Daming Military Empire

Chapter 347 The Divine Mighty Cannon
Time flies, and it will be the Spring Festival in a blink of an eye. In the 11th year of Chongzheng, although Ming Dynasty did not achieve much military victory, it made a qualitative leap in economy. Commodities quickly occupied the Southeast Asian market and gradually spread westward. From the Mughal Empire to Persia to the east coast of Africa, and even to Europe, Ming’s merchant ships can be seen everywhere. Ming’s products are rapidly occupying the market, and Ming’s industry and commerce are exploding. increase.

As soon as the statistics for the whole year came up, Zhu Cijiong’s mouth was almost crooked. Daming’s taxes had reached more than 5000 million taels of silver. Not to mention, the salaries of all officials were doubled. Salaries are not high in the first place, coupled with the rapid development of private businesses, it is not good to make jokes that the salaries of officials are not as good as the salaries of employees in private workshops. If that is the case, who would want to be an official.

There are also several royal firms. Although they have just been reorganized this year, their combined annual income has already exceeded [-] million taels. How much, but it is estimated that in a year or two, Daming will surpass the Netherlands and become the country with the highest total income!

The people’s income increased and officials’ salaries increased. Naturally, the whole world celebrates it. Zhu Cijiong is also very happy. It’s not just about money. He also has more than 100 concubines. Among his concubines, there are quite a few who are all over the country. He was away on an expedition, and it would be a lie to say that he didn't miss it. Now that he finally came back, and it was the Spring Festival again, he lived a small life, and he was as happy as a flower.

However, there is a small problem, that is, the empress dowagers of the two palaces are pressing more urgently. Zhu Cijiong really feels a little overwhelmed. He really wants to tell the two empress dowagers that he is only sixteen, but he dare not say this. , it seems that there are many people who have children at the age of 16 at this time, so he can only work tirelessly, shuttling in the harem. After the Spring Festival, not only did he not rest energetically, but he felt his legs were weak!
Since everyone knows these things, I won’t go into details about these things. The Spring Festival is over like this. The first thing to do in the new year is the problem of casting cannons. The Dutch cannon severely stimulated Zhu Cijiong. If it is not as good as others, then this battle will be difficult to fight. Therefore, he ordered the Ministry of Industry to find a way to make the cannon a few years ago. Now is the time to accept the results.

It was still his private study, and it was still a few cronies of the Ministry of Industry. Before Zhu Cijiong even opened his mouth, he knew that the matter was likely to be done, because Bi Maokang, Wang Zheng, and Song Yingxing all had confident smiles on their faces.

Naturally, there was no need to beat around the bush with these close friends, he asked directly: "Looking at you like this, you must have figured out a way, so let's talk about it, Marquis Meng."

Bi Maokang took out a wooden pillar from his arms as if offering a treasure, and said excitedly, "Look, Your Majesty."

Zhu Cijiong curiously took the wooden pillar and looked at it. It was made by a lathe, and the middle was empty. To be precise, it should be a thicker wooden pipe, but there was a protrusion like a bamboo joint in the middle.

The processing is so delicate, these people have nothing to do with such a wooden pipe, they want to learn from his cheap father to be a carpenter!
Zhu Cijiong didn't see any tricks, so he could only ask: "Menghou, what is this for? Is it a mold for casting a gun barrel? It doesn't seem to look like this."

He has seen clay molds for casting gun barrels before, and they should be smooth on the outside, without the joints in the middle, and he doesn't know what these joints are used for, it seems useless.

Bi Maokang pointed at the wooden model with embarrassment and said, "Your Majesty, there is a seam in the middle, which can be opened."

Zhu Cijiong took a closer look, and sure enough there was a seam. He thought it was a pattern or something, but it was a gap in the joint.

Hearing this, he immediately pushed hard along the gap, and it really broke open. The middle was connected by a round pin, so it didn't take much effort to break it.

After this breaking and breaking, a wooden pipe was broken into eight evenly sized pieces, which meant that the wooden pipe was actually composed of eight arc-shaped wooden pieces, but he still didn't quite understand what this meant.

Seeing his bewildered face, Bi Maokang quickly explained: "Your Majesty, the main problem in producing that kind of cannon is actually the casting. The clay mold plus steel bars will also deform the cannon, because the cannon is too long and too heavy. We mainly The problem to be solved is how to strengthen the strength of the mold so that it will not be deformed during casting. Therefore, we came up with this method, first cast such a steel shell, and then fill it with a layer of clay, so that it is a cannon No matter how heavy the tube is, the mold will not deform.”

Zhu Cijiong finally understood. It turned out that this was just the shell of a mold. No wonder he couldn’t understand it. However, he was not very good at casting. He really couldn’t tell whether the success rate of this kind of mold was high. He could only encourage Said: "Well, this idea is very good. Let's start the experiment immediately. The success rate can exceed [-]% and it will be officially put into production. We will make a few hundred doors first, and I will use them urgently."

Hearing this, Bi Maokang asked for credit: "Your Majesty, we have already tried it during the festival. Using this mold to cast cannons, the success rate reached [-]%. If this method is used to cast howitzers, the success rate even exceeds [-]%!"

Zhu Cijiong couldn't help being taken aback when he heard the words. These people are really hardworking. They gave up on the New Year's Day. He couldn't help being moved: "Thank you for your hard work, I don't even know what to say."

Bi Maokang said indifferently: "The emperor has won the award, and the frontline soldiers are fighting with their lives. What is it if we work overtime? Besides, we have overtime pay for overtime work. It will be five times higher during the Chinese New Year. Plus what the emperor said a few years ago If the salary is doubled, the New Year’s salary will be ten times the original salary, and working for half a month is equivalent to the original half year, those little bastards don’t talk too much!"

This doesn't sound like a compliment, anyone who works overtime for half a month and gets half a year's salary will be very excited. Zhu Cijiong nodded with a smile, and asked, "What kind of cannons have been trial-produced, and what is the range?"

Bi Maokang immediately replied: "We measured the cannons of the Dutch, and the caliber ratio did not reach 25:[-]. The two cannons they made were roughly equivalent to our [-]-inch and [-]-inch calibers, and the caliber ratio was only [-]:[-]. We are trial-producing these two types, namely the [-]-type cannon and the [-]-type cannon, and the range is basically similar to that of the Dutch cannon, which are more than two miles and more than three miles respectively."

Zhu Cijiong asked hopefully: "Can we make bigger and longer ones?"

Bi Maokang nodded and said: "Yes, it is possible, but the weight is naturally no problem for loading on the ship, but on land, it is estimated that it will be pulled by a tumbler. Ten feet away!"

Ten feet is [-] meters, which is indeed scary enough. Zhu Cijiong thought about it, nodded and said: "Well, let's make a hundred of each, but since this name is not a real cannon, don't call it a cannon. How about calling it Shenwei Cannon, Shenwei Three Two Five, Shenwei Four Two Five, it sounds so majestic."

Bi Maokang and others had no objection, and nodded in agreement one after another, and the Shenwei Cannon, which frightened the great powers, was born in this way.

(End of this chapter)