Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 1340 Siege Mortar
The heavy snowfall indeed restricted the actions of the Ming army, and both the mobilization of troops and the transportation of materials were hindered to a certain extent.Before Tongguan, Wuguan, Lulingguan and other dangerous passes, there were a large number of Ming troops stationed, and they were hesitant to move forward.

Under normal circumstances, the Ming army would not go to war in winter, but as the Ming army regained the north, they recruited many northern soldiers, especially the reorganization of Jiang Xiang's Datong army and the Shanxi rebel army, which greatly increased the strength of the Northern army. , had the courage to go to war in winter, but was blocked by the weather in the end.

In mid-November, the weather was cold, and most of the Ming troops on the front line were hiding in their camps, and some had already retreated to various states and counties to temporarily escape the cold.The weather changed, which had a certain impact on the morale of the Ming army. In order to boost morale, Wang Yan left Luoyang, went to the front battalions, and then went to the smelting and casting workshops near Xin'an County.

One of the biggest problems restricting productivity in this era is transportation, especially the mining of various mines. It is entirely dependent on manpower with a frame back, a wheelbarrow, and a trip down the mountain for more than ten miles. One person can transport up to three or four hundred catties in a day. ore.

After removing the water content of the three or four hundred catties of ore, removing the impurities contained in the ore, and removing the consumption, there is not much left.Therefore, if the transportation problem is not solved, the iron production will not increase significantly.Coal mining is more troublesome than iron, and it is even more difficult to go deep into the mine.

There are iron mines in Xin'an, Shiyan, and Anyang in Henan, and coal in Shanxi. The Ming army built many smelting blast furnaces in Henan to facilitate transportation. In order to reduce transportation costs, the Ministry of Industry directly sent more than 500 craftsmen to Henan to cast cannons.

The Ming Dynasty seems to have a kind of paranoia about artillery. Since the reign of Tianqi, it has been very keen on making artillery. The current Ming Dynasty has obviously inherited this gene.

Sometimes history is determined by people's hearts and human nature. After people gain an advantage in one aspect, they are often keen to expand and maintain this advantage, while ignoring the development of other aspects, and eventually being surpassed by others.

After the Ming Dynasty gained an advantage in artillery, it also fell into this situation. After all, artillery can solve it, so why use other things.

The cannons made in Henan in the Ming Dynasty were not [-]-pound red-clothed cannons, but giant cannons used during the Battle of Xuzhou.In addition to the traditional long-barreled cannons, the Ming army also began to cast siege mortars with short tubes and thick holes.

After Wang Yan inspected the barracks and appeased the soldiers, he led a group of people to Xin'an County. From a long distance away, he saw several huge blast furnaces standing outside the city, with columns of smoke billowing from the top of the blast furnaces.

"Jianguo, that's the iron smelting workshop in Xin'an County. The cannon casting workshop is just to the north of the workshop. Is Jianguo an advanced city to rest, or should we go and have a look now." You Youlun rode to Wang Yan and asked.

Wang Yan did not make his carriage for this inspection. The soldiers were freezing in the front line, so he sat in a comfortable and warm carriage to express condolences, which was a little outrageous.He knows how to buy people's hearts and distinguish the situation.When dealing with the people, he should maintain a sense of majesty and a sense of mystery, but when dealing with the army, he should be closer and share the joys and sorrows with them.

All the way through the gallop, Wang Yan felt refreshed all over his body. For a person like him who spends most of the year sitting in the palace to deal with government affairs, occasionally galloping like this would make him feel very refreshed, reminding him of Su Shi's "Leading the yellow on the left, Qingcang on the right, brocade hat and sable fur, and a thousand riders rolling Hiraoka."

At this time Wang Yan was excited, he reined in the horse, and said with a sigh of relief: "Let's go to the Cannon Workshop first!"

After finishing speaking, he pulled out the rein of the horse, clamped his legs under the horse's belly, and rushed out with a "swoosh" of the hot charcoal horse under his crotch.Thousands of cavalry behind him followed closely behind and headed for the smoky workshop in the distance.

Not long after, everyone bypassed the smelting blast furnace and arrived at the Cannon Workshop.

The whole Cannon Foundry includes the smelting and purification of crude iron and brass, the casting of cannons, the manufacture of cannonballs, and the shooting range for testing cannons, covering a very large area.

Wang Yan reined in his horse outside the Cannon Workshop, and the cavalry behind him also stopped, and the officials of the Cannon Workshop were already waiting outside.

"Xia Wenbin, a low-ranking official, see Jian Guo!" An official with a short beard who was less than 30 years old led more than a dozen small officials, and saluted excitedly and respectfully.

Wang Yan jumped down from the horse, threw the whip to the guards, and said with a smile: "Gu come to see your newly cast artillery, you can do whatever you want, don't be nervous, leave Master Xia to accompany Gu to observe, that's all." .”

