Section 29 Foundry

But to make people aware of the benefits of mechanical equipment, seeing is believing. The only way to pass through the crowd and not to pull everyone to Lingao to see Lingao's industrial capacity is to set up a model on the mainland. Since Li Luoyou wants to establish a cannon factory, this is the most haode model. Wu De believes that the effectiveness of these devices in production will have a very strong impact on the natives, enough to arouse their interest in the new jishu equipment.

"Industry and commerce at the end of the Ming Dynasty were still very developed, and there were already a number of factory owners." Wu De said, "We won't be able to get involved in Jiangnan for a while, but Guangdong still has potential." Through equipment upgrading, we have enabled the emergence of a number of new factories in the local area, and mastered the relatively primitive but large-scale industrial production capacity. This laid the foundation for our future control and industrialization of the Pearl River Delta. ”

In the long run, by controlling the equipment manufacturing industry, you can control all the manufacturing industry. Such jishu diffusion will not do any damage to Lingao's jishu hegemony, and through a steady stream of external orders, Lingao's local equipment manufacturing industry can also be stimulated.

"But can the people of the Ming Dynasty connect the artillery factory with productivity? After they saw it, they were most impressed: this Australian artillery factory is powerful, but that's all. It will not be associated with civilian industries such as weaving and spinning. ”

"Well, I also feel skeptical," Zhan Wuya said, "modern people live in an industrial society and have a minimum of industrial common sense. According to the ancients, ordinary businessmen probably did not have this ability to connect. ”

"Probably the foundry will be aware. For example, mechanized blowers. ”

"We can't underestimate the creativity of the indigenous." "Besides, windmills and water turbines are already available in China, and what we provide is just an upgraded version with better efficiency and greater output, at least the value of these two can be understood by most people." ”

At this time, Wen Desi coughed: "I want to question." According to our strategy, we are adhering to the strategy of "non-interference" and "mainland checks and balances", and now we are not selling artillery to the Ming Dynasty, but directly exporting the tools for making artillery, and the proliferation of the military industry is contrary to strategic policy. ”

"I think it's negligible." Wu De said, "Wang Zunde himself is a maniac in cannon making, every time he organizes the casting of cannons, he calculates hundreds of guns at every turn, and we provide equipment, which is nothing more than the quality of his cannons is better and the manufacturing speed is faster." The most direct result is nothing more than being able to build more cannons. ”

Wu De said: "Zuihou, even if we give them 12-pounder Napoleon cannons now, I think the Ming army can't help Jiannu." A few new weapons won't change much. ”

More artillery will not save the fate of the Ming Dynasty, which is proven by history, Sun Yuanhua hired the Portuguese as instructors, and the new army using Western firearms trained in Dengzhou was destroyed in the civil strife of the Ming Dynasty, proving that "weapons" could not save the Ming Dynasty. From this point of view, the traverser sold some equipment to the Ming Dynasty would not have a qualitative change in the balance of the continent.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I remind you that there is a question not to forget." Yu Eshui jumped out again to remind everyone, "Zheng Zhilong got a lot of aid from Xiong Wencan after he was appeased, from large warships to artillery, and the Fujian Political Secretary gave him a lot of assistance. Guangdong and Fujian are adjacent to each other, and Wang Zunde is a major artillery maker, so it is very likely that some of the artillery will flow into Zheng Zhilong's hands. ”

"Zheng Zhilong is still too busy to beat Li Kuiqi by himself, otherwise he would have come to beat us a long time ago." Wu De disagreed, "Even if a few cannons fall into his hands, they will be used on Li Kuiqi."

After a long debate on this issue at the Council of State, Zuihou reached a compromise that would only export water turbines, windmills, gearboxes, blowers, and artillery boring machines, and not iron mold jishu, which greatly increased the production speed of artillery. Although some estimate that given the tragic financial situation of the Ming Dynasty, it is unlikely that too much artillery will be built.

