"study!"
Level 1 exploration skills only have simple knowledge of identifying ores, but these are enough.
Su Ze took the Caojie lead ore handed over by Eunuch Hu, and saw only metallic luster crystals on the stone. It turned out to be galena.
Galena is a common lead ore, and metals such as silver and lead are often associated with it. Silver can also be extracted from some galena.
Although there is not much silver in this silver mine, lead can be smelted from this galena!
Su Ze immediately asked: "Eunuch Hu, how to deal with the lead extracted from this ore?"
"Lead? The Zajia mine only needs to supply silver, and the smelted lead can be disposed of by itself. However, Fujian does not use much lead, and the smelted lead is piled in the warehouse."
Su Ze's eyes lit up. After two battles, Chang Ning Wei's lead bullets were running out, and the reserve of lead pellets was running low. Eunuch Hu gave him a pillow when he was really dozing off.
Su Ze took out a lead shot from his ammunition bag, handed it to Eunuch Hu and asked:
"Eunuch Hu, can you make such lead shot?"
"Is this the lead shot of a gun?"
Su Ze was even more surprised. This Eunuch Hu actually knew Bird Gun.
Eunuch Hu said: "I have seen this bird gun in the palace before, and His Majesty also ordered the Ministry of War to imitate the bird gun."
Eunuch Hu looked at the lead pills and said, "It's easy to make lead pills. The lead is soft and dense. It can melt with a little heating. Then use a round iron clamp to pinch out the lead water. When the lead liquid fades red, lead pills can be made." ”
Su Ze understood immediately. No wonder he couldn't produce lead shot with his "blacksmith" skills. It turned out that lead shot was cast, not forged.
Eunuch Hu continued: "But lead is poisonous, so those who do this job must be rotated frequently."
Su Ze was even more impressed. Eunuch Hu was not only an expert in exploration and smelting, but also a qualified technical manager!
Such talents were sent to mine silver mines. What a waste of talents!
In fact, the palace was very busy these days. The eunuchs in the weaving office were all weaving experts, the people in the construction office were all civil engineering project managers, and there were also specialized goldsmiths and porcelain workers. Many of the eunuchs were technical talents.
Not only do you need to test skills, but you also need to test knowledge. Eunuchs who don't study have no future. Eunuchs who are in charge of rituals and scholars have almost passed the imperial examination.
This Eunuch Hu came from such a holy land of King Juan. After he came to Nanping, he has been studying and improving mining and smelting methods, striving to reduce costs and increase efficiency, and turn over more silver to the palace.
It's just that this silver mine is too barren. No matter what Eunuch Hu does, he still loses money, and in the end he can only lie down.
Su Ze was even more determined to tie Eunuch Hu to the Changning Guard chariot.
Immediately afterwards, Su Ze visited his collection with Eunuch Hu.
The hematite mentioned before is hematite, which is iron oxide ore, also called ocher, but it seems that the abundance is not high, and it is really not cost-effective to use it to make iron.
But Eunuch Hu took out another porcelain vase and said:
"Although the ocher in this mountain cannot be used to make iron, it is excellent for making pigments."
After speaking, Eunuch Hu showed the paint he made from ground ocher to Su Ze, his new "confidant".
Su Ze looked at the bright ocher paint and asked in surprise:
"Eunuch Hu is still proficient in the art of painting?"
Ocher is an ancient pigment, and ancient Chinese painters began to use mineral pigments for painting very early.
The famous "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains" was drawn using azurite and lime green (also known as malachite) for the green color and ocher for the brown color of the mountain. It is now a collection of the royal family.
Eunuch Hu quickly shook his head and said: "How can a disabled person know such an elegant thing as painting? The Za family came from a dyeing and weaving house and are very interested in the art of printing and dyeing. They collected these pigments for printing and dyeing."
printing and dyeing!
Su Ze was even more excited now. Printing and dyeing technology was also an industry he planned for Changning Wei. Meeting Eunuch Hu this time was a real treasure!
Su Ze then remembered that before the emergence of chemical synthetic dyes, mineral dyes and plant dyes had always been the source of clothing color.
Eunuch Hu didn't understand why Su Ze, a scholar, was so interested in minerals and pigments.
However, he has always been discriminated against. Although others did not dare to offend him, a member of the palace, to his face, the way the Nanping scholars looked at him made Eunuch Hu, who was proficient in observing words and emotions, understand that the Nanping scholars looked down on him.
However, Su Ze had no intention of discriminating against him and truly appreciated his research, which moved Eunuch Hu very much.
"Xiangong Su likes the art of painting, so I will give you this bottle of ocher powder."
Su Ze quickly waved his hand and said: "Su is not good at painting either, but he is only interested in printing and dyeing."
Eunuch Hu said in surprise: "Xianggong Su also likes to study printing and dyeing techniques?"
This made Eunuch Hu feel that Su Ze was his close friend. If he hadn't been an eunuch, he would have dragged Su Ze into sworn friendship.
