The rise of the prince

Chapter 207 Grenade

In the jagged rocks of the back mountain, there was a sudden explosion, and the sound echoed continuously in the valley. The orange fire flashed, smoke rose, and gravel splashed.

The surrounding bushes were smashed to pieces in an instant, and the innocent goat tethered five or six steps away also let out a scream, and then ran around in panic, but after two steps, he couldn't stand still, struggled for a while and fell to the ground, dripping with blood. Flowing out, staining the dry land red.

Yan Shen followed Shi Zi, stunned and got out from behind the stone more than ten meters away.

Taking a closer look, there was a small crater around the explosion site, and there were white marks and even a few inches of holes on the stone walls around the explosion site. The goat tethered four or five steps away from the explosion site was already dying at this time, and the fragments hit it. Several holes, one of which was fatal in the neck, must have severed an artery, and by this time blood was flowing all over the ground.

The goat was bleeding from its mouth, nose, and ears, apparently from the impact of the explosion.

Even though it was not the first time seeing him, Yan Shen was still shocked, his legs were trembling, he could almost imagine what a terrible situation it would be if the thing exploded at his feet, he was afraid that there would be no whole body.

What surprised him even more was that the thing was actually made of the black powder he made himself!

The crown prince called it black powder, and he finally realized that it was no wonder that the crown prince asked him to be careful when making it, this thing.
In the past few days, Shizi asked the blacksmith to cast various strange semicircular iron shells with pig iron, and then added grooves to the mold to make various shells of different sizes and shapes, stuffed with black powder, and used them all the time in the back mountain. Come to fry stones and sheep.

He didn't understand what Shizi wanted to try, he only knew that this thing was like a bolt from the blue, making him terrified.

Li Xingzhou is trying out a suitable shell.

Compared with the barrel, the gun barrel, the shell of the grenade does not have high requirements on the material, and there is no difficulty in the casting process, but experience and knowledge are always accumulated little by little, and the grenade is constantly improving and strengthening to make it more reasonable and more powerful. Power, enhance its lethality.

Don't underestimate these small and subtle improvements. This process lasted for hundreds of years, and he became a reaper of the explorations of his predecessors.

The shell of the grenade is undoubtedly the most suitable iron, and it must be cast iron.

Pig iron is brittle and low in strength, and it is easy to cast and break easily. Because it does not require more complicated processes, grooves are set outside the mold, so that the shell will start to break regularly at the position facing the groove during the explosion, forming a high-speed flying scrap.

Generally speaking, people have the impression that offense means great power, but in fact it is not entirely so.

Because offense often means requirements for mobility and other aspects, which will limit the size, weight, and power of grenades.

Defensive weapons often have fixed installations and relatively loose restrictions on volume, weight, power, and material consumption. Instead, they pay more attention to indicators such as power and range.

The difference between offensive grenades and defensive grenades fits this pattern.

Li Xingzhou learned the concept and experience of American offensive grenade design, and designed this kind of grooved shell, coupled with a bamboo handle. Before there is no good steel, precision lead wires can also be made, but the cost is too high, and the gain outweighs the loss.

Therefore, the method of lighting the match to detonate is still used. The bamboo handle is used for waterproofing and is easy to carry, ensuring that the match can be ignited even in rainy days.

It is more convenient to make matchlocks. Ordinary cotton thread is soaked in oil, dried in the sun, and then mixed with gunpowder powder.

In the past few days, he has been experimenting with the fragmentation of various shell fragments of different shapes and the most suitable amount of charge, and found that the fragmentation of the oval shell is the most uniform.

When it exploded, the shell was inflated and ruptured like a balloon, and shattered into many fragments along the groove, with a killing radius of five or six meters, or even farther.

For offensive grenades, this kind of power is already suitable, which is the experience accumulated by later generations.

Because soldiers hang this kind of grenade on their waists, throw it out when attacking, and then move forward. If the power is too strong, it will hinder the pursuit of the enemy, and even accidentally injure their own people.

The defensive grenade can be equipped with built-in fragments to increase the amount of charge and expand the killing range.

So far, after testing both types of grenades, he has drawn up drawings and can start production.

Yan Shenhou patted his chest in fear: "My lord, this thing is like thunder from the heavens. If it goes to the battlefield, it will be worth it."

Li Xingzhou laughed and patted him on the shoulder: "That's why I told you to be careful. Don't save me alcohol in the future. Alcohol evaporates quickly and has a significant cooling effect. Using alcohol is for safety in production."

Yan Shen nodded half understanding.

"However, there are too many iron mines coming and going in and out of the palace these days, and I don't know if someone will talk about it." Li Xingzhou said with some concern, and then rolled up his sleeves: "Go, drag this sheep back and cook it."

"Okay!" Yan Shen happily rolled up his sleeves and came up to help. Another benefit of Shizi's experiment is that the palace has mutton every day these days, and everyone is overjoyed.
The two of them walked towards the palace with the dead goat on one side. The Jing Dynasty had a salt and iron department to supervise the salt and iron industry. It stands to reason that all salt and iron are owned by the state and private individuals are not allowed to produce them. However, iron is no better than salt. The government allows circulation and trading. After all, iron can not only be cast into swords and soldiers, but also into agricultural tools, but the quantity should not be large.

The Yantie Division has subordinate units across the country, and every subway mine, raw and wrought iron sales must be recorded.

However, Li Xingzhou bought a large amount of iron ore due to various things these days, which inevitably attracted attention.

But it must not be a big deal, and he didn't take it too seriously.

"Bamboo sticks and straw shoes lightly beat horses, who is afraid. A cloud of mist and rain Ren Pingsheng"

"Looking back at the place that has always been bleak, when I go back, there will be neither wind nor rain." The emperor read in a low voice while looking at the scribbled handwriting, and then said: "Although it is a young man's crazy words, it is really brilliant, which can be called rare. I have never seen such good words."

"That's right, the son is the grandson of His Majesty, and he has inherited the blessings of the royal family no matter what. He is far beyond ordinary people. How can ordinary talented people who are sought after by the world compare?" Fu An hurriedly said, he knows what the emperor likes to hear best words.

When he was young, the emperor liked to hear others brag about his martial arts achievements, but now, the emperor is no longer the youthful and vigorous person he used to be.

He can probably hear the truth and falsehood of the words, and understand that many people's words are insincere.

On the contrary, as an old man, he prefers to hear good things about his grandson from others.

Sure enough, when Fu An said this, the emperor rarely smiled, and then ordered someone to hang the words written by the prince when he was drunk at the family banquet that day on the south wall.

This is His Majesty's favorite Treasure Pavilion. All the calligraphy and paintings of many masters from the previous and current dynasties are hung here, and there are many priceless antiques and treasures. However, the emperor hangs his son's words here, which shows that he likes it.

The emperor looked at it again, and Fu An followed him carefully to serve him.

"Words are good words, but after all, they are too crazy, and they speak as if they are so great."

"The so-called youthful complacency, most young people are like this, high-spirited and full of vitality, isn't it the same when His Majesty was young." Fu An laughed, and it has almost become a habit over the years. He knows what the emperor likes to hear, and he can open his mouth. connect.

The emperor nodded: "Indeed, young and frivolous, high-spirited is good, in the future it will be more polished."

(End of this chapter)