plumnovel Chapter 25 Get to work on building the cannons!
Chapter 25 Get to work on building the cannons!
In the secret research institute of the Ming Dynasty's military equipment, the afterglow of the sunset reddened Bi Maokang's face.
He squatted beside the gun mount, his gray beard covered in iron filings and dust, and his calloused hands carefully using measuring tools to adjust the angle of the gun muzzle.
The setting sun slanted in through the west window, casting a dark gold hue over the brand-new bronze cannon.
Having supervised the manufacture of military equipment for over thirty years, Bi Maokang was already imbued with the spirit of iron and fire.
From Fujian to the capital, from muskets to cannons, he handled at least eight hundred to a thousand firearms.
But no other cannon took him nine months of painstaking effort to build like the one in front of him.
Apocalypse - Divine Flying Cannon.
This was the name he planned to use in his illustrated book on military weapons!
For some reason, as soon as the name was mentioned, Zhu Ming acted as if he had taken a stimulant and told him to start building cannons immediately.
Bi Maokang straightened up, took two steps back, and squinted as he examined the cannon.
The cannon barrel is slightly shorter than the Red Coat Cannon, but thicker, and the inner wall of the barrel has been honed, making it as smooth as a bronze mirror.
The cannon muzzle was slightly raised, aimed at the target pile at the end of the training ground, which was already riddled with holes.
"Lord Bi, His Majesty has arrived!"
The voice of a guard came from behind.
Bi Maokang was taken aback, and quickly put down the tools in his hand and turned around.
Zhu Ming had already entered the workshop.
He was dressed in a black casual suit with a white jade belt around his waist, and he looked so wise and mighty.
"Your subject, Bi Maokang, pays his respects to Your Majesty!"
"Get up, get up," Zhu Ming waved his hand, walked straight to the cannon carriage, and touched the breech. "I saw a memorial saying that your Divine Flying Cannon has passed the combat trials, so I came to take a look!"
"Your Majesty, that's right!"
Bi Maokang stood up, brushed the dust off his knees, and said with barely suppressed excitement, "The Shenfei Cannon, forged using the new cast iron technology, has been tested in artillery exercises for more than two months and is now ready for actual combat!"
"In terms of both accuracy and power, it is several times superior to the Bombardier Cannon!"
"Not bad, not bad!" Zhu Ming didn't speak immediately, but walked around the cannon carriage and carefully examined the cannon.
Bi Maokang stood aside, feeling excited as he heard Zhu Ming's satisfied praise.
He was nervous because he feared the emperor might notice something wrong, but excited because the emperor was so familiar with these details.
This doesn't seem like an emperor who only knows carpentry; it's more like an old craftsman who has spent over a decade in the workshop.
The rumor that the emperor only liked carpentry and neglected state affairs is a huge joke.
Bi Maokang thought to himself. If he only knew carpentry, how could he be so familiar with the casting process of bronze cannons?
If he only knew carpentry, how would he know that boring could increase the range of a shot? If he only knew carpentry, how could he have made the Ministry of Works of the Ming Dynasty so busy?
Those literati are nothing but making a fuss over nothing.
And he, Bi Maokang, is fifty-nine years old this year. He originally thought his life would just end like this—
He sat on the sidelines of the Arsenal Bureau of the Ministry of War in Nanjing until he died, occasionally repairing old cannons and writing firearms diagrams for local garrisons. It was a leisurely job, but also a truly pathetic one.
But now, the emperor has dug him out of the Ministry of Works in Nanjing and thrown him into this secret research institute, giving him money, craftsmen, the best materials, and letting him do what he does best.
To build cannons.
Bi Maokang knew in his heart that this was an immense favor.
What merit or ability does a fifth-rank official like him possess to warrant the emperor's personal attention to his cannons?
So for the past nine months, he has hardly had a full night's sleep.
During the day, he supervised the production in the workshop, and at night he reviewed blueprints in the duty room. Even while eating, he was pondering the boring process of the cannon barrel.
His craftsmen privately called him "Crazy Bi," but he didn't get angry when he heard it; he just smiled.
Because he knew that the emperor was not giving him much time left.
The war in Liaodong was becoming increasingly intense, and the Jurchen cavalry could break through the pass at any moment.
Every good cannon is a life for the soldiers on the frontier.
Moreover, the news in the newspapers these past few days about Jurchen spies bombing Wanggongchang had infuriated him; no wonder Zhu Ming had ordered him to build cannons immediately.
It was specifically to deal with the Jurchens in Liaodong.
"What about the accuracy and range data?" Zhu Ming asked after observing the footage.
Bi Maokang snapped out of his daze, took out a booklet from his sleeve, and presented it with both hands: "Your Majesty, this is the record of test firings over the past two months. A total of 3,247 shots were fired, with an effective range of 2,400 paces and a maximum range of 5,200 paces."
"The hit rate is 70% within 2,400 paces and 90% within 3,600 paces. The muzzle velocity of the shell is 30% higher than that of the Hongyi cannon, and the explosive power of the cannon is 50% higher."
"This is all thanks to Manager Sun's improved shells!"
Sun Zhushi, also known as Sun Yuanhua, is the current Director of the Ministry of War, in charge of upgrading gunpowder and artillery shells for the Ming Dynasty.
