When Yang Zhen heard that King Yan was coming, he quickly led his subordinates and rushed out to greet him. Seeing King Yan and Jiang Li, they quickly bowed and said, "I've met King Yan, and I've met the empress!" Yang Peng and others got off their horses. Yang Peng smiled and said, "No need to be polite!" Everyone straightened up.
Yang Peng walked into the gate of the ordnance field surrounded by everyone, and a bustling and busy scene immediately came into view. The sound of forging iron is deafening. Countless blacksmiths swing their hammers bare-chested, sweating profusely. The bellows keep inciting the flames, whirring, and strips of green and red flames rise from the furnaces to the sky from time to time. Here, The scene doesn't look like severe winter, it's clearly midsummer! Yang Peng said: "The festival is coming soon, you should rest for a few days."
Yang Zhen said with a sad face: "There are too many people, and there is no time to waste! I am worried that I will not be able to build all the equipment needed for the army before the spring!" Yang Peng glanced at the blacksmiths who were forging iron, and asked : "Are the blacksmiths and workers here all formal employees of the ordnance field?" Yang Zhen nodded, "Yes, they are all formal workers of our ordnance field."
Yang Peng said: "Since you are too busy, why don't you go to the society to hire people?" Yang Zhen was stunned and said: "Is this appropriate?" Yang Peng said: "As long as it helps solve the problem, it is appropriate!" Then he thought: "I don't blame you for this. I formulated the rules and regulations of your Ordnance Department, because the principle of confidentiality prohibits inviting outsiders!" Yang Zhen nodded and said, "That's exactly it!"
Yang Peng said: "This system is also necessary and cannot be modified to meet temporary needs. Let's do this. You can outsource the tasks in the ordnance field that do not involve military secrets to outsiders. You just have to pay a price and finally follow the instructions. Just receive the goods according to the quality." Yang Zhen's eyes lit up and he said: "This is a good method! It won't leak secrets and solves the problem of shortage of manpower!"
Yang Peng smiled, thought for a moment, and said: "Your Ordnance Department does not need to do this specifically. It only needs to list a catalog of outsourced tasks and submit it to the cabinet, which will make arrangements." "Yes." Yang Zhen Hold your fist and promise.
Yang Peng glanced at Yang Zhen and asked, "How many of those long-barreled threaded cannons have been produced?" After the ordnance field developed the long-barreled threaded cannon, Yang Peng ordered the ordnance field to stop manufacturing ordinary artillery and go all-out production. This long barrel threaded gun. Ling Zhen cupped his fists and said, "Reporting to King Yan, in accordance with King Yan's instructions, various ordnance factories are working hard to produce long-tube threaded cannons. So far, more than a hundred of them have been produced!"
Yang Peng frowned, "After such a long period of full production, only a hundred were produced?" Yang Zhen quickly explained: "It's really because this kind of artillery is much more complicated than the previous artillery! The barrel is longer, Casting is more difficult, especially making the threads on the inner wall, which is very laborious! Therefore, it took such a long time to produce about a hundred of them!"
Yang Peng nodded, and he could understand, because as far as he knew, the normal situation of rifling did not appear until the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and it was not until the nineteenth century that it really began to be used on a large scale, and long-barreled guns were The West did not appear until the fifteenth or sixteenth centuries.
The group arrived at the artillery processing area, and the scene immediately became quiet. Hundreds of technicians were seen assembling artillery under the guidance of technicians, and some were using primitive machinery to process rifling for the barrel. It was a human effort. Grinding wheel device, insert the grinding wheel into the barrel, and then the two people keep turning the handle, and they can hear the grinding wheel rubbing in the barrel.
Yang Zhen said from the side: "Everything else about making this kind of artillery is easy to say, but the process of processing the rifling is very time-consuming and laborious. If you don't pay attention, the rifling will not meet the requirements, and the entire barrel will have to be refurbished! Because of this, this kind of The cost of the artillery has far exceeded previous expectations!"
