On the fertile soil accumulated by history, human civilization continues to grow like a big tree. People's understanding of the world continues to improve, like a growing root system, providing a steady stream of nutrients for the growth of civilization. The development of science and technology is all the way upward, like a dense tree canopy under the sun, constantly moving toward cutting-edge bifurcations and subdivisions.
In Shulot's view, the progress of human science and technology is a tree-shaped network. Many technologies move forward in a straight line and require front-end development as the cornerstone. Take the European hydraulic machinery of this era as an example. It required excellent iron-making technology as a precursor, because copper and bronze lacked toughness and elasticity and could not be used well as mechanical parts, such as fragile springs.
Some technologies are leaps across generations and rely on human cognitive levels, such as the gunpowder already used by the Alliance, or the current bronze cannon. They don't need iron tools as a foundation, they only need the guidance of prophetic gods. In the hands of American civilization, they can achieve a leap in military technology and burst into a roar that spans the ages!
Thinking of this, the king smiled and stretched out his hand, touching the rough and cold killing weapon in front of him. This is a 1-pound falcon cannon, also called an eagle cannon, cast according to his design.
In Europe of this era, the 1-pounder eagle gun, as a classic light field gun, had just been born. It has the power to defeat all field enemies, with a maximum range of more than two and a half miles and an accurate range of more than two hundred meters. The Eagle Cannon weighs between 200 and 400 kilograms and is maneuverable enough. It is a favorite of seafaring explorers and elite infantry squads, and will continue to be used until the Thirty Years War more than a hundred years later.
Chalape kept watching, and when he saw the king's smile, he quickly tugged on Tiripi's sleeve. Tilippi paused for a moment, then stepped forward and explained carefully.
"Your Majesty, this is the Sun Condor Cannon you asked us to cast. Its length is 1.2 meters, the internal caliber is 5 centimeters, it is made of 250 pounds of bronze, and has a matching hardwood bracket... According to your instructions, the gunpowder craftsmen With the help of the Holy Eagle Warrior Commander, we conducted a test firing...Using 1 catties of gunpowder to launch 1 catties of stone balls...The range is shorter than your request, and the range is within...The range At about 50 meters...”
Tiripi's voice gradually became weaker, but it still reached Xilot's ears clearly. The king's smile suddenly solidified. He looked at Bertard, and the warrior commander nodded slightly. The king's hands clenched silently and he shouted in a deep voice.
"Tell me again, what's the range?"
"...50 meters..."
Facing the coldness in the king's eyes, Tiripi fell to his knees with a "pop". He explained urgently and loudly.
"Your Majesty, the Holy Eagle Warrior Commander can testify! We use a sufficient amount of the best bronze, and the clay molds are also fine enough. It's just that when the cannonball is fired, the cannon body will emit a cloud of smoke... Craftsmen who have made wooden cannons say that this is because the metal cannon body is not favored by the gods and weakens the power of the God of Thunder. Only the wooden cannon body has life and can bear the divine power..."
"Smoke...gas leak..."
Shulot didn't get angry, nor did he pay attention to the competition among the craftsmen. He just frowned and checked again. Some small holes can be vaguely seen on the outer wall of the bronze cannon body.
"Bring me a bucket of water!"
The guard immediately went to the well in the workshop and fetched a bucket of clean water. Under the watchful eyes of everyone, the king ordered the cannon to be erected, and then poured water into the opening above. Soon, some extremely small water jets leaked from all parts of the cannon body, accompanied by surprised whispers from the craftsmen.
"The trachoma on the gun body is small and uniform..."
Looking at the leaking cannon body, Shulot fell into thought. Casting bronze cannons is far simpler than casting iron cannons, and the 1-pound eagle cannon is the most basic light cannon. This level of trachoma is not considered serious.
"Get a brass pole!"
Shulot shouted again. Then, he personally pushed the copper rod into the muzzle, felt the slight bumps and resistance on the inner wall, and nodded slightly.
“The bore is not smooth enough and needs polishing.”
Tilipi's eyes widened, looking at the king's operation with surprise. The image of the other party gradually changed from an authoritative king who forcibly guided him to a half-expert who knew a little about craftsmanship. Then, a voice that could not be refused came and once again transformed into an authoritative king.
"Tiripi, let me see your casting craftsmanship!"
Tilippi bowed his head respectfully. He obediently led everyone to the place where the cannon was cast, and first pointed at a 1.2-meter wax tube.
"Your Majesty, the next few condor cannons are still in the preparation stage. These are barrels made of wax blocks, and the bores have been drilled out. The overall size is the same as a real bronze barrel."