Su Ze suddenly thought of the blue paint he had prepared in the university printing club, and he said to Eunuch Hu:
"Eunuch Hu, I have a recipe, would you like to try it to extract the dye?"
Su Ze finished writing the preparation method on the paper and handed it to Eunuch Hu.
Eunuch Hu looked at the formula. Calcining cow blood and plant ash? Then mix it with green vitriol to get a sun-resistant and wash-resistant blue dye.
Eunuch Hu looked at Fang Zi with some fascination. He was a weaver and dyer in the palace and knew a lot about dyes.
Dyes appeared very early, and the weaving and dyeing studios in the palace could dye a variety of colors.
But the clothes of ordinary people are generally gray and white. The main reason is that dyes are easy to fade.
Whether vegetable dyes or mineral dyes, natural dyes are easy to fade under sunlight and daily washing.
The emperor's clothes were rarely washed because they would fade after a few washes.
Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty wore washed and faded clothes, and was said to be frugal by his ministers.
Hearing that it was a dye that resists sun and wash, Eunuch Hu immediately became interested, and he couldn't wait to start researching it right away.
Seeing that Eunuch Hu had taken the bait, Su Ze said again:
"Eunuch Hu, our Chang Ning Guard relies on firearms to defeat the enemy. Now the guard is unable to prepare lead shot. Can you ask Eunuch Hu to help?"
Eunuch Hu said without any hesitation: "Chang Ningwei saved the Za family's life. How difficult is it to make lead pills? I will open the furnace to refine lead pills tomorrow!"
Su Ze was overjoyed, and the two discussed prospecting and weaving and dyeing for a long time.
Su Ze added: "The common people's daily needs are Tao. Although Eunuch Hu is hiding in the mountains, mining and refining silver, he is doing it for Your Majesty and the Ming Dynasty. This method of refining silver sounds simple, and it also contains the great principles of heaven and earth. It can be studied thoroughly. The truth is, Eunuch Hu’s merits will last forever!”
Eunuch Hu has never been so praised by scholars. He originally improved the silver smelting method just for business, and studied printing and dyeing for fun.
But speaking of it, Su Ze compared him to Cai Lun of the Han Dynasty.
Eunuch Hu also studied in the Li Supervisor, and he felt even more comfortable when being praised like this by Su Ze.
He said quickly:
"Xianggong Su's saying that common people use it every day is the way. It is truly the most holy saying!"
"Only today did the Zajia know that these small things done by the Zajia are also beneficial to the court and the people."
Su Ze flattered him again, and Eunuch Hu even stated that if he could produce the dye that Su Ze said would not fade, he must attach Su Ze's name and donate the dye that would not fade to the emperor!
By the time Su Ze came out of Eunuch Hu's collection room, it was already dark. Lin Mojun looked at Su Ze in confusion. Why was this guy talking so happily to the eunuch? Is it possible that Su Ze has a special hobby?
But Eunuch Hu is so old!
Su Ze saw Lin Mojun and said happily: "Baihu, I didn't expect that eunuch Hu is also proficient in smelting. Our Chang Ning Wei's lead shot is here!"
So that was the case. Only then did Lin Mojun understand why Su Ze and Eunuch Hu had such a happy conversation.
After seeing the power of blunderbuss and Folan cannon, Lin Mojun paid more attention to the benefits of firearms.
On the way back, the two of them talked about artillery again, and Lin Mojun asked: "You said that the victory or defeat of the naval battle in Xiyi was determined by artillery?"
In today's maritime battles, the main ways to win are fire attacks, hand-to-hand combat by jumping off ships, and corner collisions.
The method of fire attack is to use small boats filled with flammable materials to ram other people's large ships. During the Battle of Tuen Mun, the Ming army used this method to defeat the Portuguese navy.
Jumping off the ship meant joining the ship in hand-to-hand combat. In the naval battle outline formulated by Qi Jiguang, hand-to-hand gains were still used as the main method of calculating military merit.
The final collision angle is to wrap the hard bow with metal, hit the center of the enemy's ship, and destroy the enemy's ship through physical impact.
But after hearing from Su Ze that the Xiyi naval battle had begun to rely on cannons, Lin Mojun still had a hard time imagining how to rely on cannons to fight at sea.
The Western naval war Su Ze mentioned is naturally not the Western naval war of this era.
In fact, in this era, Western ships were not much larger than those of the Ming Dynasty.
For example, the Spanish galleon currently used by the Spaniards has a draft of no more than 400 tons, which is about the same size as the Manila galleon.
At this time, some guard posts in the Guangzhou area of the Ming Dynasty also had 300-ton Guangzhou ships. Western ships did not have an advantage in terms of tonnage.
When the Spanish really dominated the sea, it was already in the seventeenth century. The Spanish galleons had reached 800 tons or even 1,000 tons.
Su Ze used the West to instill the concept of modern naval warfare into Lin Mojun. Su Ze said:
"If it is twice as big as the New World, and each side of the ship is equipped with a dozen cannons more powerful than the Fran cannon, what kind of power will these cannons have if they fire in unison?"
