I, the Ming Dynasty, can still save me

Chapter 53 Iron Core Copper Body Cannon Casting Method

This artillery attack made people in the imperial city panic.

Zhu Youxiao didn't know or didn't care about its impact at this moment.

After seeing that the launch was successful, he took Xu Guangqi and others to the shooting range to observe the cannon before it was cleaned.

He led a group of people to the Hongyi cannon. The gunner had already retreated. Xu Guangqi stood beside Zhu Youxiao and began to explain to Zhu Youxiao.

"Your Majesty, this big Hongyi cannon is imitated by the Luzon bronze cannon cast by Marquis Taining last year. It weighs more than 3000 kilograms. The whole body of this cannon is made of copper. As you can see, it is very powerful."

Zhu Youxiao touched the cannon body. The cannon was indeed huge, three meters long. Since it had just been tested recently, there was still residual heat in the cannon body.

"This cannon is so big, I'm afraid it won't be easy to transport on the battlefield."

Seeing that Zhu Youxiao was very interested, Xu Guangqi immediately started to answer him.

"What your Majesty said is true. Although this cannon is powerful, it has three shortcomings:
First, copper is heavier than iron. This copper cannon weighs a lot after it is cast and is not easy to carry. Therefore, it can only be used to defend the city and cannot be used in field battles.

Secondly, if all-copper casting is adopted according to Western casting techniques, it will easily lead to the gun body having many pores and causing the barrel to explode easily.

Thirdly, although copper can be refined at a high capacity, there was little copper in the Ming Dynasty. The imperial court cast Tongbao, folk Buddha statues and other uses, resulting in high copper prices. If all copper was used to cast cannons, it would cost a lot. "

Xu Guangqi said that he understood that such a large size was indeed inconvenient for field operations.Copper is a raw material and is easy to cast, but copper is a scarce product and needs to be used in many places. The most important thing is that it costs money. Money is very scarce now, so save it if you can.

"How much does a copper cannon like this cost?"

"Based on raw materials, labor costs, losses, etc., a three-thousand-jin copper Hongyi cannon costs about 500 taels. Marquis Taining also participated in the production last year, so he should know it."

When Chen Liangbi heard this, he calculated in his mind that they were almost the same, and responded that the prices were about the same.

Zhu Youxiao murmured secretly in his heart and shook his head.

It's too expensive. Ten doors cost 5000 taels, and 20 doors cost [-] taels.The price somewhat dissuaded him.

"This is indeed expensive, and this is just a cannon. Now that Xu Aiqing has said so, is there any way to save money?"

Xu Guangqi did have this intention. To put it bluntly, it was just to show his achievements.

"Your Majesty, this copper cannon is indeed expensive, but it is completely cast according to Western methods.

If we use the Ming Dynasty cannon casting method, the cast cannon will be lighter, can be mounted on a gun carriage, and can be used in field battles. The cost can be reduced by [-]%, and it will not be easy to explode.Another Hongyi cannon was cast according to our Ming cannon casting method. "

Zhu Youxiao then turned his attention to the second Hongyi cannon. This Hongyi cannon looked slightly smaller and was installed on the gun mount, but its caliber was the same as the previous one, just not as thick.He touched it, and it still felt like a bronze cannon.

Xu Guangqi saw Zhu Youxiao's doubts and explained:
"Your Majesty, this Hongyi cannon is made using our Ming cannon-casting technique with iron core and copper body.

In this method, the iron tire is cast first, and then the bronze is cast, so that when the copper solidifies, it will compress the iron tire inside to strengthen the pressure resistance.Because only copper is used as the outer shell, it is cheaper and lighter than a pure copper cannon, more durable than a pure iron cannon, and less likely to explode. "

This iron core copper body composite layer artillery manufacturing technology can be said to be the world's top level.

It cleverly utilizes the melting point of copper, which is much lower than the physical properties of iron. After the iron tire is cooled, the mold is made by the clay casting method or the lost wax method, and the copper wall is cast.Compared with the previous iron or copper cannons, this new type of firearm not only has a thinner tube wall, is lighter in weight, less expensive, and more durable.Nowadays, the composite casting method actually exists in Europe, but their cast iron industry is far inferior to that of China. The quality of cast composite layer metal cannons is poor and they were quickly abandoned.

