Zhao Hailou flexed his muscles, "These disobedient brats, if you don't find a woman to look after you, they won't be able to save any wages for ten years, and you might as well run out and give them to some widow someday."
Let's all jump into the river and take a bath. Wear armor and helmets and be more energetic. Don't lose the face of the Jurong Guard sergeants.
Gu Zhengchen brought the women and children into the camp, where more than 600 bachelor sergeants were already lined up.
Looking at a group of sergeants, Gu Zhengchen climbed up to the high platform and said seriously: "These women and children have suffered and lost their loved ones. Now I, the governor, have made the decision to find a home for them and a place to entrust them. Listen, as long as they are willing, you can We can form a family, and if we are men, we should take good care of them and don’t let them suffer any more injustice. If I hear someone bullying, beating, abusing women and children, and their families, and whipping them to sixty, I will never allow intercession!"
The sergeant was solemn.
Zhang Xiwan looked at Gu Zhengchen, her eyes full of love.
He is a person who knows how to cherish people.
Gu Zhengchen thought that to reorganize the family, he would first ask about his name, age, hobbies, physical condition, and how much savings he had, but he just took it away without even asking his name...
At least he knew some manners and took the woman and child with him to salute him.
When a guard sergeant gets married, there is no formal ceremony, and since the woman is getting married for the second time, she doesn't want to make it public. In this era where fidelity is valued, second marriages are not condemned, but they are not particularly honorable after all.
The sergeant originally wanted to keep a low profile, but he was met by a high-profile and mischievous Zhen Fu. Just because Zhao Hailou complained that there was no wedding wine, Gu Zhengchen decided on the spot to hold a wedding for the sergeant.
Without phoenix crowns and harems, they had to get a pile of red cloth to use as hijabs. Without parents, Gu Zhengchen and Zhang Xiwan sat on the high platform and became the ones to officiate at the wedding.
It is indispensable to worship heaven and earth. After three worships, he will be registered in the military, receive five hundred coins as wedding money, send it to the bridal chamber, and guard the camp for a grand celebration. As for the subsequent distribution of farmland, Gu Zhengchen doesn't need to worry about it.
It was simple and crude, but after all, there was a ceremony and a reason for the whole camp to celebrate.
Yao Zhen sent Zhang Xiwan back to the county seat, while Gu Zhengchen asked Zhang Pei to carry two jars of good wine into the far fire station.
Relying on the original cave in Minghe Mountain, after nearly three months of excavation, a certain space was finally formed within the mountain.
In order to ensure safety, Gu Zhengchen added a supporting device in the design drawings, that is, using thick tree trunks to support the top of the cave. The top and bottom of the tree trunks are both nearly two inches thick and four feet long and wide. Square iron plate.
The damage to the iron plates was measured every other day in order to observe possible settlement problems in the cave.
Although Gu Zhengchen asked an elder in Jurong that earthquakes were rare in Jurong and Minghe Mountain had not collapsed in hundreds of years, Gu Zhengchen still took adequate safety measures.
Among the interior spaces of the cave, the Primer Department occupies the largest area. As for the Smelting Department and Manufacturing Department, these require coal. The space in the cave is mainly used for research, improvement and debugging, discussion of countermeasures, file preservation, etc. The operating area is mainly outside the cave.
The Primer Department is a place that absolutely needs to be kept secret, and new gunpowder formulas are never allowed to leak out.
Tao Chengdao, Liu Ju, Chen Youcai and others were discussing firearms improvement and other issues. When they saw Gu Zhengchen coming, they all stood up and saluted.
Gu Zhengchen arranged for people to deliver wine bowls, and invited key personnel from the Smelting Department, Manufacturing Department, etc., filled the wine bowls, and said: "Because I went to Jiangyin and wasted time, you should also have ideas for improving firearms. Bar?"
Ambassador Liu Ju looked at everyone, stood up with a smile, took out three brochures from a cave inside, and handed them to Gu Zhengchen: "The three departments discussed for a long time, found out the problem, and gave some ideas."
Gu Zhengchen waved his hand, but did not take the booklet. Instead, he looked at Chen Youcai, the doctor of the Fire Department: "Let's talk directly from the Department of Fire."
Chen Youcai stood up and said solemnly: "Gu Zhenfu, the Fire Department has analyzed the problem of gunpowder and believes that there are ten main problems with gunpowder: the ratio is not particularly accurate and there is a lack of precise measuring devices; the saltpeter and sulfur are not fine enough; and the burning speed is not fast enough. "The king and his ministers use appropriate medicines, but the medicines used are too little..."
Gu Zhengchen became confused when he heard it. After Chen Youcai finished asking the question, he said, "What did you mean when you just said there was too little medicine?"
Chen Youcai knew that Gu Zhengchen was not a gunpowder craftsman, so he explained in detail: "The preparation of gunpowder has always followed the method of monarch and minister assisting envoys, or saltpeter is the monarch, sulfur is the minister, charcoal powder is the auxiliary, and miscellaneous materials are used to make the medicine." Too little and the gunpowder properties will be compromised.”
Gu Zhengchen frowned: "How much powder is there in gunpowder manufacturing now?"
Chen Youcai replied seriously: "There are twenty-eight flavors, Gu Zhenfu, the Dihuo Department is already discussing to find other new medicines, which will expand the scope of medicines to sixty categories!"
Gu Zhengchen was shocked.
In the small gunpowder, you also got twenty-eight types of gunpowder. This is not enough. You also want to get sixty types?
Gunpowder is used to kill people. Are you treating it like real medicine? Although gunpowder is called gunpowder, this is indeed a medicine...
"What kind of medicine are there?"
Gu Zhengchen asked uneasily.
