national surname chiming

Chapter 153 Armaments Are No Small Matter

After preliminarily taking care of all the links from mining to charring and steelmaking, and upgrading Daye Tieshan's industry as a whole, Shen Shuren finally feels relieved, and he can live a good year with peace of mind this year.

He can slowly hand over the follow-up daily basic scientific research to Song Yingxing and others, instead of doing everything by himself.

As a big boss, he had no choice but to personally support the horse and see him off at the initial stage of scientific research project approval.In the future, with his daily affairs, the most he can do is to point out the general direction.

Even for the appointment of Song Yingxing, Shen Shuren wanted to slowly transfer him to scientific research management. After all, they were both young, 57 years old, so how could they have so much energy to do scientific research on the front line.

However, in the first year and a half, it was necessary to practice - after in-depth contact, Shen Shuren also discovered that Song Yingxing was not as good at hands-on practice as the legends of later generations said.

After all, Song Yingxing is only rich in theoretical knowledge now, but lacks practical experience in scientific research.

On this point, Song Yingxing himself wrote in the preface to "Tiangong Kaiwu": "It's so sad and poor! If you want to buy strange textual research, you lack the capital of Luoxia; if you want to attract colleagues to discuss fakes, you lack the museum of Chen Si; How can it be appropriate to write about it, following his ignorant knowledge and hiding his knowledge?"

Translating this passage, it means that Song Yingxing originally thought about buying some of the machines described in his book for physical research, but unfortunately he had no money.

I want to find craftsmen who are actually engaged in these industries to copy reverse machines, but I don't have the space and materials.

Writing a book by myself is "writing without real objects" from beginning to end, so of course there is only empty-to-empty pure theory left.

In the final analysis, it is the harm of poverty, "it hurts the poor."

Now that Shen Shuren has money, he is willing to pay. If he can help him sort out all the things in the preface that he wants to verify in person but has no money to verify, Song Yingxing will of course come to the front line eagerly.

Waiting to work in the front line for a year or two, make up for the shortcomings of practical experience, finish all the experiments that I wanted to do without money, fully combine theory with practice, and then let Song Yingxing return to scientific research coordination and management, this is the best The way of employing people.

……

Suddenly, another two days passed, and there were only seven or eight days left before the Chinese New Year.

As the year approached, Shen Shuren must have many other things to deal with.

Moreover, he previously asked Zheng Chenggong to block the supply route of water transportation materials in the Dabie Mountains, and made an emergency landing in Lincheng.Now that the coldest time in winter is almost over, Shen Shuren has to go back to Nanjing to make overall arrangements to close the net.

By the way, I want to build friendships in the officialdom, operate the promotion after meritorious service, and then conspire with my father who is now a servant in the Nanjing household department.

Therefore, this day is also the last time for him to come to the newly established "Bingzhan Kiln Metallurgy Research Institute" in Daye County.

Talk to Song Yingxing, talk about some prospects for the follow-up technology, and arrange tasks for the researchers in the next year by the way.

After the Chinese New Year, Shen Shuren would not return to Wuchang immediately, so he explained the project approval in advance so that no one would be idle.

Song Yingxing is also in a good mood these past few days. He, his nephew Song Mingde, and Zhou Tiegan, the former head of the Huangzhou Military Warfare Bureau, are currently busy using steel smelted from new blast furnace coke, according to the shape of the existing Hongyi cannon, to recreate it. Cast a sample.

If it is finally confirmed that there are no defects, the cost of making cannons will be much lower in the future, and Daming will be able to bid farewell to copper cannons forever—at least Shen Jiajun will definitely be able to say goodbye to copper cannons forever.

Seeing Shen Daotai wandering around again, he thought it was to check the progress of casting the cannon, so he quickly took a bunch of materials and prepared to introduce them.

Unexpectedly, Shen Shuren was not in a hurry, and said with a pleasant face: "Slow work and fine work, we are not in a hurry, anyway, the Chinese New Year is only seven or eight days away, you can't finish it, just delay it until after the Lantern Festival.

