A slightly red-hot molten iron flowed out, and there was another cheer in the mine.

"The fourth brother is really ......"

Tian Dayou wanted to say something excitedly, but he found that he had already said all the words of admiration earlier, so he had to laugh as well, and behind him, Tian Qing frowned, and his face was extremely complicated.

"You kid is really a bit of a golden finger, a small black mine can also smelt the kind of pig iron ...... Foshan Iron Field"

The newly started iron smelting furnace was producing iron, Xiao Sheng leaned over to the iron plate, carefully looked at the pig iron that was cooling and solidifying, and took a heavy breath.

"It is difficult to produce a few furnaces of such pig iron in Foshan Iron Yard a year! This molten iron is really pure! ”

Li Xian coughed, just know, why did he shout so loudly......

"You know how to smelt iron, too?"

Li Xi asked casually.

"I don't understand, I've been in Foshan before, and I've seen them smelting iron."

Xiao Sheng shook his head very dryly.

"So what are you doing here? Is it to steal the teacher? ”

Li Xi joked with him.

"I don't dare to have anything to do with you, I still cherish my own life......"

Xiao Sheng glared at Li Xian angrily.

Xiao Sheng said earlier that he also had to be involved in this matter, and sure enough, as he expected, seven or eight days later, after more than ten furnace tests, the new iron-smelting furnace finally produced the first furnace of high-quality pig iron, and at this time, he also came.

He came here on Bai Daolong's order, Master Zhong was not worried about the movement of Fengtian Village, he was always afraid that he would be released pigeons, so he tossed and turned for a few days, and simply reported the matter of Fengtian Village taking over the four cannons to Bai Daolong, and Bai Daolong, who was also in a hurry in his stomach, pressed the task of guardianship to Xiao Sheng.

When he first came to the mine, he still had a-eating expression, but looking at the movement in the mine, Xiao Sheng gradually calmed down. Earlier, he had already lowered Li Shi in the matter of Lai Yipin, and then he was "haunted by a joke" by Li Shi who was difficult to distinguish between true and false, and now he learned that Li Shi also knew nothing about this iron smelting, and he was still presiding over the cannon making, and the resentment in his heart was also reduced a lot.

"The strongman has to obey ......"

Xiao Sheng comforted himself like this. And Li Shi also had a posture of getting along with his old friend, and Xiao Sheng also had a faint relief in his heart.

"I'm afraid this guy is not only a strongman, but also a demon......"

In addition to relief, there is also a little suspicion.

"You can prepare the iron today, if it is fast, it will be delivered in a month and a half, and you can report this good news to Bai Zongrong."

Li Xi said as he took Xiao Sheng out of the pit where the iron smelting furnace was located, the clay of the iron mold was almost dry, and then the casting iron mold, Li Xi didn't want to pass on this technology casually.

"Well, that's the best, I'll come and see every few days, are there enough guards in the mines? Not enough for me to send a few more. ”

Xiao Sheng was thinking about how to cooperate with Li Xian, Bai Zongbing lacked twelve cannons, and the Fengtian Village mine was responsible for one-third of the volume, and he took care of this side, which was also a credit.

"Hey, what's the trouble?"

Li Xi was a little puzzled.

"Be careful, it's early spring, and the mountain shanty people in the county have almost eaten up their winter food and are looking around. Begging and petty theft are nothing, but what I am afraid of is that I am hungry and panicked and rob people and prey. There are also displaced people outside the county, and there will be more at this time of year, which is the time when the most homicide and robbery cases are committed. If a miner comes to you to make trouble, there are many of you, and it is estimated that you will not be able to suffer a big loss, but if you break the cannon model, it will be troublesome. ”

Xiao Sheng really understands a little bit, and Li Shi also heard that this was sincere, and he didn't shirk it at the moment...... No, the people who come have to pay their salaries, which is taking advantage of them.

"Zhang Jizi and Liang Zhugan send one, if you are not there, I can find them to pass it on."

This cheap right should be a small filial piety, but Li Shi still made a request, asking Zhang Ying and Liang Deguang, two people who knew each other, to be in charge of contact, Xiao Sheng nodded and promised to send them in turn.

"Maybe I'm talking too much, but this matter is too important, Xiaosi, you still have to think one more step, but don't make a mistake."