Lin Mojun was silent. Just imagining such power was earth-shattering, and Chang Ningwei's 200-material fortune ship could not resist it at all.
Su Ze said: "War at sea is different from fighting on the road. The competition is about whose ship is stronger and whose cannon is more powerful. What we compete for is the accumulation of maritime navigation technology and shipbuilding technology."
Lin Mojun said: "I heard my father say that when Changning Guard was first established, they could still build large ships with five hundred materials, but by my great-grandfather's generation, they were unable to maintain large ships, so they had to dismantle and rebuild small ships."
"When it comes to my father's generation, many coastal defense stations can only dismantle their ships and rebuild them into small boats. If the Western barbarians invade with powerful ships and artillery, what will I do in the Ming Dynasty?"
Su Ze thought about it, was silent for a moment and said, "Then we can only believe in the wisdom of future generations."
Lin Mojun looked at Su Ze and said, "Sir, it's better to take the imperial examination in peace."
"If sir can become a high official, he might be able to organize the coastal defense, and my Ming Dynasty can also build strong ships and powerful cannons!"
Su Ze was silent for a moment. He wanted to tell Lin Mojun that history could not be changed by learning skills from the foreigners to control them.
It is by no means a capable minister and brave general who can change the declining Ming Dynasty.
However, on this good day of victory, Su Ze still swallowed his words.
In Nanping County, officials from both prefectures and counties, and the Yanping Guard Commander's Office were all waiting for military information.
Magistrate Fang paced nervously back and forth in the hall, and Li Tongpan also rubbed his hands nervously.
At this moment, a Minzhuang from the government office rushed in.
"Master Magistrate! Changning Wei wins a great victory!"
Magistrate Fang immediately pulled Minzhuang and asked, "Really won?"
"Master! Big victory! Deng Dai, the leader of the mining bandits, is dead! The body has been delivered to the city gate! The Changning Guards also killed twelve Japanese pirates! One person was captured alive, and all the mining bandit leaders were escorted to the city gate!"
Magistrate Fang only felt that happiness came too suddenly. He quickly straightened his clothes and said: "Hurry and escort the mine thieves to the hall. I will personally interrogate and determine!"
Immediately afterwards, the prefect Fang said to Li Tongpan: "The Changning Guards have made great achievements in suppressing the bandits, and the government office must also show its performance."
Li Tongpan immediately said: "The government can issue a ban to commend Changning Guard."
Magistrate Fang shook his head and said, "It's not enough! Chang Ning Wei's contribution to suppressing the Japanese cannot be reported to the police."
Li Tongpan immediately understood that according to the rules of the Ministry of War over the years, those who killed more than ten Japanese people could be promoted from a hundred households to a thousand households.
But if this credit is reported to the Ministry of War, then the news that three hundred households in Yanpingwei were wiped out cannot be suppressed.
Therefore, from the government's point of view, the news about Zhenwa must be withheld, and the matter cannot be made into a big success.
This will cause injustice to Changning Wei.
Li Tongpan thought for a while and said:
"There are still three rooms in the mansion that have staff vacancies. Changning Guards can fill them."
But the prefect said: "It's not enough! Come up with a quota for classics and history!"
Classical historians are not like officials. Classical historians must be reported to the Ministry of Civil Affairs. As long as you become a classics historian, unless you really break the law, it is difficult to fire even an official.
After Fang Zhifu took office, he spent a lot of effort, promoted openly and covertly, and instigated internal fighting among officials, and finally drove out the senior officials of the three government offices.
Nowadays, the officials of the government office are eyeing these three vacant positions of classics and history, so the prefect is also using these three positions to lure the officials to work.
The prefect Fang suddenly gave Changning Wei a vacancy of a canon and three official positions. The Lin family of Changning Wei will become a new force within the government.
Magistrate Fang then said: "Fujian Taoist Geng Xuezheng is my senior in the examination room. Please inform Hai Rui and ask Su Ze to write a few eight-legged essays. I will personally send the enclosed letter to ask for Geng Xuezheng's advice!"
Li Tongpan also envied Su Ze. The provincial examination was presided over by the academic administration of the province. The magistrate Fang was equivalent to personally greeting the academic administration. The meaning was self-evident.
The Yanping Guards and the county government also received the news respectively. Baizhi County immediately called the ceremonial room official who recovered the Changning Wei Jingbiao last time, scolded him and removed him from his status as an official on the spot, and ordered the ceremonial room to resume work. Make a banner for the old man and send it back to Changning Guard immediately!
Commander Yu also called his son Yu Zongyuan and ordered him to immediately prepare the craftsmen and equipment of the Yaohuo Bureau and hand them over to Changning Guards at any time.
Commander Yu also praised his son fiercely, which made Yu Zongyuan feel proud in the Commander's Mansion.
Su Ze had no idea about the reward Chang Ning Wei was about to receive. At this time, he was busy with many affairs of Chang Ning Wei.
Only then did Su Ze sigh with emotion, how lucky the Emperor of the Han Dynasty was, this talent was so important!
(End of chapter)