Then it was suggested at the State Council that although the spread of jishu was inevitable, it was better to have a special department to assess how to spread and which jishu to spread, so as not to pose a threat to the strategic situation.

Therefore, it was decided to set up a "Jishu Coordination Office" under the Ministry of Science and Technology, which was responsible for evaluating the output of Jishu and products.

Unbeknownst to him, he had convened a secret meeting on this issue, and for the next few days he traveled leisurely, traveling everywhere. Liu San, in line with the intention of showing his strength, also arranged for him to visit everywhere.

The holy ship is now a popular attraction, and it is definitely a must-see for someone like Li Luoyou who is qualified as a state guest. Early the next morning, Liu San accompanied him to Bopu in a carriage and entered the naval pier surrounded by barbed wire.

Li Luoyou carefully looked at the Australian soldiers wearing blue uniforms and straw hats, they were different from the soldiers he saw in Dongmen City, except that the uniforms were blue, and they wore rounded flat-topped straw hats, and the straw hats were wrapped with black cloth belts, and two streamers hung down at the back of their necks.

Liu San prepared a new "certificate" for him and Quark, which was stamped with eye-catching red stamps that read "valid on the same day" and "valid at one time".

After checking the documents and documents, Liu San took them to board a rowboat and headed for the Fengcheng ship.

When Li Luoyou stepped on the deck of the Fengcheng ship, standing on this towering and open deck, the sea breeze blew, and his legs and feet suddenly couldn't take a step.

It was easy to adjust my breathing and slowly walked forward. The rough steel deck underfoot. Huge rusty chains. Li Luoyou cautiously walked to the side of the boat and looked at the blue and secluded rippling sea water below, and he didn't feel dizzy for a while, so he quickly withdrew his gaze.

Even though it was a boat, I didn't feel the slightest bit of rocking. It's rock solid.

Li Luoyou touched the cold steel side of the ship, such a ship was beyond his comprehension. He pondered for a moment and asked Liu San: "This ship is so big, how can it be moved?" ”

"With a machine."

"Machines?" Li Luoyou asked, "The machine, if it is not pulled by horses and oxen, is a windmill and water wheel, and the windmill and water wheel obviously can't be driven, could it be that there are many horses and oxen in the belly of the ship?" How many horses and cattle do you have to do?"

"No matter how many horses and cattle there are, they can't drive them." Liu San thought that Li Luoyou still had a little knowledge, and he had the concept of "power", "It is the power of steam." ”

In fact, Fengcheng uses large marine diesel engines. Liu San felt that he couldn't explain the concept of the internal combustion engine, so he simply chose a simple one.

"Steam? Can you show me? ”

"Why not? But the machine on this ship was huge, and it was dark underneath that it was not easy to see, and it was similar and small in the factory. ”

"The machines used on the ship can also be used in the workshop?"

"Why not?" Liu San felt strange.

Li Luoyou didn't ask any more questions, and stared at the blue-glowing Armstrong rifled heavy cannon on the deck for a long time, looking at the circular sliding track below and the huge conical cannonball standing next to it.

Originally, he had always wondered if this cannon was a pretentious Xibei cargo. Needless to say, how can such a giant cannon be propelled by manpower? But such an iron ship can be driven from Australia thousands of miles away to Lingao, and this cannon is nothing.

Australians have invested so much money here, and it turns out that there are such sharp weapons

Thinking of this, the hope of buying a gun from Lingao suddenly became very urgent. He suddenly whispered to Liu San; "Do you have an eyebrow about selling guns?"

Although Liu San has not received a formal notice of this matter, the situation at the meeting has been officially reported to him. It's certain that the cannon selling thing is no play. He said vaguely: "I haven't heard of it yet." ”

"If this matter can be helped by the third master, Li will be grateful," he said, making a look.

Of course, Liu San understands that if you don't say that you really have to help, just reveal a little rumor, and the other party will have valuable gifts to give immediately. Yesterday at the Dongmen Market, the ginseng he was going to give to Li Mei was not known to be in good condition, but it was by no means a bargain. This is just a gift to meet and show goodwill, if you want to win yourself over and ask for help, a century-old best Laoshan ginseng, this Li Da shopkeeper will not be soft.

