I do research in ancient times

The East Forest Farm is located in the eastern suburbs of Qijiang City. It was originally located in a relatively flat wasteland in Luqiao Ridge.

During the previous dynasties, Donglin Farm was used as a hunting ground for the last emperor’s southern tour. As a result, the Ye Dynasty replaced it before the emperor’s arrival.

Of course, the abandonment of the land was intentional by the Lu family.

The royal family of the previous dynasties had extremely strict control over the world, but the karmic dynasty that took over later relaxed a lot.Yechao Taizu, who had compromised with the great family from the very beginning, although he wanted to win back the power in the family's hands after he came to power, but this wish could not be realized until his deathbed, and he finally closed his eyes with hatred.

The wasteland of the East Forestry Farm was favored by the Lu family early in the morning. It is surrounded by mountains and rivers, and the terrain is hidden.The Lu clan dug a canal in the East Forest Farm early in the morning. There is a waterway that can directly connect to the South River Estuary, which is easy to defend but difficult to attack.

The Lu family regards this as a concentrated area of ​​workshops. After several generations of careful management, it now has a scale of nearly a thousand people.

Swords, armor, chariots, construction machinery, and even docks are all available in the East Forest Farm.

The Lu family's docks are one light and one dark, and there are several in Donglinchang and Nanjiangkou.It's just that the core components are all built in Donglin Farm, and they are pulled to Nanjiangkou for assembly after they are built to ensure that Lu's shipbuilding secrets will not be exposed.

Among them, the most conspicuous one is the iron smelting workshop.

If there are surviving Xue family members who can enter the East Forest Farm, they will find that the process of smelting refined iron here is no different from that in Changzhou and Hengshou.It's just that the quality of the iron frame in Nanjun is not good enough to produce the steel material of Longquan Jianfang. However, in terms of scale, Lu's iron workshop is larger than Changzhou Longquan Workshop, and quantity is enough to win.

Today's Donglin Farm is still a busy scene.

The owner of the house ordered to prevent new artillery, and also sent a distorted and deformed real one, ordering the craftsmen of the East Forest Farm to produce the finished product as soon as possible.

These craftsmen are all supported by the Lu family, and their salaries are much higher than those of outsiders, so they are naturally more attentive than outsiders in their work.No matter how ingenious the design of the cannon is, if it falls into the hands of experienced craftsmen, it will only be a matter of time before it is figured out, let alone a group of craftsmen discussing and trial-manufacturing day and night, and soon cracked the secret of the cannon.

"It's just that I don't know what is ejected from the muzzle? Do you have a sample?"

The craftsman carefully asked the supervisor.

They all copied the cannon body to make it exactly the same, but there was a fire wire inside, and there seemed to be other parts. The craftsmen had never seen a real cannon launch, so they really couldn't figure out the mystery.

The supervisor didn't understand either.

But he knew very well that the Patriarch attached great importance to this cannon, and when he heard that the craftsman said that the cannon body had been imitated, he immediately rushed to the mansion to deliver a letter.

When he came back again, he brought with him a sailor who was missing an arm.

"It's a black iron ball!"

When he said this, the mansion soldier could not conceal the panic on his face, as if thinking of some extremely terrifying scene, his body began to tremble involuntarily.

"The black... black iron ball... is so powerful that it can smash a big hole in the deck..."

"A black iron ball?"

The craftsman stroked his beard.

"But sincerely?"

"do not know."

The sailor shook his head vigorously.

He knew that these craftsmen wanted to make cannons, so he didn't dare to say anything casually, for fear of spoiling the important affairs of the Patriarch.

"It shouldn't be real."

Another old craftsman spoke.

"If it's solid, how do you throw an iron ball out of the muzzle? The weight of pure iron is not light."

"I looked at the mechanism in the gun barrel, and I'm afraid I need some assistance."

Hearing what he said, the sailor thought for a while, and was a little uncertain.

"I have seen that person pull the rope with his hands, it seems to be some kind of mechanism."

"Then the muzzle burst into flames, spit out an iron ball into the air, and flew very fast!"

"fire?"

The craftsman frowned.

"But kerosene was used?"

When talking about a fire, the first thing he thought of was the mysterious black smelly water.

Although the smell is not good, but filled in clay pots, the war can have a miraculous effect.

"Fire oil?"

The old craftsman next to him thought about it.

"Could it really be kerosene? Frontier soldiers also have kerosene?"

"Why not?"

The craftsman replied.

"This kerosene was originally transported from the north, and the Yongxi Pass is just to the north, so it might be possible to use this thing."

After all, I couldn't find a more reasonable possibility for the time being, so I simply added kerosene into the muzzle and cast an iron ball for testing.

Not knowing the principle of the matchlock, the craftsmen first threw the ignited wood chips into the kerosene of the gun body, and then loaded the iron ball shells back to the muzzle.

Because of what the sailor said was terrible, everyone was worried about being hit by the gushing iron pellets, and they started running away after throwing them in.

As a result, after waiting for a long time, nothing happened.

Although the kerosene was burning fiercely, there was only billowing black smoke from the muzzle of the gun, and Tie Wan lay obediently in the wide barrel of the gun, motionless.

All the craftsmen were puzzled.

Later, someone thought of the mechanism of the matchlock, and felt that Mo Zong would not create something meaningless, and this thing must be useful.

"Otherwise... let's fill in some Fire Thunder Powder and try?"

One of the craftsmen suggested.

Fire and thunder powder is also a sacred object from the north. It is said that it can make a huge sound when lit.It's just that the fire and thunder powder needs an open flame to burn, but it stumps a group of craftsmen.

