Chapter 211
"boom!"
With this loud noise, a ball of orange fire burst out from the barrel, smoke rolled up, and the ground shook violently as if it was an earthquake. The guys who were hiding in the distance to watch the excitement were weak. , all turned into gourds, and their ears were buzzing as if someone had slapped them hard!
A lot of gravel was thrown up high and fell like hail, leaving everyone with a gray face. However, everyone did not have any overreaction to the dust on their faces. Their faces turned pale, obviously because of the thunderous explosion. Hibiki was scared!
Not only Cheng Shijie, but also the surrounding craftsmen and technicians, and the workers in the Gunnery Bureau factory further away were also frightened. They could be seen jumping up and down from a few hundred meters away!
Don't blame them, most people have never heard such a terrifying loud noise in their lives, and it is normal to be scared out of their wits. Amidst the smoke, Cheng Shijie was still calm.
Because he knew the power of artillery shells in later generations. Today's five-inch cannon with thirty times the caliber, converted into later generations' units, is larger than the caliber of a 155mm howitzer. Because the caliber is large enough, the shells are also large enough. Generally, The weight of the 155mm howitzer shells of later generations was between forty and at least fifty kilograms, and the charge was also about ten to fifteen kilograms.
Although Ning Haijun's artillery is far less advanced than later generations, the problem is that Ning Haijun's gunpowder and warhead now use nitrocellulose.
This is a very powerful explosive, even more powerful than TNT. Even the most perfectly formulated black powder has an explosive power equivalent to only 30% of TNT. But the problem is that nitrocellulose is very sensitive. , is also prone to explosion. If the environment is too humid, it will lose sensitivity, become difficult to detonate, and become ineffective.
In the autumn of 1863, Nobel successfully invented nitroglycerin. In October, he obtained the patent for nitroglycerin dynamite and established the Nitroglycerin Explosives Company.
Nitroglycerin is extremely powerful, two or three times more powerful than black powder. Its emergence has enabled humans to truly possess the explosives needed to make high-explosive shells. Before its appearance, the lethality of so-called black powder was pitifully small. It could only produce a dozen pieces of shrapnel at a time. It was simply a dream to rely on this small amount of shrapnel to kill a large number of enemy troops.
But the problem is that nitroglycerin is too sensitive, so nitroglycerin is also called "cheating oil." Using diatomaceous earth or flour to absorb the yellow solid made from nitroglycerin completely solves this problem. Yellow explosives are very safe.
The inventor of gunpowder in Ning Haijun is Chen Yiming. Chen Yiming is a fireworks craftsman for generations. Starting from Chen Yiming's ancestor, Chen Shigui during the Hongwu period, he has been engaged in gunpowder work for generations. Because he invented granular black powder and improved the power of gunpowder, Cheng Shijie rewarded him with one thousand taels of silver and 200 acres of land.
Chen Yiming went crazy and experimented. In the experiment, he mixed nitric acid with cotton to make nitrocellulose. In fact, Ning Haijun did not solve the absolute safety problem of nitrocellulose, but only adopted an isolation method, including this flowering shell. First of all, A small copper tube, with water at one end and quicklime at the other end, sealed with paraffin in the middle.
Nitrocellulose will explode when the temperature exceeds 40 degrees, so when the cannonball falls on the ground or in the water, the paraffin in the copper pipe will pierce the paraffin film, and a chemical reaction will occur between the water and the lime, producing a large amount of heat, thereby detonating the nitrocellulose.
In other words, the explosive power of nitrocellulose is 1.5 times that of TNT. Due to the large size of nitrocellulose, the amount of explosive charge is not as good as that of TNT in the same volume, so the power of the two sides is actually about the same.
As the cylindrical shells fired from the five-inch breech-loading rifled gun rotated to the right under the influence of the twelve riflings, they flew towards the woods to the south of the gun and artillery bureau, only to the woods immediately ahead. An orange-red fireball rose up.
Cheng Shijie didn't see clearly how far away it was, but he felt that it was at least more than 3,670 meters. The range of this kind of artillery was much greater than that of a three-inch gun.
"Go over and take a look."