But this benefit is absolutely unattainable. Yesterday, Li Luoyou wanted to give a gift to Li Mei, and a report was sent that night. He had to say vaguely: "You need to be patient in this matter." ”

Li Luoyou looked at the sea view and asked in a barely audible voice: "Who do you need to be touched by Li?" ”

Liu San had no choice but to pretend not to hear.

Li Luoyou was a little disappointed when he saw that this group of Australians were determined not to accept any bribes. On second thought, they found that ordinary treasures and treasures were indeed not rare, and as for ginseng and the like, people from overseas did not know its benefits. It seems that only the beauty trick can work.

Thinking all the way, he was taken to the Bopu Arsenal. This is the main artillery manufacturing base of the Crossing Group. Here both army and navy artillery are produced. However, the Navy has a great demand for artillery, and at this stage it mainly produces naval guns.

For safety, the arsenal itself was a fortress, with a tall barricade with red brick walls on stone foundations, a fortress-like main gate, and a moat. In front of the gatehouse, there are loaded sailors standing guard. The towering red brick walls were filled with loud roars, crashing sounds, and white and black smoke emanating from behind the walls. There was a strong, pungent smell in the air.

Li Luoyou hesitated, and looked at Quark as hesitant. It's a scary place to look at. The two of them drew a cross in unison, and recited a paragraph silently, before following Liu San in.

In the arsenal, there were one iron-framed house after another, each as high as three stories, with the door open, and inside it was filled with jet-black steel machines, which were roaring tirelessly. On the iron road, workers push pulleys loaded with iron ingots and steel blocks.

They visited the cannon casting workshop, where the heat of more than a dozen iron furnaces working at the same time made it almost impossible for the two to stand still. The workers were tightly dressed, with towels wrapped around their faces and black blindfolds.

The reddish molten iron makes a "hiss" sound and flows to the pouring port. For a moment there was a lot of smoke. Let Quark cough violently and cover his face and escape.

Li Luoyou is much better in comparison. Ever since he was about to contract the sale of cannons, he often went to the foundry to see how the workers were making them. So he could hold back - he was eager to see how the famous "Australian Cannon" was made.

As far as it seems now, the Australian's cast cannon did not exceed his expectations, and he still made molds and poured them. Of course, they are much larger, use more tools and equipment, and can do their work much faster than the workers in Foshan.

But he immediately noticed the difference in the next workshop - the casting haode cannon embryo was actually solid, how could this be used? I saw that the workers used a crane to lift the blast embryo and send it to a hot oven to heat, and then hoisted the blast embryo at a certain time, and the red-hot blast embryo was carefully hoisted onto an iron pulley, sandwiched between a pair of huge iron tools, and then the clamp rotated 90 degrees. Workers pushed the cart in front of a large drop weight machine.

In the steam diffuse, Li Luoyou watched the huge hammer slide down from the top of the shelf, pounding the red-hot cannon embryo fiercely, and the workers operated the iron clamps, taking advantage of the interval when the iron hammer was re-lifted to rotate the cannon embryo, letting the iron hammer hammer inch by foot. Red sparks burst out in a loud hammer blow. The hard iron is quickly changed like dough under the hammering,

The loud shaking and heat made it almost impossible for the group to stay on for an extra minute. Li Luoyou looked at it for a while, and he was already sweating and sweating.

The pungent smell, the thick smoke, the loud noise, and the powerful force of the machine, neither Li Luoyou nor Quark had ever seen such a scene. The biggest scene Quark has ever seen is the woolen weaving yards and shipyards in England, but compared to this place, it is a quiet garden.