Xiulote nodded. The lost wax method was used to make clay molds, which is very common in Mesoamerican metal crafts.
"Your Majesty, after the wax cannon is made, it must be wrapped with clay and filled with clay inside. Only the feeding port is left at the end of the barrel. This is the clay mold. After the clay mold is completed, just heat it to let the wax inside When the tube is melted, a formed clay molded gun barrel can be obtained!”
Tilipi pointed to the two clay molds that had been formed and explained in detail.
"Your Majesty, I have thought about it for a long time. According to the experience of casting bronze pottery pots, the holes in the cannon body are leaking air and water. It should be that the drying time of the clay mold is not enough! We have not cast such a huge bronze utensil before, and the clay mold is only dried for one It’s less than a month. This row of new condor cannons, please allow your majesty a little more time and let us dry the mud film in the dark for three months!”
After hearing Tiripi's analysis and inference, Shulot looked surprised. He looked at the real forging master, and for the first time he recognized him in his heart.
From countless time travels in later generations, Shulot knew that the biggest problem with early cannon casting was that the clay molds used were not up to standard.
The clay mold of the artillery has high requirements on humidity, soil and casting skills. Clay molds are made of compacted clay, and the moisture inside the clay is difficult to dry out. During the casting process, the water vapor in the mud film is heated and evaporates, which will produce honeycomb-shaped holes in the barrel, causing air leakage or even explosion of the barrel when the artillery is fired. Therefore, the moisture inside the clay mold needs to be naturally dried in the shade. As the poundage of artillery increased, the time required for drying in the shade also increased from several months to half a year. If you encounter a rainy season with high humidity, the drying time will be further extended.
"Tiripi, your idea is very good! The past few months have been the rainy season with abundant precipitation. The air is humid and the mud film needs to dry in the shade for longer. The problem with the trial artillery is your responsibility, but it can be forgiven! Now it's precipitation There will be less September, and the rainy season will end in the harvest month of October...I will give you another four months to complete this batch of condor cannons!"
Hearing this, Tilippi breathed a sigh of relief. Chalape's face also showed joy. The two looked at each other and knelt down to salute at the same time.
"Your Majesty, thank you for your tolerance! Your mind is like a boundless lake..."
"Go on, finish talking about the craftsmanship!"
Tiripi stood up, walked to the bronze furnace, and continued his story.
"Your Majesty, after the clay mold of the cannon barrel is completed, the furnace can be lit to melt the bronze cannon. You see, there is a deep pit next to the outlet below the furnace for placing the clay mold. We will The artillery clay mold is placed in a pit with its feed port facing upwards..."
Tiripi said and waved. The two craftsman apprentices carefully placed the clay mold of the artillery into the pit with the muzzle facing up.
"Then, fill the pit, and use clay to make a clay pipe connecting the outlet of the furnace and the inlet of the gun barrel mud mold to guide the injection of molten copper water... This step also requires controlling the heat. The copper water cannot flow out too fast, so as not to distort the cannon core in the clay mold... Then wait until the copper water in the clay mold cools down naturally, then take the clay mold out of the soil, and finally break it open to take out the cannon... "
Shulot listened patiently to the process of casting the cannon, recalling several terms and fragments that he only knew a little about.
"Natural cooling... I seem to remember that there is a saying in cannon casting called water-cooled self-tightening. It should be to make the mold of the cannon core hollow and add water to it, so that the cannon barrel is cooled and tightened from the inside out, which greatly improves the efficiency of the cannon. The quality... is wrong, the clay mold cannot be filled with water, it should be an iron mold.
Tie Fan... The clay mold is disposable and needs to be broken open to retrieve the cannon. The surface of the iron fan is smoother and can be used repeatedly. There is no water vapor and there are very few trachoma. The iron fan water cooling is the greatest weapon for the time traveler to forge cannons! ...Well, Iron Fan is relatively easy, and the metal craftsmanship of the Ming and Qing Dynasties is about enough. Water cooling requires a very high technical level, which should not be finally realized until modern times. And the most important thing is... I don't have iron in my hands right now. "
Shulot shook his head. He sorted out the craftsmanship of casting the cannon in his mind for a moment and then ordered.
"Tiripi, mark my words! In addition to increasing the drying time of the clay mold and polishing the inner wall of the barrel, the body of the Condor Cannon can also be thickened again, and the amount of bronze used can be increased from 250 kilograms to 300 kilograms! Wait until the casting is completed , if there is no water leakage, add five copper hoops to the gun body to reinforce it! Qualified bronze artillery is also equipped with claw nails and copper trippers for fixation during firing! "
Bertard had already taken out the pen and paper, drawing the internal polishing, thickening of the gun barrel, five copper hoops and fixed accessories, and then handed the paper drawing to Chalape. Chalape smiled gratefully, and the warrior commander smiled back gently.
