The Military Governor in Dream of the Red Chamber

On the way to Zhenqiang Fort, Jia Chen couldn't help but think about some things.

The cannons like the breech-loading cannon and the tiger-squatting cannon that I mentioned to Liu Tianwang before, will have to wait a while before I can get them to myself.

Liu Tianwang will only provide it after the walls of Qianshan Fort are completed.

Liu Tianwang agreed to equip Qianshanbao with four breech-loading cannons and eight tiger-squatting cannons.

Jia Chen was not satisfied with this number.

However, he also knew that Liu Tianwang was already being very considerate of him by giving him these things.

It's impossible for Liu Tianwang to meet all of his conditions.

In the future, this level of support will decrease, and Jia Chen is well aware of this.

To make Qianshanbao safer, more cannons are needed.

These are things you can only build up yourself little by little.

Now that the firearms craftsman will be in place soon, his firearms manufacturing plan will be put on the agenda.

What he most wanted to build were those cannons. He couldn't make the large ones, but the small tiger-squatting cannons were Jia Chen's favorite.

The Tiger Crouching Cannon is the one he is most likely to develop under his current circumstances, and it is also the most cost-effective.

But without iron, you can't do anything.

"Make way, make way, don't block the way! Don't you know whose sedan chair it is?" Just as Jia Chen arrived at the gate of the garrison, a sedan chair came by, and a servant-looking fellow shouted at Jia Chen.

Regardless of whether there were people in front of it, it just crashed straight ahead.

Jia Chen frowned. It seemed that the person who came to visit the garrison commander's residence was probably someone important.

These servants and the like were also arrogant and looked down on low-ranking border soldiers like themselves, which was not surprising.

After the sedan chair landed, a tall man in his twenties stepped out.

He went directly into the garrison headquarters.

As expected, he was someone familiar with He Liding.

After making a few inquiries, Jia Chen learned that the guy who had just gone in was Sun Shaozu.

Zhongshan wolf.

I never expected to see this enemy for the first time here.

He's the one who wanted to kill me.

The Sun family had many connections in the Datong garrison, after all, he was a hereditary commander, just without holding an actual position in the army.

Therefore, it is quite normal to know He Liding as a garrison commander.

I wonder what this guy came to He Liding for.

Jia Chenlin understood his purpose, but he was still left waiting for most of the day before he was finally received by He Liding.

Even if He Liding were to meet Sun Shaozu, he would likely be left hanging even if no one else was around.

This is He Liding's attitude.

He Liding and Liu Tianwang are clearly different; he won't give her much support.

They originally went from Gaogou in Zhenqiangbao to Deshengbao.

He was from the Beijing Garrison and stayed in Datong, so he was naturally one of Liu Tianwang's more trusted members.

Thinking back to when he was sent to Qianshandun, Gaogou must have received some benefits from the Sun family.

Otherwise, if he had firmly disagreed, he wouldn't have been exiled to Qianshandun.

Jia Chen can't really care about these things now.

For example, his own exile was mainly due to He Liding.

He was clearly instructed by the Sun family to bring him to Qianshandun to use them as a tool to kill someone.

Unfortunately, due to his lowly status, he could do nothing against them and could only keep this score in mind for the time being.

We'll talk about it again if there's an opportunity in the future.

After Gaogou went to Deshengbao, there were no more troops from the Beijing garrison here, so Zhenqiangbao naturally remained under He Liding's control.

Even Liu Tianwang, a military officer, couldn't easily touch He Liding, this local bully.

Liu Tianwang knew that these guys were outwardly compliant but inwardly defiant in many matters, but for the time being, he couldn't do anything about them.

Jia Chen brought up the purpose of his trip again, and He Liding couldn't help but sigh and say, "Jia Chen, it's really unfortunate, the wrought iron inventory of Zhenqiang Fort is almost empty."

"That's all?" Jia Chen asked in surprise.

He cursed inwardly, thinking that he might cut the knife in half, but now it seemed that he had overestimated He Liding's shamelessness.

He Liding simply didn't want to give any, not even a single jin.

