Five Dynasties River Mountains Fengyue

Chapter 186 Experiments
At the beginning of March, the sky turned fine, and the matter of military expansion was finally settled.

After discussing with Wei Renpu and others of the Privy Council, the officials agreed to his proposal, and two veteran generals, Li Hanchao and Wang Quanbin, were the commanders of the third and fourth chambers of the crane.

The subsequent military expansion operations will be entrusted to them to preside over them.

Shi Congyun finally found time to relax completely. Apart from going to the gunpowder factory in the north of the city from time to time, and going straight to the Si Yamen in front of the palace, he didn't have much to do.

In March, Lu Duoxun, as an envoy, set off with Li Chuyun to Nanping and Wuping, intending to take the opportunity to draw maps of the two places.

Zhang Yongde led an army of [-] to go north, out of the town of Hebei, and guard against the Khitan going south.

After that, Shi Congyun became the de facto leader of the Dianqian Division, and many things needed to be decided by him.

And because his prestige in the army is too high, everyone is very convinced. On the contrary, the decisions he made can be implemented more quickly, and the efficiency of the work below is higher than when Zhang Yongde was there. This is an unexpected result.

After being free, Shi Congyun cooks by himself, making twice-cooked pork, sweet and sour fish, stir-fried lamb liver, etc. He is not good at it, but it is absolutely rare in this era. I sent a lot to my dad.

The style of dishes and rice these days is relatively simple, not because people are stupid, there were many tricks in the Tang Dynasty.The main reason is that it is too poor now, and ordinary people can live well if they can eat white rice and noodles, and there have been years of wars and panic, so who has the heart to toss about those.

On March [-], the sky cleared up and the sun began to burn.

Shi Congyun, Luqiu Zhongqing, and Guo Tingwei went to the gunpowder factory outside the city to watch the experiment of new gunpowder.

Feng Jisheng was waiting for them outside the north gate, and then went to the river together.

In order to test the power of different proportions of gunpowder, Shi Congyun made full preparations. He asked someone to make a large pottery jar with a radius of one meter and a depth of about half a meter. He filled it with clay and dug a pit by the river to bury it.

Take one catty of gunpowder in all proportions, seal it in a small jar with mud, bury it in the clay in a large vat, ignite it with a fuse, and finally look at the effects of the clay being squeezed and destroyed to see the power of various gunpowder. .

Everyone felt that this was too troublesome, but Shi Congyun didn't think that the matter was so important that he had to be more rigorous.

In the afternoon, under the expectant eyes of everyone, the first round of explosion experiments began.

Five large jars filled with clay were buried by the river, and only the edge leaked out, and then the gunpowder craftsmen stuffed the gunpowder sealed with mud in the earthen jar.

So much clay is very hard, the workers pried it with iron rods for a long time, Shi Congyun also rolled up his sleeves to help, and then stuffed a few clay pots into it.

Then take a shovel and shoot one by one to ensure that the clay is the most compact.

Shi Congyun didn't set fire to it until he confirmed that the clay in several large vats was very compact.

Feng Jisheng took out a fire pocket, blew on it for a while, and slowly built an open flame and ignited the fuse.

Everyone retreated dozens of steps away, all staring at the position of Mars.

After a while, there was a sound of violent burning slowly in the distance, followed by a muffled sound, the tiles spewed upwards, and the blue smoke rose slowly, gradually rising into the sky, and the surrounding thick and hard clay had little effect , but the surrounding area was blackened.

The people who were nervously waiting and watching were relieved at first, and then they became disappointed.

"This is not as good as the original gunpowder." Luqiu Zhongqing sighed, and the others didn't speak, but looked at him.

"That's right, the power of this ratio is not as good as the original formula of the Ministry of War. It should be burning slowly and not enough." Shi Congyun concluded, and after he finished speaking, everyone began to discuss.

After a while, Shi Congyun went over to take a closer look, and found that the earthen pot had been torn apart, and there was still a lot of gunpowder left at the bottom. This formula had the lowest proportion of saltpeter, only [-]%, and it was obvious that it could not even burn fully. .

The power of gunpowder is mainly in the very violent combustion, which generates a large amount of gas in an instant, which increases the air pressure to the extreme in an instant, releases a large amount of energy, and bursts out in an instant. Clay pots cannot exert the power of gunpowder. People in Song Dynasty know that they should be wrapped in iron shells. Only gunpowder can exert the power of gunpowder, but clay pots can more directly see which proportion of gunpowder burns more intensely and thoroughly.

Soon, a second ratio of gunpowder was experimented with.

This time, there was a loud noise, which instantly shattered the earthen pot and exploded a lot of clay. The blue smoke no longer rose one after another, but a neat mass, and after rising slowly, it began to disperse at the height of the treetops. open.

The huge explosion startled everyone present, Guo Ting said immediately: "This strength can kill people!"

