One Piece of Song Dynasty

Since Modao was manufactured, Li Xin's attention turned to the trial production of artillery.

Li Xin shuttled between the steel workshop and the road construction team every day. Li Xin knew everything about Old Man Zhang's questions about the iron mold casting method. Li Xin, who didn't know, studied with Old Man Zhang and other blacksmiths. , and soon the iron films of the three types of cannons were first created.

Among the three types of guns, Li Xin chose the six-pounder to take the lead in the pouring test. On the third day after the iron film was completed, the first pouring test of the six-pounder began.

On this day, Li Xin watched the first artillery pouring test. When the mouth to release the molten iron was knocked open, two craftsmen caught it with a crucible. After the pot was full, they immediately carried it away, and another crucible was released. At the place where the molten iron is tapped, continue to receive the molten iron.

Two craftsmen carried the crucible filled with molten iron onto a platform. The iron film of the cannon had been erected and buried in the mound, leaving only a mouth for pouring molten iron.

Under the command of Old Man Zhang, the craftsman poured molten iron from the pouring port into the cavity of the mold. One pot of molten iron was about forty kilograms. After seven pots of molten iron were filled, the cavity of the iron film was completely filled. The next step is to wait for the molten iron to cool and solidify. The advantage of the iron film is that when the molten iron is injected, no moisture will be stirred out, and the casting process is relatively safe.

Now it is already August. August in the lunar calendar in later generations is September in the solar calendar. It is already autumn. However, Xinghan Island is close to the tropics and the four seasons are not very distinct. Therefore, the weather is very hot. In the steel workshop, It was getting hotter. Li Xin was sweating profusely while watching the casting process of the cannon. He was on pins and needles, fearing that something would go wrong. When he saw that the molten iron was poured completely, Li Xin was relieved. 35xs

After the molten iron solidified, Old Man Zhang and his craftsmen peeled away the mound of soil, revealing the iron film inside. The temperature of the iron film was still very high at this time, and the heat was overwhelming when you walked closer, so the craftsmen all wore warm clothes. It was so thick that the clothes were soaked with water.

Following the command of Old Man Zhang, the craftsmen carefully lowered the iron film of the upright cast cannon. While the temperature of the cannon body was still very high, Old Man Zhang personally went into battle and began to peel off the iron film on the outside of the cannon body piece by piece. After coming down, people quickly lifted the iron mold away. Gradually, a dark cannon with a smooth surface appeared in front of everyone. Li Xin stepped forward and took a cursory look at the outside of the barrel of the cannon, but did not find a single blowhole. .

The craftsmen in the workshop were shocked when they saw such a beautiful barrel. They didn't expect that they could make such a beautiful thing. Some craftsmen actually cheered. Li Xin stopped the cheers and was about to proceed. This is another step, and it is also a very critical step. Before, we just peeled off the outer iron mold, and now we have to remove the internal shaped mud core of the gun barrel. Only after completing this step can the gun be considered successfully cast. 35xs

It was not difficult to take out the gun core while the gun body had not yet cooled down. Soon, Old Man Zhang took out all the gun cores from the barrel.

A cannon was finalized in this way, and Li Xin breathed a sigh of relief. Although it had not been thoroughly inspected, in Li Xin's opinion, there should be no major problems with this cannon.

It is time to anneal the artillery later. If the newly cast artillery is placed directly at room temperature, the cooling rate will be too fast, causing the cannon wall to become brittle, and there will be a risk of explosion. Li Xin knows the importance of artillery annealing. For this reason, Li Xin specially asked Old Man Zhang to build a large annealing furnace for the artillery. Everyone worked together to move the still hot cannon body into the annealing furnace. After leaving it there for a day, it could be taken out and processed. The rest of the process is nothing more than polishing the barrel and barrel, which Li Xin doesn't need to worry about.

A few days later, Old Man Zhang came to report: "Your Majesty, our first cannon has been repaired."

Li Xin said excitedly: "Okay, let's go and take a look."

Li Xin almost ran to the steel workshop, regardless of the old man Zhang behind him. As soon as he entered the workshop, Li Xin saw an iron cannon with a smooth surface placed on the table in front of his eyes. Li Xin walked When he got closer, he carefully tested the temperature of the cannon body. By this time, the cannon body had already cooled down.

The outside of the entire gun body was originally made of iron film, and the surface was already very smooth. Now it has been polished by Old Man Zhang and others to remove a small amount of burrs on the surface. The gun body appears much smoother, and the whole body is smoother from top to bottom, from front to bottom. After a final inspection, Li Xin found no blowhole, which made him very satisfied.

This cannon looks pretty good based on its appearance, but the more important thing is the inside of the cannon. So Li Xin had someone light a few candles and use a glass surface to reflect the candlelight to the inner wall of the cannon. With the help of the light, he got closer. At the muzzle, he carefully observed the condition of the inner wall of the barrel.

After the cannon was annealed, the inner bore of the cannon was polished by Old Man Zhang and other blacksmiths, making the inner wall of the cannon very smooth, so Li Xin did not see any flaws on the inner wall of the cannon.

Next, Li Xin was going to test whether the gun bore was straight enough. If the gun bore was not straight enough, it would also affect the accuracy of the gun. So Li Xin asked Old Man Zhang to find a carpenter in advance to grind a wooden rod with the same diameter as the gun bore. Li Xin used this wooden rod. After being inserted into the barrel, the wooden rod, which was almost the same diameter as the barrel, was easily fed into the bottom of the barrel.

This shows that there is nothing wrong with the whole gun. Li Xin is relieved and looks at the gun again. Two lugs are cast in the middle of the gun. After the gun carriage is made, it can be chained to the gun. It is installed on the vehicle, which can not only prevent the gun from being hurt by excessive recoil, but also adjust the shooting angle. The upper part of the barrel of this gun is also cast with a rear sight and a front sight to facilitate the gunner's aiming.

Li Xin nodded with satisfaction and then said to Old Man Zhang: "Uncle Zhang, make the other two cannons and the artillery carriage, and then put the two heavy cannons on the artillery carriage and get everything ready. Then call someone to come."

Old man Zhang cupped his fists and said, "Yes, Master, I understand."

After Li Xin left the steel workshop, she went to find Liu Fa. The purpose of looking for Liu Fa was to let Liu Fa lead his soldiers to build a weapons testing ground nearby to test new weapons such as artillery.

Li Xin found Liu Fa: "General Liu, how is the formation of Modao Army going?"

Liu Fa replied: "Reporting to my lord, the personnel have been selected and training has begun."

Li Xin nodded and said: "Okay, I came to General Liu today because I have something to ask of General Liu."

Liu Fa said: "My lord, please speak."

Li Xin replied: "I would like to ask General Liu to lead the soldiers to find an open space as a testing site for new weapons. The site should not be too small, it should be five miles in radius, and no one should be allowed to approach nearby."

Liu Fa clasped his fists and said, "Okay, lord, I have an order from a certain family. Can a certain family ask my lord what kind of weapons he wants to test that require such a large venue?"

Li Xin smiled mysteriously: "General Liu, don't worry, you will know in a few days."

Liu Fa nodded and said: "Okay, then a certain family is looking forward to the lord's new weapon."