After a round of beatings, Zhu Biao asked the Ministry of War to cooperate with Dali Temple to report to Zhongshu Province. The matter had been decided. There was no reason for anyone to stop the royal family from giving a large reward to the three armies. It was just a process.
Leaving a few people behind to discuss the trivial matters, Zhu Biao left the Ministry of War yamen, turned around and went into the Ministry of Works next door, and looked through the accounts of the local coal plant. These things may be stolen if you are not careful. A deadly bite.
The craftsmen who make coal from the Ministry of Industry have already gone to various mining areas. Now a large number of them have been shipped to the northern frontier army, which is probably enough to last until February. What is being produced now is for sale to the people.
If you don't seek to amass wealth, you are even losing money and making money. Even though the coal raw materials and manufacturing costs are low for the common people, the cost of transporting it to the northern states will be great, but there is nothing you can do. After all, the court is different from the merchants, and it is impossible to only care about profits and the overall situation. Stability is the most important thing.
This time the Little Ice Age has not yet reached its most serious stage, but the signs have been revealed since the end of the Yuan Dynasty. In recent years, the weather has been quite contrasting, that is, extreme weather has occurred more frequently, either droughts or floods. This time The sudden cold in the north and the sudden attack of grassland white disaster are clear evidence of this.
The more times like these, the more important it is to stabilize the people at the bottom, maintain order as much as possible, and provide food and fuel to the people. Droughts and floods are something that God's power cannot prevent and cannot stop, and can only be rescued afterwards, but cold can be prevented in advance.
Zhu Biao read through it carefully and said: "Very good, continue to maintain production, leave the transportation to Ping Xihou, and no other people will have contact with it. No taxes will be collected when passing through the post road checkpoints in various states during transportation. Violators will be punished immediately!"
The Minister of Industry agreed and waited until Zhu Biao put down the account book before touching a long column-shaped object with exquisite patterns on it like a treasure: "His Royal Highness once ordered clear and white colored glass to be polished to make a telescope. Fortunately, I have lived up to my command."
This thing has actually been ready for more than a month, but at that time the prince had just ordered the Ministry of Industry to go all out to make coal, and even the construction of the palace had stopped. Naturally, he did not dare to get into trouble. He wanted to wait for a good opportunity. Unexpectedly, it took more than a month.
When Zhu Biao heard this, he smiled and took it, glanced at it, then strode out of the house, stood outside the threshold and aimed his head at the pavilion dozens of meters away.
Not to mention that it is clearly visible, but it does have the effect of magnifying the distance. At least the principle is correct. It's just that the material or polishing of the lens is not up to standard. We will just let the craftsmen think of a solution in the future.
Zhu Biao put down the crude telescope in his hand and turned around to praise the minister of the Ministry of Industry a few words and told him to reward the craftsmen. However, he was not too excited. This thing was not difficult in the first place. Although optical glass cannot be made, the glazed technology is still quite mature. of.
As early as the Yuan Dynasty, the production of colored glaze had reached a certain scale, with beads and hairpins as the main products, as well as hairpins, buttons, etc. The color of hairpins is mainly blue, and there are other colors such as green, black, white and citrine.
It's just that the development of colored glaze has always been in the direction of radiant colors and magnificent colors, but it does not pursue cleanness and clarity. Only after Zhu Biao specifically requested it did the craftsmen work hard in this direction.
But it is useful after all. It is very meaningful whether it is in the military, navigation or astronomy. And a telescope is as good as a microscope. The principles of the two are the same. The only problem at present is that the lens is not up to standard.
"The lenses are still a bit poor, it's better to be more precise."
"Wei Chen understands and will give instructions later."
Zhu Biao handed the telescope in Liu Jin's hand and smiled at the Minister of Industry: "Ai Qing has always been old and prudent. I'm afraid you won't just prepare such a small surprise for me, right?"
The Minister of the Ministry of Industry pointed to the backyard and said: "His Royal Highness is Rui Min. There is indeed something else that I want to show to Your Highness."
Zhu Biao was naturally in a good mood after hearing this, and strode towards the backyard of the Ministry of Industry. However, the smile on the face of the minister of the Ministry of Industry who was lagging behind suddenly disappeared, and his brows wrinkled.
"Old man, be careful." What he said means something. Obviously, other words can be used, but His Highness chose to use "Lao". You must know that his age is considered to be the youngest among the six ministers, and he is far from the old one. Could it be that His Highness Do you want me to step down and make way for someone more talented?
But it was too late to think about it at this time. The sorrow on the face of the Minister of Industry was wiped away. A humble and steady smile appeared on Lian Shang again, and he hurriedly kept up with Zhu Biao's pace.
When I arrived at the backyard, I saw a simple hot air balloon without any introduction. There were two dogs tied with ropes inside. The craftsmen were doing the final inspection. It probably started when Zhu Biao was looking through the accounts. get ready.
After a lot of work, the hot air balloon successfully ascended to the sky, and anxious and frightening barking sounds continued to be heard in the sky. Liu Jin and others carefully guarded Zhu Biao, ready for the thing to suddenly crash down at any time.
After a while, the dogs got tired of barking, and the hot air balloon was pulled down. It seemed that there was no problem standing alone, but the weather conditions were too demanding, and it was not easy to control at the moment.
Zhu Biao withdrew his gaze and looked at the minister of the Ministry of Industry on the side. The joy on his face was not great. These two things are not difficult. It can even be said that the principles are very simple. It is really disappointing that the Ministry of Industry delayed giving the answer for so long.
