Red Mansion Soldiers

Chapter 295 Cannon

Outside the city, the Bingzhan Bureau test artillery range.

Although the Ministry of Works, especially the Yu Heng Qing Li Division, suffered heavy losses this time, with 70% of the officials from Lang Guan on down, this was only a heavy loss for the management, and there was actually no loss for the craftsmen of the Military War Bureau.

There were so many people waiting to become officials, there was no shortage of people to supplement them. Just shout outside the official department and a large number of candidates and even Jinshi came to recommend themselves. The management staff of Yu Hengqing's official department quickly filled up and resumed work. .

The artillery acceptance process has become more complicated and stricter. The minimum guarantee policy has been cancelled, and wages have been paid on a piece-rate basis. This has put a lot of pressure on many craftsmen.

However, those who can become artillery craftsmen are just sneaky and sneaky, and there is no idiot. Everyone quickly adapted to it and even became a lot more active.
The types of artillery have also ushered in a wave of substantial growth.

At the edge of the gun range, several craftsmen who were waiting for the test firing were looking curiously at the yellow-headed man in the crowd who was bending cautiously and flattering a burly figure.
I heard that the Taiwei is coming to inspect today, so the identity of this big man can basically be confirmed.
"Lieutenant, look, there happens to be a batch of newly made cannons being tested." Ambassador Huang, the chief officer of the Military War Bureau, followed Jia Hui very respectfully and introduced him.

Jia Hui looked at the gunsmiths who were doing the final inspection of the artillery expressionlessly, without looking back: "There is no rush for the heavy artillery. It will not be too late to prepare it when someone comes back from the grassland. What I want now is that the horses can carry it." , there are even small cannons that can be fired from horses and a large number of new flintlock muskets!”

Although Jia Hui is a fanatical believer in the "Blow me up" religion, he still knows what artillery to use in any battle.

In the first stage of this war - to drive the Junggars out of the Monan and Mobei grasslands, the first thing to consider is mobility. They are small cannons that can be used with elite cavalry and medium-sized cannons that horses can pull. Heavy artillery is not needed. .

"Wei!" Eleven promised with clasped fists. Ambassador Huang didn't delay at all, and quickly called one of his subordinates to lead Eleven to the warehouse to get a gun.

Yin Hongyi.
Jia Hui's eyes twitched as he looked at this bearded man with a delicate and elegant name who looked a lot like Zhang Fei.
"No courtesy, get up."

Seeing the captain summoning him, the craftsman quickly said hello to the people around him, then came to Jia Hui's side in three steps and then fell to his knees with a plop.
"Yin Hongyi, the artillery master of the small military battle bureau, pays homage to the Taiwei!"

Jia Hui smiled and waved to him.

"Hehe, Commandant, this is the project that my Armament Bureau submitted at the beginning of last year. After a year and a half of improvements, the shape of this heavy artillery is almost complete," Ambassador Huang said happily.

It would be better to wait until the eleven guns were brought over. Looking at the heavy cannon that had begun to clean the barrel and prepare to fill it with gunpowder, Jia Hui asked Ambassador Huang.

Otherwise, Jia Hui was afraid that this big man would roll his eyes nervously and faint as he spoke.
"Go back to Lieutenant Commander, little one." Yin Hongyi was sweating profusely, but she was too nervous to speak.
Seeing this, Jia Hui already regretted calling him over.
Fortunately, Yin Hongyi still has a mouthpiece.

It’s a shame that it’s not called Yin Wedding Dress
"Come on, Master Yin, let's talk about this new cannon to a certain family." Jia Hui gave up on trying to get closer and chose to go straight to the point.

"This" Ambassador Huang froze. He knew about this project, but he was in a hurry when he took office and had many things to do. He didn't have time to see what it was specifically.
"Oh, that's it. You have only been in office for less than a month. I shouldn't ask you this. Go call the mastermind of this project." Jia Hui said to Ambassador Chao Huang who was very considerate.

After all, we have to attack the city.

"What kind of gun are you trying?"

Only in the second stage, when the Western Region is recovered, can heavy artillery be used.

"Yes!" Yin Hongyi quickly got up and stood in front of Jia Hui very cautiously. It could be seen that he was very nervous, so nervous that he started to clasp his fingers.
Good guy, this posture looks a lot like Zhang Yide.
This honor is in vain!
"Why is it called Hong Yi?"

