NFBE Chapter 265
Chapter 265
Chapter 265
Today, the Changsheng Battalion has nearly a million soldiers. In addition to the 20 soldiers who went out, there are also more than a dozen or 20 soldiers stationed in various places in the Song Dynasty to guard important facilities such as important ports and casting bureaus.
There are about [-] soldiers staying at the Changsheng Battalion in Beiwang's territory in Beibei Town.
Under Ma Shoucheng's strict training regulations, the 60 soldiers of the Changsheng Battalion were trained into a strong army that made the whole world tremble during the next year's devil drills!
Ma Shoucheng practiced these Changsheng battalion soldiers desperately, and these guys who practiced all the time cried for their parents and mothers, needless to say.
Xiao Qi, who was far away in the foundry bureau of the Song Dynasty, got a piece of good news that surprised him.
That is, after a period of practice, the craftsmen he sent out to build bridges found a good way to build railway piers!
This method is to divert the river water aside during the dry season of those seasonal rivers, that is, winter and spring, while the water flow of these rivers becomes smaller, and then carry out excavation construction in the river.
A deep and wide foundation was dug at the place where the bridge pier was to be built, and the rectangular stone blocks carved into the city were piled on the outside with cement, and the huge pier base was poured in the middle with the reinforced concrete taught by Xiao Qi.
Then the size of the piers is gradually reduced upwards, and each pier is built into an oval shape to reduce the impact of the water flow until it is level with the road surface, and then the bridge deck is laid to erect steel rails.
Although this method still has certain limitations, it can only build bridges in some rivers with large seasonal changes in water flow, which also surprised Xiao Qi.
After all, everything is gradual. In the future, as the craftsmen have more and more experience in building bridge piers in rivers, one day, the experience gained in rivers in dry seasons will eventually allow them to build bridge piers in rivers with abundant water flow. Come.
Xiao Qi immediately found out on the map the best route from the vicinity of Lin'an, the capital, to Kaifeng Mansion, and sent people to start investigating the situation on the route.
Once the railway from Pingjiang City to Shanghai Port is completed, the construction of the railway from Lin'an to Kaifeng will begin immediately.
Prior to this, Xiao Qi dispatched those craftsmen who built bridges to build bridges where bridges were needed on this route.
Xiao Qi is very aware of the importance of the railway. This will be the main artery of the entire country in the future. If the railway network is built in the future, the entire Song Dynasty will communicate with each other faster, making the exchange of various materials very convenient.
And it can save more time. In the past, when [-] kilograms of grain was delivered to the front line, half of it would be consumed by the logistics troops delivering the grain.
Now what Xiao Qi most hopes to accomplish in his country is to achieve industrialization, and the foundation of industrialization is the construction of the railway network. Only when raw materials can be transported quickly and conveniently, and the products produced can be regarded as the real success of industrialization.
At the same time, Xiao Qi also built a short-distance railway from the already built Pingjiang City Railway Station to Lin'an Railway Station, so that any supplies can reach Lin'an, the capital city.
This small section of railway also connects the two railways, which facilitates the transportation of overseas materials to Shanghai Port to the north, and also facilitates the transportation of materials from the north to Shanghai Port, where they can be shipped to other places.
Following Xiao Qi's requirements on the map, he drew two super-long railways crossing from north to south and east to west, and behind the many branch railways attached to these two railways.
Xiao Qi suddenly discovered that the current iron ore in the Song Dynasty and the iron ore obtained from overseas cannot support such a huge steel consumption.
Because now not only more rails are needed, but also more machines are produced, which require the best steel.
Xiao Qi couldn't help but think of the huge island in the south of the ocean, and he was even more eager to occupy that island. There were high-quality iron ore there, and the reserves were amazing.
After only being in a trance for a while, Xiao Qi calmed down.
It's not the right time yet, even if you use the few building ships and three-masted sailing ships to go there, a large amount of coal and iron ore are mined, and steel products are refined, and they cannot be transported back to the Song Dynasty in large quantities.
After all, only more and bigger steam ships are the best way to transport these things.
Those large ships powered by sails can transport a large number of heavy items over short distances, but long-distance transportation is too risky, and it is too easy for the ship to be destroyed and people to die.
For this reason, Xiao Qi ordered the Great Song Foundry Bureau to increase the production of steam engines and transmission systems for steam ships, and also made all the shipyards of the Great Song Dynasty start to make full efforts to build the hulls of steam ships.