Chen Youcai talked eloquently: "Cao Wu, viper, ironclad lotus, rosin, bean powder, black arsenic, basalm, sesame oil, ginkgo leaves, dried feces..."
Gu Zhengchen's face turned a little dark.
What are these things? For example, edamame powder and ginkgo biloba are also added to it. Also, don’t you think it’s disgusting? I also got dried feces, vomit...
Chen Youcai didn't pay attention to Gu Zhengchen's expression and continued: "This is the preparation for fire attack. If it is to make poisonous gunpowder, the main ingredients are dry paint, iron sand, silver rust, shrimp toad, Fang Sheng Snake, Nan Xing..."
"enough!"
Gu Zhengchen interrupted Chen Youcai and pointed to the cave beside him: "The boxes inside contain what you call the medicine?"
"yes."
Chen Youcai responded.
Tao Chengdao saw that Gu Zhengchen's face was not good-looking, so he quickly stood up and spoke: "These are all useful medicines..."
Gu Zhengchen rubbed his brows, shook his head and said, "So, besides improving the measurement accuracy, further processing saltpeter and sulfur, increasing the type of powder, increasing the filling amount of gunpowder, etc., the primer's method to improve the power of gunpowder is gone?"
Chen Youcai nodded helplessly.
For now, there are only so many problems found, and so are the solutions.
Gu Zhengchen motioned Chen Youcai to sit down, then took a sip from the wine bowl and looked at everyone: "The Ministry of Industry said that you are the top gunpowder craftsmen in our Ming Dynasty, but let me say, you are still too weak. The real problem with gunpowder is What’s the problem, you haven’t figured it out yet.”
Chen Youcai's face turned pale.
Cui Yu, a member of the Dihuo Department, was a little unwilling. He stood up and said, "Gu Zhenfu, if you can tell a question, we will obey you."
"sit down!"
Chen Youcai quickly scolded Cui Yu.
Cui Yu lost his temper and looked a little unconvinced at Gu Zhengchen.
During this period of time, everyone stayed up late looking for problems. They even read the gunpowder classics of the Song Dynasty countless times. They didn't know the words, so they just dragged Zhou Dinghai, a disciple of Tao Chengdao, to read them.
After so much hard work and effort, he finally found the problem, but Gu Zhenfu rejected it with one sentence and said that everyone didn't understand the problem. No one was happy about this.
Gu Zhengchen looked at Cui Yu and glanced at Chen Youcai: "So, you are not convinced?"
"Don't dare."
Cui Yu snorted.
Liu Ju quickly asked Cui Yu to apologize to Gu Zhengchen, but Gu Zhengchen didn't take it seriously and said with a smile: "It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if you have a bad temper, but you need to have the corresponding skills. The gunpowder developed by the Dihuo Department is not poisonous gunpowder, nor It’s not gunpowder used to burn camps, but gunpowder used to kill enemies, gunpowder filled in divine machine cannons and fire guns!”
"From today on, all the craftsmen in the Fire Department will work hard to solve the problem of insufficient power of gunpowder for firearms. As for other types of gunpowder, at least they should be placed after the gunpowder for firearms, instead of going side by side or first!"
"Let's talk about the gunpowder used in firearms. You are craftsmen. After mixing saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal powder in proportion, you put them into boxes and transport them to the front line and give them to the sergeants for use. Do you know what the first thing the sergeant does?"
Cui Yu, Hua Xiaoshun and others were confused.
Chen Youcai was silent.
Gu Zhengchen shouted: "Let Qin Song come in."
Qin Song walked in. After hearing Gu Zhengchen's question clearly, he replied: "Firearms are used in the army. After receiving the gunpowder, the first thing to do is to stir the gunpowder."
Cui Yu asked puzzledly: "Why do we need to stir the gunpowder? We have already prepared it?"
Chen Youcai said: "It is because of the constant bumps during transportation that the gunpowder ingredients are stratified. The lightest charcoal powder is on top, and it is not fully combined with the saltpeter and sulfur. If it is not stirred, it is equivalent to the wrong proportion of gunpowder. At worst, it is difficult to ignite and unable to shoot far; at worst, it is easy to explode the barrel and accidentally injure the sergeant."
Gu Zhengchen looked deeply at Chen Youcai: "You are a gunpowder craftsman who has been with the army. You know this, but why didn't you mention this issue in these ten articles?"
Chen Youcai shook his head bitterly: "Gu Zhenfu, it's not that I don't want to raise this issue, it's that there is no solution to it at all. Transportation bumps are beyond our control."
Gu Zhengchen moved his wrist slightly, holding a copper coin in his hand, knocking on the table, and said sternly: "What kind of solution is it if it cannot solve the sergeant's problem? All the improvements and manufacturing of the Far Fire Bureau are for the use of the sergeant. , serve to kill the enemy on the battlefield! If the sergeant is unable to shoot the projectile due to the problem of gunpowder delamination and suffers heavy losses, this responsibility is ours!"
"Serve on the battlefield!"
Tao Chengdao looked deeply at Gu Zhengchen. These few words determined the direction of the far fire station.
Cui Yu apologized for his ignorance and shallowness.
Gu Zhengchen did not blame Cui Yu, but said to everyone: "Gunpowder is the core thing related to the power of fire guns and divine machine guns. Gunpowder cannot be improved, and all improvements are empty talk! Chen Youcai mentioned that the method of gunpowder is the basis of medicine. Among the monarchs, ministers and envoys, I wonder if anyone knows the "Taiping Huimin Hejiju Prescription" written in the Song Dynasty, which records a medicine called Ginseng Yangrong Pill. Everyone, this pill can cure distant fire!"
