If a worker wants to do his job well, he must first sharpen his tools.
Although Zuo Mengeng was very eager to equip his army with weapons as soon as possible, he was not in a hurry.
The manufacturing of weapons is important, but taking the opportunity of manufacturing weapons to establish a complete industrial system is of even greater significance.
The promotion of new weights and measures is the first step.
In the manufacturing of muskets in the Ming Dynasty, after the barrel was forged, it was necessary to use a drill to widen the inner diameter of the barrel before it could be used.
Someone may have said that since the barrel needs to be widened after it is cast, why not use larger iron trusses to support the inner diameter of the barrel during casting?
Sorry, can't do it.
Iron stiles must be made of steel, and other iron materials will not work.
Otherwise, when the barrel is forged, it is hard to say whether the barrel can be formed by vigorous beating. The iron stile may have been deformed by the smashing first.
Steel is hard to come by, and the material is expensive. Occasionally, I get some iron stiles that cannot be made too big.
In addition, for a hand-forged gun barrel, no matter how skilled the craftsman is, it is difficult to ensure that the inner wall will completely fit the iron frame, which means that the inner wall will be uneven.
Anyway, the inner wall of the barrel will be reprocessed with a drill in the end, so naturally there is no need to make too much fuss about the iron stile.
When I arrived at Zuo Mengeng, I skipped this step.
Because the barrel caliber of the flash cap gun he wanted to make was not as large as that of a matchlock gun.
In addition, steel is easily available in the iron smelting plant, so you can craft it as much as you like on the iron stiles.
According to Zuo Menggeng's request, the new musket casting requires iron bars that are slightly larger in diameter than the original iron bars, but slightly smaller than the caliber of the matchlock gun.
After the hydraulic hammer forging machine can be used, it can be ensured that the inner and outer walls of the hammered barrel are straight enough.
The width of the water-driven forging hammer can reach more than one meter, and each hammer blow can cover the entire gun barrel.
A one-meter-wide hammer weighs hundreds of kilograms and is impossible to move by human power.
This is also the reason why the inner wall of a manually hammered gun barrel cannot be guaranteed to be smooth and straight.
In addition to iron stiles and forging hammers, drill bits are also made of steel.
It's a pity that there are no tungsten mines in Shandong. Otherwise, if we could get tungsten alloy drill bits, drilling and rifling steel barrels would not be a dream.
Another thing that needs to be made according to standards is naturally bullets.
It would be unreasonable to have a flash cap gun but not use mine bombs.
It is not difficult to make mini bullets, which is what Zuo Menggen did to add rifling to the barrel.
Minie bullets, like matchlock projectiles, are both made of lead.
Lead has a low melting point and is soft, requiring very little force to shape.
To make a minie bomb, you only need to make a mold and then pour molten lead water into it to get the finished product.
Of course, such mini bombs cannot yet be put into practical use because the surface is very rough and needs to be polished smooth.
In addition, there will definitely be products that do not meet the standard for mini bombs made by molds, and quality inspection and compensation will be required.
If the bullet case is made of copper or steel, the defective product can only be discarded. As for the lead mini bullet, as long as it is not damaged and the size is wrong, it can be adjusted with tools.
The tools are also very simple.
They are just a few sets made of iron, with a very standard iron ring in the middle.
The minie bullet can be stuck in it. After putting it into the sleeve, tap the outer part hard to shape the minie bullet into a qualified standard.
Not to mention adult men, even women can do this job.
At the bullet factory, Zuo Mengeng recruited many women to work.
Male workers are used to boil lead water and cast bullets, and female workers are used for polishing and quality inspection.
For this job, female workers can get ten cents a day, which is three hundred cents a month, equivalent to 0.30 taels of silver.
In terms of commodity prices at this time, this wage is no different from exploitation.
But Zuo Mengeng had limited funds, so he had no choice but to act against his conscience when he should.
This is Shandong, and prices cannot be compared with those in Jiangnan. Although the wages are small, they are still income.
What's more, Zuo Menggeng's factories provide lunch and dinner, which saves the female workers a huge amount of money.
Besides, they don’t go out to work, so they stay at home with no income. They can subsidize their families, and they are very motivated.
If you are around lead all day long, you will get lead poisoning.
Zuo Mengeng could not treat human life as trivial, so he asked Wang Xiuqin to make a large number of gloves and masks for these workers to use.
Even if the protection standards cannot be compared with those of later generations, they are still better than nothing.
Compared with steel, lead is much easier to obtain.
Zuo Mengeng handed over the supply channel to the Zhang family, and he could get two thousand catties per month. It was enough to make mini bombs.
