Zhao Tai convened everyone to discuss and requested that in addition to the original increase in the establishment of the horse army and the Shenji Battalion, he also requested that the establishment of gunboats and naval forces be increased.
Zhao Tai said to everyone:
"Everyone must be aware of the Mongol mission to the Southern Song Dynasty." Everyone nodded slightly, obviously they had heard of it.
Wang Wentong said:
"Your Majesty, a gunboat is worth a lot of money! This navy gunboat is more expensive than the cavalry army!" Zhao Tai said in a deep voice:
"I know that gun ships cost money, but they must be built as soon as possible. The ships can be renovated with warships, fishing boats, and merchant ships, and the cannons can be made into iron cannons." The cannons cast in the past by Qi State were all made of copper, and each one was made of copper. Worth a fortune.
Now that Qi has made a breakthrough in iron artillery technology, relatively cheap iron cannons can be cast. In this way, the cost of Qi Navy gunboats will be greatly reduced, and artillery can also be equipped and manufactured on a large scale.
Seeing that Zhao Tai had already decided, Wang Wentong had no choice but to find ways to make money on his own. Zhao Tai continued:
"This winter, if Mongolia and Song Dynasty jointly attack Huainan, it will be a huge threat to Daqi. The attitude of the Southern Song Dynasty is not clear at the moment, but from a personal perspective, as long as they feel there is a chance, they will take risks. Therefore, we We must try to tire out the Southern Song Dynasty so that it cannot launch a war!" After saying this, Zhao Tai looked at Wang Wentong,
"The strategy proposed by Sir before should be accelerated! I thought that even if we make less money or no money, we will destroy the economy of the Southern Song Dynasty!" Zhao Tai discussed with the ministers for two hours. After the discussion, Zhao Tai stayed alone Liao Yuanhao asked.
Zhao Tai asked in a deep voice:
"Mr. Yuan, how about those singers sent by the Southern Song Dynasty? Did you find anything suspicious?" Yuan Haowen blushed slightly.
"Reporting to your Majesty, these singers are indeed agents sent by the Southern Song Dynasty. One of them told the old minister that Jia Sidao sent them to spy on information."
"Xiao Jia!" Zhao Tai sighed with emotion,
"He has now taken on a big responsibility!" Yuan Haowen continued:
"Your Majesty, this group of them will return to Lin'an soon. I have not disclosed any useful information to them!" Zhao Tai said with a smile:
"How can we let them return empty-handed? I have a task for you!" Yuan Haowen saluted.
"Please give me your Majesty's orders!" Zhao Tai said in a deep voice:
"According to the news I got, the artillery of the Southern Song Dynasty is about to be successfully developed! Now the Southern Song Dynasty is debating whether to cast copper cannons or cast iron cannons. I hope you can reveal to them that our Qi State will be purchasing copper ingots on a large scale. News, and made them think that bronze cannons are better than iron cannons. We all cast bronze cannons in Qi!" Nowadays, bronze cannons are actually safer and lighter than iron cannons. However, bronze cannons are good in many ways, but there is one thing that cannot compare to them. Iron cannons, that is, iron cannons are cheap enough and can be cast on a large scale.
The smelting technology of the Southern Song Dynasty was very developed, and the iron casting technology was even better than that of Qi. Now the artillery of the Southern Song Dynasty is about to be successfully researched. If they choose iron cannons, with the annual smelting capacity of the Southern Song Dynasty, the artillery of the Southern Song Dynasty will be installed soon.
The copper smelting technology in the Southern Song Dynasty was also developed and the scale was very large. However, the Southern Song Dynasty, like Qi State, lacked copper mines.
Copper can become money because it is rare. If the Southern Song Dynasty chose to manufacture bronze cannons, firstly, the manufacturing quantity would be limited, and secondly, manufacturing bronze cannons would increase the financial burden of the Southern Song Dynasty.
