First Prince of Ming Dynasty Chapter 496

  Chapter 496 Gunpowder Granulation

  After the beating, Zhu Biao asked the Ministry of War to cooperate with Dali Temple to play Zhongshu Province. This matter has been settled. There is no reason for the royal family to reward the three armies. It is just a process.

Leaving a few people to discuss the trivial matters, Zhu Biao left the office of the Ministry of War, turned his head and entered the Ministry of Industry next door, and looked through the accounts of the local coal factory. Take a bite of it.

  The coal craftsmen of the Ministry of Industry have already gone to various mining areas. Now a large number of them have been transported to the northern frontier army, which is probably enough to last until February. Now they are rushing to sell them to the people.

Not seeking to accumulate wealth or even making money at a loss. Even though civilian coal raw materials and manufacturing costs are low, the cost of transporting them to the northern states will be high, but there is no way. After all, the imperial court is different from merchants. Stability is the most important thing.

This time the Little Ice Age has not yet reached its worst time, but the signs have been revealed since the end of the Yuan Dynasty. In recent years, the weather has been quite different, that is, the frequency of extreme weather is relatively high, either droughts or floods. This time Sudden cold in the north and the sudden onslaught of grassland white disasters are proof.

  The more this is the case, the more it is necessary to stabilize the people at the bottom, maintain order as much as possible, and provide food and fuel to the people. Droughts and floods cannot be prevented by Tianwei and can only be rescued afterwards, but the cold can be prevented in advance.

  Zhu Biao read it carefully and said: "Very good, continue to maintain production, hand over the delivery to Ping Xihou, and the rest of the people will not touch it at all. No tax will be collected through the checkpoints of the state capitals during the delivery, and those who violate it will be executed immediately!"

  The Minister of the Ministry of Industry promised, and waited for Zhu Biao to put down the account book before he touched a long column-shaped thing with exquisite patterns on it: "Your Highness once ordered to polish clear and white colored glass to make a telescope, and I am fortunate to be willing to do so."

In fact, this thing has been ready for more than a month, but at that time, the crown prince had just ordered the Ministry of Industry to make all-out coal, and even the construction of the palace city had stopped. I didn't expect that it would take more than a month.

   Zhu Biao took a glance at the words with a smile on his face, then strode out of the house, stood outside the threshold and pointed his eyes at the pavilion tens of meters away.

   Not to say that it is clearly visible, but it does have the effect of magnifying and looking into the distance. At least the principle is correct, but the material of the lens or the polishing and polishing are not up to standard. Let the craftsman figure out a solution in the future.

Zhu Biao put down the crude version of the telescope in his hand and praised the Minister of the Ministry of Industry and told him to reward the craftsmen, but he was not too excited. This thing is not very difficult. Although optical glass cannot be made, the glass technology is still quite mature. of.

  As early as the Yuan Dynasty, the production of colored glaze had formed a certain scale. The main products were beads and hairpins, as well as hairpins and buttons. Ji, the color is mainly blue, and there are other colors of green, black, white, and tea crystal.

   It's just that the colored glaze has always been developed in the direction of radiance and color, instead of pursuing cleanliness and clarity. Only after Zhu Biao specifically asked the craftsmen to work hard in this direction.

  But it is useful after all, whether it is in the military, navigation or astronomy, it is very meaningful, and the telescope has a microscope, and the principle of the two is the same. The only problem at present is that the lens is not up to standard.

   "The lens is still a little bit worse, it's better to be finer."

   "I understand, I will give orders later."

  Zhu Biao handed the telescope in Liu Jin's hands and smiled at the Minister of the Ministry of Industry: "Ai Qing has always been old and prudent, I'm afraid she won't just prepare such a small surprise for this palace?"

  The Minister of the Ministry of Industry pointed out to the backyard: "His Royal Highness, Rui Min, there are indeed other things that His Highness needs to see."

  Zhu Biao was naturally in a good mood when he heard the words, and strode towards the backyard of the Ministry of Industry, but the smile on the face of the Shangshu of the Ministry of Industry who fell behind suddenly disappeared, and his brows frowned.

Old and dignified, this word has a certain meaning, obviously you can use other words, but His Highness chose to use old, you must know that his age is considered young among the six books, and he is far from the old one, could it be His Highness? Do you want this official to abdicate to the virtuous?

  But it was too late to think about it at this time, the worry on Shangshu's face was wiped away, and the humble and solemn smile hung on the company again, and hurriedly followed Zhu Biao's pace.

When I arrived at the backyard, I didn't need anyone's introduction at a glance. A simple hot air balloon was placed there, and two dogs were tied with ropes inside. The craftsmen were doing the final inspection, probably from the time when Zhu Biao looked through the accounts. get ready.

  After a lot of work, the hot air balloon successfully flew into the sky, and the sound of anxious and frightened dogs barking continued in the sky. Liu Jin and others carefully guarded Zhu Biao, ready for the thing to drop suddenly.

   After a while, the dog was tired of barking, and the hot air balloon was pulled down. It seemed that there was no problem standing alone, but the weather was too demanding, and it was not easy to control at present.

