Lord of the Desert

Chapter 256 Matchlock Gun

"You come with me."

Zhuang Liren got up and said, leading Hong Fan out.

After seven turns and eight detours, the two stopped in front of a closely guarded building.

This is a warehouse made of concrete, about a few hundred square meters in size; in the courtyard on all sides, there are more than a dozen water tanks that are half the height of a person.

"This is my Ministry's firearm sample library."

Zhuang Liren gestured to the guard, opened the door and entered.

There are no lights in the warehouse.

Fortunately, both of them are martial arts masters, and they have outstanding eyesight and are not afraid of darkness.

Hong Fan raised his eyes and glanced, and saw that there were sealed boxes stacked separately in the center of the warehouse, and there were many sacks lying horizontally by the wall.

"The inside of the sack is charcoal, which is used to absorb moisture."

Zhuang Liren explained casually while checking the paper labels in stock.

"The Lei Zhenzi commonly used by bandits was passed down from the previous dynasty, and the white thunder god commonly used to mine mines is the result of Shengzhou 40 to [-] years ago."

"The development of firearms has always been the most enthusiastic of the Shengzhou and Zhanzhou prefectures-they are also under the greatest pressure on the border defense."

"Shengzhou is facing an astonishing number of Zerg that are charging intensively, which requires large-scale killing methods."

"That's why explosives are used over there, and small tiger squat guns are also used in field battles."

"Facing the Sea Clan with their own scales and domesticated giant beasts, Zhanzhou is particularly eager for high-penetrating weapons."

"As far as ordinary people are concerned, firecrackers are ten times more powerful than strong bows, and they can still wear heavy armor at a distance of [-] meters, so they are especially valued."

As he spoke, he found a wooden box and opened it carefully.

Inside the box are piles of black particles.

"what is this?"

Hong Fan asked.

"This is the gunpowder that drives the gun."

Zhuang Liren replied.

"Nitrate, sulfur, and carbon are mixed in proportion."

"The ratio of nitrate to carbon is high, and the detonation is slow. It is suitable for firearms, and it is called a 'good medicine'."

"The proportion of sulfur is high, and the deflagration is very violent. It is suitable for opening mountains to extract stones, and is called 'horizontal medicine'."

As he spoke, he held up the box and blew into it, and sure enough there was a smell of nitrate and sulfur.

Hong Fan was taken aback.

"Shouldn't gunpowder be powder?"

He was a little embarrassed.

"What you are talking about is the gunpowder powder in the early years of this dynasty."

Zhuang Liren laughed.

"Gunpowder granulation is the result of Zhanzhou State Department."

It was rare for him to find something that Hong Fan didn't understand, and his enthusiasm suddenly rose.

"The powdered black gunpowder used in the past should not fill the chamber to the full when loading the firearm, otherwise it will not be able to fire, but the gunpowder should not be filled too loosely, otherwise the power will be greatly reduced."

"Secondly, with long-distance storage and transportation, the various components of powdered gunpowder will gradually stratify, leading to the scrapping of gunpowder."

"The most important thing is moisture protection."

"Zhanzhou faces the sea on three sides and is the most humid. The gunpowder powder will deliquescence after a short period of time."

"But if we make powdered gunpowder into a medicine cake and then break it into granules, these shortcomings will disappear-not only that, but the power of equal weight granulated gunpowder is three times that of powdered gunpowder."

Hong Fan was shocked when he heard this.

Hearing Zhan Yuanzi mention artillery a few days ago, he took it for granted, thinking that a casual remark could open up a new path.

After all, in the technology tree of chemical energy weapons, this life is incomparable with the previous life.

However, after listening to half a cup of tea, Hong Fan was forced to correct his mentality.

He is a traveler.

He had heard a lot about hot weapons.

For example, mercury fulminate can be used as a primer;
For example, the names of a series of high-performance synthetic explosives - picric acid (trinitrophenol), TNT (trinitrotoluene), nitroglycerin (glyceryl trinitrate), RDX;

Such as detonators and fuses...