In the end, it was the craftsman who made the decision and decided to fill the iron ball with a light rope soaked in kerosene, ignite it and then put it back into the gun chamber to ignite the fire mine powder with the open flame of kerosene.

This idea is not without boldness, but it is too wild and unconstrained, without any regard for the safety of producers.

When the first shell fell into the bottom of the barrel, before several craftsmen could run away, a huge muffled thunder resounded through the East Forest Farm.The craftsmen who were working were so frightened that they stopped their work, fell on the ground shivering, and watched helplessly as the iron-cast cannon body disintegrated into countless pieces.

To make matters worse, the cannon was fired in a bad position, and it happened to be thrown into an armor workshop.

The dense iron clumps fell from the sky, and several armor craftsmen suffered an indiscriminate disaster, and were beaten to death by the flying fragments.

All of a sudden, wailing, calls for help, and screams resounded through the East Forest Farm.

Fortunately, the fire and thunder powder itself was not very powerful, and it only blasted part of the hard and brittle cast iron barrel, and did not really cause the death of the craftsman.

But this commotion scared everyone out of their wits.People who work hard all day have never seen such a scene. That night, many people were overly frightened and developed a high fever, lying on the couch and unable to get up.

The shutdown of the workshop was a major event. When the news reached Qijiang City, Lu Tao was so angry that he kicked over the table and went to check the situation immediately.

When he arrived at the East Forest Farm, what he saw was a messy scene.

Several experienced craftsmen were more or less unsuccessful, and many young apprentices were cleaning up the debris that had been scattered around. A cannon that was half missing fell to the ground, and the cannon body was full of cracks.

"How is this going?"

With a sullen face, Lu Tao asked the supervisor beside him in a cold voice.

The supervisor was born in a side branch of the Lu family, so he naturally understood the temperament of the head of the family, so he quickly told the whole story.

It's not that the craftsmen didn't pay attention, it's that they really didn't understand the mystery inside. This Mo Zong's secret technique is not easy to decipher.

"You mean, you don't know the secret method of the opponent's fire?"

Lu Tao frowned and asked.

"Isn't Huo Lei Powder not usable?"

"It's kind of interesting, but the power of the fire and thunder powder is not strong enough to push the iron ball out of the barrel, so it blows up the barrel of the gun."

"Then add more."

Lu Tao's eyes swept over everyone's faces.

"The Lu family has supported you for many years, and has never treated you badly. It is understandable that you can't make a Mo knife. Now the method of frying steel and the method of making fire thunder powder are in our hands, and the artillery has also got samples. You guys It's impossible to be more stupid than the group of beggars outside the pass, right?!"

"What Mo Zong can do, why can't you do it?"

Lu Tao's appearance is elegant and modest, and he speaks at a steady pace, always giving people the illusion of gentleness and tolerance.

But this time, although the speaking speed and intonation were still the same, the voice and expression were extremely cold, which made the supervisors and craftsmen present tremble with fear.

This is a death order for them.

Lu Tao said one thing in Nanjun, and no one in the Lu family dared to question what he decided, let alone the group of artisans who were raised.

Even after the terrible bombing incident before, the artillery imitation of Donglin Farm continued non-stop.

A clever craftsman thought of changing the ratio of fire thunder powder.

Huolei Powder is a formula obtained by the Lu Family from the Huolei Sacred Witch. The finished product makes a loud sound, but the explosion power is very average.The craftsmen of Donglin Farm discussed it for a few days, and felt that the most likely reason was that Huolei Powder's strength was not enough. Maybe the Hu people added some things to reduce the strength in the formula, so they had to find a way to modify the formula.

It was easy for them to think about it. How could it be so simple to change black gunpowder?How could the craftsmen of Donglin Farm compare to Chang Shan? Chang Shan was inherited by Mo Zong, at least they knew to nest in the mountain to create skyfire and thunder. The craftsmen of Donglin Farm did not have basic knowledge of chemistry. certain.

In the next few days, muffled noises could be heard almost every day in Qijiang City.

Sometimes there was a sudden sound, sometimes several times in succession, and sometimes thick smoke could be seen rising from the direction of the East Forest Farm.

Every time something like this happens, there will be white banners hanging in front of the gates in the city. Most of these are craftsmen who serve the Lu family. They live in the eastern area outside Qijiang City, also known as the "Jiangfang District".

The Craftsman District used to be an enviable place. The craftsmen here were supported by the Lu family. They had no worries about food and clothing, lived a stable and prosperous life, and their status was much higher than that of ordinary civilians.

But from that day on, there were crying sounds in the Jiangfang area almost every day, and everyone looked mournful and terrified.

But the dull thunder in Donglin Farm still didn't stop, and Lu Tao's mood became more irritable.

"How can I not find it? The finished product is right in front of my eyes!"

He said ruthlessly, always felt that the craftsmen under him were careless, otherwise how could they not be as good as Mo Zong's gangsters, this cannon is not too difficult to look at!

He kept urging the progress of the project, but no matter how strict he ordered and reprimanded, the artillery of Donglin Farm was always difficult to produce, either the fire powder or the shell of the cannon.

Gradually, the corpses of the craftsmen were no longer transported back to the city, but burned and buried on the spot. Only a small spiritual tablet was sent into the city.

The workshop area is completely deserted, and the once vigorous women have lost their energy, living like walking dead.

The family has lost the mainstay, but the Lu family may not continue to support them, what will happen in the future?

Qijiang City was full of bleak wind and rain, but Bailukou was full of enthusiasm.

According to Ning Juzi's arrangement, the first large ship equipped with a steam engine was about to launch, and all the shipbuilders were gearing up, waiting to witness this historic moment.

A boat that can walk by itself is amazing!

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