Cheng Shijie didn't even have time for the observer to report the results, so he mounted his horse and ran towards the place where the shell fell. Huang Lidong, Chen Yiming, and the foundry gunner Luo Ruwang who was responsible for the development of the new five-inch cannon. Luo Ruwang was brought in by Sun Yuanhua. The foundry master, when he was in Dengzhou, could receive 600 taels of silver a year from Sun Yuanhua. This income was considered top-notch in Dengzhou.
Cheng Shijie is even more wealthy. His income has increased more than ten times because he has seventy apprentices. The cost of taking apprentices every month is more than three hundred taels of silver. Adding his salary and subsidies, it is a full six More than a thousand taels of silver.
Cheng Shijie has a point of view, that is, once you have enough money, your brain will be enlightened. With Cheng Shijie's generous reward, Ning Haijun's scientific research level has rapidly improved.
After more than ten minutes, Cheng Shijie finally arrived at the explosion point of the shell. At this time, the place seemed to be swept by a tornado. Dozens of hundreds of big trees were blown to pieces. One hundred and fifty steps away from the explosion point, there were actually There are shrapnel embedded in the tree trunk.
This power is quite awesome.
The power of this five-inch gun is really incredible. This era-defining artillery uses nitrocellulose as propellant and nitrocellulose as the explosive warhead. As long as one shot hits, any sail warship in this era can be killed. Got it! "Commander, our test shot lasted 3,782 steps!"
In the Ming Dynasty, one step was five feet, equivalent to 157.5 centimeters, and the range was nearly 6,000 meters. Of course, this is not the farthest range of this artillery. The firing angle is fundamentally different, which should be between 500 meters and 8,000 meters.
The age of artillery is coming.
Cheng Shijie saw that this new five-inch gun could not be used by infantry, so he asked: "Luo Ruwang, how much does this gun weigh?"
"Commander, the total weight of this cannon is 3,462 kilograms!"
Cheng Shijie fell silent when he heard this. In the Napoleonic era, the French four-pounder gun weighed 560 kilograms, which is 1,120 pounds, and needed four horses to pull it. This was based on the fact that European horses were of good quality and the gun carriage structure was reasonable. basically. The average Napoleonic artillery battery required thirteen horses per gun.
Given the conditions of horses in the late Ming Dynasty, it was impossible for two horses to pull a 3,600-pound five-inch cannon. On better road conditions, especially on the newly built official roads in southern Liaoning, there is no problem in pulling this kind of artillery. However, it is impossible for all artillery used by infantry to move well, and the situation where there is no road must also be considered. What's more, today's Ning's navy and army became more like mules and horses, and the troops marched faster.
In this case, the artillery division of the Ning Navy had no way to equip five-inch cannons, even if such five-inch cannons were powerful, because the cannons were heavy and basically limited the speed of the army.
Just like the Jiannu Army, there are actually a large number of artillery, but the problem is that most of these artillery are relatively bulky Hongyi cannons, ranging from three thousand kilograms to five thousand kilograms. When Jiannu was fighting against the Ning Navy , often the cavalry in front fought for several days, but the artillery failed to catch up.
What's more, the current Ning Navy and Army have no urgent needs. The key to the problem is that this kind of five-inch gun will also be classified as a heavy artillery in later generations. If it is loaded on a wooden sailing ship, can the sail warship withstand the huge rear force? Seat strength?
When Cheng Shijie asked about other data about this artillery, neither Luo Ruwang nor Huang Lidong could tell a reason, because the development method of this artillery is like kneading noodles. If there is more water, add more noodles. If there is more noodles, add more water. Come and add, such a monster was added.
In later generations, there is a saying that there is a mathematical way to measure everything. But the problem is that the mathematics of Ming craftsmen is generally not good. Cheng Shijie's mathematics is barely average. However, in the Ming Dynasty, he could crush most mathematics masters.
In desperation, this new five-inch gun can only be installed on the Jusha-class and slowly tested.
"You have done a very good job. You have made great contributions to the success of the five-inch rifled gun. With this weapon, our army may be able to reverse the outcome of a battle and save the lives of thousands of soldiers. !”
