Wrought iron cannons cannot be cast directly, not to mention the Song Dynasty or the Ming Dynasty.
Iron cannons cast in the Ming Dynasty either had a pig iron barrel with a hoop, or an inner layer of wrought iron and cast iron on the outside.
Ju Ming went to the iron smelting yard to squat for two hours every day, studying and trying with the craftsmen, but in the end he could only declare failure.
Just one sentence: The oven temperature is not enough!
Blast furnaces were used to smelt iron in the Song, Liao and Jin Dynasties, and they were improved blast furnaces. However, the furnace temperature was usually around 1200 degrees, and no matter how hard we tried, it could only reach 1300 degrees.
If you want to cast wrought iron, you have to continue to increase the furnace temperature.
Ju Ming knew it could be solved with a hot air stove, but he had no idea how to do it.
Then make the forging cannon first.
There are two ways to forge a cannon -
One is to arrange the iron bars vertically and add iron hoops layer by layer on the outside.
The whole process is similar to the hoop barrel. European iron cannons in the Age of Discovery were basically made of wrought iron hoops in this way. The disadvantage is that the air tightness is extremely poor, and the barrel is relatively easy to explode!
The other type is the forged cannon of the Ming Dynasty in China. The wrought iron is struck tens of thousands of times, directly forged into an iron plate, and then hammered into a quarter or half arc iron coil. The iron coil is then forged and wrapped into a circle.
Cylinder, cold forge and hammer together sections of the iron cylinder, and use iron bars to fill the gaps.
Although the labor cost of this method of forging the gun increases, the air tightness is greatly enhanced and the barrel is not so easy to explode. Moreover, the gun hoop is required to be reduced or even eliminated, and the weight of the gun body is greatly reduced.
Of course, Ju Ming chose the second method, which involves hammering tens of thousands of times into an iron plate. He could first use a water-powered forging hammer and then manually correct it.
The gun body of the Tiger Crouching Cannon is very short. It can be made into a cylinder instead of splicing multiple cylinders. Just two semicircles are cold-forged into a cylinder, and a few hoops are added to fix it on the outside.
The turbine was still being made, so Ju Ming asked two blacksmiths to build it by hand.
The two blacksmiths worked on the first Tiger Crouching Cannon for more than 30 days. This was because they were not proficient enough and could slowly increase their speed.
According to records from the Ming Dynasty, it only took ten skilled craftsmen 40 days to forge an ordinary general cannon. The Tiger Crouching Cannon, on the other hand, had a very short construction period and could be produced in large quantities.
Ju Ming's ultimate goal in creating the Crouching Tiger Cannon was to train Qi Jiguang in his triple formation.
This is a large, multi-arms mixed military formation used in the north.
Its basis is still the mandarin duck formation, but the wolves and shields are no longer needed, and are replaced by muskets and bows. It is also equipped with chariots to defend the cavalry. After contacting the enemy, they first attack with a large number of squatting cannons, and then use muskets and bows to shoot in turn.
There were several waves of long-range firepower, one after another without interruption. The Mongolian cavalry at that time had to collapse before they could reach the vehicle formation.
Most of the infantry are mounted infantry, but if you can't ride mules, you can also ride on them. There are also cavalry units, which highlight the "motorization" aspect and can pursue harvesting and rapid marching.
Qi Jiguang's triple formation did not have any great military exploits, because since it was created, the Mongolian cavalry did not dare to go south. Instead, they ran to the northeast of Huohuo, allowing Li Chengliang to improve his performance. The Mongols would rather give Li Chengliang his head than kill him.
I am willing to face Qi Jiguang's triple formation.
Now Ju Ming has basically determined the idea of making weapons:
Pig iron was used to cast large-caliber iron cannons. Since they were too heavy, most of them were placed on the top of the city for defense, and a few were dragged out to be used as siege cannons.
Wrought iron is used to forge the Crouching Tiger Cannon.
Filled steel is used to make weapons and armor.
The latter two will be equipped with hydraulic forging hammers, effectively saving labor costs.
The next step is to granulate gunpowder, which Zhu Ming plans to do after the snow melts in spring.
"Everyone, drink this cup together!"
On New Year's Eve, the house behind the government office was extremely lively.
