Section 29 Cannon Foundry
But in order for people to know the benefits of mechanical equipment, seeing is necessary. [No pop-up novel website] Traveling through the world and not being able to bring everyone to Lingao to experience Lingao's industrial capabilities, the only way is to set a model on the mainland. Since Li Luoyou wants to build a gun factory, this is the best example. Wu De believed that the performance of these equipment in production would have a great impact on the indigenous people, enough to arouse their interest in new technologies and new equipment.
"In the late Ming Dynasty, industry and commerce were still very developed, and there were already a group of factory owners." Wu De said, "We won't be able to get involved in Jiangnan for a while, but Guangdong still has potential. We have upgraded the equipment to make it possible A number of new factories have sprung up locally, possessing relatively primitive but large-scale industrial production capabilities. This has laid a foundation for our future control and industrialization process in the Pearl River Delta."
In the long run, by controlling the equipment manufacturing industry, all manufacturing industries can be controlled. Such technology diffusion will not do any damage to Lingao's technological hegemony, and it can also stimulate Lingao's local equipment manufacturing industry through a steady stream of external orders.
"But can the people of the Ming Dynasty connect the artillery factory with productivity? After reading it, the most they thought was: This Australian artillery factory is very powerful, but that's all. It will not be connected with civilian industries such as weaving and spinning. .”
"Well, I'm also doubtful," Zhan Wuya said. "Modern people live in an industrial society and have basic industrial knowledge. According to the ancients, ordinary businessmen may not have this ability to connect."
"Probably the foundries would be aware of it. Like mechanized blowers."
"We cannot underestimate the creativity of the indigenous people," Wu De said. "Besides, windmills and water turbines already exist in China. What we provide is just an upgraded version with better efficiency and greater output. At least the value of these two Most people can understand it.”
At this time, Wen Desi coughed: "I would like to ask a question. According to our strategy, we adhere to the 'continental checks and balances' strategy of 'non-interference'. Now we are not selling cannons to the Ming Dynasty, but directly exporting cannon-making materials." The proliferation of tools and military technology goes against strategic policies. "
"I think it can be ignored." Wu De said, "Wang Zunde himself is a cannon maniac. Every time he organizes cannon casting, he often counts hundreds of cannons. We provide equipment just to make his cannons better quality and faster. A little. The most direct result is nothing more than building more cannons."
Wu De said: "In the end, even if we give them 12-pound Napoleon cannons now, I don't think the Ming army can do anything to build slaves. A few new weapons can't change anything."
More cannons will not save the fate of the Ming Dynasty. This is proven by history. Sun Yuanhua hired the Portuguese as a coach. The new army using Western firearms trained in Dengzhou was destroyed in the civil strife of the Ming Dynasty. This proves that "tools" cannot Save the Ming Dynasty. From this point of view, even if the time traveler sells some equipment to the Ming Dynasty, it will not produce a qualitative change in the balance of the continent.
"Everyone, I remind everyone not to forget one question." Yu Eshui jumped out again to remind everyone, "After Zheng Zhilong took care of him, he received a large amount of assistance from Xiong Wencan, from large warships to artillery. The Chief Secretary of Fujian gave He received a lot of assistance. Guangdong and Fujian are adjacent, and Wang Zunde is a major artillery manufacturer. It is very likely that some of the artillery will flow into the hands of Zheng Zhilong."
"Zheng Zhilong is too busy to fight Li Kuiqi now, otherwise he would have come to fight us long ago." Wu De disagreed, "Even if a few cannons fell into his hands, they would have been used on Li Kuiqi.
This issue was debated for a long time at the State Council, and finally a compromise was reached, which only exported hydraulic turbines, windmills, gearboxes, blowers and artillery boring machines, and did not export iron mold manufacturing technology - the latter greatly improved the productivity of artillery. . Although some people estimate that given the tragic financial situation of the Ming Dynasty, it is unlikely to build too many artillery.