The question that Cheng Shijie is most concerned about: "How many can this five-inch gun make?"
"The commander-in-chief means..."
"Two months!"
Cheng Shijie planned to catch Zheng Zhilong off guard at the end of December, during the Chinese New Year. Otherwise, he would be beaten to death if he didn't take action.
Now Cheng Shijie is deliberately shouting and killing in Liaodong. It is certain that Zheng Zhilong has many informants in Liaodong. Cheng Shijie's every move cannot be hidden from them. In this way, it can give Zheng Zhilong an illusion.
Cheng Shijie had nothing to do with Zheng Zhilong, so he could only talk about it.
"Six doors!"
"No, at least twelve doors!"
"Commander, this cannon is too problematic..."
Before Luo Ruwang could finish speaking, Cheng Shijie said: "We currently have two giant shark-class battleships that will be commissioned, and I am planning to install five-inch guns on them!"
After leaving the Gun and Artillery Bureau, Cheng Shijie visited the Gun Powder Manufacturing Factory of the Gun and Artillery Bureau, which was producing gunpowder around the clock.
At present, the application of the new explosive nitrocellulose is becoming more and more widespread. It is indispensable for mining and road construction. It is even used to blow up the dangerous rocks on the waterway and dredge the waterway. Therefore, the business of the gunpowder factory is booming.
Shiploads of nitric acid, cotton, tar, flour, and yellow phosphorus were sent over, and then turned into collodion, collodion, and other stuff necessary for murder and smuggling. Guncotton and nitrocellulose glue are stored in the arsenal. Guncotton is the propellant for gun and artillery bureau bullets and artillery shells, and the demand is very huge.
“How much inventory do we have now?”
Chen Yiming replied: "We currently only have 50,000 kilograms of inventory, which is divided into three warehouses: Dongshan, Nanshan, and Lantau Island. We must use some of it. It is dangerous and takes up space to pile up in the warehouse..."
"Don't worry, I will take care of it."
Cheng Shijie knew that once a fight with Zheng Zhilong started, the demand for gunpowder would definitely increase greatly. Fifty thousand kilograms sounded like a lot, but the problem was that it was only twenty-five tons of gunpowder.
"The storage capacity of 50,000 kilograms is not enough, far from enough. I need you to increase your production capacity immediately. The strategic reserve needs at least 100,000 kilograms."
Overall, Cheng Shijie was very satisfied with the results of this inspection. His arsenal already has a very strong production capacity and has accumulated a considerable ammunition inventory, which is enough for him to fight a big war.
The satisfied Boss Cheng once again rewarded those hard-working craftsmen and skilled workers, and then left with satisfaction, heading to the Agricultural Sciences Research Institute in Zhenhai City.
Chen Zilong, Song Yingxing and a large group of agricultural technical experts from the Western French Party are working in full swing.
At the beginning, Cheng Shijie was worried that these more than 100 agricultural experts would leave Liaonan, so he specially ordered the garrison officers of the Zhenhai Defense Bureau who were responsible for protecting them. If any of them wanted to leave, they must be stopped and reported as soon as possible. Cheng Shijie.
As a result, Cheng Shijie overthought. Although Xu Guangqi taught a large number of agricultural students, the problem was that Xu Guangqi did not have a huge amount of money to support their research.
When they were in Shanghai, they didn't even have an experimental field, but Cheng Shijie was very generous and directly allocated them a county seat in Xinghai. Not only did they provide more than two million acres of land, these lands included both fine dry fields and There are also good paddy fields, hills, pastures, and even a large number of virgin forests. Five thousand military households have been selected to work in the fields and accept their command.
It not only solves the educational problems for the children of these technical experts for Zhenhai Academy, but also provides them with good living conditions, good living conditions, and sufficient funding for scientific research. These agricultural experts who devoted themselves to research lived a very happy life.
When Cheng Shijie arrived, Chen Zilong was still worried that their hybrid wheat and rice projects would not yield results, so he took Cheng Shijie to a research group developing pesticides.
