Of course artillery and gunpowder are good things! It can be called the "travel artifact" and the "best golden finger"!
Not only is it powerful enough to change the course of history, but it is also easy to manufacture - it does not require much knowledge of chemistry and mathematics, and a high school student level is enough to use the technical level of the ancients to create a powerful artillery in a short period of time. and gunpowder.
If you can't make it, either you don't have enough resources, or you forgot what a "parabola" is? It doesn't matter if you can't remember the various equations of parabola, just know that there is such a thing. In this way, you won’t always think about casting long-barreled cannons like the Hongyi Cannon...and don’t always think about casting iron cannons. How difficult it is to cast iron parts! Wouldn't it be better to cast a bronze mortar that is as short and fat as a soup pot?
In addition, travelers should not forget what "potassium nitrate" is! Sodium nitrate was very common in ancient times, but potassium nitrate was not easy to obtain and needed to be processed with sodium nitrate.
As for the processing and purification methods, they are also very simple. They are nothing more than "water dissolving", "heating", "cooling" and "filtration"...
As for Zhao Kai, a "sophomore" in high school, although he is a bit "sophomore", he has not forgotten the knowledge he learned in chemistry and mathematics classes... How to get into college if he forgets? And after he got the body of Zhao Kai from the Song Dynasty, he would not forget this knowledge. That was the IQ of the top scorer in liberal arts in the Song Dynasty College Entrance Examination, and his memory was amazing!
Moreover, after Zhao Kai arrived at Daming Mansion, he had already written down the chemical equations related to potassium nitrate that he knew in his notebook.
In fact, it was not difficult to refine potassium nitrate in the Song Dynasty, because Hedong, Sichuan, Shaanxi and other places in the Song Dynasty already produced potassium saltpeter (fire saltpeter) and soda saltpeter (mirabilite), and the method of artificially producing soil saltpeter had already appeared.
Nitrate is also widely used, for example, it is used to treat animal hides and hair, to produce tofu, and some people even use potassium nitrate to absorb a lot of heat when dissolved in water to make ice.
However, the purity of these saltpetres is often not high enough. Although they can be used to make gunpowder, the effect is not ideal (this is also related to the wrong formula of gunpowder). In addition, because soda saltpeter is an accompaniment to salt mines, its output is much greater than that of potash saltpeter, and it is often used by unscrupulous merchants to pass it off as potassium saltpeter.
Fortunately, it is not difficult to purify potassium nitrate. It is nothing more than replacing the sodium in soil salt or mirabilite with the potassium in plant ash to produce potassium nitrate.
The specific method is to soak ground saltpeter, mirabilite, and plant ash in hot water, stir and heat, then filter, then cool and filter again...Utilize the different melting points of potassium nitrate and other impurities to extract high purity of potassium nitrate. By repeating the dissolution and filtration process several times, you can obtain high-purity potassium nitrate.
In fact, the method of boiling saltpeter with plant ashes had already appeared in the Song Dynasty, but the craftsmen in the Song Dynasty did not master the method of filtering by using the different melting points of potassium nitrate and other impurities. I don’t quite understand the role of plant ash in boiling saltpeter, so the amount used is sometimes too much, sometimes too little, and the timing of adding plant ash is not right, so it’s impossible to make Glauber’s salt with a high salt content into fire saltpeter...
In addition to potassium nitrate, higher purity sulfur and charcoal powder are required to make gunpowder. Sichuan, Shaanxi and other places in the Song Dynasty also produced sulfur. If this was not possible, high-purity natural sulfur could be imported from Japan, which is full of volcanoes.
The method of purifying sulfur is slightly more difficult because sulfur is insoluble in water. However, the melting point of sulfur itself is not high. It can be heated to about 200 degrees Celsius to melt raw sulfur and then filter it through silver mesh. For the ancient working people who can melt copper and iron, it is almost not difficult to melt and filter sulfur.
As for the production of charcoal powder, it is not difficult. It is just a matter of burning charcoal and then grinding it.
Therefore, the difficulty in making high-performance black powder in the Song Dynasty was to obtain high-quality potassium nitrate and sulfur. In the first year of Hongwu, Zhao Kai handed over these two tasks to Wu Haogu's sons Wu Yijiu and Pan Sheng'an.
Let them open "fire saltpetre workshop", "sulfur workshop" and "charcoal powder workshop" in Luoyang City. Now they have produced a lot of high-quality fire saltpetre, sulfur and charcoal powder. As long as they are mixed with charcoal powder in a certain proportion Mix it and you'll get gunpowder.
In addition, Zhao Kai also recorded all the mathematical equations related to parabolas. In fact, it does not need to be that complicated, because the range of the mortar is only a few hundred meters, and it also bombards fixed targets that do not move, such as Castles and camps can be tested slowly on site.
This mortar is actually an enhanced version of a trebuchet, with a longer range, greater power, smaller size, and a higher shooting angle. It is very convenient to carry and deploy, and it can also be used to launch arson bombs (no burning required, Just heat the cannonballs) to burn the bits and pieces on the city. Before the advent of cannons, the bare "naked city" had no defense. It had to be equipped with a lot of wooden instruments and protective gear, which could easily be destroyed. Arson bomb burned down!
Once these things are destroyed, how can the city be defended?
Moreover, the range of the mortar is large enough to blast arson bombs into the city and burn down the wooden houses in the city! For the defenders, this is definitely a torture!
In addition to attacking the city, the mortar is also a weapon for defending the city! Because it can replace the mortar cannon and be placed at the top of the city to destroy various enemy siege equipment - large engineering equipment generally has little maneuverability and can be destroyed with light mortar cannons!
