Cutting over the end of the Ming Dynasty: a dog-leg knife at the beginning

Chapter 395 The Roaring Cannon Caster

Combining all the data, Wuyangwei's gross production value exceeded 50 taels this year, and Yang Menglong's dividends from various factories added up to 20 taels. The growth momentum is so strong that it is staggering.But Yang Menglong's ability to prodigal is also astonishing. He can spend so much money without any cents left, and owes thousands of taels of foreign debts. Cheng Qi can only write him a big word "concile".

Yang Menglong was very dissatisfied with the fact that he spent so much money on research but could not see the results. He decided to go to the military factory tomorrow to have a look.Although more than 100 million taels of silver were recovered from Denglai and the debt crisis was successfully resolved, such good things do not happen every day. If there is no result, my wife can't afford new clothes!

After some grumbling, the night was getting late. Everyone, Cheng Qi and Liu Ziyan, went back to rest. Yang Menglong and Xiao Yufang also got into bed and fell asleep.An Ning and Xiao Jun both went to Nanyang to play. Without these two little light bulbs, their world would be so warm.The two whispered for a while, and Xiao Yufang suddenly said: "Is it time for you to give betrothal gifts to sister Zi Yan and Cheng Qi?"

The second monk Yang Menglong was puzzled: "A dowry? What dowry?"

Xiao Yufang pinched him: "Why are you pretending to be confused? Are you really planning to let them live in our house for the rest of their lives without embarrassment?"

Yang Menglong said: "You don't like them coming to our house? It's easy to handle, don't let them come to our house in the future..."

Xiao Yufang called: "Still pretending, right? Sister Ziyan has known you for three years, and Cheng Qi has been with you for two years. You still don't understand their thoughts? Do you want to continue to waste like this? They Promise and I will not agree!"

Yang Menglong stuttered a bit: "This... what are you talking about! I am just ordinary friends with them, really, I swear!"

Xiao Yufang said: "But they don't see it this way, and outsiders don't see it this way either! In the eyes of outsiders, we are already a family... No matter you are really confused or pretending to be confused, in short, please solve the matter for me as soon as possible Got it!"

Damn, this is the rhythm of forcing him to find a concubine!

Yang Menglong is very depressed, it seems that his wife is too open-minded and it is not a good thing!

Fang Yizhi is also very depressed now.

Of course Master Fang is not depressed because his wife forces him to find a mistress. Such a good thing is something that Mr. Fang, who has always been romantic, can't ask for.He was depressed because he had just received extremely bad news.

"The emperor gave those mines rich in phosphate rock to King Xiang?" He asked the master with a gloomy expression.

The master said: "It is absolutely true! King Xiang has sent people into the mountains to drive out the miners and rob the mine! King Xiang sent people to tell us that they will increase the price of phosphate rock three times!"

Fang Yizhi scolded angrily: "It's unreasonable!" With a swing of his hand, the teacup flew out in a whirl, fell to the ground and smashed into pieces.It is no wonder that he is so angry. Phosphate fertilizer is already extremely important to Nanyang. Half of the phosphate fertilizer is responsible for the two years of bumper harvests. Without it, the people of Nanyang will not live a little better than the people in other places even if they face the loess all year round. better.Nanyang produces [-] tons of phosphate fertilizer every month to meet its own needs. The emerging phosphate fertilizer industry naturally also drives the phosphate mining industry. More and more miners go to Yichang to endure the bites of malaria mosquitoes , The attack of wild beasts, with shovels, hoes, and rattan baskets, the phosphate rock was mined out with untold hardships, and then shipped to Nanyang, the price of phosphate rock naturally rose.This emerging industry made King Xiang jealous, and without a word, he wrote to the imperial court to beg for the phosphate mines in Yichang.He described those rich mines as barren and barren hills for hunting and recreation, and the court didn't know what to do, so he naturally agreed.Nanyang officials became anxious when they heard this. Who doesn't know how greedy King Xiang is. If he is allowed to get the mine, the price of the ore will have to be multiplied several times!Fang Yizhi was the first to jump out to object, thinking that King Xiang's fiefdom was already big enough, and the court could no longer give him whatever he wanted.Unexpectedly, the officials of Xiangyang jumped out to support King Xiang, and expressed their dissatisfaction with Fang Yizhi——Why do you, a prefect of Nanyang, take care of our Xiangyang affairs!Those officials are not stupid. They know that phosphate rock is valuable. They are not interested in spending huge sums of money to make phosphate fertilizer like Yang Menglong did. Full of interest, unconditionally support King Xiang!After a fierce contest, Fang Yizhi was defeated. After all, he was an official in Henan, so it was unreasonable to manage Huguang's affairs.

Now, under the deception of a group of ministers, Chongzhen generously gave the barren mountains in Yichang to King Xiang, and the supply of phosphate rock, which is crucial to Nanyang, was strangled by King Xiang.Fang Yizhi was very angry about this, but there was nothing he could do. He tried many times to enter the capital to face the saint, to explain the importance of those phosphate rocks to Chongzhen, but he was blocked all the time.He is not qualified enough to wrestle with the entire Huguang civil official group.The angry magistrate said: "The Holy One is confused! The Holy One is confused!"