I came here this time because in the past few days, I have pondered a few more projects, and I will explain them first while I am away.Mr. Song, you should also evaluate and see which of them are feasible. If you can't do it, put it on hold first, postpone it, and pick the easy one first. "

After Song Yingxing heard this, he also recovered his serious expression. Song Mingde, who was pouring tea for Shen Shuren, put down his teacup quickly, turned around and closed the door of the study.

This study room is relatively large, with a long table suitable for drawing in the middle, and a circle of chairs around it, which have also been newly arranged in recent days.

Shen Shuren thinks that research and development requires equality, collective wisdom, emancipation of the mind, and a relatively free environment.Therefore, you have to sit together and discuss in meetings, and you can't engage in the hierarchy of order.

This is not Shen Shuren's hypocrisy, but the inevitable law of scientific development - even if the future generations are as domineering as Beria, a typical spy chief of an intelligence agency, when Stalin asked him to supervise the construction of the atomic bomb, he also knew that he had to put away the KGB. Show respect to the scientist, he knows that brain creativity cannot be forced by high pressure.

When Shen Shuren first asked to arrange the R&D conference room like this, Song Yingxing still felt awkward, but after using it for a few days, he realized the benefits.

At least the huge blueprints are spread out on it to point out the country and explain, which is very convenient. There is no need to circulate it around like when each person had a small case, and the communication efficiency of everyone's discussion on the matter has also improved a lot.

When the new conference room was used on the first day, Song Yingxing still had the pretensions of a civil servant, and he felt a little polite when he was asked to sit at the same table with an old blacksmith who could not read much to discuss matters.But after two days, this awkwardness was overcome.

The original meeting could not be regarded as an open discussion, at most it could only be regarded as a report, full of bureaucratic attention.

At this moment, Song Mingde was going to close the door to keep secret, Shen Shuren said very casually:
"Don't worry, you should call Zhou Tiedan here first. We have to combine theory with practice in this matter. In the future, when we discuss whether the project can be approved for funding, both designers and craftsmen must be present, and both parties express their opinions."

Song Mingde was taken aback when he heard the words, but he quickly accepted it, and went out to find Zhou Tiedan next door.

The four sat around the conference table, and then Shen Shuren took out a list and asked them to sort it out carefully.

"This is what I think. The work of metallurgy and using new materials to imitate old styles of casting cannons can be completed by the end of the first lunar month at most, right? The Chinese New Year will be given a half-month rest until the Lantern Festival.

After these two things are settled, I want to take the opportunity to use new steel to see if I can design some new firearms.All the firecrackers that our army has equipped so far are no different from the Hongyi people's bird blunderbuss and turtledove blunderbuss today, except that a hoop bayonet has been added and the ammunition has been improved.

Last year, I made do with production and use, but there was nothing I could do. Everything was created.Now that we have the foundation, we also need to make improvements in all aspects of the gun body and barrel.

Please take a look at this sample first. This is the latest Hongyi people's firecracker that I asked Zheng Xiandi to get from the Dutch. It is better than the turtledove gun that Xiong Wencan got in Guangdong eight years ago, and it is better than our own Lu The compact gun is also more convenient to ignite.

The torque storage mechanism of this flintlock hammer is more stable, which can prevent false triggering, and it will be locked for a long time after charging, and it is not easy to fatigue.There is also a half-circle iron hoop on the outside of the trigger, so it is not easy to miss the gun body if it falls on the ground or knocks. "

As Shen Shuren said, he first took out a new one he got from the Dutchman, and used it for reference.

He won't let people do the repetitive work of "reinventing the wheel again".To engage in scientific research, of course, we must first align with the latest existing technology.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, Westerners had advantages in certain aspects of firearms. Whether it was stealing or cheating, they should be reverse engineered first, and then upgraded.

