The inventor of this musket was obviously more meticulous than others. Others had open fire doors without any precautions, and only his musket was equipped with a rectangular copper cover. In this way, neither rain nor wind nor sand would enter the medicine room to affect the fire of the musket. In addition, the musket also had an iron charging spoon, and the spoon handle was engraved with the words "weight two taels and five cents". Obviously, if each musket had such a charging spoon, then there was no need to use the scale to repeatedly weigh the dosage when filling.

In addition, the inventor abandoned the honeycomb cover plate used by General Zheng Yunming to tighten the gunpowder. After all, this small component requires too much working hours to manufacture. He used a simple wooden component to replace the honeycomb cover plate, which not only compressed the manufacturing cost and time, but also effectively concentrated the thrust of the gunpowder burst onto the projectiles than the honeycomb cover plate.

"Very good! Very good!" Zheng Yunming praised while gently bounced the wall of the musket, and the crisp and pleasant sound was very different from other people.

"This is not ordinary iron," said Zheng Yunming: "This material is not something that can be created by first-class craftsmen."

"There is no complicated method." As soon as he talked about his interest, the craftsman's stuttering was immediately improved by half: "The method of steelmaking is to use fire to hammer the fire for steel. Coke is the best burning, followed by charcoal, and the bottom is coal. Leader Xu learned the method of making coke from your Zheng Dutong, so he opened more than ten brick kilns in Ezhou to specialize in burning coke. The steel he trained is the purest. When he wanted to combine the fine steel, he first melted pig iron in the pot, then fryed and honed repeatedly to dissolve the turbid gas in the iron, and retained the essence. Then he repeatedly beat it to make it form blocks, and then divided it into iron bars and iron squares for use."

Zheng Yunming did not know much about the method of stir-frying steel he mentioned. In fact, this method was the steelmaking method used by blacksmiths in the Central Plains to forge precious swords and famous swords since the end of the Western Han Dynasty. Although the steel produced has a very good texture, the entire smelting process requires a lot of manpower and material resources.

At this time, there was a method in the south that was more manpower-saving than the steel frying method and produced more tougher in texture. It was the steel stuffing method used by Qi Wuhuaiwen, a famous forging artist in the Southern and Northern Dynasties. The famous forging artists on Sichuan Road, Jiangnan West Road and Fujian Road were using this more efficient steel making method to temper the steel, but most of the Jinghu craftsmen at this time were still using the steel frying method. It was not until the blacksmiths who moved from Sichuan Road to Jinghu settled down and taught the steel stuffing method to Jinghu craftsmen that Jinghu gradually changed to the steel stuffing method to refine steel.

But Zheng Yunming didn't mind the expenses of manpower and financial resources. Just as he put forward when he was a student, the Song Dynasty is now the first-class rich country, but also the first-class poor country. He has unparalleled human resources and huge financial resources, but it is not much different from the barbarians around him in terms of material resources and key material reserves. It can be said that it is not as good as the foreign countries such as Dali, Goryeo and Japan in some important links.

Now it provides the Song Dynasty with an opportunity to transform the two best places, manpower and financial resources, into real combat power. Zheng Yunming was too happy, so how could he care about some of the losses in the use efficiency?

"Sure enough, people are known as the 100-level fine steel. With such a good material, the iron musket can be fired repeatedly and fought for a long time." Zheng Yunming stroked the iron tube with fine lines: "Only this first-level fine steel can live up to the power of my refined gunpowder and thunder burst, let the projectile burst out with all the power of gunpowder, and exert the maximum effect of the firearm."

"The gunpowder prepared by the governor is indeed a hundred times stronger than the gunpowder of the old method. In addition to burning smoke, the black powder has very weak combustion power. Not to mention the explosive power of the governor prepared by the governor." The middle-aged man's face was full of admiration: "The governor is so young, but he can create gunpowder that we can never create in our lifetime. He is really a talented genius and can never envy him."

Zheng Yunming's eyes rolled and smiled and said, "What can I do if I am a young man who is not dry? What I do is nothing more than standing on the shoulders of my predecessors and wise men and using their power."

"Do you know that the technique of dispensing medicine is the difference between the monarch, minister, assistant and envoy?"

The invention of gunpowder was originally from Taoism to refine elixirs, so middle-aged craftsmen were naturally familiar with this theory of the monarch, minister, and assistant.

"In fact, this exquisite gunpowder is no different from the gunpowder of the old method in terms of ingredients. It is just that the gunpowder made by the old method was originally used as a smoke generator, with charcoal as the king, sulfur as the minister, and saltpeter as the enabler. The charcoal nature is honest and tolerant, the sulfur nature is like a fire, the righteous and strong, and the saltpeter nature is like thunder and thunder."

"Now, charcoal is the ruler, sulfur is the subject, and saltpeter is the minor official. That is like the rule of Wen and Jing. Those who are polite and wise, those who are ministers are upright and powerful, those who are decisive and decisive, and those who are harsh and strict. This team can be used to govern the country and cannot be used to win the battle."

