Yang Cong, Wang Xuan and others discussed for a long time, but finally decided to use manual samples of a new musket to see the effect.

As for manual drilling machines and simple vernier calipers, it also takes time to process them. Instead of waiting for these tools and equipment to be built before making new muskets, it is better to use manual samples to try them out. After all, this thing is still a brand new structure, and no one knows if there is any problem.

This time, Yang Cong basically participated in the whole process, from design to manufacturing, he personally took charge of the work or guided it on the spot, just like the design of new products by later generations of siege lions.

He stood in the processing workshop, but the craftsmen were so nervous that they were kidding. Nowadays, no high-ranking officials followed the craftsmen to do these "low-down" work. Nowadays, high-ranking officials are arrogant and give orders. As for what the people below do, they basically don't look at them. People like him who are on the scene to command the situation have never appeared.

Yang Cong had actually thought of taking a look at the workshop, but he had been very busy some time ago. When the Tartars were about to face the brigade, he had no time to take care of these things.

It's different now. He basically doesn't have to worry about the invasion of the Tartars. He can finally focus on making muskets and artillery.

After everyone's discussion, he followed Wang Xuan and the leader of the blacksmith Lao Zhang to a workshop where he could thrash.

This workshop was actually renovated from the original house. It was just a large courtyard house with casting, ironwork, grinding and other processes.

As soon as Yang Cong followed everyone into the yard, a heat wave came to his face. He saw a melting pot about meter standing on the right side of the courtyard, and a simple shed was built to shelter from the wind and rain. Both sides of the furnace were dirty coal and iron ore.

This guy has a black layer of dust on the ground. The craftsmen who work have beards under their noses, and a handful of black things, and their faces are covered with black gray, just like those dug out from a coal mine.

Seeing this, Yang Cong couldn't help but frowned slightly. This scene was too different from the workshops in later generations.

When Wang Xuan saw Yang Cong's expression, he couldn't help but say embarrassedly: "Sir, I'm sorry, time is too fast, so the things in the workshop are relatively simple. If you have time in the future, the officials will definitely clean up."

When the craftsmen saw that Wang Xuan called him a master, they realized that the governor was here!

Everyone in the yard lay down to the ground almost at the same time, and the expressions on their faces were extremely frightened.

Seeing this, Yang Cong frowned even deeper. He thought for a while and then said gently: "Sir, tell everyone that you don't have to be too polite to see me in the workshop in the future. You should do whatever you should do. Just like on the battlefield, the soldiers don't have to lie on the ground when they meet me on the battlefield, right? Also, prepare some cotton cloth for each of them to cover their mouths and noses. If this dust is absorbed too much, it is not good, and it is easy to get tuberculosis."

Upon hearing this, Wang Xuan hurriedly asked Lao Zhang to convey Yang Cong's meaning. The craftsmen in the yard stood up in fear and continued their work.

Yang Cong looked at the structure of the furnace for a moment and couldn't help feeling powerless.

This thing is too backward. The furnace body, the diversion tank for molten iron, the barrel for molten iron, etc. are basically made of clay. Not only is it ugly, but it is also very unsafe. There is also a manual bellows that send air into the furnace. They can be pushed and sent in one push, and they cannot bring in much fresh air at once.

If this thing appears in later generations, it will definitely be banned on the spot, but there is no way to do this now, so I can only do this first.

He shook his head slightly, signaled Lao Zhang to lead the way and continue walking in.

The first small production room that the group entered was a place to make wood molds. It was relatively clean, just some wood and tools for processing wood, without any dust.

Yang Cong nodded slightly, then asked Chen Lian to unfold the drawings on the workbench, and asked Lao Zhang to attract the craftsmen who processed wooden molds to continue discussing.

What we are going to build this time is mainly the rear half of the barrel, bolt and bullet casing. As for the front half of the barrel, Yang Cong is planning to use ready-made ones.

This casting is not much different from later generations. It is to first build a wooden mold, then bury the wooden mold into the fine sand to make a sand mold, then pour the iron into the sand mold, wait until the iron cools and solidifies, then dig the casting out of the sand.

Wooden molds are basically made according to the shape of the castings, but the problem of sand mold construction and processing allowance must be considered. Therefore, the wooden molds produced are different from the last physical object, and the remaining amount must be left on the processing surface, so that the wooden molds will look much thicker than the last physical object.

After discussing for a while, everyone initially determined the size of the wooden mold.

The existing barrel is about one finger thick, so the iron shell that loads the bullet must be about one and a half fingers, otherwise the strength of the pipe wall is not enough. By the same token, the bolt must be about two fingers thick, while the large barrel wrapped outside must be about two and a half fingers.

After this size is set, the wood mold will be processed quite quickly. Because the wood is softer, it is natural to use sharp iron tools to process it without any effort. A burst of wood chips flew, and in less than half an hour, three wooden molds were made.

Seeing this, Yang Cong couldn't help but nodded slightly. It seemed that there was no problem with the processing of wooden molds. Although the tools were relatively backward, it did not affect the mass production of muskets and cannons, because the demand for wooden molds was not large, and the processing speed of these craftsmen was not slow.

The next step is to make a sand mold, that is, to bury the made wooden mold into the fine sand for casting, so that a hole in the appearance of the casting is empty inside the fine sand.

Yang Cong followed Wang Xuan and Lao Zhang and his party to the casting room. There were actually a few sand fields, which meant digging a few square pits like fields on the ground and then filling them with fine sand for casting.

There are also two types of sand molds. One is to model directly in the sand field and use some wooden boards to assist in the molding. This is generally used to cast large castings, while the other is to model them with various wooden frames. This is generally used to cast small castings.

The second half of the barrel, bolt and bullet shell to be cast this time are all small castings, so the latter method is naturally used.

Lao Zhang gave a few words, and the craftsman inside took out a few wooden frames, filled it with fine sand, then poured it with a little water to increase the adhesion of fine sand, then buried the wooden mold into the fine sand, and made it firm. Finally, the wooden mold was taken out, carefully checked whether the fine sand fell off, and then repaired it, and the sand mold was ready.

The whole process was completed in one go, and the three sand models took less than two quarters of an hour in total, which shows that these craftsmen are very skilled veterans.

After the sand mold was made, the craftsmen outside carried a small bucket of molten iron and carefully poured it into the sand mold. The casting process was almost completed.

It took almost an hour to wait for the iron to cool naturally before the castings were removed. Yang Cong was not idle either. He directly signaled that Lao Zhang would take him around the ironworks workshop.

After turning around, his brows became deeper.

The processing level was too low at this time. All the processing equipment in the entire workshop was handmade. In other words, processing was basically done by hand. Whether it was muskets or cannons, they were basically made by hand.
Chapter completed!