Chapter 251: Use Steel on the Blade

The next day, when Xia Fan walked into the Machine Building Bureau, even his steps were a little frivolous.

"Why, you didn't get a good rest last night?" Mo Yun looked at him with some concern, "Although the alchemist's energy is very good, he will still be tired if he doesn't get enough sleep."

"Thank you for your concern." Xia Fan rubbed his forehead and said. It was clear that he had just picked out his ears last night, but he felt that he had spent a thrilling night. After being affected by the reverberation of the art, whether it was an ear spoon or a copper rod and a pom-pom, it seemed that what was penetrated was no longer an ear hole, but a direct swim. Walking on the nerve endings.

The electric current flowing in the spine hits the brain one after another, almost without stopping. I'm afraid only the alchemist can endure such stimulation. An ordinary person might not just roll his eyes and pass out.

As Li said, this is indeed a good way to train your mind. It's just...it's too easy to trigger other chain reactions.

At least for Xia Fan, he felt that a brand new field appeared in front of him.

This echo technique will definitely become a popular technique in the world in the future.

The only regret is that the Shock Technique and the Kan Technique are almost in conflict with each other in order. He can't even perform the most basic illusion techniques, let alone the more advanced Echo Techniques.

Otherwise, he also wanted Li to have the same taste.

Of course, these thoughts can only be recalled by oneself, and speaking out is guaranteed to only get a ruthless eye roll.

"That's right. Didn't you ask me before where the remaining steel should be used? I thought about it for ten days and nights, and finally I had a complete idea."

Mo Yun couldn't help but stand in awe.

As the person in charge of the Secretariat, there must be many things to deal with every day. Even so, the other party can still take the time to think about the questions he raised so carefully. This attitude is worthy of admiration.

No wonder this person has great attainments in mechanism skills. I am afraid that in addition to the factor of having a listener, his own unrelenting thinking is also one of the reasons.

"You say it and I listen."

"I think Jin Xia's top priority is still to improve the strength of the princess's army. Only when she is strong can she cope with the various restrictions of the court." Xia Fan pondered.

The iron stock in the city was consumed in one smelting, and half of it was used to make production machines to improve the strength and accuracy of the processing devices. How to use the other half became a critical issue. It can be expected that due to the salt and iron control, Jinxia will not be able to obtain adequate supplies for some time in the future, so this part of the steel will naturally have to be used on the blade.

"I agree." Mo Yun nodded, but soon showed hesitation, "What do you think of firearms? It is true that steel is stronger than wrought iron and bronze, and it is an excellent material for casting cannons, but that It’s not what I’m good at. In the Ministry of Industry, this part of the industry is exclusively managed by the Equipment Bureau.”

"I have indeed thought about this aspect, but it has several difficulties that Jinxia City cannot currently solve, so I can only abandon it temporarily." Xia Fan said with a smile, "Don't worry, although the new plan is far from the machine beast , but it is a brand new thing, even if you move the Machinery Bureau here, there will be no advantage. If we are on the same starting line, I believe in your ability."

"Really?" Mo Yun also showed a smile. She believed that this was not flattery, but an affirmation of herself - after all, the other party never joked when it came to professional knowledge. "Then what's your plan?"

"Air rifle." Xia Fan replied.

"Air...rifle?"

"Well, a long-range weapon that can kill enemies without gunpowder."

Are powder guns good? Of course. But if you want to widen the generation gap, you must light up the line of chemical technology - before the invention of nitro propellant and fulminant primer, gunpowder guns were able to face the enemy in dense array, in other words, they lined up to shoot. It would be fine if there were no Qi sensers. Even if it was a flintlock gun, it would be in a crushing situation against a feudal army that mainly used cold weapons.

But with those who sense Qi... the situation is completely different. For example, a formation-rushing alchemist like Ning Wanjun, coupled with Luo Youer's Willow Sweeping Technique, can join the formation in just one reload time. If a person who senses Qi gets close, the fate of the densely arranged soldiers can be imagined.

To solve this shortcoming, a more efficient rate of fire, power and accuracy are the only effective ways. Unfortunately, in Xia Fan's opinion, the only specialty product in Jinxia City is salt, and saltpeter is all purchased. It is not known when these chemical products can be mass-produced, which is obviously not in line with the purpose of urgent matters.

Therefore, he chose another technical route.

A weapon that once appeared briefly, but soon disappeared from history.

"Let's talk in my office." Mo Yun said.

…

In a room filled with drawings, Xia Fan described his ideas through words and pictures.

In the simplest terms, an air rifle uses high-pressure gas instead of conventional gunpowder to eject pellets out of the barrel.

Its core component is the high-pressure gas tank and how to efficiently inflate the gas tank. On the contrary, the firearm itself does not have any difficulty, and its structure is simpler and clearer than that of a gunpowder gun. Since air rifle bullets only have warheads and no cartridge cases, even the firing pin, case ejection and re-entry mechanisms are omitted, and only a small spring can be used to complete the automatic loading of bullets.

The gas tank naturally needs to be strong and sturdy to withstand high pressure. In order to achieve this, the iron and copper sheets must be made very thick, which will undoubtedly increase the weight of the gun, and a steel can is suitable.

More importantly, this tank structure is very suitable for mass production with a stamping machine. In the past, people relied on the power of water wheels to drive the heavy hammer to forge armor plates. Now there are astronomical instruments and gear sets to drive the steel hammer to fall repeatedly, and the efficiency and impulse have increased by more than ten times.

The one-piece stamping gas tank, plus a one-way valve, solves the most critical energy storage part.

Another major problem - inflation, is the main reason for its elimination. In order to fill a gas tank with high-pressure air, a soldier often needs to press hundreds to thousands of times, in exchange for 20 to 30 shooting opportunities on the battlefield. Although it is easy to achieve continuous shooting, the more refreshing it is when shooting, the more embarrassing it is after shooting. If the battles are one after another, I am afraid that even the gas tanks cannot be rushed. This is not to mention that everyone has to carry a heavy air pump on their daily march, which is also a painful thing for logistics.

But Xia Fan has no similar troubles.

In his eyes, it is nothing more than equipping a large army with a Taoist priest and carrying a astronomical instrument version of the air pump, so that fast and unified reloading can be achieved during the rest period. For the soldiers, it's just a matter of carrying a few more lightweight gas tanks.

After hearing the second half, Mo Yun's eyes became brighter. She had never thought of using air as a weapon!

Although this sounds incredible, if you think about it carefully, it contains the law of law - in the previous class, the other party regarded air as a physical object. Since physical objects can be compressed, they also have the power of rebound.

When a trickle of water is squeezed, it can push a windmill and even lift a thousand-pound hammer. So what about gas, which is another type of water?

"Let's give it a try." She rubbed her hands and said.