Dawn of the Empire

Chapter 109 Sighing Your Suave Talent (4)

"What did you say?" Chunyu Zhen's face was bewildered, he rarely spoke in such a polite manner.

Zhao Xingde explained: "Cannons are military weapons, and the cannons you forged are even better than the imperial court. Aren't you afraid that the Ordnance Department will detain you, and you will never see the light of day again?"

Chun Yuzhen was taken aback, then smiled and said: "No, more than ten years ago, the iron barrel cannon cast by Li's iron factory was more than 100 catties lighter than the ordnance department's. Boss Li is still doing his business well. Using his know-how, the iron barrel cannon casted up to now is also paid to the apprentice according to the agreement." The apprentice Qian Naixia he mentioned has implemented the law for more than a hundred years, and the craftsman only needs to submit the craft know-how or invention innovation to the court. If you register, you can collect apprenticeship money from imitators in the whole Xia Kingdom within 20 years.This law has greatly stimulated the emergence and improvement of various strange skills, but the disadvantage is that it has increased the cost of goods.However, after a hundred years of accumulation, the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages.

Chunyu Zhen's eyes of conviction are proof that the laws of the Xia Kingdom are as strong as iron.

Zhao Xingde murmured for a while, then said slowly: "Mr. Chunyu, the method of casting the cannon you used is generally good, and it is extremely rare. What is lacking is only a subtlety. It would be a pity to give up. There is a way, maybe it can help you turn things around."

Just now he casually drew Chunyu Zhen's blueprint of the cannon mechanism, and pointed out the reason for his failure. Chunyu Zhen already believed that he was a master at it. Hearing Zhao Xingde's words, he immediately showed a look of excitement. Se' said: "Is it true? Please give advice, sir."

With his right hand, Zhao Xingde added a few more strokes to the pattern he just drew, and said in a deep voice: "The so-called overdoing is not enough, the iron mold and cold water both make the copper water solidify faster, maybe the problem lies in the word 'quick'. In my opinion, if you use flowing warm water to cool the inner wall of the gun bore, the effect may be slightly different from that of cold water. By the way," he remembered something, raised his head and asked, "I wonder if there are any utensils in this world that measure heat and cold?"

Chun Yuzhen immediately said: "Mr. is talking about the Yanliang instrument, but it does exist. It's just that it's expensive, and ordinary people don't need it, so it's not known to the world. When I forge an iron shop, I mainly look at the flames and the molten copper and iron." The color is used to control the heat, so I didn't buy it as a spare."

Zhao Xingde nodded, and said in a deep voice: "It is this thing. If the key to the failure of casting the cannon is the temperature of the cooling liquid, the heat of the flowing water used to cool the inner chamber will gradually increase. At the same time, the flowing water used to cool the outer wall The heat is gradually decreasing." He pointed to the device he added to wrap the iron mold on the outer wall, which is similar to the circulating water cooling pipeline on the inner wall.He thought for a while, and still said in a somewhat uncertain tone: "In this way, we can test the cooling water temperature that the cannon really needs. Recording it accurately with the heat meter you mentioned can greatly improve the success rate of the cannon casting. "

The blacksmith's experience mainly lies in the mastery of the heat. Chun Yuzhen can fully imagine the influence of heating or cooling temperature on the smelting and casting of copper and iron, but Zhao Xingde has not thought of a solution as thoroughly as Zhao Xingde.

Zhao Xingde rubbed his temples and said, "I hope the problem lies in the cooling. If it is the material formula, it will be difficult." Most of the material problems in this era can only be solved by trial and error, compared to solving the problem of cooling. The energy and time needed for the liquid' temperature problem do not know how many times larger.He paused, and then said to Chun Yuzhen: "Remember, you must record the temperature clearly with the Yanliang instrument every time, so as not to do useless efforts."

Chun Yuzhen's eyes revealed surprise, and he sighed: "I, Chun Yuzhen, used to think that my casting skills were unparalleled in the world, but after listening to Mr.'s teaching today, I realized that there are people outside people, and there is heaven in the sky." His expression instantly changed to Sadly, "In the past, I tried to cast bronze cannons indiscriminately, and I have already ruined my family property. The method of sir must be effective, but unfortunately, I can't try it now." After a long silence, he raised his head again, his eyes turned firm , said to Zhao Xingde, "When I revive my family business in the future, I will definitely try the method taught by my master."

Zhao Xingde sighed, moved by Chun Yuzhen's persistence, he glanced at his side, Li Ruoxue frowned slightly, as if he didn't think about it.Zhao Xingde pondered for a moment, made up his mind, and said to Chun Yuzhen: "I have little savings, and a drop in the bucket, so I will help you." After speaking, he took out the ten thousand guan jiaozi from his bosom, which was his Most of the property, but if you want to experiment with casting cannons, it is still hard to say that you can persist until success.

"How do you do this?" Chunyuzhen took Jiaozi to look at it, and was taken aback. Although he spent several times as much money on casting cannons, Zhao Xingde was able to teach him the secrets of casting just because of his one-sided relationship. , and the generosity of money to help each other is really unimaginable. He thought about it, and he really didn't let others plot anything, and he was even more grateful in his heart.The bitterness of being 'forced' by the creditor in the morning rushed to my heart, and I choked up, "Mr. Zhao is my second-born parent. I paid off the debt. This blacksmith shop is Mr. Zhao's."

