When Li Xiao was planning how to conquer Ezo Island and Sakhalin Island in the east, there was news that made him happy in Tielong City in Shanxian County. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

That is, what Li Xiao has been paying attention to, the technology of iron mold casting cannons has finally been successfully developed!

Zhao Jie, the chief of firearms, with four heavy steel dragon bombers with 32 catties of iron bullets, had just arrived in Dengzhou, and he came to see Li Xiao with joy.

Seeing the heavy steel dragon strike cannon cast by the iron mold casting cannon in front of him, its workmanship effect and fineness were even much stronger than the previous cannon cast with clay mold casting cannon doors, Li Xiao's heart was full of joy.

On the side, Zhao Jie had already begun to introduce loudly with joy.

"Lord Li, the iron mold casting method you mentioned has been repeatedly studied by a group of craftsmen in the artillery factory, and it has lasted nearly a year, although there are many twists and turns, but it was finally successfully studied last month."

"A good meal is not afraid of being late, and it is a good thing to be able to study it." Li Xiao patted him on the shoulder with a smile on his face.

Zhao Jie was quite encouraged to see Li Xiao so happy, and he continued to introduce: "Lord Li, now we are waiting for the iron mold casting method, and there are several processes. First of all, the cannon was made out of wax, and then the sand was turned several times to make an iron mold. ”

"Oh, what's next?"

Next, the inside of each petal of the iron mold is brushed with two layers of slurry, the first layer of slurry is made of fine rice husk ash and fine sand mud, and the second layer of slurry is made of high-quality very fine kiln coal and water. These two slurries are the key to the iron mold casting cannon. ”

"What do you do next after pulping?"

"Master Li, after the brushing is completed, you can cast the cannon body. The specific method is as follows: the two petals of the iron mold are combined, the iron hoop is tightened, baked, and the molten steel is finally cast. After pouring enough molten liquid and cooling and forming, the iron mold is peeled off according to the order of the mold flap, such as peeling off the bamboo shoot shell, gradually exposing the gun body, and then removing the iron core inner mold in the gun core, and the whole gun body is thus completed. ”

Speaking of this, Zhao Jie's face swelled with pride: "Master Li, this core inner mold is also a method that I and other craftsmen have repeatedly developed." Compared with the front and rear mud core inner molds, the iron core inner mold gun body is better to use and more convenient. After the molten steel is cooled, the iron core in the chamber is extracted, and the chamber naturally has a certain degree of smoothness, although it still needs to be polished and polished, but it takes a lot of manpower less than the previous mud core inner mold casting. ”

"Yes, if you want to keep improving, you have to study hard." Li Xiao nodded in admiration, and then asked: "But I don't know what other benefits the current iron mold casting method has compared with clay mold casting, in addition to being convenient and time-saving?" ”

"Absolutely!" Seeing that Li Xiao was so interested, Zhao Jie suddenly became energetic, and he said loudly: "Compared with the clay mold casting cannon, the advantages of the iron mold casting cannon are: the process is simple and easy, saves mold raw materials, is not limited by climatic conditions, shortens the manufacturing cycle, reduces production costs, and has no moisture problem, especially to solve the problem of honeycomb (bubbles), which greatly improves the quality of artillery casting and greatly reduces the rejection rate of casting guns." ”

Zhao Jie said that he was very up, and praised himself: "After the success of our army's iron mold casting cannon method, Hua Yuncheng, the director of Tielong City, came to visit our artillery factory, and sighed that this iron mold casting cannon method is very simple, and one work can earn hundreds of profits, and one cannon will save dozens of times the capital. The large gun is spun out, not delayed, and the mouth is naturally smooth, flawless, and it is really a good law. It is beneficial to the country's armed forces, how shallow and fresh! ”

Li Xiao laughed: "It's so shallow! Then Zhao Jie, let me ask you, now that there is this method of casting cannons with iron molds, if all heavy dragon guns are produced in a month, how much can it be produced? ”

Zhao Jie replied proudly: "My lord, in my opinion, doubling the number of dragon bombers every month will never be a problem. In other words, now the artillery factory can completely do it, and it can produce at least six heavy dragon bombs that shoot 32 pounds of iron bullets a month, but the output is three times that of the previous clay mold casting cannons! ”

"Very good, then at this speed, give Benhou full horsepower production." Li Xiao looked delighted, and said loudly: "All craftsmen, according to the price, Benhou will give heavy rewards." Then the research and development of artillery can now come to an end. Next, Ben Hou asks you to take the Lu Mi Gong that is now sealed in the warehouse as a sample, immediately start developing the Lu Mi Gong, and make the finished product as soon as possible. ”

Zhao Jie was overjoyed when he saw Li Xiao affirming his work like this, and hurriedly replied: "Lord Li, don't worry, the craftsmen of our firearms factory will definitely go all out to develop it as soon as possible." ”

Li Xiao said with a smile: "Very good, but Zhao Jie, let me tell you, while developing the Lumi gun, we must ensure the production progress of the heavy dragon hammer, and ensure the production of at least 6 guns per month." If there is a shortage of human resources, please report to Benhou at any time, and Benhou will do its best to meet your needs. ”

Originally, according to the general Ming wear novels, the current Li Xiao is going to start developing more advanced flintlock pistols.

