After finishing the conversation with Jackie Chan, Gao Heng felt relieved a lot, and he felt relaxed. After traveling through time, the thing he was most afraid of was fighting alone. In later generations, he read many novels in which the protagonist made money as soon as he traveled through time. Finger, within a few years, aircraft and cannons will be available. Only he who has truly traveled through time will know that it is simply impossible. Productivity has the limitations of the times. Before many things have been invented, it is impossible to jump in one step. Entering the era of industrialization.
And when he traveled to the Ming Dynasty, the thing he was most worried about was that no one would work with him. As the saying goes, there are three gangs of heroes. If there are no like-minded people together, he can't accomplish anything with his own strength. Is it really necessary? He went directly to see the emperor and said that he was from a later generation and could teach you many advanced technologies?
Not to mention whether he would be regarded as a lunatic. In this era, let alone the emperor, an unidentified civilian could not even meet local officials if he wanted to. How many people could understand him when he told them about airplanes and tanks? , only down-to-earth is the way to go.
Now, he has more than a dozen brothers who are willing to follow him, and he also has a think tank like Jackie Chan. No matter what Jackie Chan's level is, at least he has a very deep understanding of this era. Such a person is exactly what he needs and can help him advise on many things.
After the conversation, he asked Jackie Chan to find a room in the county government office to rest first. He didn't have the extra manpower to help him clean up, so he had to force him to do it himself. If he wanted to bring his family over to live together, Gao Heng also agreed with both hands. Since we regard him as a military advisor, we must give him the treatment of a military advisor, let him settle down his family, and also solve Jackie Chan's worries. Everyone understands that now he and the ten thousand people in this city are all ants tied to a rope. Grasshoppers, when they are prosperous, they are both prosperous, and when they are damaged, they are both harmed.
Gao Heng walked out of the gate of the county government with his hands behind his back. He walked straight to the craftsman area not far from the county government, wanting to see the progress there.
He gave Wu Rong a sketch. Although the sketch was very simple, and Gao Heng was not from an engineering background, it could basically express his meaning clearly. Not to mention a craftsman who often made ironware, even a person like Wu Rong who was born in the military, You should also be able to see some clues.
In fact, Gao Heng was not particularly sure. Although he had a preliminary understanding of the iron making technology of the late Ming Dynasty when he visited the museum in later generations, after all, it was the Ordnance Bureau of the capital, with all kinds of tools and equipment, and in northern Annan There is still a question mark over whether it can be produced in this small county.
Ding, clang, clang, not far from the county government office, Gao Heng heard the sound of hammering iron tools. Among these 10,000 people, there were about dozens of craftsmen of various types, and there were only ten or twenty people who were blacksmiths. , plus the dozens of people detained from the Annan people, there are nearly a hundred craftsmen in the city. This is Gao Heng's largest source of technology at present.
The clanking sound was made by craftsmen repairing weapons. Many of the weapons left by the Annan people were damaged due to fighting, and a small number of weapons stored in the county government treasury were also rusty because they had not been used for a long time. Since there was going to be a battle, the first thing Gao Heng had to do was to arm these two thousand people. . First of all, it is necessary to ensure that the one thousand people on the front line have at least leather armor and relatively handy weapons. The second line will definitely not be equipped with armor, but if they have enough swords and guns, they cannot let the soldiers fight with bare hands.
Gao Heng opened the door curtain and walked in. He saw Wu Rong with a serious face. He patted Wu Rong on the shoulder from behind. Wu Rong suddenly turned around and saw that it was Gao Heng. He immediately clasped his fists and said: "Boss! Gao Heng nodded and said, "How about it? Have you shown them the drawings? Can you get them out?"
Wu Rongdao: "The blacksmiths have looked at the drawings and should be able to do it, but it is not consistent with the styles they usually make. They need to modify the mold first, which will take some time."
Gao Heng watched as he walked: "No matter what, we have to get it out in the shortest time, even if it's just one or two. To put it more seriously, this is probably the key weapon for us to successfully defend the city."
Wu Rong said: "Boss, I still don't quite understand. Your sketch is clearly an iron bucket. I really can't guess its specific use, but I have some ideas in my heart, but it's like seeing flowers in the smoke. It's elusive. through."
Gao Heng said: "What do you think this is for?"