Before leaving, Xiao Sheng gave a lot of advice, and Li Xian thought to himself, isn't it just a homeless miner? Could it be that this guy heard something about it, but it was inconvenient to say it, so he had to knock on the side to remind himself, and at the same time send more people to help him beware?

What's the trouble? What did you miss?

Li Xian thought about it, but was disturbed by a large number of steel cannon things in his mind.

"Your Uncle Guan doesn't understand the matter of this cannon core, let you go over and talk about it."

is eliminating interference, Tian Dayou has come over, thinking that there should be no big trouble with the protection of the Xun soldiers, Li Shi will put this matter aside for the time being.

"Why don't you use a mud core and use an all-iron core? It's not easy. ”

Guan Fengsheng was puzzled by this.

Li Xian took a deep breath and began to give a long explanation.

This thing seems small, but the impact is great, and if you study it carefully, it is actually the reason why the ancients did not have a deep grasp of the essence of artillery. Li Xi also wanted to engage in sand casting [1], but he had to spend a lot of time doing basic research, and now he can't catch up.

The biggest change in Gong Zhenlin's iron mold casting method is to speed up the casting speed and reduce the cost. In terms of the quality of artillery, in fact, there is no qualitative improvement, although he says in his book that "the inner chamber is as smooth as a mirror", but if you carefully study it, the role of the iron mold is only to facilitate the casting of the cannon body. In the cannon core part, the old method is still used, and the iron core is wrapped in mud [2].

The big problem of mud casting cannon is that the mud is not properly modulated, and the moisture problem is difficult to solve. If the mud particles are large, they will absorb moisture in the air. However, if the mud particles are too small, the original moisture cannot be dispersed, which is its fatal flaw. After the molten iron is poured in, the moisture is heated and evaporated, forming bubbles in the molten iron, resulting in the honeycomb empty nest in the cannon. If this empty nest appears in the inner chamber, the cannon is basically useless.

Although the iron mold casting method eliminates the outer layer of mud, the inner layer also uses a mud core, and although the moisture is much less than that of pure mud, it is still difficult to avoid. Moreover, the surface finish of the mud core is easy to have problems, and the cannon made is the same as the cannon cast by the mud fan, which requires a lot of effort to grind the inner chamber. 【3】

The most important thing in artillery is not the barrel, but the inner chamber, if you can completely throw away the mud, the bubble problem can be basically eliminated. Gong Zhenlin's iron mold casting method could have gone one step further, but the limitations of his purpose and vision made his contribution to artillery manufacturing stop there.

In order to solve the problem of inner chambering, the British relied on the brute force of the steam engine forty or fifty years later to hammer out the cannon chamber directly on the solid iron pillar cast. Li Shi doesn't have a steam engine now, so he can only take Gong Zhenlin's thinking as the starting point, and still use the iron mold, that is, the iron cannon core.

But if you use the iron cannon core, there is a huge problem, this is Guan Fengsheng's question, how to take out the iron cannon core? If you take it too early, it will damage the inner chamber that has not yet cooled, and if you take it too late, the iron core will melt with the cannon.

Li's solution is an integrated project that includes three aspects. The first is the polishing of the iron core, which must be polished extremely smooth, really like a mirror, although there are no tools to take advantage of now, and the grinding machine still relies on manpower, but this is a small cannon, and the problem is not big. The second is to further study the iron slurry, so that it can more effectively block the adhesion of molten iron and iron core.

The third point is to rely on He Carpenter's shot, taking advantage of the past few days to build a new furnace and improve the quality of iron, Li Xi taught the involute theory of the variable gear to He Carpenter and his apprentices, in fact, Li Xi does not know what the involute equation is, but the principle is known, taught to He Carpenter, so that he can ponder and solve practical problems first.

In the past dynasties, most of the cannons were set up on the platform, and the cannon model was erected and cast. Li Shi asked Carpenter He to set up an extra screw crane on the stage, and inserted the iron core into the cannon with gear transmission and guide rails. When the molten iron is cooled to a certain extent, the handle is shaken, the core is rotated, and then it is hoisted out, so that the sticking problem can be solved.