But after all, mortars are not field weapons and cannot be used to attack moving targets, so it is impossible to use mortars to restrain cavalry...
...
Luoyang, Baibo Town, Fu Financial Supervision Shooting Range.
Zhao Kai, Han Shizhong, Yue Fei, Huang Wuji, Li Fuchen, Dong Jingang, He Guan, Ma Kuo, Liu Ziyu, Ma Zhi, Yelu Yujian and others finally arrived at this place today after a long journey of 600 miles. Hubu’s black technology arsenal!
Zhao Kai, the Minister of Household Affairs, led a group of coppersmiths, as well as Wu Yijiu, Pan Sheng'an and others who were responsible for providing potassium nitrate, sulfur and charcoal powder. They were all waiting at the newly built shooting range outside Baibo Town.
Ten "artillery pieces", large and small, which look similar to soup pots, are already placed there for people to visit.
To be honest, these artillery pieces are not powerful at all, but they are a bit fun to look at... They are all Wu Dalang in the cannon!
The generals who followed Zhao Kai were all frowning around these "short and fat cannons" - so short, so fat... and so small, what use could these things have? After watching for a while, these generals began to talk among themselves.
"Is this...a cannon? It's not that big!"
"What is this made of? Is it copper? Why does it look like a cauldron?"
"Yeah, why is it called a cannon? Brother, this doesn't look like a cannon, it looks like a pot... How about changing its name to a hot pot!"
hot pot?
Zhao Kai was also squatting in front of a mortar to inspect the goods - he was a bit experienced, so he could see the ropes, but he was still amused when he heard the name "hot pot".
He followed the sound and found that the person who made this suggestion was actually Yue Fei!
Yue Fei said seriously: "Brother, this thing is shaped like a pot and is filled with gunpowder to fire projectiles. It is more appropriate to call it a hot pot!"
Well, in the future, those battleships with a displacement of tens of thousands of tons will have to install 406 mm hotpots...
"How about we call it Hotpot Cannon!" Zhao Kai suppressed a smile, "That's it for the name... Let's see how powerful it is!"
Zhao Kai paused and shouted: "Wu Dalang! Pan Wulang!"
Wu Dalang is Wu Yijiu - his surname is Wu, and he is the eldest son, so isn't he Wu Dalang?
Pan Wulang is Pan Sheng'an. He has four older brothers named Pan Shengyu, Pan Shengfei, Pan Shengzhi, and Pan Shengxiu. They are all celebrities in the brothel world of Kaifeng Prefecture, but I don't know where they have gone? Pan Wulang was the only one who came to Luoyang.
Now Wu Dalang and Pan Wulang were both dressed as selling sesame seed cakes, and they were carrying the second load in person. There was a camphor wood box on each side of the load. One of the boxes opens and there are two compartments, one for charcoal and one for sulfur. There is also a box with single compartments, all containing potassium nitrate - Zhao Kai's hot pot "seasonings" are very simple, just these three.
In addition to the two boxes, there are also wooden shelves, spoons, scales, copper bowls, wooden shovels, pockets and other things hanging on the shoulder pole... It really looks like a snack seller.
Seeing two "snack vendors" approaching, Zhao Kai ordered again: "Two pounds first!"
Two pounds of gunpowder!
Because the barrel of the mortar is thick and short, the chamber pressure is naturally low, so it requires a lot of propellant to launch. Zhao Kai didn't know the ratio of shells and propellant in the mortar, so he had to give a random number - ten kilograms of projectiles filled with two kilograms of propellant. Try it first, and if it doesn't work, change it.
The two "vendors" immediately began to move the materials, opened the boxes, set up the wooden shelves, placed the copper bowls on the wooden shelves, and then began to weigh potassium nitrate, sulfur and charcoal. Zhao Kai had already told them the ratio, which was 7.5 to 1 to 1.5... After weighing the ingredients, pour them into a copper bowl, then use a wooden shovel to stir-fry until the three ingredients are completely mixed.
Both traders brought apprentices, among whom Wu Yijiu was a very handsome "big boy", and Pan Sheng'an was a fair, middle-aged man.
Both apprentices took out a silk bag and cooperated with the two dealers to pour the "seasoning" into the bag, then tied it with a rope and held it in front of Zhao Kai.
Zhao Kai took a bag with his own hands and put it into a "ten catty hot pot" - the wall of this "ten catty hot pot" was very thick, as if it were a copper pillar with a hole dug in the middle. However, because it is "short", it weighs very little. With a strong wooden frame (it looks like a wooden box), it weighs less than 150 pounds.
Then Zhao Kai took a round iron ball from a soldier next to him - this ball was custom-made, because the caliber of each "hot pot" was different, so the size of the projectile was also different. Although it is said to be ten pounds, it is actually an approximation.
Zhao Kai stuffed the iron ball into the "mouth of the pot", then found a hole at the bottom of the "pot", took a long iron needle, pierced the hole, and pierced the hole where the "seasoning" was placed. pocket, and finally took a lead (cotton thread soaked in saltpeter) and stuffed it in.
Then... don't dare to light it, what if it explodes?
So Zhao Kai asked: "Which of you wants to light a fire?"
"Official, slave...I'll do it!"
The one who volunteered was the "big boy" who came with Wu Yijiu. Zhao Kai saw that he was very likable, so he smiled and said: "Okay, it's you... This is going to be famous in history, let him follow Lighted candles!”
