"Dashuai, the old man has a few things to say to Dashuai. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info" Zhang Zhengyi.

Wang Yuan said: "That's right." ”

Zhang Zhengyi: "So far, this grenade has only seen a little prototype, and it still can't be produced on a large scale." ”

Wang Yuandao: "I understand, is it a shortage of raw materials?" When the yellow phosphorus is boiled out, it can be manufactured in batches. ”

Zhang Zhengyi shook his head and said: "Raw materials are one thing. Not only is there a shortage of yellow phosphorus, but there is also a shortage of gunpowder. In particular, the salt lakes are running out, and there are fewer and fewer gem nitrates. The gunpowder configured could not even supply thunderbolts normally, and once this grenade was mass-produced, it would be even more stretched. ”

Wang Yuan was worried about this matter just now, and when he was mentioned again at this moment, his brows suddenly furrowed.

"yes, saltpeter is a big problem. If there is no supply of saltpeter in the salt lake, everything is nonsense. What's more, to develop a heavy cannon, a large amount of gunpowder is needed. Steward Liu, how much stock of thunderbolts do we have now? ”

"Ladies and gentlemen, there are 13,000 pieces in stock now." Liu Xun said hurriedly.

Wang Yuan pondered for a moment and said, "That's it, the thunderbolt bombs are out of production, and these thirteen thousand thunderbolts are enough for the time being." Anyway, there will be no war this winter, and we can find a way to solve the problem of saltpeter supply in these few months. From this day on, all configurations of gunpowder are used elsewhere. ”

"Yes!" Liu Xun straightened.

Wang Yuan looked at Zhang Zhengyi: "Zhang Zhenren, the problem about explosives and other raw materials can be alleviated for the time being. After stopping the thunderbolts, it should be enough for you to craft grenades. Did you just say that there is any other reason besides the problem of raw materials? ”

Zhang Zhengyi: "Exactly." Aside from the raw material thing, this grenade is currently unstable. The big handsome should have also seen it, just now the old man made Tong'er shake no more and no less eight times and threw it out, and there was a reason. Yellow phosphorus and gunpowder iron flakes generate heat when shaken, but the degree of this heat depends on the temperature and season. If it's winter, everything is cold, and you need to shake it a few more times to get the grenade to explode. In the summer, the temperature is so hot that the grenade doesn't even need to be shaken, and once the yellow phosphorus mixes in, it will explode. Therefore, how to grasp this degree needs to be carefully studied. ”

Wang Yuan sighed and nodded slowly, what Zhang Zhengyi said was not nonsense, but the real key.

"When should I shake it, shake it a few times to throw it and it will inevitably touch the ground and explode, how about a sunny day? How about rainy days. How is it in summer, how is it in winter, this needs to find a pattern. The reason why I just asked Tong Er to shake it eight times is the result of experiments. At this moment, shaking eight times is just the right time to throw it will explode, and if you throw it less, it may not be able to explode. It's no joke that it explodes in your hand before you even throw it. The old decay must figure out these rules, so that once this thing is produced and equipped in the army, there will be rules to follow, and it will not blow up his own people, or throw it out for no effect. Zhang Zhengyi continued.

Wang Yuan said: "What you said is very true, these must be clarified." Also, let me suggest that your method of charging is too cumbersome. In wartime, how can it be the same from small holes? I suggest that the grenade can be designed. For example, there are two layers, and the middle is separated by objects. As soon as it's time to throw, pull the partition directly out to mix the upper and lower medications. Then shake the heat and throw it out. It's so much simpler. The only thing to worry about is whether the yellow phosphorus will burn spontaneously in it, and perhaps there are some ways to ensure that the yellow phosphorus does not burn. ”

Zhang Zheng suddenly realized: "This method is good, and the old man is also thinking that this kind of filling is too troublesome, if it is a double-layer structure, it will be easily solved." The problem that yellow phosphorus will burn on its own, and old decay can find a way to solve it. This shouldn't be a problem. Da Shuai really thought cleverly, in a word. ”

Wang Yuan said: "It seems that it is impossible to equip soldiers and horses with this kind of grenade in a short period of time." But Zhang Zhenren, you have made great progress. The remaining issues are minor issues that I am sure will be resolved soon. I'm really happy today. Why don't we bother here at noon for a meal, and let's discuss it while we eat. Anyway, I won't be able to go in the afternoon, and I'll have to see how the cannon casting in the east is going. ”

Zhang Zhengyi hurriedly said: "That's great, it's just that I'm just coarse tea and light rice here, I'm afraid that the marshal and the generals will not be in tune." If he didn't dislike it, the old man ordered his servant to prepare a meal immediately. ”

Wang Yuan said with a smile: "Coarse tea and light rice are already very good, and many people in the world are hungry." ”

The northeast corner of the compound is the area where the casting cannon was developed, and from a distance, you can see seven or eight blast furnaces emitting billowing smoke and dust standing there. It was a furnace used to smelt iron. These furnaces were gradually built over the rest of the year, and in order to smelt steel suitable for casting barrels, they had to swallow a large amount of iron every day to smelt it. The smelting craftsmen also used various means to find steel that could be used to cast barrels.