The power of the Apocalypse Divine Flying Cannon has increased significantly, and Sun Yuanhua deserves much credit for this!
Zhu Ming took the booklet and flipped through it page by page.
The data collection method was personally taught to them by Zhu Ming. They abandoned the previous messy, chronological approach and used tables to record the range, angle, wind drift, and hit status of each shell in a categorized manner.
It's clear at a glance, crystal clear.
When Bi Maokang first saw this statistical method, he was completely stunned!
He had spent half his life building cannons and never knew that data could be organized like this.
Zhu Ming, after hearing Bi Maokang's explanation, already understood.
After all, dignity lies only on the edge of a sword, and truth lies only within the range of a cannon.
The improved Tianqi Shenfei Cannon has already taken the initial shape of a mortar. If it continues to be improved properly in the later stages, then the Ming Dynasty will have the capital to completely change the trend of the war and seize the initiative.
Before long, he will be promoted and receive a raise, become the Heavenly Emperor, serve as the ruler of the Earth, dominate the seven oceans and five continents, and reach the pinnacle of imperial power.
I'm getting a little excited just thinking about it!
"Your Majesty? Your Majesty?"
Seeing that Zhu Ming had been holding the booklet for a long time without saying a word, with a slight upturn at the corners of his mouth, Bi Maokang couldn't help but call out to him softly.
"Hmm? Oh." Zhu Ming snapped out of his reverie, coughed, and closed the booklet. "The data is good. I ask you, can this cannon be mass-produced?"
"Yes," Bi Maokang said decisively. "I have already broken down the casting process into seventeen steps, each handled by a specialized craftsman. As long as the raw materials are sufficient, producing eight batches a month is no problem."
"Eight gates?" Zhu Ming frowned. "That's too few."
Bi Maokang gave a wry smile: "Your Majesty, it's not that I don't want to build more, it's that there isn't enough iron. Each cannon requires a thousand catties of fine iron. In the past nine months, I've built a total of twelve cannons, already using up most of the iron allocated to me by the Ministry of Works. Now, the Ming Dynasty's General Arsenal and the Science and Technology Research Institute are also..."
He paused, sighed, and continued, "The Firearms Bureau is also pressing for it. They need iron for flintlock muskets, iron for Tianqi machine tools, iron for textile machines, and the Shipbuilding Bureau is also asking for iron..."
"The official in charge of the Ministry of Works complained to me that the Ming Dynasty is using iron everywhere, and the warehouses don't even have 10,000 catties of iron left. I'm afraid my Tianqi Divine Flying Cannon will have to be shut down in another two or three months."
Work halted!
Don't even think about it!
"Regarding this matter, my dear minister, there's no need to rush about the raw materials," Zhu Ming said, a sly smile playing on his lips.
He had already made preparations regarding copper and iron raw materials: "I have ordered the Zunhua Ironworks to deliver 500,000 catties of refined iron next month."
Bi Maokang suddenly raised his head, his eyes wide open.
As an old man who had spent half his life working in the Ministry of Works, he knew all too well the inside story of the Zunhua Ironworks.
That was the largest state-run ironworks in the Ming Dynasty, which at its peak could produce more than 700,000 catties of iron a year.
However, after the fourth year of Zhengde's reign, it declined year by year, and by the Jiajing era, it had only a little over 400,000 catties left.
During the Wanli era, the imperial court closed the Zunhua mountain area, and the state-run iron smelting basically came to a standstill. Now, the imperial court relies entirely on purchasing iron from the private sector, which is expensive and of inconsistent quality.
500,000 jin? Or within a month?
"Your Majesty, the Zunhua Ironworks has already..." Bi Maokang stopped mid-sentence.
Looking at the smile on Zhu Ming's face, a bold idea popped into his head: "Has His Majesty already begun the reopening?"
Zhu Ming smiled but remained silent.
As a time traveler familiar with history, he was already aware of the issue of annual copper and iron production at the end of the Ming Dynasty.
So, as early as six months ago, he secretly ordered Wei Zhongxian to send people to reopen the Zunhua Ironworks and smelt large quantities of refined iron.
At the same time, arrangements were made to establish state-owned ironworks in the Luanzhou and Qian'an areas, which would be directly managed by the Ministry of Works.
After six months of secret preparation, the Ming Dynasty's state-owned ironworks has officially begun smelting iron.
Before long, production will be able to recover to the level of the Yongle era.
No, Zhu Ming wanted more than just recovery; he wanted to surpass it, to produce dozens of times more than during the Yongle era.
If the Ming Dynasty were to fully enter the era of the Industrial Revolution, an annual output of 10,000 tons would only be the beginning.
"Zunhua Ironworks?" Bi Maokang murmured, repeating it over and over, then realized what he meant, his voice trembling slightly, "Your Majesty is wise!"
"Two hundred Divine Flying Cannons must be built within three months," Zhu Ming continued, "and..."
Before the words were finished, a violent explosion suddenly rang out in the distance…
boom--
A loud explosion suddenly rang out in the distance, rattling the windows of the workshop.
Then, an incredibly irritating voice came from that direction, hoarse yet filled with wild joy, and ecstatic yet smug.
"It's done! It's done! You, Grandpa Sun, have finally succeeded!"