I'm sure of the prosperous age of Kangxi and Qianlong!

Chapter 138 The advent of explosive bombs
Hangzhou House.

Ordnance Bureau workshop.

In fact, it is just a simple residential workshop, strictly guarded by the military from all directions.

The craftsman apprentices inside also wear special official craftsman costumes, and their names are embroidered on the chests of the costumes.

These names are recorded in the official list of the Ordnance Bureau, in order to prevent the leakage of secrets.

At noon, it's time for dinner.

"Old Huang, you have eaten, what are you busy with?" A middle-aged bald craftsman stood up and said to another craftsman with an inch of hair next to him.

As the arms production line of the Ming army, the Ordnance Bureau is a top priority. Food is the same as that of the army. It has long been replaced by three meals a day, and it still has oil and water every time.

"Old Liu, you go first. I'll try this new cannonball again. We don't believe it. It can't be cured."

The short-haired middle-aged craftsman known as Lao Huang waved his hands and fiddled with a black iron projectile slightly smaller than a football with a sweaty face.

This is a cannonball, and looking at the mark in the middle, although it has been melted tightly, you can still tell that it is a cannonball made from two halves of the cannonball.

There is also a long fuse exposed on the surface of the cannonball.

Good guy, this is still a bomb!

Ever since the craftsman Chen San made the flintlock gun and then soared into the sky, getting promoted and making a fortune, the craftsmen in the entire Ordnance Bureau were all excited.

If you make a flintlock gun, you can get promoted and make a fortune. Then if you can make the explosive bullets that Zhu Jianguo said, wouldn't it be... Well, these craftsmen with little education can still only imagine getting promoted and made a fortune.

Moreover, as people who were once lowly, even though they have been deregistered by Zhu Jianguo's new policies and become good citizens, they still feel an inexplicable inferiority complex.

Being able to serve as an official based on merit is not only the pursuit of ordinary people, but also allows them to truly raise their heads as human beings.

Lao Huang completely ignored the bald old Liu and ran to the experimental site with the freshly baked bombs in his hands.

In order to test the artillery shells and muskets produced by the Ordnance Bureau, the Ordnance Bureau has a testing site.

Of course, the reality is just a large deserted open space with a shooting range enclosed by a scarecrow.

Lao Huang held the cannonball in his hand and came to a test cannon specially designed for an artillery workshop. The caliber of this cannon was small, and it was a short-barreled cannon with very little power.

Originally, the Bureau of Ordnance issued red-coat heavy artillery. After a test of a bomb exploded in the chamber, killing and injuring more than a dozen craftsmen and apprentices on the spot, Zhu Yijiong strictly ordered that the artillery used for testing could only be equipped with low-power artillery.

And priority was given to adapting to the scrap cannons captured by the Qing army that were not used by regular troops.

Even the gunpowder has been changed from the original sugar gunpowder to black gunpowder. It must be powder gunpowder instead of granular gunpowder, in order to minimize the risk.

After all, no matter craftsmen or apprentices, they are all Zhu Yijiong's treasures. If one of them dies, the Arms Bureau's workshop will have to reduce production a lot.

"Huang Wu, why are you here again? Are you crazy about wanting to be an official?" The person who spoke was gunner Wang Wu. This guy turned out to be a gunner of the Qing army. When he followed the boss to make an enemy of the Ming army, he was accidentally killed. The artillery shell broke off an arm, but luckily he survived and was left disabled.

So he came to the Ordnance Bureau and became a master gunner, specializing in guiding and looking after the new apprentices.

Huang Wu was too lazy to respond: "Don't worry about this guy for now, I want to have sex."

Wang Wu seemed to be used to it. As he stood up and ordered his apprentices to operate the artillery, he did not forget to ask: "Old rule, the gunpowder is not full, right?"

Huang Wu said: "Don't worry, it's all medicinal powder, only one-third of it is filled. It'll be fine if you run faster!"

Wang Wu nodded: "That's it, I'll be quicker in a while."

The apprentices skillfully loaded the cannonballs into the chamber, filled them with gunpowder, and fired.

next second.

The apprentices just jumped into the trench.

"Oh!"

There was a muffled sound, the entire artillery shook, the gun mount came loose, and cracks appeared on the surface of the gun body.

Come on, it exploded again!
There are currently two biggest problems with blooming ammunition. One is that the shell is not tightly sealed and can easily leak and detonate. Second, even if it is tightly sealed, the deflagrating gunpowder will ignite the fuse of the shell, causing the chamber to explode.

Huang Wu also thought of other methods, such as curling up the fuse, or shortening it, and even thought of changing it to a breech-loading cannon, but either failed or cost too much, and it may not be successful.

"How could it be...hot, hot, hot." Huang Wu stepped forward to pick up the shrapnel scattered on the ground, and his hand suddenly twitched from the heat.

"Oh!"

At this time, suddenly there was an explosion not far away.

Huang Wu subconsciously followed the sound and saw that it was the acceptance officer sent by the Privy Council who was inspecting newly produced grenade hammers.

I saw the man holding a grenade hammer with a wooden handle in his hand, nodding and saying...

Wait...wooden handle?
"I thought of it!" Huang Wu suddenly shouted excitedly.

Not only was Wang Wu next to him startled, but the Privy Council officials who were testing the quality of the grenade hammer not far away also heard it and looked here suspiciously.

But Huang Wu didn't care and trotted back to the artillery workshop without even having time to eat.

The next day.

Huang Wu, who had been busy all night without a wink, came to the testing site again with a strange-shaped cannonball.

"Old Huang, you can't do anything with explosive bombs. What weird thing did you come up with?"

Wang Wu looked at the cannonball in Huang Wu's hand with question marks on his face.

All right!The cannonball in Huang Wu's hand still seemed to be the same as before, but a wooden seat was added to the bottom, just like the base of a crystal ball.

What kind of look is this?

Any precision?

Huang Wu didn't answer, but said: "Of course I am a bomb, look!"

As he said that, he took out another small wooden stick. Upon closer inspection, he found that the middle of the stick was still hollow and filled with an unknown black substance.

After all, Wang Wu had been dealing with artillery for a long time, and he could tell it after just one smell: "This is gunpowder? Why are you putting gunpowder in the stick?"

After hearing this, Huang Wu smiled slightly and did not answer. He just inserted the wooden stick into the round hole on the top of the cannonball.

"Come on, let's try firing again. I promise, this time it won't explode again!"

"...Go and give him a shot."

Although Wang Wu didn't believe it at all, he still nodded and ordered.

Yesterday, the cannon was blasted so many times that the barrel was burst, making it impossible to use it again.

Today's artillery is still new, and the first shot was used by Huang Wu again.

Another skillful loading and firing.

This time, the apprentices had the experience from yesterday and jumped into the ditch faster than yesterday.

next second.

"boom!"

The sound was different. Looking at the artillery, there was nothing wrong with the gun mount, smoke was coming from the muzzle, and the gun position swayed back under the recoil.

Wang Wu was still confused when he heard a sudden explosion a hundred meters ahead. Since there was not much gunpowder, the explosion was not very powerful.

"It's... it's done? Lao Huang, is your flower blossom ready?"

"Hahahaha... It's done... It's done... Wuwuwu..." Huang Wu was already crying with joy.

After more than a month of hard work, there were so many failures, several artillery pieces were destroyed, and more than a dozen people died in the process. Even Old Man Li had some opinions, and now he finally succeeded.

Wang Wu reacted quickly enough, and immediately shouted: "Quick, go and inform Director Li, just say that the explosive bomb was successful! The explosive bomb was successful!"

　No way, I'm so sleepy...

　　
　
(End of this chapter)