Ming Dynasty: Tanks blocked the door and you said to me, "Long live Ming Dynasty"

In less than half an hour, the complete set of drawings was placed on the table.

While listening to him describe the working methods of the machine tool, Xu Guangqi carefully looked through the drawings. After he understood everything, he was immediately astonished.

"Your Majesty is truly a god!"

"With this item, the efficiency of the blacksmith will be greatly improved!"

"You only need to fix the iron ingot or the blank on the fixture below, and you can easily make holes of the same size."

"Perhaps, we can also change the shape of the cutting edge of the tool and perform other types of processing on the embryo!"

"for example.........."

As he spoke, he picked up the pencil that Zhu Youxiao had just used with one hand, picked up the newly made drill blank with the other hand, and slowly moved the pencil closer to the drill blank.

"If this pencil is a workpiece, we can shape its outer shape by spinning it quickly and bringing it close to the tool."

Ok!

We just made a drill press, but Xu Daniu came up with the idea of ​​a lathe?

This ability to draw inferences about other situations is amazing!

Zhu Youxiao smiled, nodded, and gave him a thumbs up.

"Master Xu is right. I call this kind of machine used for drilling holes a drilling machine. The one you just came up with can be called a lathe."

"It's just that this machine tool is too crude, and it still needs the craftsmen to improve it when using it!"

Xu Guangqi quickly bowed and said, "Your Majesty, please rest assured that I will make this a top priority!"

He knew very well the significance of these things!

To take the most straightforward example, nowadays a gun barrel requires a craftsman to hammer it repeatedly for a month before it can be put into use!

But if we have this machine tool!

At most, you can make a gun barrel in one day!

Moreover, there are still no gaps!

Even as they were talking, the craftsmen had already started forging the clamps.

The red-hot iron ingot was placed on a felt table, with small hammers pointing and big hammers hitting, and the clanging sound echoed throughout the courtyard of the East Factory.

The Jinyiwei guards outside were very confused......

When did these guys from the East Factory start doing blacksmith work?

Several days passed in a flash, and the first simple machine tool was finally assembled on October 13th.

The machine tool is driven by animal power, with three draft horses pulling a gear as big as a millstone.

Above the gear, there is a changing gear and a transmission bearing.

Finally, the transmission bearing transmits the power to the drill fixture, allowing it to rotate at a fast speed.

Although the machine tool was rough and the rotation speed was not ideal, when the rotating drill came into contact with the iron ingot, a large amount of iron chips splashed out immediately.

Ignoring the harsh sound of metal friction in his ears, Zhu Youxiao laughed loudly!

"Hahahaha, Master Xu, how about this thing!"

"I'm not bragging!"

Xu Guangqi nodded excitedly, then he led the craftsmen to retreat several steps and kneel down on the ground in unison.

"My emperor is wise and holy. Once these divine objects are born, they will surely bring blessings to our Ming Dynasty and the people of the world!"

"This feat can only be achieved by Lu Ban!!"

"It's over, it's over, get up!"

Zhu Youxiao was so happy that he was almost bursting with joy, but he remained reserved as he helped Xu Guangqi up.

After those craftsmen stood up and looked at Zhu Youxiao again, their eyes were filled with admiration and fanaticism!

The layman watches the excitement, while the expert sees the details. No one knows what this machine tool represents better than them!

One is worth ten, and all you need is a few draft horses!

This is due to geographical reasons. If the machine tool is placed by the river and driven by a water wheel, even the draft horses can be saved!

"Let's get back to the topic. Let's continue working on the shells!"

Facing the gazes of these craftsmen, Zhu Youxiao felt his face burning.

After all, I am still thin-skinned. When I plagiarize something from later generations, I always feel like I am stealing.

It's a million miles worse than those Western guys who tampered with classics and fabricated history!

With a drill press, making shells is much easier.

Open the furnace again, melt the iron ingot first, and there is no need to fry the steel. Pour it directly into the clay mold prepared before to shape it. After opening the mold, put it on the felt table and trim it before it completely cools down.

The shuttle-shaped shell is divided into two parts. The front half is the warhead, which is filled with a large amount of black powder and iron sand, accounting for two-thirds of the entire shell volume.

The back third is used to fill propellant.

The types of gunpowder at that time were far less complicated than those in later generations. There was only one kind, black gunpowder.

So, whether it is explosives or propellant, they are actually filled with this thing.

However, there are six slanted holes at the tail of the shell so that the gunpowder has a place to release force when it burns rapidly, thereby propelling the shell into flight.

At the same time, because these drain holes have a certain angle, the shells can rotate during flight. Coupled with the six tail fins at the tail, the flying posture can be kept stable, making its shooting accuracy more reliable.

Chapter 34: meters away, killing the enemy

Three days later, it was October 23rd of the seventh year of the Revelation.