The master said: "By the way, my lord, as far as the students know, more than ten tax cards have been added on the waterway from Xiangfan to Jingzhou, and more than ten tax cards have been added on the waterway to collect taxes on the cargo ships we leave from Nanyang..."

Fang Yizhi became more and more annoyed: "They want to suck our blood dry, it's really unreasonable!"

————As the number of factories grows, Nanyang produces more and more goods, such as soap, cement, steel bars, caramel, spirits, glass, steel farm tools, textile machinery, horse-drawn carriages... the reputation of various products They are getting louder and louder, and are exported to several surrounding provinces, and the affluent Jiangnan is the main market. Every day, a large number of ships set sail from Nanyang Chengguan Wharf, go down the Han River, enter the Yangtze River, and then go all the way down the river. A large number of sought-after goods were transported to Suzhou and Hangzhou, which are rich in the world, and then shipped back with boxes of real gold and silver, and the Yangtze River waterway prospered rapidly.Once the shipping industry prospered, various tax cards would spring up like mushrooms after the spring rain to tax the passing Nanyang ships, causing Nanyang merchants to complain.Then I won't go by water, can I go by land?No, there is no shortage of land tax cards, and the cost of land transportation is much higher than that of water transportation!In a word, everyone regards Nanyang as a big piece of fat that is so fat that they scramble to jump on it and bite it desperately!
Fang Yizhi was very annoyed by this, but there was nothing he could do about it. As a small prefect, why should he take care of the affairs of other state capitals?This loss, Nanyang is determined.

What made him a little happier was that Yang Menglong had finally returned.This bastard is simply Nanyang's weapon of mass destruction. After he comes back, those greedy princes and local officials should restrain themselves a bit, right?
Yang Menglong still didn't know anything about these crap things, he hugged his wife and fell asleep beautifully, and early the next morning, he took her straight to the military factory.He hadn't visited the military factory for a long time, and he was really worried.

There are obviously a lot more technicians in the military factory, and there are also many foreigners' faces, all recruited by Yang Menglong from Denglai.There was a lot of voices in the military factory. The stamping machine was driven by the water wheel to punch out standard steel modules. The drill bit of the drilling machine squeaked into the iron pipe and drilled a lot of iron filings. Copper pipes and iron pipes went in and out, digging out a lot of filamentous metal debris every time.A forging press taller than two people was forging a piece of high manganese steel, and that piece of high manganese steel burst out sparks like raindrops under the huge pressure, which was really frightening.Xiao Yufang kept frowning, she was almost deafened by the roar of various machines!Yang Menglong, on the other hand, had a look of enjoyment. To him, these noisy noises were even more beautiful than fairy music... It was not easy. After spending so much money, I finally saw a little bit of industry!
"Eggy Yang!" He waved to a middle-aged man who was instructing an apprentice to hoist a bronze cannon and put it on a boring machine.

The middle-aged man didn't turn his head back, and let out a roar comparable to a row of cannonballs: "How many times have I said it, my name is Dan Danyang, not Dandanyang!"

Xiao Yufang stuck out her tongue: "You have such a big temper!"

Yang Menglong said: "He is the best cannon-casting master in the Weapon Bureau. His cannon-casting skills are unmatched by anyone. Of course, his fiery temper is also unmatched by anyone." He pulled Xiao Yufang to the boring machine and wanted to see See what they do with this bronze cannon.

Obviously, the boring machine is new, and all parts are made of steel or wrought iron, and there is almost no sawdust on it.Its structure is extremely complicated. Screws, bearings, gears, and pulley blocks are assembled into this cold machine. Driven by the waterwheel, the boring tool rotates at high speed, slowly enters the inside of the gun boring, and begins to grind.At this moment, the bronze cannon that is quietly lying on the boring machine waiting to be polished has a caliber of four inches, sixteen times the diameter, and the barrel is in the shape of an inverted trumpet, with the front small and the rear large. This design is undoubtedly very scientific and can be installed Load more charges and bear higher chamber pressure at the same time, and hit farther and more accurately.Of course, this is nothing, the most surprising thing is that there is a skylight behind its buttocks... If the person in charge of the Staff Bureau sees it, he must kill him!
Yang Menglong pointed to the bronze cannon and asked Shan Danyang, "How about this cannon?"

Dan Danyang raised his eyelids and glanced at him, then looked away, and said weakly: "It's okay, if you load it as usual and use granular gunpowder, it can shoot four miles away, it's the most powerful cannon. But according to my lord's order, I must try to reload from the rear, so I can only shoot two miles away."

Yang Menglong exclaimed in surprise: "Why did you change the loading method and the range was reduced so much?"

Dan Danyang let out a roar: "Is it as simple as just changing the loading method!? Do you know that when the loading method changes, the structure of the entire gun changes? Do you know that loading from the back brings about a The big consequence is serious air leakage, and several gunners have been burned by the hot gas ejected from both sides during the test? Also, do you know that the rifling cannot be done at all!?"

Probably because he was under too much pressure to engage in rear-loading rifled guns. When Shan Danyang saw Yang Menglong, he was furious and yelled vigorously. He didn't save him any face...

(End of this chapter)