The artillery workshop failed several times, and finally, under the guidance of Li Zhi, it took twenty days to find out the technology and successfully build a copper cannon using iron billets. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info this new method of copper cannon body does not have honeycomb pores, the quality is far better than the clay cast copper cannon, not only improve the success rate of the cannon casting, but also reduce the probability of the finished cannon boring.

Moreover, the iron billet can be reused, saving the time of casting the mold, and the casting speed is greatly accelerated, and a copper cannon can be cast in three days.

However, Li Zhi was not satisfied with this, and Li Zhi asked the craftsmen to cast iron-core copper cannons. The so-called iron-core copper cannon is to cast the cannon core with wrought iron first, and then wrap the cannon core with a casting mold after the cannon core is cooled, and cast a layer of bronze outside the cannon core in the casting mold.

This method of making cannons was an invention in China at the end of the Ming Dynasty, but unfortunately it was not widely popularized in the original history. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, China's casting technology did not lag behind the West. During the long-term war between the Ming court and the Later Jin, there was a demand for advanced weapons, and the iron-core copper-body cannon came into being. The new gun was able to withstand higher chamber pressures with less material, reducing the weight of the gun. At the same time, wrought iron has a higher melting point and better wear resistance, so this technology increases the life of the gun. Not only that, because bronze is more expensive, the iron-core copper cannon saves copper and reduces the cost of casting guns.

Li Zhi asked the gunsmiths to explore and manufacture artillery in this way.

The first type of field artillery Li Zhi chose was the Minin light long gun of this era, which was an 84-mm caliber breech gun with a six-pounder shell and a two-meter-long barrel. The direct firing distance of this gun is 400 meters, the maximum projectile range is 3200 meters, and the standard gun weighs 900 catties. However, Li Zhi used the iron-core copper body technology to cast the cannon, and the weight of the cannon may be reduced a lot.

The reason for the choice of this gun was that the weight and caliber of the gun were more suitable. Most of the battles Li Zhi faced in the future were field battles with enemies mixed with infantry and cavalry. Both the Houjin in the northeast and the thieves in the northwest are good at field warfare, and they rarely defend in fortified cities. Li Zhi did not need heavy artillery capable of destroying enemy fortresses, but light artillery capable of accommodating riflemen in field combat.

Under such demand, the six-pounder gun is more suitable.

The 900-pound artillery can also be transformed into lighter with iron-core copper technology, so that it can be dragged by a horse-drawn cart and is more convenient to transport.

The gunsmiths had to carry out various experimental manufacturing, and it was estimated that it would take some time to create a finished product that met Li Zhi's requirements. Li Zhi went to TJ and hired five blacksmiths to Fanjiazhuang, and asked them to work with the five gunsmiths as apprentices. Then Li Zhi handed over the task to the gunsmiths, and he went to work on other things.

On January 11, the eighth year of Chongzhen, the rammed earth city wall of Fanjiazhuang New City was completed.

The circumference of the new city wall is 3,000 meters, enveloping the entire Fanjiazhuang New Town. The city wall is five meters high, four meters wide at the bottom, three meters wide at the top, and every twenty meters there is a horse face protruding three meters outward. Outside the walls there was a moat, which was five meters wide and three meters deep.

The walls are covered with bricks, and there are pheasant battlements on the periphery, but these have not yet been repaired. There were sixteen heavy artillery batteries on the walls, four on each wall. The heavy artillery needed on these batteries will be produced in the cannon casting workshop later.

There are four cave gates built in the four directions of the southeast, south, and northwest of the city wall, all of which have been completed. The four city gates are called Xichun in the east, Chongwen in the south, Qingfeng in the west, and Shangwu in the north. There are castle towers built on the four city gates, the castle tower is two floors, five meters high, and the roof of the mountain is rested with heavy eaves. The roof of the building is gray tube tile, green trimming, and the ridge of the green glazed column is decorated with animal heads. There are arrow windows on the outside of the building, and it is very powerful from afar. It was not a peaceful time, and the people expected the protection of the city walls. On the day when the city wall was closed, many of the people of Fanjiazhuang took out firecrackers and set them off, and they were very happy.

