CHAPTER 470: CHAPTER 302: RESEARCH INSTITUTE_1

Lance’s decision to select those with families to settle wasn’t without reason. Having family roots here meant they would work hard for their loved ones. At least for now, there were no signs of any lazy folks.

Of course, if there truly were any, the whips at the labor farm would teach them to appreciate their current blessings by remembering past hardships.

Now, most of the refugees were fed, clothed, allotted homes, and had hope in their lives. Though they hadn’t officially become residents of Hamlet, their current lives satisfied them far more than when they had worked for the farm owners.

It was safe to say they had already integrated into the large family of Hamlet.

If they performed well and passed the assessment, they would truly soar as part of Hamlet!

They were pleased, and so was Lance. Although Hamlet still needed to provide them with food for the time being, Lance believed that before long, these farms would supply Hamlet with a continuous stream of resources and population.

"These are the reports from the Research Academy."

Tiffany handed over the documents, and although it wasn’t within her purview, she couldn’t help but complain, "The Research Academy’s monthly consumption is equivalent to that of three farms."

Lance heard this and smiled without commenting. He had approved everything the Research Academy needed, so how could he not know how large its consumption was?

But some expenses were necessary. How could investing money to improve combat capabilities be considered wasteful?

Especially when Lance saw the several tests that had passed in the reports, he immediately broke into a smile.

"Excellent, excellent, excellent!"

Putting aside all other matters, he left Tiffany behind and hurried toward the Research Academy.

He had specifically allocated a quiet area in town to establish the Research Academy, providing them with whatever they needed and fully supporting their endeavors.

By the riverbank, one could see many water-powered trip hammers in operation.

Similar to windmills that operated with wind power, this technology wasn’t particularly advanced. In fact, it had been designed long ago in this world.

Upon stepping inside, he immediately noticed the molds on display. The production cycle for cannons was lengthy, generally spanning several months, with most of that time spent on mold fabrication and drying.

Truthfully, for various reasons, Lance wasn’t very familiar with the development of firearms, but he was well-aware that Totnes’s approach of mindlessly piling on materials wasn’t practical.

The reforms he implemented involved: first, standardization; second, materials; third, design and structure; and fourth, gunpowder improvement.

Considering Hamlet’s capabilities, he opted against large-caliber artillery, deciding instead to produce only six-pounder cannons. All cannon data had to be standardized to avoid issues with incompatible shell sizes and powder charges.

Experiments by Totnes had shown that Copper, a malleable metal with a relatively lower melting point and easier workability, was an optimal material for cannon-making, and alloys with other elements yielded even better results.

Unfortunately, Copper was expensive, its price linked to the value of Coins, making it unfeasible for mass deployment. Even the wealthy Totnes had resorted to using slightly inferior cast iron instead.

However, the brittleness of cast iron was a problem that needed a solution. They had simply resorted to piling on more material, but Lance, standing on the shoulders of his predecessors, could see further.

Resolving the issue was straightforward—annealing.

Annealing was a metal heat treatment process that involved slowly heating the metal to a certain temperature, maintaining it for an adequate time, and then cooling it at an appropriate rate.

It could reduce metal hardness and increase ductility. Furthermore, it eliminated internal stress, thereby reducing deformation and the tendency for cracking, and diminished the likelihood of cannon bursts—all without changing the dimensions of the workpiece.

His past life’s fascination with forging competitions, though only faintly remembered, had taught him a thing or two.

The challenge with annealing lay in controlling the temperature and duration. While some experimentation was necessary, it was much simpler than other methods and offered clear benefits.

When it came to gunpowder improvement, he could only recall a simple mnemonic: "one part saltpeter, two parts sulfur, three parts charcoal." Beyond that, his knowledge was limited.

Hoping for a significant breakthrough in formulation in a short time seemed unrealistic. Not even Totnes, despite its heavy investments, had achieved major reforms, and Lance himself lacked the relevant knowledge.

This world wasn’t much better off. Due to the existence of Supernatural Power, feudalistic thinking was exceptionally entrenched, suppressing many scientific ideas.

Just as the artillery corps and the Wolf Faction had been helpless against heavily armored Knights, people preferred becoming Knights to researching muskets.

Not to mention, for a long time, muskets were considered the creations of evil Wizards, so few people ventured to research or improve them.

Thus, when Lance arrived, gunpowder—despite thousands of years of development—remained in its powder form, with little variation in its formula.

This presented him with an opportunity for a shortcut: gunpowder granulation.

He had learned of this from historical novels. The simplest method involved mixing it with urine—adding a bit of wax if conditions allowed for better results—then sun-drying and breaking it into rice-grain-sized particles.

Gunpowder made this way was less susceptible to moisture, wouldn’t separate into layers during transport, and burned more effectively than its powdered counterpart.

Basins of this black substance could be seen laid out to dry on the grounds, destined to be broken into granules later.

Delving deeper, the constant sound of hammering could be heard. Cannons were cast, but muskets were not.

The core component, the gun barrel, required wrought iron forging, as did many other parts. These craftsmen weren’t idle while the molds dried; on the contrary, their schedules were completely full.