The next morning.
Fang Zhengyi and Li Yuanzhao appeared together on the campus of Dongjiao University. There were not many people on the campus at the moment, probably because everyone was attending morning classes.
The two of them didn't stay for long, Fang Zhengyi led him straight to the firearms department.
In the firearms office, Mo Xiaohu was lying on the table studying the blueprints.
Suddenly, the door creaked open.
Mo Xiaohu frowned and couldn't help but look up.
As soon as he saw it, he immediately stood up and said in a panic, "Hello, Your Highness! Hello, Master!"
Fang Zheng waved his hand and went straight to the point: "Don't be nervous. How is the development of the new artillery going?"
"Cannon? So there are new cannons?" Li Yuanzhao was overjoyed.
I didn’t expect that the Firearms Institute would come up with a new result so quickly, and it’s a cannon!
Fang Zheng nodded slightly.
Any important achievements in Dongjiao University will be reported to him as soon as possible.
The news that this new type of artillery was about to be successfully manufactured had been placed on his desk a month ago.
If you want to achieve merit nowadays, there is probably no better starting point than with firearms. After all, this thing has just achieved great merit not long ago.
The entire court was very interested in it, and it was regarded as a national treasure in everyone's mind.
"The cannon...the cannon has been developed! It's placed in the backyard. Do you want to see it, sir?" Mo Xiaohu was sweating.
"Don't be nervous, we just want to take a look. Lead the way."
...
In the backyard of the Firearms Institute, there is an extremely open testing site.
There are also many targets on the field, probably used for testing guns.
Soon, Mo Xiaohu found two craftsmen and pushed the cannon onto the open space.
Without saying a word, he lifted the waterproof cover, revealing the gun barrel inside.
Li Yuanzhao was surprised and said, "How come this cannon is two times smaller than the previous one and looks weird? Can it keep up with the power?"
Mo Xiaohu said proudly: "Your Highness is right, this cannon is indeed much smaller than before, but its power far exceeds that of the old cannon!"
"How is this possible? How could such a thing happen?" Li Yuanzhao was full of curiosity.
"Of course it's possible, as long as the materials and structure are in place!" Mo Xiaohu explained: "Your Highness should have seen the old cannon, the barrel wall is very thick but the muzzle is small, it weighs 8,000 kilograms but can only fire shells of about 11 kilograms."
"The reason is that the previous casting level was not up to standard. The cannon cast in the iron mold was cooled from the outside to the inside, which would produce a large amount of white cast iron. This kind of cast iron is hard but extremely brittle, so we can only keep piling up materials and thickening the barrel to ensure normal firing."
"The Metallurgical Institute has now adopted a completely new process, using a new double-layer method to cool from the center to the outside. The gray cast iron produced is of excellent quality, so we can completely reduce the material consumption. On the other hand, the barrel of the old cannon is the same thickness from beginning to end. We borrowed the pressure gauge developed by the Steam Institute and found that the pressure should gradually decrease from the chamber to the muzzle. Therefore, the barrel of the cannon has now been changed to a spindle shape, with materials from thick to thin, which again saves a lot of materials."
"Now, the casting material of a cannon can save a full 3,000 kilograms of iron! The shells fired can also exceed 20 kilograms. It can be said that both the range and the power are completely different from the old cannons!"
Li Yuanzhao was a little stunned when he heard this, and couldn't help but applaud, "Great... I originally thought that weapons like artillery were developed independently, but I didn't expect that so many research institutes were involved. The Ministry of Industry is far worse than you."
Fang Zhengyi smiled slightly: "Your Highness, when doing research like this, it is easier to produce results when there are cross-disciplinary studies."
After that, he turned around and asked Mo Xiaohu: "The report you submitted earlier said that the cannon casting problem has not been solved. Whoever solves this problem now will be rewarded with 1,000 taels for each person who makes the first contribution."
Mo Xiaohu was delighted at first, then hesitantly said, "Master, it's a coincidence that the cannon casting problem happened... We originally thought it would take another three months to solve it, but then someone thought about asking the foreigners what technology they had."
"I didn't expect that I would actually ask the right question! Although they don't understand the specific process, they did give me a lot of inspiration in metallurgy. So does this reward count as a foreign one?"
Foreigners? Aren’t they just Foberle and Dazhuang? I didn’t expect these two foreign losers have some special skills!
Fang Zheng thought for a moment and said, "Where are these two people now? I want to meet them."
"They are in the Metallurgical Institute. They were fired by the Imperial Guards and are now working as assistants in the Metallurgical Institute. They are both tall and strong and have great strength."
"Well, what's going on?"
Mo Xiaohu said: "I heard that the new official thought that these two were ugly and would affect the image of the Jinyiwei, so he found a reason to fire them directly."
It seems that foreigners are still not welcomed.
Fang Zheng smiled and waved his hand, saying, "Go and call these two people over to me."
Seeing Mo Xiaohu leaving, Li Yuanzhao whispered, "Old Fang, how about we have a try?"
"Stop making a fuss. This is school! How loud can you make such a fuss? If you want to fight, find a place where there is no one. There will be a chance later."
"Tsk, that's right, but what's the name of this cannon?"
"Well...I have already given it a name. You will know it in a moment."
Soon, the foreigners arrived.
The two foreigners hadn't seen Fang Zhengyi for a long time, and the grievances that had been accumulating in their hearts for a long time suddenly burst out.
Da Zhuang said with tears in his eyes: "Master Fang! You finally came to see us. The new commander is unreasonable. He wants to drive us away because we are foreigners. How can we be treated differently after we have become naturalized citizens? You have to help us make the decision!"
Seeing the two people's tearful eyes, Fang Zheng smiled and pointed at the cannon: "Don't be afraid, I am here to compensate you today."
"You have made great contributions to the manufacture of this cannon. I will reward you greatly."
"What is this, Lord Fang?" Da Zhuang asked puzzled.
Fang Zheng showed a puzzled look, and Mo Xiaohu quickly explained in a low voice: "Master, the new cannon is our secret. These two people only participated in the metallurgical process and have not seen the new cannon yet."
"Oh, you don't need to care what this is. Just know that you have done a good deed and deserve the reward."
The two were overjoyed and looked at Fang Zhengyi hopefully.
Fang Zheng smiled and said, "In view of your contributions, I have decided to give it a foreign name. Once people know that foreigners participated in its manufacture, they will no longer treat you differently."
Fo Bole and Da Zhuang looked at each other, both feeling a little disappointed.
They didn't even know what the iron barrel was for, so what was the point of giving it a foreign name? They thought they could make some money.
"I have decided. We will call it the Italian Cannon. In addition, I will reward each of you with 100 taels of silver."
Fo Bole and Da Zhuang looked at each other.
What does it mean? I don’t understand!
Although I didn't understand it, I was still excited. After all, I earned a hundred taels for free!
Li Yuanzhao saw this and whispered, "Old Fang, how do you see their reactions? Do you know foreign languages? Don't pretend. I'm embarrassed for you."
"Instant!" Fang Zheng laughed. "Your Highness, I have studied foreign languages for more than ten years and you are still the first one to say that I am pretending! This is ridiculous! How delicious!"
......
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