said, "Master Cui, let's talk about the art of casting cannons first."
Seeing that Liu Yan wanted to test himself, Cui Mingyuan smiled. He had already done enough homework before, so he said: "I obey, little man. It is best to use copper for this cannon. In this way, the life of the cannon will be longer than that of pig iron." The completed cannon is much longer. If the cannon is cast from pig iron, the cost will be much lower, and pig iron contains less sulfur, which is also very suitable for cannon casting, so the villain suggests that we use pig iron to cast the cannon."
Liu Yan listened to Cui Mingyuan's words and recalled some information in his mind: Historically, the pig iron produced in the Fujian and Guangdong regions in the Ming Dynasty was known for its superior quality. The iron-making factories in this area used charcoal as fuel to make iron, which contained sulfur. The quantity is much lower than that of pig iron refined from coal in the north. Sulfur is a major factor that makes pig iron brittle and reduces its quality.
People in the Ming Dynasty could not understand this reason, but it became a consensus at that time that cannons cast in the south were stronger than those in the north, so that by the end of the Ming Dynasty, large-scale cannon casting was carried out in Guangdong.
Later, in the 47th year of Wanli, when Xu Guangqi was ordered to train troops to defend the capital, he suggested that the imperial court recruit craftsmen from Fujian and Guangdong to come to Beijing to cast cannons. In the third year of Chongzhen, he invited himself to Guangzhou to cast cannons. The reason was: "There are many craftsmen, the iron materials are particularly fine, and the price can be saved by one third..." In the early years of Chongzhen, Wang Zunde, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, once Just cast two hundred cannons.
Of course, these were the situations in the late Ming Dynasty, but during the Jingtai period, the cannon-casting skills and quantity in the southern part of the Ming Dynasty had begun to surpass those in the northern provinces.
However, the Daming artillery at this time had some shortcomings, that is, less powder charge, short range, and no front sight, making it impossible to aim accurately. The outer mouth of the artillery bore was wide and the inside was small, so it could not effectively gather gunpowder gas. The interior cannot be perfectly round, the bore is not bored, the size and shape of the shells can be arbitrary, the play of the shells is too large, etc.
In addition, the artillery has no lugs and is top-heavy. If the charge is too dense, it will explode when it is fired.
Therefore, before coming to the Firearms Supervision Department, Liu Yan had already made up his mind to improve these shortcomings of Ming Dynasty's existing artillery.
After all, Liu Yan had seen a lot of relevant information before traveling through time. Although he was not from a "scientific" background, he could still use his theoretical knowledge to thicken the wall of the artillery, increase the diameter of the artillery, and at the same time move the gun body from the front Later it becomes thicker.
In this way, the artillery cast by the Firearms Manufacturing Department will have many advantages in terms of range, lethality and safety.
At the same time, Liu Yan is also preparing to add a front sight and a rear sight to the new artillery cast by the Firearms Supervision Department to increase the accuracy of the artillery; add lugs to the gun body to facilitate the installation of the artillery on the gun carriage, and to adjust the shooting angle and movement convenient.
Before coming to the Firearms Supervision Department, Liu Yan had already drawn a sketch of the new artillery. The artillery to be manufactured this time was a smoothbore cannon, which could be roughly regarded as an imitation of the Hongyi cannon, but the original version was slightly more advanced.
What Liu Yan planned to imitate was a later 12-pound cannon from the French army in the early 19th century, and he improved it based on Liu Yan's knowledge, lengthening the barrel and thickening the barrel.
According to the design, the effective range of this gun is two miles, the maximum range is three miles, and the weight of the gun body is about 1,200 kilograms.
After Cui Mingyuan finished speaking, Liu Yan came back from his thoughts and handed over the drawings he had drawn.
Cui Mingyuan quickly took it with both hands and looked at it carefully. The twenty craftsmen nearby also gathered around. From time to time, everyone pointed in a low voice and even started discussing.
Liu Yan smiled and asked: "What method are you going to use to cast the cannon?"