Yang Peng thought for a moment, glanced at Yang Zhen, and said with a smile: "You said so much, do you have any suggestions?" Yang Zhen cupped his fists and said: "King Yan, my subordinates have done experiments specifically on this kind of long-barreled artillery. If rifling is not processed, the power and range will not be much smaller than that of rifling! Therefore, I think it is better to cancel the rifling!"
Yang Peng said: "Be specific." Yang Zhen responded and said: "The range of the rifled one can be three and a half miles, and the unrifled one is a little more than three miles. As for the power, although the power of the unrifled one is smaller, it is smaller. Compared with the previous artillery, it is much larger. Bombarding the city wall within two miles is like destroying the dead! After canceling the processing of rifling, the production efficiency will be greatly improved, and the cost will be greatly reduced. The original production of one hundred guns was The money spent on the screw cannon can produce two hundred fifty or sixty ordinary long-barreled cannons!"
Yang Peng carefully considered the data Yang Zhen said and felt that it was indeed more cost-effective to produce ordinary long-barreled cannons than to produce long-barreled spiral cannons. He nodded and said: "Okay. Just adjust the previous plan. You guys Make a new plan as soon as possible and submit it to the cabinet for approval!" Yang Zhen promised with clasped fists.
While talking, everyone arrived in front of the factory. Yang Zhen ordered people to open the factory and then led everyone inside. Everyone saw that under the wall facing the door, something was covered with a blue tarpaulin and placed in a row. Yang Zhen hurriedly ordered people to remove the tarpaulin, and a row of more than thirty new long-barreled spiral cannons appeared in front of everyone, which was breathtaking! The black muzzle and the cannon body shone with the cold light of black iron, making people shudder!
Yang Zhen looked at these cannons as if he were looking at his own children and said: "These are all produced by the Tianjing New City Ordnance Factory!" Yang Peng nodded happily, while Jiang Li beside him couldn't help but said: "It's really breathtaking!" Yang Peng looked at Jiang Li and smiled: "In the future, hundreds of thousands of cannons will be arrayed on the battlefield, that will be truly breathtaking!" Jiang Li couldn't help imagining such a scene, and couldn't help but change her color slightly. , said: "Such a scene scares people to death, there is no need to fight!" Yang Peng said with a smile: "Wouldn't it be great if it was really like this! This is called subduing the enemy without fighting!" Jiang Li He pursed his lips and smiled.
Yang Zhen cupped his fists toward Yang Peng and said, "King Yan, this kind of cannon has no name yet. Please name it, King Yan!" Yang Peng saw the barrels of these cannons raised high, like giant pythons raising their heads. His heart moved and he said, "These cannons have no name yet!" , I think let’s call it Giant Python Cannon!” Yang Zhen said happily: “Thank you, King Yan, for giving me the name!”
Yang Peng glanced at Yang Zhen and said with a smile: "It's been such a long time, are there any new gadgets?" Yang Zhen's face immediately radiated red light, and he said excitedly: "This is about to hit Yan The king is reporting! Three new things have been developed recently. They are all giant cannons with a range of more than five miles and are extremely powerful! "
Yang Peng became interested as soon as he heard this and asked: "Is it more powerful than this giant python cannon?" Yang Zhen nodded vigorously and said: "It's much more! It's much more! It bombarded us from a distance of three miles. The experimental city wall, once shot over, once it hits, the wall will collapse like rotten tofu! It’s really shocking!”
Yang Peng's eyes showed surprise, "Is it so powerful?" Yang Zhen nodded vigorously, "Unparalleled power! Unparalleled power!" Yang Peng felt itchy and said, "Take me to see it!" Yang Zhen promised. With a sound, Yang Peng and others were immediately led to another independent warehouse. A group of people walked into the warehouse and saw a small mountain-like object covered with a black tarpaulin. Knowing that this was the giant cannon Yang Zhen was talking about, I didn't expect it to be bigger than I imagined. I couldn't help but be very curious and eager to see its true appearance in Lushan.
Yang Zhen quickly had someone lift off the tarpaulin. Everyone, including Yang Peng, couldn't help but widen their eyes, looking shocked. The giant python cannon we saw before was already a very big cannon, but compared with the giant cannon in front of us, it pales into insignificance. It is like the difference between a child and a strong man. It is really like a small mountain. , everyone stood in front of it, only feeling a huge pressure rushing towards them, and their hearts were awe-inspiring.