At present, the army of the big guards stayed outside, and Wang Yan led more than ten officials and nearly a hundred guards, accompanied by Xia Wenbin, into the Cannon Workshop.

"Master Xia is the first phase of the Ministry of Engineering Academy?" Wang Yan asked casually.

Xia Wenbin led the crowd to visit the Cannon Workshop. After listening to Wang Yan's words, he saluted excitedly: "Reporting to the State Supervisor, I failed the imperial examination in the first year of Gongzhi, and then entered the School of the Ministry of Industry. When I came to the Ministry of Industry Academy and the martial arts nearby, I never thought that Jian Guo would still remember me."

Wang Yan nodded slightly, "Of course I have some impressions, what is Master Xia's name?"

"Chen Biao Zi Yuan Jie!"

Seeing that he was excited, Wang Yan replied with a salute, and said with a smile, "Oh, Yuan Jie, you don't have to be cautious, first take Gu to see Zhubaofang."

At present, the group of people walked around the casting workshop, and saw the craftsmen busily demolding the molds, and saw the red molten iron being poured into the moulds. Xia Wenbin kept explaining along the way, but Wang could actually listen foggy.

There is a specialization in the art industry. If one person can easily master the entire craftsmanship and process of casting cannons, Wang Yan doesn't need to set up a school for the Ministry of Industry.

Although Wang Yan knew a little about it, he kept smiling all the way and asked a few random questions, but Xia Wenbin explained to him that he didn't understand it, and he didn't even know what he asked.

The crowd just watched like this, until Xia Wenbin wanted to lead him to watch the refining of crude iron, and he said: "Yuan Jie, I'll see that next time. I heard that you have made a new type of cannon, and it has already succeeded." Is it gone?"

Xia Wenbin was stunned for a moment, and then he understood what Wang Yan was talking about, so he replied: "Actually, it's not a new cannon, it's just that the bowl-mouth gun has been made bigger. The Portuguese craftsmen call it a mortar, and we call it a bowl-mouth gun."

"Make it bigger, how big is it?" Wang Yan asked, "Is there a finished product?"

Compared with looking at how to cast it here, it is more intuitive for Wang Yan to look directly at the finished product. He doesn't need to know how to make a cannon, he just needs to see how powerful it is and whether it can play a role.

"A few doors were built in the front, and after firing a few cannons, they all exploded. However, after the minister and the craftsmen improved the casting process, the latest batch of cannons has been tested successfully." Xia Wenbin bowed and said: "Come this way, the minister. Take Jian Guo to the shooting range, and Jian Guo will know the size."

Wang Yan had this intention a long time ago, and was taken to the shooting range together with everyone.There are no straw man targets in the shooting range, but a city wall fifty feet long and three to six feet high has been built.

The cannons cast by the Cannon Workshop were mainly for the purpose of attacking Guanzhong. The Ministry of War put forward a requirement for the cannons, that is, they must be able to shake the city defenses of the Kingdom of Jin.

Wang Yan looked at the broken city wall. Although there was only one section, he could still feel its majesty. It should be a target wall cast according to the specifications of Tongguan.

Everyone's eyes were attracted by the city wall, but then they slowly noticed that a mile away from the city wall, there were a few strange guys, short and thick, like an iron stab, placed obliquely on the gun mount.

I am used to the slender barrel of the cannon in red, but I am not used to this short-barreled cannon that is thicker than a bucket and can fit two people through the muzzle.

These cannons are extremely thick, and their appearance is also very different from the mouth of the bowl. Not only are they more than ten times larger, but the cannon body has also become thicker at the bottom and thinner at the top, thickening the thickness of the barrel at the rear.

Wang Yan saw that he was installed on the gun mount, the axis was near the bottom of the gun lugs to adjust the angle, and there were several huge round shells next to him. He couldn't help but worry a little, whether such a short barrel could shoot the shells out. .

Wang Yan stepped forward and touched the iron cannon that was slanted on the cannon that was taller than others. He wondered and asked, "Can such a short cannon and such a large projectile be able to hit far?"

He was really worried. When the gun was fired, the shell fell directly to the ground.

From the present point of view, Wang Yan is still a little disappointed with this kind of cannon. After all, he has seen the giant cannon that attacked Xuzhou, and he doesn't know what the use of this cannon is.

Xia Wenbin replied affirmatively: "Jianguo, the range of this kind of siege mortar is naturally not as good as that of the long-barreled red cannon. It can only hit about one mile, but the red cannon mostly shoots directly. The enemy troops behind the city wall caused damage. This kind of artillery was built according to the requirements of the Ministry of War. The flower bombs were made, and when the people from the Ministry of War came to inspect the guns, they were very satisfied, and we have already stepped up the time to make them!
Hearing what he said, Wang Yan immediately became interested, "Come on, shoot a shot first, let Gu have a look..."

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(End of this chapter)