My diary of transcendence from the heavens

Chapter 96 94. The First Firearms Manufacturing Factory, the arrival of an old friend

Zhao Xuanqi left Emperor Jingming's study and slowly walked out of the palace.

The sky was gloomy and depressing.

There are faint snowflakes falling.

Snowflakes are flying in the wind, all over the sky

He stretched out his hand and caught a piece of snowflake. It was a diamond-shaped snowflake. The moment it fell into his hand, it began to melt.

He said sadly: "It's snowing..."

Snowing.

That means severe cold is coming.

The snowflakes in the sky seem to symbolize that the country is about to usher in the cold winter. If it is not handled properly, the country may be destroyed in the bone-chilling cold of this winter.

But how easy is it to regain lost territory or protect the foundation of the Northern Wei Dynasty?

The only area that the imperial court can control currently is the area near Chang'an, and the world is full of rebellious officials and traitors.

Whether it is the army or the people, the imperial court is in a weak state. Anyone with some discernment can see that the imperial court has reached its limit and there is no hope of comeback.

When the wall falls, everyone pushes. At this moment, anyone can bully the imperial court. Everyone wants to be the pusher and reap some benefits.

"But I still have to try hard!"

Zhao Xuanqi's expression turned cold.

As the saying goes, God arranges the best.

But sometimes you are not satisfied with God’s arrangements, so you have to go against God’s will and change everything!
If the world doesn’t like it, then he insists on doing it!
Normally, there is really no chance of a comeback.

It is almost as good as rebuilding the country and starting over from scratch.

But he wasn't going to take the normal path.

Develop firearms and gunpowder!

The imperial court currently has so few troops, only tens of thousands of troops in the Chang'an City area. If you want to use cold weapons to conquer the world, it is simply a joke and there is no chance at all.

But firearms and gunpowder are different.

This kind of cross-era weapon is crushing in this era. Once you have sufficiently advanced firearms and gunpowder, you may not be able to regain the mountains and rivers.

Don’t you see that the 50-strong army of the Wandering Army is still being wiped out by the action of explosives?
With a goal, Zhao Xuanqi has motivation.

Next, he built a factory in the area north of the city.

The name of the factory is simple: No. [-] Firearms Manufacturing Factory!

Recruit all kinds of talents, find a large number of craftsmen and blacksmiths, and join the factory on a lifelong basis.

Basically, all the craftsmen in Chang'an City have been recruited by Zhao Xuanqi to join the factory!

As long as you enter the factory, you will be a member of the factory from now on. You will be a member of the factory in life and a ghost of the factory in death. Then you must stay in the factory for life, dedicate everything to the factory, and strictly adhere to the confidentiality system.

The welfare that Zhao Xuanqi gives them is also very high, which can ensure that their descendants have food and clothing, live and work in peace and contentment, and will give them a lot of money to ensure that they are well fed and clothed!

The task of the craftsmen is simple, that is to make muskets!
But in this mission, in addition to making matchlock guns, Zhao Xuanqi also arranged for them to make flintlock guns.

After all, the limitations of the matchlock gun are too great, the firing speed is slow, and the weather restrictions are very great. Once the weather is windy and rainy, it cannot be used, and the power is also inferior. It is okay to use it to defend the city, but if it is used to attack, then It's just not satisfactory.

The benefits of flintlock muskets are much greater and more stable. As long as a large number of flintlock muskets can be produced, the benefits to the army are self-evident, and they will not be affected even if they encounter bad weather while on an expedition.

In addition, another item cannot be left behind. Zhao Xuanqi also ordered another group of craftsmen to make bombs!

The explosive power of pure gunpowder is too small, so special configurations must be used to make them into powerful black powder!
Then find a way to batch-produce explosive packets, explosive bombs, and white phosphorus bombs!

Bombs are indispensable, and their role can often play a decisive role in victory. They are more oppressive, more deterrent, and more powerful than muskets.

In this ancient feudal world, the explosion of a bomb is often called a miracle. It can be called a dragon turning over. It can blow people to pieces in an instant. It can also crush the enemy's mind and make the enemy unable to resist!
When you look at the people next to you and explode for no apparent reason, when you look at all your friends dying unknown, this is a particularly terrifying thing!

All this has to be put on the agenda.

Only firearms can change everything!
Zhao Xuanqi knew that the production of all this would take time.

It takes a lot of time to complete the production. Start production now without wasting any time to prevent future crises.

