Nanming Engineer

Chapter 368

Xu Erjue knew that Wang Huan was rich and powerful, but he didn't have an intuitive concept of how rich he was. In addition, the Nanming court was used to living a small and medium-sized life, and taxes were exhausted. There are a lot, so I instinctively think about saving.

He was worried that Wang Huan didn't know how much it would cost to cast cannons with copper, so he quickly reminded him: "Master Marquis, the use of copper and iron to cast cannons costs a lot. Take the red cannon as an example. It weighs two thousand kilograms, which is extremely heavy. Ordinary small cannons weigh about a hundred kilograms. They are all made of copper, which is equivalent to casting a cannon with silver. The Ming court could not afford such expenses, so the number of finished red cannons was extremely high. It is limited, and when the iron forging technology matures, the cannons will be made of iron instead."

But Wang Huan was unmoved, still waved his iconic big hand, and said with full of local arrogance: "It doesn't matter, no matter how poor you are, you have to use copper to cast cannons! You can't use iron. The current iron is not hard enough, and the iron cannon can't bear it." The huge chamber pressure of yellow gunpowder can easily explode the chamber. Copper is softer and more tough than iron. Before qualified iron can be produced, copper must be used."

He thought for a while and added: "However, from now on, when we cast cannons, we will cast cannons in a standardized way. They are made from one mold. Other miscellaneous cannons will no longer be cast. The copper will be used for the blade. Even if it costs more, it is still worth it. "

This heroic statement convinced Xu Erjue. The total cost of a copper-tubed red cannon was nearly ten thousand taels of silver. Wang Huan did not even blink an eye and insisted on using copper generously. This support for the military industry was extremely It was so rare that he couldn't help but respectfully agreed "yes", and also bowed in admiration.

It was because of bowing that he didn't realize that Wang Huan's face twitched twice uncontrollably, it was a heartache!
Now that the northwest is being settled and money is everywhere, the rule of no taxation for the first year after the Kuizhou Army regains the new territory cannot be shaken. This recruitment has an obvious effect in winning people's hearts, but it also puts an equally obvious pressure on the finances.

On Ma Chongming's account, a lot of money was spent like water. The new government offices in various places need money, the local league training needs money, the construction of water conservancy needs money, the stabilization of local relief food needs money, and even the money needed to resume production. Seeds, agricultural tools and other things all cost money, and the expenses reported by the prefects in various places, even if he is as rich as Wang Huan, he still feels overwhelmed.

Although many methods have been thought of, for example, agricultural tools and seeds can be provided free of charge to the refugees who have settled down, but they must be paid for use after harvest, and it can be paid with food. , but they can be recruited to serve as soldiers in the barracks of the Kuizhou Army Station based on merit. brains.

Now this cannon is like a cannon. Depending on the situation, at least a million taels of silver will be thrown into it. Wang Huan's heart tightened, but the embarrassment passed away. When Xu Erjue raised his head again, he saw the hero of the generation. A domineering face.

"I will go over that drawing with you carefully in the next few days, and try to perfect it as soon as possible to the point where it can be made into a real object. Before that, we can just hurry up and build everything we need in this war bureau. Once the drawing is ready, Once it is finished, we can start casting cannons!" Wang Huan raised his legs and took a step, walked and watched in the workshop, and told Xu Erjue.

Many places in the factory are still busy construction sites, and some important buildings have not yet been completed. Although several blast furnaces, blacksmithing rooms, gun barrel workshops and other important workshops have been completed and put into use, there are still many workshops that need to continue to be built.

Xu Erjue agreed and glanced at the managers of the Military War Bureau who were following the two of them. The managers understood and immediately made many requests, some for people, some for money, and some for both. , causing Wang Huan's frown to deepen.

However, how could the opening of such a huge war bureau be so smooth? Asking for people and money shows that these people are doing something. Both money and people must be used to run the war bureau. Wang Huan must support it, so after listening to the reasons reported by everyone, In the end, Wang Huan agreed to all the legal matters and signed and approved the note on the spot on the report submitted by them. With this, he could go to the Kuizhou Finance and General Affairs Department in Hanzhong City to withdraw silver, and go to the prefect's Yamen to collect it. The people are strong.

So as soon as Wang Huan arrived at the Hanzhong War Bureau, he sprinkled a wave of money, inspecting all the way like a boy who spread money, and scattered money all the way. Only then did he understand how much money Li Huai'en and Ma Chongming made when the Kuizhou War Bureau was opened. How much strength and energy was spent, but he was fighting on the front line, regardless of whether he asked, and became the boss.

In the next few days, Wang Huan stayed behind closed doors, contemplating the pattern, and his hair fell out a lot. Whenever Xu Erjue was free, he would come to Wang Huan's room and pull his hair together, and the two of them lost their hair. Countless, but no progress.

The essence of the Napoleon cannon lies in the fact that the barrel is made of bronze, which is durable and can withstand the power of a huge charge; the exquisite cannon body makes the whole cannon light and flexible; Any artillery must be accurate; there are also field wheels that allow the artillery to run to any corner of the battlefield under the drag of the horse.

Wang Huan is not a weapons expert, and Xu Erjue has never met him. When the two of them got together, I didn’t understand what you said, and you couldn’t explain what I understood. After two or three days of struggling, there was no result.

On the third day, Xu Erjue, who had taken a nap on the bunk in Wang Huan's house, woke up from his dream. He turned over and sat up to take a look, only to see that Wang Huan's eyes were still red, staring at the pattern like a ghost in a daze.

Wang Huan didn't sleep well in the past three days. Except for eating, drinking and going to the bathroom, he stared at the piece of paper and pondered hard. As a cannon-caster, the spirit of professional research is not as good as that of Pinglianghou, who holds a lot of power. It really shouldn't be.

How did he know that Wang Huan was forced.The war in Shanxi is in turmoil. Jiang Yu is like a grasshopper after autumn. It won't be long before he jumps. If he doesn't rush to support Jiang Guan before his head is cut off, then after the Qing court cleans up Shanxi, it will be free to deal with Wang Huan Between facing the Jurchen Eight Banners elite alone and stealing the back road, launching a sneak attack and beating Dorgon by surprise, Wang Huan would choose the latter without thinking.

So time is the most precious thing. In the past two months, we must get out the field artillery. If it is not possible, Wang Huan has to take the short-range bombardment to fight the Qing army. The consequence of doing that is Kuizhou A large number of personnel of the army are attrition in field battles, and the replenishment of troops will not be very smooth in places far away from their base areas. When facing a superior enemy force, this problem will be magnified and become a big problem that affects victory or defeat.

So Wang Huan was in a state of anxiety. He needed field artillery, just like Emperor Yongli needed him.

(End of this chapter)