The craftsmen of the Ming Dynasty were still relatively smart, but they did not receive systematic education since they were young, and all their knowledge basically came from their masters, or their fathers and ancestors, so it was difficult to achieve great achievements in the future. However, some of the easy things are still very easy to get done. For example, a master craftsman named Xu Kuan pondered the idea of using iron to cast cannons.

After all, iron is much less expensive than copper. If the iron cannon is successful, the cost of materials alone can save a lot of money. You must know that copper in the Ming Dynasty can be directly minted into coins for circulation. Thousands of catties of copper means thousands of catties of coins. Therefore, using iron casting cannons is the most economical choice.

For this reason, Xu Kuan and his apprentices deliberately pinched dozens more when making clay molds. Then, after the bronze cannon was cast, he applied to Zhang Quan, the eunuch in charge of his superiors, to try to cast the cannon with iron. Zhang Quan is Zhang Yongzhi's godson and is in charge of the affairs of the War Bureau. He also felt that it was cheaper to use iron cannon than copper, so he agreed to allocate iron materials and let Xu Kuan and others try it.

But this attempt was not ideal, dozens of clay molds, and in the end, only 3 guns were qualified. Moreover, after several rounds of firing, the bottom of the gun body became soft due to overheating, and two of the guns also exploded, resulting in the death of 3 gunners on the spot and the serious injury of 5 others. Fortunately, the Ming Dynasty did not treat the lower-level soldiers as human beings, and no one cared about how many people died.

In the end, Xu Kuan realized that the iron cast cannon was more technically difficult, and if he wanted to be safe, he had to thicken the gun body, especially the thickness of the tail gun body, to avoid exploding.

However, there is still a long way to go in order to come up with full-fledged artillery and casting technology......

Marin didn't know what was happening in the Ming Dynasty, in fact, the Beihai Kingdom had long had the ability to cast cannons out of steel. For example, those heavy guns are basically cast from mild steel.

However, in order to control the technology, Marin did not let others know that his artillery was made of iron, and deliberately used all copper cannons on the export artillery. Without him, it is just raising the threshold of use.

You must know that large-scale casting of cannons with copper is not something that ordinary people can afford. After all, copper in Europe is more expensive and more expensive. Marin deliberately cast the cannon in bronze, which is also raising the equipment threshold of the artillery - want to equip the cannon? Do you have the money to mint? As soon as they heard that a lot of bronze cannons would be used, the poor monarchs would immediately give up...... Then, the only ones who can really equip artillery on a large scale are the local tyrants...... Then, what Marin needs to focus on dealing with is only those few local tyrant opponents, and the difficulty is much reduced......

In fact, this set, the old beauty of later generations, played the most slippery. Why are the United States keen to engage in advanced fighters and missiles in later generations? Because the average country can't do it...... In terms of electronic technology alone, China in the 20th century could not play with it, let alone those ordinary countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America.

Because everyone can't play it, in the end, everyone can only spend a lot of money to buy advanced weapons with Lao Mei......

But in fact, the whole world has been led distorted by the United States - is it really necessary to equip advanced fighters that cost only two or three billion dollars a piece? Is it really necessary to use advanced missiles that cost millions of dollars each?

In fact, there is no need at all!

The United States deliberately advocates and raises technical standards, in fact, in order to mislead countries - look, we should use a good weapon like me, everything else is rubbish......

But in fact, in many cases, those particularly advanced weapons are not necessary at all......

If it is an ultra-long-range precision strike, it really needs those advanced weapons that are very sophisticated and high-tech. But what if it's ordinary regional friction? Do you need millions or even tens of millions of dollars for advanced missiles to open fire? No need for ...... at all

To give you a simple example, two very small poor countries in Africa fought each other because of border frictions. Both countries are very small in size, not to mention using missiles, even with artillery, they can cover the entire territory of the other side. At this time, is it necessary to use advanced cruise missiles with their own GPS satellite positioning? Not at all!