The most important underwater propeller power system has also begun to encourage craftsmen to step up development. After all, underwater propeller drive is safer and more efficient than the currently used wheel propeller.
At present, copper, aluminum and other mineral deposits in Southeast Asia have been discovered, and after large-scale mining and refining, the finished products are continuously transported to the Song Dynasty.
Copper and silver mines have always been relatively scarce in the Song Dynasty. A large number of copper ingots transported to Dasong were sent to make copper coins, and Xiao Qi kept the rest as strategic reserves.
He knew very well that after entering the era of steam engines, stamping devices powered by steam engines would soon be available, and at that time copper bullet casings would follow.
As long as the steam-powered stamping machine comes out, it will be the beginning of him leading the Great Song Changsheng Battalion to conquer the entire blue planet.
At this time, Xiao Qi had already set his goal on the production of smoothbore guns and smoothbore guns. These two things will be the mainstream weapons for a long time to come.
As for rifled guns and rifled guns with better accuracy and range, the technology in a short time cannot be produced.
But Xiao Qi knew that once the guns with shell casings were produced, the combat power of the Changsheng Battalion would be greatly improved, because the guns would no longer worry about being damp and misfiring, and the time for soldiers to reload ammunition would be extremely short.
So Xiao Qi began to draw the structure diagram of the smoothbore rifle based on his vague memory of the structure of firearms he had seen on the Internet in his previous life.
The structure of this kind of gun is very simple. Pull the bolt to put a bullet into the chamber. After firing, pull the bolt to eject the shell. After putting in another bullet, push the bolt to shoot again.
The reason why it is designed so that only one bullet can be loaded at a time is because Xiao Qi feels that the range of the smoothbore gun is short and the accuracy is not high. The structure of only loading one bullet makes the firearm more airtight and can maximize the range of the bullet. .
As for the continuity of firing, it is not within Xiao Qi's consideration at all. In the world today, only the Changsheng Battalion has such guns, and the time to reload ammunition is already very fast.
As long as there is enough ammunition, a few hundred people can face an enemy with only cold weapons in the hands of tens of thousands of people, and it is still the kind that can win the final victory.
It seems that God knew what Xiao Qi wanted most, and agreed to fulfill his wish.
Xiao Qi was in the Foundry Bureau that day, discussing with a group of senior craftsmen how to dye the cloth produced by the textile factory that had already started production.
Suddenly a bearded craftsman rushed in from outside.
As soon as he entered the door, the craftsman shouted loudly: "My lord! My lord! We have made the thing called a punching machine that you told me about. Please go and see if it is like this, and what needs to be changed!"
Hearing that the punching machine was built, Xiao Qi was so excited that he almost had a heart attack and a stroke!
It took a long time to recover, raised his trembling hand, and pointed to the bearded senior craftsman named Li Yungang: "In the future, don't tell me such good news so suddenly! I almost let me down Crazy!"
The craftsmen around were stunned for a moment, looking at Li Yungang dancing happily as if he had lost his mind, thinking that Xiao Qi was joking about Li Yungang, they all burst out laughing.
Li Yungang didn't care at all, he got the task of King Zhenbei Xiao Qi, and took people to develop the rough blueprint that King Zhenbei gave him, and told him to let him build it according to his groping.
Almost a year has passed now. After many experiments, they even used up two steam engines.
Countless other things were wasted. If King Zhenbei hadn't said that they would give them what they needed, the logistics would have cut off their material supply long ago.
Today, after countless failures, we finally built a machine that King Zhenbei said could smash copper blocks into small cylinders instantly.
If this Li Yungang hadn't ran all the way like crazy, venting the excitement in his chest, he might really be insane.
After calming down, Xiao Qi waved his hand: "Let's go, everyone, let's go and see our baby together!"
A group of people came to the craftsman's workshop a few miles away, and they could hear the sound of "boom" and "boom" inside, and the ground was trembling.
After entering the workshop, I saw several craftsmen inside taking turns to use this newly built machine to beat small copper blocks one by one. After being beaten, each copper block turned into a barrel shape.
But Xiao Qi soon discovered the problem, because the copper block was square before, and the small cylinder that was hammered out was round inside and square outside. Although the outside was not square due to deformation, some edges and corners could still be seen.
Seeing Zhenbei King Xiao Qi leading many craftsmen, the craftsmen hurriedly deflated and shut down the steam engine.