Wu Rongdao: "Look at the sketch, isn't this just an iron barrel? And it's not the trumpet-shaped iron barrel we usually see, but a straight barrel. It does look a bit like the barrel of a squatting tiger cannon. The opening is large and the length is short. But it is like, this does not conform to the principle of artillery at all. I have been an artilleryman, and I know that this is a tin barrel. The wall of the barrel is less than half an inch. It is so thin. How can it be used as a barrel? barrel."
Gao Heng smiled and said: "Haha, it seems that you really have some knowledge. Yes, you have already guessed it, but you have never seen this thing before, and you don't know its magical uses."
While Gao Heng was talking to Wu Rong, he came to the furnace. This was a very ordinary smelting furnace with nothing new in style. In later generations, anyone who has watched too many costume dramas will basically know what a smelting furnace looks like. The smelting furnaces in Annan are no different from those in the Central Plains. Smelting technology originally radiated from the Central Plains. The reason why the farming civilization in the Central Plains has been ahead of neighboring countries for a long time is precisely because of its advanced smelting technology.
Don’t you see, during the Han Dynasty, the Han army’s armor weapons basically defeated the Huns. The Huns still used bronze weapons for a long time. There were not even iron pots on the grassland. Anyone who could get one was already a great asset. .
In order to quickly get what Gao Heng wanted, the blacksmiths adopted a simpler method. Some of the iron items collected from the city, such as iron pots and iron barrels, were directly melted into molten iron and then cast again.
Gao Heng said to everyone working: "I didn't expect that the blacksmith shop in a small county like Tuo County would be so mature. Although the area is small, the tools and equipment should be relatively complete."
A lean man with a face blackened by flames stood up and said: "I see the general, little man."
Gao Heng helped him up, "Who are you?"
"The villain's name is Chen Ying. He is a blacksmith from Nanning Prefecture. Hearing about the development of iron-making in Annan, he came here specifically to find a way to make money. Unexpectedly, after staying for several years and not making any money, he met this guy. The thing is, General Wu just said who among us has the best skills, so I recommended myself, and General Wu made me the captain and responsible for ironmaking." said the lean man.
"Chen Ying, you said iron is made here in Annan, but you came all the way from Nanning. What's going on?" Gao Heng asked.
"Returning to the general, wars have been going on in Annan for many years. Whether it is civilians or the army, the demand for iron is not small. Although Annan is not a big place, it is rich in iron ore in the north. For example, we have Langzhou Prefecture here. Further north, Taiyuan Prefecture, including the capital city of Thang Long Prefecture, produces a large amount of iron, and natural iron smelting is relatively developed." Chen Ying replied.
Gao Heng nodded, "No wonder, I said it doesn't look shabby here. It turns out that's the reason."
He patted Chen Ying on the shoulder and said, "I just don't know if you can get what I want."
Chen Ying touched his chin and thought for a while and said: "General, I saw your sketch. I would like to ask General, if you have any special requirements?"
Gao Heng said: "There are no special requirements. All I want is an iron bucket with a wall thickness of half an inch. If you have difficulty, it doesn't matter if the wall thickness is thinner. If the quality of the iron sheet is not good, as long as you can produce more, I can use it as a disposable weapon and throw it away after use."
Chen Ying's eyes lit up, "Weapon? The general is saying that this iron barrel can be turned into a weapon?"
Gao Heng said: "Yes, but I can't tell you how useful this weapon is. You have to figure it out first."
Chen Yingdao: "Please don't worry, General. Now we are short of time and it is too late to smelt iron ore. We can only use the collected iron to melt it directly into molten iron for casting, so the output is definitely not large, but in terms of technical difficulty, It’s not particularly difficult, but our mold styles are limited. The most important thing for producing iron barrels is the casting mold. I can only improve the existing mold. I dare to ask the general, if the barrel wall is not so straight, does it matter? ?”
Afraid of misunderstanding by Gao Heng, Chen Ying added: "It's not that I can't make it, but because we are pressed for time. We don't have time to open a new mold, so we can only polish the original trumpet-shaped mold for making iron buckets to make the inclination angle as small as possible." It is small, so the iron barrel produced cannot be completely straight. I wonder if it can be used? If the general gives me enough time, I will organize people to smelt it and produce a straight barrel mold in the future. "
Gao Heng thought for a while. This thing has almost no requirements for accuracy. As long as it can be fired, the country's martyrs created this new weapon on the battlefield. They just reused the captured enemy's gasoline barrel waste. How could it be possible? There are so many demands.