The walls were closed, and the civil engineering work of the 2,000 soldiers of the Elective Regiment came to an end, and training for the platoon, combat skills, and field marches began. Some of the companies assigned to rifles went to the range every afternoon to practice shooting.

The rammed earth city wall was encircled, and Li Zhi was ready to officially move his family to the official hall of Fanjiazhuang's deputy thousand households. In the past few months, Li Zhi and his younger brother Li Xing have lived in Fanjiazhuang for work, and their mother Zheng has not seen the two of them once in half a month, and she misses her two sons very much. Now that the city wall has become Fanjiazhuang safer, Li Zhi is ready to take his old mother to Fanjiazhuang.

Li Zhi took four family members, rode horses, and drove a carriage back to Jingbianfang. Along the way, the people saw a military attache coming from the west, so they quickly got out of the way and avoided it, standing on both sides of the road to watch the excitement.

"Yo, isn't that Li Cheng's son Li Zhi?"

"Li Zhi is such a big official? Look at that complement, that's a five-rank military attaché! ”

"Hey, you don't know, Li Zhi built a city in the west, which is as big as the county seat, called Fanjiazhuang!"

"It's really feng shui in turn, Li Zhi still owes money at this time last year!"

Li Zhi rode on a horse, ignoring everyone's discussions, and swaggered towards his home. The courtyard of the Li family has been repaired, and there are two housekeepers with sticks standing at the door, which is also very magnificent.

Li Zhi rode to the door of his house and just jumped off the horse, but saw Cui He wearing a jade-colored cloud satin shawl and a gauze green skirt, walking over with a maid.

After Cui He, he chased after Xiao Guangwei, who was haunted.

When Cui He saw Li Zhi, he smiled, and said happily: "Li Zhi, you haven't been back to Jingbianfang for a long time, and now you are a big official?" ”

Before Li Zhi could answer, Xiao Guangwei caught up with him in a stride, panting and said, "Cui He, don't pay attention to Li Zhi, he is now moving out of the city, not my son of Jingbianfang!" ”

Cui Yiyi stomped his feet and said, "Xiao Guangwei, if you pester me again, I will let my father clean you up." ”

Xiao Guangwei said with a smile: "Your father has no background, and he is not as good as my family knowing the father in the yamen, how can your father clean me up?" ”

Cui He was so angry that his mouth knotted, turned to Li Zhi and said, "Li Zhi, you are now an official, you help me clean up Xiao Guangwei!" ”

Li Zhi smiled and said, "I'll help you clean up Xiao Guangwei, what's the benefit?" ”

Cui He blinked his eyes and said, "Then I will be good friends with you!" ”

Li Zhi said: "What do you mean by being a good friend, you are all my sweetheart, and you are closer than a good friend!" ”

Cui He hurriedly said: "Then what do you want?" ”

Li Zhi said: "I'll help you clean up Xiao Guangwei, then you can marry me!" ”

Cui He was stunned when she heard this, her face suddenly turned bloody, she subconsciously pulled the corner of her clothes, and pretended to be calm and said: "Then you have to go to my house to talk to the matchmaker, and see if my father agrees or not." ”

Li Zhi nodded and said, "Then I'll help you clean up Xiao Guangwei first, and then go to propose marriage to your father." ”

When Cui He heard this, his blood-red face turned even redder, but he showed a smile again. She stood aside and stopped talking, and looked even brighter.

Li Zhi turned to look at Xiao Guangwei at this time, and shouted at this gentlemanly young man: "Xiao Guangwei, you chase the girl's Cui He every day and hurt people's reputation, what crime should you be guilty of?" ”

Xiao Guangwei was stunned, looked at the official robe on Li Zhi's body, and said in a panic: "Li Zhi, what do you want, my father knows Father Chen!" ”

Li Zhi waved his hand at the four family members and said loudly: "This fang harasses the fiancée of this official, the crime is unforgivable!" Take this fang down for me, and replay the twenty boards. ”