Chastity Layman

  Chapter 656 Divine Machine Camp

  Eastern Palace.

   Shangyuan Festival.

   Dongfeng puts flowers and thousands of trees at night, and fishes and dragons dance all night.

  The people of Chang'an saw for the first time what is called the fiery trees and silver flowers, the brilliant silver flowers, and the loud firecrackers, which bloomed in front of the East Palace of Chang'an City for the first time.

  On the top of the south gate of the East Palace, Prince Chengqian and a group of officials of the East Palace watched the fireworks on the city. In front of the palace gate, there were countless Chang'an people, as well as those who came to Beijing from other places, witnessing this moment of history together.

   "Teacher, I didn't expect the fireworks to be so gorgeous!"

  The beauty of fireworks is really fascinating.

  Qin Lang smiled slightly. This is just a by-product of the firearms supervision he secretly led. Fireworks and firecrackers are gadgets after researching firearms. Qin Lang specially provided the research direction and asked the craftsmen to produce them as gifts to the emperor. It is also an important part of Qin Lang Firearms Supervision's self-sufficiency plan. It produces civilian gadgets such as fireworks and firecrackers, and makes money from sales to feed back the research and manufacture of firearms for military use.

   So far, the effect is good.

  At least when the fireworks came out, the entire Chang'an people were shocked, and the crowds were empty.

  Countless people from Chang'an were rushing towards the gate of the East Palace. Those who couldn't get close all looked up at the sky together.

   "The sound of firecrackers removes the old year, and the spring breeze brings warmth into Tusu!"

  Fireworks added a touch of mystery to Chang'an, especially in the eyes of those foreign envoys, Chang'an became more and more colorful.

  Yu Zhining, Du Zhenglun and other Eastern Palace officials who had been reinstated, looked at Qin Lang's new gadgets in silence.

  Seeing Chengqian's excitement, Yu Zhining couldn't hold back after all, and stepped forward to remonstrate.

  Qin Lang chuckled, "Master Yu, today is the Lantern Festival, a day of great joy, the sage ordered to have fun with the people, why is that so?"

  Yu Zhining looked at Qin Lang, "Playthings that lose their ambitions, what is there to show off so much?"

"Why is Yu Gong so prejudiced? How can this be a magical thing? I can tell you that this is a weapon of the country. Do you know what is behind these beautiful fireworks? Let me tell you, it is war The sharp weapon is the Divine Soldier for Protecting the Nation."

   "Absurd, the alchemy technique of Taoist alchemy, how can there be the theory of protecting the country? I only see luxury and ostentation..."

Qin Lang pointed to the fireworks and said, "Everything has a good side and a bad side. Just like a sword, it can kill or save people. It depends on how the user uses it. You can say that fireworks are a luxury. It is a strange thing, but in fact it also has a ferocious side, it can fly into the sky and bloom gorgeously, and it can also wipe out a city of ten miles in an instant!"

  Yu Zhining would not believe such nonsense.

  Qin Lang just smiled, "Yu Gong, during the Spring and Autumn Period, a hundred schools of thought contended, and some were not only Confucianism, but also a hundred schools of thought, and governing the country is not just Confucianism!"

   Wei Zheng, who inspected the principal Zhan Shi, turned his head, "What Sanlang said just now, is it true?"

   "Am I the type to talk big?"

   "As the prime minister of the court, why doesn't Wei know anything about it? Is there something concealed here, why didn't he inform the Zhengshitang?"

   "This is top secret."

   "Since it is a top secret, why do you have to tell it in public? Isn't it a deliberate leak? And even if it is a top secret, how can there be a top secret that is kept from the prime minister?" Wei Zheng was aggressive.

  This old man, whenever he finds some problems, he will get to the bottom of it.

  Qin Lang just laughed, and then ignored him. Wei Zheng was still asking questions, but Qin Lang began to treat him as air and talked with Cheng Qian.

   "The truth wants to impeach you!"

  Qin Lang hehe.

  The Firearms Supervision is indeed a top secret. At present, only the emperor knows about it. The Minister of War knows about it.

The entire Firearms Supervision has been secretly set up in the Zhongnan Mountains of the Qinling Mountains. Qin Lang also specially asked the Son of Heaven to secretly dispatch soldiers and horses, and set up a Shenji Battalion under the Baiqi Division. In fact, it was always under the command of Qin Lang, the emperor directly under.

This 3,000-person Shenji Battalion has compiled the Shenwei Artillery Battalion, Shenji Gun Battalion, and Shenyong Rocket Battalion. After several years of secret research and development, it has improved a powerful gunpowder formula and developed a gunpowder formula based on it. Series of firearms.