After talking about the key points of craftsmanship, Shulot thought for a moment, and a sentence in his memory came to his mind.
"If a cannon is cast from a clay mold and the result is two or three out of ten, he will be called a national expert!"
Although I don’t know what era this sentence comes from, the size of the cast cannon, and whether it refers to the bronze cannon or the iron cannon, we can still get a glimpse of the difficulty of casting the cannon. For American civilization, when exploring cannon casting in the early stage, only sufficient quantity can be used to randomly obtain qualified quality.
Thinking of this, Shulot made up his mind and solemnly gave the order.
"Chalape, Tiripi, follow the order!"
Hearing these familiar words, Chalape's knees shook and he once again pulled his clan brother to kneel on the ground.
"It takes time for the clay molds to dry in the shade. You have to work hard these days to make 40 clay molds for the Condor Cannon first!"
Tilipi was shocked when he heard this. He looked at the king in front of him and asked in shock.
"Your Majesty, 40 clay molds for the Condor Cannon! Each 300 kilograms of bronze, that's 12,000 kilograms! Plus the 48,000 kilograms of bronze armor cast, that's 60,000 kilograms of bronze! The bronze warehouse in the warehouse has accumulated In a few years, it is less than half of this amount, and this does not include the consumption of a large number of bronze farm tools..."
"Tiripi, this is the king's order!"
Shulot interrupted the casting master and scolded him sternly.
"You can work as hard as you can! As for the bronze ore, I will start solving it next and it will not delay the production of the workshop!"
There was an instant silence in the workshop, everyone lowered their heads and obeyed the king's will.
"Tiripi, as long as you can successfully build 5 usable clay molds of 40 condor cannons, you will be considered qualified! If you can build 10, I will promote you to a military noble and let the metal family have one gun and two expensive!"
The king said calmly, and then his expression became serious.
"If by February next year, you haven't even built five qualified condor cannons... then prepare to face the alliance's military law and sacrifice yourself to the Lord God!"
Upon hearing the king's decree, Tilippi first beamed with joy, and then beads of sweat oozed from his forehead. He knelt on the ground and spoke with difficulty after a long while.
"Your Majesty, I obey your will and am willing to die for you!"
"okay!"
Shulot watched for a moment and nodded slowly. Then, he looked at the master craftsmen kneeling in front of him, their expressions were extremely serious, and his words could not be disobeyed.
"Charape, Tilipi, your task is very heavy! For the coppersmiths captured in the city of Ivacchio, I will give you one hundred more people! These four hundred coppersmiths will arrive within two days. The ones who escorted them are also Two hundred warriors will be stationed around the workshop to strictly protect your safety."
The so-called stationed protection naturally has other meanings. After taking over the task of bronze cannon, the bronze workshop became the most secret military location in the feudal kingdom, and also the most important place in the entire American world!
"From today on, the area of the bronze workshop will be expanded, the number of people will be expanded, and a layer of walls will be built. All craftsmen will be included in the Kingdom's legions and will be subject to military law management! Without permission, you are not allowed to leave the craftsman camp for even half a step!"
"Tiripi, cannon-casting is related to the future of the alliance and the survival of the world... You have a heavy responsibility given by the gods, and you need to devote all your energy and study wholeheartedly. If you can continue to make progress in cannon-casting, I promise you a future as a hereditary noble!"
The king's voice became gentle. He gently patted the forging master's shoulder, and a smile that made the other person tremble appeared on his face again.
"It takes four months for the clay mold of the Condor Cannon to dry in the shade. During this time, you need more practice and experimentation. Well, here is another fire paper. You can go back and study it. The length of this kind of cannon is only 40 centimeters, with a diameter of 4 centimeters and an outer diameter of just over 10 centimeters. It is short and thin, weighing only a quarter of the Condor Cannon. It will only take a month to dry the clay mold in the shade, making it much less difficult than the Condor Cannon... I’ll give you two months to build the first prototype cannon!”
"Ah... I obey your will. Your Majesty, what should I call this kind of artillery?"
"Well, the alliance has Eagle Warriors and Tiger Warriors. The Eagle Warriors are the legions of the Sun God, and the Tiger Warriors are the legions of the Rain God. The condors soar in the sky, and the tigers crouch in the forest. Now that we have the Sun God Eagle Cannon, this kind of The name of the artillery is the Rain God Tiger Crouching Cannon!"
