After meeting Hou Dafu and the others, Liu Heng took Yang Yuan and Huang Zhong alone to inspect the weapons field.
The first place we went to was Bingjiafang, which was under the direct control of Huang Zhong.
There is no shortage of fine iron in Hutou Village, and iron armor and cotton armor are now cast on a large scale.
Cotton armor is mainly distributed to fire gunners, while iron armor is mainly plate armor, with a small amount of chain armor.
Plate armor is more effective in resisting spears and cuts than chain armor, and is lighter in weight. Some fire gunners have also begun to equip plate armor. However, the plate armor of fire gunmen is not full body armor, only two plates on the chest and back. The armor is covered on the body, and the connecting parts are fixed with cowhide ropes. This can better protect the fire gun hand without being too heavy or losing flexibility.
The plate armor of the gunman is thinner and lighter than the plate armor of the spearman.
The armor in the armor workshop is handmade by craftsmen. From forging fine iron to final polishing, it takes a lot of manpower and time.
Liu Heng looked at the sweating forger master and thought that if there was a hydraulic forging machine, it would save time and manpower.
If his weapons field has hydraulic forging machines, hydraulic stamping machines, and hydraulic drilling machines, the weapons field will be able to produce weapons and armor efficiently in the future.
He could only think about these things.
With the current capabilities of Zhaojiayu and Hutou Village, it may not be possible to create these things in a short time.
However, he knew that the Ming Dynasty did not have these things, but those Fo Langji people did, and he lacked a way to communicate with the Fan people.
He believed that when Xujiazhuang developed, he would be able to get these things through businessmen traveling from north to south.
Even if these merchants can't do it, when he is strong enough in the future, he can send people to the sea to go south and find a way to buy physical goods from those Francois.
As long as the real thing is available, there is nothing that cannot be imitated with the ingenuity of Ming people.
After leaving Bingjiafang, Liu Heng went to build gunsmith workshop.
On the way to the gun-making workshop, Liu Heng said to Yang Yuan: "From the accent of Hou Dafu, he is completely a native of Tianjin Wei. How can you be so familiar with Zheng Chao and the others, and let you take Zheng Chao and the others out of Tianjin Wei?" .”
Yang Yuan said as he walked: "Hou Dafu once went to Macau with a priest named Franji. When he was in Fujian, he met bandits and was rescued by Zheng Chao and the others. Later, Zheng Chao and the four of them went to Tianjin Wei, and several people met again. Come together.”
Liu Heng said: "So Hou Dafu is not a pirate, he just met Zheng Chao and the others by chance."
"It should be like this." Yang Yuan said: "Hou Dafu also learned about it from Yaxing. He and the priest from Fo Langji used to make cannons for the firearms workshop under the Ministry of Industry of the imperial court. Only then did the subordinates pass The people from Yaxing found him."
Liu Heng nodded.
In the past, I read some official books and it was always stated that the status of craftsmen in the dynasty was low, and they often did not have enough to eat or starved to death. As long as they took care of the food, they could follow you.
Now he knows that those who can stutter will follow you, most of them have no skills. Really capable craftsmen and court officials will never be taken away at will, especially the craftsmen who make artillery. Although their status is not high, they are definitely You won’t be so hungry that you can’t eat.
Yang Yuan went to Tianjin Guard for such a long time before he brought back Hou Dafu, and he was not a craftsman. This shows that the Ming Dynasty valued artillery and closely monitored craftsmen who could make artillery.
Otherwise, why could the artillery built by the Jurchens themselves be inferior to the cannons of the Ming Dynasty that cut corners? It was not until the Wuqiao mutiny and Kong Youde came to surrender that the embarrassing situation of the Qing army's artillery was reversed.
The root cause is that the Jurchens lack real cannon-making craftsmen, and they cannot find those capable cannon-making craftsmen.
Liu Heng turned to look at Huang Zhong and said: "We can start preparations for making cannons. Remember to arrange some more clever craftsmen to help Hou Dafu. You can discuss with Hou Dafu what you need to prepare. Zheng Chao and the others are good at cannons." , temporarily stay with Hou Dafu to help."
Huang nodded.
