Late Ming sea owl

Chapter 162 He Liangtao learned from both China and the West

"It turns out to be him." Lin Hai answered silently in his heart.

He didn't expect that the artillery master who was tricked by Miguel into boarding the ship was actually He Liangtao. If it was this person, it would be no surprise that he was good at building bastions.

After all, "Zhu Rong Zuoli" written by He Liangtao was the first to introduce bastions in the military books of the late Ming Dynasty. Whether it was Fan Jingwen's "Zhan Shou Quanshu" or Han Lin's "Shou Yu Quanshu", the content about the construction of bastions was copied. "Zhu Rong Zuo Li Gun Tai Shuo".

Not only the bastions, but also the spread of Western artillery in the late Ming Dynasty was largely attributed to He Liangtao.

During the Chongzhen period, He Rubin added chapters related to Western artillery in the "Bing Lu". The content is most likely to be indirectly derived from "Zhu Rong Zuoli". Sun Yuanhua's "Xifa Shenji" contains [-]% of the content copied from "Zhu Rong Zuoli".

However, such an important military book was almost submerged in the long river of history due to the massive destruction of books by the Manchu Qing Dynasty. Fortunately, an only copy handed down from ancient times was discovered in the last century, but it is a pity that the content is incomplete.

"Please make arrangements so that I can meet He Liangtao this afternoon." Lin Hai told Miguel.

Then he went out again and said to Viper: "Go to Wanhua immediately and bring me the "Illustration of Western Fire Attack" copied from Mr. He to Guandu. I will use it after lunch."

After returning to the reception room, Lin Hai then asked Miguel: "Are you familiar with this He Liangtao?"

"We have some friendship, but we can't say we are very familiar with each other," Miguel said. "There is a five-person working group under the Haojing meeting, and He is one of them. He first worked in a private artillery factory in Haojing. I was working as a general manager, and when I first arrived in Haojing, I went to buy cannon from that artillery factory, and that’s how we got to know each other.”

"Then what is He Liangtao's life experience, do you know clearly?" Lin Hai is also a little curious about He Liangtao's life experience. There are very few historical records of this person in later generations. He only knows that he once worked as a general in Macau, and then about eight years after Chongzhen. He served as a tribute painter in the shogunate in Wenchu, Zhejiang.

"I don't know the specifics. There are rumors that he was the student boy of a certain Ming Dynasty official. This official was also a Catholic and had a very good relationship with Matteo Ricci. He was baptized into Catholicism because of his master's family. , and later he was kicked out of his house for having an affair with his maid, and then he was transferred to Haojing."

"So that's it..." The reason why Lin Hai wanted to know about He Liangtao's past was mainly because he wanted to get a glimpse of his personality so that he could better use it for his own purposes.

If the rumors Miguel said are true, then He Liangtao's experience is quite similar to that of Qu Taisu, the first Catholic in the late Ming Dynasty.Qu Taisu's real name was Qu Rukui. He was kicked out of his home for having an affair with his sister-in-law. He later traveled to Zhaoqing, Guangdong, and was the first Chinese to be baptized by Matteo Ricci.

However, Qu Rukui came from a wealthy family, and Qu Shichu, a great scholar during the Yongli period, was his nephew, and he was later influenced by him to join the Catholic Church.Matteo Ricci was able to open up the situation in the Ming Dynasty, in fact, to a large extent, he had the guidance of Qu Taisu.

In comparison, He Liangtao's background was much humbler, and the person he had an affair with was just a maid. In fact, letting the children go should be regarded as free love, but in this era, it was not accepted by the world.

It was hard to say whether the rumors were reliable, so Lin Hai simply asked directly: "What kind of person is this He Liangtao? Is he greedy for money and lustful?"

"You know what a man is. As far as I know, when He was in Haojing, he often visited the flower boat." Miguel continued, "But what He is most interested in is probably casting cannons, and he is very interested in it. Obsessed, I once got a book on Western artillery and studied it for days and nights without sleeping."

Lin Hai nodded when he heard this. Without this motivation, it would be difficult for He Liangtao to become an expert in artillery and forts. After all, his job is only a translator, not a craftsman.

"You just said that Wannu Bugarao is not very good at forging cannons. What do you mean?"

"I'm talking about comprehensiveness," Miguel replied. "Wanu Bugalao is good at casting copper cannons, but he doesn't know how to cast iron cannons. In Europe, this is a unique skill of the British."

So can the Swedes, who just stole lessons from the British a few years ago... Lin Hai silently answered in his heart.

As a fan of ancient martial arts, he is quite familiar with the history of artillery development in the East and West, and he is not as blind to this aspect as he is to water conservancy projects.