Zhao Xingde originally wanted to help him complete the experiment of casting cannons, but who would have thought that Chun Yuzhen would have a wrong idea, thinking that it was to help him pay off his debts and keep his ancestral family property.He couldn't change his words, thinking that he would be a good person today, he shook his head and said, "I'm going to Dunhuang on business, your ancestral property should be taken care of by yourself." He paused, still feeling unwilling to do so The good casting skills were buried here, and he said, "When you turn around, you can try it according to the method I said. Casting copper cannons is too expensive, so start with cast iron cannons, first cast small ones, and then cast large ones." , so that the money can support a few more experiments.”

Chunyu Zhenxin said that I met a righteous man today, and it will not be too late to hand over the blacksmith shop to him after I run the blacksmith shop for a good life. The apprentice money for the casting device is naturally Mr. Zhao's, so he no longer insists on it, just respectfully Asked: "Can I know the name of benefactor?"

"My surname is Zhao Mingde." Zhao Xingde casually reported his alias in Xia Guo.

After Chun Yuzhen walked away, Zhao Xingde looked at Li Ruoxue, only to see that she also looked at him with wide eyes, as if she wanted to get to know the person in front of her again.

"Don't you think Yuan Zhi has something to say?" Li Ruoxue whispered.Zhao Xingde's actions greatly exceeded her expectations, as if he suddenly seemed very distant and strange.As for Yuan Zhi helping the craftsman with money, she felt that it was a matter of course for a gentleman to describe righteousness.

Zhao Xingde looked at her, and the atmosphere between the two became a little delicate, finally, he said, "Do you believe in past lives?"

Li Ruoxue was stunned for a moment, nodded, and after a moment of silence, she asked in a low voice: "On the Naihe Bridge, don't you drink Meng Po soup?"

Zhao Xingde smiled bitterly and said, "Maybe so." He said slowly, "I was a craftsman in my previous life, and what I said to Chunyu Zhen just now is something I remember from birth."

Li Ruoxue's eyes were slightly red, and her heart was a little bit bitter, she never thought that Zhao Xingde not only kept his skills from her, but even made up nonsense so sloppily.She originally thought that Chao Buzhi taught Zhao Xingde these miscellaneous arts and crafts in his spare time.She didn't refute, but continued to ask: "Then what do you remember, your wife from the previous life?" She unconsciously felt slightly worried.

Zhao Xingde hurriedly said: "Xiaosheng hasn't married a wife yet, even a daughter..." He paused, and said, "There is not even a woman who is good-looking."

Seeing his nervousness, Li Ruoxue felt a little sweetness in her heart, but she was still annoyed at his nonsense, and continued: "If you were a craftsman in your previous life, where was the workshop? Who is the master?" She secretly hated, calling You make up nonsense, continue to make up, are you the bald man who wrote the storybook?

Seeing her expression, Zhao Xingde guessed her thoughts, dumbfounded, but still felt that he should take this opportunity to explain something to Li Ruoxue, so he sorted out his long-buried memories, and said slowly: "I don't have a master." Li Ruoxue was about to refute, but he said again, "It can be said that there are many masters." The expression on his face seemed to be lost in memory, if it was pretending to be a ghost, it would be too realistic, Li Ruoxue frowned slightly , but now they are more worried about him.

"At that time, the imperial court wanted to build the largest iron factory in the world. Because of the high cost, they gathered all the domestic master craftsmen and set up a team. Starting from surveying the site and selecting the ore, the design process and craftsmanship were bit by bit. At that time, I was also at the same age as I am now, and I followed these master craftsmen every day, running all over the mountains and plains. It was at that time that I began to really understand the art of smelting."

Li Ruoxue looked at Zhao Xingde with some sympathy, and said in a low voice: "The days at that time were very hard."

Zhao Xingde nodded, and said with a slight smile: "Although it is hard, there are many rewards. Although there is no fixed master, but he remembers every bit of what he said in his heart, just like a beggar. Although he is tired, every mouthful of food It tastes delicious." With a look of nostalgia on his face, he suddenly said, "The construction of that steel factory has not started yet. I slept and dreamed one day, and when I woke up, it became the world. This is the first time I have told people about these things in my previous life."

Li Ruxue nodded, and said in a low voice: "If you say so, I'm afraid you will be regarded as a monster." She has also seen some foolish people who abandoned their newborn babies in the wild because of some abnormalities, but now they feel that Zhao Xingde has been hiding these past life events in his heart, not being able to tell outsiders, it is a very difficult pain to bear, and he is relieved to hide his little fault from him.

She pondered for a moment, then suddenly smiled, and said, "Zhuang Zhou dreamed of a butterfly, butterfly dreamed of Zhuang Zhou, maybe you are still in a dream now." After a pause, she murmured again, "It's strange, there are Sometimes I also feel that today’s events seem to have been done before, but it is always after the passage that I will feel familiar, do you think this is destiny?"

"It is fate that we are together." Zhao Xingde held her hands, feeling so warm and real.The busy young assistant in the expert team of the Southern Steel Mill project was once again deeply buried in his distant memory.