Forty-eight years of Qianlong

Chapter 184 Jilin Cannon Factory
On the third day of May in the 50th year of Qianlong, just after Chenzheng (eight o'clock), five miles north of Baerhu Gate in the north of Jilin City.

A group of Manchu Qing officials were already standing at the gate of the Cannon Factory, as if they were about to welcome some important person.

Not long after, a group of 200 armored cavalry came slowly from the direction of Barhumen. Among them was a huge green cloth eight-carrying sedan chair.

As the guard of honor passed by, pedestrians on both sides of the road knelt and kowtowed.After the team passed by, he got up and continued on his way.

When the team arrived at the gate of the artillery factory, the waiting Manchu officials and the artisans of the artillery factory knelt down and saluted together.

With the sound of three trumpets, the car curtain was lifted, and a middle-aged man with slender eyes and white beard walked out, wearing a four-clawed python robe, a yellow mandarin jacket, a ruby ​​crown on the hat and double-eyed feathers. Glittering in the morning light.It was Fukang'an, the first-class Marquis of Jiayong, co-organizer and general of Jilin.

At the beginning of February in the 50th year of Qianlong, the Military Aircraft Department issued an edict of Qianlong to the world.Appointed a senior scholar, Agui, as Minister of Economics and Strategy to control military affairs in Heilongjiang, Jilin, and Shengjing.Appointed University scholar Fu Kang'an as the general of Jilin, admiral Jilin, Heilongjiang and other places to recruit troops.

At this time, outside the gate of the foundry, a group of responsible officials and craftsmen leaders bowed down and bowed down.Fukang'an raised his whip and said, "Get up." After speaking, he went straight all the way and entered the gate of the gun factory.The soldiers and counselors behind him also followed.

A group of people walked into the artillery factory, only to see white smoke filled the air, and the air was steaming, and it was a completely different world from the outside of the artillery factory.Thousands of blacksmiths, carpenters and helpers are busy.The sound of iron hitting and sawing wood knocking is endless.

At this time, when everyone saw Fu Kang'an coming, they put down their work one after another and were about to pay respects.Fukang'an said to the accompanying officials from the Ministry of Industry: "There is no need to make a formality, and it is proper to work on your own."

The official quickly shouted to the craftsmen in the field: "Master Admiral's grace, everyone is free!"

"Thank you, sir!" A group of craftsmen bowed to Fu Kang'an, then lowered their heads and continued to work.

The accompanying officials from the Ministry of Industry introduced the courtyards on both sides to Fukang'an as they walked: "Look, my lord, this is where the Great General's cannon was cast, and the next to it is the copper furnace. On the right is the second general's casting furnace." The cannons, sky cannons, and mother-to-child cannons are next to the iron furnace. The yard you entered just now is the place where the cannon carts are made. The yard to the east is where the cannons are cast."

The internal layout of this artillery factory is modeled on the artillery bureau on the east side of Lama Temple in Beijing.At this time, in the north of Jilin City, there were still several arsenals like this, including those that made muskets, rockets (used to burn fortresses and grain), and flower bombs.

Everyone walked up to a newly cast general cannon. Fu Kang'an took a closer look at the cannon and asked the official in charge of the Ministry of Industry, "Have you tried this cannon?"

"Returning to my lord, this cannon was just cast the day before yesterday, and it hasn't been played yet."

After hearing this, Fu Kang'an was noncommittal. He stepped forward and touched the cold body of the cannon, and then asked, "How heavy is this cannon?"

"Three catties and five taels."

In the 21st year of Qianlong, it was reported by the Ministry of Industry and approved by the emperor. 85 kinds of artillery, such as "Jinghai Cannon" and "Jinghai Cannon", are used as the standard weapons of the Eight Banners and the Green Battalion.

