I am Li Shen and Li Shimin, the free kings of the Tang Dynasty

The most difficult part of ancient cannons is the smelting technology, and the smelting technology of Prince Ji's Mansion has been developed for more than ten years.

So much money is invested every year just to allow the steel group to continuously experiment with formulas, fuse various metals, and turn them into different metals.

And record these sample characteristics to facilitate direct production when needed in the future.

This is a very long process and also a stupid method. Li Shen does not understand so many chemical formulas, so he can only improve it through continuous trial and error.

This requires a lot of time and money. However, these years have not been without results. The production of alloys has also benefited Li Shen a lot.

This is how the weapons and armor of Prince Ji’s Mansion came about.

There is a problem with the cannon now, mainly due to the material of the barrel. Li Shen feels that it should not be a difficult problem.

But Li Shen seemed to have thought it was simple.

“Your Highness Prince Ji, I have also told the boss of the steel group that they believe that steel must be strong, and I think hard steel is more likely to explode.

Not as good as some soft steel.

I have experimented with many types of steel, but none of them could withstand long-term use. Some would burst after a few uses, causing injuries to people.

Chen Gui reports.

"Can't we produce steel, and alloy steel at that? Why can't we make it into gun barrels?" Li Shen asked with some confusion.

The armor of my guards is made of alloy and is extremely hard. Can't it be made into a gun barrel?

"Your Majesty, it's not impossible, it's just very difficult."

"Oh? Why is this?" Li Shen was even more confused.

"Because it's too hard. The armor is relatively thin, so it's easy to hammer and make, but the barrel is relatively thick and too heavy. The manager of the steel group also tried it, but it was very laborious.

Because it is too thick and too hard, the gun barrel is not round enough and needs to be polished slowly, which is time-consuming and laborious.

Even if you can, you can’t make too many.”

Chen Gui explained the reason. Everything has two sides, with advantages and disadvantages. Steel is too hard to forge, which becomes a problem.

It took a long time to make the armor for Li Shen's guards, not to mention such a thick gun barrel, which was even a problem to polish.

Li Shen thought about it and finally asked:

"Have you ever tried using copper?"

"Use copper?" Chen Gui was stunned. To be honest, they had never thought of using copper.

What is copper? Copper is money, it is wealth.

They could add a little copper when doing alloy experiments, but they never thought of using copper all the time.

According to King Ji's requirements, a cannon must weigh at least six or seven hundred kilograms. How much would it cost if it were made of copper?

According to the Tang Dynasty system, one string of money weighed six pounds and four ounces, and a cannon would cost more than one hundred strings of money in material costs, not counting the removal of impurities.

"Your Highness, we have never thought of using copper. If we use copper to make cannons, it will be very expensive and a bit too wasteful."

Chen Gui replied truthfully.

"Whether it's a waste or not is my business, just do it, you don't need to worry about the rest.

So, you tell the Steel Group that I allow them to use copper to make the gun barrel, and they can try to add some other things into it.

For example, make the gun body into bronze and let them try it.

We need to test it out as soon as possible." Li Shen waved his hand and told Chen Gui not to worry about the money.

Now I am so poor that all I have left is money, nothing else.

"Yes, I will obey the prince's orders." Since Prince Ji said so, there is no problem.

“Also, you need to study the artillery shells. They don’t necessarily have to be iron balls. Also, the artillery can be fired faster, and you also need to consider the loading of gunpowder.

You have to be flexible, be good at thinking, and be able to draw inferences from one instance."

Li Shen thought it would be great if he could make artillery shells, but he didn't understand them either.

"Yes, I will follow the instructions of His Royal Highness Prince Ji."

"What about the musket? You don't have a material problem, do you?" Li Shen asked again. In theory, the difficulty of making a musket should be lower than that of a cannon.

As expected, Chen Gui also reported:

"Your Highness, we have made a musket. Although it sometimes explodes, it is much easier to use than a cannon because it uses less gunpowder."

"Is it really made? How far can it be shot and how powerful is it?" Li Shen asked excitedly after hearing this.

"Well... Your Majesty, the musket can only shoot up to 120 to 130 steps, which is not very powerful anymore.

If it can penetrate the armor, it can only reach 60 to 70 steps."

Chen Gui replied with some trepidation. He felt that the power was too weak and could not compare to a bow and arrow.

Li Shen calculated that sixty or seventy steps means the effective range is seventy to eighty meters and the maximum range is about two hundred meters.

This is already very good.

"Haha, not bad, take me to have a look."

Chen Gui did not expect that Prince Ji would be so happy, and he was confused. The range was short, the shooting speed was slow, and it was not as good as a bow and arrow, so why was Prince Ji so happy?

However, since King Ji asked, he did not dare to disobey and could only take Li Shen to a remote place.

This is a corner of the industrial park, surrounded by walls. Li Shen walked in and found that the ground was bumpy, as if it had been through a war.

"Your Majesty, this is our Group 2's special experimental site."

"You guys are doing experiments here? With such a big noise, aren't you afraid of being discovered?" Li Shen frowned. Gunpowder must be kept secret.

They conduct bombing experiments here every day, and they keep it secret.

"Replying to the prince, there are no houses within a ten-mile radius of the industrial park, and outsiders are not allowed to approach within a three-mile radius. This was the prince's original request."

Chen Gui explained.

"Really?" Li Shen was a little embarrassed. He didn't even remember when he had made the decision. All his efforts in learning the Sunflower Manual were in vain.

"Begin, let me see your musket."

In order to ease the embarrassment, Li Shen changed the subject.

"Yes." Chen Gui agreed and asked a researcher to bring a rifle.

Li Shen took a look and it was similar to what he saw on TV, a muzzle-loading musket with a fuse.

After looking at it carefully for a while, Li Shen handed the rifle to the researcher.

To ensure safety, Li Shen retreated behind a special earth wall and watched from the hole.

The researcher poured some gunpowder into the barrel, put an iron ball in it, poked it with an iron rod, inserted a fuse in the back, and ignited it.

With a "bang", a cloud of smoke rose, and then Li Shen smelled the smell of gunpowder.

"Go and get the target." Li Shen walked out from behind the wall. He estimated that the target was about a hundred meters away.

Soon the guards brought the target over. The target was an ordinary piece of armor, but now there was a small hole on it.

Li Shen touched it with his hand and nodded with satisfaction: "Not bad, it's okay."

Chen Gui next to him said, "I didn't expect to hit it in one try."

(I am not a professional, I just checked some information, please don’t criticize me if there is anything wrong.

I found out that bronze was the best material for cannon barrels in ancient times.

If you have any suggestions, please share them and let us crowdfund.)