When Wang Yuan and the others arrived here after dinner, several stewards here who had already received the news had been waiting for a long time. They had long known the news of Wang Yuan's arrival, but they didn't get the order, and they didn't dare to rush to Zhang Zhengyi's residence to meet them. Although they are only miles apart, and within the same wall. However, the arsenal has strict rules of the arsenal, and all regions are not allowed to connect with each other or spy on each other, which is the most basic one. This is also a rule that Wang Yuan and Liu Xunzhi agreed on a long time ago, and its intention is naturally to keep it secret.

Standing in front of the foundry courtyard, the leader was a tall, dark-faced old man. He was in his seventies, but his hair was black, his face was swarthy, his body was strong, and he looked more energetic than a young man. This person's name is Luo Wei, and he is known as Luo Sanzhu. A few years ago, when Wang Yuanchong was casting Mo Dao, he visited craftsmen all over the world and found Luo Wei, who had been idle at home. Luo Wei served in the Tang Army more than 40 years ago and was one of the few craftsmen who mastered all the casting processes of Mo Dao. However, Datang has not cast Mo Dao for decades, but Luo Weikong's skills cannot be brought into play, and he is only responsible for casting some ordinary swords, firearms and other things in the army. It is said that a piece of red-hot iron rod can be formed into a blade by striking it with three iron hammers in Luo Wei's hands, and the skill is extremely exquisite, so it gets the name Luo San Hammer.

However, as a craftsman with a casting stunt master, he could only knock on some ordinary scrap copper and rotten iron, how could Luo Wei be willing. Each field has its own reputation and pursuit. In the casting industry, there are naturally people who strive for excellence and hope to become top smelting masters. Lowe is such a person. Since he was a teenager and followed his master to learn smelting and casting, he set his goal to become a figure like Mo Xie and Ou Yezi in the future. He hoped to forge a divine weapon to fulfill his wish. However, in the Tang Army, there was no chance to even cast the Mo knife, which made Luo Wei's mood very depressed. He survived from the age of twenty to sixty in the army, and did not wait for the opportunity to show his skills. During this period, except for a few flashy swords forged for the dignitaries, none of the real sharp weapons came from him.

Luo Wei was desperate, so he refused to be retained in the army, and resolutely left the Tang army and returned to his hometown. He recruited a few apprentices with good qualifications, hoping to pass on his skills to them before he died, and pinned his hopes on his disciples. But a few years later, Wang Yuan found him in the mountains and wilderness. At that time, it was the time when the Jiannan Army was heavily modified, and Wang Yuan needed to improve and forge a large number of Mo swords to equip the cavalry. Although Luo Wei is nearly seventy years old, he has waited for so long, and finally has the opportunity to show his skills to forge a Mo knife, which is tantamount to a gluttonous guest meeting the delicacies of the mountains and seas, and the flower thief seeing a peerless beauty. What's more, Wang Yuan seemed to be well versed in his psychology, and he told Luo Wei that as long as he agreed to work for him, he would collect the best fine iron for him, and give him full freedom to study the forging skills as he pleased, and forge whatever he wanted.

This was undoubtedly fatal to Lowe's temptation. Although the craftsmanship is exquisite, the forging technique requires a large amount of refined raw materials to be refined. And the price of metal was so high that one of his craftsmen said that he could not afford it. If someone can support him unconditionally and pay for all his consumption and expenses, it is undoubtedly something he can't ask for.

So, Luo Wei readily agreed to Wang Yuan's invitation. With the whole family, more than a dozen apprentices and their families moved from the outskirts of Luoyang to Shu under the escort of soldiers and horses sent by Wang Yuan. Wang Yuan fulfilled his promise, not only gave a large area in the arsenal to Luo Wei's use, appointed Luo Wei as the chief steward of the forge workshop, but also almost refused Luo Wei's request. He built the best smelting furnace in the world, gave him a few rooms of fine iron ingots piled up like a hill, and collected a lot of rare and high-quality forging materials. And gave him hundreds of strong craftsmen with certain experience in forging as his subordinates, waiting for his dispatch.

