I, the Ming Dynasty, can still save me

Chapter 52 Artillery Test Fire
After Niao Gun learned about it, under the guidance of Chen Liangbi, Xu Guangqi and others, he started to play with the improved model of Niao Gun, "Lumi Gun".

Lumi gun is actually a kind of bird gun.It was made after Zhao Shizhen, a firearms expert in the Ming Dynasty, asked the Rumi (Ottoman) envoys about the structure and production methods of Rumi's muskets.

Compared with the bird gun, the Lumi gun has a longer barrel, about 2 meters, and a long range. The effective range is about 150 meters. It is also equipped with a bayonet, which can be used for close combat. It is equipped with more equipment in the Beijing camp.

After reading it, Zhu Youxiao felt that Ming Dynasty firearms were not weak. Although they were not world-leading, they followed the world's mainstream.But he couldn't help but have a question. What was being tested now were all matchlock guns. He remembered that someone had already invented the flintlock gun in the late Ming Dynasty.

"I think these firearms are very powerful, but I have a question. Since bird guns, Rumi guns, etc. are all made of matchsticks to ignite the gunpowder, if it is a hazy and rainy day and the matchstick fails to ignite or is extinguished in the rain, wouldn't it delay the war opportunity?

Do you think it would be possible to mount a flint on the musket and start the fire by striking the flint instead of a matchlock? "

The emperor's words pointed out the weakness of the matchlock, and it was a more precise and effective method to replace the matchlock by striking flint.

In fact, Europe invented the flintlock gun as early as 1547 and began to field troops. During the Chongzhen period of the Ming Dynasty, someone also developed a flintlock gun, but the Ming Dynasty perished before it had time to equip it.

Hearing the emperor's doubts, Xu Guangqi, who was more familiar with the West, was the first to react. Then he was frustrated by Sun Yuanhua behind him, who stepped forward to answer. After understanding, Sun Yuanhua calmly bowed to the emperor and said:
"Your Majesty, this method is very wonderful. I once heard the teacher mention that there is a kind of self-generating fire gun in the West. It uses flint to ignite the fire. It overcomes the weakness of the match rope that is afraid of wind and rain. The West can make it, and we, the Ming Dynasty, can also make it."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Youxiao looked over in confusion and saw a man with plump cheeks and sagging skin bowing behind Xu Guangqi and answering.

"Well, the last sentence is well said. Since it exists in the West, it can also exist in the Ming Dynasty. Who are you? Why have I never seen you?"

Xu Guangqi saw Zhu Youxiao asking. He knew that his student was very accomplished in firearms, and he was willing to give him a chance to show off. Seeing the emperor's attention, he spoke up for Sun Yuanhua to resolve the issue.

"Your Majesty, this is Jiangdong Sun Yuanhua, my student. He has been learning Western firearms techniques from me and has great experience in firearms. He is currently working as an errand in the Ordnance Bureau, and he has contributed a lot to my casting of Hongyi cannons."

Sun Yuanhua, this person is famous, Zhu Youxiao has heard of it in later generations, he is a famous Western artillery expert.During the Chongzhen period, he spent a lot of money to hire the Portuguese to build a Western firearms force.

Unfortunately, during the process of aiding the Liao Dynasty, due to heavy rain and snow in the spring, the troops lacked supplies and stole a chicken. They were humiliated by the local landlord. The troops could not bear the humiliation and the "Wuqiao Mutiny" broke out. They defected to Hou Jin and led Huang Taiji. Here comes the coveted firearms unit.Later Sun Yuanhua was also sentenced to death by Emperor Chongzhen.

But Zhu Youxiao understood that the matter had nothing to do with Sun Yuanhua.On the contrary, now that we have discovered such a valuable talent, we must be very important.

Sun Yuanhua looked at the emperor who was slightly silent, and secretly wondered if he had exceeded the rules and displeased the emperor, and he couldn't help feeling frightened.

"Since he is Xu Aiqing's student, I can trust him. Sun Aiqing just said that Ming Dynasty can make his own firecrackers, and I deeply agree with him.

