In the past few days of saltpeter drying gunpowder, Wang Yu has not been idle, he went to blacksmith Chen.

The refractory bricks were burned, and under the guidance of Wang Yu, the craftsmen built a new stove with all hands and feet. This new type of furnace was designed by Wang Yu according to the energy-saving coal stove in his previous life, the wall of the furnace is thick, and the heat energy can be sealed in the furnace, and the fresh air sent by the bellows enters the furnace through a long pipe in the furnace, so that the charcoal can burn more vigorously. The top of the furnace is closed, and the exhaust gases are exhausted through a long chimney made of bricks. In addition to the air box that supplies air to the furnace, there is another air box, which is connected to the raw material pool in the upper part of the furnace through a brick channel, and an iron pipe extends from the channel near the raw material pool, which can send fresh air to the top of the raw material pool.

The stove was fired for the first time, because Chen Tieniu, the son of blacksmith Chen, used this kind of stove for the first time, and he still added charcoal according to his previous experience, and as a result, the charcoal was added.

Blacksmith Chen personally observed the scrap iron put into the pool, and when the molten iron melted, he was taken aback: the speed of this iron transformation is too fast!

"Iron has melted!" Blacksmith Chen shouted.

Wang Yu said to a craftsman: "The raw material pool can be used to supply air!" ”

The craftsman quickly pulls the folding bellows, and the fresh air passes through the pipes, enters the iron pipes, and is sent above the raw material pool. Under the action of oxygen in the air, the carbon element is burned in the molten iron and becomes carbon dioxide and separates from the iron. At the same time, Blacksmith Chen also had a craftsman use a steel drill to constantly stir the molten iron to speed up the separation of carbon and iron.

Seeing that the color of the red molten iron was getting brighter and brighter, Blacksmith Chen was so anxious that he shouted: "Stop supplying air to the furnace, open the furnace door quickly!" ”

Hearing the order, Chen Tieniu, who was in charge of burning the stove, immediately opened the furnace door, put the iron rod into the furnace, and stabbed the charcoal that was still burning.

Just now, because of the first time the furnace was opened, Chen Tieniu's charcoal was added, and the iron had been practiced, but there was still a lot of charcoal left in the furnace.

The molten iron was poured into the cooling tank to cool, and when the molten iron was completely cooled and the pieces of iron were obtained, the blacksmith Chen found that most of the iron obtained was wrought iron, and there were small semi-pig iron. I didn't have a single piece of the steel I dreamed of. But fortunately, it can be used so quickly to smelt more than 100 catties of scrap iron into 60 or 70 catties of wrought iron, which is already very satisfying. According to the old method in the past, to create sixty or seventy catties of wrought iron, at least six or seven hundred catties of pig iron must be consumed, and a lot of manpower must be spent to forge.

These wrought iron can be used directly to make ironware, and the pig iron can be recycled into the furnace for re-smelting.

Then, Blacksmith Chen ordered a second furnace to be opened. This time, it only needs to smelt raw iron, and it is necessary to make a few flowering cannonballs from clay molds.

There is no need to smelt wrought iron, and there is no need for such a high furnace temperature, and charcoal can save even more.

The clay molds of the flowering shells were made a few days ago, and there are twenty clay molds in total. Because the middle of the flowering shell is hollow, it cannot be poured in the original way and then polished into an iron ball, there must be a fixed mold to make it, and the mud mold is hemispherical and empty in the middle. After the two hollow hemispheres were cast, the two hollow hemispheres were put together, then the holes were drilled, and finally the gunpowder was filled. Two clay molds that took a lot of effort to make can only make one cannonball, so this kind of cannonball is extremely expensive, and the cost of a small Franc cannon shell is also thirty or forty taels of silver, and a large cannonball, such as an eighteen-pound redcoat cannon cannonball, is estimated to cost hundreds of taels of silver!

The pig iron was quickly burned and poured into a mud mold.

When the molten iron cooled slightly, Wang Yu ordered people to smash the mud mold, and while the iron was not cooled and hardened, the two hollow hemispheres were connected together while they were hot, and then a steel drill was used to drill holes in the hollow iron balls, and then an iron pipe was inserted.

