If a problem arises, it must be solved and cannot be ignored or taken seriously.

The reason why the Ming army degenerated from the previous pure firearm army to an army mixed with hot and cold weapons was largely due to the decline in the quality of the muskets.

The "corruption" of weapons and equipment will inevitably lead to a decline in military discipline and combat effectiveness. The two are both causal and inevitable.

The sources of the muskets used by Erlang under the command of Eunuch Wei are very complicated. There are hundreds of high-quality guns obtained from Nanzhen, Jinyiwei, Beijing, and ordinary guns used in the former Wusong Water Camp. Recently, a large number of guns were obtained from the Nandu Alliance. The quality of these guns is uneven and the stability of their quality is worrying.

Therefore, if the problem that these muskets will explode with particulate gunpowder cannot be solved, then soldiers will not dare to use guns to participate in battles or even dare to train.

This must be something that Eunuch Wei cannot tolerate, so it must be resolved immediately.

Compared with the large-scale production of flintlock rifles, improving the barrel of existing combroach guns is more practical and practical.

After all, the Ming Dynasty Imperial Army will be engaged in actual combat in a few months.

Time waited for no one, and Eunuch Wei was humble and asked the two craftsmen, Wang and Hong, to be the leader of the craftsmanship, and asked for advice for their help. The two elders were very excited.

According to the standards of the "Wu Beizhi", the muskets used by the Ming army were roughly made of forty kilograms of iron to eight kilograms of fine iron, which means ten kilograms of iron to two kilograms of fine iron.

According to this standard, the annual iron production volume of Liyang Iron Farm controlled by my father-in-law is about 160,000 kilograms. If it is used for musket production, the single gun barrel will only be enough to produce 4,000 gun barrels per year.

At present, whether it is the Ministry of War, the Nanzhen of the Jinyiwei, or the Beijing Military Affairs Bureau, they rarely use strict materials. According to the old men Wang and Hong, most of the muskets they used to handle in military affairs bureaus used less than 20 kilograms of materials, but in the end they also weighed about eight kilograms.

In this, there is no need to train enough.

If the materials are insufficient or the tempering is insufficient, it would be strange if the gun barrel is good. That is, the above instructed to make some goods, or the border generals ordered enough materials for the servants, otherwise the same would be true.

The reason for this is that money is the blame.

Eunuch Wei knew this very well. As early as when the Beijing Military War was buying, Eunuch Lu told him a lot of inner thoughts.

To be honest, Eunuch Wei really doesn't know much about steel. He only vaguely remembers the standards for steel in his previous life. It seems that the lower the carbon content, the better the steel is.

To make a gun barrel, it means using pig iron to heat it in a charcoal fire and then forging it repeatedly. Therefore, a piece of good iron is said to make steel.

The principle is that as the carbon furnace is heated, the iron is carburized. During the continuous heating and forging process, the iron oxide sheet continues to fall off and the carbon division is lost, resulting in the continuous reduction of the overall weight, and finally becomes steel, which is the so-called high-quality iron, or fine iron.

Su Gang, which is popular among the people in Nanzhili, is forged by Wuhu Iron Factory. Unfortunately, Su Gang is mostly used for people's livelihood, and there are very few procurements in the military.

In order to make money, the north and the south are shoddy and deal with things.

………………

Because it is rare that such a big man would listen to them about making guns. In addition, Eunuch Wei is very kind to them, so he gave him enough home payment when he comes, and he gets more monthly wages than in Beijing. Wang and Hong naturally dare not hide their own personalities and told his father-in-law that he had the best skills.

Eunuch Wei listened intently, and immediately asked wherever he didn't understand, without any airs.

In fact, the most suitable gun pipe is definitely seamless steel pipe. My father-in-law knows the concept of seamless steel pipe, but now there is no high-speed motor or even power, so it is impossible to produce seamless steel pipes. Until the founding of the People's Republic of China, China did not have the ability to produce seamless steel pipes, and it was only possible to produce them with the assistance of the Soviets.

Therefore, my father-in-law would not whimsically make seamless steel pipes. He believed that the solution to the easy explosion of gun pipes should be based on the existing solutions.

In order to make himself feel the production process of a gun barrel more intuitively, Eunuch Wei specially asked Wang and the other elders Hong to take him to see it.

The two elders went to the workshop and asked the apprentices to prepare it. Then they took a piece of hammered fine iron, prepared a cylindrical steel core about thirty centimeters long as it was cold bones, burned the fine iron made of the gun tube until red hot, knocked the hot fine iron outside the steel core with a hammer, and rolled it into an iron pipe. During the process of wrapping the iron, the steel core was constantly pulled out and cooled with water to prevent the steel core and the iron from being welded together.

"My father-in-law doesn't know that only when the rolled gun barrel reaches a certain thickness can the gun barrel be strong and can withstand dozens of consecutive firings. Otherwise, if it is shot two or three times, the gun barrel will become permed and heated, and it will be useless."

While Wang Laoer was talking, he started welding with Hong Laoer. Because of the limited technology, the gun body was welded one by one, and if the welded was not well, it would be easy to explode.

Most people can't do this job, they have to learn it for more than three years.

Li Yanzhao whispered, saying that only when the welding is perfect, can the gun barrel be used to make a gun.

