"My Ming Dynasty now has many types of artillery, such as bowl-mouth cannons, light-mouth cannons, whirlwind cannons, divine machine cannons, general cannons, iron cannons, etc. They are all diverse and powerful. I wonder where the invincible cannon you mentioned belongs to
One kind." Xu Gao asked in a deep voice.
Zhang Yanling shook her head gently and said: "None of these things are possible."
Xu Gao frowned and said, "Then what kind of artillery do you want to build?"
Zhang Yanling said in a deep voice: "Didn't my father-in-law say that you have seen the Franco machine gun at the Ministry of War? What do you think of the Franco machine gun?"
Xu Gao said in shock: "You want to build a Folan cannon?"
Zhang Yanling said: "What? It's very difficult? Is there no sample? You said it was taken by Fan Guo maritime merchants and wanted to sell it to the court, but the court thought it was too expensive and didn't buy it. Otherwise, we can buy it from those Fan merchants.
I came down with one as a sample to imitate. With the sample, wouldn’t it be difficult? Just follow the gourd and draw the scoop.”
Xu Gao smiled bitterly and said: "This is a layman's talk. Can you draw a gourd by copying a gourd? If you have a sample, you can indeed imitate it, but the more important thing is to understand its essence and know its principles and materials. That does not mean that you can draw a gourd by copying it.
It can be drawn.”
Zhang Yanling said with a smile: "I am indeed an outsider, I'm just saying this. I believe that after you have the sample, you will be able to figure out the advantages and characteristics of this Folan cannon and imitate it."
Xu Gao sighed and said: "When Fanshang presented the Fo Lang machine gun to the Ministry of War, and the imperial court selected personnel for testing and observation, I participated in the evaluation and observation. I spent three days to construct every part of it.
It is true that I have examined it in detail. However, I was short of time and I really did not understand it thoroughly. If I insist on recalling it, it is not impossible. However, there must be a mystery to the internal structure of this kind of artillery, and we must not take it for granted."
Zhang Yanling nodded and said: "Let's not talk about this for now. What do you think of the advantages and disadvantages of the Fo Lang machine gun? How does it compare with the artillery of the Ming Dynasty today?"
Xu Gao said in a deep voice: "The Fran cannon is obviously better than the Ming artillery. The advantages are incomparable to the Ming artillery. It adopts the loading method of sub-cannons, and each cannon is equipped with several sub-cannons in the breech.
The speed of firing is extremely fast. Compare it to a general cannon.
Comparatively, from the time of charging to the completion of firing, the Folan cannon can fire three to four times. In other words, the firing speed of one Folan cannon is equivalent to three or four Zhankou Generals. Just imagine,
How great is the advantage it brings in battle?"
Zhang Yanling nodded and said: "This is indeed amazing. The people of Folangji really had the ingenuity to think of it. The method of loading and launching with a combination gun is really a leap forward."
Xu Gao nodded and said: "That's true. When I first saw the Fran cannon, I was shocked. Overseas countries also have skilled craftsmen, and they are not inferior to our Ming Dynasty. There is really a sky beyond the sky, and there are mountains beyond the mountains.
.”
Zhang Yanling nodded. Of course he understood that every corner of the world was full of civilization. Although the Ming Dynasty was the country of China, it was not the center of the world as the monarchs, ministers and people of the Ming Dynasty thought.
"The precision of this Folang machine gun is also extremely high. That day, the people tried to fire it, and within a few miles, they hit the target with a radius of several feet. They were extremely amazed. This is beyond the reach of our Ming artillery. That Folang machine gun
Install front sight
, it is quite magical to adjust according to the angle and orientation of the gun barrel. If my Daming artillery is shot horizontally, it is barely acceptable. If it is shot upward, the angle and orientation need to be constantly adjusted, and the accuracy can only be achieved after several shots." Xu Gao said solemnly.
road.
