He was thinking like this, when suddenly, the attendants outside the palace came in and told him that Liu Chengzhi, the new eunuch of the Palm Seal of the Military War Bureau, had asked for an audience.

When Emperor Chongzhen heard this, his first reaction was that the iron mold casting cannon method that had been arranged before to attack the fortified positions had been explored. He immediately became excited, and immediately sent a message to the audience.

I saw Liu Chengzhi hurriedly enter the hall, salute with excitement on his face, and then immediately said: "Your Majesty, the iron mold cannon is finished, it is done!" ”

As expected, Emperor Chongzhen was equally happy, and immediately stood up, waved his hand and said, "Let's go, I'll take a look!" ”

The mud mold casting cannon method not only has a long cycle, but also has a success rate of less than one percent, so it can be said that the cost is too high to get a usable cannon. The artillery battalions in the new army had to be trained, but the artillery used for training had not been found, which made him a little worried.

If the iron mold casting cannon can really be successful, it can not only greatly reduce the periodicity of the cast artillery, but also the training of the new army's artillery battalion can be carried out in a timely manner, and the popularity rate of artillery can also be greatly increased, which is really a great progress in the military industry of the Ming Dynasty.

It didn't take long for Emperor Chongzhen to enter the military battle. Everyone here, not only the officials at all levels of the War Bureau, but even the soldiers, craftsmen, and so on, were all excited. Because they know that according to the reformed system of the War Bureau, the iron mold cast cannon will win a large number of orders for the War Bureau, and they will be able to earn more money, and the welfare of all personnel will be greatly improved.

Emperor Chongzhen came to the cannon room and saw three cannons in the courtyard, and on the side, there were iron molds one by one. Apparently these three guns were cast from these iron molds.

Liu Chengzhi, the eunuch of the Palm Seal of the War Bureau, wanted to step forward to introduce with a smile on his face, but at this time, he heard Emperor Chongzhen ask: "Who invented it, come and tell me!" ”

When Liu Chengzhi heard this, he felt helpless, the opportunity to perform himself so well was gone. He didn't have the cheekiness, or the courage to say that he had invented it, so he had to turn his head, but with a smile on his face, he walked quickly to the two craftsmen who were kneeling behind the cannon and the steps and said, "This is your blessing, why don't you give your majesty a good introduction?" ”

The iron mold casting cannon method was jointly figured out by the two craftsmen, and at this time both of them were very excited, and hurriedly nodded in agreement, stood up, and cautiously approached the artillery, but they did not dare to approach the emperor, for fear that Tang would suddenly collide with the emperor.

When Emperor Chongzhen saw it, he approached them with a smile, first asked their names, praised them a few words, and asked them to relax and not be so nervous, and then let them start to introduce the iron mold casting cannon method.

In fact, this iron mold casting cannon is really not a difficult thing, but when the Ming craftsmen learned it from Xiyi, it was a clay mold casting cannon, and there was that inertial thinking that was to use the clay mold to cast the cannon. After Emperor Chongzhen was inspired to pierce the layer of window paper, relying on the rich casting experience of Ming craftsmen, it didn't take many days to find a complete and effective iron mold casting method.

Listening to the two craftsmen in detail, Emperor Chongzhen also listened carefully and nodded from time to time. It took a long time for the two craftsmen to finish the explanation.

Emperor Chongzhen was very interested and asked them to cast cannons on the spot to see. Liu Chengzhi had already guessed this, and he also made the cannon room prepared. Therefore, two craftsmen commanded the casting of the cannon, and the iron mold was used, and it did not take much time for another iron cannon to be cast.

"How does the old and new guns compare?" Emperor Chongzhen had already seen the speed of the cannon casting with his own eyes, so he asked with interest.

As soon as these words were asked, for some reason, the scene suddenly became cold, and the air was completely devoid of the excitement just now.

Emperor Chongzhen immediately felt that something was wrong, and couldn't help but turn his head to look at Liu Chengzhi and ask, "What?" ”

Liu Chengzhi secretly said in his heart that he was unlucky, he didn't let himself tell about good things, but he had to tell him about this bad thing. However, he couldn't, he had already been named by the emperor, so he had to play: "Your Majesty, the slave maid has let people do experiments, and the performance of this kind of artillery cast by iron mold seems to be inferior to the original artillery. ”

"Oh? Let's be specific! Emperor Chongzhen didn't show any signs of being disappointed or angry, but asked seriously.

When Liu Chengzhi saw it, he breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, and then he played again: "Your Majesty, after this kind of artillery is completed, most of them are white-mouthed iron pipes, which are brittle, and the life of a cannon is estimated to be only about 100 times, and the heat dissipation is not easy. ”

Emperor Chongzhen listened, and when he looked at those cannons again, he found that the muzzles of those cannons were indeed mostly white iron. He looked at it for a moment, then turned to look at the two craftsmen and asked, "Do you know the reason, is there a solution?" ”

The two craftsmen looked at each other, and the older man replied, "Your Majesty, this may be caused by the uneven heat dissipation of the iron mold, or the difference between the inside and outside heat dissipation is too great. Or temper it again? ”

When Emperor Chongzhen heard this, he smiled and said, "Yes, the iron mold casting cannon at least solves the problem of speed." If there is a new problem, we are not afraid, let's solve it. I will ask the New Army to purchase a batch of artillery for training. But you also need to hurry up and try to solve the emerging problems. ”

Speaking of this, he turned his head to look at Liu Chengzhi and said: "On the side of the War Bureau, we must fully cooperate to solve the new problems of artillery, try to make the artillery perfect, and there can be no mistakes on the battlefield!" ”

The quality of artillery often becomes the key to victory or defeat on the battlefield. Therefore, for artillery, he can ignore some problems during training, but if it is to go to the battlefield, some factors that have a big impact must be solved.

"Slave obeys!" Liu Chengzhi immediately agreed. Originally, he thought that after exposing the defects of the artillery, the emperor would be angry. As a result, he did not expect that the emperor not only did not get angry, but encouraged him, and asked the new army to purchase a batch, which was really unexpected by him.

Emperor Chongzhen looked back at the two craftsmen, smiled and said to them: "The quality of artillery is related to the victory or defeat of the war. You have to work hard and think carefully, and you must make sure that the artillery can exert its maximum power on the battlefield, understand? ”

In fact, these craftsmen also know this truth, but they just have this cognition, but they don't pay much attention to it. For them, it's all they need to do is complete the cannon casting mission. Now that Emperor Chongzhen emphasized it in person, they suddenly felt that the responsibility on their shoulders was greater, and casting cannons was no longer just about completing the task.

The two craftsmen looked at each other again, and then replied in unison, saying that they would do their best to make the best artillery.