Zhao Xuanqi's vision has grown a lot over the years, and he has a unique understanding of the general trend of the world. He can now smell an unusual smell from the stability of the world. It is obvious that a storm is coming!
In response, he slapped his head: "In addition to muskets and explosives, there is another very important thing that must be made!"

"This thing is simply the best weapon for attacking or defending a city!"

This thing is an artillery!

The function of artillery basically needs no introduction.

With one shot, no one can resist, and even a solid city wall or gate can be blasted with a hole.

It can also hit enemies from a distance.

If you use it properly, the enemy can't even see you, and you can bombard the enemy from a very long distance.

It is an absolutely absolute dimensionality reduction attack on bows and arrows.

The effectiveness of muskets is not one-tenth that of artillery.

Any enemy military formation, whether it is a shield formation or a heavy armored cavalry formation, is vulnerable to artillery. This is definitely a big killer!

And Zhao Xuanqi happened to know how to make artillery.

The manufacturing methods of artillery are nothing more than the mud film casting method and the paraffin wax manufacturing method.

In addition, there is a better method of iron mold casting.

The so-called clay mold casting method is to use extremely cooked clay to make a mold and then slowly dry it in the shade, or slowly bake it with charcoal fire. The mold making time is at least one month and up to three months, which is very time-consuming. .

Moreover, one mold cannot be reused. The most fatal point is that once the mold is not completely dry or the clay is not cooked, defective products will be cast.

The principle of lost wax cannon casting is to first fill the inner core of the cannon with a clay mold, then pull it out when it is dry, then apply beeswax on the clay mold layer by layer to form the model of the cannon, and then apply the clay mold on the outside to form the outer mold.

After the two layers of clay molds are completely dry and heated and baked, all the wax molds in the middle melt and disappear, and the entire casting model becomes an empty shell. Molten iron is poured into it, and the cannon is cast.

However, the lost wax cannon casting method can only be used in winter. When the temperature is high in spring, summer and autumn, the wax mold in the middle will melt before the clay mold dries.

Iron-cast cannons do not have these disadvantages.In September of the 20th year of Daoguang (1840), Yuqian, a native of the Xianghuang Banner of Mongolia and the governor of Liangjiang, established a cannon casting bureau in the provincial capital of ZJ. Jiaxing County Prime Minister Gong Zhenlin, Yuyao County Magistrate Wang Zhongyang, and Zhenhai Liangtai Chief Lu Ze were in charge of cannon casting.

Gong Zhenlin is proficient in Taixi algorithm and showed his talent before entering the artillery round.

When the British army invaded Zhoushan, Gong Zhenlin witnessed the ships in the British fleet, so he built a small human-powered ship based on his impression. After a successful trial in the lake, he built a large human-powered ship.

After entering the gun bureau, Gong Zhenlin felt that the traditional clay mold casting method was inefficient, time-consuming and labor-intensive. Not only was the clay mold discarded after use, but winter was approaching at that time, with continuous rain and snow, making it even more difficult to dry the clay mold.

So Gong Zhenlin came up with a once-and-for-all solution, which was to replace soil with iron, first use clay molds to make iron molds, and then use iron molds to cast cannons.The result was a huge success.

To put it simply, the iron mold casting method is as it sounds. The molds of the clay mold casting method are all made of mud and can only be used once. However, the iron mold invented by Gong Zhenlin can be reused, up to a hundred times, so it saves money. Time is spent on mold making, and the iron mold is much smoother than the clay mold. When the cannon is made, after the mold is removed, the cannon body will naturally be smooth and clean, and does not need to be modified.

The clay mold will stick to the cannon body. After the manufacturing is completed, craftsmen need to carefully chisel, wash and modify the cannon. The iron mold cannon greatly improves the efficiency of cannon casting!

Many novels that start from traveling to the late Ming Dynasty like to use this method in order to quickly equip the army.

Zhao Xuanqi could learn about this casting method from a novel that traveled through the late Ming Dynasty!
He especially liked historical novels, and he learned about the iron mold cannon casting method from reading novels, but he didn't expect that it could be used here.

Facts have proved that when people are free, they should read more novels and read more miscellaneous books, otherwise they will know nothing after traveling through time, which would be so embarrassing!
Soon, Zhao Xuanqi issued an order to order the best craftsmen to come out. Then he taught the craftsmen how to cast cannons with iron molds, and explained the specific details clearly.

Several masters nodded repeatedly.

After several masters left, Zhao Xuanqi sighed with satisfaction.