Not only Bai Sheng, Zhang Bor, Li Bao, Deng Chun, Shi Yuangong and others brought their families to Ju Ming's house to celebrate, but even Tu Shen and other high-level officials of the iron smelting plant were invited by Ju Ming to come to the Spring Festival party.
Counting everyone's wives and children, there were six tables occupied.
"I would like to toast your husband, and everything will go well in the coming year!" Shi Yuangong raised his glass and stood up, there was something in his words.
Ju Ming smiled and said, "Everyone is fine with each other."
Qian Chen also came to propose a toast: "Having lived half a lifetime is not as happy as last year. I did many things with the prefect."
Ju Ming said: "Your Majesty has given you six hundred ultimatums. Those who are able will do more work. After spring, I will ask Brother Qian to take them to the south of the Yangtze River to sell them, and by the way, I will buy some sulfur and saltpeter."
"I promise to live up to my trust!" Qian Chen laughed.
Li Bao also came to toast, and his life was quite comfortable. When he had errands, he would work for Ju Ming. When he didn't have errands, there were many men in the house who could compete with each other in martial arts.
In the midst of the banquet, Zhenghe's seven years have turned over.
AD 1118 is often written as the first year of Chonghe in history books, but people living in this era only know that Youzhenghe existed for eight years.
Because the reign name of Chonghe was suddenly changed to the Yuan Dynasty at the end of the year when Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty felt that everything was not going well, which means "harmony and harmony". However, only three months after the change to the Yuan Dynasty, it was changed again. I don't know the reason.
…
In the first month of the new year, the Liao Kingdom and the Jin Kingdom negotiated peace.
Both sides can no longer fight. There is no other reason than lack of food.
There was great chaos in Liaodong, and bandits were everywhere, and they even plundered people to satisfy their hunger.
The Liao and Jin parties were annihilating the bandits and conducting peace talks at the same time. The Liao Kingdom needed to lick its wounds, while the Jin Kingdom needed to digest its new territory.
The treacherous minister Wang Fu was promoted to Shangshu Zuocheng (deputy prime minister), and Cai Jing felt great pressure.
When the snow melted in February, official documents from the imperial court were issued, and the national liquor tax increased sharply, which was called "adding liquor money".
The envoy of the Song Dynasty, Ma Zheng, took Gao Yaoshi, a Han native from Liaodong, across the sea by boat to contact the Jin Kingdom.
They encountered Jin soldiers patrolling on the way, and they didn't even dare to say a word. They were so frightened that they fled back to Shandong. They also lied that they had arrived in Suzhou (Dalian Jinzhou). The Jin State was unwilling to engage in diplomacy and almost killed them.
Song Huizong was furious and gave Tong Guan full responsibility for the matter.
March, imperial examination.
The whole army in Jinzhou was wiped out, and not a single person passed the Jinshi examination.
However, Yangzhou produced another Jinshi, and Ling Guxu passed the third place in the examination.
Li Hanzhang, who had disappeared for three years, also came back to take the imperial examination and passed the fifth place in the examination. According to his place of origin, he was a Huainan scholar and had nothing to do with Hanzhong.
Of course, they didn't know their first place until the roll call came.
"Brother Linggu, congratulations!" Li Hanzhang smiled.
Ling Gu Xu smiled all over his face: "Same joy, same joy."
The two of them were still lining up in front of the palace, talking about old things in Yangzhou.
Ling Guxu suddenly asked: "I heard that Brother Kezhen went to join the army?"
Li Hanzhang shook his head and sighed: "I have been an officer for more than half a year. It's hard to explain in words, so I don't mind mentioning it. It's not a formal military position anyway, so I just quit and went home to study hard. This time I finally passed the exam."
Ling Guxu whispered: "Brother Zhen, have you heard that Prince Jia Zhao Kai also participated in the scientific examination this year?"
"Don't talk too much." Li Hanzhang reminded quickly.
Whips began to be blown in front of the palace, and everyone immediately shut up and lined up to wait.
After a series of procedures, the roll call finally began: "The first person to be awarded the Jinshi in the new science, Zhao Kai from Kaifeng Prefecture!"
The sound came out, and the whole place was dead silent.
More than 700 new scholars all looked ahead stupidly, watching the 17-year-old King Zhao Kai enter the palace.
Seventeen years old, prince, number one scholar.
