"Explosion?" When Daoist Ren carefully put the thin "black flour cakes" on the kitchen stove to dry, he talked to Chen Dexing about how to use these **. "This gunpowder is a fire-inducing thing, and it can be lit with fire, but if it wants to be fried, it must be placed in a sealed utensil, or a bamboo tube, or a paper roll, otherwise it will only burn and not explode, and at most it will produce some smoke."

Chen Dexing nodded appreciatively, this Taoist priest has a good stomach fruit! I also know the truth of gunpowder deflagration. Gunpowder must be constrained by external forces in order to fully deflagrate and cause an explosion - when the gas pressure generated by ** combustion is higher than the bearing capacity of the container, an explosion occurs!

In other words, there must be a container that is strong enough to withstand the gas pressure generated by two and a half catties of ** after full deflagration, so as to maximize the power of these **! If the shell of the cannon is not strong enough, it will not be able to withstand the power of so much gunpowder deflagration, and it may explode in advance, so that a part of the ** cannot be burned, resulting in unnecessary waste.

Therefore, the more the charge of the iron cannon, the better. And Chen Dexing doesn't have enough ** in his hands to squander.

"So how much ** is filled in an iron cannon, it also depends on how strong the iron shell is." Chen Dexing helped Daoist Ren to "spread the cake", and thought about it, "Daoist, if you give you the command of the entire gunpowder work, how many ** can you prepare in a month?" ”

"Well, it depends on how much saltpeter and sulfur there is...... If the materials can be supplied, it is still certain to prepare a thousand catties, and no more will work. Daoist Ren smiled bitterly, "This sulfur and saltpeter are poisonous, and you can't make these all day long." ”

It turns out that toxic gases will be produced in the process of refining snow nitrate and Kunlun yellow, and it is dangerous to inhale too much.

"A thousand pounds...... According to the calculation of two catties of iron cannons, it is 500 iron cannons. "Chen Dexing reduced the charge of each iron cannon by half a catty." If one salvo goes out more than 200 times, two times it will be gone...... Taoist priest, there is no way to get more? ”

"A thousand catties, that's all there is to it." Daoist Ren thought for a while, and then said, "Qingzhi, if I can let my senior brother, Liu Jun and Daoist Liu of Shenxiao Temple in Zhenjiang Mansion, bring a few Daoist children from the Shenxiao Sect to Yangzhou to help, but we can double the output, and their craftsmanship can be better than that of the master made of gunpowder." However, they won't join the army, and you'll have to pay them another big salary. ”

The government-run handicraft industry, except for the products exclusively for the consumption of the royal family and nobles, is naturally dominated by fooling things, and the income of craftsmen is also low, so they cannot expect to produce high-quality products at all. And the craftsmen who mess around every day are naturally not good at craftsmanship, where can they be compared with the Taoist priests of the Shenxiao Sect.

"Okay! Then quickly recruit him to come and tell Liu Daoren that I will pay 500 copper coins to ask him for help. Chen Dexing patted his chest without hesitation, he knew that the Taoist priest who could be called a senior brother by the Taoist priest must be a true Taoist priest with a degree, and maybe there was an official body given by the imperial court, and his status was not much worse than that of ordinary small envoys.

"Big brother, starling asks to see." Zhu Sijiu's voice suddenly came from outside the heavily guarded kitchen.

Starling is Zita, the general of the blacksmith general, the eighth brother of the twenty-two brothers of Qionghualou, and the man who struck iron, although he joined the army, but his craftsmanship did not fall behind. Chen Dexing gave him the work of making iron parts for the stone machine, and two days ago asked him to try out the iron cannon shell. Now it's time to make a sample and bring it to Chen Dexing to see.

"Let him in." After Chen Dexing pasted a piece of "black flour cake", he found a rag to wipe his hands, and then instructed Zhu Sijiu to let Qi Ta in. Although it is a big secret, it is not impossible for the brothers to see.

"Big brother, you've done what you wanted." Zeta looked curiously at the "black flour cake" plastered on the top of the stove, and did not ask a question, but handed a black cast iron ball to Chen Dexing with both hands.

