Daming Crazy Emperor

Chapter 85 Fengshen
Sun Yuanhua really didn't expect that, he said so casually, the emperor really agreed to use pure copper to make guns and cannons.

To be honest, the use of copper to make guns and cannons has never happened in the history of the Ming Dynasty, but it has happened in the history of Jiannu, that is, the post-Jin Dynasty.

After Nurhaci occupied Shenyang, he seized several Hongyi cannons that Daming purchased from the European continent through Portuguese merchants. However, he did not pay attention to this thing at first, until he saw the power of the Hongyi cannons with his own eyes. .

The question is, how did they make the red barbarian cannons that were not good at the Ming Dynasty?
They really made it. The so-called reward must have a brave man. He lured him with a thousand pieces of gold. Among the captured Ming craftsmen, there was a genius who came up with the method of making cannons with copper. Then it is attached to the inner wall of the gun barrel, so that the gun barrel is easy to process.

This genius craftsman's method of casting cannons is a top secret of Houjin, and has not been recorded in any historical materials. However, Houjin did use the method of pouring copper to create a cannon of Hongyi, which is the Great General of God Blessed God recorded in historical materials. gun.

Kangxi's biological mother, Tong Jia's grandfather, Tong Yangxing, was also awarded the "Ujinchao Hagushan'erzhen" for supervising the construction of the General Cannon of God Bless Shenwei.

This shows that there is a real event in history. Later, Jinzhen used the copper method to create the red barbarian cannon.

Of course, Jiannu hadn't built the cannon of God Bless Shenwei at this time, but the Ming Dynasty was already preparing to use pure copper to make new muskets and artillery.

Pure copper is indeed easy to process and has good toughness. The bullet casings and artillery shells of later generations are all pure copper, which also proves that this direction is definitely correct. Therefore, Taichang adopted this suggestion without hesitation.

However, at this moment, Sun Yuanhua just thought of using pure copper cast guns to make guns. Naturally, the copper from Tongling could not be delivered immediately.

What should we do, should we wait for the copper from Tongling to be delivered?
Of course, there is no need to wait. Although the capital is short of copper, there is still some copper for making a few samples.

The next day, Taichang came to Wang Gong Factory again. At this time, ten sets of Thor light artillery parts made of pure copper have been cast, and one hundred sub-cannon shells were cast at one time, and the new flintlock gun The clay mold is in the rush to work.

Pure copper, a precious metal, is naturally best cast in clay molds. Trachoma and pores are inevitable in sand casting, which will affect the success rate.

Sun Yuanhua had already explained this to him, but he wasn't so anxious that he couldn't wait a day. The new flintlock gun can be seen tomorrow.

After the artillery parts were sent to the milling workshop, Sun Yuanhua couldn't help rubbing his hands nervously. Although theoretically speaking, the toughness of pure copper should be no problem, but no one has ever made cannons out of pure copper before. Who knows Will something go wrong.

Fortunately, after the processing started, the "click" sound did not sound immediately, and the craftsmen who reamed the holes seemed to be much more relaxed, and the processing speed was more than doubled.

In the end, after the reaming was completed, a total of ten sets of Thor light artillery parts were scrapped a few sub-cannon shells, and none of the others were defective.

There is no problem with this reaming, and naturally there will be no problems with other subsequent processes.

Seeing this, Sun Yuanhua couldn't help secretly relieved. Fortunately, he didn't embarrass himself in front of the emperor. If the pure copper parts were smashed again, there would be no place for his face.

Seeing this, Taichang was even more excited: "Chuyang, it seems that this pure copper is indeed much easier to process, looking at the ease of these craftsmen, does it mean that they can hinge even the largest barrels cast? verb: move?"

Hearing this, Sun Yuanhua thought about it carefully, and then said carefully: "This, it should be no problem to process a cannon of about [-] catties. If it is more than [-] catties, I am afraid that ordinary clay molds can't hold it. Wei Chen has not tried it, and dare not ensure."