Zhang Yanling nodded slightly. He understood that the Fo Lang machine gun calculated the ballistic impact point based on a parabola. Each gun went through a series of calculations to set the front sight and rear sight to achieve a precise impact point. The current artillery of the Ming Dynasty still used artificial
The means of calibration are completely incomparable.
The Fran cannon's fast rate of fire, high accuracy, and ease of aiming are enough to make it surpass all existing artillery in the Ming Dynasty.
But his advantages don't stop there.
"According to my later research and judgment, I believe that the Folan cannon has a fixed amount of ammunition, which is equivalent to the paper-packed bullets used in our blunderbuss. They are all carefully weighed and loaded. Therefore, when the amount of powder is stable,
There is no danger of explosion. You know, I am a big open fire
The most dangerous thing about a cannon is exploding the chamber. Although the material is relevant, the uncertainty in the amount of charge is also one of the important reasons. The service life of the Folan machine will be very long. As long as the mother cannon is not damaged, the sub-cannon can be replaced in time.
But... after all, the sub-cannon bears greater fuel pressure."
Zhang Yanling said with a smile: "It seems that my father-in-law has great respect for the Fo Lang machine gun. The court is also blind, and others don't want it when it comes to their door."
Xu Gao frowned and said: "You can't say that. Nothing is perfect. I admit that the Fran cannon is indeed very good. However, its shortcomings are also obvious."
"I would like to hear the details!" Zhang Yanling said.
Xu Gao touched his beard, took a sip of tea and said, "Yanling, I'm not pouring cold water on you. I'm afraid you'll think twice about building a Folang machine gun."
Zhang Yanling said: "Why? The disadvantages are so terrible?"
Xu Gao said: "The shortcomings of the Fo Lang machine gun itself are not that big. According to my research, the biggest drawback is that the cannon bore is not tightly sealed due to the structure of the mother-and-child cannon, so that the gas from the gunpowder explosion will leak out, thus reducing the range.
It can't reach far. What those people sent was a medium-sized Folan cannon.
, the furthest can reach one mile. No further. The large bowl-mouthed cannon cast during the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty can reach as far as two miles. The heavy ones can reach as far as three miles. There are also several kinds of artillery that can also reach the Buddha.
It can't be compared with a cannon. For firearms, the inability to reach far is obviously a major drawback."
Zhang Yanling recognized this statement in his heart. The power of artillery is not only the accuracy of the rate of fire, but also the range. The inability of firearms to reach far is obviously a major flaw. This is beyond doubt.
However, taken together, the overall advantage of this Franco machine gun is absolutely leading, and it does not lose the value of imitation. In fact, sometimes, accuracy and rate of fire are more important. Range is just one dimension of measurement.
.
"Father-in-law, this alone seems to be a flaw. And it doesn't seem to be a flaw that cannot be improved. For example, the breech bolt bird gun designed by my father-in-law is based on its principle, isn't it? I didn't test-fire the bird gun, but my
The double-barreled fire gun has a very good sealing performance. Therefore, this does not seem to be an impossible solution. In terms of craftsmanship, maybe we are better than Fan Guo." Zhang Yanling said.
Xu Gao stroked his beard and said: "That's not bad. I'm not bragging. If I were to imitate it, I would definitely solve the problem of range. This is indeed not an unsolvable problem."
Zhang Yanling said: "Isn't that the end? We can even ignore the problem of air tightness. We can increase the dosage of the chemical to make up for the range. Anyway, the strength of the steel we smelt is sufficient, right? We can completely increase the dosage of the chemical.
The amount achieves the effect of a longer range.”
Xu Gao looked at Zhang Yanling and hesitated to speak.
Zhang Yanling said with a smile: "Am I an amateur again?"
Xu Gao was noncommittal and said in a deep voice: "Yanling, do you know how much the foreign businessman asked the imperial court for that Franco machine gun?"
