In the winter, everything is silent in the wilderness, and only the rustling sound of snowflakes falling can be heard. Rather than sound, it is a feeling, the flying snow in the sky is flying in the air, and among the thick snow, a hare seems to be looking for something.

Suddenly, the hare looked up and looked left and right as if she was aware of the danger.

In an instant, a gunshot broke the tranquility between heaven and earth.

When the gunshots fell, seeing the hare lying in the snow, Shi Yiwen praised.

"Shiji is good at gun technique!"

This is not a false statement. After all, it is indeed extraordinary to hit a hare with a smooth-bore bird gun fifty or sixty meters away. No wonder he was a famous firearm expert in the Ming Dynasty.

Speaking of which, Shi Yiwen and Zhao Shizhen met completely because of official business. Two months ago, Zhao Shizhen, who was the chief clerk of the Honglu Temple, was ordered to come to him to retrieve the official seal of the "Old Hong Kong Xuanfu Envoy". Then the two met each other. At that time, Shi Yiwen really didn't expect that the young man in front of him was actually a famous firearm expert in the late Ming Dynasty.

I thought I was an ordinary official, but later when I was in the carriage business, Zhao Shizhen took the initiative to come to him. He was just curious about the bearings. So the two of them knew each other. He was originally a casual servant in Honglu Temple, but he often ran to Shi Yiwen these days.

Today, he specially brought a bird gun and pulled Shi Yiwen to hunt with him.

"You are welcome to Zhiyuan. This gun technique is nothing more than, but you are familiar with it."

While speaking, Zhao Shizhen handed the bird gun to Shi Yiwen.

"Do you want to try Zhiyuan?"

From Zhao Shizhen, he took the bird gun and looked at the iron body of the bird gun. Shi Yiwen just looked at it quietly. Although he had never seen the bird gun in the past, he had heard of his name, which was actually just a small-caliber match-rope gun.

"Zhiyuan, don't worry, this bird gun is not a bad product produced by the official iron house. I specially invited the best craftsmen in the city to use the gun barrel made by the high-quality Fujian iron. Even if hundreds of guns are placed, they will not explode the chamber. Those craftsmen are really hateful. The bird guns used for the soldiers are inappropriate and are repeatedly exploded. If others pay their own money to make the gun, they will not explode the chamber."

Seeing that Shi Yiwen was holding the bird gun for a long time, he didn't say anything, and he thought he was worried about the explosion of the chamber, Zhao Shizhen quickly explained.

"It's not the case in fact."

Shi Yiwen said casually.

"This bird gun is not just a problem for craftsmen. The most fundamental reason should be the raw materials."

"raw material?"

Zhao Shizhen was puzzled.

"Why did Shiji use Fujian iron to make gun barrels?"

"Because Fujian iron is of high quality, it is most suitable for making gun barrels, and other places produce cooked iron and can't be used."

"Na Shiji knows why the high-quality iron in Fujian can be used to make gun barrels, while the iron in other places is unbearable to use?"

Facing Shi Yiwen's re-question, Zhao Shizhen couldn't help but wonder, he had never thought about this question in the past.

"In fact, the reason is not because Fujian has good iron quality and other places are poor. But because Fujian's mountains are dense, local iron smelting is made of charcoal. There are few charcoal acrobatics, so the iron refined is naturally good. Other places, especially in the north, because of insufficient forests, often use coal to make iron. There are more coal soot and ash, and the iron refined is made of firearms made of coal iron, which are naturally easy to explode."

This was the first time Zhao Shizhen heard about such an explanation, and he opened his eyes wide in surprise.

"You mean, all the problems are on the coal?"

"It is true. There are certain reasons for the poor quality of iron ore, but the most fundamental reason is the difference in the method of smelting."

From the perspective of metallurgy, China's iron ore generally has an excessive phosphorus content, while using coal to make iron content leads to a further increase in sulfur content, which will cause heat brittleness, and sulfur and phosphorus will have an adverse impact on the welding performance of steel. This basically destined that using coal iron maker to make bird guns will often explode. In the end, many people blame this raw material problem on the craftsman system and the deduction of the Ministry of Industry. There may be some reasons, but poor iron quality is the most fundamental reason.

"So this is still on iron."

Frowning, Zhao Shizhen said.

"What if I use all the Iron in Fujian? But it doesn't seem to work. There is no iron course in Fujian. At that time, Fujian Iron only served Qi Shuai's army, so there was no problem. But if it was released nationwide, it would be impossible. You must use cooked iron to build gun barrels. Two or three pounds of iron to get one pound of cooked iron and a gun barrel... I'm afraid this matter cannot be done, or I will use charcoal to make iron in the capital? But charcoal itself is expensive..."

Seeing Zhao Shizhen falling into myths, Shi Yiwen did not continue to speak, but picked up the bird gun and gestured.

Most men have a special emotion for weapons. Even this most primitive mesh can attract Shi Yiwen's interest, but he just gestured for a moment. After all, this kind of mesh can be used too cumbersome.

Zhao Shizhen, who came to his senses, saw Shi Yiwen holding a bird gun and aiming, and said quickly,

"If Zhiyuan wants to try it, you might as well wait for me to put medicine on you first."

"This is not needed. This bird gun is a bit troublesome. Look, we just talk, and the fuse is extinguished."

Holding the bird gun, Shi Yiwen said casually.

"This is the biggest disadvantage of bird guns. They are easily affected by wind and rain when igniting. When igniting the fuse, they must retain the fire and the ignited fuse cannot be maintained for a long time. There are too many disadvantages."

In Shi Yiwen's opinion, the bird gun is simply an extremely primitive weapon, but what he said made him feel uncomfortable in Zhao Shizhen's ears. After all, he had already admired the bird gun so much that he could not tolerate people belittle the bird gun so much.

"Zhiyuan, it's wrong for you to say this. This bird gun is a powerful weapon to defeat the enemy. Although there are the problems you said, how can any weapon in the world be perfect? ​​Do you know why it is called a bird gun? "You don't need to abandon the fire when the backhand is fired, so eight or nine out of ten shots can be shot down, and even if the birds are in the forest, they can be shot down, so they get the name." This is how it gets its name, which can be said to be a magical weapon of the world..."

Seeing Zhao Shizhen maintaining the status of bird guns in his mind like this, Shi Yiwen said with a smile.

"Compared with other things, this bird gun is indeed a magical weapon, but Shiji, we cannot ignore the problems in it just because it is a magical weapon, and we must find a way to solve these problems."

"Solved? What to solve?"

Zhao Shizhen said in confusion.

"Just don't use a fuse, Shiji, if you don't use a fuse, how convenient would it be to use a bird gun?"

As soon as Shi Yiwen's words fell, Zhao Shizhen said in surprise.

"What, no fuse, how can this bird gun not use a fuse?"

"Why can't it be? It's just a way to change it..."

Before Shi Yiwen could finish his words, someone behind him said.
Chapter completed!