Chapter 44 Turtledove Gunpowder Granular Gunpowder and Prince Taibao

After hearing this, Zhang Gui said: "The steel workshop in Xishan belongs to Your Majesty. Whether you can make armor and guns or not depends on your Majesty's permission. As long as Your Majesty agrees, you will directly pass Xishan to my servants, the official school of Xichang and others." In the future, the court’s new trainees will make armor and guns!"

   "I heard that Qi's army already knew how to make gunpowder into granules. Have you ever heard of this skill?"

  Zhang Gui remembered that the Qi family army in the Ming Dynasty already had records about the granulation of gunpowder, but it was only lost later.

  So, Zhang Gui only asked now.

In fact, because of the craftsman system in the Ming Dynasty, there were many professional craftsmen who would produce all kinds of firearms and gunpowder skills. According to records, there were even original versions of flowering bombs and rockets, but although there were many firearms in the Ming Dynasty There are many kinds, but because it is too messy, most of them have not been promoted, and many of them have even been lost.

   And granulated gunpowder is an example.

"This disciple doesn't know. But Qi Changguo, the son of Qi Taibao, is good at making gunpowder and firearms. Everyone knows that. He is now in the Jinyiwei, and he is a virtual official of the Jinyiwei commander. Enfu is now in charge of the Jinyiwei. Just call him and ask."

  Song Yingxing replied.

  After hearing this, Zhang Gui went back to the capital, invited Qi Changguo to the next post, and asked, "Do you know how to make gunpowder into granules?"

  Qi Changguo was a little surprised, and he didn't expect that Zhang Gui, who is now very popular in the country, would think of asking him this.

Qi Changguo replied truthfully: "Uncle returning to the country, this is the method my father's soldiers and horses have used in the past, and naturally they will. It's just that when the temple was in the temple, the veterans left by my father were slaughtered by the northern soldiers once, and after a **** battle in Hunhe, now No one knows this method anymore, only humble officials know how to do it."

   "Presumably you know all kinds of firearms?"

   Zhang Gui asked again.

  Qi Changguo nodded.

  Zhang Gui smiled gratifiedly, and handed the blueprint of a turtledove gun to Qi Changguo: "Will this one know?"

  Qi Changguo looked at the blueprint and said, "This blunderbuss is nothing more than a bigger one. I am willing to give it a try."

"good!"

   "You can go to Xishan to build it. Where is there a better way to drill the gun barrel? After it is built, I will give you credit for it."

   "In addition, your Qi family's granulated gunpowder must be produced as soon as possible. At that time, it will be used as the propellant for this gun. If the effect is amazing, this royal family will also give you credit."

  Zhang Gui talked.

   "Thank you, Uncle Guo!"

  Qi Changguo then really devoted himself to making turtledove guns and granulating gunpowder.

   Many days later, Zhang Gui saw a new turtledove blunderbuss and a box of granulated gunpowder at Qi Changguo.

Zhang Gui tried it, and found that the turtledove blunderbuss with one or two five renminbi of medicine and one or two five renminbi of lead ammunition is indeed more powerful than the bird blunderbuss of three renminbi of medicine and three renminbi of lead ammo. Stuff four lead bullets.

  As for Qi Changguo's granulated gunpowder, it is indeed as recorded in "Ji Xiao Xinshu": "burn it in the palm, the skin is not hot, and you are in a hurry." The burning speed is faster, so that the firing time is shorter.

After Qi Changguo made the turtledove blunderbuss and let Zhang Gui see the granulated gunpowder, Zhang Gui entered the palace and said to Tianqi: "Qi Zuo Your Majesty, I have realized the commercialization of the steelmaking industry. If Your Majesty is interested , you can follow the minister to the west mountain to have a look."

"real?!"

   Tian Qi couldn’t believe it, but he still came to the steel workshop in Xishan in the next micro-service.

As soon as he arrived at the steel workshop, Zhang Gui asked someone to put a newly finished steel ingot on a ceramic plate, and said to Tianqi: "This is a newly produced steel ingot. Your Majesty can ask the attendant Jin Yiwei to chop it with a Xiuchun knife. .”

  Apocalypse asked Jin Yiwei, who followed him, to slash him with a knife.

   Bang!

   Jin Yiwei's knife was directly cut.

  Tian Qi was greatly astonished seeing this. If he hadn't seen with his own eyes that the steel ingot was just out of the furnace, he would really not want to believe that it wasn't steel made by the hundred-smelting method.

   Then, Zhang Gui showed Tianqi the drill bit being used by craftsmen to drill steel pipes: "Your Majesty, do you think this drill bit cuts iron like mud?"

