Zhang Yu is Zhu Di's veteran general, and Zhang Fu is naturally acquainted with Zhu Gaochi and Zhu Gaoxu of Prince Yan's palace. They have good personal relationships. Writing letters and communicating with each other are commonplace and do not rise to the political level.
Zhang Fu did receive Zhu Gaoxu's letter, but he didn't pay attention to it and casually replied to greet Zhu Gaoxu and Zhu Di.
Zhang Yu looked at Zhang Fu with worry in his eyes.
Although my son is cautious and talented, he has climbed the ladder too quickly and lacks training. He does not know the strife and methods in the court. Once he is transferred back to the capital and enters the court in the future, he is afraid that he will be caught by some malicious people. If you use the excuse to criticize, you will suffer a big loss.
"Father, this is a private matter, why do you know about it?"
Zhang Fu frowned.
Zhang Yu looked at Zhang Fu seriously and reminded: "Now that you are the imperial marquis of the Ming Dynasty, whether you are writing letters or talking to others, there are only state affairs, no family affairs, and no private affairs! After you return to Guangxi, remember to Hand all letters to the Security Bureau without reservation, and do not reply to any letters from Prince Yan's Mansion."
Zhang Fu took a deep breath and handed it to the Security Bureau?
The Security Bureau is Zhu Yunwen's eyes and ears. Giving it to them is equivalent to handing the letter directly to Zhu Yunwen. My father wanted to completely separate himself from Prince Yan's palace and not have any personal relationship.
"Zhang Fu, Zhang Shi, you are full."
Zhang Fu had a low voice.
Zhang Fu and Zhang Min looked at each other, looked at the dishes that had not yet been eaten, swallowed, put down their chopsticks, saluted, and exited the room.
Zhang Fu stared at him and said, "Father, do you have any secrets?"
In Zhang Fu's opinion, the reason his father was so anxious and severe must be because there might be something going on in Prince Yan's palace, and he was worried that the Zhang family would be involved.
Zhang Yu moved his chopsticks and swallowed it before chewing twice: "There is no secret, and you don't need to think too much. King Yan is a person of great importance to the emperor, and he is most likely the commander-in-chief of the Western Expedition."
"Then why?"
Zhang Fu was surprised that since King Yan was in important positions, it was a good thing that the Zhang family maintained a certain relationship with Prince Yan's palace.
Zhang Yu looked at Zhang Fu who still had not figured it out, turned his chopsticks over, stood up and knocked on Zhang Fu's head, scolding: "What have you been reading in the past? You still don't understand such a simple truth? You It's the Marquis, and Zhu Di is the vassal prince. The Marquis and the vassal prince are closely related. What do you want the emperor to think? Yes, the person who corresponds with you is Zhu Gaoxu, but when the courtiers criticize him, they will not say that he is Zhu Gaoxu, but that he is Zhu Gaoxu. Say he is the son of King Yan!"
"Look at Xu Huizu. In order to avoid suspicion, he directly treated Xu Zengshou as a prisoner and locked him up at home. He was not allowed to go out. Li Jinglong, the Duke of Cao, was also cautious and never dared to contact the vassal king. How dare you do this? Emperor Jianwen went through a life and death Guan Guan, it is inevitable that he will be thinking about his posthumous affairs. Yang Shiqi was promoted and almost had one foot in the cabinet. This is his arrangement!"
"Civil officials are constantly making adjustments, adjustments without reasons. This has not been seen in the past few years. There is no official merit examination, and there are no major merits. There are no longer a few officials who are directly promoted. What does it mean to act so decisively and arbitrarily? ? It shows that Emperor Jianwen can’t wait to slowly train new people, and can’t wait for their growth over the years. The emperor needs these new people to be used by him as soon as possible!"
"The civil service has moved. The next step is to make adjustments to General Wu Xun. You are a newly promoted marquis. If you want to be reused by Emperor Jianwen, or even become an assistant to the future prince, you must show your absolute loyalty and be separated from the Yan Palace. Come!"
Zhang Yu woke up Zhang Fu.
Zhang Fu broke out in a cold sweat. He was still too naive. Although he usually planned things carefully, he ignored the emperor's thoughts.
"I understand, Father."
Zhang Fu nodded solemnly.
Zhang Yu looked at his son, who was more promising than himself, and said with a smile: "Now that I'm back, let's have a few drinks in honor of my father."
Zhang Fu stood up and picked up the wine bottle.
The rain was still falling, dripping down the eaves.
Zhu Yunwen stretched out his hand, and the raindrops hit his palm, making him feel cool. Then there was another raindrop, with short intervals.
Ma Enhui walked behind Zhu Yunwen, put on her cloak gently, looked at the continuous autumn rain, and whispered: "Your Majesty, is there anything happy?"
Zhu Yunwen took back his hand, wiped off the rainwater on his hand, and said, "Why do you say this?"
Ma Enhui chuckled: "Your Majesty has always been to the Second Artillery Bureau for the past three days. Today, he only went for half a day before returning to the harem. At this time, he was watching the rain with a smile on his lips. I guessed that there must be new progress in the Second Artillery Bureau. Is this why the emperor is so happy?"
Zhu Yunwen took over Ma Enhui and couldn't hide the joy in his eyes: "The Second Artillery Bureau has made great progress. Tao Zengguang, Hu Yuancheng, Feng Shan and others have finally created high-quality steel. Hu Yuancheng's attainments in steel are also extraordinary. Ah, he actually found the secret of the alloy."
"Alloy, what is that?"
Ma Enhui blinked.
