The legend of the king of crossing

Chapter 20 Gunpowder Division

As for firearms, as a traverser, they will attach great importance to them.

Anyone with a little knowledge of history knows that in the last years of the Qing Dynasty, hundreds of foreign gunmen from the Eight-Power Allied Forces were able to defeat tens of thousands of Qing soldiers. Really vulnerable to guns.

The great man once said that political power grows out of the barrel of a gun. Whoever has a gun in his hand can have the right to speak. I am also determined to win the research and development of firearms.

At the end of the Southern Song Dynasty, China's technology was definitely leading the world.However, just a few decades later, Europe began to rise. In the [-]th and [-]th centuries, with the vigorous development of the European Renaissance, its science and technology also developed rapidly. But it gradually sank, so that it was bullied by a small island country for eight years.

After the four major inventions, a series of major inventions in the world almost no longer have us.In addition to the conservative thinking of those in power, ancient scientists also had a fatal weakness, that is, knowing it but not knowing why. For example, Shen Kuo, a great scientist in the Song Dynasty, knew about the phenomenon of magnetism long ago, but did not further study why such a phenomenon occurred. This directly led to the failure of many ancient inventions to continue well, let alone apply them.

Creation and invention are the strengths of every nation. Without or less of them, they will become insignificant, insignificant, vulnerable, and eventually passively beaten.

The glorious history of the past is not equal to the present glory, and I want to continue this glory.

Gunpowder is one of the four great inventions of our country. The research on gunpowder started from the alchemy of Taoism in ancient times. By mistake, they failed to practice the elixir of immortality, but they invented gunpowder by chance. This kind of medicine is made of sulfur and charcoal , The mixture formed by saltpeter finally changed the cold weapon era for thousands of years.

The earliest firearms also appeared at this time, but the body of the gun was made of bamboo tubes, which could not be used in actual combat at all.However, the steel production in the Southern Song Dynasty was already very large, and I am very confident that the invention of muskets will be advanced.

The Weapons Supervision belongs to the Ministry of War, and its original location is also the office of the Ministry of War. In the early years when Jia Sidao served as the Military Supervision concurrently, he moved away from the Ministry of War and found a separate house nearby.

Three years ago, there was an explosion in the Gunpowder Department under the Weapons Supervision, and the Gunpowder Department was moved to the relatively remote Lin'an South Gate, under Luoshi Mountain. In addition, the North and South Squares were in the suburbs. The location of the Weapons Supervision was divided into three. I want The place to watch the fireworks is just outside the south gate.

The Gunpowder Department consists of Gunpowder Workshop, Firearms Workshop and Firework Workshop. This Firework Workshop was set up by Jia Sidao for the benefit of Emperor Lizong, and it specially produces fireworks for the royal family and dignitaries.

Get out of the south gate, go straight to the road to Fuzhou, turn right for about five li and you will see Luoshi Mountain.

This time I am no longer a private visit in Weifu. In addition to Yuan Ji, Xiao Qi, Wen Tianxiang and others, there is also a team of a hundred people led by Shen Mo, the deputy commander of the imperial guards. The wind was fluttering, and there was a lot of fanfare along the way, but it seemed mighty.

"Your Majesty, there is a large amount of gunpowder stored here, it's better not to go in. After I take out the fireworks, Your Majesty will set them off in this open space." Wen Tianxiang persuaded again when he was approaching the Gunpowder Department.

"Song Rui don't have to worry, I've already arrived at the door, there's no reason not to go in." I smiled and called, "Shen Mo."

"Subordinates are here."

"Take some people to look around, and the rest will guard at the door." After speaking, I walked forward with Yuan Ji and others.

Chen Dongping, the head of the Gunpowder Department, had already received an order from Wen Tianxiang, the new weapon supervisor, and greeted him at the door with the steward of Sanfang.

"See the emperor, long live my emperor, long live, long live." Chen Dongping knelt down and worshiped with the people who greeted him.