The flintlock pistol was first invented by Mahan, a Frenchman born in 1547 into a family of gunsmiths, locksmiths and watchmakers, and was improved on the basis of the revolver musket. He removed the clockwork wheel, clamped a flint to the jaws of the hammer, set an anvil on the side of the fire hole, and when he fired, he pulled the trigger, and under the action of the spring, struck the flint heavily on the side of the fire door, and sparked and ignited the gunpowder. The firing process is greatly simplified, the firing rate and shooting accuracy are improved, it is easy to use, and the cost is low, which facilitates mass production. In the middle of the 17th century, many European armies were generally equipped with flintlock pistols until 1848, which was more than 200 years old.

Compared with the old arquebus, the advantages of the impact flintlock pistol are self-evident, it greatly simplifies the shooting process, improves the firing rate and shooting accuracy, is easy to use, and the cost is low, which is convenient for mass production. Just after Mahan made his first flintlock pistol, his fame quickly spread across the continent.

Mahan's major invention won the French a reputation in Europe, and King Henry IV of France couldn't help but be overjoyed. In 1598, Henry IV summoned Mahan to this purpose, and he was surprised to find that the inventor of the flintlock pistol was not only an inventor of firearms, but also a rare genius in the field of painting and engraving. Henry IV immediately ordered Mahan to be his "court's valet".

Mahan's fate was thus rewritten, but the fate of the flintlock pistol was not so smooth.

On May 14, 1610, Henry IV was stabbed with a knife on his way to visit his minister Sully in a carriage. With the death of Henry IV, the process of equipping the troops with flintlock pistols stalled. Many French generals objected to the arming of flintlock pistols on the grounds that "the sparks from the flint were not enough to ignite black powder." ”

The reason why the flintlock pistol appeared in the situation that the French generals said is that the flintlock pistol is ignited by the flint, and the flintlock fire sickle is also the cover of the fire door, and when the flintlock is struck down, in order to ensure the success of the ignition, the steel sheet used as a spring needs to be very strong, which is not a trivial requirement for steel.

Therefore, when the steel and spring forging technology was not yet mature, the flintlock pistol had many failures and a very high rate of mute fire, which is why the flintlock pistol was developed early, but it has not been able to be assembled on a large scale.

But the tide of history was unstoppable, and with the development of technology, the quality of flintlock pistols continued to improve, and the rate of mute fire continued to decline, and by the middle of the 17th century, many European armies began to be equipped with flintlock pistols. What is even more shocking is that after the flintlock pistol was equipped with the army, it became the main weapon configuration of the army for a long time, and it was not used until 1848, when the equipment was ended.

Therefore, in the eleventh year of Chongzhen, that is, in 1638 AD, in the world, this flintlock pistol is still in the stage of a luxury plaything.

The craftsmen of the Ming Dynasty were quite unfamiliar with this flintlock pistol, and they didn't understand anything from the construction of the firearm to the principle of building. Even Li Xiao himself was still in a state of little understanding of the structure of this flintlock pistol, so it was impossible to give any better advice and guidance to the craftsmen.

Of course, now there is a bull in the Ming Dynasty, Bi Maokang, who can be called the master of firearms in the Ming Dynasty, and his personal achievements can be said to be above Sun Yuanhua, a firearms expert. Bi Maokang was once ordered by Emperor Chongzhen to develop advanced firearms such as Wugang cars and Shenfei cannons. After the completion of the weapon, he also edited an important firearms book "Illustrated Description of Weapons", which entered Emperor Chongzhen and was highly valued by Chongzhen.

Since the beginning of the previous years, this person has been privately developing flintlock muskets, and considerable progress has been made. It's just that Bi Maokang is now in Nanjing, the deputy capital, as the right attendant of the household department, so Li Xiao can't get him.

It was not until the fifteenth year of Chongzhen that Bi Maokang resigned and returned due to discord with the eunuchs in the Nanjing officialdom at that time, and died of illness at home two years later.

Therefore, if Li Xiao really wants to beat his idea, he can only wait patiently for him to go to work before he has the opportunity to say that this person will vote.

Therefore, after repeated consideration, Li Xiao decided to start building the Lu Mi Gong that he wanted to equip the most.

