After the last joint battle with the Qi Army, Feng Shuo returned to Chuanshi Island.
As an officer, Feng Shuo's dormitory was for four people per room. Although it was still very crowded, it was much better than the ten-person room for ordinary sailors.
"Feng Da, let's gather and take a shower."
Roommate Sun Wang came out of the dormitory wearing a towel, and Feng Shuo soon heard the assembly call.
As a former miner, Feng Shuo was not used to the life in the military camp. He had to obey orders when he was in the mine. If there was no discipline in the mine, it would be fatal.
On the contrary, it took Sun Wang, who was born as a farmer, a long time to adapt to life in the military camp.
Feng Shuo is currently the company commander of the First Battalion of the New Navy Army. According to the New Army Officer Regulations just promulgated by Su Ze, the company commander is the same as the original general banner, commanding a hundred people.
Feng Shuo's subordinates are still his old subordinates.
The new navy force now has three battalions.
Feng Shuo's first battalion has five companies, all of which are gunners. They are also responsible for seaboard operations and landing operations.
The second battalion also has five companies, mainly sailors and naval commanders who operate sailing ships.
The third battalion has three companies, which is considered a comprehensive battalion, including an artillery company, a scout company and a logistics company.
Sun Wang is the company commander of the second battalion, and the officers of the new navy army all live together. In order to cultivate their tacit understanding of cooperation in combat, Su Ze deliberately arranged for the officers of the third battalion to live together.
"Wait for me, I'll get some soap." Feng Shuo immediately walked to the barracks.
"What kind of soap are you using? That's what mothers use. Just rinse it with water and it'll be fine."
Today, every officer and soldier on Kawaishi Island will receive a small piece of soap specifically for bathing and washing.
Sun Wang was very reluctant to use this thing. Feng Shuo smiled bitterly and said: "Don't you, the battalion commander, check it? Yesterday, the third company commander was severely criticized by the battalion commander for not using soap in the bath. Now he is still helping the soldiers of his company wash their clothes. Woolen cloth."
Sun Wang quickly said: "What? Why didn't I know!"
Feng Shuo said to this thick-lined roommate: "Didn't you read the recent housekeeping regulations? The one posted at the door of the bathhouse? From now on, you should take a bath every two days, and you must use soap every time you take a bath. You must also use soap on your underwear after training. Wash with horns and soap, and you will be punished if caught during internal inspection.”
Sun Wang rushed into the barracks and dug out the soap from his hair in the corner.
Sure enough, after bathing, Lin Liangjun, the commander of the second battalion, led the internal affairs staff to start the inspection. Those officers and soldiers who only rinsed with water but did not use soap were singled out and punished to other officers and soldiers. do the laundry.
Sun Wang said with lingering fear: "If you hadn't reminded me, Lao Feng, I would have been caught by the battalion commander. Lao Feng, I will remember this sentiment!"
Sun Wang added: "I really don't know why I use this useless soap."
Feng Shuo said: "You haven't taken the hygiene class yet? Didn't the commander say that an unhygienic environment will spread diseases, especially the soldiers on your ship, you must pay attention to personal hygiene."
Sun Wang touched his head and said, "Don't tell me, I feel much refreshed after taking a bath with this soap!"
Just as the two were returning to the barracks with toiletries, they suddenly heard an explosion.
Feng Shuo and Sun Wang were already used to it, but they still raised their heads and looked toward the southwest of the island that was designated as a restricted area.
Some time ago, the mountain leader Su Ze suddenly announced that he would stop teaching and handed over daily training to Lin Liangjun and Lin Anzai. After that, he has been messing around in the restricted area, often making terrifying explosions.
Su Ze promulgated confidentiality regulations, prohibiting the discussion of matters in the restricted area on Chuanshi Island, and strictly restricted the entry and exit of personnel. Those experimental assistants wearing white coats also lived and fed in the restricted area. Feng Shuo and Sun Wang did not know what was in the restricted area. What are you doing.
Eunuch Hu was wearing a white coat and looked at the smoke rising from the detonation site. The experimental assistant carefully detected the explosion range and then reported the results to Eunuch Hu.
Eunuch Hu frowned and said, "The explosion was not as powerful as the last time."
Su Ze looked at the power of the explosion and said with satisfaction: "Eunuch Hu, isn't this powerful enough?"
Eunuch Hu shook his head and said: "It's not a matter of power. The power of acid glycerin is huge, many times greater than that of gunpowder. It's just that the power of the explosion is too unstable."
Eunuch Hu said: "If we can't produce acid glycerin with stable power, we won't be able to use it in weapons."
Su Ze praised Eunuch Hu for his rigor.
Acid glycerin is the kind of explosive invented and improved by Nobel.
The preparation method is not complicated, just add acid solution to glycerin, so Eunuch Hu named it acid glycerin.
The power of acid glycerin is not small, but its stability is problematic.
