Late Yuan Dynasty: I am the true emperor

Chapter 114 Gongshushi is worthy of his reputation

"I've met the handsome man!"

"No need to be polite, but let me see the weapons you use first."

After the four craftsmen entered the general's mansion, Lu Jin also took the weapons from the guards. The sword and the saber were made by Xue Gang, and the Fang Tian Hua Ji was made by Sui Gu. The two worked hard for two months and finally finished the weapons.

He first picked up the Fang Tian Hua Ji, an oval flat spear shaft made of a bamboo shaft and an iron core, painted with dark red lacquer on the outside. It felt heavy and nice in the hand.

Lu Jin held the halberd with both hands, pointed it forward, and used the spear to block it. He placed it at his waist and exerted force. The halberd head in front of him immediately swayed slightly, leaving the craftsmen dumbfounded.

"The Marshal is really capable. We have tried to bend the halberd pole before, but we couldn't do it. I didn't expect the Marshal to be so strong."

"You can't even bend it? I don't believe it. You two have been working for a long time, and forging iron is hard work. How could you not even have this little strength?"

Lu Jin made a joke, exposing the two men's flattery, but he was still very satisfied.

"Well done, can you take it apart and have a look? I have never seen what is inside this pile of bamboo trunks."

"You can remove the spearhead and halberd head. They haven't been glued yet. We are waiting for the Marshal to inspect them."

Sui Gu and Shao Dalian hurried forward to demonstrate, removing the spearhead from the halberd head and the spear tail, and letting Lu Jin see the cross-section of the gun barrel, while the two explained on the side.

"Marshal, the iron core inside is made of good steel. It is 11 feet long and less than three inches thick. It is first beaten into a flat steel bar, then annealed and polished. After polishing, it is dipped in fire, simmered, and aired. The finished steel bar is strong and tough."

Hearing this, Lu Jin looked at the iron core. The cross section was a flat octagon, very regular, and it looked like it had been well polished. He immediately asked, "I know about annealing and dipping in fire, but what are these methods of suffocating and airing steel, and what are their uses?"

"This..." Sui Gu didn't expect Lu Jin to be so interested in this blacksmithing skill, so he introduced it immediately.

"This steelmaking process is to first make the object, dip it in fire and heat it until it is hot but not red, then bury it in roasted sand and let it sit for two days. This will make the steel bars strong but not brittle, not easy to break or deform.

"Air-drying the steel means heating the steel bars again and letting them cool down. It doesn't have to be cooked through, which can increase their toughness after they are done."

Lu Jin nodded repeatedly after listening to this. These are the four steps of modern heat treatment: annealing, quenching, tempering and normalizing. These techniques also existed in ancient times, but they were just called different names.

Then he looked at the pile of bamboo sticks outside the gun barrel and asked Shao Da, "What's so special about this pile of bamboo sticks?"

Shao Da said hurriedly, "Marshal, the toughest part of the bamboo is actually the layer next to the bamboo skin. The layer further inside is called bamboo bones and bamboo flesh. I split the bamboo strips and took only the bones and skin. I trimmed them into shape and immersed them in tung oil to boil. When the oil soaked through the bamboo strips, I took them out and dried them. I put the skin inside and the bones outside and wrapped them on the iron core.

"One layer of bamboo, wrapped with hemp thread, then coated with glue and dried, four layers in a row, and finally painted and polished, to make this gun barrel.

"It has steel bars inside and several layers of bamboo outside. It is strong and tough, but also very hard. Ordinary people cannot bend it. Only people with supernatural powers like the Marshal can use it. Otherwise, ordinary people can't use this gun barrel to any good."

Lu Jin nodded. That's right. Good things can only bring out their full advantages when used by the right people. For ordinary people, a gun is just a stick.

"You two did a good job. Install the halberd head and the spearhead. You can apply glue to fix them."

"Yes."

"How much does all this weigh together?" Lu Jin asked again.

"The spear shaft weighs six pounds, of which the iron core weighs three and a half pounds. The halberd head and spear pommel weigh less than three pounds together, so the total weight is less than nine pounds." Sui Gu replied immediately.

Lu Jin nodded. With conventional materials, a gun that is less than four meters long usually weighs about six catties, and these are modern catties. A gun that is more than five meters long does not exceed eight catties, and this is what ordinary soldiers use.

The jin in the Yuan Dynasty was slightly larger, probably about 15 to grams. He couldn't remember the exact amount, but even if it was enlarged, the weight of this Fang Tian Ji would not exceed jin in modern times. With a total length of meters, this weight is actually not that large.

After looking at the Fang Tian Ji, I looked at the sword. The sword was in the style of the Han Dynasty's Eight-sided Sword, and the knife was in the shape of a Yanling Knife, both of which were specifically requested by Lu Jin.

