Daming: I help my wife be the empress

Chapter 188 Steel cannon, do you think I can't kill people?

The director of the Artillery Research Institute is still old craftsman Han Fu, but the deputy director has been replaced by a scholar named Zhang Haogu.

After seeing the ceremony, Auntie Zhu walked in.

However, the research institute is not a gun factory, and there is nothing to visit.

Auntie Zhu looked at it, and then asked, "How about the muzzle-loading gun that you were asked to study?"

Han Fu said: "Report to Jian Guo, this matter is mainly presided over by Deputy Zhang, why don't we let him speak for Jian Guo?"

"can."

Zhang Haogu is only in his twenties, with two beards, he looks a bit dull at first glance, but his eyes are quite agile and clear.

Hearing the words, he said: "Report to Jian Guo, although this rifled flintlock cannon has been developed, it has not been a real flintlock."

"How do you say it?" Aimee Zhu asked.

Zhang Haogu said: "The barrel of this artillery is made of fine steel, which reduces the weight of the cannon, but brings difficulties to the subsequent processing of the cannon.

The rifling can be done using a hydraulic boring machine, which is fine.However, if the flintlock device is closely integrated with the cannon, it may increase the air leakage.

Therefore, after researching with several gunsmiths in the institute, it was decided to install the flintlock device on the outside of the cannon, and connect the medicine pool inside the cannon with a fuze.

In this way, it takes about two or three seconds for the cannon to fire after the pull cord is ignited with the flintlock. "

The purpose of installing a flintlock device for the cannon and using a pull cord to control it is mainly for two points. One is to reduce the time required for firing the cannon by shortening the ignition fuze, and the other is to further ensure the safety of the gunner.

The two are actually related to each other-to use a matchlock to ignite a cannon, for the safety of the gunner, the matchlock must be long enough, or the burning time must be long enough, which naturally increases the time it takes to fire a shell.

Therefore, after listening to Zhang Haogu's words through Aimee Zhu's mobile phone, Hao Guangming said, "It's not a problem to delay the launch for three or four seconds. In fact, when I was looking for relevant information, I had seen this kind of flintlock installed on the outside of the cannon." It's just that I didn't choose it.

If I had known that your processing technology was not enough, I would have given you the materials directly back then. "

Aimee Zhu also felt that even if there was a few seconds delay after pulling the rope, it was much better than the previous method of firing the cannon directly from the muzzle of the gun.

So he said to Zhang Haogu: "It's okay, it's a good thing that you can flexibly change it according to the actual situation when you develop it."

Hearing this, Han Fu and Zhang Haogu heaved a sigh of relief.

When Zhang Haogu wanted to change the design, Han Fu refused to let it go, because he was afraid that he would make a mistake and annoy Aimi Zhu.

Seeing that the deadline was approaching, but the development was stuck in the installation of the flintlock device and there was no progress, Han Fu agreed with Zhang Haogu to change the design.

Although the cannon was successfully developed, it was slightly different from Aimi Zhu's request. Both of them were waiting to be punished this time. Unexpectedly, Aimi Zhu not only did not blame, but praised a few words.

This made the two more motivated to do things.

At this time, Aunt Zhu asked again: "According to your design, what is the range of this cannon? How accurate is it?"

Zhang Haogu said: "Currently, only one ten-jin cannon has been built in the institute, and skilled gunners who test the cannon can accurately hit the target gate three miles away with iron bullets with the assistance of the gun body rear sight and scale.

If a ten-jin iron bullet is fired flat, within four miles, it will have good lethality.

As for other data, we are still collecting and not sure. "

Auntie Zhu nodded slightly after hearing this, and then asked: "How many people and how long does it take to build a ten-jin cannon?"

Zhang Haogu thought for a while, and said: "With five skilled gunsmiths, one can be built in ten days."

"Take me to see the ten-pound cannon you tried to build."

"Yes"

Then, Aimee Zhu followed Zhang Haogu and Han Fu to a big house, and saw the steel cannon.

At this moment, not only Auntie Zhu's eyes were shining with joy, but Hao Guangming on the other side was staring at the camera of the mobile phone intently.