The Ming Dynasty's first mortar shell was assembled.

Zhu Youxiao looked at his masterpiece and a hint of pride flashed in his eyes.

This is the biggest change I have brought to the Ming Dynasty!

"Wei Zhongxian, select three hundred people to accompany you!"

"Leave the city and test the artillery!"

"Yes!"

There were a lot of parts, and while Wei Zhongxian was away selecting his entourage, more than a dozen artillery shells were assembled.

The huge team walked out of Dongchang, passed through Donghua Gate and entered the outer city. After circling to Chaoyangmen Street, they passed through Chaoyang Gate and came out of the city.

After walking for a while and making sure that there were no human habitation within ten miles around, he ordered his men to raise the cannon.

The barrel has the lowest technical content and is prepared long before the cannonballs are made.

Zhu Youxiao wanted to step forward and fire the first shot himself, but was stopped by Wei Zhongxian.

"Your Majesty, absolutely not!"

Xu Guangqi also stepped forward to dissuade him: "Your Majesty, such firearms are extremely dangerous. How can you risk your precious body?"

Zhu Youxiao was very disappointed, but he also knew that what they said made sense, so he reluctantly took a few steps back and sat on a stone mill abandoned by the people and waited.

Four soldiers stepped forward and, under the command of Xu Guangqi, assembled the barrel and base together and adjusted the angle.

"Prepare!"

At Xu Guangqi's command, one of the soldiers took out the shells from the wooden box and put them into the barrel.

"put!"

Upon hearing this, the soldier quickly loosened his hands, and the cannonball fell under the barrel under the influence of gravity.

When the shell falls to a specific position, the tail ring is violently pierced by the firing pin with flint particles stuck on it.

The friction between the flint and the iron filings in the tail ring of the shell produced sparks, which in turn ignited the gunpowder particles.

The next moment, the firing pin pierced the powder bag and the gunpowder inside was instantly ignited.

"Tom!"

As a dull and powerful explosion sounded, the shell that had just been thrown into the barrel instantly rushed out of the muzzle and flew into the distance.

The shock wave generated by the firing splashed up a large amount of dust near the mortar, which was blown away by the wind along with the smoke.

The guards in front who were on guard heard the sound and looked up to the sky.

"biu............."

A black dot, with a whistling sound, passed over their heads and fell to the ground in front of them.

"boom!"

A ball of fire rose up with the sound of an explosion.

"Go over and have a look!"

Seeing this, the leader quickly called his men and drove their horses towards the impact point.

"The range is eight hundred feet! The crater is six steps wide and more than a foot deep!"

Not long after, someone came back on horseback and reported the results of the artillery test to Zhu Youxiao.

Eight hundred zhang, which is two thousand four hundred meters!

This is the result of deliberately raising the muzzle!

Xu Guangqi stepped forward, disassembled the barrel, looked at the firing pin, and after confirming that it could still be used again, he said to the soldier who was testing the cannon.

"Lower the muzzle two inches and fire again!"

"Yes!"

Soon, the second shell was delivered into the muzzle.

"Tom!"

Another black dot flew into the distance.

This time, Zhu Youxiao began counting silently as soon as he heard the sound of the cannon.

When he counted to 39, he vaguely heard an explosion coming from the front.

Soon, the guard who reported the results came back.

"Your Majesty, the range is 830 feet, and the crater is almost the same as the previous one!"

Eight hundred and thirty feet is about two thousand five hundred meters. It takes more than seven seconds for sound to travel this distance.

In other words, when Zhu Youxiao counted to 32, the shell had already landed.

In other words, the flying speed of the shell is approximately 80 meters per second.

very slow!

But it is almost the same level as Germany's mortars during World War II.

But the actual shooting has not ended here. All the data need to be fired one after another before they can be counted.

Not until all the shells were used up were the preliminary data presented to Zhu Youxiao.

The maximum range is three thousand meters!

Since there is no mercury fulminate as a primer, the ignition method during firing is flint ignition. Therefore, the service life of the firing pin is extremely short. After ten times, the edges and corners of the flint fragments on the firing pin will be severely worn and the ignition rate will be reduced.

In other words, this firing pin can only fire ten shots before it needs to be replaced with a new one.

Zhu Youxiao stood up with a smile and pointed at the mortar.

"Hahahaha, three thousand meters away, take the enemy's life!"

"You all have made great contributions!"

"My emperor is wise, and it all depends on your Majesty's guidance!"

Xu Guangqi and the ten craftsmen, including Wei Zhongxian and the East Factory's entourage, all knelt on the ground when they heard this.

Zhu Youxiao waved his hand to signal everyone to stand up, then looked at Xu Guangqi and said.

"I have said before that if this can be accomplished, I will make you my Prince's Tutor!"