A conflict between small countries like this does not require any advanced missiles at all, nor does it need any advanced fighters. Moreover, these two things cannot be used by the average country - a few more shots, and the country will go bankrupt......

At this time, on the contrary, it is something like Katyusha rocket artillery, which is especially suitable for regional conflicts - brainlessly launch a wave of rockets and call it a day...... As for the cost...... The cost of a Tomahawk missile is a few hundred thousand dollars, while an ordinary rocket is only a few thousand dollars. If it is not a long-range strike, but a close-range conflict, a fool will use that kind of precision missile.

In fact, a rocket is a missile that is not equipped with electronic equipment such as a guidance system, and the reverse is also true. If it weren't for the special rockets with a range of several hundred kilometers like the "Defender", the cost of rockets would be incredibly low. However, in a head-on conflict, the difference is not very large.

For example, when encountering a cluster of the enemy's main forces on a frontal battlefield, there is not much difference between the effectiveness of a rocket and a missile carrying an ordinary warhead. Unless, it is used to accurately strike the enemy's command headquarters, so that the difference can be revealed. If you want to destroy the enemy's living forces, it will definitely be better to use rocket artillery. After all, the power is enough and it is cheap.

Don't look at the cost of a "Guardian" rocket with a range of two or three hundred kilometers in later generations, as high as $100,000 each, but if it is an ordinary rocket with no range extension and no electronic equipment upgrade, the cost is frighteningly low. Ma Lin remembered that he had heard that during the conflict with the Vietnamese monkeys in the last century, the cost of a 109 rocket was only more than 100 yuan......

Of course, at that time, everyone's salary was also low, and the average monthly salary was only a few dozen yuan. But a rocket is equivalent to an ordinary person's salary for one or two months. When it is put aside in the afterlife, it will be only a few thousand dollars.

Think about it, on the frontal battlefield, hundreds of thousands of troops face each other. Is it cost-effective for you to bombard the enemy with a couple of million-dollar missiles, or a few hundred rockets for the same value?

Although the duel of cutting-edge weapons is indispensable in the war, in fact, in the war, it is the low-cost, energy-producing high-power weapons that are the most popular in the war.

Just like in World War II, why did the German army lose to the Soviet Union in the later period? The German Tiger tank is indeed very good, but the Soviet army does not compete with you in technology, let's compare the number...... Although the T34 is not as powerful as the Tiger tank, it is easy to produce, low cost, and large in output! You dispatched hundreds of Tiger tanks, and I dispatched thousands of T34s to surround and beat you to death......

And the F22 fighter, which seems to be extremely advanced and costs $290 million, is certainly powerful. But in reality, it is not necessarily invincible. Not to mention anything else, if you get a batch of low-cost drones to fight with them in the air, there is also a chance to get rid of them. And how cheap is the cost of drones? Even if dozens of UAVs are lost, in exchange for shooting down an F22, it will be a big profit. In short, I can afford to lose, but you can't afford to lose. I can't do it, I can also use low-cost and high-powered missiles to destroy your airfield, so that you have nowhere to land, or even end up with the airfield......

Therefore, sometimes, weapons that seem to be backward, but have low cost and are suitable for mass production, can determine the victory or defeat of the battlefield.

Because, on the battlefield, there will always be wear and tear of weapons. If you only equip a few advanced weapons, if something goes wrong, your combat effectiveness will be nullified. And even if people lose a few weapons that are backward, they don't feel distressed. Moreover, there are a large number of people and they are not afraid of losses......

Of course, advanced weapons are still needed. Advanced weapons are best paired with energy-producing secondary weapons. In other words, advanced weapons are used to deal with advanced weapons. And those mass-produced weapons are the main forces that really kill and injure the enemy.

But why did later generations, whether it was Lao Mei, Maozi, or Huaxia, like to engage in expensive advanced weapons so much? Without that, it is just a matter of raising the threshold for arms production and trade.

