Shortly after Marin returned, he sent two armed merchant ships to Hamburg to demonstrate the artillery battle with Lubeck. However, before sending the warship, Marin was not very happy to let Lubeck and Hamburg know that he had equipped iron cannons on a large scale. So, the wretched Marin asked the craftsmen to paint a layer of copper paint outside the cannons on the ship.
In this way, even if Lubeck and Hamburg saw the cannons on Marin's ship, they had to hesitate whether to learn Marin's approach. Because - the cost of such artillery is too high...
The price of copper is so expensive. If you have so many copper heavy artillery equipment, is there no money to spend? Even the rich Lubeck and hamburger have to hesitate. Even if they want to equip heavy artillery, they have to consider the terrible cost. Even if they have equipment, they can only have a small amount...
The artillery on these two 250-class armed merchant ships are no longer the original 12-pound cannons. Since the steel plant was established, the casting gun factory has a supply of molten steel, so it can naturally improve the artillery. Although the carbon content has not been controlled accurately due to the craftsman level. For example, Marin's craftsmen may make medium-carbon steel. If they want to make medium-carbon steel, they make low-carbon steel... Of course, high-carbon steel will not make wrong, because smelting high-carbon steel requires a furnace wall with a graphite substrate, and the environment is different.
However, even so, both medium-carbon steel and low-carbon steel are suitable for casting guns, which are much stronger than cooked iron. Therefore, the casting gun factory quickly improved the 12-pound gun to 18 pounds without changing its size. Moreover, the total weight dropped from 2 tons to 1.8 tons.
Even so, if calculated based on the copper price, such a "copper cannon" would be worth as much as 2,800 gold coins. Marin equipped 20 heavy "copper cannons" on an armed merchant ship. Wouldn't the cost of the cannon alone cost 56,000 gold coins?
When I saw 40 heavy "copper guns" on the two ships, the two rich Hanseatic cities of Lubeck and Hamburg were also shocked by the work of Marin's rich man...
This is not a war? It is just a competition with gold bricks...
However, Captain Kidd, who led the team, explained that these coppers were all cheap copper bought by Columbus from India. In fact, it was worth only one-tenth of the European price...
In this way, the two Hanseatic tyrant cities barely accepted...
Indeed, the artillery on a ship is worth 5,600 gold coins. Although it is also a rich man, it is much easier to accept than 56,000 gold coins. The Hanseatic League knows the opening of India's route. However, it has been arguing between Columbus and Da Gama who discovered India first.
The Hanseatic League was also very jealous of the huge profits in India's spice trade. However, they had no information on ocean sailing and had no plans. Because even if they were traveling along the routes of Spain and Portugal, they were unwilling to bear the common anger of Spain and Portugal.
After all, the Hanseatic League cannot even handle Denmark. If you go to provoke Portugal, you will be seeking death...
The prices in the East are cheap, and the Hanseatic League have also heard of them. They have no doubt that Marin can get ten times cheaper copper. They even understand why Marin only has 23 warships. A warship requires so many copper cannons, and want more warships? There are not so many cheap copper...
After sighing, the two warships began a demonstration of naval battle under the gaze of Lubeck and Hamburg representatives...
This time, the two warships were sent, 2505 and 2506. The sailors and gunners on the ship were both very experienced veterans. In fact, Marin deliberately selected a group of the best sailors and gunners to show off. Therefore, when controlling the sailboat and firing the gun, they were moving like flowing water without any drag.
An old 200-ton merchant ship of the Hanseatic League used as a target ship was watched by representatives of the two cities, and after several rounds of volleys of two 250 warships at a distance of 100 meters, they were smashed to the side, and sank into the sea after entering the water...
"It's indeed amazing, extraordinary power!" said Representative Lubeck.
"It's just that the cost is too expensive..." The Hanseatic representative shook his head with a wry smile.
Neither representative knew that the cannons on Marin's ship were of medium and low carbon steel, and the cost was much lower than copper. However, Marin, a wretched guy, painted copper paint outside the cannon, deliberately misunderstood by Lubeck and the representatives of Hamburg...
In fact, the city representatives sent by Lubeck and Hamburg today are their respective naval officers. They came here today not only to test the authenticity of Marin's statement, but also to spy on Marin's new naval tactics. To put it bluntly, they just want to steal the sect...
However, now the two of them have been stealing their skills. But there is no way to learn it. Even the wealthy Lubeck and Hamburg may not be willing to do so many copper cannons.
Of course, it’s not that the two cities cannot afford it. Instead, the parliament will definitely not approve it...
Both Hanseatic cities are both parliamentary. As for the parliament, the interests of multiple parties must be considered and involve a wide range of connections. The members of the two cities are both large Hanseatic merchants. What are the characteristics of merchants? Just be petty...
You asked Hanseatic merchants and congressmen in two cities to spend 56,000 gold coins to equip a cannon on a ship? Are you kidding? You definitely rejected it...
You should know that for a cost of 56,000 gold coins, you can buy thirty merchant ships of 200 tons or above. For these Hanseatic merchants, merchant ships can make more money. Can artillery be used?
However, the scene of heavy artillery volleys was so shocking. After the two representatives returned, they tried their best to persuade the parliament to buy a few heavy artillery and study new naval combat methods...
In the end, the parliament of the two cities agreed to the representative's suggestion. So, the two Hanseatic cities, Lubeck and Hamburg, not only recognized the combat effectiveness of the Marin Navy, but also issued an order for heavy "copper guns". Among them, Lubeck ordered 10 heavy guns, and Hamburg ordered 8.
This heavy artillery is actually used by two cities to test. The key is that it needs to show its power to the parliament. Only when the parliament recognizes it will agree to allocate funds to purchase more heavy artillery...
After receiving the order, Marin immediately invited top cannon casting craftsmen such as John, who first used cast iron to create an iron mold for casting 18-pound bronze cannons.
Before, because of my rich experience in using iron molds and the 18-pound cannon casting, several masters were also experienced, so it was not too difficult.
Moreover, casting bronze cannons is much simpler than cast iron cannons. Because bronze liquid is much more stable than molten iron, it is not easy to make mistakes. Unlike molten iron, if you use iron molds, because the cooling speed is too fast, it is easy to cause the gun body to become tin, which will become brittle and affect the strength of the gun body. However, when using bronze liquid, there is no such concern at all...
Just so happened that the hundreds of tons of copper brought back from India were stored in large quantities. So, Marin used a friendly price of 350 gold coins per gun to provide two cities with successfully cast bronze 18-pound guns. At the same time, Marin also provided the loading standards for shells and gunpowder to prevent the other party from loading drugs and blowing up the barrels without qualified gunners. Of course, this standard was formulated according to the powder gunpowder standard. After all, Marin's family in Europe now uses granulated gunpowder.
Chapter completed!