In 1598 (the twenty-sixth year of Wanli) Zhao Shizhen Zhao Shizhen was a new type of firearm developed by the Ming Dynasty firearms master, and its prototype was the Turkish Rumi country (Ottoman Empire) tribute Mistek heavy arquebus, in 1598 (the twenty-sixth year of Wanli) Zhao Shizhen asked the envoy of the Lumi country Duo Sima, asking the arquebus structure and production method of the Lumi country, and made "Lumi gun" after improvement.

There was a comment on this kind of gun in "Wu Bei Zhi": "Bird gun, only Lu Mi gun is the farthest and most poisonous." ”

This kind of Lumi gun, all forged from fine wrought iron, double-layer gun, the tube body is one, the gun body is heavier, the caliber is smaller, the appearance is slender, black and shiny, and it makes people love it when they hold it in their hands.

According to the research of firearms experts in modern society, this well-made Ming Dynasty Lumi gun has a range of 150 paces, and the muzzle velocity of the projectile is extremely high, which is basically similar to that of the rifles of later generations. At this time, the ordinary firearms could only hit a distance of sixty paces, and they were the firearms used by the Qing army in the Opium War in later generations, and their performance was not necessarily stronger than that of the Lumi guns.

Therefore, Li Xiao believes that under the condition that the flintlock pistol technology is not yet mature, this kind of Lumi gun, which can shoot and kill the enemy from a long distance and has high accuracy, should be the key development direction of Li Xiao's army in the future.

Compared to the flintlock pistol, which has only one concept, the Lumi gun can be said to be a mature technology, and the craftsmen have studied this type of fire pistol quite a lot. With such a foundation, the choice of Lu Mi Gong, the most outstanding fire gun of the Ming Dynasty, can be described as Li Xiao's best choice.

Li Xiao only made one request to Zhao Jie, that is, to replace wrought iron with steel to build Lumi Gong.

Because in this era, the performance of the iron of the gun, including the Lumi gun, is not up to par, and the probability of not hitting or exploding is very high, and taking the Lumi gun as an example, the average service life is only about 50 rounds, and it will be scrapped because of the cracking of the barrel. This efficiency made Li Xiao very dissatisfied.

Therefore, he strongly demanded that wrought iron be replaced with steel with better hardness and ductility, in order to make the new Lumi gun more durable and strong, so as to greatly extend the service life and greatly reduce the probability of dumb fire and explosion.

Later, Li Xiao learned that since he went to Taiwan last year, the firearms factory has built a total of 15 heavy dragon strikers, so with the addition of the 19 dragon strikers that have been equipped for the artillery unit, Li Xiao's artillery unit now has a total of 34 dragon strikers that can be used.

Li Xiao was overjoyed, he knew that with these 34 powerful dragon guns, going to attack the Japanese Matsumae Domain on Ezo Island, as well as the local Ainu indigenous tribes, could be called like killing chickens with knives.

Li Xiao immediately ordered that during this time, all kinds of ordnance, grain and grass should be prepared, and when the sailor ships transporting the displaced people returned from Taiwan, they would take these dragon guns and go to conquer Ezo Island and Sakhalin Island.

What Li Xiao didn't expect was that when he was nervously preparing for the Eastern Crusade, he received a secret letter from the North Korean Security Division.

Li Xiao opened it and looked at it, but he was stunned.

There was a small piece of silk inside, and on the silk, it was a small baby's footprint.

And when he saw the other piece of paper in the envelope with beautiful handwriting but short content, Li Xiao quickly understood what was going on, and a faint smile suddenly appeared on his face.

The letter, written by the imperial concubine of North Korea, Cho Shi, was secretly handed over to the security department personnel in North Korea, in which she told Li Xiao that the crystallization of her love with Li Xiao, a sturdy son, was born as early as early January this year. It's just that because of the poor living conditions in North Korea, she was afraid that the baby would die, so she waited until more than four months later, when she saw that the child was strong and cute, and then secretly reported the good news to Li Xiao.

This letter made Li Xiao feel infinitely emotional in his heart for a while.

He immediately thought of the cute appearance of the imperial concubine Zhao in his arms. is also extremely eager to see this son who was born to the imperial concubine Zhao after a few days of romance.

Li Xiao picked up the piece of silk and kissed the small footprint deeply.

Afterwards, he immediately laid out a pen and paper and wrote back to the imperial concubine Zhao, telling her that the letter had been received, and asked her to take care of the child, and if necessary, the personnel of the North Korean Security Department could handle it. Then, Li Xiao sent her another 10,000 taels of silver as a little condolence gift for his biological father.

After seeing that the personnel of the Security Department had taken away all the letters and silver, Li Xiao let out a long sigh.

He secretly thought in his heart that perhaps, when this child grows up, he will start to find a way to operate, and see how to make this child with his own blood replace the existing Korean crown prince Li Jun, become the continuation of the Korean kingdom, and finally successfully ascend to the throne of the Korean king。。。。。。