Su Ze analyzed that there was no ammonia synthesis process, so Eunuch Hu could only use sulfuric acid to make nitric acid. Therefore, the acid solution prepared contained many impurities and the quality of the acid solution was unstable, so the acid glycerol prepared was unstable.
Eunuch Hu also agreed with Su Ze's idea, but to prepare a higher concentration and purer acid solution, a more stable process was needed.
In addition, glycerin is so explosive that Nobel almost blew himself up while preparing it.
After Eunuch Hu came to the island, several accidents occurred. The most serious one almost blew up the laboratory.
Now Su Ze didn't even dare to enter their laboratory. He only dared to watch the explosion experiments in the explosion site.
Eunuch Hu added: "I have never seen the diatomaceous earth that Xianggong Su mentioned in the mines in Fujian. The soils that have been substituted are not very effective and cannot achieve the passivation effect that Xianggong Su mentioned."
Su Ze was a little disappointed. This is the difficulty of developing technology in this era. Many things that future generations can buy online are completely unknown to anyone in this era.
However, Su Ze vaguely remembered that China is also the main producer of diatomite. Nobel's greatest contribution to acid glycerin was the invention of doping diatomite to increase stability, thus turning unstable acid glycerin into something that can be used industrially. Stable explosives.
However, diatomaceous earth should not be difficult to find. Diatomaceous earth is a siliceous rock. It is one of the earliest protists that appeared on the earth and lives in seawater or lakes. They are generally formed from the silicate remains of single-celled algae collectively known as diatoms after their death.
Su Ze was going to write to Li Shizhen and ask him if he had seen such material.
Eunuch Hu recorded the data of the explosion, and then asked the experimental assistants to carefully clean up the remaining acid glycerin in the explosion site.
"Eunuch Hu, how are things going at the mine?"
Eunuch Hu's job was as a mine supervisor and eunuch sent by the imperial court to the mines.
Speaking of his job, Eunuch Hu couldn't help but sigh:
"The Za family may be found guilty one day and sent to Fengyang to guard the ancestral mausoleum."
Su Ze couldn't help but be shocked. What would happen to his laboratory if Eunuch Hu was sent to Fengyang? He quickly asked:
"Is it because the money donated last year was not enough? If it is not enough, the New Navy Army can also sponsor some, and it will definitely be able to get the share required by the court."
Eunuch Hu shook his head and said: "It's not that the money from the superiors was not enough, but that the superiors were too generous last year, and the Za family was impeached by Yan Guan."
Su Ze asked doubtfully: "Since you have paid enough tribute, why are you being impeached by the official?"
Eunuch Hu also sighed and said: "Among the mine supervisors from all over the country last year, only our Fujian Mining Company paid enough silver as tribute. The other mining companies all reported losses."
"During the case of the Ministry of Household Affairs, several censors from the Metropolitan Procuratorate seized on the Miners' Incident in Fujian and said that the Zajia family was exploiting the miners, so they paid the full amount of tribute silver. They also attributed the Miners' Incident in Longyan to the Zajia family. superior."
"The silver mine under the jurisdiction of the Zajia family is more than a thousand miles away from Longyan. What a crime!"
Eunuch Hu sighed heavily. Su Ze did not expect that the political struggle in the Ming Dynasty would reach such an intensity. Even Eunuch Hu, a low-key and harmless guarding eunuch, would be impeached by civilian officials for no reason.
Su Ze asked again: "What did Eunuch Tao say?"
Eunuch Tao was the eunuch guarding the city's shipping department and a popular figure in the palace. Eunuch Hu and Eunuch Xiaoyou helped Eunuch Tao mint coins, and they had a close relationship.
Eunuch Hu sighed and said: "Eunuch Tao is now a clay Bodhisattva crossing the river, and he cannot save himself!"
"What happened to Eunuch Tao?"
"Many Qingliu ministers in the imperial court attacked the Fuzhou Shipping Department for using the Ryukyu tribute trade, but in fact they were trading with the Japanese country, which violated the national policy of banning seas. They also said that Eunuch Tao was collaborating with the Japanese."
Su Ze thought that someone in the imperial court would attack the Fuzhou Shipping Department, but he did not expect that it would come so quickly.
Su Ze asked keenly: "Is it because the rice was changed to mulberry?"
Eunuch Hu also had some eyes and ears in the palace. He nodded and said:
"It means changing rice into mulberry."
The ultimate goal of changing rice to mulberry was to increase the court's income. Just the silk weaved could not increase the income of the national treasury.
Changing rice to mulberry To turn silk into silver, Fuzhou Shipsi, a port for foreign trade, was needed.
Qingliu attacked Fuzhou Shipping Division not only because Fuzhou Shipping Division engaged in maritime trade, but also to attack Fuzhou Shipping Division's foreign trade so that the silk woven by Zhejiang in the coming year would not be turned into silver.
High!
Su Ze couldn't help but sigh, if he fought against the professional bureaucrats like Ming Dynasty, he really didn't know when he would be killed.
In the field they are best at, fighting against these old and oily officials, the best result is to be like Zhang Juzheng, with the people destroyed and the government gone, and the descendants will confiscate their homes.