"It doesn't matter, as long as it's roughly the same." Gao Heng said.
"That's no problem. Give me twelve hours, and the villain will definitely bring out a qualified sample for the general. In this way, the villain will use the things on hand to make one first, and ask the general to take a look." Chen Yinggong cupped his hands and said.
Gao Heng stood there, looking at Chen Ying's work. No wonder he dared to recommend himself. He did have real skills in his hands. Gao Heng still underestimated the wisdom of the ancients. Although there is no steam energy and electric energy now, the ancients used artificial It can also produce what Gao Heng wants.
This was the first time Gao Heng had seen the specific production process of ancient ironware, so he observed it with great interest. Chen Ying took out an iron ring about two or three inches thick. It was just an ordinary iron ring, with nothing special about it. He placed the iron ring on the blacksmith's special table. The table was very flat, and the place where the iron ring fit the table was also tightly fitted. This must have been carefully polished, otherwise such a fit would not be possible.
After the placement was completed, Chen Ying took out a special spoon, went to the boiler to scoop molten iron, and then poured the molten iron into the inside of the iron ring one spoon at a time. Gao Heng finally understood this, and waited for the thing to cool down. It's just a discus. Gao Heng was still thinking, could it be that this discus was used to make the bottom of a barrel? However, although welding technology was already available at this time, compared with the spot welding of later generations, it was not very developed. If the barrel body was made of iron sheet, and the bottom of the barrel and the barrel body were welded together, it would definitely not be strong. It would be better to form it in one piece. .
Chen Ying took his time and several people fanned the discus together to help cool him down. Gao Heng watched from the side. After a long time, the temperature of the discus finally dropped. Chen Ying used large pliers to pick up the discus and kept turning it over. Several craftsmen worked together to fix the shape of the discus through forging and polishing. , cleaned up all the burrs on the surface, and finally got a discus as flat as a mirror.
Immediately, Chen Ying walked to another mold and ordered several craftsmen to fix the discus on the equipment. Then a sturdy Annan craftsman stepped on a device similar to a bicycle in later generations, and was pierced through an iron like a candied haws. The trumpet-shaped iron block mold on the rod rotated rapidly. While continuing to rotate, it slowly approached the discus with the combined efforts of everyone.
Chen Ying picked up an iron bar that looked like a crowbar and stood next to the discus. The moment the trumpet-shaped mold came into contact with the discus, a magical scene happened. The mold dented the discus that had not yet completely cooled down. Chen Ying saw the right opportunity and immediately took action, suddenly grabbing the edge of the discus with the stick in his hand.
As if the mold was coated with a layer of iron film, the discus kept getting thinner and wrapped around the edge of the mold. The Annan craftsman stepped on the pedal, sweating profusely, and Chen Ying shouted: " Work harder hey! One two three! Look at your hand speed hey! One two three! Don’t shake your hands hey! One two three! Finish quickly hey! One two three!”
Gao Heng couldn't believe his eyes. Under the superb skills of Chen Ying and others, the big discus just turned into a trumpet-shaped iron bucket, which completely fit the mold. The equipment came to a slow stop. Chen Ying wiped the sweat from his head and said to Gao Heng with a smile: "General, it's done. This is just an iron bucket that is usually used to hold things. It's just in the shape of a trumpet and the barrel is tilted. The degree is too high. If I follow your requirements, I am confident that I can reduce the inclination to the minimum. It is actually not difficult. All I need to do is grind the mold straight. But if there is no inclination at all, it won't work. Then it will not be possible to form. How much? There are still some.”
Gao Heng was impressed by this ancient one-piece molding technology and couldn't help but praise: "Awesome! What a craftsmanship! It doesn't matter, the slight angle basically doesn't affect its use."
Chen Ying smiled and said: "Okay, at this time tomorrow, we will definitely come up with products to repay the general for his life-saving grace."
After walking out of the blacksmith shop, Gao Heng was in a good mood. The wisdom of the ancients was indeed wonderful.
