Fenghou

Chapter 1541 Musket
The room was very warm, and Lu Wei sat aside, looking at Chen Qing nervously.

Chen Qing was fiddling with an iron pipe. Last year, the Firearms Supervision invented a burst gun, but it used a bamboo pipe. A bamboo pipe can only be used two or three times before it is damaged.

More than a month ago, Chen Qing gave the Ministry of Industry a firm order to find a way to make an iron pipe.

Of course, Chen Qing wanted to make guns, but in fact he was not very keen on making guns. The power of the Qin crossbow formation was too powerful. Skilled crossbowmen could string and load arrows within half a minute. Within 5 minutes, 5 Ten thousand people can shoot 50 heavy arrows, and any nomadic cavalry or small town in the Western Regions will be destroyed, and if the wind is favorable, the range can reach more than [-] steps.

But Chen Qing also knows that gunpowder weapons are inevitable in the development of history. If he does not make them himself, they will be preempted by the West hundreds of years later, and he will become a national sinner.

What's more, building artillery and firing iron fire mines is more convenient than trebuchets and has a longer range.

The iron pipe in his hand is very delicate, with smooth lines and dense texture. The key is that the thickness is consistent, the inner bore is polished very smooth, and no seams can be seen on the surface.

"Is it cast with a tubular mold?" Chen Qingrao asked with interest

"Actually, this was made in the Ironware Bureau under the Firearms Supervision. According to His Majesty's ideas, I invited the craftsmen who made the guns to cooperate. At first, they used pottery pipe molds to cast them, but the guns craftsmen said it was too rough. It’s easy to explode, and then replaced with the current method.”

"any solution?"

"It is forged from a red-hot wrought iron plate. It is actually not difficult. Hit the middle of the iron plate repeatedly with a round hammer, and the iron plate will roll up and form a cylinder. Then insert an iron rod in the middle. , repeated heating and forging, the joints will be melted into one, and an iron pipe will come out. At this time, it cannot be quenched in water, it must be cooled naturally, and then it will be polished, and finally this iron pipe in the hands of His Highness."

"Just this one?"

"There is also a copper pipe, which is given to the musket craftsmen. They go to study and make new muskets."

"When was it given to them?"

"About ten days ago."

"Go and see!"

Chen Qing got into the carriage, followed by Lu Wei in the carriage. Under the protection of more than a thousand cavalry, the team left the city from the wall and headed northwest of the city. The snow was not heavy yesterday, and the road was not covered with snow, but The truth has been frozen, and there are almost no pedestrians.

The team soon arrived at the Firearms Supervision twenty miles west of the city. The Firearms Supervision was originally the Firearms Department and was affiliated with the Military Weapons Supervision. The monitors are juxtaposed.

The former Firearms Administration Commander, Yang Bo, has been promoted to the Military Weapons Supervisory Order. The current Firearms Supervisory Order is held by Zhao Wenxin, the former Deputy Commander of the Armaments Administration. It has three departments: the Gunpowder Administration, the Firearms Administration, and the Iron Weapons Administration.

When the emperor and the minister of the Ministry of Industry arrived, Zhao Wenxin led the officials to welcome them out.

"See Your Majesty!"

"Dear dears, you have worked hard. I am very concerned about the situation of the guns, so I came to take a look!"

Zhao Wenxin hurriedly said: "The firearms supervisor also attaches great importance to the improvement of the firearms. We have set up a special research and development team, and Xie Shuling will be in charge!"

Chen Qing nodded, "I want to know more about it!"

Zhao Wenxin hurriedly led the way, "Your Majesty, please come with me!"

The musket was really not what Chen Qing thought of. The historical musket was invented in Shouchun in the Southern Song Dynasty, which was the inevitable result of the development of firearms in the Song Dynasty.

Last year, several firearms craftsmen from the Firearms Department came up with this idea when they were making gunpowder arrows, and immediately started to implement it. First, they used wooden and bamboo tubes to experiment and improve.

It was only a month ago that Chen Qing knew about it, and after a whole year of research and development, it has been upgraded to copper tubes, and the iron seeds made with copper tubes are 150 steps away.

It's just that the copper pipe is made of two half-pipe hoops, and there is a seam that is prone to air leakage. It is imminent to make a complete pipe.

"Your Majesty, this is the Musket Compound!" Zhao Wenxin pointed to a closed door.

Seeing that there were still soldiers standing guard at the door, Chen Qing smiled and said, "The security is tight!"

