Wei Zheng waved his hand, in order to increase his sense of mystery and further improve his prestige in the Tiger and Par Army. Under the gaze of a pair of admiring eyes, he replied in as calm a tone as possible.

"None of this, and then I have something that surprises everyone even more... That is, to build the barrel of a musket ...

Under the gaze of a series of scorching eyes full of anticipation, Wei Zheng spoke: "As far as I know, everyone currently builds musket barrels, first making hard steel into iron pieces, and then, in Tongguò, a hard iron rod, the iron pieces are rolled into the barrel. After repeating the above actions layer after layer, without a little mistake, a qualified barrel can be created. ”

Wang Tiezhong nodded and replied: "General, this method has been passed down from generation to generation by our ancestors. This is what we have always done with the barrels... Could it be that you have a better way to build a barrel, General..."

Wei Zheng nodded without hesitation and affirmed: "If there is no good method, I don't dare to boast in front of you people." However, whether this method works well or not, I still need your help..."

It took me a day or two to turn a piece of pig iron into steel.

However, the general standing in front of him, with just a few words and a cup of tea, can directly convert hundreds of catties of pig iron into steel.

Wang Tiezhong didn't dare to imagine that the method that the general said next would be like 'copying steel', which would surprise him again and completely change the inherent process of building muskets in his heart.

Therefore, as soon as Wei Zheng finished speaking, Wang Tiezhong asked expectantly.

"General, what way..."

Wei Zheng shook his head and said mysteriously: "I will keep the specific method secret for the time being....you first use the freshly baked steel to make a few things according to what I said, and you will naturally know when the time comes...."

"In addition, I will leave me two blacksmiths, two stonemasons, and ten apprentices at my disposal, and I will build here an animal-powered turntable pulled by a horse... The most important factor in whether the musket can really be built is whether this animal power turntable can be successful. ”

The so-called animal power turntable is to let two horses pull the stone grinding wooden rod to rotate, through the connection and transmission of the guò gear and belt, so that the rotation speed of the mold in the center of the stone mill suddenly increases by dozens or even hundreds of times.

In order to ensure that when the turntable rotates at high speed, the whole turntable does not jolt and is always in a parallel state.

It took two days to polish and fix, and a huge turntable driven by animal power was completed under the leadership of Wei Zheng and more than a dozen craftsmen behind him.

The iron mold of the musket barrel made by Wang Tiezhong was mounted on the turntable, and after a few test turns under the pull of two horses. Visually alone, the mold, which rotates at high speed, does not deflect at any point under the drive of gears and transmission belts.

Now, the only thing that needs to be verified is whether the rotation speed of the iron mold is sufficient.

Whether centrifugal force can be used to throw the molten iron poured into the iron mold to the wall around the iron mold.

Okay, I didn't know until I tried...

After confirming that the stone turntable in front of him would not malfunction, Wei Zheng decisively ordered: "Master Wang, you immediately bring over the paint I asked you to mix with clay, and brush the entire inner wall of the iron mold, so that nothing can be missed, and it must be even."

An hour later, after all the paint brushed on the inner wall of the iron mold was dry, Wang Tiezhong's pot of molten steel, which had been in a state of preparation, was also burned red.

Under the order of Wei Zheng, the molten steel weighing ten catties was slowly poured into the iron mold.

"It's okay, we don't need a horse in the first experiment, use people....you ten people work together, the speed is a little slower at the beginning, you accelerate when I ask you to accelerate, you must ensure that the whole rotation process is smooth, you can't suddenly accelerate and decelerate..."

"Yes, General," replied the ten apprentices with excited faces.

Under the command of a blacksmith, the grinding disc weighing two hundred catties began to slowly turn.

Although the rotation speed of the circular grinding disc is very slow, the circular iron mold standing in the center of the stone mill is driven by the gears and rotates at a high speed of dozens of times.

Wei Zheng, who was standing next to the grinding plate, clearly saw that as the grinding disc rotated faster and faster, the molten iron in the iron mold also began to rotate.

Not only that, but a small pit began to slowly appear in the middle of the iron mold...

"A few more people, start to speed up the rotation of the stone mill...", Wei Zheng, who was in front of him, ordered decisively.