A craftsman immediately said: "Sir, of course we have to make the clay mold first!"
Cui Mingyuan and other craftsmen also echoed.
Liu Yan was not very satisfied and immediately rejected everyone's proposal.
The method of casting cannons proposed by Cui Mingyuan and others was also the mainstream method in China and the West at this time, but it was rejected by Liu Yan. Cui Mingyuan and Qian Qian couldn't help but secretly thought in their hearts: "Master Defender really doesn't know how to forge cannons!"
In this regard, Liu Yan asked directly: "You use clay molds to cast cannons. What will happen to the water vapor in the clay after it encounters high temperatures? Once the high-temperature molten iron is poured in, as long as there is a trace of moisture in the clay mold, it will It immediately evaporates and forms bubbles in the iron cannon. These bubbles are a serious hazard to the cannon, and can easily cause the cannon wall to become weak, leading to the risk of the barrel exploding!"
Liu Yan was very familiar with the cannon casting technology of this era, so the questions he asked were also very professional and tricky. The craftsmen knew that Liu Yan was an expert as soon as they heard it.
Cui Mingyuan, Qian Qian, Tan Xiaoda and the craftsmen were all startled when they heard this. They didn't expect that Liu Yan, a defense officer, could actually understand such a professional issue. They looked at each other: It turns out that the defense master really knows how to cast cannons!
It was Cui Mingyuan who replied: "Thank you, sir! This clay mold is indeed easy to store water, so after we make the clay mold, we have to dry it for a month before using it. But even so, there will still be some slight moisture that will cause the copper cannon to form a hornet's nest. Under normal circumstances, on average, only one of ten cannons is usable."
"One in ten success rate?"
Hearing this probability, Liu Yan also frowned, obviously very dissatisfied.
Therefore, Liu Yan directly overturned everyone's suggestions and said: "What if we don't use clay molds, but use cast iron as the mold? There is no water vapor in the cast iron, and no bubbles will form. The yield will be greatly improved, right?" Moreover, the inner and outer walls of the cannon produced by casting the cast iron mold will be smoother, which can also reduce the workload of surface cleaning and cleaning of the inner hall!"
Cui Mingyuan and the craftsmen were dumbfounded when they heard Liu Yan's words. When they were apprentices, they used clay molds to cast cannons. They have been making cannons for many years using the skills passed down by their masters, but they never thought about it. Use cast iron to make the mold.
However, these craftsmen also have rich experience after all. After Liu Yan's suggestion, they immediately had a flash of inspiration and felt that using cast iron to make molds was indeed a good way.
Without the bubbles in the casting process, wouldn't every cast cannon be usable? There will never be so many defective products again!
However, Cui Mingyuan also thought of a specific question at this time, and asked with a smile: "This is a good idea, sir, but if cast iron is used to make the mold, how will the mold be separated from the artillery?"
Liu Yan had actually guessed that someone would ask this question, so he said: "When casting a cannon with an iron mold, the inner surface of the mold is first painted with a paint made of fine rice husk ash and fine sand mud mixed with water, and then painted Apply a second layer of paint made from extremely fine coal powder, then tighten the iron mold. While the gunner is still red-hot, remove the burrs and you can get the finished product. However, the specific proportion of this paint still needs to be considered by you."
The method mentioned by Liu Yan was actually recorded in Zhao Shizhen's "Artifact Book" in the late Ming Dynasty. Liu Yan also read it in detail before traveling through time, so he naturally picked it up easily.
Hearing Liu Yan's words, Cui Mingyuan and the twenty craftsmen fell into silence again. They silently thought about the method Liu Yan just said.
In fact, China is also the first country in the world to use metal molds to cast tools. As early as the Warring States Period, it began to use iron molds to cast pig iron agricultural tools and tools in batches. The double-layer coating used in iron mold casting mentioned in it is actually an evolution of traditional Chinese casting technology. It is not even Zhao Shizhen's first creation. This is still fresh in Liu Yan's memory.
Some people died, but not completely...