With the steam engine turned off and the power system no longer working, the entire workshop fell silent.
After Xiao Qi looked at the steam stamping machine, he nodded to express his satisfaction.
Next, he announced that Li Yungang, the leader, was promoted from a fifth-rank craftsman to a fifth-rank craftsman, and other craftsmen were also promoted to one level. Li Yungang was rewarded with 1000 taels of silver, and other craftsmen were rewarded with 500 taels of silver.
Without waiting for these craftsmen to cheer and celebrate, Xiao Qi set a task for them again, which is to develop a mold that precisely matches the stamping machine, so that the stamping machine can manufacture round copper bullet casings according to his specifications.
Xiao Qi told them very clearly that developing this thing is no easier than developing a stamping machine.
Because the finished product that needs to be manufactured must be uniform in thickness without any deviation.
After thinking about it, Xiao Qi worked out the size of the shells for them.
Since it is made, let's make two sets. At least Xiao Qi is very clear about the caliber of the guns now. After these things are formulated, the guns will be considered preliminary finalized.
After giving the various dimensions of the cartridge case, Xiao Qi left the craftsman's workshop, returned to the foundry, and ordered that future guns be produced strictly according to the previously established caliber.
Like the muskets produced when they were filled with gunpowder, you just need to choose the right projectiles for larger calibers and smaller ones, because the production of projectiles is not so consistent, and there will always be slight deviations.
It won't work in the future. It would be fine if the barrel was bigger, but the pressure on the barrel would be lower and the shooting range would be shorter.
But if the barrel is small, it will be a big trouble. If the bullet is stuck in the barrel, it will explode!
For this reason, Xiao Qi strictly stipulated that when producing guns, the size of the barrel must be strictly inspected. If it is too big or too small, it is considered unqualified and must be destroyed and remade.
As for the cannon, Xiao Qi only asked to build a few for experimentation. After all, there is no device that triggers the detonation when it falls to the bottom, and this needs to be done slowly.
For the launch of the stamping machine, Xiao Qi's inner excitement is unimaginable to others.
This thing is undoubtedly a great progress for the production of precision machinery. Many things that were previously unimaginable will soon be built.
When returning home for dinner, Zhang Xiu saw that Xiao Qi was rarely in a good mood, not only talking and laughing happily, but also took his son Xiao Qin to play in the palace for an hour after the meal.
Zhang Xiu knew that Xiao Qi was in such a good mood, it must have been good news from the Foundry Bureau.
Yongjia saw that Xiao Qi was in a good mood, so he ran to Zhang Xiu, and quietly begged Zhang Xiu to say that now that her husband is in a good mood, you can discuss it with him!
It took Zhang Xiu a long time to react, and she didn't care about making fun of Yongjia. To be honest, she also sympathized with this princess sister.
At the beginning, Xiao Qi said that Yongjia was young and had to wait until she was 15 to consummate the house. Now Yongjia has already passed [-], and she will be [-] in two months.
At first, Yongjia was too shy to mention this to Zhang Xiu, but then Xiao Qi was busy with the foundry bureau all day long, and Zhang Xiu was busy with his son and the trading company all day long.
Both of them actually forgot about this.
Until one day Yongjia couldn't bear it anymore, and went to Zhang Xiu crying, and asked if her husband Xiao Qi didn't like her, otherwise he was already fifteen, but he still refused to consummate the house with her.
Only then did Zhang Xiu think of this incident, and she felt regretful in her heart. She promised to be in charge of everything in the family, but because she was busy with the children and the business at home, she forgot such an important matter as Younger Sister Yongjia.
But Zhang Xiu is still very good at coaxing the little girl, and told Yongjia not to think about it, wouldn't it be good to eat without seeing her husband's worries now?
Don't worry, it's not that my husband doesn't like you, but I'm worried about the foundry bureau recently, and I'm in a bad mood. My sister, I remember this matter. When my husband is in a good mood, my sister will help you talk about it.
Don't worry, you know, I have the final say in this family.
Husband is in a bad mood now, it was supposed to be a happy event, but if you insist on telling him now, he has been frowning all day long, will you misunderstand that he doesn't like you again?
The little girl in Yongjia has always been obedient to Zhang Xiuyan, and after hearing what Zhang Xiu said, she also thinks it makes sense.
So I endured it all the time, waiting for some good news from the Foundry Bureau, so that my sister Zhang Xiu could speak for me.
(End of this chapter)