The first cannon was successfully cast, and the atmosphere in the equipment division was as hot as coal in a blast furnace. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

There is a smile on the face of each craftsman.

In the past month, they have been working day and night, and everyone has lost more than ten pounds, in order to complete the task arranged by King Qi.

Now we are only waiting for the test firing of this artillery, if it is successful, it means that the equipment department has really mastered the production technology of artillery.

"Your Highness, let's try it, this craftsman is waiting with their eyes open." Chen Qi was afraid that Xiao Ming would not let them observe the test firing of this artillery, which was as uncomfortable as being brought by Ugly Jun before he had just given birth to a child.

"Yes, Your Highness, let us see." The craftsmen in the Apparatus Division pleaded, their eyes anticipating the power of the artillery.

The craftsmen were covered in sweat and iron powder, and a smell of metal and sweat wafted through the apparatus division.

With so many requests, Xiao Ming naturally couldn't refuse, he was just joking with Chen Qi just now.

Of course, these craftsmen need to participate in the testing of this artillery, and only in this way can problems be discovered and rectified in time.

"Well, it's definitely too late today, we need a suitable site, and this artillery is heavy, transportation is also a problem, and at the same time artillery shells."

When he lifted the cannonball, Xiao Ming's tone became a little heavier.

The shells of the artillery naturally have to fit the current artillery, and if they are too large to fit in, the effectiveness of the small gunpowder will be greatly reduced, and it is likely that the shells will hit the surface of the foot.

Before the artillery was produced, the Armament Division could not accurately calculate the caliber of the shells needed for this artillery, because it did not dare to produce shells.

Xiao Ming was a little helpless about this, after all, there was no accurate measurement system in this era, and the products produced could not be accurate, and at present, they could only produce shells with the caliber of the muzzle.

Otherwise, the produced shells are likely not to fit in.

He thought that this system of accurate measurements should also be established, so that the production of artillery and the production of shells could not interfere with each other.

It only needs to be produced according to the strict size of each other, and it is also necessary for the industrial development of Qingzhou in the future.

After all, after the lathe can participate in production, it is even more necessary to have a metric standard into mass production parts.

Although Chen Qi and others were in a hurry, some preparations were needed if the artillery was to be test-fired, not only the problems of shells, places, and transportation.

There is another thing that Chen Qi can manage, and that is the problem of gunpowder.

Thinking of this, Xiao Ming left the Instrument Division and went directly to Lutong's chemistry laboratory.

At this time, the chemical laboratory, like the equipment department, was also controlled by guards, and everyone involved in the production of gunpowder was closely monitored.

The important weapon of the country cannot be easily revealed to the rest of the people, and this secrecy measure is naturally understandable, but these things involve the safety of the fiefdom.

These people have become accustomed to this kind of environment.

Compared with the production of artillery, the production of gunpowder is much easier, but Xiao Ming wants high-quality gunpowder, because the work of Lu Tong and others is not easy.

Many particles of gunpowder that are not qualified will start again.

In such a place, in order to avoid danger, no metal objects are allowed to be brought in, and the tools in it are basically made of wood.

In order to prevent the explosion of gunpowder.

"Your Highness, why are you here? It's too dangerous. Lu Tong looked anxious when he saw Xiao Ming coming.

This chemistry laboratory is not the one in the Bowen Academy, otherwise Xiao Ming is really worried that one day the entire Bowen College will be blown up by the Lu Tong Society.

The chemistry lab is now located outside the city of Qingzhou and adjacent to the workshop area, but it is separated by several meters and surrounded by several walls.

"You are not afraid of danger, but what is this king afraid of?" Xiao Ming said with a smile.

Lu Tong was stunned for a moment when he heard this, he had never come into contact with other vassal kings, but he still believed that the vassal king in front of him must be different.

In King Qi's body, he didn't feel any kind of superior isolation, on the contrary, Xiao Ming was always an approachable appearance, which made people kind.

With a sigh of emotion, Lu Tong reacted and said to Xiao Ming: "Your Highness, part of the granular gunpowder you ordered has already been produced. ”

"Really? How many? Xiao Ming asked with interest.

Lu Tong took Xiao Ming through the front yard and went straight to the backyard.

This place was designed as a laboratory and a factory, the first half of which was the factory, and the laboratory was in the back.

There are twenty buildings of various sizes scattered throughout the area, each with a different purpose.

The warehouse is also in the backyard, and Lu Tong moved all the gunpowder produced to the warehouse.

When he arrived at the warehouse, Lu Tong pointed to a sack and said, "Your Highness, this is it, I don't know if it's enough?" ”

The sack that Lu Tong pointed to was about half a person high, and it was so thick that one person held it, and it was estimated that there were more than 100 catties of gunpowder in it.

"It's not enough." Xiao Ming said: "You have to speed up, if you don't have enough manpower, just tell me, I can allocate it to you at any time, and you must increase production." ”

This ancient war generally lasted a long time, and the number of artillery firing was so large that this bag of granular gunpowder was simply not enough for a single artillery.

Lu Tong nodded, "Yes, Your Highness, I will let people speed up, but Your Highness, this material ......"

"Aren't there enough gunpowder materials?" Xiao Ming frowned.

"Yes, this saltpeter generally comes from a few nitrate caves in Shudi, and there is no production in other places, Chen Bingcao just left before His Highness came just now, he said that all the saltpeter on the market can be bought, but there are no merchants selling saltpeter to Qingzhou in the future."

Lu Tong's words made Xiao Ming cool for a while, the current saltpeter in the Great Chongqing Kingdom mainly comes from several open-air nitrate caves in Shudi.

Because it is easy to mine and the demand is not large, Dayu does not attach importance to this saltpeter, and there is basically no special mining of saltpeter in other places.

Xiao Ming once consulted the resource distribution map in the science and technology library, and there were also saltpeter mines in his fiefdom, and he also asked Qian Dafu to look for it, but there was no news yet.

He can't blame Qian Dafu for this, in this era, except for minerals that are easy to find in the open air, looking for minerals buried in the place is no less than looking for a needle in a haystack.

He asked Qian Dafu to look for a lot of minerals, and now Qian Dafu has been looking for them.

Despite the hard work of eating and sleeping in the open air, there has been very little harvest so far, and there is no news of the saltpeter mine.

Now that there is a problem with the source of saltpeter, it is a heavy blow to Xiao Ming.

Seeing Xiao Ming's uncertain expression, Lu Tong hesitated for a moment and asked, "Your Highness, do you think this is a ghost made by the King of Shu?" ”

(To be continued.) )