"Be flat."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

"Master Chen, lead the way ahead, I will go to Sanfang first to have a look."

Although the Song Dynasty was still in the era of cold weapons, gunpowder has gradually been widely used. The gunpowder technology of the Southern Song Dynasty was still ahead of the world at that time. If it were not for the conservative Yuan Dynasty, the history of this musket might be advanced. In addition, the Ming and Qing dynasties also It also didn't pay attention to the development of firearms, otherwise, our country's ordnance technology would not have been lagging behind Europe and the United States.

The Gunpowder Department located in the suburbs occupies a large area, especially the Gunpowder Workshop.I stayed in Gunpowder Workshop and Firearms Workshop for a long time, and from time to time I talked about this and that with the masters in the two workshops, but these people had never seen the emperor in person, and they were almost too nervous to speak. , I have a general understanding of the gunpowder firearms of this era.

The gunpowder workshop is full of packaged detonators and finished gunpowder. These items are neatly stacked, and there is a large water tank filled with water every now and then. It seems that Mr. Chen has also put a lot of effort into safety.

There are many cannons in the firearms shop. I noticed that there are at least ten kinds of cannons, including single-bore cannons, double-bore cannons, five-firing cannons, seven-firing cannons, tiger crouching cannons, column-belly cannons, whirlwind cannons, and combined cannons. However, these so-called cannons are similar, they can only shoot stones, and perhaps it is more appropriate to call them stone launchers.As early as the Renzong period of the Song Dynasty, there were detailed records in the "Wu Jing Zong Yao" edited by Zeng Gongliang and others for five years, but it was not further improved afterwards. This book existed in the imperial study of Ninggan Palace. I just browsed briefly, and it seems that I have to study it carefully after I go back.In a corner of the firearms workshop, I finally found a mutilated "gun".

As for the firework workshop, I just took a cursory glance, which made Wen Tianxiang and others who knew that I was here to see the fireworks puzzled.

Back in Director Chen's office, I took out the musket I found in the Huoqifang from Xiao Qi's hand and said, "Director Chen, who made this musket?" Gun barrel, gunpowder, projectiles, although the barrel is still a bamboo tube, it has the prototype of a modern gun.

"Return to the emperor, this is made by Master Yunyue, the former steward of the weapon workshop, Shouchun."

"The original manager? What about the others?" I asked hastily.

"Your Majesty, Master Yunyue died in an explosion three years ago."

"Ah, tell me quickly, what's going on?" I heard Wen Tianxiang mention the explosion on the way here, but I didn't expect to kill a firearms master, and my expression darkened.

Seeing that I was in a hurry, Chen Dongping quickly pointed to a steward next to him and said, "Your Majesty, this is Peng Chong, a disciple of Master Yunyue, who is currently the steward of the Firearms Workshop. Let him tell the majesty about the situation at that time."

The masters of the weapon supervisor are divided into masters, middle teachers and junior teachers according to their abilities, which are equivalent to modern chief engineers, senior engineers and engineers. Yunyue and Peng Chong are the masters and middle teachers of the firearms workshop. After Yunyue, the firearms workshop There is no longer a master.

The steward named Peng Chong stammered a little nervously: "Your Majesty, three, three years ago, my subordinates, I..." I knew that Peng Chong was extremely nervous, so he calmed down a little and said, "Steward Peng, don't be nervous. , take a sip of water, and speak slowly."

Seeing that my expression became gentle, Peng Chong calmed down, took a sip of water, and said, "Back to the emperor, three years ago, the master said that he found a way to improve the assault rifle to be used by one person, and can shoot broken iron On that day, the master fused gunpowder and iron fragments into projectiles. Unexpectedly, when firing, the bamboo tube burst. It caused a series of explosions, and the master was also killed by the gunpowder on the spot. The master made a total of two at that time, one of which was blown up on the spot, and only this one was left incomplete."

"Then, you should also know this method." I secretly said with hope.

"Go back to the emperor, the subordinates will not."

I sighed, speechless for a while, with a look of disappointment on my face.