Chapter 63: The Cannon of Linying

Zhang Xuan had another quiet day in Linying. Every day, I only heard that King Chuang conquered a certain place and conquered a certain county, and for a while, the atmosphere in Linying County became warm. I don't know if it's the New Year's end approaching, or if the king's successes are frequent. For the time being, he couldn't feel the tragic atmosphere under Kaifeng City.

However, Zhang Xuan is also very happy today.

What he is happy about is not that King Chuang's good news is repeated, nor is it that the New Year is approaching. And the cannon he wanted was ready.

Of course, such a cannon may not be called a cannon, but Zhang Xuan is still very happy.

"My lord, there are one hundred and fifty doors in total." Blacksmith Wang said a little nervously: "These cannons are all iron core copper tires, and there are iron hoops on them. There are also cannon ears on the top, looking at the mountain. Everything came according to the wishes of the adults, I wonder what the adults think? ”

Zhang Xuan looked at the one hundred and fifty artillery pieces lined up on the ground, and to be honest, he didn't think anything about it.

As you can imagine, a hundred and fifty briquette stoves, laid horizontally on the ground, or one hundred and fifty wires seventy or eighty centimeters long, are nothing more than iron guys.

Zhang Xuan couldn't help but feel a little disappointed in his heart. Cannons, the king of firearms, actually look like this. But helplessly, those big guys who can bombard the city, the craftsmen under Zhang Xuan's command, may not have the ability to cast them, and even if they are cast, they will be useless.

"Look, I can't see anything." Zhang Xuan said: "Come on, pick a cannon and put a hundred cannons on me." ”

Blacksmith Wang suddenly broke out in a cold sweat.

To be honest, Blacksmith Wang didn't know if this artillery could withstand more than a hundred cannon shots. Anyway, he has already thought about the methods he can think of, this is already the highest level of his craftsmanship, when he built artillery for the official army, he did not have such intentions, but whether he can pass Zhang Xuan's acceptance, he has no confidence in his heart.

"Yes." As soon as the order was given, there was an immediate promise, Zhang Xuan's men were not short of gunners, and among the Baoding soldiers, there were a lot of manpower to use. Immediately someone carried a cannon and placed it on top of the city, and was about to fire it outside, and suddenly one cannon after another, this familiar and monotonous sound sounded.

It will take a while to fire more than 100 cannons. Zhang Xuan took a closer look at the artillery, but saw that at the bottom of the artillery, there were words: "Linying 108 King." ”

This style was also set by Zhang Xuan, and the blacksmith Wang originally wanted to take a majestic name, and then use the heavenly and terrestrial branches to sort it. But it was denied by Zhang Xuan, in Zhang Xuan's opinion, this artillery is not majestic at all, and it is not very powerful, and it is a joke to give a majestic name. Just write the name of the place and use the numerical number. It's just that Zhang Xuan found that the name of the craftsman behind him is just a surname, what's going on?

Zhang Xuan immediately called Blacksmith Wang over, pointed to the surname behind the number and said, "What's going on?" ”

Blacksmith Wang's face was a little red, but his perennial iron-striking face was not easy to see, and he said, "This is the villain's surname." ”

"I know it's your last name." Zhang Xuan said: "I just want to know, I don't want to engrave my name, why only your surname." ”

Blacksmith Wang's voice was a little low, and he couldn't hear it at all if he didn't listen carefully, and said, "The villain's name is a little indecent. ”

"How is it not Yafa?" Zhang Xuan asked.

"The villains are eighth." The blacksmith's voice became deeper and deeper, and he said, "The old people all call me Starling. ”

Zhang Xuan didn't think there was anything in this ranking, after all, many poor people in this era were called ranking, but together with the surname of Wang Blacksmith, people had a feeling that they couldn't help but spray rice, Zhang Xuan couldn't help but laugh, laughing at the names of his subordinates, it was not a too kind way. said, "You didn't take a big name." ”

The blacksmith Wang estimated that he was also out of the way, and said: "The younger brother is a craftsman, his family is poor, and he didn't give Xiucai that bucket of rice at all, and he has never given a big name, and the small one is called Dog Egg, which is also indecent, and he doesn't dare to engrave it on the artifact." ”