Zhang Yanling said: "It seems to be expensive. You seemed to have said that, but I forgot."
Xu Gao said in a deep voice: "The merchant from Fanguo asked for twenty-five thousand taels."
Zhang Yanling stared in shock and said: "Why don't these guys go and grab it? Twenty-five thousand taels of silver for a Franco machine gun? They are so evil. No wonder the court refused."
Xu Gao shook his head and said: "The price is indeed a bit expensive, but it is not completely sky-high. Do you know what the material of the main cannon of the Franco machine gun is? That is a copper cannon. That Franco machine gun removes the submersible
In addition to the cannon, the mother cannon weighs more than 1,200 kilograms. Putting aside the craftsmanship, how much is the value of just 1,200 kilograms of copper?"
Zhang Yanling couldn't calculate it, but he thought it was a huge amount. After all, copper is money. More than a thousand kilograms of copper would probably cost a lot of copper coins. That must be a lot of money. Use copper to cast a cannon.
, this is too luxurious.
"The material is expensive, plus the craftsmanship value and labor force of the Fo Lang machine itself, and it has to be transported thousands of miles to my country. All of this is money. Although twenty-five thousand taels of silver is indeed a bit outrageous, even if the price is fair, I'm afraid it's not a small amount.
.Let’s build a bird
The price of a blunderbuss requires more than a hundred silver. Not to mention the Franco machine gun? Therefore, the price is too high, which is another fatal flaw of the Franco machine gun. Just imagine, who is willing to spend such a huge amount of money to cast a cannon?
Even the imperial court cannot afford it." Xu Gao said solemnly.
"But why do we need copper? We can make it ourselves. Can't we make smelted fine steel? With our own fine steel and our own labor, even if we cast a heavy cannon, the cost won't be too high." Zhang Yanling smacked her lips.
"Do you know why people use copper-cast cannons? Because the copper barrel dissipates heat very quickly. Only then can the advantages of the rapid fire of the Francon machine cannon be brought into play." Xu Gao said.
Zhang Yanling suddenly realized that there is such a key to it. The reason why the Franco machine gun is powerful is that its rapid fire is its huge advantage. But if the barrel cannot dissipate heat quickly, it will be difficult to exert its advantage. Copper dissipates heat faster than iron, so it is used
The cannon is made of copper, so it is extremely expensive.
"The faster the launch, the higher the material requirements. Copper has the advantage of excellent hardness and toughness, and it dissipates heat quickly, so it is suitable for casting cannons. The people are not fooling around, they are manufacturing the Fran machine based on actual combat performance.
gun. Of course, it does not mean that other materials cannot be used to cast Franco machine guns, but if you want to maximize the advantages, copper is the best
Choose. The fine steel we smelt in Wild Dog Ridge is smelted to make small bird cannons and fire cannons, not to cast cannons. Its performance may not be suitable for casting Folang machines. Maybe it will be a pile of scrap iron after it is cast.
It can be seen that when it comes to casting cannons, what the Fan people did must be the result of their many attempts, and there must be a reason for it." Xu Gao said in a deep voice.
Zhang Yanling nodded slowly. Indeed, this kind of thing is science and not something to be taken for granted. Otherwise, I am afraid that my efforts will be in vain.
"This is why I want to tell you that you should think twice about this matter. Counterfeit Folan cannons are expensive. If there are any duplications, tens of thousands of taels of silver will be destroyed in an instant, and all of them will be destroyed.
There is no way of knowing whether it is floating in the water. Besides, I don’t know much about the Fran cannon. I only had three days to know its internal structure and structure.
Relevant details. Trillium, this matter really needs to be cautious. What's more, what about building a Folan machine? The court will not purchase such an expensive artillery. The cost of casting the cannon is huge, and the consumption of ammunition is also extremely wasteful. It is not good for you
Individuals seem useless. Therefore, I think it is better to discuss this matter in the long term." Xu Gaosurong said.