Luo Wei reciprocated, started to do his best, and did his best to improve the Mo knife proposed by Wang Yuan, and finally spent several months forging the Mo knife that met the requirements for equipment for the Jiannan cavalry. In less than two years, Luo Wei led hundreds of craftsmen to complete the forging of tens of thousands of cavalry. Although Wang Yuan is a famous handsome man in the world and a high-ranking official in the imperial court, he has always been polite and respectful to Luo Wei. Lowe was also moved. Whenever Wang Yuan put forward any ideas, Luo Wei tried his best to study them in order to repay the master's kindness.

However, for the rest of the year, Luo Wei was not happy. It's not because of any dirt between him and Wang Yuan, but because Wang Yuan proposed a year ago to smelt and forge an iron cannon barrel that can withstand the pressure of gunpowder without bursting, Luo Wei racked his brains and tried his best to complete it. Although the main family did not complain, Luo Wei's own face was really unbearable. People treat themselves so well, but they can't repay them and can't repay others, how can Luo Wei be happy in his heart.

Since Wang Yuan's expedition, Luo Wei has almost forgotten to sleep and eat in the forging workshop, and has taken his apprentices to study hard. I hope to find a way to live up to Wang Yuan's expectations. Especially in the past six months, Luo Wei has been immersed here day and night, just to be able to smelt the steel that is suitable for use and cast a usable cannon barrel.

The stealth study has finally made progress, and a month ago, Luo Wei has found some doorways. Today, a month later, when he learned that Wang Yuan had returned to Chengdu, Luo Wei couldn't wait to report this achievement to Wang Yuan. It's not purely for the sake of merit, but because the progress I have explored needs Wang Yuan's strong support before I can continue to improve. Therefore, he was very much looking forward to Wang Yuan's arrival, and he had been waiting here since noon, and he didn't even bother to eat.

Seeing Wang Yuan and his entourage emerge from the stone road in the middle, Luo Wei's black face showed a smile, and he hurriedly stepped forward, lifted his robe and was about to kowtow to Wang Yuan.

"Handsome, old and polite."

Wang Yuan hurriedly stepped forward to help him up, and said with a smile: "Steward Luo, didn't you say don't want to see this gift?" We are our own family, so we don't have to see each other like this. ”

Luo Wei got up and said with a smile: "The old man doesn't see the outside, when he sees the handsome, the old man wants to kowtow to the big handsome, which is more comfortable." The handsome man is polite to the old man, and the old man can't ignore the courtesy of humility. ”

Wang Yuan smiled and waved his hand, Luo Wei led the way, and led Wang Yuan and the others into the compound of the forging workshop. This courtyard is very large, from the north wall of Chengdu to the south wall, which is five or six hundred steps wide, and the area of nearly one mile long belongs to the workshop of smelting and casting cannons. Seven or eight furnaces were on the north side, and in the middle were several large warehouses, piled high with iron ingots and a mess of scrap ironware. There are more than 30 blacksmith workshops lined up, where swords and armor are forged. Hundreds of craftsmen are busy there all day long, hammering up and down, and the sound of tinkling is endless.

"According to the orders of the marshal, four new blast furnaces were built to dissolve iron in the north. In this way, more than 800 catties of molten iron can be melted at the same time, and it can be cast with a cannon barrel abrasive tool at one time and formed at one time. Liu Xun pointed to the smoking blast furnaces to the north.

Wang Yuan nodded and said: "Very good, I think with these four blast furnaces with huge capacity, we can solve many problems caused by the suspension of casting and pouring caused by the lack of furnace water." ”

Luo Wei stroked his beard and nodded: "What the marshal said is very true. These four blast furnaces produce water at the same time, which can meet the needs of pouring the entire abrasive. It's just that it costs a lot, and I heard Steward Liu say that these four stoves cost a huge amount of money of 30,000 yuan. ”

"It's thirty-three thousand two hundred and ninety." Liu Xun corrected. As the chief steward of the arsenal, Liu Xunzhi spends a huge amount of money from the royal account every year. Wang Yuan gave him such a great power, and Liu Xunzhi was naturally doubly refined. Every expense he keeps in mind and is precise. Every time he reconciles accounts with Huang San, the chief housekeeper of the royal mansion, although there are account books, Liu Xunzhi can almost say the items and quantities of the degree one by one without looking at the account books.