I saw that this steel cannon was not too thick, with an inner diameter of about ten centimeters, an outer diameter of fifteen or six centimeters, and a barrel length of 1.6 meters.

It gradually becomes thicker from the muzzle to the breech, but not exaggerated.A steel hoop was added to the tail, as well as a flintlock ignition device.

There are sights and scales for aiming on the gun body, but they are relatively simple.

The gun body is mounted on two steel wheels nearly two meters high, and there is a one-to-two-meter traction bracket behind it.

The design in this aspect is the same as the information given by Hao Guangming, and the most mature design of the retreating gun carriage is adopted.

When shelling, you can directly adjust the up and down angles. If you want to adjust the left and right angles, you need to move the gun mount.

But because the cannons are all made of steel, they are not too heavy, and it is actually easy to adjust left and right, and two people can do it.

If it is a march, a horse can be pulled around on flat ground.

The impact of poor road conditions will not be too great - the design of the gun mount wheels is so large for off-roading.

After walking around the cannon, Aimee Zhu suddenly asked again: "How many shells can a skilled gunner fire in one minute?"

As the deputy director, Zhang Haogu naturally knew the new concept of time.

Wen Yan said: "Because the barrel of this gun is short and the vertical angle adjustment is very convenient, a skilled gunner can fire at least two rounds in a minute. It can fire four or five rounds in a row before cooling down is required."

Auntie Zhu listened and nodded - as far as she knew, it took several minutes to fire a Hongyi cannon that could hit three or four miles away, because the barrel was too long and it was difficult to clean.It is also prone to heat, resulting in a lower average firing speed in actual combat.

At this point, she was satisfied with this steel cannon—although it was still far behind the steel cannons of later generations, it was already an absolute weapon of war in Ming Dynasty.

Immediately, Zhu Yuxi noticed that the iron bullets next to the cannon had four convex marks, and asked, "Did you make these iron bullets yourself?"

Zhang Haogu said: "Yes."

Auntie Zhu nodded, and said again: "When the ammunition research institute develops the blooming ammunition for rifled guns, you can experiment together and report the experimental data to Bengong.

In addition, after you have determined the specifications of the artillery of various calibers, you should contact the arsenal as soon as possible and let them arrange production.

At the end of the first month of next year, I will see at least fifty such steel cannons, as well as enough shells. "

Han Fu and Zhang Haogu immediately bowed together and said: "I obey my orders!"

···
When she returned to the city from the Artillery Research Institute, Auntie Zhu was in a beautiful mood.

When she goes to Nanzhili next year, if she has fifty steel cannons, she will have a great advantage whether she is facing the Qing army or some Ming troops who dare to oppose her.

Stronger strength can allow her to do more things, calm down the world faster, and lead Daming to prosperity.

As a result, as soon as they returned to the Chengyun Hall, the three of them, Li Yan, Hong Niangzi, and Long Wenguang, who came hand in hand, made Aimi Zhu's good mood disappear.

"It's unreasonable! My palace has repeated orders and repeated orders. Those who dare to be greedy for ink in the military rations and salaries will be severely punished. There are still people who dare to commit crimes. Do you think that this palace will not kill people?!"

Auntie Zhu stood in front of the throne, her eyebrows scolded angrily, and her pretty face looked cold.

Down below, Long Wenguang, Li Yan, and Hong Niangzi didn't dare to speak for a while.

Not to mention Long Wenguang, even Li Yan and Hong Niangzi had been with Auntie Zhu for so long, and it was the first time they saw her get so angry.

Speaking of which, Aimee Zhu looked like a beautiful girl of sixteen or seventeen years old, logically speaking, no matter how much anger she had, it wouldn't be scary.

But seeing her angry look at this time, even the most nervous Hong Niang felt a little nervous.

In fact, the red lady was also very angry.

Then she glared at Li Yan - this matter falls under Li Yan's jurisdiction.

Li Yan heard Zhu Wei's words, and directly knelt down to plead guilty, saying: "It's my negligence, I didn't find out that someone was shoddying the fast-food army rations, and please punish me, Your Highness!"

Isn't Li Yan angry?
He is also angry.

