At the beginning of the year, Zhao Tai intended to inspect the firearms workshop in Haizhou. However, due to Shi Zhai's provocation, Zhao Tai had no choice but to end his inspection and go to Lianshui to deal with Shi Zhai.
Nowadays, the Southern Song Dynasty is pressing forward step by step, and Shandong is far behind the Southern Song Dynasty in terms of national strength.
If there was only one opponent from the Southern Song Dynasty, Zhao Tai would not have any worries. With the strength of the Qi army, Zhao Tai could give the Southern Song Dynasty a fight.
However, there is still a giant Mongolia in this world, guarding behind Zhao Tai.
If Zhao Tai goes to war with the Southern Song Dynasty and fails to defeat the Southern Song Dynasty quickly or wins miserably, it will definitely benefit the Mongolian fishermen.
Although the Song army's combat power is low, it is still large in number.
They were able to hold off several Mongolian attacks and persist for decades. It was still difficult for the Qi army to quickly win at a relatively small cost.
In May, when the Southern Song Dynasty increased its troops in Huainan and sent envoys to ask for warships and Song army prisoners, Zhao Tai left Lianshui, arrived in Haizhou, and went directly to the firearms workshop.
To build weapons, the most expensive material is refined iron.
Iron blocks are heavy and difficult to transport, so smelting and forging are best located close to mining areas or in places with convenient transportation.
In today's world, the north is mainly about agriculture, and mining and smelting are not good. Zhao Tai wants to open a mine in Shandong, but there is no talent, so he has to buy the refined iron he needs from the Southern Song Dynasty.
For the convenience of transportation, the smelting workshops and weapons workshops of the Qi army were concentrated in Haizhou.
After Zhao Tai left Lianshui, he led a group of people to Haizhou. From a distance, he saw several huge chimneys standing in the planned park, with plumes of smoke billowing out from them.
】
At this time, Zhao Tai came outside the workshop group. Wang Chengshun, the director of the Ordnance Bureau, was waiting outside early.
"I learned that the king is here to inspect, so I am here to wait for the king." Wang Chengshun stepped forward and held the rein of Zhao Tai's horse.
Zhao Tai got off his horse and said with a smile: "Then take Gu and visit the firearms workshop!"
The Southern Song Dynasty had many soldiers and horses, and the city was strong. When the Qi army and national power were not as good as those of the Southern Song Dynasty, in order to fight an overwhelming force and achieve the effect of a blitzkrieg, it was necessary to obtain an overwhelming advantage in military equipment.
The achievements of the Southern Song Dynasty in cold weapons can be said to have reached their peak. Whether it is the foot armor or the divine arm bow, they are both pinnacle works, and the Qi army can only hold them back.
Therefore, Zhao Tai believes that the key to his victory can only be firearms.
When Wang Chengshun heard that Zhao Tai was going to inspect the firearms workshop, a look of embarrassment appeared on his face. Zhao Tai was keenly aware of it and couldn't help asking: "What happened to the firearms workshop again?"
Wang Chengshun could only report truthfully, "Before I had time to report, just a few days ago, an accident occurred while testing firearms in the firearms workshop, killing two craftsmen."
In fact, since Zhao Tai established the firearms workshop, there have been constant accidents in the firearms workshop, with more than ten people killed and dozens more injured.
This led to low morale among the craftsmen in the firearms workshops, and craftsmen from other workshops were unwilling to transfer to the firearms workshops, leaving the firearms workshops with a constant shortage of manpower.
Zhao Tai heard that another accident happened, but he still said: "Take the orphan there."
Now the group of people entered the factory area, passed through various workshops such as smelting, forging, weapons, gunpowder, etc., and finally arrived at the firearms workshop.
After the emergence of gunpowder, Song, Jin, and Meng all began to use gunpowder in their wars. The Song army even had pear fireballs, thunderbolt fireballs, smoke balls, poison smoke balls, iron-mouthed fire harriers, bamboo fire harriers, rockets, and muskets. Various firearms.
When Zhao Tai established the firearms workshop, he actually had no craftsmen who could make firearms under his command. Fortunately, today's firearms are very primitive and simple, and it is not difficult to send other craftsmen to make them.