The bar has been raised, and most countries have been shut out. The profits, naturally, are shared by the remaining few companies.

But when a large-scale war really breaks out, low-cost, mass-produced weapons with huge lethality are the first choice. When the time comes, you will find that many expensive and impractical parts of those fighters and missiles will be dismantled, and the whole weapon will become simple and efficient. After all, the ability to "regenerate" is the most important indicator of war.

For example, in World War II, why did the devil finally lose to Lao Mei? Because the devil's aircraft carrier sank one by one, and on the Lao Mei side, the aircraft carrier did not stop going into the water like dumplings. If I lose one, I will make up for it, but on the devil's side, I can't replenish it, and if I fight, it's over.

……

Therefore, the main force of war is often not those most advanced weapons, but the second-most advanced, but energy-producing things. Of course, some of the most advanced weapons are also needed to deal with the enemy's most advanced weapons. In this way, the war will be easy to fight.

As for the technical competition of fighter jets in later generations, to put it bluntly, it is to raise the bar and fool fools. And *** can see it very clearly - Lao Tzu doesn't play a technical competition with you on ordinary weapons, Lao Tzu specializes in nuclear bombs. Do you have an F22? I have a nuclear bomb! Do you have an F35? I have a nuclear bomb! Do you have B2? I have a nuclear bomb! I can scare you to death with just one move......

Moreover, Russia became poor later and could not afford a technological race. Therefore, with this kind of almost scoundrel means, Lao Mei, who deliberately provoked the competition, has no temper. After all, the development of nuclear bombs alone costs less and has good results......

But Huaxia seems to be a bit of a demonic obstacle, and he has to do this and that. But in fact, it is not more cost-effective to engage in a single big killer. However, later Huaxia had money, but it could keep up. Moreover, by the way, it can stimulate Ah San and waste Ah San's money......

……

All in all, Marin is now focusing on promoting copper cannons, not because iron cannons are bad, but to raise the bar - if you want to engage in an arms race with me, do you have the money to buy so much copper?

As a result, most of the poor monarchs and poor princes of Europe were forced to withdraw from the competition of artillery equipment, and only the rich powers could still participate in it.

In addition, the iron mold casting method engaged in by Marin is very suitable for rapid casting of copper cannons, which can be quickly mass-produced, which is very convenient. When you need to fight, you can burst the output at any time, so that the opponent knows what a cannon is called washing the floor......

But on the side of the Ming Dynasty, because they were very concerned about the cost, the craftsmen were also a little smart, so it was normal for them to make iron cannons by themselves.

In fact, Ma Lin, who reads history, knows that the Ming Dynasty first learned to cast copper cannons with the Portuguese in Macao, and then also developed iron cannons themselves. Later, the Macau Bugarao Cannon Casting Factory also specially hired Chinese cannon casting craftsmen to learn the iron cannon casting in the Ming Dynasty. And before that, the Portuguese had always used bronze cast cannons.

And the Hongyi cannon sold to the Ming Dynasty by the Portuguese at the end of the Ming Dynasty was not made by themselves, but an 18-pounder Kofilin cannon salvaged from a sunken British warship. After all, England was rich in coal and iron, but lacked copper, so it was forced to develop iron cannons in the 16th century.

The people of the Ming Dynasty were very capable of learning, after all, they had not been educated by the foolish people of the Manchu court. Therefore, although the craftsmen of the Ming Dynasty were not highly educated, their creativity was okay. For example, the Hongyi cannon, the first batch was bought from the Portuguese in Macau. But later, the imperial court was able to cast the Hongyi cannon on its own. However, later, a group of cannon casting craftsmen were taken away by the Manchus, which created convenience for the Manchus to attack the city...... What makes people speechless is that during the Opium War 200 years later, the level of firearms in the Qing Dynasty was still the level of the late Ming Dynasty......