Artisans dressed in blackened clothes stained with smoke and sweat worked in the smoke and noise, manipulating huge machines, running and shouting, a dozen people pushing a machine together, their muscles protruding and each one looking powerful. Li Luo couldn't help but feel creepy. It's like the devil's armory, the forge of hell

A fear permeated his heart. He felt like he was losing his self-control - God, is my soul going to be lost here? He prayed secretly, feeling that he should leave this place immediately, but an unprecedented Liliang would not let him leave. He vaguely realized that he had seen something he shouldn't have seen, this was a kind of liliang, a liliang that no one on this shijie had ever seen and controlled. A door suddenly opened to him, and he couldn't help but want to see it clearly.

The forged blast embryos were loaded on iron pulleys and sent away. Li Luoyou saw them again in the next workshop, and he thought that it should not have been forged just now, because there were still many cannon embryos piled up in the workshop. There are many black machines here, the base is made of stone, and on the roof of the workshop, there are iron shafts that rotate rapidly, and many belts extend from the shafts, turning rapidly, driving many iron wheels to rotate.

The hammered steel blocks were mounted on huge iron beds, slowly advancing at an oblique angle, and if he looked closely, he saw that the cannon embryo was rapidly rotating towards a knife-like thing, and wisps of iron filings flew out of the cannon body continuously. At the same time, the gun was constantly drenched with foul-smelling oil, which seemed to be flowing from the knife.

Soon, the battered and uneven blast embryo was transformed into a smooth surface that shimmered blue.

Li Luoyou was stunned for a moment. "Sharpen iron like clay" is a word that comes to his mind. He had ever seen a Japanese sword that could sharpen iron like clay, but it was the most made of 100 steel, and it took countless effort, and it was also a treasure sword in Japan. The Australians actually cut cannons with such a treasure knife

The next scene was even more shocking, the cannon embryo was fixed on a shelf, a multi-edged steel knife was spinning rapidly, rotating in the middle of the solid cannon embryo, and the iron filings were constantly brought out by the knife head, mixed with black sewage. The smell of hot iron mixed with grease filled the air.

It turned out that this cannon chamber was drilled out with a knife, and the Australian knife was so powerful Li Luoyou thought, this is not wood, it is a large piece of iron, and there is a gap in the iron at most, how can it still dig a hole?

Zuihou, he finally saw the finished product, the barrels of various sizes were shining blue, and they were mounted on the iron frame of the iron pulley. Li Luoyou secretly calculated that in this foundry alone, more than 50 cannons were being built in Foshan at the same time, and all the raw materials for the workers would have to be built for five or six months -- just one poured clay mold would have to wait for a month to dry.

"It's really breathtaking" Li Luoyou had a thrilling feeling, "No wonder everyone says that the cannons made by Australians with unparalleled firearms in the world can be compared to a few blacksmiths pouring molten iron."

Quark also nodded: "Shopkeeper Li, this cannon factory is a hundred times better than the most Haode cannon factory in Britain - Europe" He took a greedy breath, "If they open up all production capacity, it will not be difficult to conquer the whole of China"

"And expand production?" Li Luoyou was taken aback.

"Don't you see a lot of machines that aren't running?" Quark said, "If you ......turn it all on," he shook his head, "Master Li, I don't think it's necessary for you to ask me to run a gun factory." ”

Li Luoyou didn't know that he had already negotiated the slave trade with the traversers, and that he had a faster and easier way to make money, and he was no longer interested in the matter of building a foundry, so he just shirked it. Li Luoyou thought that he was sincere, so he couldn't help but nod and said: "It's just a sharp weapon of this country, and people may not be willing to sell it." ”

Seeing that they were a little depressed, Liu San hurriedly invited them to the office of the arsenal to rest, first sent hot towels, and then sent someone to bring cold kvass. The two of them were shocked for a while, and Li Luoyou immediately had a bunch of questions to ask him; Weishenme does not cast the cannon into a hollow instead of casting it solid and then drilling it out? What kind of knife can actually cut iron? weishenme is going to beat the cannon body?

Liu San didn't know all his questions, Li Luoyou thought that he wanted to keep it secret, so he had to stop asking, in fact, Liu San was not a student and worker, but he didn't want to keep it secret.