Soon after Marin returned, he sent two armed merchant ships to Hamburg and Lübeck to demonstrate the artillery battle. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 However, before sending out the warships, Marin was reluctant to let Lübeck and Hamburg know that they were heavily armed with iron cannons. So, the obscene Marin asked the craftsmen to paint the outside of the ship's cannons with a layer of copper paint.

In this way, even if Lübeck and Hamburg saw the cannon on Marlin's ship, they would have to hesitate to learn from Marlin's method. Because -- the cost of such artillery is too high......

The price of copper is so expensive, you are equipped with so many copper heavy cannons, is there nowhere to spend the money? Even the rich Lübeck and Hamburg hesitate. Even if they want to be armed with heavy artillery, they have to consider the terrible cost. Even if it is equipped, it can only be ...... in small amounts.

The guns on these two Class 250 armed merchant ships are no longer the original 12-pounder guns. Since the construction of the steel plant, the cannon foundry has a supply of molten steel, so it is natural that the artillery can be improved. Although it is said that because of the level of craftsmen, the carbon content has not been accurately controlled. For example, Marin's craftsmen want low-carbon steel, but they may make medium-carbon steel. I want to make medium carbon steel, but I want to make low carbon steel...... Of course, high-carbon steel cannot be smelted, because smelting high-carbon steel requires a furnace wall with a graphite substrate, and the environment is different.

However, even so, whether it is medium carbon steel or low carbon steel, it is suitable for casting guns, and it is much stronger than wrought iron. Therefore, the foundry soon improved the 12-pounder gun to an 18-pounder gun with the same size. Moreover, the total weight has dropped from 2 tons to 1.8 tons.

Even so, if calculated according to the price of copper, such a "copper cannon" is worth as much as 2,800 gold coins. Marin was equipped with 20 heavy "bronze cannons" on an armed merchant ship, wouldn't the cost of the cannon alone cost 56,000 gold coins?

When they saw a total of 40 heavy "bronze cannons" on the two ships, Lübeck and Hamburg, two local tyrants and Hanseatic cities, were also stunned by the local tyrants of Marin......

What kind of war is this? It's completely a PK with gold bricks and other people's bricks......

However, Captain Kidd, who led the team, explained that the copper was cheap copper that Columbus bought from India. In real terms, it is worth only one-tenth of the price in Europe......

In this way, the two Hanseatic tyrant cities reluctantly accepted the ......

Indeed, the artillery on a ship is worth 5,600 gold coins, although it is also a tyrant, but it is much easier to accept than 56,000 gold coins. The opening of the Indian route, the Hanseatic League was aware. However, who discovered India first between Columbus and da Gama, Spain and Portugal have been arguing.

The Hanseatic League was also jealous of the windfall profits of India's spice trade. It's just that they don't have any information on ocean voyages, and they don't have that plan. Because, even if they followed the route of Spain and Portugal, they did not want to bear the common anger of Spain and Portugal.

After all, the Hanseatic League can't even deal with Denmark, and to provoke Portugal again is to find death......

Prices are cheap in the East, and the Hanseatic League has heard of it. They also had no doubt that Marin would be able to get ten times as cheap copper. Even, they understood why Marin had only 23 ships. One warship needs so many bronze cannons, and you want more? There's not that much cheap copper......

After the exclamation, the two warships, under the watchful eyes of the representatives of Lübeck and Hamburg, began a demonstration of the naval battle......

This time it was the 2505 and 2506 warships that were sent, and the sailors and gunners on board were very experienced veterans. In fact, Marin deliberately selected a group of the best sailors and gunners to demonstrate. Therefore, when it comes to maneuvering the sailboat and firing the cannons, they move like a smooth stream, without dragging their feet.

An old Hanseatic 200-ton merchant ship used as a target ship was smashed into the sea after several salvos fired by two 250-class warships at a distance of 100 meters under the watchful eyes of the representatives of the two cities......

"It's really powerful, and the power is extraordinary!" Representative Lübeck praised.

"It's just too expensive......" Hanseatic shook his head with a wry smile.

Neither of the deputies knew that the guns on the Marin ship were made of medium and low carbon steel, and the cost was much lower than that of copper. It's just that Marin, an obscene guy, painted copper paint on the outside of the gun body, deliberately misleading Lübeck and the representatives of Hamburg......

In fact, the representatives of the cities sent by Lübeck and Hamburg today are their respective naval officers. They came here today, not only to test the truth of Marin's statement, but also to spy on Marin's new tactics. To put it bluntly, I just want to steal the teacher......

However, now the two of them are stealing teachers. But there is no way to learn it, so many copper cannons, even the very wealthy Lübeck and Hamburg, may not be willing.

Of course, it's not that two cities can't afford to build it. Rather, the parliament will certainly not approve ......

The two Hanseatic cities, both parliamentary. The parliament has to consider the interests of many parties, and it involves a wide range of interests. The councillors of both cities were large Hanseatic merchants. What are the characteristics of a businessman? Weigh on it......

You had the Hanseatic merchant councillors in two cities spend 56,000 gold to equip a ship's artillery? No kidding? Ironclad veto......

You must know that at a cost of 56,000 gold coins, you can buy thirty merchant ships of more than 200 tons. For these Hanseatic merchants, merchant ships could make more money, and artillery could?

However, the scene of the heavy artillery salvo was too shocking, and after the two deputies returned, they still tried their best to persuade the parliament to buy a few heavy guns and come back to study a new way of naval warfare......

Eventually, the councils of the two cities agreed to the deputies' proposal. As a result, the two Hanseatic cities of Lübeck and Hamburg not only recognized the combat effectiveness of the Marin navy, but also issued orders for heavy "copper cannons". Of these, Lübeck ordered 10 heavy guns. Hamburg, on the other hand, ordered 8 doors.

This heavy artillery, the actual mountain was used by two cities to test. The point is that there is a need to demonstrate power to the parliament. Only if the council approves it, will it agree to allocate funds for the purchase of more heavy artillery......

After receiving the order, Marin immediately invited John Sr. and other top cannon smiths to first use pig iron to create an iron mold for casting an 18-pound bronze cannon.

Before, because of the rich experience in the use of iron molds, coupled with the 18-pound cannon casting, several masters were also proficient, but it was not too difficult.

Moreover, casting a bronze cannon is much simpler than casting an iron cannon. Because, molten bronze is much more stable than molten iron, and it is not easy to go wrong. Unlike molten iron, if you use an iron mold, because the cooling speed is too fast, it is easy to cause the gray iron of the gun body, resulting in brittleness and affecting the strength of the gun body. With the use of bronze liquid, there is no such concern at all......

It just so happened that the hundreds of tons of copper that Marin had brought back from India were still stored in large quantities. As a result, Marin offered the two cities a bronze 18-pounder cannon for a friendly price of 350 gold coins per cannon. At the same time, Marin also provided the loading standards for shells and gunpowder to prevent the opponent from indiscriminately charging and damaging the barrel without qualified gunners. Of course, this standard was developed in accordance with the standard for powder gunpowder. After all, now Europe is also using granulated gunpowder for the Marin family.

In addition, Marin also made an agreement with Lübeck and Hamburg that after the autumn harvest was over, the Swedish representatives would be invited to hold a second four-party meeting to determine the time and details of the operation......