Shi Congyun hurried over to see that this time the clay was blasted into a hole about one foot long, which was not very deep, and many clods of soil were blown out. Burnt black, but still has a lot of black deposits.

Guo Tingwei and others were discussing enthusiastically with Feng Jisheng there, but Shi Congyun frowned. The burning ratio was still not intense enough, so he even called Feng Jisheng who was excited because he had spoken to Guo Tingwei and other high-ranking officials.

"Don't be happy yet, hurry up and blow up the next one."

Feng Jisheng nodded and continued to try.

The next power is still similar to the previous one. Everyone present can see that it is far more powerful than the dispensable gunpowder used in the navy equipment before, and they are discussing happily.

But Shi Congyun felt that it was not enough. He had seen the power of black powder and smokeless gunpowder in later generations, so naturally he would not be overwhelmed by this small scene.

Instead, he ran over every time the explosion was over, and found that there were still many unburned particles remaining in the explosion crater, which indicated that the gunpowder did not meet expectations. This ratio may not be the best, because the combustion is not sufficient.

However, he couldn't determine whether it was a problem with the ratio, or it might be that the raw materials had a lot of impurities, which caused insufficient combustion, so he was anxious to try it down.

"Marshal, next is the ratio of [-]% fire nitrate, [-]% sulfur, and [-]% charcoal powder, which is also the last one." Feng Jisheng cupped his hands and reported to him.

Guo Ting, who was next to him, said that Luqiu Zhongqing and others had already talked about it. Today, the power of this gunpowder has greatly exceeded their expectations. It is not the kind of navy equipment they saw before, but it is very weak.

Whether this thing can kill people when it blows up, they started an inspiring discussion, and finally they all felt that if the distance is close enough to kill people, that's enough. In the eyes of those who fight, anything that can kill is a good thing!
Shi Congyun nodded, "Let's get started."

Feng Jisheng agreed, proceeded to ignite the fuse step by step, and then retreated. This time, he and everyone retreated farther away, because the power of gunpowder continued to increase, and everyone retreated further and further away.

While everyone was waiting quietly with their eyes fixed on it, there was a flash of orange-red fire in the distance, which dissipated in an instant, and the clay rose from the ground like a ring, which was quickly torn into countless pieces and scattered in all directions.

Then an explosion sounded in my ears, and the ground under my feet trembled suddenly. When I regained my senses, I saw a large cloud of blue smoke slowly rising into the air in the distance, and I heard crackling sounds in my ears one after another. Earth and rocks splashed and hit the surrounding grass.

Everyone was stunned, and Lu Qiu Zhongqing, the oldest student, was so frightened that his lips turned white, his hands and feet were trembling, and he shrank back. Shi Congyun was afraid that he would fall, so he even reached out to support him.

"This is the real Taoist fairy method!" Feng Jisheng was frightened first and said, his grandfather was a Taoist priest, and he learned the formula of gunpowder from a Taoist priest, so he said with trembling lips when he thought of this the first time.

"Go, go, grandpa, am I not a god!" Shi Congyun suppressed the excitement in his heart and cursed: "Where is the fairy method, it is that your previous formula was wrong, and you added too many messy things.

The way of heaven is permanent, it does not exist for Yao, and it does not perish for Jie. I just found the law in it. "

After he finished speaking, he hurried over to have a look. This time, a catty of gunpowder left a big pit about three feet (Song Chi), and a lot of clay in the center was blown away, and the bottom of the pit was scorched black.

The burning just now must have been very intense, because the flames only flashed by for a moment, and the burst of all the energy in an instant is the most terrifying part of gunpowder.

Shi Congyun looked at it carefully for a while, and asked Feng Jisheng to continue to fill the gunpowder with the same ratio, and was going to try to explode it again.

This time, it was not used to test its strength with clay, but it was placed in an open space, and the reeds cut by the river were inserted in a circle around the side every other step, in order to try the range of the explosion.

This time there was no clay barrier, and the explosive nature of this new gunpowder was instantly reflected. With a bang, most of the reeds within a radius of four or five steps were broken, and the broken ceramic pieces were still hitting the grass and the earth wall in the distance. up, with a sound like the cracking of a whip.

Several people were very excited, Guo Tingwei took the lead and said: "This kind of thing is more than enough to kill people. If it is thrown in the horse army, it can also startle the horse!"

"Put it in a clay pot, seal it with mud, ignite the lead wire and throw it into the army or the city with a catapult. It will be very effective." Luqiu Zhongqing suggested excitedly.

Shi Congyun shook his head, "Think about it, if you throw a few hundred steps over, if you return the earthen jar, it will shatter when it hits the ground, and all the gunpowder inside will be spilled, so what's the use.

