In fact, the combination of bayonets and muskets was popular among the armies of Western countries as early as the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

The reason for the popularity was the decline of European cavalry and pike-phalanx tactics. After the popularization of muskets, the martial prowess of the knightly aristocracy completely lost its meaning, the training and cultivation of a knight took many years, while a musketeer may only need a few months or even shorter, and with the increase in the power of muskets, cavalry units gradually faded out of the stage of history.

Along with the cavalry, there were pike-phalanxes used by European countries to counter the cavalry troops. This kind of phalanx was originally used with musket troops, and when the muskets gradually became popular, the role of the pike phalanx was reduced, but it still played a role in protecting the musketeers and resisting cavalry attacks, but with the decline or even disappearance of the status of the cavalry, the pike phalanx naturally lost its existence.

However, without the protection of the pike, the musketeers had to enhance their ability to defend themselves in close combat, and the excellent combination of bayonets and muskets replaced the combination of the pikes and muskets, which soon became popular and continued into the 21st century.

Rodriguez and other Western gun craftsmen and technicians looked at the sketches of the butts and bayonets drawn by His Majesty the Daming Emperor, and in the blink of an eye, their faces were full of surprised and happy expressions, and Rodriguez, who could speak Chinese, praised His Majesty the Daming Emperor for his profound knowledge.

Emperor Chongzhen waved his hand, stopped the foreign devil's praise, and said to him: "Mr. Rodriguez, the craftsmen you brought helped the Ming Dynasty to create a new type of musket, and I will reward you for your contributions in the future." Now, what I want to know most is how you made the barrel of this new musket. Can you explain or demonstrate to me? ”

This question is indeed a matter that Emperor Chongzhen is more concerned about. Because the most important part of making a successful musket is to create a sound barrel.

After hearing this, Rodriguez smiled, then bowed down and said: "Your Majesty the Emperor, before you came, our Portuguese craftsmen were preparing to instruct the craftsmen of the Ming Dynasty to cast the barrels of muskets, could you please go to the factory to watch?" Because of this process, it is difficult to explain it clearly in a few words. ”

After hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen nodded, and then took the accompanying ministers and entourage, and followed Sun Heding and Rodriguez into the factory where the musket barrel was cast.

As soon as he walked in, Emperor Chongzhen saw a small blast furnace smelting steel, surrounded by a group of busy craftsmen.

When the group of craftsmen saw the officials of the Armament Academy coming in with a yellow-robed young man, they naturally quickly knew who this person was, and they were about to kneel on the ground to salute, when they heard the emperor say: "Wait for the courtesy!" ”

When I got here, of course, I couldn't let the craftsmen who were busy put down their work and kneel to salute.

But at this time, Bi Maokang whispered a few words to Sun Heding, and Sun Heding stepped forward and called a thin middle-aged man in charge.

Sun Heding brought the man to the emperor, knelt down and saluted together, and said: "Your Majesty, this is Weichen's assistant in the gun factory, Liu Han, the deputy envoy of the gun factory of the Firearms Bureau of the Armament Institute. This time, the gun factory successfully cast a new Western musket, and Liu Han had a lot of credit for it. ”

Emperor Chongzhen looked at Bi Maokang and Sun Yuanhua who were standing on the side, Bi Maokang smiled and nodded at Sun Yuanhua, and then Sun Yuanhua bowed and said: "Your Majesty, this Liu Han has followed the ministers for many years, proficient in gunpowder and firearms casting, before the ministers sent him to assist the dogs, went to the trench Jingao to buy cannons, when the Armed Forces Institute was established, the minister asked the Ministry of War to have a division, and he was the deputy envoy of the Gun Factory of the Firearms Bureau, and he was a nine-rank official. ”

Emperor Chongzhen didn't care about such a trivial matter, and the reason why he asked was because the name Liu Han caught his attention and made him remember someone.

This person is naturally also called Liu Han, and he is also a master of firearms casting, but he is not famous for casting cannons for Daming, but at the end of the fourth year of Chongzhen, he became famous for casting the first Hongyi cannon for Houjin Khan Huang Taiji.

After listening to Sun Yuanhua and Sun Heding's statements, Emperor Chongzhen looked at Liu Han who was kneeling, and already understood in his heart that this Liu Han, who had followed Sun Yuanhua for many years, must be the Han craftsman Liu Han who left his name in history for making the Hongyi cannon for the Later Jin army.

Historically, this Liu Han is likely to be one of the artillery craftsmen who was brought to Houjin by Kong Youde and other rebel generals after the death of Sun Yuan because of the Denglai Rebellion.

Thinking of this, Emperor Chongzhen immediately said: "Sun Heding went to Entrenchment to buy artillery in Jingao before, and now he has succeeded in casting muskets. Liu Han, the deputy envoy of the gun factory, assisted in the purchase and casting of guns, and was immediately promoted to the director of the seventh grade of the Firearms Bureau of the Armament Institute, and was promoted to the ambassador of the gun factory. ”

When Sun Yuanhua heard this, he also quickly knelt on the ground, and took Sun Heding and Liu Han, who were a little stunned, to thank him.

Sun Heding's purpose was just to let Liu Han show his face to the emperor, leave an impression, and promote and reuse it in the future, but he didn't expect that the emperor would attach so much importance to such a small official from a craftsman's background, and even jumped several levels with himself.

And Liu Han himself was of course even more shocked, from the ninth grade to the seventh grade all of a sudden, some people may not be able to achieve this leap in their lifetime, but they didn't expect him to go from a small official in just a few months to suddenly become the seventh grade master who never dared to dream of it.

At this time, I heard the emperor say to Sun Yuanhua: "Since Aiqing prepared to establish the gun factory of the Firearms Bureau of the Armed Forces Institute, all the meritorious ministers who have made contributions in casting artillery muskets, whether they have merit or not, what their background is, and whether they are people from the Ming Dynasty or Westerners, as long as they have merit, they will all report to the Military Aircraft Department in the name of the Armed Forces Institute, and they will be rewarded for their merits and promoted and appointed. and those who do not want to be officials are rewarded with silver and gold. ”

At this moment, even with Sun Chengzong and others, he hurriedly bowed down and promised.

After saying this, the emperor ordered Sun Heding and Liu Han to get up, and said a few more words to them, signaling them to go on as usual.

Next, Emperor Chongzhen witnessed the making of musket barrels in this era for the first time.

The craftsmen first put a solid bronze core into the inverted mold mold with the thickness of the barrel prepared in advance to ensure that it is impartial and located in the center, and then smelt the molten iron and pour it into the mold, and after cooling, smash the clay model outside, forming a cast iron rod with a copper core. Then, the copper core stick object wrapped in cast iron is put into the furnace to heat, and the bronze core in the cast iron rod is melted off by using the principle that the melting point of bronze is lower than the melting point of cast iron, and then it is taken out and cooled to form a cast iron pipe, and the impurities in the tube are removed, even if it is the final musket barrel.

It took Emperor Chongzhen more than half an hour to watch the whole process of casting a barrel, and he suddenly understood everything in his heart.

This is a typical metal model casting method, with a little bit of pushing, it will embark on the road of iron mold casting, but this point and push, but can not let today's Westerners know.