Li Yan returned to Qixian safely and distributed the things he brought back to various workshops. And he personally went to the blacksmith's workshop, sent iron and copper over, and went to see the transformation of the handcuffs by the way.

Some time ago, he discussed with Blacksmith Zhou how to make the flint and steel more powerful on the iron, so that they could emit sparks.

Li Yan asked people to hand over the goods with the people in the blacksmith's warehouse, but he went directly inside to find Blacksmith Zhou.

"Childe is here." Blacksmith Zhou got the report and hurriedly greeted him.

Li Yan didn't stop, continued to walk inside, and asked, "How is the handcuff transformed?" ”

Blacksmith Zhou said with a bitter face: "How can it be so fast." The machine you mentioned has just made a test product. This first one has to be polished little by little with a whole piece of iron. But the spring you mentioned came out, but I think it's too stiff to use. ”

Li Yan nodded and said, "Let's go, let's take a look." I'm not afraid to be slow at first, but I'm afraid that I won't be able to get something all the time. ”

"That can't be." Blacksmith Zhou said confidently: "As long as we can draw a pattern, we can get things out." ”

Li Yan glanced at Blacksmith Zhou and said, "You should think about it more, after all, you are doing this, some things are better than me, a layman, right?" Also, it's not just about making an appearance, but also about whether the quality is suitable or not, hardness, strength, toughness, and other things must be considered. ”

Blacksmith Zhou arched his hand and said: "We are also craftsmen, we don't know a single big character before, that is, we have recently taken a literacy class, so we can write our own names, how can we think so much?" ”

"If you can't read, you don't have ideas?" Li Yan taught: "If you think that literacy is related to ideas, then recognize more words, and then come out with more good ideas." ”

"Yes, yes, yes." Blacksmith Zhou agreed repeatedly, he knew that this was Li Yan's weight to him, and he was definitely not disgusted.

The two of them came to the corner room, which had become a gun workshop, with large windows open, and much better light than before.

Blacksmith Zhou took Li Yan to the side of the workbench, pointed to a thumb-thick, one-inch or so iron wire coiled into a spring, and said, "This spring is too powerful, you have to use both hands to open the striking iron." ”

After that, Blacksmith Zhou picked up a thick handcuff structure, and said that he would clasp the iron with both hands, and then went to close the curtain of the window to dim the light in the room. After handing it to Li Yan, he said: "This is a simple test model, and when the test is passed, the size of the components inside will be smaller, and it can be used on the firecracker." ”

Li Yan took it and looked at it, but the outside was blocked by an iron plate, and he couldn't see the structure inside. He pulled the trigger, and with a "snap", the flint and steel on the striking iron quickly rubbed against the striking iron, rubbing out a string of sparks. He used his thumb to hit the iron hill with one hand, even if he practiced the method of exertion for many years, the finger power was much greater than that of ordinary people, but it was still quite difficult.

He put a little gunpowder in the medicine pool, pulled the trigger again, and struck the iron, and the flint and steel in his grip sparked a string of sparks. The striking iron was lifted upwards along its axis, revealing the covered powder pool, on which the spark fell and ignited the gunpowder on it. After that, the long tip of the tail of the striking iron touched a curved iron piece behind it, and it was quickly bounced back. The powder cap was pressed against the striking iron, allowing the smoke of the burning powder to emit to the side without affecting the shooter.

Li Yan frowned and thought for a moment, and said, "It's really a little difficult to open the striking iron. Then he pointed to the bent piece of iron that was used to bounce back into the striking iron and said, "Can the spring also use this kind of iron sheet?" As long as you can make the flint and steel hit the sparks, you don't need to use a lot of force. ”

Blacksmith Zhou said happily: "I also have this idea, but I have to try again." I'll try it with a hundred swords of steel, and if I can use it, it would be the best. This kind of spring made of iron wire is also difficult to obtain, and it is also troublesome to manufacture it in large quantities. ”

Li Yan instructed: "Open it and take a look inside." ”

Blacksmith Zhou went to open the curtain first, and then opened the iron piece for Li Yan, revealing the machine inside.

Li Yan looked at it carefully for a while, and suggested: "This machine core, it is better to add a card tooth in the middle position." In this way, even if you accidentally pull the trigger, it will not produce sparks and will not go off. It should also be able to have enough distance not to affect the lifting of the iron to charge. Of course, you can try slowly where this card tooth is. ”

"Okay, I'll make a note of that." Blacksmith Zhou agreed.

Li Yan asked again: "How is the dripping of that lead pellet?" "Now that the tower is ready, just wait for this drip to make the right aperture so that it can directly make the projectile of the firebolt.

"I'm trying." Blacksmith Zhou replied, "I'm now using a small crucible to melt lead water. Childe is really powerful, and the lead dripping can really turn into beads. ”

He stopped, took out several buckshot bullets of different sizes from a box, and handed them to Li Yan. said: "Childe, look, this buckshot is round and smooth, and there is no need to polish it at all, it looks like this directly from the pool under the tower, which can save a lot of trouble." However, these lead bullets are still a bit small, and it takes a few tries to make them just right. ”

Li Yan picked up the lead bullet and looked at it, rolled a few more on the workbench, and nodded with satisfaction: "Hmm." It is a perfect circle. Yes, if you can get it right, it will be much easier to make buckshot in the future. Have you figured out how to make it in large quantities? In the future, there will be a much more need for projectiles than arrows. ”

Blacksmith Zhou said confidently: "I've already thought about it." Lead melting is easy, unlike steelmaking, which requires very high temperatures. Melt directly on the tower and then flow out of the funnel. But this furnace needs to be thought about again. ”

"It's best to combine the furnace and the hopper together, and add a trap to control the speed of the lead." Li Yan proposed: "It's safer this way." If there is an accident in the six-seven-foot tower, there is no possibility for the people on it to escape. ”

Blacksmith Zhou bowed down and said movingly: "Gongzi Xie is worried, Gongzi's kindness to craftsmen like me is really much higher than that of the imperial court." We will do our best to repay the great kindness of my son. ”

Many of them are artisans, and they have personally felt the exploitation of them by the imperial court. I do a lot of work every year, but I still don't have enough food and clothes. After meeting Li Yan, they had enough grain, oil, salt, vegetables, and cloth, and their families also had fields like ordinary farmers, which made them feel that they were no longer inferior. So they are very grateful to Li Yan, which can inspire them to be more enthusiastic about their work.

"As long as you work hard and think of more good ideas, it will be the best reward for me." Li Yan picked up Blacksmith Zhou and said with a smile.