First Prince of Ming Dynasty

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, and there is no reason for the royal family to reward the three armies with a big head. 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, and now a large number of them have been delivered to the northern frontier army, probably enough to last until February, and 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 important it is 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.

After reading it carefully, Zhu Biao said: "Very good. Continue to maintain production. Ping Xihou is responsible for the delivery, and the rest will not have any contact with it. Taxes will not be collected when passing through the checkpoints of various state capitals during 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 touching a long cylindrical object with delicate patterns on it: "Your Highness once ordered to polish clear and white colored glass to make a telescope. Fortunately, I will not disgrace my life."

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 mention that it is clearly visible, but it does have the effect of magnifying the telephoto. 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 radiant colors and magnificent colors, 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 there is a telescope with a microscope, 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."

"Weichen understands, and I will give orders later."

Zhu Biao handed the binoculars to Liu Jin and smiled at the Secretary 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 me?"

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 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 sorrow on Shangshu's face was wiped away, and the humble and prudent 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 dogs barking anxiously and frightened continued to be heard in the sky. Liu Jin and others carefully guarded Zhu Biao, and were ready for the thing to drop suddenly.

After a while, the dogs were tired of barking, and the hot air balloon was dragged 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 withdrew his gaze and looked at the minister of the Ministry of Industry. The joy on his face was not great. These two things were not difficult. It can even be said that the principle is very simple. It is really disappointing that the Ministry of Industry delayed giving the answer for so long.

Even if it is because of the delay of civilian coal, it is true that the officials of the Ministry of Industry are inefficient in handling affairs. 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 said with a smile: "Then I will wait and see."

The Minister of the Ministry of Industry led the way to a rather remote courtyard, but he did not 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, and he stepped forward to look carefully for a while and said, "Have you tried it?"

Minister of the Ministry of Industry heaved 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, and 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. 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 used quickly 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, soldiers of the Ming Dynasty would avoid filling the gunpowder too tightly, but not too loose, because this would 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 bows and crossbows still occupy the position of the main long-range combat weapons of the Ming army. There are too many problems with firearms now, and Zhu Biao is very satisfied that he cannot solve the problem of granular gunpowder first.

There is no doubt that the progress of gunpowder will definitely promote the popularization and development of firearms.

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

Zhu Mark is not very clear, but he roughly remembers that the emergence of gunpowder granulation was either during the Jiajing period or the Wanli period. It is a great progress to be able to come out 200 years earlier.

Minister of the Ministry of Industry first replied: "This is also thanks to Your Highness. Your Highness has specially given the craftsmen of the Ministry of Industry food and drink. Wang Er, a craftsman of the Ministry of Industry, accidentally discovered that after adding spirits and plant ash to the gunpowder, he can get granulated gunpowder after drying."

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 forbids the private brewing of wine. After all, too much food will be consumed.

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 hand with a smile and said, "How can I take the credit of the craftsman, Aiqing is also a good leader."

Minister of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce waved his hand in the distance after a few words of modesty, and a craftsman in the middle ran over, and passed ten steps away from Zhu Biao, and actually 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?"

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(End of this chapter)