Bringing the Railway to Daming

Chapter 67: The Difference Between the Three Guns, Heavy Spoilers [Seeking Follow-up Reading]

At that time, the population of the capital (Nanjing) was only over 700,000, and a considerable number of them were families of officials and soldiers.

But the capital city planned by Zhu Yuanzhang was very large.

The northwest area of ​​the inner city faces the Shen Ce Gate, Jinchuan Gate, Zhongfu Gate, Loujiang Gate, Yifeng Gate, and Dinghuai Gate, which are all important military locations such as military camps and warehouses.

Most of the 26 personal guards directly under Zhu Yuanzhang's command had their camps here.

Although Fu Youde and others mainly led the garrison troops from Huguang, Guangdong, Guangxi, Sichuan and other places in this expedition to the southwest, they would also bring a personal army with them.

Therefore, the oath-taking ceremony was held in this large military camp in the northwest of the inner city.

Out of importance, this oath-taking ceremony was presided over by Zhu Yuanzhang himself. Participants included civil and military ministers such as Fu Youde, Mu Ying, and Lan Yu, as well as tens of thousands of the Ming Emperor's personal troops.

As a "little transparent" person, Liu Kuan stood among the ranks of civil officials, looking at the Ming army lined up in the parade ground, and recalling the descriptions of the Ming army in some late Ming novels, he felt quite emotional.

As the emperor's personal army, the equipment and personnel of this army are undoubtedly the best.

Under the fluttering flags, the Ming army soldiers were all wearing fiery red mandarin duck-shaped jackets, waist-length armor, and short-brimmed flying saucer helmets. Some of them wore steel knives on their waists and shields on their backs, some held red-tasseled spears, some carried bows and arrows, and some held muskets.

The cavalry officers and soldiers were also riding on horses, and the gunners were lined up on the left and right of the gun carriage.

Most mid-level officers wore chain mail and fish-scale armor, while senior generals wore Ming Guang armor and wore general helmets with phoenix wings and red tassels!
In ancient times, the oath-taking ceremony was equivalent to a military parade, so the soldiers participating in the ceremony were all fully armed!
At the end of the fourteenth century, with such sophisticated equipment, coupled with the elite soldiers and high morale, it is no wonder that the Ming army was able to drive out the barbarians, restore China, and pacify the world!

After the oath-taking ceremony, Zhu Yuanzhang sent the army all the way to the Longjiang Shipyard dock outside the city.

Liu Kuan also followed to Longjiang Wharf.

As the fleet sailed away from the shore, Liu Kuan seemed to see Lan Yu standing at the bow of his ship, holding a metal cylinder and looking over here.

A simplified telescope made by the Silver Works Bureau?
Liu Kuan immediately realized what Lan Yu was holding.

Zhu Biao happened to be nearby, so Liu Kuan asked, "Your Highness, has the Silver Bureau already produced a telescope?"

"That's right." Zhu Biao nodded with a smile. "However, Father thought the name 'telescope' wasn't nice enough. Plus, the Silver Bureau only made a simple telescope, so he named it 'telescope'."

Or is it called a telescope?

Liu Kuan was slightly stunned.

Then he sighed: It seems that people at this time have been deeply influenced by the myths and legends of clairvoyance.

He then asked curiously, "Your Majesty has already allocated units to the army going out on this expedition. How many units have been allocated?"

Zhu Biao said, "The craftsmen at the Silver Bureau worked day and night, but they only managed to produce five. Together with the one you presented, they were all given to the Marquis of Yingchuan and other generals."

Liu Kuan nodded. Since Zhu Yuanzhang distributed six at a time, it was not surprising that Lan Yu had one.

Liu Kuan then said, "It's a pity that the Marquis of Yingchuan and his men set out in such a hurry that they're a bit behind schedule. Otherwise, they could have brought along the field artillery cast by the Liuhe Iron and Steel Plant."

"Field artillery?" Zhu Biao was curious. "How is it different from the bowl-mouthed musket and the later-generation red cannon you mentioned earlier?"

Liu Kuan said: "There are of course significant differences between field artillery and bowl-mouthed muskets, but the first batch produced should be about the same power as the later Red Cannon."

"It's just that I don't want to use the name 'Red Barbarian Cannon'. After all, the Western Barbarians haven't invented this kind of cannon yet."

"My humble opinion is to first use molten iron to cast a batch of field guns of slightly smaller caliber, weighing 3,000 to 5,000 jin."

"Once the blast furnace at the ironworks is completed, we can directly produce liquid steel and then cast steel cannons."

"Steel is tough. Cannons cast from the same weight of steel will have a larger caliber than iron cannons, and will also be more powerful and have a longer range."

Zhu Biao had heard Liu Kuan describe the power of the red cannon in later generations. When he heard that Liuhe Iron and Steel Plant could produce this cannon, he couldn't help but feel happy and excited.

Then he sighed, "According to what you said, we really don't have enough time. Casting a cannon requires making a clay mold, which takes at least a month, and at most two or three months."

"So, even if you had just arrived in Ming and offered the Red Barbarian... well, the method for casting field cannons, you wouldn't have enough time." "Also, the southwest is full of dangerous mountains and dense forests. Iron-cast field cannons weigh thousands of pounds. If the army carried them, they would probably slow down the march and delay military intelligence."