The entire firearms workshop includes crude iron refining, firearms manufacturing, and a shooting range for test firing, so it occupies a very large area.
The firearms of the Southern Song Dynasty were famous, but they were of little use on the battlefield, and Zhao Tai had no intention of making them.
When he first set up the firearms workshop, he only gave it three tasks: to continue making thunderbolts, to make firecrackers, and to make artillery.
In Zhao Tai's view, it is not difficult to make firecrackers and artillery. The Southern Song Dynasty has already made muskets. Craftsmen only need to replace bamboo with iron to create primitive firecrackers.
As for the artillery, it was just a large firecracker.
Entering the firearms workshop at this time, Wang Cheng pointed at the busy craftsmen and said: "Your Majesty, the number of thunderbolts produced by the workshop every month has stabilized. In addition, the fire blunderbuss has passed the preliminary test."
Wang Chengshun took Zhao Tai to a place where several craftsmen were taking out the demoulded fire guns, then filing off the sharp protrusions and installing wooden handles.
Zhao Tai picked up a fire gun and observed it. He found that the difference between it and the sudden fire gun was that the bamboo tube was replaced by an iron gun. "Will this thing explode?"
Wang Chengshun said: "At first, the barrel was also blown up. Later, the craftsmen continued to improve and thicken the wall of the gun, and it was finally shaped into what it is now."
Zhao Tai stood up and observed, and found that the wall of the gun was indeed very thick, and the mouth of the gun was much smaller than that of a musket, so he frowned and said: "The caliber of this gun is so small, it shouldn't be able to hold much gunpowder, and it won't be very powerful!"
Wang Chengshun did not expect that Zhao Tai would be able to spot the problem at a glance, and said awkwardly: "Your Majesty is wise, the power is indeed average, but fortunately the sound is very loud and the momentum is extremely terrifying."
Zhao Tai frowned, "It's not very powerful, can you lengthen the barrel?"
Wang Chengshun said: "It can be lengthened, but in this case, the fire blunderbuss will be too bulky and difficult for soldiers to hold with one hand."
Zhao Tai thought for a while and asked the firearms workshop to make firearms for two main purposes, which were to deal with the Mongolian heavy cavalry and the Song Army's heavy infantry.
These two types of soldiers are both wearing heavy armor and are difficult to damage with swords and arrows. An ordinary bow and arrow will only scratch it. Even a large crossbow cannot kill them with one hit. They can only be killed by blunt weapons. .
Therefore, Zhao Tai's requirement for the fire gun is not only to be terrifying in sound, but also to be able to break armor at close range.
The current craftsmanship of the Qi army cannot produce long-barreled bird blunderbuss, but the fire blunderbuss and bowl-mouth blunderbuss from the early Ming Dynasty should be no problem.
Zhao Tai suggested, "Whether a fire gun explodes depends on the materials it is made of and the amount of powder it is filled with. The power of the fire gun depends on the medicine used, the caliber of the gun, and the length of the gun tube. The firearms workshop must continue. After improvement and testing, the fire gun must be able to penetrate heavy armor in fifteen steps to be considered qualified. Do you understand?"
Wang Chengshun saluted immediately, "I understand!"
Zhao Tai nodded slightly, "Go and see the artillery!"
Wang Chengshun directly led Zhao Tai to the test gun range this time. As he walked, he introduced: "A few days ago, the workshop cast ten prototype cannons, but during the test firing, five of them were already blown up, and now there are five more."
When Zhao Tai heard that half of the cannon exploded, which army would dare to use such artillery, he couldn't help but ask: "Have you found out the reason for the explosion?"
Wang Chengshun said: "It's still the same old problem. There's something wrong with the cannon-casting materials and craftsmanship."
Zhao Tai asked: "Is there a solution?"
Wang Chengshun said: "A craftsman proposed two solutions."
Zhao Tai was very interested, "What can we do?"
Wang Chengshun said: "The first is to change the material and try using copper. The second is to wrap a few rings of fine iron on the iron cannon's body to strengthen the cannon."
When Zhao Tai heard this, he realized that the early artillery seemed to be copper cannons, not iron cannons, so he stopped and said, "Call that craftsman over!"
