Su He and his party came to the machinery factory closer to the river.
There is a loud rumbling sound constantly here, which is the sound of the water wheel driving the transmission shaft to rotate.
The machinery factory was built next to the Han River.
The Han River does not freeze in winter, but now that it is the dry season, the Han River is enough to drive large waterwheels.
Su He looked out the window at the large waterwheel with a diameter of five meters.
It rotates slowly, driving a large iron shaft to rotate slowly.
The iron shaft extends into the room and produces different rotational speeds by matching different gears.
Su He taught the craftsmen how to make gears, and they quickly made different gears.
These are steel gears, and the first batch of steel smelted in the crucible was used to make these gears.
Wei Shiming said from the side: "Commander Su, the batch of machine tools we just produced have been taken away by the arsenal to produce guns.
Let me take you to see the production process of twist drills first."
"All right."
Su He agreed to Wei Shiming's proposal, and they walked outside the workshop where twist drills were produced.
At the head of the workshop, there is a strong man holding a steel rod with a tool.
At the same time, explain the operation method to the apprentices on the side.
This man is also a pardoned craftsman, and is the only ninth-level worker in the machinery factory, Li Sanshi.
Su He personally promised him that as long as he taught ten apprentices who could independently process twist drills.
Just release one of his family members who was sentenced to a severe sentence.
Li Sanshi was the son-in-law of Lu Tianshou, the commander of the Hanzhong Guard.
Most of his family members were sentenced, and he had no choice but to take on as many apprentices as possible.
Li Sanshi kept placing one end of the steel rod on the high-speed rotating grinding wheel in the workshop.
The grinding wheel rubbed against the steel rod, and huge sparks shot out in all directions.
Li Sanshi quickly stopped processing, and a delicate twist drill appeared in his hand.
Su He did not disturb anyone in the workshop.
He came to the next workshop, which was the quenching workshop.
Lu Jin had already arrived at the quenching workshop in advance to demonstrate quenching for Su He.
This workshop is usually left to apprentices, and the configuration of quenching fluid is the key technology.
Just made successfully, tools including twist drill.
It was reheated by Lu Jin to a red state and put into the quenching pool.
A burst of white smoke rises, and the tool is quenched and becomes an accessory on the machine tool.
Wei Shiming was very happy to see Su He and said: "Commander Su, we have manufactured a batch of hydraulic machine tools based on your design.
The manufacturing of these machine tools can greatly increase the speed of manufacturing guns.
My master has already produced a batch of iron guns.
You can go and visit.”
Su He's main purpose here is to see steel, flintlock guns, and cannons.
"You have done a very good job. I never expected that you would be able to produce these results in such a short period of time.
The day after tomorrow is New Year's Day, and the factory cannot take a break, but we must let the workers enjoy the holiday and the rewards they deserve cannot be less."
"Thank you very much." Wei Shiming said modestly, "The fact that we can produce results so quickly is all due to the leadership of Commander Su.
While at Dashanguan, I was thinking about making iron in a blast furnace.
When I came to Hanzhong, so many outstanding craftsmen joined me.
Commander Su also came over from time to time to give guidance to the craftsmen, and proposed blast furnace ironmaking and graphite crucible steelmaking.
Teach them to make gears and machine tools.
We can succeed so quickly.”
"You don't have to be modest. The reward you deserve will definitely be no less."
Su He praised Wei Shiming a few words and warned Wei Shiming to pay attention to production safety.
He rushed to the arsenal nearby to take a look at the recently produced flintlock muskets and iron cannons.
The arsenal covers the largest area and has the largest number of craftsmen.
Zhang Dezhi, the Minister of Industry responsible for managing the arsenal, received news that Su He had arrived at the arsenal.
He immediately came to greet him.
Zhang Dezhi said excitedly: "Commander Su, you led the craftsmen of the machine factory and the boring machines you produced are great.
In the past, the production of matchlock guns could only rely on blacksmiths to roll them.
It takes several days to make a qualified gun barrel.
This kind of matchlock gun is very easy to explode.
Now directly use the boring machine to drill holes in the iron rod.
