Subsequently, Emperor Chongzhen issued an order that the Tianjin Shipyard would make every effort to build this type of armored warship. We will strive to have a few more armored warships join the expeditionary force when the American Expeditionary Force sets out in May or June next year.
In addition, Emperor Chongzhen also issued an order on the spot to mobilize the elite of the shipyard to go to the Dongwu Shipyard to build a new ironclad warship shipyard there to build ironclad warships for the southern navy.
After finishing all these things, Emperor Chongzhen was about to return to Beijing. Suddenly, the Jin Yiwei reported urgently that a big explosion occurred in Princess Taiping's house. Both the princess and the consort were injured, and more than ten people were killed or injured in the house. It was said that there was an accident in the experiment.
Upon hearing this report, Emperor Chongzhen was shocked and hurried back to the capital to see the situation.
The explosion was very loud and caused a fire. However, the capital was patrolled by Jinyi guards, and the person responsible for extinguishing the fire was the Princess Mansion, so the fire was extinguished immediately and did not cause much damage.
However, such a big movement still aroused discussion among the people in the capital. The news spread and it was said to be related to the experiment. Suddenly, many people who were doing the experiment were so frightened that they stopped.
There are even some discordant public opinions, saying that the evil trends that arose in the Ming Dynasty made God angry, so he sent this disaster to warn the world! This kind of remarks has greatly affected some people. For a time, local public opinion was very likely to overthrow the existing knowledge system and return to the original ones.
When Emperor Chongzhen arrived in the capital, he heard the report of Dongchang who was monitoring the people. He immediately ordered Chen Baoting, the admiral of Dongchang, to say: "I will keep an eye on those who spread alarmism. Don't miss any of them!"
"My servant obeys the order!" When Chen Baoting heard this, he knew that those people dared to question the emperor's knowledge, and they were afraid that they would be in trouble, so he quickly accepted the order.
A large number of Jin Yiwei stationed at the Princess Mansion, and Emperor Chongzhen arrived. Everyone was curious, wondering what was going on with this explosion, and how would the emperor deal with such a thing?
When something happened at his son's house, Song Yingxing naturally rushed over to check on the situation. When he heard the emperor's arrival, he quickly came out to greet him. The prince consort and the princess were injured and inconvenient, so they lay on the bed and did not get off.
Emperor Chongzhen, led by the royal guards, strode towards the Prince Consort's Mansion. Song Yingxing, who followed closely behind, carefully reported: "Your Majesty, the situation is like this. The Prince Consort and the Princess have invented something new. It was these things that exploded. Fortunately, the Prince Consort and the Princess are mostly guides now, and the specific operations have been performed by their apprentices, so they were only injured. However, three of the apprentices in the laboratory died, two were seriously injured, and the remaining seven It’s a minor injury.”
"Do you know what's new?" Emperor Chongzhen showed no sign of anger after hearing this, and just asked matter-of-factly.
After hearing this, Song Yingxing shook his head subconsciously, and then found that the emperor could not see it, so he quickly replied: "Wei ministers have just arrived and have not asked in detail."
After hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen did not ask any more questions, because at this time, he was almost there.
The princess and the prince-in-law, supported by their servants, had arrived at the door to greet him.
Seeing that both of them had their heads covered, and even the princess was hanging by one hand, Emperor Chongzhen quickly excused them, and after entering the house, he began to ask about the specific situation.
Emperor Chongzhen noticed that the expressions of the two of them were not depressed or afraid, but rather a little excited. Emperor Chongzhen saw this and said nothing.
"Father, the situation is like this..." Princess Taiping answered Emperor Chongzhen's question and explained what happened in detail.
Emperor Chongzhen heard that Princess Taiping and others had obtained glycerol from oil through experiments, and then treated the glycerin with nitric acid and sulfuric acid to obtain a yellow oily transparent liquid. This new thing was very unstable and caused an explosion.
Upon hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen immediately thought of the words "nitroglycerin". It can be said that he has been looking forward to this thing for a long time. If it is really invented by the princess and his wife, it will indicate that in the future, the Ming Dynasty will He is truly invincible in the world.
Of course, even if it is real nitroglycerine, it still has a long way to go before it can eventually become yellow explosive. However, now that we are close to the most critical step, this road will be much easier.
With this in mind, Emperor Chongzhen further inquired about the details of the experiment, and even inquired about the pilot experiment of the princess and his wife, and looked at their data.
To be honest, as far as the current level is concerned, Emperor Chongzhen is already a little behind Princess Taiping and his wife in terms of chemistry. Therefore, in some experiments, Princess Taiping had to explain it in order to understand what kind of chemical reaction was going on at that step.