Fortunately, there is enough money!
You must know that the First Gun Foundry is privately produced by Zhao Xuanqi and is strictly confidential.

The fewer people who know about this kind of firearm, the better. Even Emperor Jingming cannot know about it.

This is Zhao Xuanqi's bottom line.

People are selfish. Although Zhao Xuanqi is willing to be loyal to Emperor Jingming, it does not mean that he will reveal all the details.

The factory was built with private investment, so naturally the money spent could not come from the imperial court; it was all paid by Zhao Xuanqi himself.

In the past, there really wasn't that much money.

However, Zhao Xuanqi is very wealthy now and has no shortage of money at all. All his money comes from [-]% of the property obtained from wealthy families.

Zhao Xuanqi handed over [-]% to the court, but he also kept [-]% for himself. This [-]% property was countless, and even if it was divided among his subordinates, it would be enough for him to use.

In addition, Zhao Xuanqi began to form the Forbidden Army!
There are not many young men near Chang'an City now, and it is basically impossible to recruit soldiers from ordinary people.

The Rogue Army revolted, and the people were seriously injured, and their houses were severely damaged. Every household was short of manpower, and it was really impossible to find men to join the army.

Fortunately, Zhao Xuanqi's prison held about [-] prodigal army bandits.

The 50-strong army was defeated, and it was impossible to kill them all. The Great Wall's manpower could not do it, so only the [-] defeated soldiers survived.

These soldiers have gone through the battlefield, and their combat effectiveness is actually quite strong. Transforming these soldiers into the Forbidden Army is actually the best choice.

In this way, Zhao Xuanqi exerted kindness and power on them. He first granted amnesty to the prodigal army and exempted them from the crime of treason. He put all the responsibilities on General Chongtian and pointed out that they were coerced.

Then they were given a piece of land, a house, and some money as a place to settle down.

The prodigal soldiers received amnesty and bowed their heads one after another.

I originally thought that I would definitely die and basically had no chance of survival. Unexpectedly, I was not only exempted from the culpability, but also received a house and land. This is simply a pie with a sky-high price!

Why were they coerced by the prodigal army?Wasn’t it because they had no home, no land, and no food? They really had no way to survive, so they started to revolt?
Now it's better, we have a house, we have land, we even have food!

If you are given a date, you must also give a stick.

Zhao Xuanqi's request is very simple, that is, they must join the Forbidden Army, make up for their mistakes and make contributions to the court, so that the court will not hold them accountable in the future.

As a result, the prodigal soldiers who became the Forbidden Army were eager to make great contributions to the court immediately because they were worried about being held accountable in the future!

With this method, Zhao Xuanqi completely gained the loyalty of the [-] forbidden troops.

Plus [-] royal guards.

There are also ten thousand Ziyun troops.

Zhao Xuanqi now has three armies in his hands and has become a veritable commander-in-chief of the three armies. He can also be regarded as a ruthless man with an army of fifty thousand.

Moreover, this [-]-strong army is not that kind of no-name army. They are all elite soldiers who have experienced battlefields. Their combat effectiveness is unimaginable.

After doing all this, the time has come to the end of December, and almost two months have passed.

Zhao Xuanqi only had a few days of free time to sleep.

In his sleep, Zhao Xuanqi dreamed of his wife and children far away in Ziyun County.

In her sleep, her wife blamed Zhao Xuanqi for being far away from home, causing the couple to be unable to see each other, and she kept making tearful accusations.

There are also children at home who constantly miss their father and call him father again and again.

When Zhao Xuanqi woke up, his heart was filled with mixed emotions.

You know, when he led the army to Chang'an, the family's youngest son had just been born. He was not even a full moon, and he hadn't even picked a name yet.

I am really not a competent father!

"I didn't expect that I would dream about my wife and children. Do I miss them? Or do they think of me?"

Tell me, who is thinking about whom among the people who appear in the dream?

Zhao Xuanqi thought for a while and finally came up with an answer.

"The body is romantic."

"Your body feels your longing, and helps you meet the person you miss day and night."

"It turns out I missed my wife and children..."

However, Ziyun County City and Chang'an City are far apart, and there is basically no chance of meeting them.

Zhao Xuanqi could not see his wife and children at all, nor could he see these missing relatives.

But in the afternoon, someone knocked on his door. When he opened the room, he saw an unexpected person.

The people you want to see can't be seen, but the people you don't want to see are here!

(End of this chapter)