Ancient cannons were made of copper and iron. Bronze cannons are divided into bronze cannons, copper cannons and brass cannons. Iron cannons are divided into cast iron cannons and wrought iron cannons. Europe is better at casting copper cannons, but the development of cast iron cannons But very slowly.

Because the melting point of iron is much higher than that of bronze or brass, it is much more difficult to make a qualified cast iron cannon than a cast copper cannon.However, copper has better ductility than iron, so the quality of copper cannons is better. Qualified copper cannons of the same specifications are generally lighter than iron cannons, but the disadvantage is equally obvious - they are more expensive.

Therefore, in later Europe, the army generally used bronze cannons, while the navy mainly used iron cannons, because the navy's artillery did not need to consider maneuverability.But in Europe right now, even the navy mainly relies on expensive bronze cannons, because most countries do not have mature cast iron cannon technology.

France was the first European country to master cast iron gun technology, but it could only be used to produce short-caliber artillery and failed to attract attention.

In the 16s, the British improved it and finally could cast iron cannons with practical uses.Half a century later, the Spaniards also developed cast-iron cannons. Sadly, the cost was more expensive than bronze cannons, and there was no improvement in the following two centuries.

Therefore, the British basically monopolized the cast-iron gun trade in Europe. Even in the Anglo-Spanish naval battle, the cast-iron cannons on the Spanish warships came from their opponents, the British. This may be one of the reasons why the British led a revolution in naval warfare tactics that placed more emphasis on artillery warfare. .

As for the two generations of maritime overlords in Asia, the Portuguese and the Dutch, their cast iron cannon technology came from the East. The former came from the Chinese craftsmen of Hao Jing, and the latter came from the Japanese craftsmen of Hirado. The time point was the era when Lin Hai traveled through time. .

Sure enough, Lin Hai heard Miguel continue: "We Portuguese began to learn cast iron cannon technology three years ago. At that time, the Council gave this task to He. He hired several Tang craftsmen from Foshan to teach The Portuguese taught this technology, and after Wannu Bugarao came to Haojing, he specifically asked He for technical details of the cast iron cannon."

"I heard that there is a composite cannon in Haojing with an inner layer of iron and an outer layer of copper. I wonder if Mr. Hou has heard of it?" Lin Hai then asked. In the late Ming Dynasty, there was a kind of double cannon that was forged inside and cast outside. Layer composite cannon. Later experts speculated that this technology originated in Macau.

"Hey, you've asked the right person about this. The person who invented this kind of cannon was He Liangtao, and I was the first to use it in actual combat."

"Are you telling the truth?" Lin Hai was slightly moved when he heard this. He originally thought that He Liangtao had only learned the advanced artillery-making technology from the East and the West in this era. He did not expect that he could also invent and create. For a general, To be honest, it is quite rare. "Of course it's true. Haojing is really a magical place. European copper casting technology and Ming Dynasty's forging iron technology gave birth to the composite cannon you mentioned here."

Miguel quickly learned the term compound cannon from Lin Haikou, and then praised He Liangtao: "In fact, He himself is a bit like a compound cannon. He is also a master born from the collision of Eastern technology and Western technology."

"Old man, I completely agree with what you said, but I want to correct you on one point. You should talk about European bronze cannon casting technology, not European bronze casting technology." Lin Hai continued, "The Tang people made it thousands of years ago. He can cast very exquisite bronzes, and he even cast a 200-jin bronze bell [-] years ago. When it comes to bronze casting technology, you Westerners are the younger brothers."

"In that case, why did the emperor of your Ming Dynasty come to Haojing to buy cannon?" Miguel expressed dissatisfaction with Lin Hai's words.

"I said that your bronze cannon casting technology is indeed ahead of the Tang people, but that is because you were the first to explore the technology of casting large, long-barreled cannons, not because there is anything advanced in bronze casting technology."

The large, long-barreled artillery that Lin Hai mentioned was the so-called Hongyi cannon that was often referred to in the Ming and Qing dynasties. In fact, the introduction of Hongyi cannon technology in the late Ming Dynasty only had a history of just over [-] years, but the number of local production was very large, and the real The biggest gap is not in the casting process.

He went on to say: "The river network in the north of the Ming Dynasty is far less dense than in Western Europe, which makes it very difficult to transport heavy artillery on land. In addition, the Ming Dynasty's biggest opponents have long been nomads, and it is easier to use light artillery to shoot shotguns against them. , so we have not developed the technology for large, long-barreled artillery..."