A craftsman can make twenty gun barrels in one day.
The air tightness of the barrel is very good, and it is still a whole body. The barrel is very strong and will not explode easily."
Zhang Dezhi led Su He to the manufacturing workshop.
He said on the way: "Commander Su, the flintlock gun you proposed, including the most critical flintlock engine, has been made by our craftsmen.
After testing, its ignition rate is as high as over 80%.
The ignition rate of the matchlocks we captured was only 50%.
Using a flintlock gun can greatly increase the density of firepower."
Su He nodded after hearing this and asked: "The most difficult part to make a flintlock gun is the spring steel piece.
How many times can our steel be fired?"
Zhang Dezhi immediately replied: "About five hundred times, I have asked for the fusilla machine made by craftsmen to facilitate the replacement of spring steel sheets.
After simple training, soldiers can replace broken spring steel pieces by themselves."
Su He and Zhang Dezhi were chatting about the manufacturing process of muskets and artillery.
They came to the most important workshop of the arsenal, the workshop where gun barrels are made.
The roar of the waterwheel drive shaft in the workshop is still loud.
The transmission shaft is connected to a row of boring machines, and the twist drills on them are divided into four sizes.
They are 15mm, 75mm, 110mm and 150mm respectively.
Su He walked to the boring machine and watched the craftsmen processing the gun barrel.
The transmission shaft passes through the gear and drives the twist drill on the boring machine to rotate rapidly.
The craftsman fixed the iron rod and slowly pushed it in the direction of the twist drill.
Steel twist drill can cut pig iron easily.
The boring machine processes the iron rod into a gun barrel with a caliber of 15 mm.
The most critical point in this step is that the craftsman's hand must be steady. If there is a slight deviation, the entire barrel will be scrapped.
Su He continued to walk to the side, where craftsmen were processing gun barrels.
The processing process of the gun barrel is even more difficult. The twist drill rubs against the pig iron at high speed, generating extremely high temperatures.
The inside of the barrel turned red, and the craftsmen kept flushing the inner wall of the barrel with water to lower the temperature inside the barrel.
Su He walked to other production workshops, which were processing other parts of guns.
He saw workers wrapping some gunpowder, broken iron, and stone flakes in oil paper.
Mix them together according to the proportion, and put a copper wire with many burrs in the middle.
Su He could clearly see the function of this thing at a glance. It was a fuse.
He pointed to the workshop and asked Zhang Dezhi: "You have mastered the pulling fuse with a high probability of fire, and it has begun mass production."
Zhang Dezhi nodded and introduced the fuse to Su He.
"Yes, soldiers tend to lose fire-fighting items such as fire breakers on the battlefield.
Match ropes often get wet and are not easy to light.
I also thought that the whole army was about to be equipped with flintlock muskets, and it would not be appropriate to carry matches to light the cannons.
Commander Su mentioned the fuze again, and it happened that we were studying the flintlock engine of the flintlock gun.
The craftsmen used flint as the main raw material to develop the fuse.
The success rate of its fire is very high, reaching 90%, which is more stable than a match rope.
As long as the fuse is not soaked in water, it can fire normally even if it rains lightly."
Su He extended his thumb and praised: "You have done a great job. The day after tomorrow is New Year's Day. Then, in the name of the Ministry of Industry, rewards will be given to the craftsmen."
Su He only mentioned the lafa fuse, which is something that craftsmen independently researched.
It represents the improvement of the status of craftsmen and the use of money as rewards, which can stimulate the creativity of craftsmen.
"Zhang Shangshu, I predict that we will go to war with the Ming Dynasty around February next year.
With the capabilities of the arsenal, will it be possible to manufacture flintlock muskets to equip a division by then?"
Hanzhong City has been open for almost a month, and no matter how slow the message is delivered, it can now reach the capital.
If a prince is killed by the Ming army, they will definitely take revenge.
Zhang Dezhi replied confidently: "Commander Su, the barrel processing is very fast, and the machine factory is also constantly producing new boring machines.
Speeding up production will only result in more waste products, but it will be no problem meeting the requirements of the troops."