Just when Jia Hui looked at this big man who looked like Zhang Fei but had the same temperament as Yingchun, his face gradually lost all color and he was about to roll his eyes, Ambassador Huang also jogged back.
"Taiwei, he was an orphan adopted by Master Yin in the early years. He was raised from a baby of three to four months old. It happened that he was wearing a red dress that should have been his mother's wedding dress, so Master Yin So I named him 'Red'."

"Wei!" Ambassador Huang, as if he had been granted amnesty, quickly trotted to the cannon that was about to be tested and said a few words to a middle-aged craftsman with a beard. The bearded man straightened his back with a look of sadness on his face. He looked towards Jia Hui with confidence.

"What a coincidence! Lieutenant, those flintlock muskets you told us to make a few years ago. Counting the latest batch that came out half a month ago, we have already accumulated a total of 8,000 muskets!"

Jia Hui did not chat with him directly about business matters, but chatted with him casually, preparing to relieve his nervousness.

Why don't you be happy? This is a project started by people from the last war bureau. I originally thought that I would be able to raise my rank this year by virtue of my achievements in developing new artillery, but who would have thought? The boss is not a human being, and the artillery reselling incident came to light, and the entire team of the War Bureau was kicked out, and all the credit was in vain for the new team of the War Bureau.
"Last year's project?" Jia Hui twirled the mustache on his chin and thought back, "Ah, it's the project codenamed 'Spindle', right? Has it been built?"

"Oh, not bad." Jia Hui lowered his head and glanced at Ambassador Huang for the first time. Ambassador Huang was trembling with excitement.
"Eleven, go and get some rods. Take a few rods from each batch and try to hit a few rounds."

After all, there is nothing on the grassland that requires heavy artillery bombardment.

There is no need to train such a small official like a grandson, it is not troublesome enough.

"Wei!" When it came to this, Pao Yin Hongyi was no longer nervous. At this moment, his eyes were shining, and he no longer looked shy.
He seems to be a person who really loves artillery.
Jia Hui had a rough judgment about Yin Hongyi.

"Lieutenant, it's like this"

The mother-child cannon is the French cannon in the previous life.

The advantages of this gun include fast loading, easy barrel cleaning, and the ability to fire three times in a row.

However, its disadvantage is that the barrel is not airtight enough to effectively exert the power of the gunpowder explosion, resulting in insufficient kinetic energy, resulting in limited range and poor accuracy of the artillery shell. Therefore, it is usually only used for scatter shots.

Although it is easy to use and convenient, due to the shortcomings of limited range and poor accuracy, Daqi urgently needs an artillery that can shoot far and accurately.

As early as that year, not long after Jia Hui ended the Jiangnan War, the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Industry jointly submitted a letter to apply for the development of a new type of heavy artillery.

In eight years, the Fifth Army Governor's Office received nearly a hundred designs from the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Industry and even the inner court, and approved and approved as many as 71 projects for trial casting. Frankly speaking, the performance of the artillery produced by these 71 projects is not weak. The comprehensive strength of more than 30 projects has even surpassed that of the mother-child cannon, but none of the cannons can reach Jia Hui and Jia Hui. Yun Yu and even the psychological expectations of the Second Saint.

Because there is no qualitative difference between these cannons and the mother-child cannons, but the range is about a hundred steps farther.

If that's the case, why not continue to use the dual cannon?
After all, the total number of combined artillery pieces in the country exceeds 60,000. During a war, it would be best to bring in a few more.

Until a year and a half ago, a project called "Spindle Cannon" was submitted to the Fifth Army Governor's Mansion.
"The spindle cannon we developed has many advantages! The barrel is long, the wall is thick, and the muzzle is large, so the shells that can be loaded can be larger!" Yin Hongyi pointed to the loaded cannon and was ready for test firing. The cannon was introduced excitedly, just like a child showing off his best and favorite toy.
Jia Hui also walked to the rear of the artillery and observed carefully.
This is a heavy cannon about one foot long, with a caliber of about five inches, and is estimated to weigh more than two thousand kilograms.

The overall shape gradually becomes thicker from the muzzle to the breech. After carefully recalling the physics knowledge that had been almost forgotten after more than 20 years, Jia Hui found that this is indeed consistent with the pattern of the chamber pressure from high to low when gunpowder is burned. The principle is that it saves a lot of material costs.

There are cylindrical lugs on both sides of the center of gravity of the gun body. The gun can adjust the shooting angle based on this axis, and then change the range according to the amount of gunpowder used.

There are also front sights and rear sights near the muzzle, making the accuracy much higher.

"What's the cost?" Jia Hui suddenly asked.

Ambassador Huang quickly replied: "One hundred and eighty taels to two hundred taels of silver per door!"