Wang Yuan said with a smile: "Money is not a problem, as long as it is beneficial to casting, you can spend it." ”

Luo Wei said with a look of shame on his face when he heard this: "Hey, the handsome man has given so many generous conditions, but we are making slow progress, and I am really ashamed." ”

Wang Yuan was about to say a few words of comfort, but he heard Liu Xun say straightly: "Brother Luo, haven't you made some progress?" Isn't it time to report the good news to the handsome today? ”

Wang Yuanxi said: "Uncle Luo, has there really been progress?" ”

Luo Wei hurriedly said: "Qi Yu Dashuai, I am about to talk to Da Shuai." There has been some progress. Not much progress has been made, though. Today is to be clear with the marshal, and there are a few things that need to be decided. ”

Wang Yuanxi said: "My husband said that there has been progress, then it must have made a lot of progress." Could it be that a method of molten iron for casting cannon barrels has been found? Is there anything readily available? Let me see. ”

Luo Wei smiled: "Marshal, generals, please come with the old man." ”

Everyone followed Luo Wei to the north, and after bypassing several large warehouses, there was an open space in front of them, and the whole view of the blast furnace in the distance could be glimpsed. Underneath the tall blast furnace, dozens of shirtless and sturdy men were sweating to add charcoal to the bottom of the blast furnace, and the huge bellows were stirred by several people, making a loud bang. The strong air flow made the charcoal fire in the hearth burn fiercely, and the fire was raging, and it seemed that a wave of heat could be felt from fifty or sixty paces away.

But Luo Wei did not lead Wang Yuan and the others closer, but bypassed a large warehouse and came to the side of a pile of things piled up in front of a warehouse. But I saw that the pile of black things turned out to be a cannon barrel that had been cast. It's just that none of the barrels are intact, and the thicker parts behind the barrels are the ones designed for the medicine room, which have been cracked and shattered, and the strange shapes are rolled, and the jagged iron filings are as sharp as the teeth of a beast. Some of the guns were even broken in two. These fractures and shatters clearly still bear the yellow-black marks left by the explosion of gunpowder. Obviously, these are barrels that were shattered by gunpowder during the gunpowder test after they were cast into barrels. The hard steel was as fragile as papier-mover under the power of gunpowder.

"Are these all the barrels you've forged in the past six months? I'm afraid there are hundreds. Wang Yuan frowned and smacked his lips.

"Great handsome, one hundred and twenty-five gates, all of them failed to withstand the power of gunpowder bursting. Since these cast irons could not withstand the power of blasting, there was no need to recast them. Soon after, all of them were cast into iron ingots and transported to the south to be used to craft armor blades. I haven't had time to clean it up yet. Luo Wei stroked the tattered and burst barrels and said in a deep voice.

Wang Yuan nodded and said, "You can arrange it yourself, but where is your progress?" What do you mean by showing me these useless scraps? ”

Luo Wei hurriedly said: "Marshal, please look at this cannon barrel." ”

Lowe pointed to a swarthy barrel, which was set aside unremarkably. Wang Yuan squinted, and suddenly heard Zhao Qing say beside him: "Isn't this door also bursting?" The big hole in the mouth of the bowl. ”

Wang Yuan also noticed a big hole cracked next to this cannon, and the barrel was twisted and rolled, and it was a completely useless barrel. I couldn't help frowning.

Liu Xunzhi noticed that Wang Yuan seemed to be a little unhappy, and hurriedly complained to Luo Wei: "Brother Luo, what are you doing?" What is the use of this waste? That's what you call progress. ”

Luo Wei hurriedly said: "You don't know, the reason why this cannon barrel exploded is because it has reached its lifespan. The rest were charged and exploded, but this cannon was loaded with more than 100 charges before it was finally scrapped. Suffice it to say that we are almost on the verge of finding steel to cast cannons. Didn't the marshal say that if the barrel can support more than 200 firing and then scrap, then it can be cast on a large scale. The old man thought that this one was already close to that standard with a little refinement. ”

Wang Yuan was overjoyed and said: "You mean that this gun barrel has undergone more than 100 charge explosion tests?" ”

Luo Wei nodded, "One hundred and twelve times, the barrel twisted and burst. ”

Wang Yuan laughed and said, "Very good, very good, this means that we have almost found an iron ingot that can cast the barrel." I wonder if there are other finished products? I'd like to see it for myself. ”

Luo Wei smiled: "Don't worry, the molten iron in the four blast furnaces will soon be ready to be cast." After a while, please witness the casting process. After the casting is completed, you can let the marshal personally inspect it. But before that, the old man reported something to the handsome. ”

Wang Yuan smiled and said, "Please speak." ”