Zhang Xuan didn't smile at all, the suffering of the craftsmen in the Ming Dynasty, Zhang Xuan had seen a lot and knew everything, Zhang Xuan recalled that it was also, he had dealt with this king blacksmith not once or twice, since the bearing, he had been dealing with him, he never seemed to have thought about what the king blacksmith was called, and directly called him the king blacksmith. said: "It's okay, you don't need to have a big name in the future, your name is Wang Cannon." ”

The king blacksmith pounced, knelt on the ground, and said, "Thank you, General, for the name." ”

Zhang Xuan changed the topic to business and said: "However, this artillery is not finished here, I want to have a gun truck." ”

Blacksmith Wang said: "I don't know what gun carriage you want, general, whether it is a partial carriage, or General Qi's artillery carriage, or the style of the Shenji Battalion?" "The king blacksmith seems to have been given a good name, and his enthusiasm has exploded, and he doesn't care about the artillery that is being tested, and when it comes to the gun carriage, there is a feeling of gushing.

I have to say that loading artillery on a car has never been a new thing in Daming, but Zhang Xuan sounds like it is all a train of thought, their idea is not on artillery shooting, but the combination of artillery and vehicles, the combination of cars and artillery, the car is used to block the enemy, which can be regarded as a temporary city wall, and artillery is used as a weapon to fight the enemy. Transform field warfare into fortified warfare.

Zhang Xuan felt that this idea was good for a while, and suddenly remembered that he had such a discussion in Fu Zonglong's "Jade Belt Edition". Zhang Xuan originally intended to use the gun carriage as a cheap launch platform, which could easily adjust the angle, but the idea of these traditional gun carriages in the Ming Dynasty seemed to be not bad.

For a while, Zhang Xuan couldn't make a decision.

"Smack." Zhang Xuan said: "Let's build one and try it, and also build a Western gun truck for me." ”

The king blacksmith said, "But I have no pattern in my hand." ”

Zhang Xuan said: "I will provide you with the style." ”

It's just decided here, and the test over there has also come out.

Above the city, in the muzzle of the cannon, there was still rising green smoke, Zhang Xuan had not yet put his hand on the cannon body, he felt the billowing heat, he immediately poured a scoop of cold water on it, and suddenly made a squeaky sound, and white smoke came out.

"General." In order to shoot Zhang Xuan's horses, Wang Jincai personally came to test the cannon and said: "This cannon is good, but after a hundred cannons, you still have to dry it before using it, otherwise it will hurt the cannon too much." ”

In fact, after a hundred shots, there is a danger of exploding.

Zhang Xuan didn't know what the level of artillery casting in this era was, and he was not willing to test it destructively, after all, he only needed one hundred and fifty guns, although there were a lot of them, but if they were scattered in the army, in Zhang Xuan's opinion, the firepower density was too low. If you can save some use, you can save some use.

Zhang Xuan said: "Yes, continue to cast cannons." How much is minted, how much. ”

Blacksmith Wang said with a difficult face: "General, there is no copper. ”

All the copper was smashed into the one hundred and fifty cannons, and all that was left was iron.

Zhang Xuan also had a batch of copper in his hand, nothing else, copper coins. But the number is not much, he is really reluctant, if it weren't for the big bell on the bell and drum tower, plus some other copper materials, Zhang Xuan might not have the heart to cast a copper tire cannon. Now it's time to get back to the way we started.

"Iron cannons are iron cannons." Zhang Xuan said: "No matter what kind of cannon it is, it is always artillery. ”

Anything is better than nothing.

The artillery carriage was built quickly, which made Zhang Xuan a little uncomfortable, because he thought that the chariot of the Ming army had some wonderful structure, but it looked almost the same as the Taiping chariot used by the people, and the Ming army also had a special two-wheeled artillery car, which was not much different from the one designed by Zhang Xuan, and it was even a little easier to use.

After all, Zhang Xuan remembered a rough idea in his memory, and the specific details could not be remembered.

The problem of the artillery cart has not been solved, but another problem has emerged, that is, the livestock pulling the cart, Zhang Xuan's department only has more than 200 horses, respectively in Zhang Xuan's personal guards, under Luo Dai, and among Luo Yujiao's personal guards, so many artillery trucks need at least hundreds of livestock, where to find this?

Zhang Xuan had to convene the generals to discuss how to use these artillery. Or rather, how to carry these guns. It is absolutely impossible to leave these cannons in Linying City.