And just like that, the shell of the flowering shell was ready. The rest of the matter is not the blacksmith's business, but the gunpowder smith's business. In the afternoon, Wang Yu would bring these cannonballs back, and let the craftsmen inject gunpowder from the iron pipe into the shells, then insert a fuse, and finally seal them with wax, which is a finished flowering cannonball.

In naval battles, the flowering cannonballs fired by the redcoat cannons were much more powerful than the 10,000-strong enemies fired by trebuchets. Although the cost of 10,000 enemies is much lower, because the shell is too fragile to be fired with cannons, it can only be thrown with trebuchets, which is too accurate, and trebuchets are labor-intensive and cumbersome, and cannot be arranged more on a battleship. Of course, in the siege of the city, the 10,000-strong enemy is a low-priced, powerful weapon that can be pushed down from the city to kill and injure a large number of enemy troops.

The wrought iron was smelted, and the flowering cannonballs were made, and Blacksmith Chen was very happy.

"Rich! I'm going to get rich soon! ”

"How? Can Craftsman Chen agree to my terms? Wang Yu asked while Blacksmith Chen was in a good mood.

Chen Shuijie, who was smiling, did not shirk again this time, and promised with a mouthful of promises: "No problem!" No problem at all! But you can't deduct my wages! ”

Wang Yu smiled and said, "Of course not!" Craftsman Chen, you are a golden rooster who can lay golden eggs, how can I deduct your wages! ”

"Then it's settled! I'll go to the Takasaki barracks with you in the afternoon! ”

In the afternoon, Wang Yu took Blacksmith Chen and returned to the Gaoqi military camp with the first batch of flowering shells.

Seeing the shells of the flowering shells brought back, Chen Yonghua and the others were very happy.

"It's a pity that the gunpowder hasn't dried yet, and I can't see the test gun today." Chen Yonghua said a little lost.

Wang Yu walked to the sieve, reached out and touched the granular gunpowder that was drying, turned to Chen Yonghua and said, "Lord Chen, please rest assured!" Tomorrow morning the shells will be loaded! You will definitely be able to reply to the prince tomorrow afternoon at the latest! ”

"Good! Good! Chen Yonghua said with a smile.

As night fell, bonfires were lit in the barracks.

Wang Yu was lit with candles in his hut, and a piece of paper was spread out on the table, on which he was drawing with a piece of charcoal.

There was a gentle knock at the door of the "tuk tuk".

"Please come in!" Wang Yu didn't raise his head in response.

The door opened, and Chen Yonghua walked in, followed by a young guard.

Wang Yu looked up and saw that it was Lord Chen who came to visit late at night, and he was so shocked that he hurriedly bowed: "Knock to see Lord Chen!" ”

"Mr. Wang, hurry up!" Chen Yonghua helped Wang Yu up.

Wang Yu was shocked when he heard the word "sir": "The adult is called a humble gentleman, and his subordinates really dare not be it!" The humble position is a martial artist, and he does not dare to call him a gentleman. ”

"You are so young but have such talent, if you dare not call Mr., who else dares to call Mr." Chen Yonghua said with a smile.

Although Chen Yonghua had only been in the Gaoqi military camp for a few days, he had seen the power of Wang Yu's improved bird guns and gunpowder, and saw the flowering cannonballs he brought back today, so he naturally appreciated Wang Yu very much. Chen Yonghua has always had the great ambition of opposing the Qing Dynasty and restoring the Ming Dynasty, in real history, after Zheng Chenggong's death, he also insisted on the great cause of opposing the Qing Dynasty and restoring the Ming Dynasty, and in Fujian, Guangdong and other places, Chen Jinnan set up a large number of anti-Qing and Ming restoration organizations, which were still active until the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom period. When Chen Jinnan saw Wang Yu's talent, he had already decided that this person must be the best assistant of King Yanping in the future! In the future, relying on these sharp weapons made by Wang Yu, he will definitely be able to complete his great cause of opposing the Qing Dynasty and restoring the Ming Dynasty, and avenge his father under Jiuquan!