Of course, the weather at the end of the Ming Dynasty was abnormal in Xiaoglacier, and there were a lot of pests and diseases, which were almost endless, especially yellow spots. Although in Liaodong in the sixth year of Chongzhen, there was no drought or rain-related disasters. But the problem is that in most areas of Shandong and Henan, a certain degree of maculopathy has appeared.
Based on years of experience as farmers, these agricultural experts have formulated several pesticides. For example, if wheat is mixed with messy things like castor oil, spirits or even tobacco water before sowing, the disease resistance will be greatly enhanced. . Another example is grinding the fruits or roots of Chongtianzi into powder and mixing it with water and spraying wine on crops, which can kill a large number of pests and so on.
At least half of the credit for Ning Haijun's military fields getting such a good harvest this year can be attributed to these pesticides. The advantage of this kind of pesticide is that it is completely natural and will not contain any pesticide residues. You can safely eat it once the validity period has expired. Even if there are pesticide residues, people nowadays will not care. In order to survive, you even eat Guanyin soil, why are you still afraid of this little pesticide residue?
What makes Cheng Shijie feel most incredible is that he just proposed a concept, and now they have built a greenhouse. Although there is no plastic sheet, they use glass to make the greenhouse. And in the middle of winter, juicy vegetables, bright red tomatoes and even thick and long cucumbers are also grown.
In the eyes of Liaodong people, these agricultural experts who work together all day long to make messy things are simply gods!
Under the leadership of Chen Zilong, Cheng Shijie visited the Pesticide Research Institute and then came to the greenhouse outside Zhenhai City. The greenhouses here already covered hundreds of acres. In fact, Cheng Shijie was not curious about greenhouses. In later generations, such greenhouses He has seen a lot of stuff. He was very satisfied with the work results of the Agricultural Research Institute, and the 450,000 taels of silver he allocated each year were not in vain.
You must know that this is nearly one-twentieth of the Ming Dynasty's fiscal revenue. No wonder these agricultural experts are unwilling to leave Liaonan. This is entirely due to Cheng Shijie's ability.
…
More than a dozen transport ships, signed by the Sha Chuan Gang or Ning Haijun, were escorted by the Zheng family's fleet and entered the Xiamen port dejectedly. The goods worth hundreds of thousands of taels of silver all became the Zheng family's trophies.
A group of sailors happily carried several boxes of the most exquisite goods onto the pier. The person responsible for this operation was Shi Daxuan, one of the Eighteen Zhizhi. Shi Daxuan was not famous among the Eighteen Zhizhi, but he had a son who was very famous. The traitor Shi Lang.
Shi Daxuan said to Zheng Zhilong who was waiting here: "Admiral, the man named Cheng has sent us another hundred thousand taels of silver!"
Zheng Zhilong squatted down, picked up a few pieces of goods, looked at them with interest, and said, "Yes, they are all very valuable goods! Are these the only ones?"
"The biggest ones are actually grain and raw silk!"
Shi Daxuan said excitedly: "Admiral, guess how much food there is?"
"how many?"
"Sixteen ships full, totaling more than sixty-four thousand stones!"
Zheng Zhilong smiled: "I would also like to thank Cheng for helping me raise troops!"
Zheng Zhilong told the truth. These grains were all high-quality rice, although the value was not high because Jiangnan was rich in rice. But the problem was that in the late Ming Dynasty, if you had grain, you had everything. You could recruit soldiers and hoard it for profit.
Zheng Zhilong would not sell the grain. Although he had more than 100,000 people working in the fields for him, the grain produced was barely enough to eat, and it was far from being a good or full meal.
Most of the money Zheng Zhilong earns every year is used to purchase battleships and artillery. You must know that Zheng Zhilong does not have his own R&D team and his own factory like Cheng Shijie. Zheng Zhilong has three shipyards, but the problem is that he cannot build his own cannons. These artillery must be imported from the Netherlands. purchased from people or the British.
Of course, the British did not follow their good intentions. The British and the Spanish Empire fought a great naval battle more than fifty years ago, the Battle of Graveline. After the naval battle, the British did not have enough financial resources to support such a huge navy. Can retire step by step. You must know that this is a battleship with more than 3,000 naval guns. Although the battleship is in a state of decay, the guns can still be used.