"Huh? No, isn't this a bronze cannon? Is it so cheap?" Jia Hui was a little surprised.

When Daqi cast heavy cannons, they were often made of copper.

However, although copper cannons have advantages such as being less likely to explode, less likely to have pores, and even have a longer lifespan, the high cost and excessive weight are fatal problems.

Logically speaking, a two thousand kilogram copper cannon should be at least fifty taels more expensive, but this cannon is...
"Lieutenant, because this cannon has an iron core and a copper body!" Ambassador Huang quickly explained.

Jia Hui nodded, then the cost was much more reasonable.
"Iron core copper body, new process?"

"That's right! Lieutenant, this craft is exactly what Hong Yi came up with!" Ambassador Huang patted Yin Hongyi's arm that was thicker than his thigh and showed off with a smile on his face.

Whether he can add some credit depends on his craftsmanship!

"Very good," Jia Hui nodded, "Fire a cannon for a certain family to see!"

"Wei!" Ambassador Huang quickly bowed and agreed, then raised his hand and gestured to the people standing behind the cannon.

The few people who had been paying attention to the movement here immediately understood and made a gesture. At the same time, they raised the pole that had been burning at the top and poked it at the ignition site.
Boom!
There was a sudden loud noise, and the dull sound of artillery spread throughout the artillery field. It shocked people's eardrums and felt like the ground shook. A huge stream of flames and smoke erupted from the muzzle, making it difficult to see what was ahead. situation.

However, the artillery field has become accustomed to this kind of scene, and there are already people on horseback running towards the impact point of the artillery shells to explore the bombardment situation.

The people standing on the observation deck at the rear quickly came down from the top, trotted to Ambassador Huang, saluted Jia Hui first, and then whispered a few words to Ambassador Huang.
"What?" Ambassador Huang's eyes widened, "How far?"

"Eight miles, eight miles, my lord!" The man shouted with a fanatical look, "Although there is a deviation, it has opened up the cannon by a large margin. Visually, it is only about three feet!"

This is still the case without rifling. If it is rifled, then the accuracy must not be reduced to one foot?

The maximum distance of the Luoyang artillery field is ten miles, and there is a huge wooden sign every other mile. Just count the number of signs as far as the cannon is fired.

"Hahaha, good stuff, good stuff, good enough!" Jia Hui laughed loudly!
All the officials accompanying them laughed. With this spindle cannon, Da Qi could continue to dominate the vassals.
While everyone was laughing and talking about the Spindle Cannon, its developer Yin Hongyi gradually became firmer after experiencing the initial excitement.
"Lieutenant!"

Yin Hongyi plopped down and knelt down towards Jia Hui: "Captain, please give me a name for the cannon!"

The crowd who were still discussing immediately fell silent and looked at the two people kneeling at this station.

Upon seeing this, Ambassador Huang did not scold Yin Hongyi for kicking her nose or face, but moved to Yin Hongyi's side and knelt down as well, waiting for Jia Hui's reply.
"Okay!" Jia Hui readily agreed, "Being able to design such a good cannon is enough to prove that your craftsmanship is extraordinary and you have also innovated the technology. You are a capable person. I will let you leave your name in history. If your name is Yin Hongyi, call it Red Cannon!"

"Thank you, Lieutenant, for the name!" Yin Hongyi trembled excitedly and kowtowed to Jia Hui.

"In addition, I will give you another favor!" Jia Hui pointed the riding whip at Yin Hongyi, who was still kneeling on the ground, "From today on, you are the second artillery master of the War and War Bureau, in charge of the casting of heavy artillery!
In addition, there are also some rewards of gold and silver brocade."

"Uh!"

The surprise came too suddenly. Yin Hongyi stuttered, rolled her eyes and fainted.
. . . . . .

The great hero Yin Dajiang fainted due to excessive excitement.

However, this did not have any impact on Jia Hui's inspection this time. After letting people fire a few test shots and collect some data, Shiyi came back with some new guns.

This is also a flint-fire gun developed under the ideas provided by Jia Hui.

In fact, the technical gap between its descendant percussion gun and the flintlock gun is not big, and it has many advantages over the flintlock gun, but
Jia Hui didn't understand this, so he just talked to the craftsmen about things like "fire caps" and "firing pins". As for whether these fire gun craftsmen could come up with them.
That’s all, let’s look at fate.

After several rounds of test firing, the performance of these new flintlock guns met Jia Hui's psychological expectations. Jia Hui was also very satisfied. With a wave of his hand, he took away five thousand guns and various small cannons. Three hundred gates are heading towards Beijing.
(End of this chapter)