Seeing that Wang Yu was still standing, Chen Yonghua waved his hand: "Sit down!" ”

"The adults haven't sat down yet, don't dare!"

Chen Yonghua walked to the table with a smile, sat down on the bed, and then beckoned Wang Yu: "Sit down, let's sit down and talk." ”

Only then did Wang Yu sit down. The young guard who followed Chen Yonghua turned around and went out and stood at the door waiting.

Chen Yonghua picked up the drawings on the table and looked at them, and seemed to see something: "Mr. Wang, these are the mold drawings for casting cannons and casting flowering cannonballs, right?" ”

"Good eyesight, adults! These are exactly the molds. Wang Yu exclaimed.

"These molds are complex enough! However, the official is a little incomprehensible, the mold is not made of clay, after the casting, the mold can be smashed open? Why is the painting so complicated, it seems to be a combination of two pieces of iron? Chen Yonghua asked puzzled.

Wang Yu hurriedly arched his hand: "Go back to Lord Chen!" What you're talking about, sir, is a clay mold. Although the clay mold is simple to manufacture and the single cost is low, a clay mold can only produce one thing and is wasted. Moreover, the clay mold of the cannon made by each craftsman is different in size and caliber, so that the caliber of each cannon is different. Needless to say, the high cost of producing artillery from clay molds is also difficult, and it is difficult to unify the caliber. What's more, the mud mold casting cannon, the mold has to dry for a long time, and more seriously, some molds look dry on the outside, but the inside is still wet, once that kind of mold casting cannon comes out, the molten iron will produce steam when it meets moisture, which will make the barrel full of bubbles, and the consequence is that the barrel is not strong, fragile, and it is easy to blow up! Therefore, each mold must be guaranteed to be dry before it can be used. Besides, the clay mold makes flowering shells, which is even more laborious and costly, and flowering shells are different from ordinary solid shells, and the caliber of solid shells can be polished if there is an error, and flowering shells can not be polished! Every shell is shaped at one time. In order to conform to the caliber, the caliber must be measured before each clay mold is made. Because the shells are hollow, each shell consumes two clay molds. And the shell mold that was painstakingly manufactured was scrapped after the shell was cast, which was too expensive and too inefficient! ”

Chen Yonghua nodded: "Yes, this clay mold cannon is barely acceptable." But casting flowering cannonballs is too time-consuming and laborious! No wonder there aren't even many flowering shells for the Tessians! The red-coated cannons they sold us were three hundred taels of silver for one shot! I thought that those red-haired ghosts were asking for a sky-high price, but after listening to Mr. Wang's instructions today, I realized that this kind of cannonball is not easy to make. If the iron mold casting method can be successful, our army can have a large number of flowering bombs! It's just ......"

"But what?"

"It's just that this iron mold is made of iron, and if the molten iron is injected into the iron mold, won't the mold be damaged?" Chen Yonghua asked very puzzled.

"No, the iron mold is made of steel with a high melting point, and when the molten iron leaves the blast furnace, the temperature has been lowered a little, and with a thin layer of clay on the inner wall of the mold, the mold will not be damaged, and after cooling, the mold and the cast iron will not be bonded together." Wang Yu explained.

Chen Yonghua was overjoyed: "In this case, then Mr. Wang must hurry up and make an iron mold as soon as possible, so that our army can produce a large number of powerful cannons!" ”

Who knew that Wang Yu shook his head and said, "Lord Chen, you don't know, but this iron mold casting cannon is in a hurry. Because the iron mold casting cannon has a great disadvantage, that is, the cooling speed is too fast, resulting in serious whitening of the gun breech, so the barrel wall is not strong, and it is easy to explode. Therefore, it is necessary to raise the furnace temperature again and melt quartz into the molten iron. In this way, when the cannon is cast, it will not cool down too quickly, and the toughness and solidity of the barrel wall can be guaranteed. ”

"How do you increase the temperature of the furnace?" Chen Yonghua didn't expect that the cannon casting technology would involve so much.

