Li Zhaoji observed the expressions of everyone present, He Liangtao had a bitter face, and the two masters who were shouting just now lowered their heads, and some people cast hateful glances at Martinez, obviously, this foreign craftsman was telling the truth.

He Liangtao coughed lightly: "That's true, each master's energy is limited, so naturally he can only take care of a limited number of mud fans, generally speaking, a master can only take care of about eight mud fans ......." ”

Li Zhaoji smiled and raised his hand to signal that he didn't need to say any more.

Although there are a lot of gunsmiths in the arsenal, there are only those two who can really play with the mud, and these two are not young, and their spirit is definitely not as good as that of a young man.

Therefore, no matter how many clay models are made, the only ones that are truly trustworthy are those that are taken care of by two masters. And this is no longer a technical problem, but a management problem of He Liangtao.

In the face of reputation, power and interests, this guy chose to work hard, which is the main reason for the failure of the cannon now.

Li Zhaoji had already figured out the joints of the arsenal, and immediately said: "Everyone, can anyone solve the current situation?" ”

As soon as this remark came out, everyone was silent, and Li Zhaoji was afraid that someone would mention it again to return to Macao or something, so he immediately said: "Right here, use the current materials and existing technology to solve the problem." ”

"This can't be cast, it's all a seasonal problem, and it can't control the rain and fog, how to solve it." A master muttered that he was not loud, but because it was so quiet, everyone heard him.

Li Zhaoji's face was as usual, but he said firmly: "I believe that man will win the day." ”

He Liangtao didn't want his subordinates and Li Zhaoji, the big shopkeeper, to be bullish, so he immediately asked: "You all discuss how to control the yin drying of the mud fan without mastering the climate in the season." The big shopkeeper treats us well, and we will personally ask today, and we will also give the big shopkeeper an explanation. ”

"God's business, we can't take care of it."

"That is, it sounds good to say that people will win the sky, but how to win?"

The two masters who are in charge of the mud fan, you say everything I say, and all I say are yin and yang weird words.

He Liang stood up angrily, slapped the solid wood long table, and shouted: "What nonsense are you talking about, it was the big shopkeeper who gave you a place to eat and drink, there is no big shopkeeper, there is no trading company, you are all asking for food in Macau, don't work hard at this time, do you have a conscience?" ”

He was really a little scared, this group of immigrants from Macao and Guangzhou, when they first arrived, they were very afraid of Li Zhaoji, and they felt that he was a ruthless man who was decisive and regarded human life as a mustard, but after contact, especially Li Zhaoji spent half a month in the arsenal some time ago, everyone found that this big shopkeeper treats people well and respects the artists very much.

This made many people no longer afraid of him, but it also emboldened some people, especially these people in the cannon casting workshop, most of them came from Bugarao, their own faction, and they all had craftsmanship, they thought that the trading company was separated from them, and they could not cast cannons at all, so they naturally had nothing to fear.

Li Zhaoji coughed lightly, but instead of stopping He Liangtao, he signaled Tang Mu behind him not to have a seizure.

"I, Li Zhaoji, have always done things first, and then soldiers." Li Zhaoji's clear voice came out, and he said: "You are all craftsmen, I have always respected you, and I have never looked down on you. But now it seems that you are helpless to solve the problem of cannon casting.

So, I'll provide a way, and you will do it according to my orders, but is it okay? ”

"You?" Someone laughed and said, "Big shopkeeper, are you a gunsmith, how can you cast cannons?" ”

Li Zhaoji smiled faintly: "There is Yan Ruyu in the book, and there is a golden house in the book." ”

He Liangtao saw that Li Zhaoji was extremely serious, and asked in a low voice: "Big shopkeeper, aren't you here for real?" ”

"The trading company needs a cannon, and you can't forge it, so should I use a trebuchet to fight the enemy?" Li Zhaoji glanced at He Liangtao and said coldly.

Tian Dadian, a clay fan craftsman, asked: "What kind of book is the big shopkeeper reading, and what method should be used to solve the problem of cracking this clay fan?" ”

Li Zhaoji said lightly: "The cracking of the mud is mostly due to climatic factors, but according to what you said, it is difficult to say how much time it will take to find the trick. Simply, there is no need to clay the fan. ”

"Don't use mud?" Tian Dadian was surprised, and then laughed: "I haven't heard of the method of casting cannons without mud fans, and the Franco machine people also use mud fans." ”

And another master, Zhong Cheng, asked Martin: "Martin boy, do you foreigners have a way to use mud fan?" ”

Martin shook his head, saying that he didn't know, in fact, he was not familiar with the cannon, and it seemed that Sweden and the United Kingdom, where he served, were all made of clay cannons.

Li Zhaoji knocked on the table: "You can't solve the problem, now I will take the lead in solving it, so I said, you listen, I tell you to do it, you just do it, don't discuss, don't ridicule, don't doubt, and don't give up halfway." ”

Everyone was quiet, and Tian Dadian whispered to Zhong Cheng beside him: "Look at what kind of demon the big shopkeeper can do, this cannon-casting technique can be in the books, jokes!" ”

Zhong Cheng grinned, and also said in a low voice: "Anyway, it's not our money that costs, let him do it." ”

Li Zhaoji said: "The method I want to use is iron. ”

The so-called iron fan casting cannon method is the invention of Gong Zhenlin, a Manchu official in the era of the Opium and Chip Wars.

