"Xiaguan has seen something similar at the foot of a mountain that spits fire." Xu Xiake replied.
Zhong Jinwei was stunned after hearing this. It turned out that someone had not fired cement.
Xu Xiake said he had seen it near volcanoes, so that's for sure. The main ingredients of natural cement are volcanic ash and lime, which may be found near volcanoes.
After he figured it out, he stood up and said: "Master Xu came here today just to give you some knowledge about natural science, so that you can know what books are most lacking in Ming Dynasty. I won't interrupt you. You can take the time to ask Xu
Sir, please give me advice."
When Xu Guangqi and Xu Xiake saw Zhong Jinwei preparing to leave, they both stood up to see him off.
Not long after, Zhong Jinwei appeared at the military battle station. The purpose of his coming was to arrange a comparison exercise between flintlock guns and the matchlock guns currently in use.
When Fan Jun heard that Marquis Zhongxing was coming, he hurried out to greet him.
Because of his creation of the flintlock, although he still held his original position, he was promoted in rank. The most important thing was that Emperor Chongzhen was very satisfied with him and remembered him.
And all of this was actually because of Marquis Zhongxing. Therefore, he was very grateful to Marquis Zhongxing, and now he was very attentive when he saw Zhong Jinwei.
"How are you preparing?" Zhong Jinwei asked as soon as he saw Fan Jun.
After Emperor Chongzhen said that he wanted to see a comparative experiment that day, he had already sent someone to notify Fan Jun. Now a few days have passed, and Xu Xiake's mission to the West has been settled, so he came over to arrange the matter.
"Don't worry, Lord Marquis, everything is ready." Fan Jun replied with a smile.
"Okay, how many flintlock guns have been made now?" Zhong Jinwei asked as he walked inside under the guidance of Fan Jun.
"There are already four hundred and thirty-six branches, and they can be handed over to the Marquis later." Fan Jun answered here, and then added, "Thanks to the Marquis requesting the emperor's order, our military situation is now replenished.
There are many skilled craftsmen, and the speed of making guns has increased."
"That's good." Zhong Jinwei nodded with satisfaction. This speed is indeed good, at least the flintlock guns used by the new army are enough.
However, the New Army also had another important firearm. Zhong Jinwei asked with concern: "How is the progress of the modified Folang machine? Are there any that are qualified and usable?"
He wondered whether this exercise would also see some kind of improved Folan aircraft. Needless to say, the safety should be greatly improved, but he didn't know how the range and power were compared to the old Folan aircraft.
When Fan Jun heard this, he carefully replied: "Master Hou, the weather is not bad now. I guess it will be dry in the shade in more than half a month, and then we can cast cannons."
When Zhong Jinwei heard this, he immediately stopped, looked at Fan Jun, and asked in surprise: "What, it has been so long and you haven't started casting cannons yet?"
He thought that the cannon must be being cast, but the pass rate might not be high, so he asked this question.
Because during the previous Battle of Gyeonggi, when he inspected the artillery shipped from Portugal, he already knew that the scrap rate of the artillery was not low.
He really didn't expect that more than half a month had passed and the cannon hadn't been cast yet.
When Fan Jun heard Zhong Jinwei's words, he realized that he did not understand the process of making cannons.
He immediately turned around, stretched out his hand to greet you, and said, "Master Marquis, please go this way, we will take you to see the cannon casting process."
As soon as Zhong Jinwei heard this, he went in the direction he pointed. Fan Jun followed him and explained to him: "Master Marquis, it takes so long to cast the cannon even for the most skilled craftsman. The key lies in the mold.
Dry in the shade, this is very important.”
Zhong Jinwei glanced sideways at him and said nothing.
After entering a courtyard, I saw that the courtyard was full of pavilions, with many barrel-shaped clay molds placed in the pavilions.
Fan Jun quickly took a few steps forward and led Zhong Jinwei into a pavilion, and then introduced: "To cast the cannon, you must first make the clay mold and put it in a place with good ventilation and no sunlight to dry. It takes a month on a sunny day.
If it's rainy and cloudy, it will take longer, probably two to three months."
After he finished speaking, he saw Zhong Jinwei frowning with a look of dissatisfaction on his face. He thought to himself that Marquis Zhongxing did not understand everything, so it was up to our family to point out the serious relationship here to him, so as not to think that our family was not doing our best.
So, he straightened his slightly bent upper body and explained loudly to Zhong Jinwei: "Master Marquis may not know that if you rush to cast the cannon before waiting for the clay mold to completely dry, the cannon you cast will be useless."
use."
At this time, the craftsmen in the workshop heard voices in the yard and found that the leader had arrived. They quickly put down their work and came out to greet him.
When Fan Jun saw his men standing more than ten steps away to salute, he said more enthusiastically: "The clay mold must be dried thoroughly, otherwise even though it is dry on the outside, it will be moist on the inside. When it comes into contact with molten metal, moisture will be generated by itself.
, the cast artillery has honeycombs, and the cast artillery is very easy to explode."
When the craftsmen saw that their leaders were showing off their professional knowledge to Zhongxing Hou, they all nodded in cooperation.
This is not flattering, because they think their leader is not wrong.
"And every time a cannon is cast, the clay mold must be broken before the cannon can be taken out. Therefore, a new clay mold is required for each cannon. But the Marquis can rest assured that after half a month, there will be such a
If there are many craftsmen, clay molds can be produced continuously, and then artillery can also be continuously cast."
Fan Jun still didn't dare to make Marquis Zhongxing unhappy, so he comforted Zhong Jinwei at the end.
Unexpectedly, Zhong Jinwei still frowned and asked: "Since this kind of clay mold takes so long and the yield is not high, why not try other molds?"
Fan Jun was stunned after hearing this. What did Zhongxing Hou mean? Could it be that he was dissatisfied with his attitude just now and started to find faults?
Thinking of this, his straightened body bent a little habitually and explained to Zhong Jinwei: "Master Marquis, this clay mold casting cannon has been done like this since ancient times, oh, including Westerners.
!”
When Zhong Jinwei heard this, he was even more dissatisfied. Why did he only know how to stick to the old ways? He immediately increased his tone and said dissatisfied: "I don't care what happened in the past, and I don't care what the Westerners did. This clay mold cannon is so efficient."
If the yield is low and the yield is not high, why don’t you want to improve it or try other methods?”
After he finished speaking, he sighed secretly in his heart. There was no shortage of intelligent people in the Ming Dynasty, but most of them were conservative and did not know how to innovate.
Zhong Jinwei thought of this and ignored Fan Jun. He walked a few steps forward and came to the craftsmen and asked: "In addition to clay mold casting, what casting methods do we have in Ming Dynasty? Think about it again, who can improve casting?"
The art of cannon should be rewarded heavily."
He was afraid that these craftsmen would turn a deaf ear to his talk of heavy rewards, so he continued to explain: "The imperial court will soon establish an ordnance research institute. Anyone who can improve the method of casting cannons can join the research institute as a researcher."
Now the news about this institute has spread among the craftsmen, especially the cement and glass craftsmen, who are trying their best to express themselves in the hope of entering the institute.
These craftsmen in the war bureau were no exception. When Zhong Jinwei said this, his eyes suddenly turned red.
When Zhong Jinwei saw this situation, he added fuel to the fire: "You can say whatever you have in mind. It doesn't matter if you say it wrong, but as long as you figure out a way, you will have a bright future!"
Fan Jun followed Zhong Jinwei, thinking that Hou Zhongxing was just wishful thinking?
But at this moment, the group of craftsmen suddenly raised a hand.