Other traversers at the end of the Ming Dynasty did not have this requirement at first, but the Shen family was a maritime merchant, and they managed to win over Zheng Chenggong. As long as the confession continues, it is not difficult to obtain the latest overseas models. Of course, they will use them if they have the conditions.

The gun in his hand at this moment was actually only sold by the Dutch as second-hand dealers at a high price, and it was not made in the Netherlands.The actual country of manufacture is Sweden——

The Thirty Years War from 1618 to 1648 was mainly fought on the territory of the later generations of Germany. At the forefront of European military technology at that time, it was the alliance of states representing the South German Protestant forces, and the Swedish King Gus behind the North German Protestant forces. Taft II.Gustav II's military technology and tactical innovations represented the most advanced level in the West at that time.

Of course, it is now the end of 1641, and Gustav II has been dead for 9 years, but his successor is still continuing to learn from the experience and lessons of previous wars and continue to optimize.

This time, Shen Shuren asked Zheng Chenggong to ask the Dutch for Swedish goods by name and surname. The Dutch went around for two years to get them. It must have cost Zheng Chenggong a lot of money, but I don’t care about it. Anyway, Zheng Chenggong would not want it. Shen Shuren was reimbursed, and Zheng Chenggong got it, so he would definitely keep a few to ponder and study.

Song Yingxing also has a certain amount of research on firearms. After taking Shen Shuren's gun at this moment, he took a quick look at it and saw the merits of it - the hammer torque of this flintlock gun, the locking mechanism , have certain optimizations.

One point must be clarified here: flintlock guns have long existed in the Ming Dynasty, so Song Yingxing would not be surprised to see flintlock guns, but the Ming army’s flintlock guns have never been fully refitted. The state of firing the gun and using it.

In Europe, the flintlock gun was first invented by the Frenchman Mahan in 1547. According to Bi Maokang's "Illustration of Military Weapons" in the Ming Dynasty, it was only about 20 years later than the Europeans. By the end of the 1560s in Jiajing Around 40 years, there were also flintlock guns.

Among the firearms used by the Shen family's army today, those old-fashioned "fire guns" are still matchlock guns.The beak guns and Lumi guns are already flintlock guns. Last year, Shen Shuren asked the craftsmen to produce flintlock guns, and the matchlock guns were only in stock.

On the contrary, the "turtledove gun" obtained from the Spaniards is a bit "against the trend of history", and it is still an arquebus.This turtledove blunderbuss is too heavy, and the fire door requires a lot of firepower. The few sparks from the collision of the flint may not be able to ensure a stable ignition, so the matchlock was used to ignite.

In fact, this is not difficult to understand, because the cannons at the same time were still ignited with matchsticks. The cannons had too much charge and required a lot of ignition firepower, and the sparks were not enough, so they had to use torches to ignite the match directly.Turtle dove guns are heavy firearms between guns and cannons, and they also have this problem.

In addition, the triggers of the muskets of the late Ming Dynasty, including the western muskets of the same period, were directly exposed, and fired when they were bumped.This Swedish gun finally thought of casting a half-circle iron ring outside the trigger, so that if it falls to the ground, it will only hit the iron ring but not the trigger.

Shen Shuren should have thought of this a long time ago. He has seen so many guns in later life, which one is not with an iron ring on the trigger?It's just that the demand in this area was not urgent or obvious, so he inevitably missed everything, and this time it just happened to make up for it.

Song Yingxing thought about it carefully for a while, and compared it with the original Shen Jiajun's beaked blunderbuss and Lumi blunderbuss, and discussed it with Zhou Tiedan, who was in charge of making it.

Both of them felt that it was not difficult to change the locking mechanism of the flintlock, the trigger and the anti-missing iron ring. It only took a few days to adjust. Can be changed according to the new one.

After these tinkering and small optimizations were resolved, Shen Shuren proposed some brand-new design tasks as medium and long-term goals.

(End of this chapter)