Li Zhaoji took out a model of an artillery piece and put it on the table to explain.

The iron mold casting cannon first needs a real cannon as a model, measures its various data, and then uses mud to make the same mud cannon as this cannon.

Then divide the mud cannon into sections, usually four to seven parts, and then divide each part into two parts.

Each petal must have a handle, and the mortise and tenon joints of each petal must also be made in advance. After that, it's a clay fan of this petal, just like casting a cannon.

It's just that because of the small size, small thickness, and simple shape, it can be dried in ten days to half a month.

After casting, then knock the clay fan, take out the iron fan mold, use the reserved mortise and tenon joint, assemble the mold, it is the iron fan, and then polish and finish, it can be used.

When in use, the mortise and tenon joint is fastened, the iron hoop is fixed, and the inner layer is brushed with slurry to prevent the gun from sticking to the iron mold, and then inserted into the gun core, and then poured into the molten iron.

Unlike the clay fan, which takes several months to dry, the iron fan casting cannon, as long as the molten iron is cooled and the cannon body is formed, the iron fan is immediately peeled off, and the surface is immediately polished and repaired while the cannon that has just been cast is still hot, and then the mud core is cleaned out, and then the inner chamber is polished, and it can be formed.

The biggest advantage of the iron mold casting cannon is that it consumes less, not only less time, but also lower cost.

According to Gong Zhenlin's records, the cost of the iron mold cannon is only about five percent of the mud fan cannon casting, and the gunpowder silver has been reduced from a hundred taels to only a few taels of silver, and the cannon manufactured is a thousand-pound cannon, which is equivalent to more than a six-pound cannon.

There is no need for mud fan cannon casting It takes several months, iron fan casting cannon, if forty gunners can work together, it only takes two days to make nine cannons.

Li Zhaoji naturally did not mention Gong Zhenlin, but he had already completely introduced the process of iron mold casting guns.

"What do you think, guys?" Li Zhaoji looked at everyone.

He looked around and saw a look of joy in the eyes of some people, and some expressed skepticism, but Tian Dadian and Zhong Cheng immediately stood up.

"Isn't this nonsense, can the cannon cast like this work?"

"It's like, what it has to look like."

However, there was also a master who knocked his pipe on the sole of his shoe and said, "The big shopkeeper is not a child, since it is written in the book, naturally someone has done this." Try it, anyway, now the mud fan is cracked, we have nothing to do, iron, mud, ash and the like, are ready-made. ”

"Try what? I've never heard of it! ”

"The Fur Robot Man's gun factory is the best, and there are none."

Tian Dadian and Zhong Cheng were very excited and tried their best to obstruct them.

He Liangtao's face was ugly, in fact, he knew why the two of them obstructed, this is because, if the iron fan mold is used, there will be no place for the two of them in the casting process, so to speak, this is directly breaking the jobs of the two.

"What is this master's name?" Lee looked at the man who had put the pipe away.

The old master clenched his fists and said: "The little one's name is Wangui, and he is the stove head of the Bugarao Cannon Factory. ”

Li Zhaoji smiled, and said in his heart that this person is not bad, the reason is very simple, the stove is the general person in charge of the cannon casting, and the name of the stove is engraved on the cannon body with the situation of the inscription and the local administrative officer and military chief officer of the cannon casting: "I came to the cannon factory before, and I rarely saw Master Wan." ”

"The little one just came from Macau, and he has only been here for four or five days." Wan Gui said.

He Liangtao solved the problem of not coming to cast cannons for a long time, that is, he invited Wangui to come, and Wangui did not join the trading company cannon factory now, because of He Liangtao's face, he came to do technical support.

Of course, although he understands the matter of Nifan, he is not as powerful as Tian and Zhong, so he does not play a role.

Li Zhaoji ignored the two who were clamoring for obstruction, and said, "Master Wan, since you are the head of the furnace and the matter of Tiefan casting cannons, how about you take the lead?" ”

"Me?" Wan Gui smiled and said, "The big shopkeeper, the small one works for Bujialao, not from our artillery factory." To be honest, you introduced the process just now, and the small ones shouldn't have listened to it. Now that I hear it, the rules have been broken, how can I still take the lead in trial production. ”

Li Zhaoji said: "I think Master Wan should take the lead, if the matter of Tiefan cannon casting fails, it will be fine, but if it succeeds, you, the furnace head of the Bugarao Cannon Foundry, may not be able to go on." ”

Wan Gui suddenly woke up, Li Zhaoji said just now, the time and materials consumed by the iron fan cannon are less than one-tenth of the mud fan, if it is really done, the cost of the cannon will be reduced, which means that the Oriental Trading Company Arsenal will quickly occupy the market in the east, Bu Jialao is already difficult to maintain, how to survive in the face of such a strong competitor.

"Master Wan, think about it."

Wan Gui looked at He Liangtao, and He Liangtao held his hand: "Lao Wan, it's all up to you." ”

"Stove, I can't say yes." Tian Dadian said loudly to Wan Gui.

"Presumptuous!" Tang Mu saw Li Zhaoji leaning back on the chair and holding his hands in front of his chest, he knew that he didn't want to tolerate Tian Dadian's nonsense, and immediately roared: "Tian Dadian, the arrangement of the big shopkeeper is also something that you dare to change as a little gunsmith, get out of the way!" ”