In terms of the shape of the artillery, the Qing Dynasty was divided into light and heavy artillery according to the weight of the cannon body.For example, those ranging from 560 catties to 390 kg are considered heavy artillery, while those ranging from 27 catties to 3 catties are considered light artillery.Western artillery in the same period was mostly classified by multiple diameter, caliber or shell weight, such as long-barreled guns, mortars, 6-pound guns, and 15-pound guns.Among them, the multiple diameters of the long-barreled guns are more than [-] times.

In actual use, the artillery types of the Qing army were mostly named after production batches rather than shapes.Even if two cannons with the same name were built in different years in a province, there is often a huge difference in the weight of the cannon body.

Heavy-duty artillery is generally made of brass made of copper, six zinc, and four (for every six catties of red copper, four catties of Japanese lead are added, which are melted in cans one after another, and then taken out after cooling to become brass. Only people make it.) while light artillery Wrought iron from Fujian or Shanxi is used.

In the Qing Dynasty, the smelting methods of the pipe body materials of firearms were mostly inherited from the Ming Dynasty. The copper melting furnace or iron melting furnace in the gun factory is close to the foundry workshop.When Fukang'an and his party walked to the courtyard where heavy artillery molds were produced, a group of gunsmiths were making clay molds.The accompanying officials from the Ministry of Industry just wanted to introduce, but Fukang'an stopped him with a wave of his hand.He has been in battle for many years and is no stranger to the use of artillery, but he still has a little knowledge of production.

At this time, several carpenters were in the yard, concentrating on putting mud on a cannon model.This cannon model made of Chinese fir is placed on a wooden frame that is more than half a person high. The two ends of the wooden cannon model are made with a foot-long axle head, and two iron rods are tied to it; , the cannon mold rotates slightly.

Fukang'an noticed that the wooden mold had already been fitted with wooden cannon lugs, cannon hoops and flower heads, and the entire cannon body was covered with a layer of black things.

"What is this?" Fukang'an asked, pointing to the dark coating.

An official from the Ministry of Industry quickly replied, "That's fine coal ash."

At this time, the craftsmen first picked up a handful of wool from the basket and shook it out, then filled the mud bucket beside it with yellow mud, and then evenly spread the wool covered with mud on the surface of the cannon mold with a round-mouthed thin board. Apply a thin layer.Several craftsmen wiped it very carefully. After one side was wiped, they turned the iron rod and continued to paint.

"This muddy water is made of high-quality rubber yellow mud and sieved fine sand. Each layer of wool can only be applied one inch thick. After the mud dries in the shade, continue to be applied. It can be formed after repeated repetitions."

A general beside Fukang'an asked, "How thick do you want to smear this wool?"

The official said: "The thickness of the mud should be compared with the diameter of the mouth of the gun. If the diameter of the gun mouth is five inches, the thickness of the mold mud should be eight inches."

"Oh." All the military officers suddenly realized that there are so many details in just making a model.

Fukang'an ignored it, and stepped into the main room in the courtyard, only to see four craftsmen in the room, holding tools to wrap iron bars on a cannon mold.

The official didn't wait for him to ask a question, and explained softly: "When the mud is thick to two-thirds, thick iron bars must be tightly wrapped from the beginning to the end. After wrapping, the mud should be applied as before. The mud should be [-]% thicker. At [-]:[-] o’clock, place large iron bars as thick as fingers evenly on the mold to make bone marrow. Now they are making the Yonggu General Cannon, which requires [-] iron bars, and then iron hoops that are one inch wide and five minutes thick , evenly hoop eight layers. After that, apply mud according to the previous method, and after applying mud, let it dry in the shade."

Seeing that Fu Kang'an and the others were listening carefully, the official raised his hand and said, "My lord, please follow me." The crowd followed the official out of this room and came to another courtyard.Before entering, I heard a "dong dong" knocking sound coming from inside.

Fukang'an walked into the yard and saw several craftsmen vigorously beating the wooden heart of a cannon model with a big wooden hammer.After a while, the wooden heart was knocked out. A craftsman took a small shovel and shoveled the charcoal from the brazier under his feet and put it into the mold. The earrings and hoops of the guns and the characters of the flower heads.