When these three words are combined, whoever believes them will be a fool. It would be strange if they didn’t cheat!
It's nonsense for a prince to take part in the imperial examination, but he won the first prize at the age of seventeen and fooled the world's scholars into thinking they were fools?
All the civil and military officials stood in the main hall, looking at their noses and eyes, pretending to be dead, pretending they didn't know anything.
"Don't leave the No. 1 Scholar, stay with Your Highness." Song Huizong reminded.
The roll call continued: "The second person to become a Jinshi in this department is Wang Ang of Chengdu Prefecture!"
This is Wang Gui's great-nephew, from the Wang family in Sichuan.
When Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty saw the two of them standing side by side, he said: "The imperial examination for a prince is already against the rules. If he becomes the number one scholar again, he may be criticized. I have thought twice about it and promoted Wang Ang to be the first Jinshi scholar and demoted Zhao Kai to be the second Jinshi scholar."
After doing this, he was so shameless that he temporarily turned the prince into the second place.
Wang Ang, the number one scholar, was awarded the title of Secretary Provincial Secretary, while Zhao Kai, the number two scholar, was not granted an official position.
"The third person to become a Jinshi in this department is Zhang Tao from Raozhou!"
Zhang Tao's father, Zhang Gen, was the transfer envoy of Huainan Road.
This did not cause any controversy, because Zhang Gen had an excellent reputation.
Zhang Gen would soon be demoted by Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty to collect the wine tax for criticizing Hua Shigang. Then he would continue to criticize Chang Ping's new laws to harm the people, and then he would be thrown into the position of deputy envoy for regiment training by the emperor, completely turning him into a loose official with no power.
The ancestors of the Zhang family also made great contributions to the country.
There are five Zhang Qian brothers, four of whom were admitted to the imperial examination. Only Zhang Qian was unwilling to take part in the imperial examination. He read various miscellaneous books at home and discovered the method of smelting copper with gall alum from the "Book of Shennong". After the experiment and improvement, his son dedicated it to
Su Che.
From then on, wet copper smelting technology was developed in the Northern Song Dynasty. In the Huizong Dynasty, more than 15% of the national copper output came from the refining of gall alum.
By the time the northern copper mines were lost in the Southern Song Dynasty, 85% of the country's copper production came from copper smelting with bile alum.
Moreover, the Zhang family continues to improve the copper smelting method and is a super rich man in Shangrao.
After the roll call, Ling Guxu got an official position and was sent to Jiangxi to be the principal.
As for Li Hanzhang, he has not been awarded an official title for the time being and must continue to pass the examination. His father still has some connections, so it is estimated that there will be no problem in passing the examination, at least he will not be waiting in the capital for a real shortage.
The new Jinshi scholars came out from Donghua Gate, and the people in the city gathered around to watch, but their expressions were all complicated.
Ling Guxu was invited to Li Hanzhang's rental house. When he entered the door, he said: "This is totally unreasonable. I have never heard that a prince can take the top prize!"
"Don't raise your voice," Li Hanzhang lowered his voice, "This is not something we can discuss."
Although Ling Guxu lowered his voice, he still couldn't hide his anger: "Selecting scholars through the imperial examination is a very important matter in the world. How can we treat it as a child's play? I heard that King Jia is not yet eighteen years old. Can he really win the first place in the exam? According to me
From the looks of it, I am afraid that even the Jinshi is not qualified. There are people leaking questions from beginning to end, and maybe there are people who can help with writing and editing."
Of course Li Hanzhang was also very angry. He had studied hard for so many years and finally passed the Wujia Jinshi examination.
Zhao Kai was lucky. As a prince, he violated the imperial examination rules and won the top prize in no time.
Some people even helped wash the floor, saying that the prince secretly signed up for the exam without telling everyone. What the hell is this?
If the prince takes the exam, he must be stamped by the Kaifeng governor and must be sent to the Ministry of Rites for review. The examiner must also verify his identity. How can these three procedures be bypassed?
From top to bottom, everyone is helping King Zhao Kai cheat!
Not only Li Hanzhang and Ling Guxu, but also the Jinshi scholars were talking about it. Those scholars who had not passed the Jinshi examination and had not left the capital were even more furious and felt the greatest insult since the founding of the People's Republic of China.