But thinking about it at this time, there are many obstacles in order to form these things into a system and implement them.

As for the molecular formula and preparation method of the explosive mentioned above, Hong Fan knew nothing about it.

One's knowledge is limited.

Even the time traveler is the same.

Hong Fan thought about it, but he strengthened some originally vague thoughts.

On the side, Zhuang Liren pulled out a well-made musket, brought ammunition and tools, and motioned him to follow.

The two went out and came to the testing ground tens of meters away, surrounded by thick rammed earth walls.

Hong Fan set up a heavy armored target.

Zhuang Liren tried to load it.

He first confirmed that the barrel of the gun was clean, and then took out the quantitative powder packed in a cardboard case from the gunpowder box.

Untie the paper bag, pour gunpowder into the gun chamber, and compact it.

Pound the paper packet into the barrel with moderate pressure as a soft padding, with the shot, until the powder is no longer wobbling.

"It is said that this gun was first used with iron bullets."

Zhuang Liren said while operating.

"But the iron is hard, it is difficult to achieve uniform size, and it is prone to accidents."

"After using lead, the caliber of the sub-gun is the same, and the power is stronger."

"Hong Fan, borrow a fire."

He passed the match, ignited it with Yanliu Jin, and then stuffed it into the C-shaped chuck.

Put the gun on your shoulder and take aim.

The trigger is pulled, turning the pivot and pushing the collet into the chamber.

There was a loud bang, and fireworks suddenly exploded in front of the muzzle.

Thirty steps away, the iron armor was punched right through.

"I remember this thing being used like this..."

Zhuang Liren muttered happily.

"One more shot."

He picked up the barrel of the gun and carefully cleaned the dirt with a brush. After repeating the above procedure, he adjusted the burnt match to just right.

The fireworks started again.

The iron armor in the distance was directly beaten to pieces.

"It's really good!"

Zhuang Liren leaned on a gun, looked forward to Zixiong, and smiled like a child, not some innate master.

Hong Fan also couldn't help but nodded.

It was the first time he had seen a real gun fire.

Still put the typical arquebus.

To be honest, it was far more cumbersome than he imagined—so much so that it took a full minute and a half to fire two bullets.

However, from these tedious steps, he saw a new and immature force with unlimited potential.

The two stepped forward to look at the target.

Deformed lead embedded in the ground.

On the iron armor are perforations blasted on all sides.

"An iron plate one-tenth of an inch thick can't be penetrated even with a crossbow, but this gun ignores it."

Zhuang Liren praised.

"According to Zhanzhou's actual measurement, the power within a hundred steps is comparable to that of a straight spear in the penetrating realm."

Hong Fan picked up the lead bullet that was still warm and stroked it lightly.

"Since this is the case, why hasn't the musket been promoted? Is it because of the cost?"

He couldn't help asking.

"No, this thing is actually cheaper than a crossbow."

Zhuang Liren denied it.

"A horn bow with bowstring is three cents and five cents each, and a large arrow is one cent each;
Each big crossbow costs one coin, and each big crossbow bolt costs three cents (0.3 cents).

Matchlock guns remove the ready-made iron materials, eight dollars each;
Three cents per catty of gunpowder;

Three-dollar heavy lead bullets cost seven cents per hundred. "

Zhuang Liren was obviously proficient in general affairs, so he quoted the price casually.

"In the long run, muskets are cheaper than hornbows."

"Then why not?"

Hong Fan asked.

"Probably because it's not good enough?"

After thinking about it, Zhuang Liren said.

PS: The price of ordnance is taken from the "Historical Materials of the Cabinet of the Ming and Qing Dynasties", which is the account of the Huguangdu Division in July of the fourth year of Chongzhen. Because the items of the bird gun and the matchlock gun are different, there are slight additions and changes.

The author is not considered a military fan, so he can only find a lot of information on gunpowder, muskets, and artillery to read and learn temporarily.

Anyway, it's an overhead world, or that sentence, just watch it for fun, don't get too deep into it.

(End of this chapter)