It didn't take long for Cui Mingyuan, Qian Yan, Tan Xiaoda and the twenty craftsmen to figure it out, after all, everyone was highly technological, and the so-called touch bypass was a little thorough, and at this time, everyone had a general idea of the entire process of the iron mold casting process proposed by Liu Yan.

At this time, everyone admired Liu Yan even more, and those craftsmen looked at Liu Yan with reverence as if they had seen their ancestors. You must know that although the material of the casting mold is only changed from clay to cast iron, the technical significance of this is different, and it can be said to be a leapfrog change!

Even Cui Mingyuan seemed to be drunk, his eyes narrowed into a slit with a smile, he had just arrived at the Qianhu Institute in front of Xiahe Village, and he had learned such an important technique, this is a pie in the sky!

At this time, Liu Yan explained in detail to Cui Mingyuan, Tan Xiaoda and the craftsmen: "This method of casting cannons with iron molds is not difficult to say, but it is not easy to do. First of all, according to the size of the cast gun, the clay mold should be made in five sections; Then according to the number of clay mold sections, the iron mold model is divided, each clay mold is divided into two petals, and the inner surface is rotated with the car plate to make the surface smooth and smooth and the shape is regular, and then dried for later use; A prefabricated handle is placed in the clay mold, and it is cast into one with the iron mold when casting. ”

"When turning the cast iron mold with a clay mold, first put the muzzle section upside down on the clay plate, fill one of the petals with mud, after drying, cover the clay plate, tighten the mold, and get a lobe of the first iron mold after pouring. Then go out and fill the mud, and you can do the same to get the other half of the iron mold. In this way, the pouring of each section can be cast into a complete set of iron molds that are layered and cut. ”

Liu Yan's explanation made Cui Mingyuan, Tan Xiaoda and the twenty craftsmen feel that the situation was as clear as if they had directly seen the entire manufacturing process.

Everyone was directly shocked by Liu Yan's method, and in addition to the original reverence and respect, the gaze that looked at him was added with awe and a trace of worship.

Even the little flag officer Qian Fan was shocked, and said secretly in his heart: "Now I finally believe that the artillery team will definitely grow, and what the defense lord said is true!" ”

In fact, this method was not created by Liu Yan himself, and this method was already produced during the Opium ~ Chip War in the late Manchu Qing Dynasty. m.

At that time, the artillery used by the Manchu Qing Dynasty had not made new artillery for many years, especially the artillery of many forts in the southern coastal areas was cast decades ago or even earlier in the late Kangxi and Ming dynasties, and it was outdated and unusable.

Therefore, after the war began, the Manchu rulers found that there was a shortage of cannons, and the cannons used in the north to defend the Beijing division did not dare to go south easily, so they ordered the officials below to speed up the manufacture of cannons, and the cycle of making cannons from clay molds was too long, and the war was urgent.

As a result, the Manchu Qing began to adopt a series of improvement measures to use this method to cast cannons.

Obviously, the iron mold casting cannon not only has the advantage of a short casting cycle, but also has the advantage of reuse. This not only reduces the manufacturing cycle, but also allows for consistent cannon size, standardized production, and a process that reduces the possibility of defects such as honeycombs.

However, it is a pity that not long after this new cannon casting method came out, the Manchus surrendered, and they didn't even have time to cast a few cannons.

When Liu Yan was thinking about these historical materials, Tan Xiaoda, Cui Mingyuan and others also recovered from the shock one after another, so Liu Yan continued: "You cast artillery according to the method I said, remember to try to build a few artillery pieces after the iron mold is cast, if there is no problem with the method, we will immediately start casting artillery in batches, now what we lack is time!" ”

Cui Mingyuan and the twenty craftsmen couldn't talk at this time, they were all working hard to write, using charcoal to record the bits and pieces of what Liu Yan said.

Then, Liu Yan said: "There is another point that you must keep in mind, casting artillery is the same as building a bird gun, it must be strictly in accordance with the size on the design drawings, and there must be no mistakes!" Only in this way can standardization be achieved and a sophisticated artillery can be cast. In addition, the name of the casting craftsman must be strictly recorded and engraved on the body of each artillery produced by the Firearms Supervision Office, so that the person responsible can be traced once there is a quality problem with the artillery! ”

Liu Yan has always been very demanding about the quality of military equipment, so it is understandable that Liu Yan put forward this requirement at this time. In the past, when the Firearms Supervision Office was building equipment such as bird guns and armor, it had already used methods similar to Liu Yan's regulations.

Liu Yan continued: "And! The gunpowder and cannons of artillery can also refer to the bird gun ammunition, all in the form of fixed installation, all use granular gunpowder, the specific ratio is: nitrate, sulfur, charcoal each ratio is roughly seventy into eight, eight points, one into four, this point gunpowder workshop should pay attention to. ”

Tan Xiaoda clenched his fists and took the order.

"Also, shells can no longer be shelled with paper shells."

Tan Xiaoda asked suspiciously: "Can't you use a paper shell?" So what material should be used? ”

Cui Mingyuan was already excited when he heard this, he only felt that Liu Yan's mind could always have magical ideas, and at this time he heard what fixed ammunition, and he only felt that the novelties of the thousands of households in front of Xiahe Village were really endless, which made Cui Mingyuan feel dizzying.

At this time, Cui Mingyuan heard Tan Xiaoda's inquiry, and saw Liu Yan say, "I'm going to use silk!" ”

Liu Yan is also based on the experience of later generations, more than 300 years later, some Western gunners have begun to use precious silk to wrap shells and gunpowder, and make simple fixed ammunition, but it has not been popularized, and the main form of artillery shells has not been formed until the appearance of iron cartridge shells.