Then someone proposed at the State Council that although technology diffusion is inevitable, it is best to have a specialized department to evaluate how to spread and which technologies to spread, so as not to pose a threat to the strategic situation.
Therefore, it was decided to establish a "Technical Coordination Office" under the Ministry of Science and Technology to be responsible for evaluating output technologies and products.
Li Luoyou didn't know that a secret meeting was held to discuss this issue, and he spent the next few days leisurely and traveling around. In order to show his strength, Liu San also arranged for him to visit everywhere.
The Holy Ship is now a popular attraction, and people like Li Luoyu who are qualified as state guests must go and see it. Early the next morning, Liu San accompanied him by carriage to Bopu and entered the Navy Pier surrounded by barbed wire.
Li Luoyou looked carefully at the Australian soldiers wearing blue uniforms and straw hats. They were different from the soldiers he saw in Dongmen City. In addition to the fact that the uniforms were blue, they also wore domed hats. A flat-brimmed straw hat with a black cloth band around it and two streamers hanging from the back of the neck.
Liu San prepared a new "certificate" for each of him and Quark, with eye-catching red stamps on it saying "valid for the same day" and "valid for one time".
After verifying the documents and documents, Liu San took them on a rowing boat and headed for the Fengcheng Ship.
When Li Luoyou stepped onto the deck of the Fengcheng ship, standing on this high and open deck, with the sea breeze blowing, his legs and feet suddenly became a little unable to move.
After finally calming down my breathing, I slowly stepped forward. The rough steel deck beneath your feet. Huge rusty chains. Li Luoyou carefully walked to the side of the boat and looked down. Below was the rippling blue sea water. He felt dizzy and quickly looked away.
Although it is a boat, I don't feel any shaking or heaving. It's really rock solid.
Li Luoyu touched the cold steel side of the ship. Such a ship was beyond his understanding. He pondered for a moment and asked Liu San: "This ship is so big, how can it sail?"
"Use a machine."
"Machine?" Li Luoyou asked, "If the machine is not pulled by horses and oxen, it is a windmill and water wheel. Windmills and water wheels obviously cannot be used. Could it be that there are many horses and oxen in the belly of the ship to drive it? How many horses and oxen are needed?"
"No matter how many horses and oxen there are, they can't drive it." Liu San thought that Li Luoyou had some knowledge and had the concept of "power". "It uses the power of steam."
In fact, Fengcheng uses large marine diesel engines. Liu San felt that he could not explain the concept of internal combustion engine, so he simply chose a simple explanation.
"Steam? Can you let me see it?"
"Why not? But the machinery on this ship is huge, and it's dark underneath, so you can't see clearly. It's similar to the factory but smaller."
"Can the machines used on the ship also be used in the factory?"
"Why not?" Liu San felt strange.
Li Luoyou stopped asking questions and stared for a long time at the glowing blue Armstrong rifled heavy cannon on the deck, at the circular sliding track below and the huge conical cannonball standing next to it.
Originally, he had always doubted whether this cannon was a Xibei product for show. Needless to say, how can such a giant cannon be propelled by human power? But such an iron ship can be driven from Australia, thousands of miles away, to Lingao, so what does this cannon mean?
The Australians have invested so much money here, and it turns out they still have such a sharp weapon.
Thinking of this, the hope of buying artillery from Lingao suddenly became very urgent. He suddenly whispered to Liu San, "Does your Majesty have any clues about selling cannons?"
Although Liu San has not received formal notice of this matter, the situation at the meeting has been officially informed to him. It's certain that selling guns is out of the question. He said vaguely: "I haven't heard about it yet."
"If the third master can help me with this matter, Li would be very grateful." He said with a wink.
Of course Liu San understood that, even if he said that he really had to help, just by letting out a little bit of news, the other party would soon have a valuable gift for him. Yesterday at Dongmen Market, the ginseng he wanted to give to Li Mei was unknown, but it was definitely not a bargain. This is just a gift to express goodwill. If he wants to win over him and ask for help, shopkeeper Li will not be merciful even if he has a hundred-year-old Laoshan ginseng.