The iron ball is not very large, but the weight is not light, at least more than four catties, the interior is hollow, but the space inside is not very large, and it is a little reluctant to fill two catties. There is an opening at the top of the ball that can be used to fill gunpowder, but this opening is still slightly larger, which is not conducive to the full deflagration of gunpowder.

"That's it?" Chen Dexing shook the iron ball and asked in a low voice. Things are certainly not ideal, that's for sure...... Chen Dexing's "handicraft" team has just opened, and except for a Taoist priest who can play the Radar Shenxiao School, almost no one can be said to be a skilled craftsman.

But then again, it's useless to have a skilled craftsman, what's the difference between a good-looking bomb and a bomb that's ugly? For Chen Dexing, the biggest problem now is not the craftsmanship of the craftsmen, but the standardization of products. Although he has issued uniform measuring tools to the craftsmen below, he has also restrained them with military law. But there is always a certain error in the things made - the so-called interchangeability of parts and components is also so-so and improvised exchange! As for the cast iron products of the blacksmith, this error is even greater, which can no longer be solved by changing the ruler, or it is useless to cut off the heads of the blacksmiths! The progress of this industry can only be accumulated step by step, and it is really impatient.

"It's the only way, the thing cast in pig iron is such a rough thing, it can't be compared to carpentry work." Zita knew that Chen Dexing was not satisfied, so he just smiled bitterly, "If there is good wrought iron, it can be forged into a delicate job." ”

"Good wrought iron?" Chen Dexing shook his head, "Don't think about that kind of good thing, there is no good wrought iron available for the ring head knife and the step armor!" ”

The iron smelting of the Song Dynasty was still a bit problematic, probably because of the high sulfur and phosphorus of iron ore, the quality of wrought iron in the Song Dynasty was generally not up to standard, and the impurities contained were high, relatively brittle, and the forging was not strong. Therefore, the ring-headed knives used by the infantry of the Song Dynasty were relatively cumbersome, and the slender and narrow horizontal knives with the blades were almost extinct. However, the production of iron in the Song Dynasty was very high, and the price was relatively cheap.

"Daoist, is there anything that can be used to seal and dehumidify?" Chen Dexing played with the iron ball in his hand and asked with a frown.

"Yes, it can be sealed with wax and wrapped in sun-dried cotton cloth to prevent moisture." The Taoist family of Ren has been playing "Lei Fa" for generations, and naturally knows that there are some ways to prevent moisture and dehumidify, "It's best to find a drier house to store gunpowder." In addition, the warehouse where the ** is stored must be strictly prohibited from fireworks. ”

As he spoke, he pointed to the stove that was burning again, "You can't use gunpowder for baking in the future, you have to go to water if you are not careful, it is best to build a kang and burn the fire outside the house." ”

"That's it, starling, I'll leave this matter to you." After Chen Dexing changed his hand and assigned the task to Zeta, he began to look at the iron lump in his hand again, "Is there a way to start the fire?" ”

"There are many ways to start a fire, using cotton thread soaked in nitrate, and using paper strips stained with nitrate powder and rice pulp can also ignite a fire." Taoist priests who play "Lei Fa" will naturally light mines, "but the things that cause fire are sometimes blown out by strong winds, and if they are thrown from the iron cannon......"

"You can use a bamboo tube to put it on top of the iron cannon," Chen Dexing thought for a while, and said, "The length of the lead wire must also be adjusted, not too long, otherwise the Beiyu has not been blown up after running, and it can't be too short...... Let's try a few less pills. ”

"It's easy to do." The Taoist priest patted his chest, "Taoist priest, my ancestors have been playing thunder law for generations, do you still know the length of the lead?" It's just that one stone machine throws three iron cannons at the same time, which is still a little more, and it is necessary to fire three times...... It's easy to go wrong in a hurry! ”

"It's enough to vote one at a time," Chen Dexing frowned. Obviously, the stone machine he designed was still not ideal, a little heavier, in fact, as long as it could throw a seven- or eight-pound iron cannon 200 steps away, it was enough. "Let's use stone bullets to counterweight the rest, and in the future, you can make the stone machine smaller to make it easier to maneuver."

I1153