Nanming Engineer

Chapter 367 Bronze Cannon
A large number of blacksmiths recruited from Sichuan and Shaanxi have filled the Hanzhong military battle bureau. By the day Wang Huan arrived, there were more than 500 people working in the huge valley. Except for more than 100 teenage apprentices selected, the rest are blacksmiths with practical foundation.

As soon as Wang Huan entered the factory, he asked Xu Erjue to give him a room to stay.

He pointed to Ma Wannian and others who were following behind him, and said: "Find a place for these people, and remember to be close to my house, otherwise they will sleep under my roof at night and get up in the middle of the night." Pee, people sleeping all over the floor can scare your pee back."

Xu Erjue didn't understand at first and agreed. After a while, the more he thought about it, the more wrong he became. He quickly asked: "Master Marquis, do you want to stay here forever?"

Wang Huan took a big burden from Ma Wannian, and said with a smile, "Yes, I won't leave until I make the cannon I want."

Xu Erjue was taken aback, and hurriedly said: "How can this be done? Master Hou is in charge of everything every day. How many things in the world are up to Master Hou to decide. You live here, outside..."

Wang Huan waved his hand and said decisively: "Ambassador Xu need not worry, I have explained all the outside affairs, and someone else will handle it. Ambassador Xu will focus on casting cannons. Although I don't know how to cast cannons, I know a little bit. The principle of ingenuity, if you talk about it and discuss it with Ambassador Xu, you may get twice the result with half the effort."

Xu Erjue was in a dilemma, so he raised funds with more energy than he could, summoned up the courage to persuade again: "Master Hou personally supervises the work, and the subordinate officials must do their best, but the casting of cannons can't be done overnight. Therefore, it may not be accomplished overnight, and it will take a lot of time to talk about the iron smelting alone."

Wang Huan was noncommittal, and urged him to find a house quickly. Xu Erjue let out a long sigh, and led him helplessly to the yard where he lived. He tidied up the inside and gave it to Wang Huan. , the racks are enough to accommodate more than a hundred people from the pro-guards.

Throwing the baggage he brought with him on the bed, Wang Huan grabbed Xu Erjue who was thinking about how to arrange lunch, and excitedly took out a piece of paper from his arms. The paper was densely covered with handwriting. Look at his carefulness. His movements were as if something mysterious and precious was written on the paper.

"Ambassador Xu, let's see if this method can make a cannon?" Wang Huan's eyes shone with excitement, shining on Xu Erjue's face.

Xu Erjue felt goosebumps and took the piece of paper. He only glanced at it and was stunned.His hand holding the paper was in vain, trembling slightly, and he couldn't help but stare at the words on it.

After looking at it for a long time, he raised his head, with shock written all over his face, he stammered and said, "Master Hou, where did this come from?"

Wang Huan ignored him and kept asking: "How? How? Can it be made?"

"It's incredible! It's incredible! Sir, according to this method, casting cannons is so easy!" Xu Erjue exclaimed: "The iron mold casting method! This method is much more convenient than our original clay mold casting method. First, use the clay mold Build an iron mold and then use the iron mold to quickly cast the cannon. It is not affected by the weather and the drying speed of the clay mold. In the past, it took a month to cast a cannon barrel from the clay mold. A set of iron molds can be cast in ten years. A cannon barrel can be built within a day, which can be called super fast!"

"It's feasible?" Wang Huan also exclaimed in surprise. He wrote this method after imitating the patent of Gong Zhenlin, an artillery expert in the Qing Dynasty in the [-]th century. Xu Erjue's face expression, this road works.

So he quickly took out another piece of paper from his arms, which was different from the previous one, with a picture drawn on it.

"What about this kind of cannon? Can it be made?" Wang Huan asked eagerly, as if asking the matchmaker when she could introduce a beautiful girl to him.

With the first experience, Xu Erjue was a little mentally prepared this time, but he also had more expectations. He took the piece of paper full of expectations and looked at it intently.

Then he opened his mouth wide and stared at the paper for a while, speechless.

Judging from his expression, that piece of paper made him more speechless than a million-tael banknote.

There is nothing unusual on the paper. The painting is of a cannon. To say it is special, the cannon mount is unique. On both sides of the gun mount, two wheels that are as high as the heads of ordinary people are particularly eye-catching. On the cannon body, The eye-catching painting has graduations and seems to be used for aiming.

"Master Hou, this is the first time I have seen this kind of cannon. Such a huge wheel is unprecedented. There are many details in the painting that are unclear and vague. It is difficult to make it." Xu Erjue To be honest, he marveled at the exquisite and weird design of this cannon, but the details are too rough, and it may not be possible to do it in a short time if he wants to understand it thoroughly.

"Oh!?" Wang Huan replied disappointedly, his frustration was beyond words.

This is the world-famous Napoleon cannon of later generations. It can be called a classic muzzle-loading cannon that takes the design to the extreme. Wang Huan has read extensively in his later years. He has seen the drawings of this kind of cannon, but did not study it in depth. He drew it from memory at this moment. Of course, it is not Maybe it was drawn as it was, but many places were not drawn, and even the basic structure was wrong. Of course, Xu Erjue couldn't understand it.

At that time, Napoleon's cavalry and artillery tactics were used throughout Europe. They relied on this kind of field artillery with strong maneuverability, fast rate of fire, and powerful power. If you can get it, it will be equivalent to a weapon that is different from the Qing Dynasty. In the heavy rain, In the face of the iron bullets, no matter how many cavalry Dorgon has, what should he fear?
Xu Erjue felt that Wang Huan's mood quickly fell from the peak to the trough, and he was very disturbed. He felt that this was caused by his limited ability, and felt very guilty. He bowed down and apologized: "This official is incompetent, and I have disappointed Lord Hou."

Wang Huan waved his hand and said with a grin: "What are you talking about! It has nothing to do with you. I will think about it again, think about it again, and there must be a way to complete the design. Then you can see the clues when you look at it."

"Okay, okay, when the time comes, I will definitely find more craftsmen to discuss the details together." Xu Erjue replied: "Xiaguan has few talents and little knowledge. If more people come, maybe we can have more ideas and more methods."

Xu Erjue carefully put away the two pieces of paper, and while talking, followed Wang Huan out of the room.

Entering the factory, there is a busy scene everywhere. The blacksmiths take out the hot molten iron obtained from the blast furnace, and carefully pour it into the clay molds one by one. The clay molds are used to cast cannons. It was Wang Huan who told Xu Erjue to know. The lost-wax method developed by the Han Chinese cannon-casters in the Qing court, Wang Huan replaced the beeswax with clay molds, which not only reduced the cost, but also improved the efficiency. Xu Erjue regarded it as an extremely advanced cannon-casting method.

But compared with the iron model method written by Wang Huan just now, the clay model method is much inferior. Xu Erjue's eyes on Wang Huan are no longer just admiration and admiration, but also a lot of admiration for the master.

"Why did you use iron?" Wang Huan frowned and asked, "Where's the copper that was shipped? Why not use it?"

Xu Erjue quickly replied: "Casting iron cannons is a new method developed by the Ming Dynasty in recent years. It can not only save precious copper, but also make iron cannons that are equally durable. Therefore, the official thought that iron cannons should be made first to meet military needs. "

Wang Huan waved his hand, and said decisively: "No need! There will be no problem with the supply of copper. Immediately stop casting iron cannons and replace them with copper cannons. Bronze is used to cast cannons!”

(End of this chapter)