  Tianqi saw that the drill in the craftsman's hand was drilling a solid steel rod out of a hole, so he nodded and said: "It is indeed cutting iron like mud!"

   "And such drill knives, now I can produce a lot of them with this crucible steelmaking method."

   As he said that, Zhang Gui asked someone to bring a large frame of drill knives of various widths, and said to Tian Qi: "Your Majesty can randomly select one, let the craftsmen try it, and verify whether the minister is lying."

  Tianqi really chose one at random, and asked Wei Zhongxian to choose one too, and handed it over to the craftsman to drill.

   Soon, Tian Qi discovered that the drill knife he and Wei Zhongxian randomly selected also cut steel rods like mud.

   "I thought it would take you a long time to commercialize these steelmaking industries, but I didn't expect it to be so soon!"

  Tian Qi laughed and asked Zhang Gui again: "How did you do this?"

   "Returning to Your Majesty, I was lucky. I happened to have such an idea. Before I used a crucible to isolate the coal and burn it directly to the iron ore, I tried it by smearing a layer of naturally occurring graphite on the crucible."

"It turned out that the drill knife made of the molten steel smelted in this way can cut iron directly! From my point of view, it is estimated that some things in the graphite ran into the molten steel, which increased the hardness of the steel. I smelted this kind of crucible. Steel is called tool steel, and it will undoubtedly be used on a large scale in the future to process various iron products, such as gun barrels, bearings, springs, etc.”

   Zhang Gui replied.

   "Why did you choose to paint graphite on it?"

   Apocalypse asked.

   "I actually don't know why I chose graphite, but suddenly I had a flash of inspiration, so I thought of trying graphite first. If your majesty is interested, you can try other inks."

   Zhang Gui replied.

Zhang Gui didn't want Tianqi to dwell on this issue for too long, so he continued: "Your Majesty, no matter what, now, the steel that has been refined a hundred times can indeed be mass-produced in a short period of time, and even the steel that has been cut like iron can be produced in large quantities." It has been mass-produced in a short period of time, which undoubtedly means that carriages with bearings can be popularized on a large scale, and even various types of better gun barrels and gun barrels can be produced. In my opinion, we have realized the commercialization of the steelmaking industry. .”

   Zhang Gui then continued.

  Tian Qi nodded and said with a smile: "Indeed, in this way, carriages with bearings can be promoted, and my Ming's ordnance can also be manufactured better and faster!"

   As he spoke, Tian Qi looked at Zhang Gui and said, "You have made great contributions, and I will reward you heavily."

   "Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Zhang Gui said again: "Your Majesty, as for the gunpowder and gunpowder, I designed a new type of gunpowder, and asked Qi Changguo, commander of Jin Yiwei, to try it out. The effect is very good, and it is more powerful than the bird's gunpowder! There is Qi Changguo who intends to offer His Majesty the Qi family gunpowder granulation technology to enhance the combat power of the officers and soldiers, would His Majesty be willing to take a look?"

  Tianqi was interested in technical things, let alone those involving ordnance, so he nodded immediately: "Then pass it on to Qi Changguo."

   Not long after, Qi Changguo brought the turtledove blunderbuss and granulated gunpowder according to the order.

  Tian Qi also tried them one by one after that, and said with a smile: "Sure enough, this gunpowder and this gunpowder are very good, and the Qi Qing family has also made a contribution."

   Immediately, Tianqi ordered: "Uncle Zhang Guijia became the crown prince and Taibao, Qi Changguo was promoted to the governor of the Chinese army's governor's mansion, and the rest of the meritorious personnel will be discussed and rewarded by the cabinet."

   "Thank you, Your Majesty Ron!"

  Zhang Gui and Qi Changguo replied.

Then, Zhang Gui reported again: "Your Majesty, in my opinion, since the steel workshop in Xishan has realized the industrialization of 100-refined high-quality steel, and there are tool steels that can quickly process steel, it is better to set up another one in Xishan." The Ordnance Department, which belongs only to His Majesty, directly bypasses the Ordnance Bureau and the Military Warfare Bureau, and produces these new-style ordnance and sells them to the officers and armies of various places. The profits obtained in this way can increase the income of His Majesty's internal funds, and the craftsmen will grow their sincerity in manufacturing. , but also give priority to ensuring that the army of His Majesty's Imperial Guard is superior to other official troops in terms of ordnance."

   "I understand what you mean, you want me to start anew."

  Tianqi suddenly looked at Zhang Gui seriously after hearing this.

  (end of this chapter)