Yang Zhen said excitedly: "This is definitely the most powerful weapon in the world. Not to mention city walls, even stone mountains cannot withstand its bombardment! It can destroy all cities in the world!" Yang Peng nodded and thought: "This giant There is no doubt about the power of the cannon! But," he looked at the cannon and frowned slightly. When Yang Zhen saw Yang Peng's expression, he immediately became nervous and asked, "King Yan, is there anything wrong with this cannon?"
Yang Peng pointed at the cannon and said, "Have you ever thought about how to transport such a cannon?" Yang Zhen was stunned and frowned. Yang Peng said: "Although this giant cannon is extremely powerful, its weight is also terrifying! It is impossible to transport it on land! If it is transported by water, how do you get on the ship? Even if you can get on the ship, there is no big ship that can withstand such a weight!"
Jiang Li suddenly realized, "That's right! There is no way to transport such a huge cannon! To transport such a huge cannon to the battlefield, this, this is terrible!"
Yang Zhen said frustratedly: "My subordinate is so stupid that he didn't even think of this simplest question." Yang Peng patted his shoulder and said with a smile: "Don't be frustrated! If you dare to think and do it, that's a good thing. !" Yang Zhen looked at Yang Peng gratefully. Yang Peng glanced at the cannon and said: "Although this cannon cannot be transported to the battlefield, it is still useful. It can be placed in Yanjing City as a weapon to defend the city, and at the same time, it can also be visited by soldiers, civilians, and foreign envoys! "
Jiang Li smiled and said: "I wonder if foreign envoys will be so scared that they wet their pants when they see such a cannon!"
Yang Peng laughed. Yang Zhen and others also laughed. Yang Peng looked at Yang Zhen and said, "Didn't you say that we have developed three new things? What are the other two?" Yang Zhen said quickly: "The second thing was developed by us in the past two days. I call it a rocket launcher. !”
When Yang Peng heard the name "Bazooka", he couldn't help but feel very kind. When he first fought against the Khitan, he didn't see many rocket launchers! Then he became confused: 'Is it possible to build a rocket launcher in this era? 'When I thought about this, I couldn't wait in my heart and said to Yang Zhen: "Take me to see it quickly!"
The group of people came to another warehouse, and a tarpaulin was lifted, revealing three huge wooden shelves. This kind of wooden frame is basically a cube. The front of the wooden frame is like a honeycomb and is covered with holes for kneeling. Each hole is as thick as a fist. The overall appearance is very similar to the rocket launcher of later generations. Yang Peng's face showed surprise, and he hurriedly asked: "Where is the ammunition it uses?"
Yang Zhen hurriedly gave an order to one of his subordinates, who agreed, ran down, and came back a moment later with another person carrying a huge arrow. Yang Peng walked up to the arrow and found that the arrow looked like an ordinary arrow magnified a hundred times. There was a hole in the tail and a lead fell out of the air. Yang Peng bent down and looked at the hole, then stood up and asked Yang Zhen, "Is the hole behind this the gunpowder spray hole?"
Yang Zhen nodded and said: "The entire arrow shaft is made of white birch wood. The inside has been hollowed out, filled with gunpowder, and a fuse is pulled out from the end. Just like the old-fashioned rockets before, the fuse is ignited, and the fuse ignites the arrow. The gunpowder in the rod burns and pushes the rocket to fly out." Then he walked to the arrow, stretched out his hands to hold the arrow, and with a slight twist, he removed the arrow and showed it to Yang Peng. Yang Peng saw that in the arrow was a round earthen jar the size of a fist, with a hole in the bottom and a lead hanging from the earthen jar and connected to the arrow shaft. Yang Peng understood immediately and said with a smile: "This is actually a thunderbolt, which is connected to the gunpowder in the arrow shaft. Once the gunpowder in the arrow shaft burns to the bottom, it will ignite the fuse, which will then detonate the thunderbolt." !”