  Zhu Biao looked back at the minister of the Ministry of Industry, not much joy on his face. These two things are not difficult, and it can even be said that the principle is very simple. It is really disappointing that the Ministry of Industry delayed giving the answer sheet for so long.

  Even if it is because of the delay of civilian coal, it is true that the subordinate officials of the Ministry of Industry are inefficient. If the next one is still the same, then there is no need to wait until Song Lian comes back next year, and the Minister of the Ministry of Industry will have to be replaced tomorrow.

The minister of the Ministry of Industry was in a sensitive state, and immediately sensed the indifference of the prince's gentle face, and hurriedly said: "Both of these have been developed for a long time, but it was only delayed due to your highness's busy work and the crudeness of the first product. , the next one will definitely satisfy His Highness."

  Zhu Biao smiled and said: "Then I will wait and see."

  The Minister of the Ministry of Industry led the way to a rather remote courtyard, but he didn't 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 finely crushed stones, but Zhu Biao's eyes lit up, he stepped forward to look carefully for a while and said, "Have you tried it?"

  Shangshu of the Ministry of Industry breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile: "It has been tested, it is more powerful, and it is easier to reload, and this gun ammunition is also much easier to resist moisture."

Only then did Zhu Biao show a sincere smile. Since the Yuan Dynasty, the gunpowder used since the Yuan Dynasty is in the form of powder, which is not very powerful and is not easy to fill, inconvenient transportation, uneven burning rate, and easy to be affected by moisture. What it should do basically depends on God's will.

When fighting in a rainy and cloudy day, the gunpowder is extremely difficult to resist moisture. After being damp, it will not burn at all. After that, the firearm will become scrap iron. If you want to use it, you have to wait until it is exposed to the hot sun. Where do you wait when you are fighting? up the weather.

In addition, the transportation of powdered gunpowder is also inconvenient, because the sulfur powder, charcoal powder and saltpeter powder with different weights will be separated from each other during the bumpy transportation of powdered gunpowder, and the saltpeter powder with the highest density will be located in the powder barrel. At the bottom layer, 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, unless all the gunpowder is poured out and remixed, there is still time to operate when the war is not urgent, and once an urgent war occurs, it cannot be quickly used at all.

Because of the risk of bombing, Zhu Biao himself has never used the current firearms, but after all, he has led the army and communicated with firearms soldiers, so he still has a little understanding of firearms. Nowadays, powdered black powder is under force in the barrel When the gunpowder is easily squeezed together, it will not burn completely due to lack of oxygen when it is ignited, which reduces the power of the gunpowder.

  In order to solve this problem, the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty will avoid loading the gunpowder too tightly, but it is not good to pack it too loosely, because this will also reduce the power of the gunpowder.

The best operation is to deliberately not overfill and tighten the gunpowder when loading gunpowder into the barrel. Although this can exert the power of gunpowder, it requires a lot of experience and skills of the gunner, and it is difficult for ordinary people without long-term training. Learn to use firearms.

   This is why the crossbow still occupies the position of the main long-range combat weapon of the Ming army. There are too many problems with firearms, and Zhu Biao is satisfied that he cannot solve the problem of granular gunpowder first.

  The advancement of gunpowder will definitely promote the popularization and development of firearms, there is no doubt about it.

  Zhu Biao put down the black particles in his hand and shook his hands, saying: "Who developed it, I want to reward you heavily."

   Zhu didn't mark it clearly, but he roughly remembered that the granulation of gunpowder appeared either during the Jiajing period or the Wanli period. It is a great progress to come out a hundred or two hundred years earlier.

  The Shangshu of the Ministry of Industry first replied: "This is also thanks to Your Highness. Your Highness has given the artisans of the Ministry of Industry a lot of food and drink. The artisan of the Ministry of Industry, Wang Er, accidentally discovered that adding spirits and plant ash to the gunpowder and drying it can get granulated gunpowder."

  Zhu Biao was naturally happy when he heard the words. It stands to reason that in the current situation, wine is a rare commodity. Zhu Yuanzhang also strictly prohibited the private brewing of wine, after all, it would consume too much food.

Officially brewed wine is not something ordinary people can drink, let alone the poor craftsmen of the Ministry of Industry, but when they came to the Ministry of Industry to inspect and ask what the craftsmen of the Ministry of Industry needed, one craftsman asked whether the prince could reward it some drinks.

Zhu Biao agreed after thinking about it. Although there were many accidents caused by drinking, there were also many flashes of inspiration after drinking. Thinking that the most important thing for scientific researchers is flashes of inspiration, so he agreed, not to mention that it is not an unlimited supply. More refreshing, did not expect to have unexpected gains.

  Zhu Biao waved his hands with a smile and said: "How can I seize the credit of the craftsman, Aiqing is also a good leader."

  Shangshu of the Ministry of Industry said a few words modestly and waved towards the distance. A craftsman in the middle ran over, passed ten steps away from Zhu Biao, and kowtowed several times.

   "Xiaomin sees the prince, the prince will be forever!"

Zhu Biao saw that he was quite strong, and his voice was very loud, not like a craftsman but like a soldier who came from the army: "Mian Li, you have done a good job. I will not only reward you in person, but also give you a performance. , what do you want?"

  (end of this chapter)

Chapter end