Since you are proficient in firearms, I will give you a job. It will be your responsibility to develop a self-generated fire gun. If you can successfully develop it, I will reward you heavily. "

Sun Yuanhua was overjoyed when he heard this.

"Thank you, Your Majesty. I will definitely live up to His Majesty's instructions."

Zhu Youxiao also believed that Sun Yuanhua would definitely live up to his trust, work slowly, and use him again in the future.

The matter was settled, Zhu Youxiao asked and played with other firearms for a while. After a while, news came from the shooting range that the preparations were complete, and as long as the emperor gave the order, the test firing could be carried out.

Upon hearing the news, Colonel Zhu You lost interest in inspecting these small firearms and immediately gave orders.

"Okay, prepare for test firing."

The eunuch who delivered the message quickly ran to the shooting range to deliver the order.

There are two red cannons, one big and one small.The larger one is a bronze cannon developed after the Luzon General Cannon. It is heavier and easier to manufacture, but difficult to transport.

The second small one was cast by Xu Guangqi, at Sun Yuanhua's suggestion, using the Ordnance Bureau's original cannon casting technology and the iron core and copper body composite process, making it lighter in size.

When the test-firing gunner received the order, he began to load the gunpowder shells. According to the rules of the Ming Dynasty artillery test-firing, double the amount of ammunition was required, that is, double the gunpowder and double the projectiles.However, due to the slightly rough casting process and the large number of pores in the barrel, it is very easy to explode the barrel when the ammunition is doubled.

But today's test firing, the gunner did not dare to mess with this moth, just enough ammunition.

After fixing the cannon, the gunner first puts half the amount of gunpowder into the barrel and fires it once or twice to warm up the barrel. Then he puts the projectiles and gunpowder into the barrel in turn, plugs in the lead, and is ready for alignment. target, light the fuse.

"Boom" and "boom" twice.
Zhu Youxiao was also watching the gunner's movements on the platform. Not long after the fuse was lit, the two artillery made two loud noises, and bursts of white smoke came out from the muzzle. The target position three miles away was faintly visible and exploded. Open a slice.

After a while, the target position was reported, saying that it had been hit.

After Zhu Youxiao watched the entire firing process, he was very satisfied with the test results of the cannon. "Caliber is justice." I am honest.

The caliber of the red cannon is much larger than that of the Franco machine cannon, and its power is far greater than that of the Franco machine cannon. This can be heard from the sound.

In Wenyuan Pavilion, about two or three miles southwest of Li Cao Lan, Liu Yishen, Han Xu, and Shen Guan were still carefully arranging the inscriptions, completely unaware of the "earth-shaking" battle on the grass.

Donglin and the Qi Chu Zhe Party have their own opinions on how to increase revenue and reduce expenditure, and they have also had their own confrontations in the question books in the past few days, but the real competition will depend on the performance of the imperial edict the day after tomorrow.

But Liu Yishen didn't want to argue with each other one day, so he wanted Han Xu and Shen Guan to sort out the suggestions in the question book in advance so that they could compile and report to Zhu Youxiao.

At this moment, two loud "boom" sounds came from the northwest.

"what sound?"

After hearing this, Liu Yishen immediately stood up and said confused and panicked. Han Xu and Shen Guan were also confused.

"This looks like the sound of gunfire."

Shen Guan was the first to react.Then the three of them left Wenyuan Pavilion and found the scribe outside to inquire about the situation.

"My subordinates don't know, but the sound seems to be the sound of cannons, and it should be coming from the horse paddock."

The scribe didn't know the reason, so he just expressed his guess.

Liu Yishen and others were worried when they heard this. The Royal Horse Supervisor was in charge of the Imperial Guards, and the sound of cannons coming from there could mean rebellion.

But now they didn't know what was going on, so they quickly sent someone to ask for Wang An. They also went to Qianqing Palace in person to see if anything happened to the emperor. At the same time, they asked someone to go to Licaolanchang to find out what was going on.

　I want to change the name of Hongyi Cannon. Do you have any suggestions?

　　Please vote for me, please read, and please comment!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)