Yang Cong discussed with Wang Xuan and others for a long time, and finally decided to use a sample of a new type of musket made by hand to come out and see the effect.

As for the manual drilling machine and the simple vernier caliper, it also takes time to process, rather than waiting for these tools and equipment to be made before making a new type of musket, it is better to try a sample by hand, after all, this thing is still a new structure, no one knows if there is a problem.

This time, Yang Cong basically participated in the whole process, from design to manufacturing, he personally operated or guided on the spot, just like the siege lions of later generations designed new products.

He went to the processing workshop to stop, but those craftsmen were nervous, just kidding, how can there be a big official to follow the craftsman to do these "lowly" work, this year's big officials are all high, giving orders, as for what the people below do, people basically will not take a look, like him to the scene to command, has never appeared.

Yang Cong had actually wanted to take a look at the workshop a long time ago, but he had been very busy some time ago, and he had no time to take care of these when the Tartars were about to be overwhelmed.

This was a different story, he didn't have to worry about the Tartar invasion, and he could finally concentrate on making muskets and artillery.

After the discussion was over, he followed Wang Xuan and Lao Zhangtou, the leader of the blacksmiths, to an ironsmith's workshop.

In fact, this workshop is rebuilt from the original dwelling, just a large courtyard house, in which casting, iron, grinding and other processes are readily available.

As soon as Yang Cong followed everyone into the courtyard, a wave of heat came to his face, and he saw a large melting pot standing on the right side of the courtyard of the compound, and a simple shed was built on it to shelter from the wind and rain, and on both sides of the furnace were dirty coal and iron ore.

This guy, the ground is all black and dusty, and the craftsmen who work are all like beards under their noses, and there are a lot of black things, and their faces are all black ash, just like they were dug out of the coal mines.

Seeing this, Yang Cong couldn't help frowning slightly, this scene is too different from the workshop in later generations.

Wang Xuan looked at Yang Cong's expression, and couldn't help but say embarrassedly: "My lord forgives the sin, time is in a hurry, so the things in the workshop are relatively simple. ”

When all the craftsmen saw that Wang Xuan had called an adult, they reacted, this is the governor here!

Everyone in the courtyard threw themselves to the ground almost at the same time, and the expressions on their faces were terrified.

Seeing this, Yang Cong's brows furrowed even deeper, he thought about it, and then said gently: "Sir, you tell everyone, you don't have to be polite when you see this official in the workshop in the future, what should you do, it's just like on the battlefield, and the soldiers don't have to lie on the ground when they see the official on the battlefield, right?" Also, prepare some cotton cloth for each of them to cover their mouths and noses, this dust is not good for sucking too much, and it is easy to get tuberculosis. ”

When Wang Xuan heard this, he hurriedly asked Lao Zhangtou to convey Yang Cong's meaning, and the craftsmen in the courtyard stood up in fear and continued their work.

Yang Cong looked at the structure of the furnace slightly, and couldn't help but feel a sense of powerlessness in his heart.

This thing is also too backward, the furnace body, the diversion groove of the molten iron, the bucket containing the molten iron, etc., are basically made of clay, not to mention the ugly appearance, and it is very unsafe, and the air that is sent to the furnace is also a manual bellows, which can not send much fresh air at a time.

If this thing appears in the next life, it will definitely be banned on the spot, but there is nothing to do at this time, so it can only be done first.

He shook his head slightly, motioned to Lao Zhangtou to lead the way, and continued to walk inside.

The first small workshop that the group entered was the place where the wooden models were made, which was relatively clean, just some wood and tools for processing wood, and there was no dust.

Yang Cong nodded slightly, and then asked Shen Lian to unfold the drawings on the workbench, and asked Lao Zhangtou to summon the craftsmen who processed the wooden molds to continue the discussion.

This time, the main thing to be made is the rear half of the barrel, the bolt and the bullet case, as for the front half of the barrel, Yang Cong is ready to use ready-made.

This casting is not much different from later generations, that is, the wooden mold is made first, and then the wooden mold is buried in the fine sand to make a sand mold, and then the molten iron is poured into the sand mold, and when the molten iron is cooled and solidified, the casting is dug out of the sand.

The wooden mold is basically made according to the shape of the casting, however, it is necessary to consider the problem of sand mold construction and processing allowance, so the wooden mold made is different from the final physical object, and the processing surface must leave a margin, so that the wooden mold will look much thicker than the final physical object.

After discussing for a while, the size of the wooden mold was preliminarily determined.

The existing barrel is about one finger thick, so the iron casing of the bullet must be about one and a half fingers, otherwise the strength of the pipe wall is not enough, the same reason, the bolt should be expanded to two fingers thick, and the large barrel wrapped outside should be about two and a half fingers.

After this size is set, the wood mold processing is quite fast, because the wood is relatively soft, and it does not take much effort to process it with sharp iron tools, and a burst of sawdust flies, and in less than half an hour, three wooden molds are made.

Seeing this, Yang Cong couldn't help but nod slightly, it seems that there is no problem with the processing of wooden molds, although the tools are relatively backward, but it does not affect the mass production of muskets and artillery, because the demand for wooden molds is not large, and the processing speed of these craftsmen is not slow.

The next step is to make a sand mold, that is, bury the finished wooden mold in the fine sand used for casting, so that the fine sand will empty a hole in the appearance of the casting.

Yang Cong followed Wang Xuan and Lao Zhang Tou and his party to the casting room, which was actually a few sand fields, that is, digging a few square pits on the ground like fields, and then filling them with fine sand for casting.

This sand mold is also divided into two kinds, one is directly modeled in the sand tin, with some wooden boards or something to assist in modeling, this is generally the method used when casting large castings, and the other is to use a variety of wooden frames to fill some fine sand to model, this is generally the method used when casting small castings.

The rear half of the barrel, bolt and bullet casing to be cast this time are all small castings, so naturally the latter method is used.

Lao Zhangtou explained a few words, and the craftsman inside took out a few wooden frames, filled them with fine sand, and then poured a little water to increase the adhesion of fine sand, and then buried the wooden mold into the fine sand, and made it strong, and finally took out the wooden mold, and then carefully checked whether the fine sand fell off, and then repaired it, and the sand mold was made.

The whole process can be described as a single go, and the three sand molds took less than two quarters of an hour in total, which shows that these craftsmen are quite skilled veterans.

After the sand mold is made, the outside craftsman will bring in a small bucket of molten iron and carefully cast it into the sand mold, and the casting process is almost complete.

Next, he had to wait for almost an hour, waiting for the molten iron to cool down naturally before he could take out the castings inside, Yang Cong was not idle, he directly signaled, and asked Lao Zhangtou to take him around in this blacksmithing workshop.

As the circle turned, his brow furrowed even deeper.

At this time, the processing level is too low, and all the processing equipment in the entire workshop is all manual, that is to say, the processing is basically by hand, whether it is a musket or an artillery, it is basically made by hand.

Relying purely on hand-made equipment for the elite equipment of 60,000 border armies, the pressure is very high!

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