Yang Zhen smiled and nodded: "King Yan is wise, that's exactly what happened!" Then he put the arrow back. Yang Peng saw that although the rocket launcher was relatively simple, but compared with the rocket launchers of later generations, the basic principles in all aspects were the same, he couldn't help but sigh, and said to Ling Zhen: "You are really geniuses, you can actually build such a weapon! I really didn’t expect it!”
Ling Zhen and others were very happy, and then Ling Zhen asked cautiously: "King Yan, do you think there is anything wrong with this rocket launcher?" Yang Peng said with a smile: "This can be said to be a very perfect weapon, no matter it is It will exert great power in field battles or sieges!" Then his heart moved and he asked: "How far is the range of this weapon?" Ling Zhen said with some frustration: "It can only fly less than three hundred steps."
Yang Peng was surprised, because in his memory, the range of rocket launchers was much longer than that of ordinary artillery. The new national rocket launcher has a range of more than 300 kilometers, but ordinary artillery can hit 40 kilometers, which is incredible! Yang Peng asked: "Why is the range so close?"
Yang Zhen picked his head and frowned: "The main problem is the flying gunpowder. The gunpowder in the arrow shaft cannot be loaded very much. As long as it exceeds a certain amount, the gunpowder in the arrow shaft will easily explode. The other problem is the weight of the rocket. , after the rocket is enlarged, its weight increases a hundred times, making it much more difficult to fly."
Yang Peng nodded thoughtfully, thinking about how to solve these problems, but could not think of a solution. He smiled and said to Ling Zhen: "Solve the problem slowly, don't be anxious." Ling Zhen promised with clasped fists. Yang Peng thought: "Although the distance of three hundred steps is a bit short, it can still play a huge role in field battles!" After thinking about it, he murmured: "This rocket launcher truck, I want to discuss with all the cabinet ministers. Let's discuss and see how many are suitable to build first!" Then he asked: "How much does this kind of weapon cost?" Ling Zhen said: "The gun carriage is very cheap, but it is just a wooden frame. The main reason is that the rocket is very expensive and troublesome to make. , one rocket costs about two taels of silver!"
Yang Peng and others couldn't help but be speechless. Yang Peng laughed and said: "This is really like a cannon going off, and a thousand taels of gold are lost!" Yang Zhen smiled sheepishly.
Yang Peng asked: "What else is there?" Yang Zhen quickly led Yang Peng and others to his usual office. This is a not very big room. There is a desk in the middle with several large drawings on it. The walls are surrounded by huge bookshelves with many books on them.
Yang Peng smiled and said: "Is this third thing some kind of gadget? Why is it in your office?" Yang Zhen said: "It's not a gadget, it's a big, big thing." Then he bowed and said: "Yan Wang, sit down and let your subordinates go get those things." Yang Peng nodded. Yang Zhen immediately ran to a bookshelf and started rummaging through it.
Yang Peng walked to the desk, looked at the drawings on the desk, and saw that it was a schematic diagram of the expansion of the Tianjing New City Factory. Due to development needs, the Tianjing New City factory needs to be expanded. Yang Zhen has been planning this matter on drawings these days. Jiang Li walked to Yang Peng and whispered, "Can big things be hidden in the bookshelf?" Yang Peng smiled.
Yang Zhen came over holding a long cloth bag, untied the hemp rope without a mouth, and took out a large roll of paper. Jiang Li couldn't help but ask: "Is this the big thing you are talking about?"
Yang Zhen nodded and said, "This is what I want to say to you." Jiang Li was very surprised. Yang Peng smiled and said: "It must be a drawing of something?" Yang Zhen bowed and said: "King Yan is wise, it is exactly the drawing." Then he unfolded the drawing on the desk. Jiang Li was surprised when she saw it, and even Yang Peng couldn't help but be moved, "So big!" Yang Zhen said with a smile: "This was just sent from the Huainan Shipbuilding Yard a few days ago. This new type of warship , a huge improvement over the previous cruiser!”