The sword is three feet long, with a one-handed hilt, light and tough, weighing less than 800 grams. The scabbard is made of lacquered wood in the style of the Han Dynasty, and the fittings are all made of copper.

Lu Jin drew the sword from its sheath, swung it lightly, and thrust it forward. The sound of the sword could be heard. Then he pressed it against the pillar in the hall and applied a little force. The sword was bent, and when he released his force, it immediately straightened out.

Lu Jin immediately put the sword away and observed it carefully, saying with satisfaction, "This sword has been heat treated well, and it has good elasticity. If it is made thicker, it can be used as a leaf spring."

Xue Gang quickly said modestly, "It's all because of the good steel the Marshal gave me. Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to make such a good sword."

Lu Jin said seriously, "I'm serious. You are good at heat treatment. Are you also using his method?"

"That's right." Xue Gang clasped his fists and said, "These are the skills of a blacksmith. If you can't even dip the steel into fire, how can you still be called a blacksmith?"

Lu Jin nodded with satisfaction, sheathed the sword, and hung it on his waist. He then drew out the goose-feather knife. The blade was shining brightly, with two blood grooves on the back. The Japanese call this thing a sword bar, which actually acts as a reinforcement and reduces the weight without affecting the strength.

The blade is straight, with the tip slightly tilted upwards from the back to the front at two-thirds of the way, and a reverse edge. The handle is also a short one-handed handle that bends slightly downwards. The blade is two feet and eight inches long, a little shorter than a sword.

This is a typical goose-feather knife shape. If it starts to bend from the back of the blade, it would be a scimitar from the Qing Dynasty.

It is hard to say which of these two swords is better. Perhaps the more curved scimitar is more suitable for cavalry.

Lu Jin liked all three weapons very much, but he knew that cold weapons were consumables after all, so the decorations were very simple, ordinary lacquered wooden sheaths and copper fittings. Apart from the better materials, they did not look gorgeous. This was the appearance of actual combat weapons.

Lu Jin immediately said, "This knife is shaped like a goose feather. From now on, when we make waist knives in the Shengwu Army, we will all use this goose feather shape."

"Yes." Xue Gang immediately clasped his fists in agreement.

Lu Jin put away the three weapons, threw out a flint and a steel, and asked the two of them.

"If I want to strike tens of thousands of flints and steels, and I want to ensure the ignition rate, it would be best if they can catch fire with just one strike. Do you have any good ideas for that?"

"This"

Xue Gang and Sui Gu looked at each other, not understanding why Lu Jin needed so many of these things.

Flint and steel sickle were very common fire-making tools in ancient times, just as common as lighters. Almost every household had one, otherwise it would be difficult to cook. Basically, any blacksmith would know how to make one. However, there is a difference between this thing and a flintlock. When you cook at home, if you can't light it the first time, you can knock it a few more times until it lights up. Anyway, no one will rush you.

But the flintlock on a flintlock rifle must be able to ignite every time, so the quality requirements are different.

If we want to improve the ignition rate of flint and steel now, we can only work on these two things.

Sui Gu hesitated and said, "You can carefully select some good flints and fire starters, preferably the kind that can be lit at once, so that you can start a fire every time."

Lu Jin nodded, "Choose a good flint and use gunpowder to start the fire directly. What else?"

Xue Gang immediately said, "Marshal, you can also use the stewing needle method to make a flint, so that it should be able to make fire every time."

"What is the stewing needle method?" Lu Jin immediately became interested.

So Xue Gang introduced it again.

To ignite a steel by striking a flint against a steel rod, if the flint remains unchanged, the only way to do so is to increase the carbon content of the flint. The higher the carbon content of the steel, the higher the ignition rate. In fact, the ancients also understood this principle.

The stewing needle method mentioned by Xue Gang is actually the ancient method of making steel needles. In modern technology, it is called solid surface carburizing, which increases the carbon content on the steel surface.

Since the wire drawing technology was invented in the Song and Yuan dynasties, wrought iron is first made into iron bars, which are then annealed and cold-drawn into iron wires, cut into needles, and then the needle eyes are punched. The wires are then polished and carburized on the surface.

Make a mud box, pour sheep horns, charcoal, or even ashes into it, bury the needle in the charcoal ash, cover it with a lid and put it into the furnace to burn, then keep it warm and let it cool. This is carburizing. After carburizing is completed, take out the needle, burn it red, quench it, and then temper it. The iron needle becomes a steel needle.

Xue Gang added, "If the flint made this way doesn't work, we can try different materials for the needle stewing, maybe they can be used."

After saying that, he hesitated again and said, "Marshal, may I ask, what is the use of so many flints? And you have to guarantee that they will catch fire in one go? If it's just for starting a fire, if it doesn't catch fire in one go, then just try a few more times. Why bother with so much trouble?"

These craftsmen were the main technicians in making muskets for Lu Jin, so there was no need to hide it from them. He immediately asked the guards to bring a musket model.

