The soldiers were dissatisfied because the weapons were not easy to use, and Lin Jingchun, who was in charge of logistics work, also had a headache.
Of course, this doesn't just happen with flying guns.
This problem is likely to occur with any kind of firearm.
"Such a situation not only happens in the powder barrel of the flying musket, but also in the gunpowder used by the gold thieves that we seized. It also gets wet and agglomerates. It is indeed very difficult to store it."
Lin Jingchun complained bitterly to Su Yonglin.
Su Yonglin sat on the chair and fell into deep thought.
Due to the lack of saltpeter, the Shengjie Army's arsenal is currently unable to produce gunpowder on its own. The gunpowder and firearms used are confiscated. This is one of the reasons why Su Yonglin is reluctant to use gunpowder and firearms.
The remaining reason is that the lethality of the captured gunpowder and firearms is really limited, and it is difficult to use them maneuverably. They can almost only be used to defend and siege cities, and are of no use in field battles.
The flying fire gun is currently the only innovative field-type individual firearm that can be manufactured and installed immediately.
The immaturity of firearm technology made Su Yonglin give up the option of using firearms first.
Although cold weapons are ancient, the technology is mature, craftsmen are easy to find, and raw materials are abundant. There is no chance that they will be gone once they are used up.
Bows and crossbows are difficult to make, but Su Yonglin can still make swords and spears.
Despite this, Su Yonglin also wants to make some innovations in firearms.
Before tubular firearms were invented and had certain practical effects, heavy armor was the absolute mainstream on the battlefields of Song, Jin, Xixia and Mongolia.
The infantry had heavy armor, and the cavalry also had heavy armor. It was like an arms race to see whose armor was heavier and more defensive.
All this changed with the birth and increasing popularity of tube-type firearms.
Even the oldest fire portal gun, within its effective range, can hit heavily armored soldiers beyond the reach of cold weapons.
Compared with the heavy ax troops with the same heavy armor, the maintenance cost of a fire gunner is ridiculously low, but the attack power against heavy armor is terrifyingly high.
The kinetic energy generated by the explosion of gunpowder is unmatched by crossbows.
It was the continuous maturation of tubular firearms that gradually made steel heavy armor very embarrassing and meaningless, and was eventually abandoned.
If all conditions are ripe, Su Yonglin would like to train a matchlock or flintlock unit to deal a heavy blow to the heavy armored units of Song and Jin Dynasties.
But at the moment, it seems that even if a few guns can be made by hand, they do not have the conditions for mass production and installation. If they cannot be mass-produced and installed, it is meaningless.
Putting aside the difficulties in gun manufacturing technology and steel smelting, the production and improvement of gunpowder alone were very difficult.
With gunpowder that easily separates at the moment, we really can't expect it to be of much use on the battlefield.
Separation is one thing. On the other hand, this kind of powdered gunpowder is prone to insufficient combustion when burning, so it cannot be of great use.
Just like now, if there is too much gunpowder in the gunpowder barrel, it will not burn fully, if there is too little gunpowder, and it will not burn vigorously, there is no clear indicator.
These three problems seem to point to the same solution - gunpowder granulation.
Su Yonglin knew the term, but didn't know the specific method. However, he also knew that no matter how much he stirred, it was impossible to make the gunpowder granulate.
Granulation must be stable and cannot be separated, so naturally the raw materials must be tightly bonded together.
Soak it in water and stir it continuously, then dry it in the sun and grind it again?
From memory, this technology should have appeared before the Industrial Revolution, which means that it does not have a high technical content. It was something that could be developed before the development of physical and chemical systems. I think it is also a technology that has gradually matured through continuous exploration. .
Su Yonglin didn't believe how difficult chemical reagents could be produced before the industrial revolution.
And for cost considerations, even chemical reagents must be very simple to produce and cannot be too expensive, otherwise they would not be installed for military use.
When the army goes to war, you know how many kilograms of gunpowder can be consumed. If the cost of manufacturing granular gunpowder is too high, even more than that of cold weapons, it will be impossible to popularize it.
But the reality is that this is not the case, which proves that early gunpowder granulation technology was not difficult.
The key is cost. If the cost cannot be controlled, large-scale installation will not be possible. Therefore, technology is one aspect, and cost is more important.