"It wasn't until recent years that a very formidable opponent appeared in the north of the Ming Dynasty. In order to deal with them, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty introduced European artillery technology from Haojing."

"I don't want to argue with you on this issue anymore. You will always elevate the Tang people and belittle the Europeans." Miguel was angry. He had been educated by Lin Hai several times on similar topics.

"I'm just stating some ignored facts." Lin Hai replied with a smile, hitting the foreign devil from time to time, which is indeed a bit addictive, "but what I'm going to say next should be what you like to hear. In fact, I don’t mean to disparage Europeans at all, look at the warships, I never said that the Chinese ships were better.”

He continued: "In terms of artillery, of course the Europeans are ahead. Do you know what I am referring to?"

"You just said it was the casting of large, long-barreled artillery." Miguel replied after hearing this.

"This is just an appearance. Your real advantage lies in the use of a scientific method of casting cannons." Lin Hai continued, "I call this method the modulus theory, which is to determine the various locations of the cannon according to the inner diameter of the muzzle. The wall thickness and size of each component enable standardized production of artillery to a certain extent.”

In fact, the module theory is the real advantage of European artillery technology. This theory was born in the mid-16th century. Its core is to find a balance point between the power and weight of artillery.Otherwise, the resulting cannon will either be stupid, bulky, or prone to exploding.

This theory is actually just a layer of window paper. This was the main reason for the introduction of the Hongyi cannon in the late Ming Dynasty. As for the casting process and the like, do I have this thing?
Sadly, however, the modular theory introduced in the late Ming Dynasty was once lost in the Manchu and Qing Dynasties. It was not until the Opium War that Ding Gongchen learned it from British and foreign artillery. At that time, European breech-loading rifled guns were about to come out.As long as you read the Western artillery books written in the late Ming Dynasty, you will not be like this.

"In addition to module theory, I also admire your ballistics." Lin Hai continued.

However, Miguel sang the opposite tune at this moment: "Ballistics? To be honest, I don't know what the use of this shit is."

"Look, when I praise you Europeans, you don't accept it." Lin Hai chuckled, "It seems that you still prefer to be educated by me."

"To borrow a sentence from you, I am just stating the facts. In actual combat, no artilleryman would use such nonsense as ballistics."

What Miguel said is indeed true. The ballistics of this era is indeed unreliable. For example, the parabolic ballistics proposed by Galileo did not consider air resistance, let alone wind force. Some people recognized this in the 17th century, but could not come up with an effective formula.

In addition, the size of artillery in this era is not accurate, and the combustion of gunpowder is also unreliable. How far a cannon can shoot, and whether the trajectory is straight or crooked, you will not know until you try it.Therefore, for a gunner to shoot accurately, it is not enough to be highly skilled. He must be familiar with the gun.

This is why Miguel said that ballistics is useless. The range calculated by ballistics may not be as good as the statistical experience value of how many inches the muzzle is raised and the range reached in the military books of the Ming Dynasty.

However, you use experience while others use physics. Although the effect may be similar, others are already on the right path and will one day make a qualitative leap.

Does the Ming Dynasty lack technology?There is no shortage, and it is even stronger than that of Europe at the same time. Of course, it is inevitable to lag behind in some areas.

What does tomorrow’s dynasty really lack?It's science!
The Ming Dynasty never lacked skilled craftsmen, but it never gave birth to Galileo or Descartes.

"Ballistics will one day shine." Lin Hai didn't want to have an in-depth exchange with Miguel on this issue. It was just a chicken-and-duck talk.

He then asked: "So, did you find anyone proficient in physics or mathematics in Haojing this time?"

"No." Miguel shook his head, "Actually, I don't quite understand what you want to do with such a person. It is of no use to us."

"Okay, maybe you are right." Lin Hai also knew that bringing in one or two physicists or mathematicians would not actually solve any problems.To cultivate the soil of science, we cannot just rely on bringing in talents. This is a very difficult task. At present, he is not qualified to expect it.

For now, skilled craftsmen like He Liangtao who are good at learning and creative are more valuable.

　For details on the spread of Western artillery science in the late Ming Dynasty, see Zheng Cheng, an expert on artillery in the Ming Dynasty, in his paper "Zhu Rong Zuoli Kao - The Origin of Western Artillery Works in the Late Ming Dynasty".

　　In addition, there is also a brief description of He Liangtao's life in this paper.Since there are few historical records left by him, Lao Zhu freely developed his life within the framework of historical records: he and Li Zhizao were both from Renhe County, Hangzhou, and Li Zhizao was a Catholic pioneer in Zhejiang, so Lao Zhu guessed that there was a high probability The two are somewhat related.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)