A small soldier of the frontier army in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 167 Lumi Gun, Difficult

Next, when Wang Dou inspected the gunpowder factory, he got an unexpected surprise.

"Is this granulated gunpowder?"

That's right, what was placed in front of Wang Dou was no longer the powdered black gunpowder, but small granules with uniform size, like tiny black pearls.This is the latest research result of Li Zhifen, the director of the gunpowder factory.

Wang Dou took a look at Li Zhifen: "Not bad, Li Daji Nitrate Officer, it seems that you are very skilled."

Immediately, the big fleshy ball in front of Wang Dou who was watching him was trembling with joy, Li Zhifen said incoherently: "This is all thanks to the great blessing of the lord, and the villain has achieved this unintentionally. The lord, according to the reality of the villain , After the gunpowder is made into granules, it is convenient for storage and the power is much greater."

Wang Douchang smiled and said: "Of course, Li Daji Nitrate Officer, you have made great achievements."

Granular black gunpowder burns fully, has less residue, is much more powerful than powdered gunpowder, and is easy to store and transport.Wang Dou seems to remember that when Qi Jiguang was writing "Ji Xiao Xin Shu", Qi's army had already used granulated gunpowder at that time. Large granules were used for artillery, small granules were used for firecrackers, and the smallest granules were used as primer.

But to be honest, Wang Dou's descendants are relatively good at subjects such as Chinese, history, and geography, but they are very bad at physics, chemistry, numbers, and English.Especially the knowledge of history, I was able to escape the catastrophe in the ninth year of Chongzhen, and even rose a few levels, it was because of his understanding of history.When he came to Daming, his physical hands-on ability was not as good as that of the most common craftsman in Daming, and there were many troubles. He had long forgotten about the granular black powder. Research it out.

With this granulated black powder, Wang Dou's firecrackers in the future can use less gunpowder than now, but the range and power of the firecrackers are greatly improved. It is estimated that the effective lethality is nearly a hundred paces, comparable to the original Compared with the old-fashioned bird guns, it greatly surpassed the smoothbore guns that Western troops used granular black powder in the same period.

The reason why Daming's firecracker hits far and accurately is that apart from the longer barrel, there is a rear rear sight, plus the front sight, forming a three-point and one-line aiming advantage.Until the beginning of the [-]th century, Western firearms did not even have a rear sight except for a small front sight, so how could they hit far and accurately?

Lin Daofu, Li Maosen, and all the craftsmen around looked at Li Zhifen with envy. He just changed the gunpowder from powder to granule, and he had to be so praised by the integrity. It seems that he has a bright future.Li Zhifen didn't expect that she accidentally got a research result, and she didn't know what the future would be, but the honest man had more confidence than herself, so she could only lament that she had met the Lord, the kindness of knowing him, and never forgotten.

His chubby face was full of smiles, and when Wang Dou asked him to mass-produce this granular black powder, he respectfully accepted the order, but then he remembered something: "My lord, if the gunpowder factory wants to mass-produce this black powder Planting granular gunpowder requires a lot of sulfur, and this matter needs to be bothered by adults."

Wang Dou nodded. The formula of black powder is nothing more than saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal. The army manufactures black powder. No matter where it is, the source of charcoal is always worry-free. The source of the medium nitrate is also not a problem.

But the sulfur component in it, although the proportion is not large, is very important.In black powder, sulfur is a kind of binder, and the three components can be mixed evenly. Only black powder containing sulfur can be made into granular black powder with almost the same size.In Baoan Prefecture, Wang Dou didn't know if there were sulfur minerals. With the increasing use of firearms in the future, obtaining a stable source of sulfur would also be a big problem.

He buried his thoughts in his heart, and just said: "You don't have to worry about this matter, I will solve it on my own, you can make the medicine with peace of mind."

……

A few days later, through the operation of Wang Dou and Li Maosen, Lai Yuanlong, the ambassador of the Security Bureau, came to Baoan City.He was wearing a ninth-rank official uniform embroidered with practice magpie patches, which was covered with stains of oil, and one sleeve was rolled up.

Sure enough, as Li Maosen said, this person is not an ordinary person, no wonder he was taken over by the people below.When he met Wang Dou, his expression was still blank, and only when Wang Dou asked him about the military weapons did he immediately perk up.

He was noncommittal to Wang Dou's greetings, and Wang Dou's generous monthly salary, but said: "Your Excellency, it's okay to be transferred to the city, but if you want to be an official to develop firearms, you need enough materials. A group of outstanding craftsmen are needed to assist Xiaguan. Xiaguan needs a large research and development house with bright and clean windows. When Xiaguan is developing, he does not want to be disturbed by trivial matters...Xiaguan needs...Xiaguan needs..."

Wang Dou smiled and said, "No problem."

Lai Yuanlong stared blankly at Wang Dou: "My lord agrees?"

Wang Dou smiled and said: "Of course, if Ambassador Lai is really talented and knowledgeable, so what if I give you generous conditions? But I don't hope that in the future, Ambassador Lai is just talking big words and still needs to show his achievements." It is."

Lai Yuanlong said anxiously: "That is nature, that is nature."