Therefore, today's Europe is still pure copper or pure iron cannons, and Portugal can only cast copper cannons, not iron cannons at all.

It was not until 1623, the third year of the Apocalypse, that the Governor of Macau, Francisco Mascarenhas, signed a contract with Chinese craftsmen to cast iron cannons. The Portuguese gradually learned the iron cannon casting technology with the help of Ming craftsmen.

Xu Guangqi's words made Zhu Youxiao couldn't help being surprised and surprised.

Xu Guangqi is indeed right. If it is true as he said, then the production method of iron core copper body should be applied on a large scale. In this case, the cost of Hongyi cannon can be reduced by 500%, from 650 taels to [-] taels.This made Zhu Youxiao, who was calculating the financial accounts, breathed a deep sigh of relief and felt more confident.

"That's okay. Just as you said, we will use this technology to manufacture. What is the current output of your Ordnance Bureau? How many doors can you produce in a month?"

Xu Guangqi looked troubled. This was actually a problem he was facing. Now the total number of craftsmen in the Ordnance Bureau is only 1000. He invited the cannon-casting masters together some time ago, and together with the blacksmiths, apprentices, helpers, etc., there are more than 100 people. , the efficiency is not high.

"Your Majesty, there are currently fewer cannon-casting masters in the Ordnance Bureau. Cannon-casting requires casting a mold first, followed by pouring, cooling, and polishing. The event cycle is one month.

There are now more than 100 workers in the Ordnance Bureau's cannon-casting workshop. If we only cast red barbarian cannons and worked in shifts, we could cast about 20 cannons in a month.But other items such as the Folan cannon may not be cast. "

Why are there so few gunsmiths in the Ordnance Bureau now?Zhu Youxiao asked Xu Guangqi with questions.

Xu Guangqi then told Zhu Youxiao about the current situation of the Ordnance Bureau. There were originally 3589 craftsmen, but now there are only 986 craftsmen, and the vacancy of craftsmen reaches [-]%.

Zhu Youxiao couldn't help but feel dumb.But he also knows that now is not the time to dwell on this. The problem now is how to increase the number of craftsmen and their efficiency.

"No matter what happens now, the production efficiency of the Hongyi cannon must be improved. What can you do, dear friends?"

Zhu Youxiao looked at the people behind him. Chen Liangbi and others could not think of any solution for the moment.

Wang Boyu and other eunuchs knew how to increase production. Wang Boyu secretly glanced at Liang Zhi, the eunuch of the Bingzhan Bureau.

There is a Gunpowder Department under the Bureau of War, which is responsible for the manufacture and storage of firearms. There are also craftsmen below who can cast guns and artillery.Now it's time to contribute and help build the Hongyi cannon.

Originally, Liang Zhi was not interested in Xu Guangqi's imitation of the Hongyi cannon. Yesterday, when he heard that he wanted to help him move the cannon into the imperial city, he was even more disgusted with Xu Guangqi. In the end, he had to do it under the pressure of Zhu Youxiao.

But after seeing the power of the test today, I was very excited about the development of the cannon. I immediately changed my attitude and wanted to participate in it and make a contribution, so I made a memorial.

"Long live Lord, I can help Mr. Xu. The war bureau that I'm in charge of also has craftsmen who can make blunderbuss, cannons and other firearms. Now that it's important for Lord Long live, I want to ask Lord Long live to order the war." The Bureau and the Ordnance Bureau jointly manufacture Hongyi cannons, and they can also cast more cannons to share the worries of the Ming Dynasty."

Sun Yuanhua's face showed annoyance as soon as he said this. Liang Zhi's purpose was too obvious. He didn't help during the development, but now he came to take credit.

Xu Guangqi looked calm. Hearing what Liang Zhi said, he didn't feel any dissatisfaction. Instead, he spoke in support.

"Your Majesty, Eunuch Chen's words make sense. Why don't we have craftsmen in both the Military War Bureau and the Ordnance Bureau? How about manufacturing them together to improve efficiency. It would also be good to cast the cannon as soon as possible."

　There is little data on the artillery casting cycle, so we can only estimate it.

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(End of this chapter)