In the end, Emperor Chongzhen came to the conclusion that the yellow oily transparent liquid obtained by Princess Taiping and his wife was probably nitroglycerin. So, he said to Princess Taiping seriously: "What do you two think about this thing? It is so dangerous. Do you still need to conduct experiments to analyze the characteristics of this thing?"
Hearing this, before the consort could answer, Princess Taiping immediately replied naturally: "Father, you once said that science is a process of exploring the unknown. Since the Erchen couple have invented a brand new thing, Even if this kind of thing explodes, so what? Of course, you have to understand this new thing, understand this new thing!"
Hearing this, the Prince Consort also nodded, his expression more like looking forward to new things.
Emperor Chongzhen noticed that Song Yingxing next to him looked at his son with a worried look on his face when he heard the princess say that they would continue to explore and analyze that new thing.
Emperor Chongzhen pretended not to see this. As long as the person involved had this spirit, he would be relieved.
In fact, he really thought too much. According to the rules of the Ming Dynasty, the prince-in-law was not allowed to enter politics. The prince consort and the princess had no worries about food and clothing, and there was nothing else for them to do. Therefore, they are interested in chemistry and devote themselves wholeheartedly to this chemical experiment. They get a sense of accomplishment from this chemical experiment, so how can they easily back down!
After Emperor Chongzhen understood the thoughts of the princess and the consort, he smiled and said: "Yes, you two did the right thing. If you retreat when encountering the slightest danger, you will not be able to achieve great results!"
After receiving the emperor's approval, Princess Taiping and his wife looked at each other and smiled happily.
"I can tell you clearly!" Emperor Chongzhen looked at the couple who had turned back to look at him and said in a positive tone, "This unstable explosive invented by you two will change the entire world. You have made great contributions to the Ming Dynasty and even to mankind. I am very pleased with your spirit of scientific exploration. Do it well. While protecting yourself, work hard to stabilize this explosive, and then study how to master the characteristics of this explosion. It’s in our hands. I’m waiting for the day you succeed!”
If yellow explosives can be successfully developed, human history will be rewritten. Needless to say, Ming Dynasty will stand on top of the world, and the progress of human beings in transforming nature will also be greatly accelerated. A very simple application is that the difficulty of building railways in the Ming Dynasty will be greatly reduced in the future, and there will no longer be excessive requirements on terrain.
Of course, the powerful yellow explosive is indeed a double-edged sword, but it is just a tool. The effectiveness of this tool is ultimately in the hands of humans. If yellow explosives are not used because they may cause great harm to humans, it is absolutely impossible for humans with this idea to become the overlords on the earth.
Princess Taiping and her husband did not expect that Emperor Chongzhen's evaluation would be so high. They were immediately overjoyed and full of confidence and expectations for what they were going to do next. The two of them immediately said that Emperor Chongzhen should rest assured that they would definitely do what the emperor said.
Emperor Chongzhen naturally nodded in encouragement, and then personally came forward to express condolences to the injured apprentices in the princess's residence. Later, it was also explained to Jin Yiwei that the experimental information in the princess's house must be kept confidential. The relevant persons are treated as involving the highest level of military secrets.
After making these arrangements, Emperor Chongzhen left the Prince Consort's Mansion. To Song Yingxing who was following behind him, he smiled and said, "In the future, you will not be as famous as they are, haha..."
It can be seen that he is in a very good mood!
Song Yingxing listened from beginning to end and naturally understood what the emperor was referring to. He couldn't help but smile and responded: "Quinzi is where he is today because of your majesty's support. I can see that my son can beat his father, and I can smile even in my dreams." Awake!"
Emperor Chongzhen listened and nodded with a smile. Chinese people are like this. They are very happy when their children have a promising future.
After returning to the Forbidden City, Emperor Chongzhen announced: The Princess Consort has made an unprecedented breakthrough in the history of chemistry. As long as she works harder, she will definitely bring huge changes to the Ming Dynasty. Her achievements are no less than the original invention of the steam engine!
As soon as this announcement spread, it immediately caused a huge sensation.
If at the beginning, ordinary people did not realize how important the application of steam engines was, then by now, even children can know the importance of steam engines. Now, the princess consort's experiment related to the explosion has such a high evaluation, and many people are immediately jealous.
At this time, many people's ideas immediately changed. Explosions are nothing. If you can get such a huge result, you have to do it even if you risk your life!
Just like that, with the emperor's endorsement, the situation that was originally daunting due to the danger of the experiment was immediately changed. In order to get ahead and go down in history, even more people are joining the chemical industry.
Emperor Chongzhen was certainly happy to hear about this situation. However, he has not forgotten that the people involved in this incident have not yet been dealt with.
With this in mind, he summoned Chen Baoting, the admiral of Dongchang.
