Warring States Eagle

What Zheng Liang wanted to talk about was the lost-wax casting method.

The principle of the so-called lost wax casting method is to inject paraffin into the model first, and then get the same paraffin wax investment pattern as the required casting after taking off the model; repeat the process of dipping refractory coating and sprinkling refractory sand on the investment pattern, hardening the mold shell and drying; Then melt the internal investment pattern to obtain the cavity; roast the shell to obtain sufficient strength and burn off the remaining investment material; pour the required metal material; solidify and cool, and remove the sand after shelling to obtain high-quality Finished product with precision.

According to Zhengliang's memory, the Ming Dynasty should already have this kind of technology.Of course, for the current craftsmen of the Luo family, it is indeed a brand new casting method.After hearing Zhengliang's introduction.All the artisans present, including Liu Ye and Ander, began to think carefully.

Seeing this, Zheng Liang smiled.With the current technical level of Luo's family, it will take a period of hard work to realize this kind of casting technology.Therefore, in order to speed up the exploration, Zheng Liang decided to spend a high price to ask Wang Hai, Zuo Moyang, You Jianxia and others to help obtain this kind of technology or craftsman from the Ming Dynasty, and also need to buy a large amount of paraffin.

Paraffin wax is a product of petroleum, and raw materials cannot be obtained locally in Japan, so it can only rely on imports at present.And Zhengliang is also ready to bleed for it.

Why did Zheng Liang decide to import a large amount of paraffin?In addition to exploring the previous lost-wax casting method, there is another important reason, that is, Zhengliang is planning to promote the custom-packed gunpowder method.

During the inspection, Zheng Liang had already discovered a problem, that is, the gunpowder equipped with these matchlock guns was all powdered gunpowder.As a result, the composition of the gunpowder is uneven.Seriously affected the performance of gunpowder.Naturally, it also affected the power of the musket.

There is no smokeless gunpowder in this era, but as long as black powder is made into granular gunpowder, its power is quite considerable. From this point of view, these craftsmen who made gunpowder either cut corners or did not master the production method of granular gunpowder at all.

In addition, the gunpowder of Iron Gunners is now packed in bamboo tubes of different sizes. Many inexperienced people can easily load too much or too little when charging the gunpowder.The quality of loading cannot be guaranteed at all, and it also affects the speed of loading. When you are in a hurry, if you forget to plug the mouth of the bamboo tube in a hurry, the gunpowder will be scattered.

This is different from Zhengliang's cognition. In Zhengliang's view, even in the age of matchlock guns, it is completely possible to use fixed-pack gunpowder, pack the gunpowder in small containers in advance, and pour it directly into the barrel of the gun when using it. middle.Only in this way can the gunpowder be loaded with the same quality every time, and the accident of bombing the chamber can be greatly reduced.

Granular gunpowder is also very simple to make.Just mix the powdered gunpowder evenly, spread it evenly on the bamboo basket, and then boil some glutinous rice juice, whether it is sprayed with a mouth or a watering can, spray the glutinous rice juice evenly on the spread powdered gunpowder, and then gently Shake the basket lightly, and the powdered gunpowder will condense into granular gunpowder by itself. After being stored in the shade, the granular gunpowder will be considered complete. This kind of granular gunpowder is much stronger than powdered gunpowder, and it is not easy to cause the gunpowder to be shaken during transportation. The relatively heavy sulfur in the medium sinks, and the charcoal powder floats on the upper layer, and it can also effectively reduce the moisture absorption of gunpowder, which can be said to serve multiple purposes.

As for the sub-package of gunpowder, it is even simpler, as long as the gunpowder is strictly divided according to the amount of charge, and then packed in small bamboo tubes of the same size as possible.In this way, it is not only convenient to take and fill, but also can effectively prevent moisture, and its effect is self-evident.

As for the production of the small bamboo tubes, it is also very simple, almost using local materials, find some dry thin bamboo, cut them into sections, put the gunpowder into these bamboo tubes, plug the mouth with a cork, and finally seal it The wax is moisture-proof, and you're done.

Of course, another issue is involved here.That's where the wax comes from.So in the end, it can only be imported in large quantities from the Ming Dynasty.There is also glutinous rice, which also needs to be imported from the Ming Dynasty, and then vigorously promoted and planted in the territory.In this way, glutinous rice can be used not only as food, but also as a raw material for making granular gunpowder.