Guided by Qin Lang, the Firearms Supervision has secretly gathered a large number of skilled craftsmen, especially many alchemy priests who were forced to return to vulgarity because of the imperial court's elimination of Buddhism and suppression of Taoism. , but it does have a certain level of chemistry.

   They can be regarded as experts in this field in this era, although they are tossing things such as lead, mercury and sulfur to refine elixir.

With Qin Lang's guidance, although it is impossible to make things like the Hongyi Cannon for a while, it is still possible to make things like rockets, thunderbolts, thunderbolt cannons, fireballs, caltrop cannons, poisonous smoke balls, land mines, etc. not difficult.

The Thunderbolt Cannon is an explosive projected by a catapult. There are many versions. The simple one is a paper shell, filled with broken iron and gunpowder, etc., while the powerful one is a cast iron shell, which is ignited and thrown out. It can be thrown high and far, and it can explode, as loud as a thunderbolt, and has good lethality.

  The disadvantage is that the material of the fuse is not strong enough, and the explosion time is more difficult to control. Either it explodes in the air, or it does not go off until a long time after landing, but as a firearm weapon, it is still epoch-making after all.

Zhentianlei is equivalent to a lighter version of the Thunderbolt Cannon. In fact, it is a hand-throwing weapon, ignited, and then thrown out. The weight is only about two catties. Limited by its size, its power is much smaller. It also has a detonation time that is difficult to control. Shortcomings.

  As for the rocket, a small gunpowder cartridge is tied to the arrow, and after the fuse is ignited, it is released with a bow, which has a boosting effect and can make the arrow shoot farther, but the disadvantage is that it affects the accuracy.

However, the enhanced version of the Hundred Tigers Ben rocket is a bazooka. The largest one is filled with hundreds of them at a time. It does not need a bow and crossbow to launch. It is directly ignited and launched with gunpowder. Hundreds of arrows are fired at once, and it also comes with pyrotechnic effects. The momentum is scary, but the disadvantages are also It is not accurate, but it is still very useful when dealing with densely packed enemies in front of the two armies.

   Of course, there are also simple versions, ranging from three to five arrows to ten or twenty.

There is also a fire dragon that has only one rocket but has been strengthened. It is specially equipped on the ship and has multi-stage rocket boosters to achieve the effect of increasing the range. It can drive extra-large rockets and shoot super long distances. To attack enemy ships, the disadvantage is still accuracy.

  The poisonous smoke fireball, in addition to gunpowder, has added other drugs that can produce smoke and poisonous gas. After being thrown by a catapult or hand, it can release a large amount of toxic smoke.

Of course, firearms inspectors also use fierce fire oil, that is, found natural oil for combustion, and use copper to make oil storage tanks, and then install copper pipes to communicate with the cave cabinets. It is loaded with gunpowder, and when used, ignite the gunpowder with a red-hot caulking cone, and then pull the pump vigorously to spray fire forward.

   This thing is actually the water pump used to put out fires in Chang'an City. The found stone fat water (oil) is replaced with water, and a gunpowder device is added, so it becomes a flamethrower.

This thing is used to defend the city and burn the enemy's siege equipment, or to burn the enemy's ship during a water battle, or to place it in front of the army to resist the attacking enemy. rare.

  Petroleum was discovered as early as the Southern and Northern Dynasties and used for fire attacks in wars. Many places in Guanzhong have this kind of natural oil, but this kind of natural spewing out is still relatively small.

   Besides these gunpowder weapons, there are of course real cannons and muskets. Made of copper, weighing thirty-six catties each, the portable Shenwei cannon is actually an improved version of the simplest bowl-mouth cannon, somewhat similar to the tiger crouching cannon of the Ming Dynasty.

   Seven iron hoops were added to the gun body, and the gun head was erected by two iron claws. When the gun was fired, the gun body had to be fixed to the ground.

It can shoot hundreds of small coppers or pebbles each time, with thirty-two heavy lead bullets or large stone bullets on the top of the mouth. When firing, the sound is like thunder, and the large and small bullets are ejected. . It is more suitable for field battles, and it is the most lethal against dense formations.

This kind of cannon can be made of copper or iron. In fact, it is similar to the enlarged version of the Huomen gun. Compared with the primary version of the cannon in history, the bowl-mouth cannon is advanced in that the bowl-mouth muzzle is short and the body is weak. The shot is not far and the power is not strong. This kind of tiger squatting gun has a thin and long barrel, which can increase its power.

   But in the final analysis, it is a relatively primitive artillery after all. In essence, it is actually a kind of mortar, which mainly uses curved fire, and it is still a shotgun, or a muzzle and a smoothbore.

It's just that due to the front loading, it can be fired at a high elevation angle. With a barrel of more than two feet long, the barrel wall cannot be made too thick, and the range is not too far. However, compared with the more bulky catapult, this kind of The little guy who was renamed Shenwei Pao by Qin Lang because of avoiding taboo tigers, had already left Li Shimin stunned and astonished.

