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Text Chapter 350: Gun Test (Part 1)

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    "Boom~"

    Before Li Min and the others reached the artillery manufacturing area, they heard a thunderous explosion coming from inside, followed by a burst of noise inside.  This startled Li Min and others, thinking that something happened inside, so they all sped up and rushed towards the area where the artillery was manufactured.

    However, when Li Min and the others rushed to the scene of the incident, there were no casualties everywhere as they had imagined. What appeared in front of them was a group of disgraced craftsmen, discussing something around a large pit.

    "Xu Wei, what happened just now?" Li Min saw an acquaintance among the group of disgraced people, and shouted angrily that the explosion just now was not a normal gunshot, there must have been an accident.

    Hearing Li Min's voice, a middle-sized guy in the crowd, whose face was covered with dust, turned around and saw Li Min and others. He immediately showed a solemn look on his face and walked forward a few steps: "Your Highness, I have just seen you.  The subordinates and others are testing the cannon, but there is a problem with the cannon itself, so the first shot exploded."

    The speaker was none other than Xu Wei, whom Li Min had just called. This Xu Wei used to be a coppersmith, specializing in helping people make all kinds of copperware. Not only was he skilled in craftsmanship, but he also knew the properties of various coppers well. Later, he was appointed by Li Min.  , was hired with a large sum of money to help develop artillery, and made a lot of contributions to the launch of artillery. He is now responsible for managing the artillery production area.

    Hearing that it was a barrel explosion, Li Min couldn't help but feel a little nervous, and immediately asked: "How is it? Are there any casualties?"

    ?? Exploding the barrel of a cannon is not fun. Not only will the cannon be blown up, but it will also cause casualties if you are not careful. The craftsmen who develop the cannon are all priceless treasures. If there is any damage, Li Min will be heartbroken.

    "Don't worry, Your Highness, we all took precautions beforehand, and we were all far away, so we only ate a few mouthfuls of dirt, but no one was hurt!" Xu Wei bowed and said.  And Li Min finally breathed a sigh of relief.

    At this time, other craftsmen also reacted and stepped forward to salute Li Min. Li Min laughed and asked them to stand up without saluting. Then he told them to pay attention to safety, and finally asked about the specific cause of the explosion accident.

    After hearing this, Xu Wei gave a bitter smile, picked up something from the ground and said, "Your Highness, please look, this is our test artillery."

    Li Min took a closer look.  He found that it was a piece of artillery shell that had been blown to pieces. When he took the fragment in his hands and looked at it carefully, he found that the fragment was made of pure steel. This made Li Min very surprised and said: "Xu Wei, you have actually  Have you started developing steel cannons?"

    Although Li Min also knew that most of the artillery in later generations were made of steel, in the era of the Tang Dynasty, he did not expect to get it right in one step, so at first he asked people to use bronze trial cannons.  Copper is more malleable than steel, and bronze is strong enough.  It is more suitable for making cannons than steel. The only disadvantage is that the cannon body is a bit bulky and more expensive. However, there is nothing yet. Li Min only asked that the cannon be built first, so he still chose to use copper at the beginning.  Build cannon.

    ??????????????????????? Speaking of the front-mounted sliding boring gun that Li Min wants to build, there is really no big problem. The only thing that needs to be solved is the strength of the gun body.  In addition, the diameter of the inner bore must be consistent and smooth enough. These problems were studied by these craftsmen.  It was quickly overcome, so the development of bronze cannons has been very smooth, and it can now be put into actual combat.

    However, the bronze cannon was not what Li Min really wanted, so after the bronze cannon was successfully developed, Li Min ordered Xu Wei and other craftsmen to improve the current bronze cannon and asked them to consider using cheaper and stronger steel.  He came to make cannons, but he didn't ask them to start immediately. Unexpectedly, when he came this time, he saw that Yi Xu said that they were already trial-producing.

    Seeing that Li Min saw that what he was trying to produce was a steel cannon, Xu Wei couldn't help showing a confident smile and said: "Your Highness, this is exactly a steel cannon, and this is not the first time that the chamber has been exploded, but after so many times  The experiments have allowed my subordinates to figure out some tricks. I think it will not be a big problem to create usable steel cannons after a while."

    "Okay!" After hearing this, Li Min excitedly patted Xu Wei on the shoulder and praised him loudly. Of course, he also did not forget the other craftsmen present, encouraging these craftsmen to use their talents and think of things that others did not think of.  I dare to think that as long as the artillery can be improved, then he, the King of Qi, will not be stingy with rewards.

    And these craftsmen also knew Li Min's generosity, so they were all in high spirits after hearing his words. After Li Min asked them to disperse, these craftsmen immediately returned to their posts with excitement, carefully considering how the existing artillery could be improved.  place.