Guan Fengsheng asked: "Its practical mud-coated iron core should be enough, and I estimate that this iron model alone can reduce most of the waste rate." The inner chamber is a little worse, and it should be no problem to rotate and grind, anyway, it is much stronger than the earlier mud fan, so why bother so much? ”

After a few days, Guan Fengsheng and Tian Dayou no longer had the slightest doubt about completing this artillery-making task, and there was no need to dry the mud, and the biggest end of the time was removed. Now that the iron problem is solved, the iron mold can come out when it is seen. The iron mold is ready, and the iron core will take a little more time, and at the same time wait for the supporting projects on Carpenter He's side, and the four cannons will be a month at most. It's just that Li Shi has put so much thought into this cannon, which makes them a little puzzled.

"These techniques are just what the book says, you have to try it if you don't succeed, and if you try it, it's a craft, and maybe you can use it in the future, take advantage of this kung fu to practice your hands."

Li Shi's words concealed "evil intentions", but they didn't hear it, and their minds were attracted by the word "craft".

With this cannon, Li Shi has already practiced high-quality pig iron close to gray cast iron, a new generation of iron-smelting furnaces, iron mold casting, gear transmission and other technologies, and his heart is secretly refreshed.

"Dad, aren't you really worried about the future?"

But some people were very unhappy, when Tian Dayou returned to the guest longhouse that now belonged to him and was about to arrange tomorrow's work, his son Tian Qing followed in and asked with a gloomy face.

"The sky is falling, there is the fourth brother, there is your Uncle Guan, and your father, why do you keep babbling all day long!? Is it good to follow Uncle Guan to learn the craft with peace of mind? ”

Tian Dayu rebuked angrily, it seemed that father and son had talked about this topic more than once.

"Master Zhong and Lord Bai behind him, can we fight? Where the hell is Li Xi going to take our village!? Even if this cannon is built, Master Zhong will let us go? No one will believe it! ”

Tian Qing clenched his fists, his face was angry.

"With the fourth brother here, what else is there to be afraid of? Besides, it's all come to this, what else should I do? Adults don't have to worry about it, what kind of god are you a doll!? If you are asked to go to Mengxue to study, you don't go, you can't read a word, what qualifications do you have to say this? Okay, don't bother me with my work! ”

Tian Dayou is very good at managing people, but when it comes to his son, he has nothing to do, just waved his hand irritably and drove Tian Qing away.

"Li Shi? I see that he is a person who is not at ease! ”

Tian Qing muttered hatefully, gritted his teeth and left.

"In the whole village, no one can see that something is wrong, he Li Shi is making things bigger and bigger, does he have the ability to take care of this? When the time comes, pat your ass and leave, no one can stop you! Anyway, he was alone, leaving the people of our village to stare and die! ”

Outside the village, by the remote river bay, Tian Qing scolded while throwing stones.

"Why didn't God come down thunder to hack him!"

After cursing, he turned his head to look around, and his face was even more irritated.

"Why hasn't my cousin come yet? Could she ......?"

Turning his gaze back, Tian Qing was stunned.

On the surface of the river, a square boat[4] floated over, most of the hull was covered, and only a deck was exposed in the bow, and two men dressed in colorful costumes and wearing gauze hats were laughing at the bow. The sound was like a silver bell, and the posture was graceful, and it turned out to be two young women.

"Isn't it a fairy descending to earth?"

Tian Qing's mind became blurred, and he watched the boat drift closer and closer.

[1: Compared with Chinese and foreign casting technology, many people ignore the European sand casting technology, and want to highlight the advanced iron mold casting method of Gong Zhenlin, but this has a bit of stick spirit. The technical principle of sand casting is the same as that of iron mold casting, sand mold can be reused, the cost is lower than that of iron mold, it is more conducive to mass manufacturing, and the time is earlier than that of iron mold casting. 】

[2: The core of the gun is usually made of an iron core of half the inner diameter, wrapped in a mud layer, and after the molten iron solidifies and cools, shake and extract the iron core, and then clean the mud in the gun chamber. 】

[3: The guns of the Ming and Qing dynasties will be rotated and sharpened the inner chamber, and there are special boring machines and boring knives, but manpower is used, and the knives are not hard enough and have low efficacy. 】

[4: The boat boat was originally a kind of boat in the Northern Canal, because of the large width and space, it became a boat suitable for floating on the water for a long time. 】