Even Su Ze couldn't reach Zhang Juzheng's position, so he fell into infighting in the Ming Dynasty officialdom.
Therefore, Su Ze must overturn this chessboard in order to find a different path.
"What does the palace mean?"
Eunuch Hu said: "The palace still needs to protect Eunuch Tao, let alone converting rice into mulberry. Fuzhou Shipping Company is also a big source of wealth for the palace. Up and down in the palace, I don't know how many people are on Eunuch Tao's line." Up."
Eunuch Hu no longer regarded Su Ze as an outsider and revealed all the secrets in the palace.
Su Ze also understood that the corruption situation in the White House was worse than the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty.
Even Huang Jin, the chief eunuch with the best reputation, built a mansion in his hometown and funded the construction of several bridges.
Li Fang, Eunuch Tao's godfather, also has a big house in the capital.
Eunuch Chen Hong and Chen Eunuch, the admiral of Dongchang, have countless godsons and thousands of hectares of fertile land in their hometown.
Eunuch Hu said again:
"However, there are too many people who have petitioned to impeach Eunuch Tao this time. The public is already furious, and the cabinet really can't suppress it. I heard that they will send a censor to investigate the accounts of the Fuzhou Shipping Company."
Su Ze couldn't help but be surprised, knowing that Eunuch Tao was the largest angel investor in the Navy's new army.
Moreover, the Fuzhou Shipping Department is still the Ryukyu trading port controlled by Su Ze. If Eunuch Tao really resigns, it will be a huge loss to Su Ze.
"Eunuch Hu, do you know who the censor sent to inspect the City Shipping Department is?"
Eunuch Hu whispered: "I heard that Qingliu and Yandang fought for this position for a long time, and finally decided that Yan Maoqing, the censor of Zuodu, would come to inspect the Fuzhou Shipping Department."
Eunuch Hu added: "Our Fuzhou mine supervisor will also be inspected together. Eunuch Tao has a security guard behind him. I'm afraid I won't be a mine supervisor for long."
Is it Yan Maoqing again?
Yan Maoqing is the core figure of the Yan Party and one of Yan Shifan's think tanks.
In the historical timeline before Su Ze traveled through time, Yan Maoqing was appointed by the imperial court as the censor of salt inspection in the thirty-seventh year of Jiajing to inspect the salt affairs in southern Zhili.
In this position, Yan Maoqing made a lot of money, and because he was in charge of this lucrative position, Yan Maoqing bribed Yan Shifan wantonly, and was eventually promoted to the Minister of Justice.
However, in this world, the timeline of history was changed by Su Ze. It was Su Ze’s father-in-law Fang Wanghai who finally rectified the salt administration of the Huaihe River. Yan Maoqing did not get the lucrative job of the Southern Zhili Salt Administration and is still the left capital of the Metropolitan Procuratorate. Censor.
However, misfortunes are intertwined, because in this historical line, Yan Maoqing did not manage the salt administration of South Zhili, so he was not attacked by the censor. Although he is a strict party now, most officials in the court still have a good impression of him and think that he He is a capable minister.
In the competition for the key position of inspecting the Fuzhou Shipping Department, Yan Dang finally won, and Yan Shifan's right-hand man, Yan Maoqing, won this position.
However, Su Ze didn't think that everything would be fine if people from the Yan Party came to inspect the Fuzhou Shipping Department.
Although the strict party wanted to protect the Fuzhou Shipping Department and ensure this window for tribute trade with "Ryukyu", it did not mean that Yan Maoqing would not blackmail Eunuch Tao.
Eunuch Tao is the godson of the great eunuch Li Fang. The inner court is its own faction and does not participate in the struggle between the Yan Party and Qingliu. However, there is also a competitive relationship between the inner court and the Yan Party in making money.
The shipping company in Fuzhou City is a wealthy business, with profits of hundreds of thousands of taels of silver a year, and the Yan Party has also been coveting it for a long time.
Su Ze looked at Eunuch Hu and said, "Eunuch Hu, have you ever thought about retirement?"
Eunuch Hu sighed and said: "The old eunuchs in the palace can only go to the ancestral mausoleum to take care of themselves in the end. Only a few can return home with grace every year."
Fengyang Imperial City, the Hongwu Ancestral Tomb in Nanjing, and the imperial mausoleum near the capital were the three major destinations for Ming eunuchs.
Because eunuchs live in the palace, they often know many secrets of the royal family. Therefore, in addition to receiving special favors from the emperor, eunuchs can only go to these few places after retirement.
Su Ze looked at Eunuch Hu and said, "Eunuch, if you believe in me, how about retiring in Fujian?"
Eunuch Hu looked at Su Ze and hesitated for a moment. Thinking of the time in the mine supervisor's laboratory, he said firmly to Su Ze in an instant: "Please help me, Mr. Su!"
You can't mention the preparation method and the term too much, otherwise you will be banned. Everyone probably knows what it is.
(End of chapter)
