Black Corporation: Joseon

Chapter 505

Episode 505 Roses have thorns. (3)

“Bring all the craftsmen.”

“Yes, Your Excellency the Duke.”

Pedro, who received the report that ‘reproduction was impossible’, immediately called the craftsmen.

Pedro, having gathered the craftsmen, got straight to the point.

“I just don’t understand. I would understand it if you wrote, ‘Replication is difficult’ or ‘It takes a lot of effort.’ however. Totally impossible? “What does this mean?”

The head of the artisans bowed his head and answered Pedro’s question.

“I’m sorry, but we can’t make something like this Arcebus with our abilities.”

Pedro’s voice became louder as the head craftsman spoke.

“So why! Why is it impossible! “Isn’t it made of the same iron and wood?”

The head craftsman gave a short answer to Pedro’s criticism.

“It’s not the same steel.”

“huh?”

The head craftsman, seeing Pedro’s confused expression, asked Henrik, who was standing next to him.

“Can I bring the Arcebus that you handed over to us and explain it to us?”

“Like that.”

According to the order of the head craftsman who obtained Henry’s permission, a large table filled with long guns was brought into the conference room.

“why not?”

The moment Pedro, who suddenly saw a large statue coming in, opened his mouth, the head craftsman answered first.

“I had to bring it like this in case I lost even a small part.”

“I see...”

Pedro looked down at the table while listening to the head craftsman’s answer and frowned slightly.

On the table were three Korean-made Arcebus in good condition and a large number of completely disassembled Arcebus parts.

“Have you disassembled 7 tablets?”

“yes. However, when we disassembled it further and looked at it, we decided it was useless and stopped.”

Pedro looked astonished at the head craftsman’s answer.

“The conclusion obtained by disassembling it like that is impossible...”

Pedro, who was unable to finish his sentence, glared at the head craftsman.

“Let me explain it properly. “If you don’t convince me, you will be held accountable!”

Despite Pedro’s harsh warning, the head craftsman did not look scared. No, it was a detached expression.

“No matter what the Duke says, impossible is impossible. “Let me explain why.”

The head craftsman began his explanation by holding up the disassembled gun barrel and various parts.

“As you can see, Joseon’s Arcebus was made of iron, even the parts that we use copper for.”

“Is that the problem?”

“The problem is that it is steel, not plain iron.”

The explanation of the head craftsman was as follows.

– First of all, the Portuguese barrel is made of cast iron and heat treated. However, Joseon-made steel is made of steel. Of course, casting from steel is not impossible, but it takes a lot more effort.

– Another evidence that it is not cast is that the surface and interior of the Korean-made barrel are very smooth. Of course, you can clean the surface by filing. However, what the Joseon Dynasty shows is not at a level that can be achieved with filing. No matter how hard I try, I can’t figure out how to make something like this.

“Even though I am an ignorant craftsman, I can swear to the Duke in the name of God. “If I could obtain and sell the steel used in that Joseon-made Arquebus, it would not be enough to receive the same weight of silver as payment.”

The percussion method used in thermal long guns was to use the force of a spring to hit the door cover when the trigger was pulled. It was a very familiar and natural method for those with knowledge in the 21st century, but it was a very dangerous and difficult method at this time.

The reason it was dangerous was that if the trigger was pulled even slightly incorrectly, it could cause a misfire. To prevent this, the trigger pressure had to be adjusted very precisely, which made production difficult.

Therefore, the archebuses and muskets of this period in Europe were made to be interlocked by connecting the trigger and spring with a link. Of course, springs were also used, but the purpose of the spring was to fix the lattice bar so that it does not touch the fire door.

Simply put, the way it worked was the exact opposite. And there were very few craftsmen who could understand and properly implement this opposite operating method.

And this, along with the black box, was what made us confident that the scent could not be duplicated.

* * *

When Hyang first announced that it would sell to Europe, Icheon was similarly worried as the Four.

“I used dark numbers, but I feel uneasy. “Aren’t they also familiar with firearms?”

However, after hearing Lee Cheon’s concerns, Hyang slightly smiled and shook her head.

“That won’t happen.”

“Why?”

In response to Icheon’s question, Hyang explained the reason. The explanation of incense given to Icheon was very similar to what the head craftsman gave to Pedro.

And Icheon’s point was similar to that of Pedro and Henry.

“Wouldn’t it be better to replace the problem of steel with cast iron and bronze, and to mimic the problem of the firing method similarly?”

At Lee Cheon’s point, Hyang smiled even more bitterly and asked back.

“Have you forgotten how strong a spring must be made to strike a flint bitten by a bird’s head and create a spark?”

Icheon responded to Hyang’s question with a loud exclamation.

“ah! “I forgot when I first made the armored rifle!”

* * *

When Hyang, Choi Haesan, Icheon and craftsmen first made the Gap-sik long gun, one of the most difficult parts was the spring that goes into the percussion part. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t get enough power, and when the misfire rate increased, Hyang threw the adventure tree.

“In this regard, it would be better to continue to improve the quality of steel and use other methods.”

The second method chosen by the fragrance was to increase the ratio of the brain-red mixture in the donghwamo (銅火帽 detonator).

The safe way to use Noehong, which is extremely sensitive to shock and has a high risk of spontaneous combustion even if left alone, was to mix it with impurities to reduce its purity.

However, the technology possessed by Joseon in the early days of Gyeongjang was unable to produce a spring of the desired quality, and the trick of using it in the detonator was to increase the ratio of Noehong to a level that was dangerous.

And as the technology progressed and better quality steel was produced in large quantities, Hyang continued to eliminate the risk factors of the Gap-sik long rifle.

* * *

Hyang, who explained the reason by recalling memories of the bad battle they had experienced, continued further.

“Of course, since Europe has a lot of people, there may be craftsmen who can make a long gun with similar performance and safety as the thermal long gun we are sending. But yes. “Even if one or two such craftsmen jump into production, how many can they make?”

The smile on Hyang’s face as she asked Lee Cheon was even more bitter than before.

‘It’s still at a primitive level, but Fordism is a cheat!’

When establishing a mass production system at the steel mill and Royal Workshop Area 51, the township actively embraced Fordism.

“Even if mass consumption is a bit difficult, mass production can be made possible! And the key to mass production is standardization!”

And the representative products that came out of this process were the firearms used by the Joseon military.

Therefore, it was not possible to compete with Joseon by still producing from beginning to end by craftsmen with one or two apprentices in a blacksmith shop.

‘The high-end craftsmanship of this period is like high-performance machine tools in the 21st century. The problem is that high-performance machine tools can be mass-produced from the machine itself, but craftsmen cannot?’

Icheon was a bit confused by the explanation of the scent, but I still had a lot of worries.

“But isn’t the price too expensive? “When I hand it over to Daenae, there will be a lot of comments compared to the price.”

“The case is different from Daenae. In the case of the Daenae clan, we had to protect the interests of Joseon through the Daenae clan, so we sold it at a slightly higher price than the original price, but isn’t this Europe? And bargaining is the basis of business. If you buy a lot, shouldn’t you get a discount?”

It was Icheon where there was nothing more to say.