Yang Fan stared closely at the blast furnace, watching the craftsmen constantly stirring the molten iron. Success or failure depended on this.
Fu Laoliu stared at the color of molten iron at the furnace mouth with wide eyes.
"Intensify the blast," he shouted at the people below.
Twenty apprentices were shirtless, wearing only crotch cloth, with muscles all over their bodies, working hard to push the rectangular bellows.
Shouting slogans and pushing the bellows.
"Hey, ho. Hey, ho."
"Work harder! Hey, ho"
"Go forward! Hey, ho"
Leader: Just bend down and push it up
Together: Hey, Hoo - Hey, Hoo
Collar: Stand up with the palm of your hand
Together: Hey, Hoo - Hey, Hoo
Leader: Be careful where you step
Together: Hey, Hoo - Hey, Hoo
Collar: Move your waist back
Together: Hey, Hoo - Hey, Hoo
Fu Laoliu saw that the firepower at the furnace mouth was not enough. Based on the experience of an old craftsman, he found that if the phosphorus mentioned by the master was removed, the melting temperature of the molten iron would increase, making it difficult to smelt.
If we had followed the previous method, we would have been able to produce molten iron a long time ago, but now the slag that the master mentioned has not been produced yet.
This is not difficult for the old craftsman Fu Laoliu. If the temperature is not enough, then increase the blast.
He yelled: "You haven't even eaten yet, work harder. Give me all the strength you need to support your mother-in-law."
As Fu Laoliu cursed, the style of the chant also changed.
Collar: Why are you bending over?
Together: Hey yo - Hey yo - Hey yo
Collar: Grab the pigtails
Together: Hey yo - Hey yo - Hey yo
Leader: It’s really beautiful.
Together: Hey yo - Hey yo - Hey yo
Leader: Don’t be greedy
Together: Hey yo - Hey yo - Hey yo
Leader: Where to stand in the wind?
Together: Hey yo - Hey yo - Hey yo
Leader: He is a good man
Together: Hey yo - Hey yo - Hey yo
Leader: Who can’t move?
Together: Hey yo - Hey yo - Hey yo
Leader: Which one is the most fucked up?
Together: Hey yo - Hey yo - Hey yo
As the blast intensified, the furnace mouth immediately started churning.
Pieces of black debris floated up, and Yang Fan stood on the wooden shelf and watched. It feels a bit like the foam from eating hot pot.
If the blood is not drained cleanly when a sheep is killed, foam will appear on the slices of meat when cooked.
The same goes for iron ore, which contains high impurities and produces a large amount of slag.
"Brothers, there's something wrong!" the old craftsman Bai Laosan shouted loudly.
All the craftsmen were excited.
The master is truly a god.
There are indeed these pickled things in the molten iron.
No wonder the previous iron barrels always exploded.
"Remove the slag!" Fu Laoliu shouted.
The craftsmen immediately used shovels to push the slag toward the slag outlet.
As the slag continues to float, it is continuously removed.
Until there is no more slag.
"Master, we can produce molten iron now," Fu Laoliu shouted loudly.
"Tap out the molten iron" Yang Fan shouted the order.
Pig iron is hard and brittle and can only be cast, not forged.
In order to forge, mature iron must be smelted again.
Fatty Wu specifically explained that the gun barrel cast by Yang Fan had sufficient hardness and strength, but lacked toughness and could not be charged too much. If it was loaded like a blunderbuss, it would still explode.
A fire gate gun is a fire gate gun with a small charge and a short range. Now it has been eliminated by the matchlock gun. Yang Fan didn't dare to equip blunderbuss on a large scale, and he didn't have enough time, so he had to resort to this helpless method.
The effective range of the fire door gun is only 356 meters, the effective range of the bird gun is at least 80 meters, and 150 meters is still lethal to people without armor. Of course, the premise is that you can still shoot at such a long distance. If hit.
Fatty Wu just helped Yang Fan realize the single-barreled fire door gun.
And he talked in detail about the shortcomings of the fire door gun. If it is actually used, it should not be loaded with more than five rounds. The front ammunition is too close to the muzzle, the bullet travel is too short, and the gunpowder is not fully burned. The lethality of the shot is not enough. At a distance of 35 meters, when facing a cavalry charge, the time to shoot is very precious. Being able to fire five shots is already very good.