Fukang'an asked curiously: "How to place the bottom and tail beads of this blunderbuss?"

The official said: "After the clay mold has cooled, use a feather broom to sweep out the ash. Then stabilize the bottom of the wooden gun mold, install the tail beads, put the mud on according to the previous method, and wait for it to dry. Finally, take out the bottom of the wooden mold and burn it with charcoal fire. After burning the tail beads, they can be cast in the kiln after cooling."

A clerk accompanying him said: "According to this procedure, wouldn't it take several months to cast a cannon?"

The official said: "Exactly. According to regulations, it takes four months for large molds, three months for second molds, and two months for small molds before they can dry out and be cast."

Fu Kang'an asked with a worried face: "How many guns have you built now?"

The official replied: "General Yonggu has five cannons, General Shengong has twenty cannons, General Two has fifty cannons, five skyrocketing cannons, and 31 mother-child cannons."

The so-called "Second General Cannon" is an iron cannon with a length of about 1.5 meters, a muzzle diameter of about 5 centimeters, and a weight of 120 catties; It ranges from one hundred catties to seven thousand catties; the mother-child cannon is the Flang machine of the Ming Dynasty, weighing 95 catties, made of pig iron, and belongs to the standard weapon within the Eight Banners, which cannot be equipped by the green battalion.

At this time, Fukang'an's face was gloomy, obviously extremely dissatisfied with the progress of casting the cannon.After a long silence, he said, "It's still too few. My warship is about to launch, so what if the guns can't keep up!"

The official bowed and said: "My lord, this subordinate has already written a report to the Admiral's Mansion and Mr. Jinglue the day before yesterday, hoping to dispatch another batch of gunsmiths."

"How much is missing?"

"Currently there is no shortage of copper, iron, and coal, and at least 300 craftsmen can keep up."

"I think what you are most lacking now is people who make molds?"

"Master is wise."

Fukang'an waved his hand and said, "I'll send you 500 more people! I just want to be quick! The army will go north in July, if you dare to delay my cannon, I will kill you!"

The official bowed and saluted solemnly, "Dare not to obey orders!"

After inspecting the production of the artillery factory, in the afternoon, Fukang'an and his party watched the already cast artillery for a performance.On the test range where the cannons were rumbling, a foreigner with a high nose bridge and blue eyes, wearing the military uniform of the Qing army, was particularly eye-catching.

His name was Anthony Sejeli Nikov, and he was a member of the seventh "Tsarist Russia's Office in Beijing" (the seventh Orthodox Beijing missionary group sent by Tsarist Russia to the Qing court).Fukang'an recruited the Anthony priest for two reasons. One was that he wanted him to be an envoy to persuade the "Eros" at the mouth of the Sila River to surrender; Compile firing tables for new guns.

I saw that Priest Anthony was holding a strange instrument in his hand, and he had to make some measurements and adjustments on each cannon before he was fired.After observing the impact of the shells, a pen on the side records the data in the booklet.

Fukangan looked at it for a while, and ordered someone to call Pastor Anthony over.

"Master An, is this quadrant still working?"

"Dear Marquis, the workmanship of this quadrant is very exquisite. With it, the production of the shooting watch will be very easy. It's a pity that there is only one. It would be nice to make a few more."

Fukang'an just smiled and didn't answer.

This "cannon measuring quadrant" was copied by Fukang Anzuo at the request of Qianlong, and there were only two in the Qing Dynasty.One is kept in the treasury of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and occasionally it is used to make new artillery firing tables for the Beijing Artillery Bureau, and one is here.Fukang'an is used up here, and he has to return it to the Ministry of Internal Affairs after returning.

It is said that the "quadrant meter", as a measuring tool when firing artillery, has come to China with Western missionaries since the end of Ming Dynasty, but it has not been widely promoted, and there are few records in the literature.

The whole body of the quadrant held by the priest Antony is cast in copper.It is less than one foot high, and is connected to a triangular black sandalwood base.

