Sun Ran, his son and several apprentices, carefully grabbed the iron chain on the gallows and slowly lifted the mold core out. Throughout the whole process, Sun Ran calmed down and was cautious, and did not dare to come out.

This gallows are specially made by Du Zhongxiao to cooperate with the casting bell. They have anti-slip functions. They are oil hoists from later generations and small manual lifting machinery. The core of them is ratchets and iron chains to prevent backslip accidents.

Since the casting core mold is very heavy, once it falls off when the core is lifted, it will cause inevitable losses and may lead to casting failure. With this gallows, Sun Ran dared to bring such a few people to lift the core, otherwise he must be very careful and take other more complicated methods.

The mold core was raised, and Sun Ran jumped into the bell impatiently, watched carefully, knocked and heard the sound coming out. After a long time of tying, he rushed out of it and breathed a sigh of relief: "I see you, it's a pity, it's a success, it's a lucky chance."

Du Zhongxiao walked forward, looked at the big clock that was still wrapped in soil, and said, "It seems that it is not difficult to cast it like this. It is not as evil as you said before? What core mold needs to be prepared for several months, and how many pieces can be cast in that year?"

Sun Ran smiled bitterly: "As you told me, you will start casting without waiting for the core mold to dry out. This mold will be useless once. Look, the core mold that is raised will be cracked everywhere and will break if you accidentally touch it. Furthermore, if you cast it like this, the bell is uneven and it will take more time to polish it."

Du Zhongxiao said: "It only takes a bell from Ciyuan Temple. How many times do you need to use this core mold? It's more difficult to polish, just find more people."

Sun Ran shook his head: "Officials, the bronze bell is not as good as other bronze ware. It is required to be excellent outside. If the thickness is uneven and there are protrusions, the sound will not be crisp. How can the temple be collected? Now the thickness of the bell is roughly even, and there is no need to be overly modified, which is rare."

Du Zhongxiao also knew this truth, but he stayed in Xiangzhou until the end of the year at most, and he would definitely leave in the twelfth lunar month. How could Sun Ran have time to prepare slowly? After casting the bell, he still had to cast cannons, but there was not much time.

The most difficult thing to cast copper bells is to manufacture the core molds, mainly clay and wooden frames, and the ingredients are extremely complex. The process requirements are very high during manufacturing. The final product is extremely critical. After the core molding is completed, it should dry for a long time, usually for several months. Only such a carefully manufactured core mold can ensure the integrity of the finished product and can be used multiple times. The second is to mix the proportion of copper in casting. When smelting, carefully grasp the heat of the hand, and where to cast first and where to cast later. The structure does not allow it, and you have to cast it in sections, and it also requires long-term experience accumulation.

Du Zhongxiao couldn't wait that long, so he forced Sun Ran to dry the core mold with low heat. It took only more than ten days to cast the copper bell. Due to the short time, the core mold was scrapped after one use, and the inside of the copper bell was obviously uneven and the quality was very poor. Fortunately, the clock wall had no defects such as cracks, and it was carefully polished in the later stage to be able to report to Ciyuan Temple.

After a break, Sun Ran and his men took the people to peel off the soil around the bronze bell, and the bronze bell was exposed. Seeing that the inside and outside of the clock wall were uneven and there were many numb spots, Sun Ran could only sigh. The core mold was not dry thoroughly, not only was it used once, but it also caused the clock wall to be unsmooth.

Du Zhongxiao looked around the huge bronze bell and nodded, "No, although it is not very sophisticated, it can be roughly used."

Sun Ran said: "If an official casts it carefully according to the small one, he should produce a fine bronze ware."

Du Zhongxiao smiled and said, "As long as there are no cracks or uneven thickness, it is just polished slowly behind it. What's the point? In my opinion, you have cast this bronze bell very well, which is good. I have a bronze ware here, which is hundreds of kilograms, so I have to pay you again."

Sun Ran was stunned for a moment: "What kind of bronze ware should the official cast? Do you also need to cast a big bell?"

Du Zhongxiao said: "What do I do to cast bells? There are not so many people in my family, so I want to cast a bell and a tripod. What I want to cast is a large copper tube, and there is a name in the army called artillery. I have graphics and a small model carved from wood. You can cast it as you like."

Sun Ran bowed: "I will not hide it from the officials. The young man has only cast a bronze bell, but he has never cast a cannon."

Du Zhongxiao said: "It's okay. I've seen you cast a bell these days, and I have a good idea in my heart. Just follow my instructions."

After saying that, he asked Tao Shiqi to come over and show Sun Ran the wooden artillery model he had made a few days ago.

Sun Ran looked carefully and asked Du Zhongxiao: "How big is the official to do with such a cannon?"

Du Zhongxiao said: "Don't have to be too big, just magnify ten times."

Sun Ran said, "Import ten times, official, this is bigger than a bronze bell."

"Of course it's bigger than a copper bell. However, the walls of the cannon's tube are much thinner than those of a copper bell, so it should not be difficult to cast."

Sun Ran thought for a while before saying, "You can try it if you are young, but I dare not say that you will succeed."

Du Zhongxiao said: "It's okay, you can try it a few more times. If you can cast a copper bell, you must also cast it into a cannon. It's just that you cast it a waste, it's just that you can recast the waste cannon and use some labor."

Sun Ran looked back at the bronze bell on the side, and his face looked unhappy: "Official, the young man still has to take someone to polish this bell--"

Du Zhongxiao said, "Don't worry, cast the copper cannon first! If the monks in the temple are urging me tightly, I can send some soldiers to help you polish it. This kind of rough work is not as fine as the casting bell. As long as it is polished smoothly, anyone can do it."

Sun Ran said nothing for a moment, and saw Du Zhongxiao's expression of irresistible, so he could only nod.

The bell is not an ordinary bronze ware. Although the big bell in the temple is not a musical instrument, it does not care about the sound, but also needs to be crisp and the echo is long. It can be clearly heard when knocked on all parts of the temple. If it is not polished well and the sound is dull, the monks will not want it. Now it has been cast. If it is not done well in the end and becomes a waste, Sun Ran will not even cry.

Du Zhongxiao didn't care about this. The copper was already here and was convinced that Sun Ran could cast it. Even if it was destroyed, it was nothing more than smashing and recasting. The most important thing now is to cast the copper cannon and conduct a test fire before he returned to the capital. If he missed this opportunity, it might take several years before he could do this again. Time was delayed in vain.

Du Zhongxiao ordered Tao Shiqi to draw more than a dozen soldiers from his control, help the Sun Ran family polish the bronze bells and prepare to make artillery.

What Tao Shiqi is doing here is an officer who casts guns and cannons. He has more than fifty wings and more than two hundred craftsmen. Drawing this amount of manpower is nothing. Moreover, Tao Shiqi heard that Du Zhongxiao was going to cast bronze cannons, and was also curious and eager to try.

Before this, Du Zhongxiao had prepared 500 kilograms of copper. If it was not enough, it could be urgently allocated from the Xiangzhou military deposit. This time, Du Zhongxiao's identity was different from before. As long as it was not too much, Yang Zi would be happy to obey his orders. Although the two had similar official positions, Du Zhongxiao was still young and had an unlimited future, Yang Zi also left a way out for himself.

Du Zhongxiao and Sun Ran were busy making bronze cannons. When the core was molded, it was already late November, and it was almost the winter solstice.
Chapter completed!