"We did have them before, but after the raid by the Chahar tribe, many watchtowers under Zhenqiang Fort were lost, resulting in huge losses of weapons. The wrought iron in our stockpile has just been used to forge a batch of swords," He Liding explained to Jia Chen earnestly.

Jia Chen remained silent for a moment.

The forging of swords and blades is certainly a fact.

But Jia Chen didn't believe that all the wrought iron had been used.

It's simply that He Liding was unwilling to give him wrought iron.

"grown ups?"

"However—" Jia Chen had just called out when He Liding interrupted him, "After all, Lord Liu gave the order. The construction of Qianshan Fort cannot be delayed, and I will give my full support. Jia Chen, we really don't have any wrought iron left. Even if Lord Liu comes, I can't produce any."

Jia Chen looked at He Liding without saying a word, waiting for him to continue.

This guy said all that in a pretentious manner; there must be more to it.

Sure enough, He Liding paused for a moment before continuing, "There are several thousand kilograms of pig iron down there. Do you want some?"

"If it's pig iron, it can't be a thousand catties, can it?" Jia Chen frowned and asked.

"Of course not," He Liding laughed. "There is a loss when refining pig iron into wrought iron, usually about 30%. I will give you 2,000 catties, which can be refined into 1400 catties of wrought iron."

Jia Chen cursed inwardly.

Do you think you know nothing?

According to the method commonly used by the Great Hong Dynasty, when smelting pig iron into wrought iron, there is indeed a 30% loss; ten catties of pig iron can produce seven catties of wrought iron.

However, these can only be used for civilian purposes, such as for farm tools and iron pots, etc.

Military-grade wrought iron, such as forging swords, has much higher requirements.

The requirements for firearms and cannons, in particular, are even more stringent.

Military-grade wrought iron needs to undergo at least five hammering processes, and this is just the initial stage. The loss can reach 70%, meaning that 10 pounds of wrought iron can only yield 3 pounds of wrought iron.

If it's used to make cannons, ten pounds might only yield one pound of wrought iron, less than one in ten. Only wrought iron that has been repeatedly hammered and forged can meet the requirements.

Take the case of a 70% loss rate as an example: 2,000 catties can only produce a maximum of 600 catties of wrought iron. If this wrought iron is used to make cannons, the possibility of the barrel exploding is still extremely high.

"My lord, turning pig iron into wrought iron will require a lot of manpower, and I'm afraid Qianshan Fortress can't afford it," Jia Chen sighed.

"Regarding this matter, I am truly powerless to help. There are too many fortifications below that require funds," He Liding said, shaking his head. "How about this, I'll give you three thousand catties of pig iron. I heard you want to make cannons, but wrought iron is too expensive, so we'll use pig iron. It just means the cannon barrels will be thicker and heavier. If it's for defending the city and placed on the city walls, it won't be a problem."

Jia Chen really wanted to slap He Liding across the face, but that was something that thickening the cannon barrel could solve.

Even if a cannon is made of thick cast iron, it is still very easy for it to explode.

Why did the Da Hong Army resist using firearms? Wasn't it because these inferior weapons made everyone lose confidence?

"Ten thousand catties!" Jia Chen said in a deep voice.

"What?" He Liding was stunned for a moment. He thought he had misheard. "Ten thousand catties is impossible. Even if you were given the whole thing, it wouldn't be that much."

After some haggling, He Liding agreed to give 4 catties of pig iron.

"My lord, if we were to refine four thousand catties of pig iron into usable wrought iron, we could not possibly get a thousand catties of wrought iron. What a huge loss!" Wu Jiangsheng said with great distress.

Because Wu Jiangsheng was skilled with firearms and had some knowledge of their manufacture, Jia Chen brought him along.

How could Jia Chen not know these things?

It would be far less than a thousand catties. Using the forging methods commonly used in the Great Hong Dynasty, it would be good if it could yield five hundred catties of usable wrought iron.

"And how much silver will it cost to smelt iron? Our Qianshan Fortress can't afford it," Wu Jiangsheng continued.

In his view, he, as a centurion, had been deceived by He Liding.

He's still young. Although he's brave in battle and knowledgeable about firearms, he's not all-knowing.

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing," Jia Chen said with a smile.