Zhao Tai learned through careful research that the artillery technology of the Southern Song Dynasty was about to break through, so he chose to let the Southern Song Dynasty make expensive bronze cannons, while Qi State began to cast a large number of cheap iron cannons.
In this way, Qi State could still maintain its artillery advantage even though its investment was less than that of the Southern Song Dynasty. After Yuan Hao asked, he understood what Zhao Tai meant.
"I understand! I will tell them that I, the Qi Dynasty, all cast bronze cannons, and I am very worried that the Southern Song Dynasty will cast bronze cannons. Because the Southern Song Dynasty has more copper and we have less copper, if the Southern Song Dynasty casts bronze cannons, the artillery will soon surpass our Qi country." Zhao Tai nodded with satisfaction,
"Yes, that's what I mean!"... In June, after staying in the Southern Song Dynasty for three months, the Mongolian mission finally left Lin'an and returned to resume its duties.
Whether the Mongolian mission and the Southern Song Dynasty reached an agreement, neither party made any announcement or denied it. However, after the Mongolian mission left, all the armies of the Southern Song Dynasty intensified their training, which seemed to confirm that a secret agreement was probably reached between the two.
Lin'an City, Cannon Casting Bureau of the Song Dynasty. Jia Sidao came to the workshop, summoned the two officials from the Ministry of Industry who were in charge of casting the artillery, and asked:
"How about artillery casting?"
"Ms. Sir, the bronze cannon that I have humblely presided over for casting is ready for test firing!" One person saluted. After the Southern Song Dynasty decided to imitate Qi's artillery, the material they chose at first was actually refined iron.
After all, few people would spend money to use materials for casting things. When people try, they usually start with cheaper materials.
When the Southern Song Dynasty began to cast iron cannons, it encountered the same problem as the Qi State. The performance of the iron cannons produced was very unstable and easy to explode.
During the battles of Langshan and Dong'an, the Qi army abandoned Dong'an and blew up the artillery that could not be moved. After the Mongolian army discovered the wreckage, it was determined that the Qi artillery was made of copper.
It didn't take long for this news to spread to the Southern Song Dynasty, and the Cannon Casting Bureau began to use copper to cast cannons. The improvement of this material did allow the Southern Song Dynasty to build relatively successful prototype cannons.
However, copper as a cannon-casting material makes the cost of cannon-casting extremely expensive. Therefore, when the Southern Song Dynasty used copper to cast cannons, it did not give up using iron to cast cannons.
After nearly two years of exploration, the technology of casting iron cannons in the Southern Song Dynasty was actually very close to success.
"Mr. Sir, I am in charge of the iron cannon casting in my humble position. I will be able to produce prototype cannons soon." Another official said.
Jia Sidao said in a deep voice: "That means that the iron cannon is still unable to be tested." The official lowered his head and said,
"My husband will give me another month, and I will ensure that I can produce qualified iron cannons." Jia Sidao waved his hand.
"Forget it, all iron cannon casting has stopped. From today on, the Cannon Casting Bureau will go all out to cast bronze cannons." The people sent by Jia Sidao collected a lot of information about Qi State, including news about Qi State's artillery.
In order to maintain its artillery advantage, Qi State was purchasing copper ingots and melting copper coins to cast artillery. The artillery of the Southern Song Dynasty was already two years behind Qi State. Jia Sidao felt that there was no need to waste time on iron cannons. The foundry bureau must go all out to cast bronze cannons.
When Jia Sidao urged craftsmen to cast bronze cannons, Zhao Tai also came to Qi Guo Foundry in Haizhou. After Qi State cast bronze cannons, it never gave up on the development of iron cannons. For this reason, tens of thousands of dollars were invested in the research of iron cannons every year.
Nowadays, Qi's iron cannon technology is very mature. Iron cannons, which are much cheaper than copper cannons, can be demoulded and test-fired like dumplings at a glance, and then transported directly away and installed on modified gunboats.