The whole instrument is composed of two quarter circles (quadrants) at right angles of 90 degrees, and a hollow square column with scales is set on the base.There is a small hole in the middle of the square column that can move up and down.One quadrant is located at the top of the square column, and the other is located at a 90-degree right angle below the side.At the center of the two quadrants, there is a drop line made of copper bar.When the base is placed in a horizontal position, the front, rear, left, and right sides, the scales of the two drop lines are all attributed to vertical zero degrees.

When in use, place the quadrant at the end of the gun barrel, and determine the angle of elevation of the muzzle through the scale of the quadrant above the falling line; and there is a small hole on the hollow horizontal column in the middle, through the small hole and the muzzle Where the stars coincide.

The advanced level of this "cannon measuring quadrant" lies in that first, the 360-degree gun gauge measurement is replaced by a 48-degree circle system, which has higher requirements for the testing accuracy of the artillery launch angle; second, the "cannon measuring quadrant" The "meter" is composed of orthogonal two-sided quadrants, one side can easily measure the firing angle of the cannon, and at the same time use the other side to face the target for aiming operations.

After sending off Fukang'an and his party to leave the shooting range, Priest Anthony continued to compile the shooting table.At this time, he felt that he was very lucky, and finally he was able to leave the closed monastery, follow the famous Marquis of the Qing Dynasty to visit the north, and record the geographical scenery along the way.

Despite the fact that the [-]th "Tsarist Russia's Office in Beijing" has only ten members of the clergy, there is not a lot of nonsense at all, there are internal struggles all day long, and there are quite a lot of conflicts.For example, Orlov, the deputy director of the "Beijing Office", hated the director, Joachim Shishkovsky, the head of the missionary group, and wrote two letters back to China to sue, requesting that the director be repatriated and replace him himself. But while the "deputy director" was still accusing, he himself was deported first.

But on the other hand, what caused Priest Anthony quite a headache was that since mid-September last year, the situation of the missionary group in Beijing had suddenly become extremely bad.

Well, this is mainly because Zhao Xin and others were regarded as Orosians by Qianlong.
After the defeat of Fukang'an, the narrow-minded Qianlong ordered the closure of the monastery in Beijing and prohibited the Orthodox missionaries inside from going out; Nail a death sentence to deter those people in Beijing who dare to enter the monastery.

After the incident, the "Director of the Beijing Office" Joachim Shishkowski was very angry. He wrote three letters to the trustee and took them back to China, demanding a strict investigation into who was destroying the relationship between the two countries.He repeatedly mentioned in the letter that because of the blind and ignorant provocative actions of some idiots, he and other members of the "Beijing Office" became hostages of the Qing Empire. They were strictly controlled in Beijing, and they were completely under house arrest!
After discussing in private, the priests decided that the most suspicious people were the fur and fish dealers in Kamchatka.After much deliberation, it might be that Rastochkin who once went to explore the island country did it!

In 1773, through his fishing activities in the Far East, Rastochkin keenly felt that the South might have the opportunity to obtain huge benefits.So he used his private property and the sponsorship he got from other nobles and businessmen to buy and equip the sailing ship "Nicholas", and because of this behavior, he was recognized by the Prime Minister of the Empire and the local commander of Kamchatka. a naval captain.

He set out to explore the island country in 1775, but the Nicholas, which sailed for the first time, capsized in the Sea of ​​Okhotsk.When waiting for the second time, the fleet encountered a typhoon near Urup Island. In 1778, Rastochkin's fleet successfully sailed to Kunashir Island (Kunashir Island), and under the leadership of the Ainu guides here, they came to Akkeshi to negotiate with the Matsumae Domain, but they were unwilling. Matsumae, who caused trouble, said that trade issues can only be discussed in Nagasaki, and will not lead him to Nagasaki.

All the priests finally agreed that it was the goddamn fishmonger who did the bad thing!Doesn't he know that without the authorization of the queen, he will be hanged if he destroys the relationship between the two countries privately!

(End of this chapter)