Zhu Yunwen glanced at the chamberlain, took the oil-paper umbrella, and walked into the rain with Ma Enhui in his arms. The chamberlain wanted to follow, but was pushed behind.
"Has the Queen ever heard of white copper?"
"White Copper, I seem to have heard of it somewhere."
"There is a copy of "Huayang Guozhi" on my desk. It is recorded there: Because of the name of the mountain, Mantis County produced silver, lead, white copper, and miscellaneous medicines. During the Eastern Jin Dynasty, there were records of white copper. White copper is an alloy, and it has The metal is called nickel. When nickel is melted into red copper, when the nickel content reaches a certain level, the originally yellow copper will become as white as silver. The higher the nickel content, the whiter the color."
Ma Enhui stood close to Zhu Yunwen, her heart filled with happiness, and the corner of her mouth moved slightly: "Is the alloy so magical?"
Zhu Yunwen smiled and said: "Alloys are not mysterious. Today's copper coins are also made of alloys. They are made of different metals. However, some alloys can bring unexpected effects, such as the nickel just mentioned. Copper alloy not only has greatly improved strength and hardness, but also has enhanced corrosion resistance. It is not affected by wind and rain, and the same is true for nickel steel."
Ma Enhui shook her head slightly: "I don't quite understand, but the emperor said that the steel prepared by the Second Artillery Bureau is harder and the firearms are more powerful?"
Zhu Yunwen walked through a door and said: "More than that, improvements in steel can make firearms more resistant to high temperatures, can be loaded with more gunpowder, and have a longer range."
For artillery, long range cannot be achieved by simply making it thicker and longer. The key is gunpowder and its dosage.
The progress of pure gunpowder improvement is very slow. Zhu Yunwen has neither the conditions nor the knowledge to make industrial explosives. He can only temporarily focus on the loading capacity. The increase in the hardness and strength of steel provides conditions for the gunpowder chamber to accommodate more gunpowder. Improved gun bore resistance and reduced the risk of gun blast.
With the emergence of high-quality steel, is it possible to study steam devices?
Longjiang Shipyard is studying steel ships. One of the biggest problems they face is how to drive the ship when there is no wind. A steel ship of the same size is heavier than an ordinary ship. If you rely on human power to paddle, you will be exhausted and you will not be able to walk a few steps...
Some people in the Imperial Academy heard about the flying pigs and understood the problem of air buoyancy. Some people were already boiling water and studying the large Kongming Lantern with water vapor...
Some people went crazy and dared to run upstairs and jump down with bedsheets. Fortunately, they were not stupid and knew how to put a pile of straw.
In addition, the construction of concrete roads requires a large amount of cement, and the preparation of cement is inseparable from hydraulic grinding. Some supervisors at the Imperial College are thinking about how to use the power of boiling water to drive the millstones. Although they do not have the thinking of steam engines, they have already developed the logic of technology.
In the past, there was a lack of high-quality steel and not enough talents, so there was no condition to prepare steam engines. Now that there are talents, steel has also made breakthroughs. It is time for them to study it.
Although the basic principles of steam engines are very simple, and Zhu Yunwen can also draw drawings of reciprocating steam engines, such early industrial products are still very complicated and difficult for Ming craftsmen. One step is not suitable for Ming Dynasty, so make one first. The clumsy, primitive, entry-level Newcomen steam engine should still be OK. There is always a process of accumulating talent. Once you have the talent, wouldn't it be better to iterate?
Unfortunately, the role of steam engines for the Ming Dynasty was limited, and the Ming Dynasty did not have the conditions to lay railways.
Yes, Daming's steel production was very high.
In the Hongwu period, the annual output of official pig iron was 18.47 million kilograms, which was nearly nine times higher than that of the Tang Dynasty, nearly three times higher than that of the Northern Song Dynasty, and more than three times higher than that of the Yuan Dynasty.
However, even with the amount of iron produced in the country, it is not enough to pave the railway from Nanjing to Suzhou, not even 150 miles. Therefore, steam trains with long tracks can only be used in this era. Just think about it.
Zhu Yunwen wanted a steam engine, not for trains, but for steel warships, for the smelting industry, for the textile industry, for better industrial manufacturing, and to lay a preliminary industrial foundation for the Ming Dynasty.
After years of accumulation, all the conditions are becoming mature, so just go ahead and do it.
Ma Enhui looked at Zhu Yunwen. Although he did not speak, he seemed to be expecting something at this time. The joy and desire in his heart could be felt without words.
The rain continued into the night, but many houses in the Second Artillery Bureau were still brightly lit.
Hu Yuancheng took his hand out of the smooth barrel and said to Tao Zengguang, who was observing with a magnifying glass: "It's no problem. Even if it's a day of fierce fighting, the possibility of the barrel exploding is extremely high."
Tao Zengguang put away the magnifying glass and said with a smile: "The emperor said that it would be more perfect if he could find a kind of chromium metal. He also said that it was used by craftsmen in the Qin Dynasty, but we couldn't find this kind of metal in the history books."
Hu Yuancheng shrugged and said: "No, but the emperor also said that he will let the navy fleet help us dig chrome ore in South Africa. He also said that it will take a few years. I don't know if South Africa lives on the horizon or somewhere. , it takes so long..."
"Bang bang!"
Someone hit his head hard with his fist.
Tao Zengguang asked, and when he heard it was Feng Shan, he opened the door. Feng Shan looked at the two of them and said hurriedly: "Crazy Lu has modified the firecracker again. You guys go and have a look."
"Don't go!"
Tao Zengguang and Hu Yuancheng refused in unison. Fengshan had no choice but to add: "This time his improvements seem to be a bit serious..."
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