Kingdom of Heaven and Han

Chapter 192 Gunpowder
Watching Zhang Jun's boat sailing upstream slowly, Wang Xiaolie felt a little indescribable for a while.This time when Zhang Jun came to Xiangyang, he gave himself five hundred Taoist certificates and one thousand crossbows, which seemed to be quite a lot.But if you think about it carefully, it doesn't seem to be the case.

At this time, the price of three or four hundred guan, and five hundred guan, are priced at about 20 million guan.But this is the market price, and it is impossible for the official to sell a large number of them at this price, and it is not bad to cut them in half.It is very rare to be able to exchange tens of thousands of coins for these ultimatums.The one thousand hard crossbows given to myself can only be said to be of good quality from the official library.In terms of price, if a crossbow is worth five guan, it is only [-] guan.

As for the reception of Zhang Jun and his party, not to mention the usual reception expenses, just for the rations of his army, Wang Xiaolie spent more than ten thousand stones.Coupled with other expenses, it is also in the tens of thousands.After all, Wang Xiaolie just didn't lose money.

Thinking of this, Wang Xiaolie couldn't help shaking his head slightly.I am still too young to see clearly these tricks in the officialdom for a while.Zhang Jun went to the front to fight, how could he spend too much money on the way?I didn't lose money, which is already considered good.

The biggest achievement this time is that Zhang Jun let Wang Xiaolie serve as a pacification envoy concurrently, and let him control Sui and Ying prefectures.In this way, the imperial court officially recognized Wang Xiaolie's status and gained control of the entire Southwest Beijing Road.

Zhang Jun had gone far away, Wang Xiaolie said to the other prefects: "Private is going to Guanshan, a heavy responsibility, it is not an easy task. Soon after leaving Xiangyang Mansion, you can go to Jinzhou, and Xingyuan Mansion is not far away. Alright, let's go back to the yamen and have some wine and meat, everyone is tired these days."

Everyone said yes.After leaving the pier, we went back to Zhizhi Yamen together.

When they sat down in the back Yamen, Wang Xiaolie ordered the wine and food to be served.We went out early in the morning, no one had breakfast, and some were hungry.The cook prepared some cold dishes, made a bowl of egg noodles for each person, and served them up.

Wang Xiaolie said: "It's too early, there are no extra dishes in the kitchen, everyone should feel shabby. Eat a bowl of noodles first, drink a few glasses of wine, and relieve your fatigue. Wait until the cook buys vegetables, and then eat to your heart's content."

In fact, Wang Xiaolie usually eats very simple, usually one or two dishes per meal.If there are guests, there are only four dishes and one soup.These Zhizhou are rare guests, and they eat better.Because I usually eat simple, I don't have the habit of preparing dishes in the kitchen.

Because Zhang Jun was entertained in the past few days, the cold dishes included chicken feet, pig ears, lamb, and a bowl of egg noodles. Everyone was satisfied.

After breakfast, several people sat and chatted.

Talking about the recent political situation and military deployment, just when everyone felt a little speechless, Chen Gui suddenly said: "Recently, I have made a wonderful thing. It is to use gunpowder and stand in the bamboo. Let two or three people Hold on, every time you approach an army formation, light the fire at the tail end, and the flames will burst out. Although there is no effect of piercing the armor and injuring the enemy, if the fire comes out suddenly, the enemy will be in chaos."

After hearing this, the rest of the people couldn't figure out what it was, so they didn't talk to each other.But Wang Xiaolie understood that this was the prototype of a gunpowder weapon, and it was probably the earliest gunpowder weapon.Asked: "In the past, there was gunpowder in the capital, and the rockets were made to hurt the enemy. It's just that I don't know how to make gunpowder, and it is difficult to collect saltpeter and sulfur. It is difficult to make it in a short time. I don't know where the prefect is. Is there a formula for gunpowder? "

Chen Guidao: "Although the imperial court does not allow the gunpowder formula to be released to the barbarians, it is not a very secret thing. There are fireworks performers among the people, so they can make their own fireworks. In De'an Mansion, there are a few workers who used to make gunpowder. It's not difficult."