When it comes to low cost, the lowest cost is of course water that can be taken everywhere.
But you also need relatively clear water, and you can’t use any kind of water. How can you make qualified gunpowder from a bowl of muddy water and gunpowder mixed together?
Of course, it is also very high, and there is Wenshui River next to it.
In addition to water, liquids that can be obtained in large quantities at the lowest cost...
That means peeing, right?
Thinking like this, Su Yonglin suddenly felt that besides water, maybe he could try using urine. Human urine seems to have many uses, such as children's urine...
Anyway, it doesn’t matter if you give it a try. There is absolutely no shortage of things like urine in the military camp.
So Su Yonglin touched the beard on his chin and spoke slowly.
"In that case, try wetting the gunpowder into a paste, mixing it well, drying it, and then grinding it again to turn it back into gunpowder. Maybe this problem can be solved."
Everyone looked at each other, and then looked at Lin Jingchun together.
Lin Jingchun looked troubled.
"Would this work? Water and gunpowder?"
"Try, you have to try anyway, by the way, try peeing again."
"Urine?"
Lin Jingchun was even more surprised.
"This is also a multi-faceted consideration."
Su Yonglin spread his hands: "There is no upper limit on the use of gunpowder. If we succeed in the experiment and can solve this problem, then we have to do it on a large scale. Doing it on a large scale requires money, a lot of money, and now we need to use money There are so many places, can you afford it?
In addition to saving money on water and urine, what else can save money more? Shall we use wine? Or cow's milk or goat's milk? Or use drinks that only the rich and powerful can afford? Besides water and urine, what can we afford? "
In a group of people, you look at me and I look at you.
Lin Jingchun lowered his head and thought for a while, thinking about Shengjiejun's financial situation, and finally had to nod.
Su Yonglin's treatment for the army was so high that it surpassed most armies of this era. His investment in food for three meals a day alone was unparalleled in the world, let alone his other investments for the army.
For example, investment in meat, as well as investment in education, each investment is a big sum of money.
Soldiers' pay was paid out in full and on time every month. Su Yonglin personally sent someone to supervise the pay and paid it directly to every soldier. There was never any arrears.
In addition, Su Yonglin will also spend money to subsidize farmers belonging to the military, and will also provide some administrative subsidies to the staff of the farmers' association in the new rural areas. These are also money and must be spent.
Coupled with the manufacturing of various other weapons, the wages paid to the miners, and the wages paid to other types of hired workers, all these expenditures made the Shengjie Army's finances not strong.
There is only so much money that can be invested in the research of new weapons. If you really want to use up new weapons, you have to consider where to squeeze the money and invest it in manufacturing new weapons.
Thinking about it this way, it's not like Lin Jingchun couldn't understand Su Yonglin's concerns.
"After all, it's really not worth it."
Su Yonglin clapped his hands.
"Right, so water and urine are the cheapest. If it succeeds and the gunpowder problem is solved, the flintlock gun will be more useful. At that time, we can also try to improve other firearms. If it fails, it won't be a problem. Too much money is wasted.”
Lin Jingchun strongly agreed with Su Yonglin's concept of saving money. He nodded repeatedly and then asked another question.
"Put this issue aside for now. The only remaining issue is gunpowder manufacturing. Alang, we have found some craftsmen who can make gunpowder, but in terms of raw materials, saltpeter is difficult to obtain.
So now those craftsmen dig into latrines and pig pens every day, and can only scrape some saltpeter from under the walls. But to be honest, they can't collect much. We really need to increase manpower. "
Su Yonglin frowned, then nodded after a moment.
"If necessary, we can add some more manpower to them, or notify the farmers' association and mobilize farmers to scrape saltpeter from their own latrines and pig pens and hand it over to the arsenal. The arsenal can give them copper coins or some grain. As a reward."
Lin Jingchun agreed after hearing this.
"I think so too. If we mobilize everyone to do it together, it will definitely come faster than just running around scraping it."
Saying this, Lin Jingchun thought of another question and said, "But Ah Lang, even so, we can't make much gunpowder. If gunpowder is really used, it will be used very quickly. What we seized from the gold thief will be used up." , we need to prepare early."
