ATPnovel Chapter 013 Agricultural Implements Manufacturing Bureau Makes Cannons
Chapter 013 Agricultural Implements Manufacturing Bureau Makes Cannons
Chapter 013
Song Yanniang felt like she was dreaming. Just over a month ago, Chen Boying was still a destitute soldier with no money. Now, he had become the head of the Yongcheng Agricultural Implements Manufacturing Bureau.
More importantly, he not only got a job, but also money. Just as Chen Ying had predicted, Zhang Zhengyu, the young master, used 1,600 taels of silver to buy 500 unplanned iron plows.
Other prominent families also came to visit, and they adopted almost the same approach as the Pengcheng Earl's Mansion, using money and grain to purchase iron plows.
In just over a month, the Yongcheng Agricultural Implements Manufacturing Bureau produced more than 29,000 iron-shafted plows, of which 21,200 were planned and the remaining 7,800 were not planned by the major farmers.
Chen Ying became a hot commodity in Yongcheng.
Not to mention the four prominent families of Yongcheng, even the four prominent families, eight major families, and seven major households of Guide Prefecture sent iron materials and silver. At this time, the Yongcheng Agricultural Implements Manufacturing Bureau had more than 600 more craftsmen, reaching an astonishing 1,300 people.
What surprised Song Yanniang even more was that Chen Boying did not rest on his laurels. After the production of the iron plow was on track, he continued to work with a group of craftsmen in the workshop.
Song Yanniang didn't know what Chen Boying wanted to do; she just felt that he was busy from dawn till dusk every day.
Chen Ying is currently developing the second flagship product of Yongcheng Agricultural Implements Manufacturing Bureau – a seven-row wheeled seeder powered by animal power.
The seed drill of the Ming Dynasty was already the world's leading sowing tool. It could be pulled by an ox and operated by a person, and could sow hundreds of acres a day, far exceeding the efficiency of Europe at the same time. Agriculture was still done by hand, broadcasting or spot sowing.
Although the seed drill of the Ming Dynasty was efficient, it also had the limitations of the time. While the row spacing could be fixed, the sowing depth was difficult to adjust, and the seed flow rate was controlled by the hand of the person holding the drill, making it particularly difficult to sow beans evenly.
Especially now that only beans can be planted for autumn grain, but soybeans prefer sparse planting and need to be planted in dense planting, so Chen Ying did not initially consider this tractor-driven seeder.
However, with the advent of the iron plow, imitations are hard to avoid. In the future, someone will definitely experiment. Even without using the cold casting process of molten steel, the lost-wax casting method of pig iron can still meet the basic farmland requirements.
As the Yongcheng Agricultural Implements Manufacturing Bureau gained more and more reputation and a growing number of skilled craftsmen, Chen Ying discovered many talented artisans. He initially only wanted to build a few four-wheeled carriages, but naturally he wanted to cast bearings.
It turned out that these craftsmen were able to apply their knowledge to other situations and make gears and production line chains. The Ming Dynasty had no shortage of gears; they were found in waterwheels, mills, and clocks.
However, those gears were made of wood or cast bronze, which had poor precision and were prone to wear. Solving these problems was not difficult; standard tolerances were established, and standardized operations were adopted.
Chen Ying quickly drew up the blueprints from memory, creating a design for the seven-row wheeled seeder. He then proceeded to cast the components directly using the cold casting process.
The structure of this seeder is not complicated. It can be simply divided into a transmission device, traveling wheels, seed metering device, seeder, furrow opener, soil covering device, press wheel, seed box, and frame.
"Chen Lang..."
Seeing Chen Boying covered in sweat, as if he'd been pulled from the water, Song Yanniang felt a pang of sympathy: "Quickly drink some mung bean soup to cool down!"
Chen Ying drank a whole bowl of mung bean soup in one go. The mung bean soup had sugar powder in it, and it tasted sweet and delicious. What was even more remarkable was that Song Yanniang had chilled the mung bean soup in well water, making it refreshing and delicious.
"Thank you... Miss Yan!"
Song Yanniang frowned slightly and asked, "Chen Lang, this... can it really work?"
"You'll only know if you try."
Chen Ying wiped his mouth: "The seed drill is good, but not good enough. Sowing beans should be even, wheat should be dense, millet should be shallow... Farming relies too much on experience. Without eight or ten years of experience, you can't control the seed drill properly."
As the parts were cast one after another, assembly became a problem. In later generations, direct electric welding was used, but there was no technical means to do so now. Helpless, he had to adopt the wrought iron welding method, which was rough but sturdy.
"Keep pretending!"
Shen Keqin, along with several craftsmen, carried over the repaired gear, aligned it with the shaft, and secured it with iron keys.
The large and small gears mesh, and the traveling wheel drives the seeder through the chain. The movable tongue and paddle start to jump up and down, simulating the rhythm of the seeds falling.
It's basically done.
In the following days, fifty of the Bureau’s most skilled craftsmen were selected to work on the seeding machine.
Chen Ying broke down the production process into eight sections: wheel frame group, gear group, funnel group, transmission group, adjustment group, assembly group, grinding group, and trial group.
Each section is only responsible for its own part, and components are passed on like flowing water.