It turned out that what Yang Zhen showed was a drawing of a new type of battleship. The battleship was also a pointed sailing battleship. It was very similar to the cruiser equipped with twenty-four cannons built by Yan Yun previously, but it gave people a more It feels thicker and more solid, and seems to be indestructible. At the same time, it is much larger. There are actually twenty-four gun ports on one side, which means that the entire battleship can be equipped with forty-eight guns, which is more powerful than the previous one. The cruiser is twice as powerful.
Yang Peng laughed and said: "Okay, okay! Forty-eight guns and artillery! This can already keep up with the main battleships of the West in the sixteenth century!" Yang Zhen was very surprised when he heard this and asked: "What is the 'sixteenth century'? Country, can they also build this kind of warship?"
Yang Peng uh-huhed, waved his hand and said with a smile: "It's irrelevant, it's irrelevant!" Yang Zhen saw that Yang Peng didn't explain, so he stopped asking. Thinking of something, he said: "King Yan, my subordinates carefully looked at the county data of this new type of warship and found that its width is much wider than the previous cruiser. It seems that the previous artillery is equipped with a good horse and a bad saddle. It feels like, right? Should we simply equip these newly produced python cannons?"
Yang Peng thought for a while, nodded and said: "Okay, we can just equip two warships. Let them produce two warships first and see. If they are really useful, they can then mass-produce them." "Yes. Please also ask King Yan for this." Name a new type of warship." Yang Peng thought for a while and said: "The appearance of this kind of warship is almost the same as that of a cruiser, but its size and power are different. Let's call it a heavy cruiser!" Yang Zhenmo read the name again. , said excitedly: "This name is really impressive, it feels like a heavy cavalry!"
Yang Peng and others came out of Yang Zhen's office. Yang Peng looked at the bustling production scene in front of him and said to Yang Zhen: "No matter how busy you are, you can't miss the Spring Festival! No matter what, you have to have a holiday on the Spring Festival! You can organize some activities. For example, having dinner parties, handing out small gifts, etc." Yang Zhen clasped his fists gratefully and said, "Thank you so much, King Yan!"
Yang Peng smiled and waved his hand, saying: "This is not a kind of grace."
At ten o'clock in the evening, Yang Peng and his party returned to the city. At this time, the sky has darkened and the lanterns have begun to turn on. Under the light of the lights, the entire Tianjing New City seems to be dressed in gorgeous costumes, which is magnificent and beautiful. The atmosphere on the street was more lively than before. Many wealthy families were performing in front of their houses. Gong Shangjiao Zhengyu's singing was everywhere. There were huge crowds of people everywhere, and from time to time they burst out with cheers like a mountain roar and a tsunami; by the lakeside Countless lantern riddles were hung by the river, and talented people and beauties walked among them, lingering; children seemed to have endless energy, chasing and playing around with lanterns and windmills; although it was already very late, every house But the shops are still open, and everywhere is busy and bustling. People who have not yet purchased their New Year's goods are busy shopping for New Year's goods.
Yang Peng and his party were walking among the happy crowd. Jiang Li couldn't help but said: "Everyone is living a happy life. This is all a gift from my eldest brother!" Yang Peng smiled and shook his head, "I can't say it's a gift! But it's not in vain after all. Busy work!" Jiang Li smiled and looked at Yang Peng, with infinite admiration in her beautiful eyes. In her heart, her eldest brother is God.
"Huh? It's King Yan! King Yan is here!" Someone suddenly shouted. As soon as he shouted, the people looked in this direction, and the originally noisy streets suddenly became quiet. Immediately, people knelt down on the ground and shouted loudly: "Greetings to King Yan..., long live King Yan!..." In an instant, the whole street was full of people kneeling, and it was dark.
Yang Peng muttered: "I didn't expect to be recognized even in casual clothes!" Jiang Li pursed her lips and smiled. Chen Xiao raised his voice and said: "No need to be polite, everyone, please get up!" The people shouted again: "Thank you, King Yan!" Then they stood up one after another. An old man, supported by his son and daughter-in-law, came to Yang Peng with a large bag of candied fruits. He raised the bag of candied fruits high with both hands and said excitedly: "King Yan is a great benefactor to our family! The little old man has nothing to repay. , I only have the candied fruits I just bought to offer to King Yan!"
What happened after all, let’s see what happens next.