But this kind of benefit is absolutely unacceptable. Yesterday, Li Luoyou wanted to give a gift to Li Mei, and a report was sent that night. He could only say vaguely: "You have to be patient in this matter."
Li Luoyou looked at the sea view and asked in an almost inaudible voice: "Who are there who need Li to take care of?"
Liu San had to pretend not to hear.
Li Luoyou was a little disappointed when he saw that none of these Australians were determined to accept any bribes. Thinking about it again, they are indeed not rare in ordinary treasures. As for ginseng and the like, people overseas probably don't know its benefits. It seems that only the honey trap can work.
After thinking about it all the way, he was taken to Bobu Arsenal. This is the main artillery manufacturing base of the Crossing Group. Here are 6 naval artillery pieces produced. However, the navy has a huge demand for artillery, and at this stage it mainly produces naval guns.
For security purposes, the arsenal itself was a fortress, with a tall rampart of stone foundations and red brick walls, a fortress-like main entrance and trenches. In front of the gatehouse, there are marine soldiers with loaded ammunition standing guard. There were constant roars and crashes from the towering red brick wall, and white and black smoke continued to emit from behind the wall. There is a strong and pungent smell in the air.
Li Luoyou hesitated for a moment, and looked at Quark with hesitation. This place looks scary. The two of them made the sign of the cross in unison and recited a verse silently before following Liu San in.
In the arsenal, there are iron frame houses one after another. Each house is as high as three stories. The door is open, and there are black steel machines inside, which are roaring tirelessly. On the railway road, workers pushed pulleys filled with iron ingots and steel blocks.
They visited the cannon casting workshop. The huge heat from more than a dozen iron furnaces operating at the same time made it almost impossible for the two of them to stand still. The workers were heavily dressed, with towels wrapped around their faces and black blindfolds.
The red molten iron flows towards the pouring port with a hissing sound. For a moment, smoke filled the air. Jean Quark coughed violently, covered his face and ran away.
Luoyou Li is much better in comparison. Since he wanted to undertake the business of casting cannons, he often went to the foundry to watch how the workers made cannons. So he couldn't bear it now - he really wanted to see how the famous "Australian cannon" was made.
It seems now that the Australian cannon-casting has not exceeded his expectations. He is still making molds and pouring. Of course, their scale is much larger, they use more tools and equipment, and they can work much faster than the workers in Foshan.
But he immediately discovered something different in the next workshop - the cast cannon embryo was actually solid. How to use it? I saw workers using a crane to lift the cannon embryos and send them to hot ovens for heating. At a certain time, they lifted the cannon embryos again. The red-hot cannon embryos were carefully hoisted onto an iron pulley and clamped on Between a pair of huge iron tools, the clamp then turned ninety degrees. The workers pushed the car to a large hammer-dropping machine.
Amidst the steam, Li Luoyou watched the huge hammer slide down from the top of the shelf, beating the red-hot cannon embryo fiercely. The workers operated the iron clamps and took advantage of the intermittent rotation of the hammer being lifted up again. Hold the cannon embryo and let the hammer hit it inch by inch. Red sparks burst out amidst huge hammering sounds. The hard iron quickly changes shape like dough under the hammer,
The huge vibration and heat made it almost impossible for the group to stay nearby for more than a minute. Li Luoyou looked at it for a while and his clothes were soaked with sweat.
The pungent smell, strong smoke, huge noise and the powerful force displayed by the machine, neither Luoyou Li nor Quark had ever seen such a scene. The biggest scenes Quark had ever seen were the woolen weaving yards and shipyards in England, but compared to this, they were simply quiet gardens.
