Chapter 151: Disaster

The first artillery was successfully cast, and the atmosphere in the equipment department was as hot as coal in a blast furnace.
Every craftsman’s face is full of smiles.
Over the past month, they have lost ten jins day and night in order to complete the tasks assigned by King Qi.
Now only waiting for the test firing of the artillery, if it succeeds, it means that the Department of Equipment has truly mastered the artillery production technology since then.
"His Royal Highness, let's try it. These craftsmen are all waiting eagerly." Chen Qi was afraid that Xiao Ming would not let them observe the test firing of the artillery. This He just gave birth to a child before he knew Choujun was brought in. It's just as uncomfortable.
"Yes, Your Highness, let us see it." The craftsmen in the Equipment Department asked one after another, and their eyes were expecting the power of the artillery.
The craftsmen's body was covered with sweat and iron powder, and a smell of metal and sweat wafted in the equipment department.
With so many requests, Xiao Ming naturally couldn't refuse. He was just joking with Chen Qi just now.
The test of this artillery certainly requires the participation of these craftsmen, and only in this way can problems be discovered and rectified in time.
"Well, it must be too late today. We need a suitable venue, and the artillery is very heavy, transportation is also a problem, and it is also the artillery shell."
Xiao Ming's tone became heavier when he mentioned the shell.
The shells of the artillery must be suitable for the current artillery. If it is too large, the effectiveness of the small gunpowder will be greatly reduced, and the shells may hit the feet.
Before the artillery was produced, the Equipment Department could not accurately calculate the caliber of the shells required for this artillery, because it did not dare to produce shells.
Xiao Ming was a little helpless about this. After all, there was no accurate measurement system in this era, and the products produced could not be accurate. At present, the caliber of the muzzle can only be compared to the production of shells.
Otherwise, the produced shells may not fit in.
He thought that this precise measurement system should also be established, so that the production of artillery and the production of shells would not interfere with each other.
It only needs to be produced strictly according to the size, and this is also necessary for the future industrial development of Qingzhou.
After all, after the lathe can participate in production, a metric is needed to produce parts in batches.
Although Chen Qi and others are in a hurry, if the artillery is to be tested, some preparations are needed, not just the shells, location, and transportation.
There is another problem that Chen Qi can't manage, and that is gunpowder.
Thinking of this, Xiao Ming left from the Equipment Department and went directly to Lu Tong's chemical laboratory.
At this time, the chemical laboratory and the equipment department were also held by guards at various levels, and everyone involved in the production of gunpowder was closely monitored.
The important weapon of the country cannot be easily revealed to others. This confidentiality measure is naturally understandable. These things involve the safety of the fief.
These people have become accustomed to this environment.
Compared to the production of artillery, the production of gunpowder is much easier, but what Xiao Ming wants is high-quality gunpowder, because the work of Lu Tong and others is not easy.
Many unqualified granular gunpowder will start again.
In such a place, in order to avoid danger, any metal objects are not allowed to be brought in, and the tools inside are basically wooden.
The purpose is to prevent gunpowder from exploding.
"His Royal Highness, why are you here? It's too dangerous." Lu Tong looked anxious when he saw Xiao Ming coming over.
This chemistry laboratory is not the one in Bowen College, otherwise Xiao Ming is really worried that one day the entire Bowen College will be blown up by Lu Tong.
Now this chemical laboratory is located outside Qingzhou City and adjacent to the workshop area, but it is separated by several hundred meters and surrounded by several walls.
"You are not afraid of danger, what is this king afraid of?" Xiao Ming said with a smile.
Lu Tong was stunned when he heard this. He had never contacted other vassals, but he still believed that the prince in front of him must be different.
In King Qi's body, he did not feel any sense of superior isolation. On the contrary, Xiao Ming was always approachable and friendly.
With emotion, Lu Tong reacted and said to Xiao Ming: "His Royal Highness, the granular gunpowder you ordered has already been produced."
"Really? How many?" Xiao Ming asked with interest.
Lu Tong led Xiao Ming through the front yard, leading to the backyard.
When this place was designed, it was a laboratory and a factory. The first half was the factory and the laboratory was behind.
Twenty buildings of different sizes are distributed throughout the area, each with a different function.
The warehouse was also in the backyard, and Lu Tong moved all the gunpowder he produced to the warehouse.
When he arrived at the warehouse, Lu Tong pointed to a sack and said, "His Royal Highness, this is it, I don't know if it is enough?"
The sack that Lu Tong pointed at was about half a person tall, and it was so thick that a person held it.
"It's far from enough," Xiao Ming said: "You have to speed up. If you don't have enough manpower, just tell me that I can transfer it to you at any time, and I must increase production."
Generally speaking, this ancient war lasted a long time, and the artillery was fired a lot. This bag of granular gunpowder was not enough for one artillery.
Lu Tong nodded, "Yes, Your Highness, I will make people speed up, but Your Highness, this material..."
"The gunpowder is not enough?" Xiao Ming frowned.
"Yes, this saltpeter usually comes from a few caves in the Shu area. There is no production in other places. Before your Royal Highness came, Chen Bing and Cao just left. He said that now the saltpeter on the market can buy all the saltpeter, but it will never happen in the future. No merchants sell saltpeter to Qingzhou."
Lu Tong’s words made Xiao Ming cool. The current saltpeter in Dayu State mainly comes from several open-air nitrate caves in the Shu area~EbookFREE.me~ Because it is easy to mine and the demand is not large, Dayu State is very interested in this saltpeter. It doesn't pay much attention to it, and there is basically no special mining of saltpeter in other places.
Xiao Ming once checked the resource distribution map in the science and technology library. There were saltpetre mines in his fief. He also asked Qian Dafu to look for it, but there is no news yet.
For this, he can't blame the wealthy. In this era, apart from open-air minerals, finding those buried minerals is no less than finding a needle in a haystack.
He asked Qian Dafu to look for a lot of minerals, and Qian Dafu has been looking for it now.
Although it is very hard to sleep and eat, but so far, there is very little harvest, and there is no news about the saltpeter mine.
Now that the source of saltpeter had a problem, it was a heavy blow to Xiao Ming.
Seeing that Xiao Ming's expression was uncertain, Lu Tong hesitated and asked: "His Royal Highness, do you think this is the ghost of King Shu?"
(To be continued.) Enable new URL