In addition to mini bombs, Zuo Mengeng got it right in one step and also came up with the concept of paper shell fixed charge.
According to his regulations, mine bombs are packed together with paper shells.
When using it, just pull out the Mini warhead and pour the gunpowder in the paper shell into the barrel, killing two birds with one stone.
The cork in the Mini bullet is also loaded in advance, which greatly simplifies the use process for soldiers.
Zuo Mengeng is well versed in the optimal ratio of black powder.
He arranged the gunpowder factory in the farthest place, even more remote than his laboratory. The production process and management were even more picky.
Anyone who dares to violate the rules will be directly executed.
Strict rules and regulations prevent all pharmacists from slacking off and working very seriously.
"Look carefully, the production of gunpowder must be done this way. The production method is only for you to know. Anyone who dares to tell it will be killed without mercy."
This warning did not scare the pharmacists.
When they worked elsewhere before, confidentiality was also required.
What surprised them was that Zuo Mengeng actually wanted to teach them, old craftsmen, how to make gunpowder.
But after Zuo Mengeng started to take action, these people discovered that there were so many differences.
The methods and techniques for purifying gunpowder raw materials demonstrated by Zuo Menggeng were completely beyond their imagination.
The craftsmen carefully hold various raw materials in their hands, and some brave ones even put the tube into their mouths to taste.
"So pure!"
"Have you watched it?"
After the demonstration, Zuo Mengeng asked.
The craftsmen nodded one after another, and then started to work under Zuo Mengeng's guidance.
Skilled craftsmen are good at this, and their hands-on ability is very strong. After only three attempts, the gunpowder raw materials they purified were already comparable to Zuo Menggeng.
When it came to the gunpowder ratio, Zuo Mengeng did not do it himself.
"Mix these medicines in a ratio of 1% to 15% to 75%."
The gunpowder factory also obtained a scale, and after the craftsmen carefully weighed it, they completed the mixing.
The craftsmen thought they were done, but there were still steps to come.
Zuo Menggeng asked the craftsmen to add water to the mixed gunpowder, and the dosage was 8% of the gunpowder.
After thoroughly stirring the gunpowder with water, let it dry in the sun. Then, it is the key step to maximize the power of black gunpowder.
That is the granulation of gunpowder.
We all know that this process can be completed with a sieve, but what size of sieve and what size of eyes are the best for producing granulated gunpowder?
Except for experts like Zuo Menggeng, even many civilians in later generations may not know it clearly.
The sieve was specially made by the blacksmith, and the gunpowder particles filtered out were exactly the same and of equal size.
The apothecaries looked at such gunpowder and marveled.
"Qianzao, can such gunpowder have miraculous effects?"
Zuo Mengeng was full of confidence.
"If there is any miraculous effect, you will know if you try it?"
The test is very simple.
The medicine men got a clay pot, filled it with two kilograms of black powder, and then added a match rope.
In order to let the pharmacists feel the power of the new gunpowder more intuitively, Zuo Mengeng also asked them to build a lot of wood around the explosion point.
As the match rope was lit, dust and debris rose into the sky with a deafening loud noise, and the earth shook violently. Everyone was stunned, as if they had been blown away.
After the smoke cleared and the dust subsided, the tragedy at the explosion site made everyone shudder.
There was nothing intact within a radius of twenty meters. The wood had been broken into countless pieces, and the furthest ones were even scattered a hundred meters away.
"The gunpowder in Liaodong is not that strong."
Zuo Rong held the handle of the knife with one hand and looked at it with eager eyes, as if he was guarding some peerless treasure.
The medicine man Gu Wu Geng said: "There is no such powerful gunpowder in the world."
He is a pharmacist and has been doing this for decades. He says so, which is the best proof.
Traveling around thoughtfully.
"This kind of gunpowder, even if it is not used in guns and cannons, is extremely powerful if it is put in a clay pot."
Landmines were not a rare thing in the Ming Dynasty. People in the Ming Dynasty also had many ideas about the use of gunpowder. In Zhou You's view, the gunpowder produced by Zuo Mengeng would greatly enhance combat power.
Zuo Mengeng was also very satisfied with the effect of gunpowder and said to the medicine men: "This is how it will be made from now on. Only you know the formula and it must not be leaked."
When they thought that this kind of gunpowder would be leaked and others would use it on themselves, everyone shuddered and looked at the medicine men with dangerous and warning eyes.
The ancient five is decisive.
"From now on, we people are not allowed to leave Zhuangzi. Not a single piece of paper is allowed to be taken out of the things here. And keep your mouths shut. No wife or children at home are allowed to say anything."
The other medicine men said yes solemnly, knowing that this matter was extremely important. If you don't want to die, you can't be too careful.