Craftsmen wearing clothes stained black by smoke and sweat were working in the smoke and noise, operating huge machines. They were running and shouting, and more than a dozen people pushed a certain machine together, and their muscles bulged, one by one. Looks powerful. Li Luoyou couldn't help but feel horrified. It's like the devil's armory, the forge of hell
A fear filled his heart. He felt that he was losing self-control - God, is my soul going to be lost here? He prayed secretly, feeling that he should leave here immediately, but an unprecedented force refused to let him leave. He vaguely realized that he had seen something he shouldn't have seen. This was a kind of power, a power that no one in the world had ever seen control. A door suddenly opened to him, and he couldn't help but want to see clearly.
The forged cannon embryo was loaded on an iron pulley and sent away. Li Luoyou saw them again in the next workshop. He thought they must not have been forged just now, because there were still many cannon embryos piled in the workshop. There are many black machines installed here, with stone bases. On the roof of the factory, there are iron shafts that rotate one by one. Many belts extend from the shafts, rotating rapidly, driving many iron wheels to rotate.
The beaten steel ingots were placed on huge iron beds and moved slowly at an inclined angle. If he looked carefully, he found that the cannon embryos were spinning rapidly towards something that looked like a knife. , wisps of iron filings flew out from the gun body continuously. At the same time, the body of the gun was constantly dripping with unpleasant-smelling oil, which seemed to be flowing from the knife.
Soon, the rough and uneven cannon embryo turned into a shiny blue smooth surface.
Li Luoyou was stunned for a moment. "Iron is cut like clay" was the word that came to his mind. He has seen Japanese swords that can cut iron as well as mud, but they are made of the best steel and require countless efforts. They are also considered precious swords in Japan. Australians actually use such a precious knife to cut cannons
He was even more shocked at the next scene. The cannon embryo was fixed on a shelf. A multi-edged steel knife was flying and rotating in the middle of the solid cannon embryo. Iron filings were continuously brought out by the knife head, and were mixed with it. Black sewage. The smell of hot iron mixed with grease filled the air.
It turned out that the barrel of the cannon was drilled out with a knife. The Australians' knives are very powerful. Li Luoyu thought, this is not wood, it is a big piece of iron. At most, there will be a gap when the iron hits the iron. How can a hole be dug out?
Finally, he finally saw the finished product. The gun barrels of different sizes were gleaming green and mounted on the iron frame of the iron pulley. Li Luoyou secretly calculated that in this foundry alone, more than fifty cannons were being built at the same time in Foshan. With all the workers and raw materials available, it would take five or six months to build just one poured clay mold. You have to wait a month for drying.
"It's really breathtaking." Li Luoyou had a thrilling feeling. "No wonder everyone says that the Australians have unparalleled firearms in the world. The cannons made like this cannot be compared to how many blacksmiths pouring iron ingots and pouring molten iron can compare."
Quark also nodded: "Shopkeeper Li, this artillery factory is a hundred times better than the best artillery factory in Britain and Europe." He took a greedy breath, "If they open up their production capacity at full capacity, it will not be difficult to conquer the whole of China." "
"Can we expand production?" Li Luoyou was shocked.
"Didn't you see that many machines are not running?" Quark said, "If they were all switched on..." He shook his head, "Shopkeeper Li, I don't think it is necessary for you to ask me to run the artillery factory."
Li Luoyou didn't know that he had already negotiated the slave trade with the Travelers, and now that he had a faster and easier way to make money, he was no longer interested in setting up a foundry, so he just shied away from it. Li Luoyou thought he was being sincere and couldn't help but nodded and said: "It's just that this is a sharp weapon of the country, but others may not be willing to sell it."
Seeing that they were a little lost, Liu San quickly invited them to rest in the arsenal's office. He first sent hot towels and then sent someone to bring iced kvass. After the two of them calmed down, Li Luoyou immediately had a lot of questions to ask him; why didn't the cannon be made hollow instead of solid and then drilled out? What kind of knife can actually cut iron? Why beat the cannon barrel?
Liu San didn't know anything about all his questions. Li Luoyou thought he wanted to keep it secret, so he had no choice but to stop asking. In fact, Liu San didn't study engineering, so he didn't want to keep it secret. m! ~!