The outer casing must be made of iron, the more compressed the gas produced by the gunpowder, the greater the power of the explosion, and the outer iron casing will crack, which is also more powerful than ceramic pieces.”

Shi Congyun was also very excited and told them the most primitive idea of ​​using gunpowder, the iron cannon.

The three of them nodded and marveled as they listened, and their eyes became brighter and brighter.

But in the end Shi Congyun told them: "I don't care what you think about this matter, it is a big deal for someone, so don't talk about today's matter, and we can discuss other matters. If the matter is leaked, there is no room for negotiation.”

Shi Congyun arrived in an unprecedentedly severe tone.

A few people nodded quickly. Shi Congyun had always been unassuming in his work, and often had a playful smile on his face. Seeing him like this now, everyone knew that it was a big deal, so they nodded quickly and agreed firmly.

Afterwards, Shi Congyun asked Feng Jisheng, "According to the final ratio, [-]% of fire nitrate, [-]% of sulfur, and half of charcoal powder, how much can we produce from now until the beginning of June?"

Feng Jisheng was a little embarrassed: "Reporting to the commander-in-chief, I will tell you the truth. In fact, I can't give birth to much, at most three to five hundred catties."

Shi Congyun was curious, "You mean you can produce one hundred catties a month? The materials have been reduced from a dozen to three, which is much easier. Would you like me to send you more people?"

Feng Jisheng hastily said: "The commander-in-chief misunderstood, the money and manpower that the commander-in-chief gave me is already enough, the key is not about the people, but the lack of supply of saltpeter.

There were originally two large production areas of fire nitrate, Hebei and Hanzhong. The production in Hebei was not much, and the gunpowder was not very useful before, and the court did not pay attention to it. How much nitrate.

Hanzhong has a big mine, but in the hands of Shu, the supply of fire nitrate is not enough, and no matter how many people there are, it will be useless. "

Only then did Shi Congyun understand, "Is the mine that digs Huoyan over there also under the control of the Ministry of War?"

"The mines all over the world are under the management of Yantie, so the handover is more troublesome."

"I'll think of a way. The Fire Nitrate Mine should be handled on a special basis. It will be handed over directly to the Ministry of War. This will be more efficient. This is a matter of war, so there should be no delay." Shi Congyun said.

The gunpowder was not strong before, and the imperial court didn't pay much attention to it, so it was still in accordance with the process to let the Yantie Division and the Ministry of War hand over, which was actually very time-consuming and laborious, and it was also inefficient.

He will think of a way in the future, so he said: "Then you can produce as much as you can, and try to produce more before June. This ratio must not be leaked. The workers can let them work separately. It is the same as if one person is in charge. The final dispensing is up to you."

Feng Jisheng said repeatedly: "The next official will never disappoint the commander in chief!"

Shi Congyun nodded, and drew a big cake for him, "Work hard, I can count on you for the battle in June, if you can win a big victory, I will give you a big credit."

Feng Jisheng became even more excited
After that, Shi Congyun began to think about how to find someone to make the shell of the iron cannon. There is no doubt that the iron shell will definitely be more powerful than the gunpowder in the clay pot.

The power of gunpowder weapons lies in the instant boosting, and the accumulated terrifying energy bursts out, while the iron shell can withstand pressure better and exert the power of gunpowder.

It is not too difficult to manufacture this kind of shell, because the strength requirement is not high, and the gunpowder will eventually be broken, and the metal of the shell is used as the killing fragments, unlike the gun barrel and gun barrel, if the workmanship is not up to standard, the chamber will be blown up before it hurts anyone. .

But the key point is that the military supervisor with the most blacksmiths is currently busy making weapons and armor for recruits, so it is impossible to spare his hand to help him.

Almost all the remaining blacksmiths in Daliang City were conscripted, because the Forbidden Army Controlling Crane Army and Yulang Army expanded their troops by more than 6 at once, and they were completely overwhelmed.

But Shi Congyun thought of a way the next day, if he can't do it for nothing, he should pay for it.
There are many folk blacksmiths near Daliang, such as Zhengzhou. These people usually help villagers and neighbors with farm tools and the like. They are far from the level of professional military supervisor blacksmiths forging weapons and armor, but they are enough.

These things don't need any technology at all, and they can be directly molded. If it is used as a gun barrel, it will definitely not work, because there will be impurities, air bubbles, and the strength is not enough, which is more than enough to make a mine shell.

So Shi Congyun paid out of his own pocket and asked Luqiu Zhongqing and Guo Tingwei to do this. It happened that he had just received a large sum of gold from the Southern Tang Dynasty and was very rich.

When Luqiu Zhongqing went to Zhengzhou, Guo Ting said that around Daliang, he hired those blacksmiths from the people to do things on his behalf, including food, lodging and wages. Such a good job is hard to find these days with a lantern.

Find dozens of blacksmiths in no time
(End of this chapter)