"Now my exquisite gunpowder accounts for 60% of saltpeter, 2.5% sulfur, and only 1.5% charcoal. This is based on saltpeter as the king, sulfur as the minister, and charcoal as the minor official. This is like Emperor Taizong of Tang seized the world, Emperor Taizong's power was superior, Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui's strategy was behind, Qin Shubao, Cheng Zhijie, and Yuchi Jingde broke into the front. He used the minor official to enlighten the people. He could destroy cities and villages, and he could also consolidate people's hearts."

"Sulphur is the main force, so violent and difficult to control, and nitrogen is the main force, so the news is like thunder, and the charcoal is the main force, which is used to harmonize yin and yang." In the surprised and admiring eyes of the craftsman, Zheng Yunming kept talking: "What you don't know is that this is actually not the best proportion of gunpowder used for launching. Saltpe is the power of far-reaching, so the proportion of gunpowder used for launching projectiles is not enough. Now the Tutong Department is testing new launch drugs, and saltpeter even accounts for more than 90%, while it is enough to get five points of sulfur and charcoal each."

"The gunpowder used for explosive weapons is different. The amount of sulfur must be increased. The main horizontal line of sulfur, that is, the power of explosion. The proportion of sulfur can be increased to 40% for the preparation of explosive gunpowder, saltpeter accounts for half and 10% for charcoal. The gunpowder produced in this way is powerful in explosive power, and even iron armor and golden helmets can break holes."

"There is also a kind of incineration gunpowder, so you need to use more charcoal. Charcoal powder is the most flammable. Once it is burned, it is not only difficult to extinguish with saltpeter and sulfur. It can also be added to cause poisonous smoke..."

Bai Yijie patted Zheng Yunming behind him: "Don't talk about these secret matters anymore, there are big guys waiting for us to see."

Zheng Yunming then woke up and said to the craftsman: "Leave your name, this kind of musket is the future manufacturing template for our army. Why, do you have any other inventions?"

He was surprised to find that in addition to the iron musket in his hand, there were also several other things on the straw mat on the ground.

The craftsman introduced it to Zheng Yunming one by one.

"This is a bowl-mouthed cannon used to kill enemies at close range. The method is roughly the same as an iron musket, but the tube is thick and short, so there is less gunpowder that can be filled, while there are more lead and iron slags. It is used for close range killing. I have tested it at home, and everyone who is in charge will crush it."

"This is a double-headed musket. I heard that your soldiers often complain that General Zhu's hair is too long. Often, before he had time to fill the second one, the enemy rushed over to fight. So I thought, can I speed up the frequency of the launch? So after I made the iron fire gun, I thought of connecting the two fire guns with a wooden handle and then installing them on a wooden rack. In this way, when fighting, one end fires in the front and the other end in the rear. After the fire in the front, turn the wooden rack around and open the fire in the back, and fill the front immediately, so that the launch speed can be increased."

This is a novel approach. Although Zheng Yunming is not optimistic about the prospects of this weapon, because there has been no record of large-scale use of firearms in history. However, this innovative thinking is exactly what the Song Dynasty urgently needs now.

The craftsman did not notice Zheng Yunming's contemplation and raised another firearm: "This is a sword and gun, which is four feet and eight inches long and weighs eight kilograms. Although it is not good-looking, it can be used for three shots. When the enemy is far away, it can be fired as a musket. When the enemy approaches, it can be used as a stick. If the gun tip is installed, it can be used as a long spear..."

Zheng Yunming interrupted him, pointed to the corner of the straw mat and said, "What is this?"

The craftsman scratched his head and said, "That thing has not been developed successfully yet, so I don't have to show it to the governor this time."

"It's okay." Zheng Yunming signaled his followers to pick up the thing. It turned out to be a black iron shell. It must have been filled with gunpowder. The bottom was supported by sandalwood boards and a bamboo tube was used to guide it out.

Although Zheng Yunming couldn't tell the name and purpose of this firearm, his familiar shape made him blurt out in an intuitive way: "Is this... a landmine?"

The craftsman was shocked again: "The Duke is indeed a god! I made this thing just to bury it underground, and use it to ignite it when the enemy passes by, and use it to hurt the enemy. But I didn't think of any name. The Duke's word " mine" is really no longer suitable for this firearm!"

"That's natural," Zheng Yunming said: "Those who are good at hiding are hidden under the nine lands. If this weapon is successfully developed, it will be of great help to resist the thrust of thousands of Mongolian cavalry. Do it well! All the things used are from the yamen, so be sure to successfully develop the mine!"

"I'll write a note to the treasury. What do you need? Go and collect it yourself. By the way, what's your name?"

The middle-aged man stood up and said proudly: "The grass man is named Pei Gen! He is a gunpowder craftsman in Ezhou!"

Zheng Yunming was surprised: "You? Are you Bacon?"

"That's right, Pei, who is surnamed Pei, who is Gen in the Bagua!"

Zheng Yunming wiped the sweat from his head, and the same name and surname actually came to this point. If Bacon really traveled through time, wouldn’t this world be in chaos?
Chapter completed!