He asked Su Qing, a carpenter, to make this. The wooden buttstock was the same style as the shoulder-mounted buttstock of flintlock rifles in later generations. A thin bamboo tube was temporarily placed where the iron tube should have been. There was also a bamboo bayonet in the front and a wooden flintlock model on the side.

"I'm going to make a flintlock musket. This thing is called a gunstock, or a gun bed. Put the hammered iron gun barrel on it, drill a small hole at the back end, connect the flint and flint to the side, pour gunpowder into it, strike the flint with the flint, and ignite the gunpowder, just like this."

Lu Jin personally demonstrated the operation process of the flintlock rifle, and then said.

"This musket is to be used to shoot at the enemy. The enemy uses bows and arrows, and you use the musket. If your musket does not fire, but the enemy's bows and arrows shoot at you, then you will die.

"So this flintlock must be guaranteed to fire in one go, otherwise you'll die. Do you think it's unimportant?"

"So that's how it is. Installing the flint directly on the musket, the Marshal really has a brilliant idea. Then how do you drive the flint?" The two men suddenly realized.

Lu Jin pointed to the flintlock on the side and said, "There are three leaf springs made of steel inside, which are driven by spring force. The rest of the parts must also be made of iron. This is just a model.

"And the gun barrel must also be made of wrought iron, as must the bayonet. You can make a few samples first. If they are usable, we will make a lot more later, at least thousands or tens of thousands. Think about it carefully. Whoever makes the best one, I will reward him handsomely and make him an official!"

Xue Gang and Sui Gu looked at each other and couldn't help getting excited. A big reward, becoming an official, this was the only way for a craftsman to turn his life around.

At least in the Yuan Dynasty, these hereditary craftsmen would never be able to turn things around, and only by following Lu Jin did they have this opportunity.

The two men immediately clasped their fists and said, "We will definitely do our best."

"No rush." ​​Lu Jin waved his hand and said.

"If you want to do your work well, you must first sharpen your tools. I will teach you a few more things. In addition, let's unify the size. If we really build it in the future, we must unify the specifications so that the parts on different muskets can be interchangeable. Su Qing, bring the screws, bearings, and vernier calipers over here."

Su Qing immediately took out several samples. The screws and nuts were all made of hardwood and turned on a foot-operated woodworking lathe. The bearings were also made of pure hardwood. Including the vernier caliper, they were all wooden models.

Lu Jin took the wooden screw and nut and showed them to the others, "This thing is called a screw and a nut. The small one is called a screw, and the big one can also be called a bolt. The pattern on it is called a screw thread, also called a screw thread, which is made to imitate the water snails in the river.

“You only need to drill round holes on the two objects that need to be connected, and then you can fix them with bolts. It is also convenient for disassembly and assembly, so this thing is also called a fastener.

“And this bearing is made up of four parts, divided into an inner ring and an outer ring. The ball in the middle is called a ball, and there are limit plates to control the position of the ball distribution.

“The purpose of this thing is clear from the name. It is used to support the axle, but it can also be used on all axles that need to rotate.

“It can improve rotation efficiency and reduce frictional resistance. Simply put, it can rotate faster, more steadily, lighter, and faster with less effort.

"If this thing is installed on the axle and then a leaf spring is installed, the weight of the cart pulled by it will double, while the weight of the horse will remain the same. This is a powerful tool for rotating the axle, and it was invented by me, Gong Shujia.

"This bearing can be made into different shapes according to its different uses. There are ball bearings. If the shaft it supports is too heavy, the ball bearings can be made into rollers. That's it."

Lu Jin took out another model, put it on a wooden pole, and pushed it with his hands. It suddenly started to spin very fast. Although it did not have modern bearings and could not stop spinning once it started, anyone who was not stupid could see at a glance that this thing could improve the rotation efficiency.

Several people were watching in amazement, but Lu Jin said at this time.

"But if these things are to be truly useful, they have to be made of steel."

Xue Gang and Sui Gu were stunned for a moment and asked quickly.

“This screw is easy to make. It can be formed first, then annealed and grooved. However, it is extremely time-consuming and labor-intensive to carve such fine patterns.

"And this bearing, it's good, but in my opinion, the most difficult part is the beads inside. If it's made of steel, how can it be so round?"

"Don't worry, I have prepared everything for you. Here, this is called a die and a tap, which are used to carve threads. As for grinding beads, you can use an iron grinding wheel. First forge or cast an iron ball blank, then place it on the grinding wheel and grind it into a round shape to the desired size." Lu Jin immediately took out a few wooden models.

Several people were stunned when they saw this. Xue Gang was holding the wooden die and tap, and he learned how to use them without any instruction. One could tell how to use them at a glance.

He immediately said, "The Gongshu clan has many skilled craftsmen, and their reputation is well-deserved!"

(End of this chapter)