In addition, in addition to this gun making method, there is also a drilling method.

This method is extremely troublesome. It is said that only one inch of drilling a day is needed, and a good gun can only be successfully drilled for at least one month.

There are too many skilled craftsmen required and the output is low, so Jiajing will basically not be used much in the future.

About half an hour later, with the help of his apprentice, the two elders welded the gun tubes.

Eunuch Wei thought it was just like that and didn't want the process to go.

The gun tube was put back in the furnace and burned until it was red. A steel core was also prepared, and then the iron tube that had been burned to the red color was placed on the steel core. The master knocked and smashed the iron tube interface vigorously into one. During this process, the steel core must be pulled out and cooled at any time. The iron core was cooled and heated at the same time. The iron tube finally made is the gun tube that can be made.

Eunuch Wei understood what he was going to do.

First, it is definitely to ensure the treatment of craftsmen and make them motivated to work. This is an example of miners and porters in Liyang Iron Farm.

Second, it is to replenish manpower.

Now, including the ones brought by Beijing and those recruited by the people, there are more than 300 craftsmen working at the General Administration of Manufacturing, at least one-third of which are not experienced. Therefore, according to the process and time required to strictly build a gun barrel, the General Administration of Manufacturing can only produce four or five hundred muskets in one month.

This speed is much worse than the pipeline.

Therefore, Eunuch Wei ordered Zheng Duo to transfer all the soldiers captured from Zhongzuo, Zhejiang Dinghai Guard, to the General Administration of Manufacturing, and a group of prisoners brought by Nandu also drew a group of them.

"We will add another 600 people to you. It is up to you to decide how to arrange them."

Eunuch Wei also knew that making guns is not something that can be done with a large number of people, but the important thing is the progress of craftsmanship and proficiency. He transferred these hundreds of people to the front line, but to do the raw furnace and coolies and other auxiliary work to reduce the workload of craftsmen outside making guns and improve their efficiency.

Of course, these people also exist as apprentices. Eunuch Wei hopes that Wang and Hong, the two craftsmen, can be teachers and teach them well, and he will not treat them unfairly.

More people work is to reduce their workload. Wang and Hong did not know the benefits, so they agreed.

To put it bluntly, Eunuch Wei did not make any innovations. He just picked up the previous system and solved the problem with the attitude of "there must be a brave man under heavy rewards."

And this is the most realistic and effective.

Of course, the premise is that Eunuch Wei is very rich now, otherwise he would not be able to afford it.

After giving these instructions, my father-in-law ordered Li Yanzhao to organize people to check the firearms in each battalion. Those with quality are retained. Those with any problems are used to manufacture the General Administration. Those that can be repaired will be repaired, and those that cannot be repaired will be dismantled and renovated.

A fire gun is never allowed to explode in the hands of the Imperial Army soldiers. It was the death order given to Zheng Duo and Li Yanzhao by Eunuch Wei.

At the same time, 10,000 taels of silver were allocated for the manufacture of muskets.

My father-in-law believes that sufficient funds can solve many things.

The prerequisite for any scientific research to be successful is that it has more money.

My father-in-law still told me a lot. Li Yanzhao was beside him, holding a pen and keeping memorizing, for fear that he would miss it.

The other officials of the General Administration of Manufacturing also followed suit, holding small notebooks around their father-in-law, listening carefully and remembering.

This made Eunuch Wei very happy and fulfilled.

This is probably the case with the pride of heaven.

For dinner, my father-in-law ate at the Manufacturing Bureau and ate with more than 30 craftsmen.

After the meal, my father-in-law talked to these craftsmen, talked about their parents, and asked about their well-being. He asked him to solve any difficulties on the spot, so that the craftsmen's respect and gratitude for their father-in-law became more respectful and grateful.

Later, my father-in-law told me some of his insights and opinions on the manufacturing of muskets and muskets, and guided the craftsmen to use their brains and think about how to improve work efficiency and how to produce better weapons.

"What are the officers and soldiers taking your weapons to fight to kill the enemy? The purpose is to protect our country and protect you. Therefore, you must be careful. Only when our weapons are powerful can the officers and soldiers not sacrifice unnecessary..."

As my father-in-law said justice, he saw that the water-boiling teapot opened. He inadvertently pointed at the lid of the pot that was pushed up by the heat, and smiled at everyone and said, "Look, the water vapor in the small teapot can push up the lid. If this is a big tank of water, wouldn't the water vapor push up everyone? If there is such a thing that can continue to move, we can do not have to beat it manually to save a lot of trouble... Well, this is the motivation."

Eunuch Wei proposed the concept of "power", but he would not think that craftsmen would create a steam engine for him after hearing this word.

He is still young and has time, so he doesn't have to rush to do it. He just needs to convey some ideas to these craftsmen.

In China, there are countless skilled craftsmen.

A qualified time traveler has more important ideas and talent training than doing it in person.

The next day, my father-in-law, with the farewell of hundreds of "employees" of the General Administration of Manufacturing, turned over and waved goodbye to everyone.

Many women working in the manufacturing bureau in the surrounding villages were so sad that they cried.

This scene is touching.

This is probably the first eunuch who has won such a woman's heart since ancient times.

An hour later, my father-in-law appeared in the base camp.
Chapter completed!