When the official was in a small position, Xu Ping still had time to make some new things that crossed the era, and he basically had no energy since he became the deputy envoy of the third division. In the face of the party in the northwest this time, Xu Ping thought about it, what can be made in this era and can play a huge role on the battlefield is a telescope, an artillery, and a vehicle with stronger off-road performance. Xu Ping can do a lot more, but his role on the battlefield is far less than these three. After all, in this era, the weapons and equipment of the Song army are already the highest level in the world, and the icing on the cake is not very interesting.

The artillery Xu Ping has been out for a long time, but it has not been able to be used in field battles, the power that is easy to carry is too small, and the powerful can only be used to defend the city, and it is in a very embarrassing position. There were not many battles in the northwest, and the war was often about seizing fighters in rapid movement, rather than attacking the city step by step, and the heavy artillery was even less useful. For artillery to be used in actual combat here, it had to be lighter, more portable, and preferably able to move with the cavalry.

The same is true for vehicles, but the horse-drawn cart used on Qinfeng Road is naturally easy to use on the repaired road, but when it comes to the grassland desert where there is no road, there are many problems. One is that the cross-country ability is not strong, and the ditches and bumps cannot be passed; The other is that it is too bumpy, it is difficult to sit on the car, and the car is easy to fall apart; Another point is that it is not easy to repair the car when it breaks down.

Xu Ping really couldn't spare time to do this, so he handed over the task of improvement to Guo Zheng. Guo Zheng is gifted and intelligent, and has a rare talent for invention and creation, especially machinery, and he can also calm down to study these.

Seeing that Guo Yan was full of excitement, Xu Ping didn't go back to eat, and followed him to the front yard to see the newly made artillery and vehicles. There is not much time left before the autumn queen, and these two things are settled, and production is not an easy task.

The cannon has not changed much, but Guo Jian realized that the chamber pressure at the front and back of the barrel is different, from the original cylindrical barrel to a conical shape, and the outer wall is thin in front and thick in the back, which is considered a kind of equal strength design, which relatively reduces the weight. The most important improvement was not in the barrel, but in the gun carriage. The new gun carriage was made directly into a cart, with a large number of parts common to the cart, and the size of a horse to pull it. The range Xu Ping had a clear requirement, that is, it was greater than a stone's throw and just enough to cover the cavalry's charge. For field artillery, no matter how far the range is, it makes no sense.

The material of the cannon was also changed, and he no longer insisted on using steel or copper, but changed it to an iron-walled copper core. That is, the shell is cast with iron, and a copper sleeve is embedded in the inner wall, and the outer diameter of the copper sleeve is made into a conical shape, which is just the opposite of the inner hole of the conical outer wall, and the plasticity of copper is used to forcibly press into the iron outer wall. After embedding, the inner wall is re-extruded with a standard steel roller to achieve a smooth and consistent result. That is, the inner wall of the barrel requires the highest requirements, which no longer depends on the technical accuracy of machining, but uses the ductility of copper, which is guaranteed by standard steel roller molds. In this way, the difficulty of making the barrel is greatly reduced, and the production speed is also greatly improved, which meets the requirements of large-scale standardization. Moreover, after a period of use, the gun can be recalibrated, and it can be squeezed again by using a standard steel roller, which is much lower than the maintenance cost of the processed barrel. Of course, the disadvantage of this is also obvious, that is, the hardness of the copper tire on the inner wall is not enough, and after a period of use of the gun, the inner wall is no longer smooth and must be recalibrated.

The form of warfare in this era determined that, except for some special occasions, artillery could not have a decisive impact on warfare. In order for a weapon to fully play its role, it must be supported by a whole system, and Xu Ping can make artillery, and this system for fighting with artillery is something he can't perfect all at once. It can only be handed over to time, and with the increase in the practice of warfare, the army has learned from the practice and gradually improved a set of combat bodies that fully benefit the power of artillery.

For Xu Ping, such artillery is enough in this weather, and he didn't want to rely on artillery to cover everything, this is just an auxiliary weapon. To win a decisive victory on the battlefield, it is still necessary to rely on excellent command to fight it out with a knife and a gun.

In Xu Ping's eyes, the large vehicles that can travel in the grassland desert are more important than artillery, and with such vehicles, they can greatly increase the army's mobility and expand the combat range. The cavalry used this kind of cart, and compared with the party cavalry, which relied on horses and camels to transport supplies, they would be able to obtain a longer combat distance and carry more sufficient war materials. This kind of equipment is the equipment that gives full play to the advantages of the agricultural nation's army in terms of technology and materials.

Taking Xu Ping to see the newly made car, Guo Jian was also a little excited, and said: "Jingluo, don't look at this big car as it looks before, in fact, those inconspicuous places are really useful!" ”

As he spoke, he pointed to the two wheels and said, "After a little while, the wheels of the big car are much bigger than before!" ”

Xu Ping nodded: "The bigger the wheel, the easier it is for the car to cross the obstacles, and it is convenient to cross the ditch and the bump." However, when the wheels are larger, the body will be lifted higher and more likely to overturn. And the car is running, and it wants to be bumpy. In a word, the wheels are bigger, and the car is easier to run in places where the road is not built, but it is also not able to run fast. ”

Guo Qian nodded again and again: "Jing Luo said very much, it is indeed this truth. I've tried countless times, and the wheels are big, and the car runs like it used to, and it's easy to overturn. - However, I have come up with a way to make the overturning not so easy. ”

As he spoke, Guo Yan bent down and pointed to the frame to show Xu Ping: "After a brief look, the original frame is flat, and I have now made an arch and let the axle be embedded in the frame." In this way, although the wheels are larger, the body will not be lifted too high, and it will not be so easy to roll over. What do you think? ”

Xu Ping nodded: "Yes, the car is not easy to turn over, just look at whether the center of gravity of the frame runs out of the wheel." If you make an arch, it is equivalent to putting the frame down, which is really not easy to turn over. But in this way, the lowered frame is easy to touch as soon as it encounters a raised place on the ground in front of it, so don't think about it. ”

"yes, so now this car, when it runs on the road, is actually high in front and low in the back. When the front chariot rests on the horse's back, it is raised high, and the back is lowered, no longer flat, but oblique. Of course, I know that the strategy will also say that in this way, loading the cargo will lead to weight in the back and light in the front, and the horsepower will be wasted. Therefore, this car cannot be loaded as before, and the soldiers used must be familiar with the temperament of this car, and try to make the car as heavy as possible. ”

Xu Ping smiled: "I understand, it's really difficult for you." When the wheels are bigger, the car can carry a lot less goods, and you can think of this, which is already precious. How to use it, the soldiers are familiar with it, and they will naturally pay attention to it. ”

In his previous life, Xu Ping learned this, so he naturally knew that many of them were not easy. To strengthen the ability of wheeled vehicles to cross obstacles, it is natural to increase the wheels, but the wheels are large, which will cause a series of problems. Guo Zheng said that there are only a few main aspects, and there are actually many details to ensure that the vehicles of the big wheels still have enough cargo capacity. In particular, the speed of large-wheeled vehicles is limited, and it is not easy to ensure that the wheels are larger and can adapt to the speed of horses. It's not that there are too many things involved, Xu Ping changed it himself, and there is no need to hand it over to Guo Jian to try little by little.