"It is impossible to rely on manpower bellows alone, and this requires the help of the king of Yanping to build a reservoir in the middle of Xiamen Island, build a waterwheel, and use water power to blow wind. At the same time, the waterwheel can also drive lathes made by the Tessians, which are used to polish the inner walls of cannon barrels and process weapons such as firearms. Wang Yu said, pointing to the middle of the map of Xiamen Island, which was later the location of the Wanshi Botanical Garden. It is a highland in Xiamen, and there is a small stream flowing from the confluence of mountain springs, which can provide hydraulic and mechanical work.

Chen Yonghua is also a very smart person, he looked at Wang Yu's sketch and understood: "This method is good. It's just that Xiamen Island is too small, and there are too few places to put waterwheels. If we are going to mass-produce the Bird Cannon, we will need more plates in the future. ”

In fact, Chen Yonghua had already suggested to Zheng Chenggong that when he won the battle of Xiamen and repelled the Qing army, he would go to seize Dongfan Island on the opposite shore and drive out the Dutch. In that way, Zheng Jiajun will be able to get a relatively large piece of land, which can feed more people and obtain more resources. And Zheng Chenggong also agreed with this, and the two hit it off. In fact, Chen Yonghua still does not have Zheng Chenggong's vision, in fact, Zheng Chenggong not only focuses on Dongfan Island, but even has his eyes on Luzon Island, a large island in the South Sea.

To Chen Yonghua's surprise, Wang Yu not only knew how to make all kinds of weapons, but also drew a chart of the South Seas! Moreover, Wang Yu also plans to occupy Luzon, Natuna and other islands, and finally open up Malacca, open a road from Burma to the southwest, and connect with Li Dingguo.

Zheng Chenggong is not optimistic about Yongli, so his political views are different from Li Dingguo. Although Chen Yonghua is Zheng Chenggong's military advisor, he doesn't think so. Chen Yonghua was bent on opposing the Qing Dynasty and restoring the Ming Dynasty, and he felt that the King of Yanping should join forces with the King of Jin more, these two were the last two pillars of the Ming Dynasty, and only by joining forces could the huge Qing court be defeated.

The two talked a lot about things, and Chen Yonghua admired Wang Yu's talent and strategic plan.

When he was about to say goodbye, Chen Yonghua finally said: "Mr. Wang's insights are really admirable! Listening to your words is better than reading a book for ten years! It's a pity that this official will reply to the prince tomorrow, and the Tartars are about to attack Xiamen Island, so I have to go back and prepare. ”

After speaking, Chen Yonghua turned his head and shouted, "Xifan, come in!" ”

The guards outside heard Chen Yonghua shouting at him, and hurriedly walked into the house, knelt on one knee, the sword in his hand hung on the ground, and bowed: "My subordinates knock to see Lord Chen!" I don't know what Master Chen commands? ”

Wang Yu carefully counted the guards, and saw that this person was tall, with thick arms, and although his face was young, it revealed a battle-hardened murderous aura. Looking at this person's temples and eyes, he is obviously a practitioner with strong martial arts.

Chen Yonghua introduced Wang Yu and said: "This is Feng Xifan, the official's personal guard!" You two want to be old, but he's a little older than you. Don't look at Xi Fan's youth, he has been practicing martial arts since he was a child, and his martial arts are very strong! Hee Fan will be able to go to the battlefield to kill enemies when he is ten years old! ”

"I've seen Brother Feng!" Wang Yu hurriedly stood up and clasped his fists and saluted.

Hearing that this guard was actually Feng Xifan, Wang Yu was shocked, but quickly calmed down again. Feng Xifan, this is also a big boss in history! This is the second big boss-level character that Wang Yu has seen in this world! But what I didn't expect was that Feng Xifan was so young now.

Feng Xifan also stood up: "I've seen Mr. Wang!" ”

Chen Yonghua said: "The official is leaving tomorrow, and Xifan will stay here to help King Yanping watch the progress of gunpowder and cannonballs." After the official leaves, he represents the official. If Mr. Wang has any requests, he can ask Xifan. ”

"Please rest assured, Lord Chen! If you have subordinates, you will definitely take care of Mr. Wang! Feng Xifan swore an oath.