    Next, Li Min was accompanied by Xu Wei, who briefly visited the production process of artillery. However, all artillery production is now made of bronze, so this place is dedicated toThere is a bronze production factory with three hundred craftsmen, and all the bronze produced is used to produce bronze cannons.

    Li Min was actually not interested in these production processes. What he needed most was the results brought by these processes, so after a hasty walk around the artillery production area, he immediately took everyone to the back of Perak Island.  , there is a very secret army stationed here, with only a small number of 1,500 people, of which 1,000 are musketeers, and the remaining 500 are artillery. It is these people who are constantly roaring on Perak Island.  issued.

    Li Min and his group walked through a valley and soon came to a relatively flat highland, which was divided into two areas. A relatively flat area was built as a school ground. Teams of musketeers stood on the school ground and were practicing.  During target practice, I saw these soldiers forming a team of three. After the soldiers in front fired a shot at the target in front, as a burst of black smoke rose, they immediately retreated, seizing the time to clean the barrels, load gunpowder and projectiles, and  At this time, the second row stepped forward and fired again, taking turns in turn. The flying bullets formed a continuous barrage, fully exerting the power of the muskets.

    In another larger area, five hundred artillerymen manned bronze cannons, firing at the distant mountain peaks one after another. Although the power of the solid bullets was not great, after each shell landed,  It will scatter the rocks on the mountain peaks. If it is used to attack a city, as long as it does not encounter a fortified city like Chang'an, it will definitely be effective.

    However, Li Min also discovered the shortcoming of the artillery, that is, the rate of fire is too slow. After the gun is fired, it is necessary to immediately cool down the gun body, and then clean the barrel, charge, ignite and other steps. After completing these steps, the final result will be  It takes two minutes to be faster. In other words, the artillery's firing rate is only one shot every two minutes at most.  But there's nothing that can be done about it. After all, this is a common problem with front-loaded artillery. As for rear-loaded artillery, Li Min estimates that he doesn't have to think about it in recent decades.

    In addition, the range of this kind of bronze cannon is also very short, usually reaching two miles. Of course, if you are not afraid of exploding the barrel and put more gunpowder in it, the range can be increased, but it depends on your luck.  Unfortunately, there was a loud bang and the shell was not fired, so he died first.

    As for Li Min's arrival, someone immediately stepped forward to greet him. He was tall and thin, wearing a strange-looking military uniform. His complexion was somewhat dark, and he had a burnt yellow beard under his chin. He looked old-fashioned.  A kind of unsmiling person.

    "The humble minister Liu Rengui, please see Your Highness!" This tall and thin man is none other than Liu Rengui. Li Min transferred him from a small county lieutenant to Prince Qi's palace, and then entrusted him with important tasks. He would have already made this typical late bloomer.  He had taken it back for use, and he was still a die-hard person, so Li Min also let Liu Rengui temporarily manage these two important things, muskets and artillery.

    Speaking of which, Liu Rengui is indeed a rare talent. He can do very well no matter what he does. Li Min asked him to promote the method of drying salt. As a result, in just one year, countless salt drying fields have appeared in Dengzhou. The annual salt production  It accounts for almost one-third of the national salt production. However, with the promotion of the salt-drying method, many salt-drying farms have appeared in other places, so the proportion of Dengzhou salt has been reduced.

    However, Liu Rengui is not just an administrative talent. He is an all-rounder in both civil and military affairs. He is not only good at literature but also at martial arts. He single-handedly led the 1,500-strong thermal weapons force in front of him, and according to some valuable suggestions proposed by Li Min  His experience allowed him to completely build this army into an elite firearms force. If they fight with the same number of people, it is estimated that no other army in the world can compare with them.

    "Rengui, prepare the place, I will fire a few shots myself!" Li Min looked at the extremely curious Yifan beside him and ordered Liu Rengui with a smile.  Although he had been here several times before, he had been unable to spare the time due to too many things. In addition, the musket was not very safe at the beginning, so until now, Li Min has never actually fired the musket he made.

    "Your Highness, please come this way!" Liu Rengui was a serious character. He didn't waste any time after hearing Li Min's instructions. He immediately led them to the far left of the school ground. There was a separate shooting range, and next to the shooting range, there was a shooting range.  A small warehouse.

    "Your Highness, there are some different muskets in this warehouse. They were all trial-produced by craftsmen from Maeshima. Some have worse performance, and some have better performance than those used by sergeants today. Unfortunately, the cost is too expensive, so they cannot be used.  Mass promotion, you can go in and pick one that fits your hand." Liu Rengui opened the door and pointed to the musket on the shelf inside.

    Li Min and Yifan walked in with great interest and found that there were several rows of shelves next to the wall in the small warehouse, with some muskets placed on them. Some of these muskets had weird shapes, and some were similar to those used by soldiers outside.  As soon as Li Min entered the door, he immediately saw something on the shelf on the right.?The first musket, but when he looked at it, a strange smile appeared on his face.
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