On June 19, the first complete animal-powered seven-row wheeled seeder was assembled on the open ground of the Yongcheng Construction Bureau.
Chen Ying personally harnessed a strong yellow ox.
Instead of choosing the experimental field, he took it directly to a plot of official land near the Bureau of Construction that had just been plowed with a new plow. When Sun Chuanting arrived after hearing the news, the planter was already parked at the edge of the field.
"Boying, what's wrong with you...?"
Sun Chuanting looked at the unfamiliar machine and his eyes lit up. He was far more informed than Chen Ying. The young emperor was now engaged in a fierce struggle with the court officials over the Tianqi Plow.
More than two hundred officials were flogged in court, and doctors in the capital who treated external injuries made a fortune.
However, the Emperor was very determined to reward Chen Boying handsomely, and it was possible that this young military household member would become the chief supervisor of the Tianqi Construction Bureau, which was directly under the Inner Palace.
He was also getting promoted to magistrate of Shangqiu County, a sixth-rank official. The process would be completed in two months at most. Sun Chuanting was overjoyed; if this project were to succeed, he might even benefit from it.
His contributions cannot be denied, because he was the one who established the Yongcheng Agricultural Implements Manufacturing Bureau.
"Please wait a moment, Your Excellency; we will know once we try."
As the ox steps forward, the wheels of the seeder turn, the gears on the wheels drive the chain, the chain drives the seeder, and the seeds in the funnel fall evenly into the furrows in a unified rhythm.
The person operating the machine only needs to control the direction and does not need to worry about sowing. The seeder can adjust the sowing depth. Because it is in the experimental stage, no soil covering device has been installed.
Sun Chuanting squatted down, brushed aside the loose soil with his fingers, picked up a few freshly sown bean seeds, and looked at the control field in the distance where farmers had sown seeds with traditional seed drills, the spacing between the seeds varying.
"One machine can sow seven rows. Ordinary seed drills, whether single or double, can only sow three rows... This machine is more than twice as efficient as a seed drill..."
"Far more than that!"
Chen Ying explained, "The seeding machine is more labor-saving and saves more seeds. The row spacing and grain spacing can be controlled, and the mode can be changed at any time for different crops. If a strong ox is used, it can sow no less than 80 mu a day. Even if a donkey is used, it can sow 50 mu a day."
Sun Chuanting suddenly recalled a passage from the "Essential Techniques for the Common People": "Planting should be even, planting should be straight, and planting depth should be uniform."
Throughout history, this has been a dream for all farmers, yet one that is difficult to attain.
Now, this iron monster has achieved it so easily and precisely.
"What is the name of this thing?"
"It has not yet been named; may the county magistrate bestow one upon it?"
"Fine, let the Emperor bestow a name upon us!"
Sun Chuanting's gaze suddenly fell on the iron pipe on the trencher. He hurriedly bent down to examine it carefully. The Ming Dynasty possessed a large number of firearms, including cannons and muskets. The most difficult part was casting the gun barrels or cannon barrels.
The iron pipe at the top of the trencher wasn't very thick; it was only about 45 millimeters thick. This kind of iron pipe naturally reminded him of a cannon.
The Ming Dynasty's muskets did not have a standardized caliber, ranging from 12 to 40 millimeters. The problem was that it was very difficult to manufacture the musket barrels. However, these steel pipes were cast very smoothly with uniform wall thickness.
"Boying, how is the production speed of this item? Can you produce three hundred units before the autumn planting season?"
Chen Ying replied without hesitation, "Yes, we can build three thousand units, let alone three hundred!"
As the autumn planting season approaches, the demand for iron plows will gradually decrease. The Bureau of Manufacturing now has nearly two hundred craftsmen who can make molds. As long as there is enough iron and molds, although the production of seeders is more complicated than that of iron plows, production can be increased rapidly.
Upon hearing this, Sun Chuanting was dumbfounded.
It should be noted that even a skilled craftsman in the Ming Dynasty's gun and cannon bureau would need 28 to 30 days to forge a single musket. The problem is that these 300 seeders would require at least 2,100 musket barrels.
If we didn't build seed drills, but instead built muskets, wouldn't that be...
"Bo Ying!"
Sun Chuanting pointed to the iron pipe: "If this iron pipe were lengthened to 1.8 feet, could it be made?"
"this……"
Chen Ying seemed to understand; Sun Chuanting had indeed realized that these steel pipes could be used as light artillery or muskets: "Does Your Excellency mean... to have the Imperial Works Bureau cast cannons?"
Sun Chuanting felt as if a fire was burning in his heart. You must know that in the second year of the Tianqi reign, Sun Yuanhua, a scholar who had passed the imperial examination, was promoted to the position of Director of the Military Affairs Department of the Ministry of War because of his merit in casting cannons.
Sun Chuanting, a genuine Jinshi (successful candidate in the highest imperial examination), is currently only a seventh-rank county magistrate. If he can successfully cast cannons, wouldn't he be able to get promoted and make a fortune?
"Can you?"
Sun Chuanting became excited.
"able!"
Chen Ying hesitated and said, "But isn't it a bit taboo for the Agricultural Implements Manufacturing Bureau to manufacture cannons?"
"You can build as much as you want; the county will cover the costs!"