Daming: Apocalypse of Longevity

Chapter 92 Swords and Guns
Although Zhang Boyu didn't understand iron smelting, since his immediate boss took the initiative to invite him, there was no reason not to go. He immediately saluted and said: "I would like to go with you to have a look, it will be an eye-opener!"

Sun Yuanhua smiled and nodded, then walked out of the room first and walked into the large cave in the middle. After walking more than ten feet inside, the space inside became suddenly open and spacious, with hundreds of craftsmen busy at work. in preparation for blast furnace ignition.

Zhang Boyu followed Sun Yuanhua to the newly built blast furnace, and then took a good look at the behemoth in front of him. This blast furnace was three or four times bigger than the one in Yulin Weili, and not only was it bigger, Still high!

Sun Yuanhua pointed at the blast furnace, turned back to Zhang Boyu with a smile and said: "General Zhang, this is our new iron smelting furnace. Compared with the iron smelting furnace we commonly used in the past, the walls of this iron smelting furnace are more beautiful." It is thick and has multiple flue gas channels inside, which allows the pyrotechnic gas generated by the combustion in the furnace to circulate along the channels in the furnace for a certain number of times before being dispersed along the chimney, further increasing the furnace temperature. It can be regarded as turning waste into treasure."

Although Zhang Boyu half understood what he was hearing, he still clapped his hands and praised: "My lord's iron smelting skills are indeed superb!"

Naturally, Sun Yuanhua could hear that this was flattery, but he didn't care about it. Instead, he cupped his fists and said to the high place: "How could Sun have such ability, all of this depends on the emperor's guidance and teaching!"

When Zhang Boyu heard this, he quickly shouted: "The Emperor is a wise man!" But he was muttering in his heart. He only heard that the Emperor was a "carpenter". Today, it was the first time that he heard that the Emperor was also a "blacksmith"!

Sun Yuanhua now worships Zhu Tianqi as a god. In his opinion, the emperor is simply omniscient and omnipotent. If the books the emperor gave him before may have been found by the emperor from the Taixi people, then later How should we explain the emperor's reply to him?

It was obvious that the emperor was familiar with the knowledge in these books, so he deliberately used simple and easy-to-understand words to instruct himself in order to make himself understand.

While Sun Yuanhua and Zhang Boyu were in a daze, the craftsmen were already ready. The leader of the craftsmen stepped forward and saluted Sun Yuanhua, "Sir, you guys are all ready, please light the fire!"

Sun Yuanhua nodded, then took a few steps forward, took the torch from the craftsman, and threw it into the furnace mouth. The oily charcoal and dry firewood in the furnace were instantly ignited, and the entire blast furnace was filled with blazing flames. , the faces of the people next to the stove were sore.

When Sun Yuanhua saw that the blast furnace had been lit, he sternly ordered: "Once the blast furnace is ignited, it cannot be extinguished. You must wait day and night and keep adding firewood to ensure that the fire keeps burning!"

All the craftsmen hurriedly saluted and said yes.

Sun Yuanhua then turned his head and told the craftsman next to him, "Boss Lin, have you prepared all the coal I asked you to prepare?"

Lin Shanye hurriedly replied: "Returning to your lord, the younger one has already sorted out all the coal according to his instructions, and has also disposed of it according to his requirements!"

Sun Yuanhua nodded with satisfaction and said: "Very good, then at this moment tomorrow, start filling the furnace with coal. When the charcoal in the furnace is burned out and the furnace is completely switched to coal, we can start smelting the first furnace of iron." , you are all good at smelting iron. I believe that you will be able to smelt fine steel that is far superior to that of the Westerners!" Lin Shanye and a group of craftsmen clasped their fists and shouted: "Please don't worry, sir, I will try my best. And to live up to the expectations of adults and the court!"

Sun Yuanhua didn't say anything else to delay the craftsmen's work. After explaining these words, he took Zhang Boyu out of the cave. When going out, Sun Yuanhua asked Zhang Boyu: "General Zhang, do you think that fighting with swords and guns is more powerful? Or are muskets and cannons more powerful?"

Zhang Boyu was stunned by this question. In fact, according to his opinion, he thought that swords and guns were easier to use. He led a cavalry, and he was good at charging into battle and killing on horseback. He looked down on those muskets and cannons. Yes, I think these firearms are unreliable.

Of course, this is also related to Zhang Boyu's knowledge. After all, he has never even seen the power of the Hongyi cannon with his own eyes. The largest cannon of the Yulin Guard is just a prisoner-killing cannon. Not only is its power limited, but its range and accuracy are also average, and the shooting interval It's still long.

Then there are the fire guns. The Ming Dynasty soldiers were mainly equipped with matchlocks, which could not fire continuously, the firing interval was too long, and the longest range was only a hundred steps, and the power was not great. They were helpless against heavy cavalry.

However, even though Zhang Boyu despised these firecrackers and cannons in his heart, but thinking that Sun Yuanhua came here to make firearms for the imperial court, he naturally did not dare to belittle the power of firearms in person, but said: "Then the firecrackers and cannons are naturally more powerful. , I heard that in Liaodong, the slave chief Nurhachi was defeated by the Hongyi cannon!"

Sun Yuanhua seemed to have noticed Zhang Boyu's hesitation and heard the insincerity of his words, so he smiled and said: "General Zhang is a man who has experienced fighting on the battlefield. He knows very well which swords and firearms are stronger or weaker. You don't have to say these insincere words just to compliment me!"

Zhang Boyu was a little embarrassed when Sun Yuanhua pointed it out to his face, so he had to lower his head, clasp his fists, and say: "The general will not dare!"

Sun Yuanhua did not blame Zhang Boyu for this. Instead, he said earnestly: "Actually, it's not just you, General Zhang. Many of my soldiers in the Ming Dynasty despise firearms. Although cannons are powerful, they want to To win a battle, it is not enough to rely on cannons alone, but to rely on soldiers to fight with swords.

But this has a lot to do with the fact that the Ming Dynasty's firearms are not advanced enough. As you just said, in the fight against Jiannu in Liaodong, the Red Yi cannon played a big role. This is precisely because of the power of the Red Yi cannon. It is far better than the French cannon and the captive cannon. When the power of the firearm reaches a certain level, it is enough to turn the tide of the war! "

Zhang Boyu had never seen Hongyi Cannon, so he was not deeply impressed by Sun Yuanhua's words. He just nodded and said: "That's what you taught me!"

Sun Yuanhua knew that his words were empty. If he couldn't build powerful artillery and blunderbuss, and let Zhang Boyu see it with his own eyes, I'm afraid Zhang Boyu wouldn't be convinced!

Therefore, Sun Yuanhua did not continue, but ended the discussion on the strength and weakness of cold weapons and hot weapons. He still planned to use it after a period of time, after he has forged a new type of artillery. Facts speak for themselves, let’s change Zhang Boyu’s view on firearms!

(End of this chapter)