As the grinding disc rotated faster and faster, the small pit inside the red molten steel began to get deeper and deeper.

Of course, more and more of the red molten steel began to be thrown outward due to centrifugal force, adhering to the inner wall of the iron mold that had been coated with a layer of paint.

The faster the rotation speed of the iron mold, the more the molten steel that is thrown out due to centrifugal force will also be crossed......

Soon, the entire inner wall of the iron mold was covered with a thick layer of molten steel. A small pit in the middle of the molten steel also turns into a deep hole to the bottom of the iron mold.

"It's passed.... The barrel of the gun is finally open..."Wei Zheng subconsciously let out an exclamation in his heart.

Then, he shouted an order to the dozen or so apprentices in front of him who were still continuing to accelerate.

"Just keep pushing the grinding disc at this speed, don't stop..."

Under the action of strong centrifugal force, the molten steel attached to the inner wall of the iron mold becomes more and more uniform, and even the limited air bubbles mixed in the middle of the molten steel are thrown out.

When the color of the molten steel in the iron mold turns from red to dark, it begins to solidify slowly, at least it will not fall off on the inner wall of the iron mold, or even after deformation. Wei Zheng's strict order sounded again.

"Stop... Stop pushing the grinding disc..."

"A few of you, immediately remove the iron mold with a tool and install the iron mold on the fixed position of the stamping machine. Relying on manpower, while the molten steel has not yet completely hardened, press the steel rod into the barrel of the iron mold, and use the steel rod to squeeze the inside of the barrel evenly..."

This simple stamping machine located next to the turntable was also made by Wei Zheng with the assistance of more than a dozen craftsmen in the past two days with the most primitive tools.

Two straight, smooth iron rods, twenty centimeters apart, are fastened side by side on a simple wooden machine that acts as a horizontal track.

A slider made of hardwood, inserted into two steel rods. A strong cowhide rope is fixed at both ends of the slider, and the slider is pulled by pulling the two cowhide ropes.

The halo steel rod, made according to the caliber of the barrel, is fixed to this slider made of hardwood.

Directly opposite the smooth steel rods, a wooden machine was used to hold the iron mold, which still had an unhardened barrel.

After the iron die, which still emits a burst of heat, was fixed to the improvised press, two turntables tied with cowhide drawstrings quickly turned under the action of several apprentices.

As the cowhide drawstring tightened and tightened, the smooth steel rod attached to the hardwood slider began to slowly press into the barrel hole inside the iron mold.

Because the barrel was still in a semi-softened state at this moment, only four apprentices exerted force at the same time, and the smooth steel rods up to two feet long were all pressed into the iron mold.

After a series of important processes were completed, Wei Zheng couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, and shouted an order to the people in front of him.

"Pull out the steel rod right away... As soon as the barrel inside the iron mold is completely hardened, it is removed. Because a layer of paint is brushed between the iron mold and the barrel, as long as it is struck with an iron hammer, it can be removed lightly, and then the surface of the barrel is sanded to remove the coating that sticks to the surface of the barrel, and the excess material at both ends of the barrel is removed......"

It only took an hour, and under the continuous polishing of the two blacksmiths, the barrel of the gun, which emitted a cold light on the surface, was sent to Wei Zheng.

Looking at the barrel of the gun in his hand, Wang Tiezhong seemed to see his own child, and his eyes lit up.

Wei Zheng excitedly reported: "General, the quality of this gun barrel is definitely something I have never seen before. If an arquebus is made from this barrel, the charge of the musket can be increased by at least 30% while ensuring that the barrel is not damaged. The charge of the musket has increased, and the firing range will increase by more than 30%, and there is no need to worry about exploding..."

Wei Zheng's eyes lit up, and he said to himself: "The range has increased by three percent, which means that this lead bullet shot from the barrel of the gun can shoot the Tartar cavalry wearing iron armor from two hundred meters away..."

"Yes, General," Wang Tiezhong affirmed loudly.

"Penetrate a layer of iron armor from 200 meters away, and penetrate Tartar leather armor from 300 meters away....these numbers are still conservative estimates of our craftsmen, and when we really go to the battlefield, the power must be greater than we estimated..."