Steel Dynasty - Chapter 150

[Chapter 150 Artillery Trial Production]

is different from the tranquility of the past.

The people of Qingzhou City clearly feel that the atmosphere in the Equipment Department is somewhat solemn these days.

Because at some point, the number of soldiers guarding the Equipment Department suddenly increased several times, and all of them were wearing silver full-body armor, full of murderous intent. Any civilians who came even slightly close to the Equipment Department would be immediately driven away.

Everyone who enters the Equipment Department needs to show their token and undergo interrogation. Someone once saw a person trying to sneak in without a token and was beaten up by the soldiers on the spot and taken to jail.

Amid various signs, many people are speculating on what major event happened in this equipment company?

Only Xiao Ming knew this best. At this time, he arrived at the door of the Equipment Department and handed the horse to the guard at the door.

He arrived just in time. Chen Qi from the Equipment Department was leading the craftsmen to pour the produced molten iron into the iron molds.

Although Qingzhou can now produce high-quality steel, not all steel can be used to cast cannons.

In fact, in modern times, until the appearance of Krupp gun steel, artillery cannons were made of only three materials, copper, bronze, and iron.

Of course, there is no need to explain copper. This thing is a waste of money. In the country of Chongqing, where the mining rate is very low, this is almost the same as using gold to produce toilets.

Bronze is an alloy and requires different metals, including lead and tin. Similarly, Qingzhou currently lacks these metals, which is not easy for Xiao Ming to achieve.

Therefore, he could only honestly choose cast iron cannons. Although this type of artillery had disadvantages, it was still the mainstream of modern artillery from the 15th century to the end of the 18th century.

After all, relatively speaking, what any product pursues is cost performance, and cast iron cannons obviously have a great advantage in cost performance.

“Your Highness, it will be poured soon.”

The iron mold of the artillery was set up next to the blast furnace. As long as the furnace door on the blast furnace was opened, the hot red molten iron would be poured into the iron mold.

However, there are still many things to prepare before that. The casting of artillery is a delicate job. A failure will cause great losses, and it will also greatly delay the time of casting the next artillery.

So before pouring the cannon, Xiao Ming ordered the craftsmen to strictly follow the step-by-step procedure for casting the cannon.

Under his supervision, a craftsman began to paint a mixture of fine rice husk and fine sand on the inner surface of the iron mold. The preparation of these two things was also very strict. The rice husk was crushed into powder and sieved three times with a sieve. It took more than ten times to get a uniform powder, and the same is true for sediment. The particles inside are basically the same size.

This is to avoid holes of different sizes appearing on the gun body, and also to prevent the gun body and the iron mold from sticking together, otherwise the gun and the iron mold will be scrapped together.

After the first layer of paint is applied, the craftsman applies a second layer of fine coal powder ground into powder.

The purpose is very simple, it is to carburize. As we all know, the higher the carbon content in the iron, the greater the hardness of the iron. This layer of coal powder coating will penetrate deep into the outer layer of the artillery after pouring the molten iron, making the outer shell of the artillery become Hard, thus reducing the rate of gun blast.

The application of these two coatings is also very particular and must be even and careful.

When the craftsman finished painting, Xiao Ming checked it over and asked the craftsman to deal with some defects.

Then the craftsmen tightened the iron mold with iron hoops.

At the same time, some craftsmen began to heat the iron mold to prevent the outer layer of molten iron from cooling too quickly when it comes into contact with the iron mold, which would affect the carburizing effect.

After completing these tasks, Xiao Ming asked Chen Qi to stuff the specially made ceramic core into the gun mold.

Generally speaking, the production of artillery requires the use of clay cores, but drawing on the experience of later generations, in order to improve the quality of the artillery as much as possible, he decided to use ceramic cores.

In this way, the inside of the gun can be quickly cooled by injecting it into the middle of the ceramic core, thereby increasing the strength of the bore.

And this process is also called tight water.

“Let’s get started.” After the preliminary preparations were completed, Xiao Ming asked expectantly.

Nodding, Chen Qi looked excited. After a month of busy work, Qingzhou’s first artillery was finally born.

At this time, Chen Qi suddenly felt the anxiety and joy of a woman who was pregnant and about to give birth.

With trembling lips, Chen Qi shouted: “Pour in the molten iron!”

At the command, a craftsman suddenly opened the door of the blast furnace, and red molten iron flowed down from the tube trough of the blast furnace with a hot breath.

Even though he was five meters away from the blast furnace, Xiao Ming still felt a burning sensation on his face.

The craftsmen at a close distance were sweating profusely, but at this moment, every craftsman had a sense of anticipation in their eyes.

Chen Qi told them that if the cannon was successfully cast, His Highness said that each person would be rewarded with a hundred taels of silver, which would be an incentive for all craftsmen.

For these ordinary craftsmen, who are not pursuing a better life, and money is their greatest encouragement.

The red molten iron was slowly poured into the iron mold. When the height of the molten iron was almost level with the muzzle of the cannon, a craftsman gently tapped the cannon mold with a hammer.

This is to make the molten iron deposit more evenly.

After the molten iron is completely flush with the muzzle, the other craftsman responsible for cooling begins to pour well water into the ceramic core of the iron mold.

At the same time, a craftsman stuffed a piece of dried pig intestine into the pottery core.

The water in the ceramic core needs to be constantly replaced until the molten iron inside is completely solidified, and during this time, the cooling water needs to be constantly replaced.

Xiao Ming obviously couldn’t find anything like rubber tubes in this era, so he could only use sun-dried pig intestines instead.

In fact, in ancient times, animal offal did replace the role of rubber tubes.

Even in modern sausage making, pig intestines are still used. It can be seen that the toughness of pig intestines is still good, and it can replace part of the role of rubber tubes.

The craftsmen above are busy replacing the cooling water.

After waiting for a while and seeing the molten iron in the iron mold solidify, the other craftsmen immediately began to take off the iron mold under Xiao Ming’s command.

At this time, the outer layer of the cannon was still red and hot, and many raised burrs could be seen on the outside. The craftsman responsible for cleaning the burrs immediately began to clean the cannon body to make it round and smooth.

After all this work, Xiao Ming finally breathed a sigh of relief. All that was left was to wait for the cannon body to completely cool and solidify.

Chen Qi said at this time: “Your Highness, is this artillery as magical as you said? When will you take this artillery out to test its power? How much more powerful is it than the fire barrel of my country of Chongqing?” “

You don’t have to try it to know one. The sky is the same as the earth.” Xiao Ming said confidently.

The fire barrels of Dayu are just crudely made. Although the prototype of artillery is basically there, it is still not a little bit behind.

The effect is really not as good as the returning cannon that the barbarians snatched back from the Western Regions.

(End of chapter)