184 Begining of the chaotic period (1/2)
20th June 1574
Compared to the first blast furnaces, the process of pouring down molten steel from the Bessemer one was way more rapid. Rather than waiting for the metal to flow out from the furnace chamber by itself, workers would observe the colour of the flame above the single opening of the burning chamber.
As soon as the right moment came, one of the workers pushed the rod, connecting the already operating steam engine to the set of pulleys and gears, slowly angling the massive furnace on its axis towards the ground.
The moment the liquid metal stored inside the chamber reached the opening of the barrel, it started flowing through a particular set of cast iron half-pipes, slowly filling out the forms prepared in advance.
One by one, the limestone packages were starting to steam the remaining water off from their structure, indicating that the process of settling already begun.
But rather than enjoying the fact that the first elements of the modern firearms were produced, I couldn't help but look to the west with worry.
According to my knowledge, unless actions did change the details of the historical events, our great king Henry…
Was already past Polish borders!
Since my memories about the precise timings of the facts surrounding this blasphemy were quite fuzzy, I could only wonder whether the local noble that used to be one of the king's advisors already caught up to him or if he was still chasing after his damned liege.
”Sir, the bores are finished. The blacksmith asked us to pass the news that at least three of them are good enough to be used!”
Just this piece of information was alone to improve my mood in any other situation. Yet, with how my time to peacefully prepare for the chaos to come was over, I couldn't find even a single shred of happiness in me.
The soon-to-be interregnum period would leave Commonwealth in a reasonably organised state when compared to the kingless times in any other country.
Regretfully, starting with the debate whether to wait for Henry to return, through blaming the Senate for not pressing him to follow with his promise of reforming the law in the country to the fully-fledged, factional civil war that erupted when two different candidates were chosen for the royal seat, the events that would soon occur would still lead to quite a lot of chaos!
”Good. As soon as the barrels are cold enough, go and make them as sharp as possible, before tempering them a bit. Speaking of the bores, how are the pipes?”
Since what was formerly used as the barrel of the gun was just a simple pipe, with the moment that I decided to start using rifled ones, the word pipe was instantly set for its purely industrial use. While it wasn't anything all that important now, I knew what kind of mess could it cause if such details were ignored for later.
Well, it wasn't a surprise. For most of the people in this era, while steel wasn't all that uncommon, it was still a priced commodity used mostly in top tier armours and weapons around the world.
”Okay, then. Are boring machines prepared?”