However, Tan Xiaoda, Qian Zhang, Cui Mingyuan, and the twenty craftsmen were shocked when they heard that they were going to make custom-made cannonballs from silk.

"Your Excellency! Even if the Qianhu House in front of our Xiahe Village is now wealthy, it can't be so wasted on money! How much silk is this cannon? After a big battle, how much silver will have to be spent! ”

Looking at Tan Xiao's anxious appearance, Liu Yan said with a smile: "Chief Tan, this cannonball is different from the lead bullet of the bird's gun, if you still use a paper shell, there will definitely be residual debris after burning in the barrel, which will not only increase the time and difficulty of cleaning the gun chamber, but once the cleaning is not in place, it will accumulate in the cannon chamber, which will cause an explosion!" ”

Liu Yanzhengse said: "Compared with the lives of the soldiers of our new family in Xiahezhai, compared with the victory or defeat of the war, spending some silver to buy silk is not a big deal!" When the money is spent, you can earn more, and if the soldiers are sacrificed and the battle is defeated, then there is no room for recovery. ”

Everyone looked at each other after hearing this, and was finally persuaded by Liu Yan.

So, Tan Xiao prepared to send an order to Song Gongming to 100 households tomorrow, and immediately sent people to Jiangnan to purchase large quantities of silk and began to develop customized cannonballs.

Later, Liu Yan, accompanied by Tan Xiaoda, Qian Zhang, Cui Mingyuan and others, inspected the firearms supervision office, and saw that the workshops were in order, and many craftsmen were also in full swing when they worked, and they were also very satisfied.

After the artillery casting was completed, the next day, Liu Yan left the Firearms Supervision Office with Qian Jian and returned to the Qianqian Household Office in Xiahe Village.

The gunsmith Cui Mingyuan stayed in the Wangjiazhuang Baihu Office and was appointed by Liu Yan as the director of the firearms workshop of the Firearms Supervision Department, responsible for the casting of artillery.

In the Qianhu Official Hall, Qian Yan said excitedly to Liu Yan: "My lord is really a genius, my subordinates believe it now, my lord can really strengthen the artillery team!" ”

Liu Yan said with a smile: "This is natural, this official will not deceive people." It's just that this time we are pressed for a date, and we can't wait for this batch of new guns to be cast. ”

Qian Yue was also a bit of regret, but his bold personality also made Qian Yue laugh and said: "This is not counted, wait until you kill enough Qing soldiers and Tartars this time, and then your subordinates will come back with the adults, and then the adults will equip the artillery team with more artillery." ”

Liu Yan laughed and said, "This is nature! ”

Soon, on the eighth day, the personnel, troops, money, food, materials and armaments of the army were already in place, and Liu Yan decided to lead the army to set off, move two days in advance, and go to Julu to participate in the battle.

Outside the city of Qianhu in front of Xiahe Village, more than 3,700 soldiers are neatly arrayed, these soldiers are the elite of strict training, at this time the new army officers and soldiers have all put on armor, infantry, cavalry, artillery are complete, and the combat power is strong!

Almost all the military households, merchants, and officials of the Qianqian Household Office in Xiahe Village came to the north of the city to see off Liu Yan and 3,000 hundreds of soldiers of the new army.

Guan Tun official Zhang Lei, order official Zhao Min, money and grain official Yue Ming, commercial officer Song Gongming, and Baihu Tian Huixu led the people of the Thousand Households in front, and everyone surrounded Wang Yunhe, Shangshan, and Ruoshui.

In addition, several directors of the Wangjiazhuang Hundred Households, Chu Yunfei, Gao Yunshan, Chen Jiangshi, Qian Soap, Tan Xiaoda, Xu Le, Zhao Yan, and Cui Mingyuan also braved the wind and cold to see off Liu Yan and the soldiers of the army.

Liu Yan looked at the crowd and the thousands of military households and ordinary people who spontaneously came to see him off, and his heart was full of excitement and high morale.

"With such people and subordinates, the future is bright, and I will definitely be able to defeat all enemies, and I will win this battle!"

"Lord Qiqi, all the departments of the army are ready, please give the order!"

Bai Zong Miao Shao came to report.

This time, in order to transport the army's money and grain, Liu Yan specially requisitioned a large number of ox carts from all over the Qianhu Institute in Xiahe Village, with a total of 300 vehicles, all of which were distributed to the general baggage soldiers, which greatly improved the mobility of the army to a higher level.

At this time, Liu Yan was wearing armor, with a divine horse under his crotch, he suddenly pulled out the Yanling knife on his waist, patrolled in front of the army, and roared loudly: "My Ming army, ten thousand victories!" ”

"Wan Sheng! Wansheng! Wansheng! ”

The huge army formation composed of 3,000 hundreds of soldiers was magnificent, and the roars of the soldiers pierced the sky, as if the cold wind in winter was also shattered, and the sunlight instantly sprinkled in the military array, as if putting on a layer of golden armor for the soldiers of the army.

Thousands of soldiers and civilians couldn't help but swaying when they saw this, today's Ming Dynasty, there are still such elite officers and soldiers, it can be seen that the Ming Dynasty is not exhausted, even if there are Tartars as a disaster, they will eventually be driven back, and they will not become the climate!

Then Liu Yan came to Wang Yunhe, but he didn't get off the horse, just looked at his wife with a smile, and then looked at the two concubines, Shang Shan and Ruoshui.

I saw that the three women didn't say too much, as if they had discussed, they saluted Liu Yan one after another and saw Liu Yan off.

"Haha!"

Seeing this, Liu Yan laughed heartily, hit his horse and returned to the front of the military formation, and roared loudly: "Go!" Let's go! Sons, let me kill Hu! ”

Some people died, but not completely......