Wang Dou's generosity and generosity were beyond his expectation. He could quietly develop what he liked when he thought of it. His mind had already flown to the spacious and bright studio that only belonged to him. Raw materials can be squandered, and a large number of excellent craftsmen are under his command. There is nothing more joy in the world than this.

Wang Dou asked about flintlocks, and Lai Yuanlong said: "Self-generated firecrackers? I have heard privately that in the eighth year of Chongzhen, Bi You, Minister of the Ministry of War, had developed self-generated firecrackers, using flints instead of matchlocks for firing, and can fight in wind and rain. , can be used as a sharp weapon."

He said confidently: "Don't worry, my lord, as long as there are enough materials and manpower, in time, the lower officials will develop this kind of self-generated firecracker for you."

Also, Wang Dou mentioned the fire door device on the gunpowder pool that can be opened and closed automatically, and Lai Yuanlong also said: "Please give me some time, my lord, it will be successfully developed."

Wang Dou was in a very happy mood. The two major problems were expected to be solved. It seemed that the role of talents was really important, so he asked another question.

Lai Yuanlong: "The Lumi blunderbuss? I didn't expect the adults to know about this thing. Speaking of which, I have been to the Military Weapons Bureau of the Ministry of Industry, and I am fortunate to have seen the real object and the making of the Lumi blunderbuss."

He shook his head again and again: "It is difficult, very difficult to make this thing."

Relying on what Yuanlong said, the Lumi blunderbuss was actually very rarely used in the Ming army, mainly because it was extremely difficult to make and the cost was too high.The Lumi gun has an all-metal structure, the body is heavy, and it is small-caliber. The excellent Lumi gun has a range of 150 steps, and the initial velocity of the projectile is extremely high, which is basically similar to the rifles of later generations.Even the firearms used by the Qing army in the Opium War in later generations may not be stronger than the Lumi blunderbuss in terms of performance.

Its essence lies in the double-layer gun tube, the tube body is integrated, no number of segments, and the inner and outer gun tubes are connected in opposite directions, which is extremely safe.However, the manufacturing method is extremely complicated, relying on what Yuanlong said, just to make and polish the two barrels that can fit closely together, it requires veteran technicians who have been in the art for decades.

Especially the last casing, which is almost forced to drill down, requires a rather complicated and sophisticated machine platform. The machine platform is complicated in technology and is almost two people high. Only this kind of complicated machine platform can guarantee two gun barrels The axis is consistent, and then slowly drilled in bit by bit.

All in all, making the Lumi gun is very labor-intensive, and the requirements for each method are very high, which made Wang Dou frown.

According to what Lai Yuanlong said, with his current technical reserves, even if he develops the Lumi gun, if it cannot be mass-produced, what is the point?Maybe the time is right, and some will be made in small batches in the future, and distributed to elite troops, so that they can be used as snipers.

Thinking of this, Wang Dou suddenly remembered the rifled guns of later generations. He told Lai Yuanlong what he knew. Lai Yuanlong thought about it for a long time, and finally said: "My lord, this rifled gun is actually the same as the Lumi gun. Maybe my lord It can be developed, but it may be difficult to manufacture in large quantities."

Wang Dou smiled and said: "I know it well, so Ambassador Lai will go to Shun Township Fort first, where the defense officer Lord Lin Daofu will arrange everything for you. You first develop the self-generating firecracker and the fire door device, and wait for these two things." After success, consider the Lumi gun and the Rifled gun.”

Soon, Lai Yuanlong came to Shunxiang Fort. In the Shunxiangbao Gunsmith Factory, Lai Yuanlong had a spacious and bright studio, and there were many raw materials and manpower at his disposal. Without the intrigue and intrigue of his colleagues, Lai Yuanlong only felt that his whole body radiated infinite power.

……

With a sound of "boom", a thick wild boar was knocked over on the woods on the sunny slope.A few gunfire soldiers from the E Zongjia team surrounded him happily. This guy ran fast and was clever and fierce. If everyone didn't have gunfire, it would not be easy to knock down this wild boar.

When they got closer, everyone saw that this wild boar had a strong body, its mane was erect, and its fangs were exposed. It may weigh several hundred catties.

A firecracker said excitedly: "Good guy, such a big wild boar, we can make a good tooth sacrifice tonight."

The few of them happily carried the wild boar away, followed them down the mountain, and met brothers in the team from time to time, each carrying goats, rabbits, pheasants, yellow sheep and other things on their guns, it seems that everyone gained a lot , but seeing the wild boar carried by these people, everyone was still amazed, and they all praised: "Good guy, such a big wild boar is really rare."

Everyone came to the foot of the mountain freely, gathered into a team, and checked the harvest of the whole team. Everyone was smiling. It seemed that the brothers had gained a lot. Eating meat, even the miners in Shangjinggou, can feast on fish and meat these days.

The sergeants of the First Division of the Fifth Division laughed and laughed, and followed the large flat rivers of Wofosi Township and Heishansi Township in the later generations, only heading northeast.These places in later generations are densely populated places, but at this time it is still a wasteland, quiet and uninhabited.

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Old White Bull: There is another chapter tonight.

(End of this chapter)