With a [-]-pound cannon, the shells are probably not half a foot in size. It should be no problem to kill a few people with one shot.

When Taichang heard the words, he couldn't help but excitedly said, "Then try it. First, build a few [-] jins to see the effect. If you think of a way to improve the clay mold, try it."

This is good, as long as five hundred catties of cannons and ten thousand catties of cannons are built, Jiannu will not be bombarded everywhere!

The parts of pure copper are indeed much faster to process than pig iron. In less than half a day, the parts of the ten artillery pieces were all processed.

At this moment, Sun Yuanhua and the others did not need to do it. A few old craftsmen skillfully assembled it, and soon, ten golden cannons appeared in front of everyone.

Sure enough, you get what you get for every penny, this pure copper artillery light is not the same grade as the cast iron artillery in terms of appearance.

Of course, the power of the artillery made of the two materials should not be much different, and the specific effect will be known only after trying it.

Taichang thought about it for a while, but decided to go to Nanyuan together after the new type of flintlock gun was built. After all, it was not easy for him to travel to the capital, and he was very laborious. If he could make one trip, try not to go twice.

In the early morning of the third day, he came to Wang Gong Factory again. At this time, all the parts of the ten flintlock guns had been cast, and they were waiting for him to start trial production.

In the subsequent processing process, there was no more cracking when inserted, except that the barrel was too long and it was difficult to process, and two were scrapped. All other parts were a success without any problems.

In less than half a day, the parts of the ten sets of flintlock guns were processed, and only the assembly was left.

Bi Maokang looked at the shiny parts in front of him and couldn't help being excited. He trembled and instructed a few old craftsmen to assemble them one by one. The eight piles of parts gradually showed the appearance of muskets. Everything went smoothly. .

Tai Chang couldn't help but frowned slightly, because he found that the parts of the flintlock gun were riveted by rivets. Although this assembling method did not affect the use, it brought a lot to the follow-up maintenance. trouble.

However, he didn't say anything. There were no screws yet, and there were no taps and dies. If he insisted on using screws to assemble, he didn't know how much time would be wasted.

Forget it, let's make the flintlock gun first. As for the screws, it's not indispensable, and it won't have much impact if you make it later.

In less than a quarter of an hour, the eight flintlock guns were assembled.

Taichang picked up one and tried it. Fortunately, it wasn't too heavy. Since it was made of pure copper, the barrel wall was much thinner than before, and the whole gun weighed more than ten kilograms. Normal use.

He held the gun again and again and looked at it for a while, and then nodded with satisfaction: "Well, yes, this thing made of pure copper is exquisite, and there should be no problems with the test firing."

Bi Maokang nodded excitedly, then cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, please give this gun a name."

Uh, I forgot to name the new flintlock gun. What kind of name would be good for such a cool gun?

Taichang thought for a while, and then said arrogantly: "The new type of artillery is called Thor, and this new type of musket is called Fengshen."

Fengshen, such a majestic name!
Bi Maokang cupped his hands again and again and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your name, Your Majesty, why don't we try it now?"

Wang Gong's factory is already a bit crowded at the moment, more than 2000 craftsmen are crowded in a place that could only accommodate more than a thousand craftsmen, and there are densely packed people everywhere.

Not to mention the test firing of artillery in this place, the test firing of muskets may injure people.

If you want no problems, you still have to go to Nanyuan.

Question, Bi Maokang, Wang Zheng, and Sun Yuanhua seem to have been busy with sleepless nights for a few days, and the three of them have obviously lost a lot of weight.

Taichang looked at the sky, then looked at the haggard and excited faces of the three, and smiled slightly: "Chuyang, Menghou, let's have something to eat before we set off. Anyway, everything is ready, so we are not in a hurry. , Cao Huachun, ordered Zhang Yuanfang to gather ten thousand imperial troops and prepare to set off."

It's almost noon now, and Nanyuan is more than ten miles away from here, and it will take at least an hour for the army to arrive at least. All right.

(End of this chapter)