Liu Kuan couldn't help but shake his head after hearing this and said, "Your Highness has two misunderstandings about what I said about the cannon casting."

"First, if I were to cast a cannon, I would not use the time-consuming and labor-intensive clay mold casting method, but the iron mold casting method of later generations."

"Secondly, the artillery I can cast is not limited to field artillery similar to the Red Cannon, but also includes the Tiger Crouching Cannon and the Mother-and-Match Rapid-Fire Cannon (Flange Cannon)."

Zhu Biao's eyes lit up when he heard this.

Just as he was about to ask, he saw Zhu Yuanzhang walking towards him with the gait of a dragon and a tiger.

"Greetings to His Majesty (Father)." Both of them bowed.

Zhu Yuanzhang was in a good mood and asked with a smile, "What were you two talking about just now? It seems to be about casting cannons?"

"It's about casting cannons..." Zhu Biao immediately told Liu Kuan everything he had just discussed, and finally said, "Now that the emperor is here, it's a good opportunity for my brother-in-law to explain in detail the iron mold casting method, the tiger squat cannon, and the mother-and-child rapid-fire cannon."

Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head and said, "This is not the place to discuss this matter. Let's go back to Fengxian Hall and discuss it."

Longjiang Wharf was outside the city, so it took Liu Kuan more than half an hour to arrive at Fengxian Hall with Old Zhu and Little Zhu.

Seeing that Old Zhu had waved away the outsiders and was looking at him with burning eyes, Liu Kuan did not hesitate.

He said, "The iron mold casting method was invented by a low-level official in the Qing Dynasty in order to quickly forge cannons to defend against Western barbarians raiding the coast."

"As the name suggests, it replaces the clay mold with an iron mold. You can first turn the clay mold over to cast the iron mold. Because it is made of molten iron, the iron mold can be cast in a short time and can be reused."

"So, if we use the iron mold casting method, we can cast a batch of cannons in seven or eight days at the fastest, or half a month at the longest."

After hearing this, Old Zhu commented, "According to what you said, the iron mold casting method is indeed much more advanced than the clay mold casting method."

"Write down everything you know about the process and key points of the iron mold casting method and submit it to me."

"Yes," Liu Kuan agreed. Without waiting for Old Zhu to ask, he continued, "The rapid-fire mother-and-child cannon has the same origin as the Red Barbarian Cannon. It was manufactured by the Ming Dynasty after imitating Western barbarian artillery, even before the Red Barbarian Cannon was imitated."

"It is actually a breech-loading smoothbore gun. In wartime, you only need to put the sub-gun, which has been pre-loaded with gunpowder and projectiles, into the belly of the gun, which is open at the upper rear, and then it can be ignited and fired."

"Because its firing speed is several times faster than a cannon that is loaded from the muzzle with gunpowder and shells, it is called a rapid-fire cannon."

Liu Kuan simply did not mention the name Franji. Anyway, in this time and space, this kind of artillery first appeared in the Ming Dynasty and was "invented" by him, so it was reasonable for him to have the right to name it.

After hearing what Liu Kuan said, Old Zhu couldn't help but ask, "According to what you said, this rapid-fire mother-and-child cannon is very powerful, even surpassing the Red Cannon. If so, why did the Ming Dynasty later imitate the Red Cannon?"

Liu Kuan said, "This is because the rapid-fire submachine gun has a disadvantage - the loading opening above the barrel makes it airtight, which was difficult to solve at the time. Therefore, the gun has a short range and is less powerful."

"I understand." Zhu Yuanzhang nodded. "This rapid-fire cannon has both advantages and disadvantages. It is suitable for use after the Red Cannon is fired."

Then he asked, "What are the advantages and disadvantages of the Tiger Crouching Cannon?"

Liu Kuan deliberately left the tiger squatting cannon to be discussed last, because he wanted to use the tiger squatting cannon to give Lao Zhu and Xiao Zhu a wave of "heavy spoilers".

So, he became more energetic when he talked about this.

"The Tiger Crouching Cannon was invented by Qi Jiguang, a famous Ming general who was later recognized as a military god and national hero of the Ming Dynasty."

"During the Jiajing reign, Japanese pirates wreaked havoc along the coast and in several southeastern provinces. Dozens of them even landed in Zhejiang and traveled thousands of miles, burning, killing, and looting all the way to the gates of Nanjing. This dissuaded the tens of thousands of Ming defenders from leaving the city to fight..."

"and many more!"

When Old Zhu heard this, he couldn't hold it in any longer and interrupted Liu Kuan.

He knew that the Nanjing that Liu Kuan mentioned was the current capital, but even when the rebellious fourth son moved the capital to Beiping, didn't he also regard the capital as the secondary capital?
How could the deputy capital of the Ming Dynasty allow dozens of Japanese pirates to kill outside the city, while tens of thousands of Ming troops did not dare to go out of the city to fight?
It sounds like a fairy tale!
How can this be? !
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　　Thanks to [Ying Baila Dobelia] for the reward of 100 Qidian coins!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)