  Small and light, it can shoot at large angles, and even sweep a large area. It is suitable for combat under various conditions, and it is easy to carry. It can even be carried by one person, and it is good for attacking cities and fortresses, and even field battles.

The firearms supervisor has also been studying the general cannon drawn by Qin Lang, which is actually the Hongyi cannon. This kind of cannon is more than one foot long and weighs more than two thousand catties. The barrel is long, the wall is thick, and the caliber is large. Qin Lang didn't know the detailed data of the front-mounted smoothbore cannon, so he could only draw a rough outline.

   But to actually make it, it needs the power of a cannon, but it is not easy.

A real Hongyi cannon must be optimized in all aspects of data. Every detail, such as the thickness of the cannon body, the length of the barrel, etc., must go through countless experiments and demonstrations. .

In fact, it was not easy. Anyway, although Qin Lang gave advice to the Military Weapons Superintendent, he also failed countless times. In the end, he failed, so he could only shrink the size and make it into a large firecracker. A muzzle-loading muzzle rifle.

In terms of materials, Qin Lang proposed to use copper, but Datang didn’t even have enough copper to cast coins. How could there be so much copper to cast a cannon that would cost two to three thousand catties. They wanted to use iron, but iron was easy to explode. It is also prone to pores and has a short lifespan.

As for a cannon that can move two to three thousand catties, casting and processing is really not easy. Up to now, the firearms supervisor has not been able to make a decent cannon. First cast the tiger crouching cannon that has achieved some results.

  And the reduced version of the artillery: the fire gun, the fire door gun and the enhanced version of the three-eyed gun, and the short gun.

These muskets are extremely simple and rough, with a barrel made of cast copper or wrought iron, and a fire door at the lower end of the barrel to ignite the gunpowder. When the shooter holds, aims and controls, gunpowder is loaded from the chamber of the gun, and then projectiles such as stone bullets or lead bullets are inserted, and then the gunpowder is ignited with a matchlock to shoot out the projectiles.

This kind of crude fire door gun is usually caught in the armpit to shoot. The disadvantage is that it is not accurate, the range is not far, and it is afraid of wind and rain. Of course, if it has some advantages, it can make a lot of noise. Although the shooting range is poor and the accuracy is poor, if it hits, it can penetrate even the iron armor, which is very powerful.

In addition, after shooting, if it is too late to reload, you can also directly pick up the musket and get close to the body. It can be used as an iron bone, and even a short sword can be inserted into the muzzle to become another weapon. A spear was used.

  The three-eyed blunderbuss is shorter, with three barrels, and can shoot three times. Knights can also use it as a spare blunt weapon, as a mace.

  In general, although there are many unsatisfactory shortcomings, these gadgets also have obvious advantages, that is, they are very powerful when hit.

  Especially the successful development of the matchlock, which makes it more convenient to use. You don’t need to use charcoal or a soldering iron to ignite the fire, and the matchlock is not afraid of the wind.

  In order to make these muskets a truly powerful weapon, Qin Lang hopes to develop a matchlock gun and add an ignition device.

Instead of directly inserting the barrel on the spear, the barrel is changed to be mounted on the gun drag, and instead of being clamped under the armpit in the past to fire or stand on the ground, it is changed to be held in the hand, which is easier to aim and shortens the length. Make a metal hook, one end of the hook is fixed on the gun, and can rotate around the axis, and the other end holds the burning matchlock. When firing, push the metal hook into the fire door by hand, so that the matchlock ignites the gunpowder, and then loads the gun. The projectile in the chamber is fired.

  In this way, after pressing the metal hook into the fire door, the gunner can hold the gun with one or both hands, and keep his eyes on the target. The improved matchlock gun design shortened the spear shaft, but lengthened the barrel. The long barrel can increase the range to a hundred steps, greatly increase the lethality, and even improve the accuracy a lot.

  However, the longer barrel makes it more difficult to cast. Although it is a smooth-bore muzzle-loading gun without rifling, the barrel can only be drilled instead of cast. Casting is easy to blow the chamber, etc.

   Compared with the three-eye blunderbuss with a shorter barrel, the firing device also adds trouble to manufacture. Although the firing device is small and simple, it is not easy to manufacture.

  Especially a good weapon, especially an individual weapon, must be mass-produced quickly and at low cost, otherwise it will be cost-effective and cannot be used on the battlefield on a large scale, and it will lose its vitality.

   Firearms monitors are now purely using manual drilling technology. The barrels of arquebus guns cannot be mass-produced at all, unless a lathe for drilling the gun bores can be manufactured first to achieve mass production.

   Otherwise, you can only make some handcrafts.

  (end of this chapter)