"Must, the musket is a huge breakthrough in firearms, even surpassing the iron fire mine, and we attach great importance to it from top to bottom."

"Do you think muskets will surpass bows and crossbows?" Chen Qingxiao asked.

"We have also discussed this issue internally. Everyone thinks that it will not happen for the time being, but it will definitely happen in the future."

Chen Qing walked into the gun compound, which covers an area of ​​ten acres. There are also warehouses, manufacturing rooms, and a special gun testing ground. The gun team consists of twenty best craftsmen, including gunpowder craftsmen, firearms craftsmen and blacksmiths. Xie Ying, ordered by the Firearms Administration, is in charge.

Hearing that the Son of Heaven was coming, Xie Ying hurriedly stepped forward to salute. Seeing that he had lost a lot of weight, Chen Qing asked with concern, "Have you been in poor health recently?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty, I have been involved in the development of muskets for the past few months, and there are many difficulties. Everyone is trying to solve them. I worry more, so I lost weight."

Next to him, Zhao Wen said: "Xie Shuling lives and boards in the Musket Academy, and hasn't returned home for half a year."

Chen Qing nodded, he knew that Xie Ying was not an ordinary official, he was the best craftsman, Tie Huolei was successfully trial-produced in his hands, and the Burgundy Gun was also his whim.

"You may need this iron pipe!"

Chen Qing handed the iron pipe to Xie Ying, Xie Ying was overjoyed, this iron pipe came too timely.

"Thanks to Your Majesty, we can experiment with iron pipes."

"Show me your brass guns first."

"Your Majesty, this way please!"

Xie Ying brought Chen Qing to the gun testing ground. Chen Qing saw the musket on the table at a glance. The wooden butt was still drawn by him. It was a very long brass gun, which looked like a blunderbuss.

Chen Qing picked up the musket and examined it carefully. There was a hole in it, and a two-inch-long matchstick was inserted into it. That is to say, every time the matchlock had to be ignited, the gunpowder and iron pellets were inserted from the muzzle of the gun. Go in, and then remove the poking strip under the barrel, and poke the gunpowder or iron pellets tightly.

There are two kinds of gunpowder, one is propellant powder and the other is igniter powder. The igniter powder is filled from the upper face. After the igniter powder is ignited by the match, the propellant powder will be ignited immediately, thereby ejecting the iron pellets.

Chen Qing flicked the igniter, lit the match, and immediately took aim with his gun, but before he could aim, the flames flashed in front of his eyes, the gun barrel spewed out flames, and a huge recoil hit Chen Qing's shoulder Up, but he can bear it.

Looking at the target in the distance, it seemed that he missed it, Chen Qing shook his head, the burning was too fast.

Xie Ying next to him smiled wryly and said: "Reporting to Your Majesty, we are going to change the matchlock to a longer length so that we can aim in time."

"Is it easy to light the fire?"

"It's very convenient. Now we use a good paint can to make a fire. When we open the lid, it will ignite as soon as it blows. When the lid is closed, the fire will go out. It is placed directly in the soldier's chest pocket, and the match can be lit dozens of times. "

Chen Qing originally wanted to talk about a matchlock gun, but he found that there was really no need to use a matchlock gun. The reason why he used a matchlock gun was because it was inconvenient to ignite. burn length.

"I can give you two suggestions!"

"Please give instructions, Your Majesty!"

Chen Qing said with a smile: "My suggestion is three words, standardization!"

"standardization!"

Xie Ying muttered a few words, and then said, "Can you ask Your Majesty to clarify!"

"What is standardization, in fact, is to set a prescribed amount, such as how much gunpowder to put. If you rely on the experience of soldiers, it will not work. You can prepare many small bamboo tubes, which are filled with a certain amount of gunpowder. Just put one tube of gunpowder at a time. Soldiers need to consider how much to put.

Then the upper matchlock hole can be made into a square hole, which should protrude a little upwards. The shape of the matchlock is exactly the same as the hole. It should be hard and the bottom should be pointed. inside.

Soldiers can insert a matchlock each time, which is very convenient. You can even make it more standard, inserting the wrapped powder strip directly into the barrel. The black bottom is the ignition powder, and the upper red is the gunpowder. Wouldn't it be more convenient to shoot gunpowder and then insert iron pellets to poke it firmly? "

Xie Ying was like enlightened, the standardization of the world made it easy to solve the problems of uneven charging and inconvenient ignition that had plagued them for a long time.

(End of this chapter)