At the same time, he also knew that this matter was under his control, and since something went wrong, he had an unshirkable responsibility.

Especially when this happened in a two-way army.

Fortunately, the scale is not large, and the soldiers who are mainly surrendered troops from the Great Western Army have come here through hard times, and did not regard the issue of military rations as a major issue, otherwise there may be major incidents.

Long Wenguang wiped the fine sweat from his forehead, then knelt down, and said, "The contractors who make instant military rations are all introduced by the prefectural and county yamen. As the governor, I also have the crime of negligence in this. "

Seeing the two of them like this, Aimee Zhu was so angry that she wanted to laugh for a moment.

Hao Guangming on the other side could imagine how bad Auntie Zhu was in a bad mood right now, fearing that she would be affected by her anger and make some inappropriate decisions, so he persuaded her, "Calm down first, the most important thing to do now is to solve the problem, and then pursue accountability." .”

Aimee Zhu calmed down a bit.

However, she was not prepared to listen to Hao Guangming completely. She felt that problem solving and accountability could be carried out at the same time.

So he took a deep breath and asked, "How many of the problematic dry rice and bread are there, have you found out?"

At the end of September, Zeng Ying and Li Dingguo sent a total of 10,000+ troops to the expedition. It is estimated that it will take at least two months to return to Chengdu.

In this way, the military rations consumed by the army is a huge number.

There are not only rice, noodles, vegetables, meat and other food raw materials, but also ancient instant military rations.

As a feudal dynasty with a fairly centralized and mature system, the Ming Dynasty's instant military rations were actually good compared to the times.

There are mainly two types. One is made of flour, added a certain amount of salt and oil to make dough cakes, and then roasted with charcoal fire to make sesame seed cakes that can be preserved for a long time.

There will be a hole in the middle of this biscuit, which is convenient for threading.

Generally, each soldier will bring a few bags before marching. Whether it is to test the heat with fire, soak it in water, or eat it dry, it is very convenient, and the taste and nutrition are not bad compared with the people of the Ming Dynasty.

The other is to dry the rice with oil and salt, and let the soldiers carry it in bags. When necessary, they can soak it in water or eat it dry.

As for serving with rice, it is mainly made of soybean paste and other sauces.

Of course, the above instant military rations are used when the army does not have time to cook normally.

If you have enough time, you must still use the original ingredients to cook and eat.

Before the army set off, Zhu Wei also asked about the army rations.

After learning about Daming's instant military rations, both she and Hao Guangming were quite surprised.

Especially Hao Guangming—in his opinion, the instant military rations of the Ming army are not much different from the instant military rations of the later generations of the army 20 years before the founding of the People's Republic of China.

Finding that the Ming army's fast-food rations exceeded expectations, the two felt relieved about the rations.

Unexpectedly, some of this batch of instant rations were shoddy.

Speaking of it, it's really hard to detect this in advance—whether it's dry rice or biscuits, it's hard to tell whether it's good or bad without eating it in your mouth.For example, there is not enough salt and oil, and the rice noodles used are stale and deteriorated, and so on.

The finished military rations required by the 10,000+ army is not a small amount. Whether it is the Jianguo Mansion or the Chengdu government, it is impossible to recruit people to do it slowly, so they are contracted to merchants who can do this according to the previous habits.

But I didn't expect that some merchants dared to use inferior products as good ones to seek greater profits from it!
Of course, some officials must have been involved in this, otherwise the merchants alone would not have the guts to hide the incident from happening now.

···
Li Yan heard what Auntie Zhu said, and said: "When Zeng Ying and Li Dingguo reported the matter, they had already investigated it.

About two battalions under Zeng Ying's command had problems with instant rations, and about one battalion under Li Dingguo's command had problems with instant rations.

The minister has already sent someone to trace the source of the two battalions' fast-food rations, but there was confusion when the rations were distributed before, so it may not be easy to find out. "

Aunt Zhu frowned and asked, "Let's not say anything before the investigation, how will the three battalions be prepared to deal with the lack of fast-food rations?"

　Thanks to [Yang Da Bu Liu Ye] for the 100 starting point reward!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)