Furthermore, Zheng Liang also found a problem, that is, the lead used by these iron gunners is a bit irregular, either large or small, the large ones are not easy to fit into the gun chamber when reloading, and they are easy to explode, while the small ones fall off after just a click. If it goes in, the muzzle is slightly lower, and the projectile will fall out. Even if it does not fall out, the power of the projectile will be greatly reduced due to the deflation of the gunpowder when it burns.

So he could only ask a craftsman to melt these projectiles and recast them. The specifications must match each gun so that it does not appear as before. It should be as precise as possible so that it can effectively match the barrel and increase the loading speed of the gun. and power.

After these custom-packed gunpowders are made, they can be directly equipped to the iron gunners of the Luo family. When using them, the iron gunners only need to bite off the sealed cork with their teeth, and pour the gunpowder directly into the muzzle of the gun. , Zheng Liang also asked Zhang Qian to find some women, and asked them to sew a set of gunpowder bamboo tube belts out of coarse cloth, which was similar to the belts of later shotguns, and it was much more convenient to use.

After inspecting the firearms workshop, Zheng Liang also inspected Liu Ye's new siege equipment workshop in the canyon.Currently there is only one siege weapon in the workshop, and that is the ladder.After the battle of the cage city in Liuchuan City, Liu Ye is stepping up to improve these ladders according to some situations that occurred at the beginning.

After visiting the workshop in the canyon, Zheng Liang went to the station of the Iron Cannon Team not far from the workshop to inspect the training situation of the Iron Cannon Team.After watching the training, Zheng Liang gave several requirements that must be implemented immediately:

One is to speed up the iron gunner's reloading speed.For this reason, he asked the iron gunners to keep practicing the loading of the firecrackers, and asked them to repeat each loading action over and over again, so that they could always reach the level of instinct for the steps of loading, saving the gang when they were in battle. If there is a mistake in loading, it will prevent them from either loading too much gunpowder and causing the chamber to blow up, or forgetting to load the projectile or forgetting to draw out the stick, and firing a shot in vain. This training can also greatly increase their loading speed, at least It can be filled twice in 1 minute.

In fact, Zhengliang also considered the method of three-stage strike to speed up the loading speed of the iron cannon.However, based on Roche's current actual situation and the need to strengthen the iron gunners' own abilities, Zheng Liang decided to have both. These iron gunners must be able to master good gun operation skills on their own, and they must also train three-stage strikes and platoons in the future. In order to flexibly respond to changes in the situation on the battlefield.

In fact, Zhengliang does not have high requirements for the gunpowder loading speed of the soldiers at present. As long as these iron gunners make rapid progress after strengthening the loading training, the speed that could only be loaded once every 2 minutes will be greatly improved, so that the loading speed can be reached. The speed of two per minute can satisfy Zheng Liang.

In addition to letting these people practice loading, Zheng Liang also asked the iron artillery team to strengthen their aiming training.The training method is to require the iron artillery team to practice aiming for a long time every day. Everyone holds a musket, and it takes a long time to hold it.Zheng Liang also asked that during this process, each of them should hang a stone on the barrel of the gun to increase the weight and exercise their stability when aiming the gun.

It's a pity that the number of gunpowder and muskets in Luo's family is too small. Although Zheng Liang wanted to use live ammunition to train these iron gunners, the shortage of gunpowder and muskets prevented him from doing so. The lifespan of these muskets is very short, far inferior to the lifespan of the muskets of later generations, which often have thousands of rounds or tens of thousands of rounds.So in the end, they can only let them live fire two or three times a day.The only hope is that the Luo family's self-made musket production line will be scaled up as soon as possible.

After Zheng Liang visited the workshop in the mountain and the iron cannon training camp, when he arrived at the foot of the mountain, Zheng Liang stopped by to inspect the paper mill built by the stream at the foot of the mountain.

As one of the earliest workshops established by the Luo family, after two or three years of development, the paper workshop has expanded several times, and the paper workshop can not only meet the daily needs of the territory, but also export to places outside the territory. Created a lot of extra money for the Luo family.

Just as Luo Ming was visiting the paper mill with great interest, he suddenly received a report from the black eagle. It turned out that Zhu Qinfeng's Nanman ship was about to visit.

Hey!He was about to gather all the merchants from the Nanman and Ming Kingdoms in the territory to discuss matters, but unexpectedly they came.

(Thank you for the reward from book friend Lumia.) (To be continued..)