Even if the delay is due to civilian coal, it is true that the officials under the Ministry of Industry are inefficient. If the next thing is still the same, then there is no need to wait until Song Lian comes back next year, and there will be a new Minister of the Ministry of Industry tomorrow.
The Minister of the Ministry of Industry was already in a sensitive state, and immediately sensed the indifference under the prince's gentle face, and hurriedly said: "Both of these have been developed for a long time, but due to the busy schedule of His Highness's official duties and the crudeness of the first product, we delayed it. , the next item will definitely satisfy His Highness."
Zhu Biao smiled and said: "Then I will wait and see."
The Minister of Industry led the way to a rather remote courtyard, but did not dare to lead Zhu Biao in. After giving instructions at the door, someone came forward with a tray.
It was full of black granular substances, like fine pebbles, but Zhu Biao's eyes lit up. He stepped forward and looked carefully for a while and said, "Has it been tested?"
The Minister of the Ministry of Industry breathed a sigh of relief and smiled: "After testing, it is more powerful and easier to install. Moreover, this kind of gunpowder is also much easier to prevent moisture."
Zhu Biao then showed a heartfelt smile. The gunpowder used since the Yuan Dynasty has been in powder form. It is not very powerful and difficult to fill. It is inconvenient to transport, has uneven burning speed, is extremely susceptible to moisture, and many other problems, which make the firearms unable to function. Its proper function basically depends on God’s will.
When fighting is windy, rainy and cloudy, it is extremely difficult to keep gunpowder away from moisture. Once it gets wet, it won't burn at all. After that, all firearms become scrap metal. You have to wait until they are exposed to the scorching sun to use them again. How can you wait at the critical moment of a battle? weather.
In addition, the transportation of powdered gunpowder is also inconvenient, because the sulfur powder, charcoal powder and saltpeter powder will be separated from each other due to their different weights during the bumpy transportation of the powdered gunpowder. The densest saltpeter powder will be located in the powder barrel. At the bottom, the lightest charcoal powder will be on the surface of the gunpowder barrel, which will inevitably reduce the power of the gunpowder, or even make it impossible to ignite at all.
Before use, you have to pour out all the gunpowder and mix it again. However, there is still time to operate when the war is not urgent. Once an emergency war occurs, it cannot be obtained quickly.
Because of the risk of exploding the barrel, Zhu Biao himself has never used today's firearms, but after all, he has led the army and communicated with firearms soldiers, so he still has some understanding of firearms. Nowadays, the powdery black powder is stressed in the barrel. It is easy to squeeze together when ignited, so that when ignited, it will not be completely burned due to lack of oxygen, which reduces the power of the gunpowder.
In order to solve this problem, soldiers of the Ming Dynasty would avoid filling the gunpowder too tightly, but it would not work too loosely, because this would also reduce the power of the gunpowder.
The best operation is to deliberately not fill the gun chamber too full or too tightly when loading gunpowder. However, although this can bring out the power of gunpowder, it requires a high level of experience and skill on the part of the gunman. It is difficult for ordinary people without long-term training to do so. Learn to use firearms.
This is why the crossbow still occupies the position of the main long-range combat weapon of the Ming army. Firearms currently have too many problems, and Zhu Biao is very satisfied that the problem of granular gunpowder cannot be solved first.
The advancement of gunpowder will definitely promote the popularity and development of firearms. There is no doubt about this.
Zhu Biao put down the black particles in his hand, shook his hands and said, "Who developed it? I want to reward you heavily."
Zhu's mark was not clear, but he roughly remembered that the emergence of gunpowder granulation was either during the Jiaqing period or the Wanli period. It would be a great improvement if it could come out a hundred or two hundred years earlier.
The Minister of Works first replied: "Thanks to His Highness, His Highness gave the craftsmen of the Ministry of Industry constant food and wine. Wang Er, the craftsman of the Ministry of Works, accidentally discovered that granulated gunpowder can be obtained by adding spirits, plant ash and other substances to gunpowder and drying it."
Zhu Biao was naturally happy when he heard this. It stands to reason that in today's current situation, wine is a rare thing. Zhu Yuanzhang also strictly prohibited private brewing of wine. After all, too much food would be consumed.
The wine brewed by the government is not something that ordinary people can drink, let alone the poor craftsmen of the Ministry of Works. However, when I came to the Ministry of Works to inspect and ask what the craftsmen of the Ministry of Works wanted, one of the craftsmen asked if the prince could reward them. Some drinks.
After thinking about it, Zhu Biao agreed. After all, drinking caused many problems, and many people had flashes of inspiration after drinking. Moreover, the supply was not unlimited, and it was quite refreshing. Unexpectedly, there were unexpected gains.
Zhu Biao smiled and waved his hand: "How can I seize the credit of the craftsmen? Aiqing is also a good leader."
The minister of the Ministry of Industry said a few humble words and waved in the distance, and a middle craftsman ran over and passed Zhu Biao ten steps away. He kowtowed several times.
"Young people see you, the Crown Prince! The Crown Prince is a thousand years old!"
Zhu Biao saw that he had a strong figure and a loud voice. He did not look like a craftsman, but like a soldier who had been in the army: "Forgive me, you have done a good job. I will not only commend you myself, but also commend you to the emperor." , is there anything you want?"
………………