These old naval guns that had been in existence for fifty or sixty years were not cheap when they were sold to Zheng Zhilong. One gun cost two to three thousand taels of silver, and ten guns cost two to thirty thousand taels of silver. In addition to the expensive naval guns, the shells are also not cheap.
It can be said that apart from part of the protection fee collected by Zheng Zhilong to support the army and part to satisfy his luxurious life, most of it returned to Europe.
Zheng Zhilong's army of 200,000, the navy is better, and most of the army is slightly stronger than the Ming army. They also have poor food and can only eat two meals a day.
Zheng Zhilong looked at the supplies and said: "These woolen cloths, carriages, and lumber, contact the buyers in Jiangnan and sell them to them at a 20% discount!"
"Okay!"
Shi Daxuan pointed at these sailors and said: "These guys..."
"As for these guys..."
Zheng Zhilong pointed at the frightened Guangdong sailors, "Can you throw them into the sea to feed the fish? I want to see if they are really not afraid of death and dare to ignore my warnings again and again and set sail to sea!"
Zheng Zhilong's eldest son, Zheng Sen, couldn't help but persuade: "Father, is it necessary to make things happen like this? They all paid protection fees to our Zheng family. We not only robbed their goods, but also took their lives. In other places, What will the maritime merchants think if they find out?"
"I don't care what they think. In short, I don't want to see another sea ship sailing out of Guangzhou, bypassing us and trading directly with Xiyi, even if it pays us protection fees!" Zheng Zhilong patted Zheng Zhilong hard. Sen's shoulder said with deep words: "Sen'er, you must remember that there can only be one king in this sea!"
At this moment, a captured sailor said: "We are from Ning Haijun. They robbed our goods. We can still negotiate, but if we kill our people, there will be no way to solve the problem!"
"I don't believe Cheng Shijie dares to be my enemy!"
To be honest, Zheng Zhilong still admires Cheng Shijie. There are really too few people who can make slaves suffer repeatedly. However, now he is on the opposite side of Cheng Shijie. This is also due to his own interests. When he threw a group of sailors from the Shachuan Gang into the sea, he had no psychological burden. To him, this was just a way to show off to Cheng Shijie and the entire Liaodong. means of pressure.
Although he said this, Zheng Zhilong did not throw more than 600 Ning Haijun navy soldiers into the sea, but threw more than 1,000 people from the Shachuan Gang into the sea. Although these sailors from the Shachuan Gang were good at water and The water quality is good, but the problem is that the Zheng pirates tied the hands and feet of these sailors from the Sand Ship Gang and tied them to huge rocks...
As an old rival of the Shachuan Gang, Shen Boyun is not someone who only takes beatings. He also has a large number of informants in Xiamen and Quanzhou. The news of Zheng Zhilong's killing spree in Xiamen also reached Cheng Shijie's ears through Shen Boyun.
"Commander, you must avenge your brothers!"
Shen Boyun hugged Cheng Shijie's thigh and cried until tears and runny nose ran down his face.
Faced with this situation, Cheng Shijie really didn't want to wait any longer. Regardless of whether Emperor Chongzhen gave him authorization or not, a war had to start to kill Cheng Shijie's people.
"Start the war!"
Cheng Shijie officially issued the order on the second day of November in the sixth year of Chongzhen.
Liaodong Ninghai Navy began overall mobilization. At Lushun Port Nangang Wharf, Lushun North Port Wharf, Jinzhou East Port, Jinzhou West Port Wharf, a large number of workers shouted slogans and rushed around on the docks, moving boxes of heavy supplies. Get on board.
The major warehouses were also opened, and various military supplies such as cans, dry food, artillery shells, bullets, explosives, raincoats, shoes, socks, and clothing were moved out and transported to the dock.
However, at this time, on the eighth day of November, the imperial edict was officially issued. Gao Qiqian came personally to announce the order, ordering the elite Ning Navy to move south to destroy pirates in the South China Sea and ensure the safety of people in coastal areas.
PS: I had something to do last night, and it will definitely happen at twelve o'clock in the evening. If I didn't write it down, I would just stand on my head and wash my hair.
(End of chapter)