After talking for a while, Liu Heng had already walked out of Zhaojiayu and came to a row house outside the village.
The gun-making workshop is not in the village, but outside the village.
There is a piece of wasteland at the east end of the village, which was cleared out and used as a gun-making workshop. A row of green brick houses were built. In front of it was an open space with targets placed on it for testing fire guns.
The manager of the gun-making workshop is Blacksmith Zhao from Lingqiu. The earliest fire guns in the bandit camp were made by Blacksmith Zhao's master and apprentice.
Liu Heng originally thought that Blacksmith Zhao was just an ordinary blacksmith, but later he found out that Blacksmith Zhao was a descendant of Zhao Shizhen's clan.
Zhao Shizhen died of depression due to the burden of the demon book case. The tribe was divided into two groups. One group stayed in Wenzhou to concentrate on the imperial examination, and the other group went north to Datong, which is Zhao Tiejiang's group.
Zhao Shizhen's achievements in science and technology are enough to rank alongside Song Yingxing and Xu Guangqi.
As a descendant of Zhao Shizhen, Tiejiang Zhao wanted to inherit Zhao Shizhen's legacy and actively solicited the development of self-made fire guns.
"It worked, it worked."
Before Liu Heng could reach the door of the gun-making workshop, he heard someone shouting loudly inside.
Then, someone was seen walking out of the house holding a firecracker, and they met Liu Heng and the others, and almost bumped into each other.
"Master!" Tiejiang Zhao was stunned for a moment, then said happily, "Master, our self-generated firecracker has been successful, and we will definitely be able to start it this time."
Hearing this, Liu Heng was also happy.
The disadvantages of the matchlock gun are too obvious. In rainy and snowy days, the matchlock gun becomes a decoration. The light of the matchlock at night can easily expose the gunman, and the matchlock gun is not conducive to warning. Otherwise, if the matchlock is burned out, there will be no way to shoot it. But if it is not lit, In an emergency, it would be too late to light the match rope again, unless you use kindling to ignite the gunpowder in the medicine pool, but then you will be unable to aim.
If you switch to a self-generating fire gun, you don't need to light the match rope. You only need to hit the flint piece with the hammer. The sparks generated by rapid friction ignite the gunpowder and set off the fire gun.
"Let's go to the shooting range and try out the new gun." Liu Heng took the lead and walked towards the shooting range.
Blacksmith Zhao followed closely with a self-made fire gun in his arms, followed by other craftsmen from the gun-making workshop.
When he arrived at the shooting range, Blacksmith Zhao did not give the gun in his arms to anyone. Instead, he picked it up and aimed at the wooden target thirty steps away.
Liu Heng stared nervously at the self-generating fire gun in Blacksmith Zhao's hand. It could be said that this was the first finished product. The self-generating fire guns made in the past could not be fired at all.
Just as nervous as Liu Heng were several craftsmen who came to the shooting range with Blacksmith Zhao. Like Blacksmith Zhao, they were developers of self-made fire guns.
The apprentices brought out by these people can already make ordinary Rumi guns by themselves.
Blacksmith Zhao took aim at the rake and squeezed the trigger, but it did not move. He squeezed it harder again, then squeezed the trigger and drove the hammer to hit the flint piece.
boom!
As soon as the cannon sounded, the lead shot out and hit the wooden rake dozens of steps away.
"The master is here, our self-generated fire gun has been successful." Putting away the self-made fire gun in his hand, Tiejiang Zhao looked at Liu Heng with a happy face.
"Very good." Liu Heng praised, and then said to Yang Yuan, "Find ten fire gun players and let them try the difference between this self-generated fire gun and the fire gun we use now, whether it is the advantages or disadvantages. , write them all down one by one."
Fireguns are made for use on the battlefield. An unqualified firegun can kill soldiers. Liu Heng has always been very strict about weapons used on the battlefield.
If you want to mass-produce and replace the original firecrackers, the self-generated firecrackers must be repeatedly tested by firecrackers to find out the advantages and disadvantages until they are actually usable.
When he was shooting the firecracker before, he noticed that Blacksmith Zhao squeezed the trigger twice. From this point of view, the self-generated firecracker still needs improvement.