After all, it has no lethality and wastes more shots than it is worth.
Molten iron begins to pour into the mold.
Soon the five molds were burned red.
After waiting for a while, the barrel was formed.
Fu Laoliu began to instruct the apprentices to dismantle the mold.
Clamp the red barrel with iron pliers and throw it into the oil tank.
With a bang, the oil tank boiled and then burst into flames.
Here the mold starts the next round of casting.
By nightfall, a large number of barrels had been recast.
When Yang Fan held this newly cast gun barrel, there should be very few bubbles and cracks.
According to the data given by Fatty Wu, the gunpowder was re-weighed and prepared to start the test firing.
One round was loaded and tested, successful.
Two rounds of loaded ammunition were tested and fired successfully.
Three rounds of loaded ammunition were tested and fired successfully.
Yang Fan breathed a sigh of relief. Last time, three rounds started exploding.
Five rounds of loaded ammunition were tested and fired successfully.
Seven rounds of loaded ammunition were tested and fired successfully.
Nine rounds of loaded ammunition were tested and fired successfully.
Yang Fan was overjoyed, which meant that the Nine-section Repeater was successful. There was no ignition of the gunpowder behind. They are all fired in sequence, that is, the ones fired first are less powerful, and the ones fired later are more powerful. Just the opposite of the enemy getting closer and closer on the battlefield.
Then began destructive experiments, which was to increase the single-shot charge little by little to see how many times the increase would cause the chamber to explode. This data will henceforth be the standard for safe use of this product.
Double the charge, single bullet firing, safe.
Triple, launch, safety.
Four times, launch, safety.
Five times, it explodes.
Subsequently, the experiment continued with fifty barrels.
Finally come to a conclusion.
It is very safe to charge up to three times.
When work stopped at night, Yang Fan calculated that if work continued in three shifts, one mold could make a hundred gun barrels.
Five hundred gun barrels can be produced in one day and one night.
Although the effective range of this kind of gun barrel is not as far as that of a bow and arrow. But even with five rounds, the firepower is far greater than that of a bow and arrow, and it can penetrate triple armor within 20 meters without any problem. A person wearing forty pounds of armor can run twenty meters, which is enough time to fire five shots.
There's always a bullet to knock him down.
There is no need to learn this thing. Anyone can use it, whether they can ignite it or reload it.
A qualified archer needs to train for more than three years, and it takes three years to make a bow. The training and equipment of an archer are very expensive.
Once iron is mass-produced, it will be so cheap that you will doubt your life.
Yang Fan ordered to start work at full strength, working in three shifts, and first build 10,000 pieces.
Let your team practice hard, but if it's broken, it won't make much money to go back and practice again.
But it takes some labor and charcoal.
You can prepare the gunpowder yourself. After all, you bear the identity of a hundred households.
If you don’t use it yourself, you can sell it and make money.
The government allows this thing to be used by group training.
Although the law does not allow private possession of firearms among the people, it has long been allowed to go unchecked.
It's not bad to sell it to caravans. At least it's very useful for merchants to use it to fight the unarmored Mongolians on the grasslands and the bandits blocking the road.
I also have a hacksaw here. If I cut off two pieces, I can use it as a carbine, and if I cut off three pieces, I can make a handgun.
But in this case, you have to install a wooden stock and a butt.
Otherwise, you have to burn your hands.
Song Yingxing hadn't heard the sound of a barrel explosion since he heard it in the backyard all night long the day before yesterday. In his heart, he thought that Yang Fan had given up on this unrealistic idea. He continued to study his red cannon.
In Xinglonggang outside the city, the banner was raised again and recruitment began again.
"Listen up, we are recruiting 150 carpenters this time. Those who can do carpentry work will line up and come for the exam. On-site test. The monthly salary is 100 pure copper coins."
In the past few days, Yang Fan's company recruited soldiers, workers, and took away as many as 20,000 of their families. But the scale of the refugees continues unabated.
The news that there are good jobs in Zunhua has spread throughout Northern Zhili.
More refugees are coming here.