Wang Xiaolie nodded.With past life memories, how can you not know the importance of gunpowder?It's just that Wang Xiaolie only remembers one nitrate, two sulphur, and three charcoal, and he can't remember the exact ratio at all.And sulfur and charcoal are easy to find, where can I find saltpeter?There used to be in pharmacies, but at this time, most pharmacies have been closed, and there is nowhere to find them.I heard that Chen Gui made new firearms in De'an Prefecture, so I realized that it was not difficult.

In fact, Jingxi Road, especially the Ruzhou area, was originally one of the important production areas of saltpeter in China.Although there is no mineral, it can be extracted from daily alkaline water.However, gunpowder was not very popular at this time, and it had not yet formed an industry.

Wang Xiaolie was overjoyed when he asked carefully about the traditional gunpowder.He said to everyone: "This dynasty makes good use of rockets, which are very useful in the front line. If you study this thing carefully and adjust the ratio, it will have unexpected power."

Xie Qian smiled and said: "Observation, this thing has been used in the army for a long time. If there is any wonder, it has been found out long ago. The most important thing now is to save money and food, and raise more troops. It is useless to think about it."

Wang Xiaolie shook his head: "I can't say that. There are so many things in the world, but because people haven't thought of them, they can't do them, so they are not proficient in using them. It's like we say now that immortals can fly into the sky and escape from the earth. Traveling thousands of miles. But when we understand the principles of nature in the future, it is not difficult for ordinary people to do it. In this world, we still have many things we don’t know.”

After hearing this, several people laughed together, saying that Wang Xiaolie was whimsical.Human beings are human beings, living in this world, many impossible things can only be imagined.If it is like what Wang Xiaolie said, wouldn't people become immortals?
Wang Xiaolie looked at the distant sky and didn't speak for a while.That's right, in the eyes of people today, many things in later generations can only be done by immortals.There are airplanes and rocket ships, and they can fly a thousand miles a day, and they can even fly to the moon.There are submarines that can dive thousands of meters.There are telegrams and telephones, which can transmit voices thousands of miles away.With TV and Internet, images and sounds from thousands of miles away can be transmitted to the eyes in an instant.There are even robots, capable of partially acting like humans.These things are ordinary in the eyes of later generations, but in the eyes of the ancients, aren't they just immortals?
Even the old rules, even though they made firearms with bamboo tubes, after listening to Wang Xiaolie's words, they felt that they were thinking too far.

After eating, everyone went back to their rooms to rest.Wang Xiaolie didn't feel sleepy, and sat alone in the study, thinking about his own affairs.What is the most important thing for a person of later generations to come to this world?Gunpowder, of course.Although without gunpowder, the Song Dynasty should have defeated the Jin Dynasty, but with gunpowder, the difficulty is much smaller.And gunpowder is not only used for war, but also has many other uses.For example, blasting mountains and paving roads is much easier with gunpowder.In the past, many places where roads were considered impassable can be passed by roads.

In addition to gunpowder, of course there are power engines, and the most impressive one is of course the steam engine.It's a pity that there is no mechanical foundation now, and it is too difficult to manufacture a steam engine out of thin air, so it can only be left to future generations.what about others?Of course there are many more.For example, now that we have cotton, we should develop the cotton textile industry.Water conservancy and manpower can be used to build exquisite machinery and greatly improve the productivity level of society.For example, with bearings, a large number of sturdy and durable machinery can be manufactured, and industries without steam engines can be developed first.

Not all machines use steam engines, and many machines use manpower, animal power, and water power.In the rural area in the previous life, there were many such machines.It's just that society is developing too fast, and these machines have not been popularized, and this stage has passed.For many people, they have never seen these machines and can't think of any use for them.

There is no steam engine, it is just not so efficient, a lot of work cannot be done, and it lacks versatility.But a large part of the things that can only be done through industrialization can actually be done first.

Leaning on the chair, Wang Xiaolie let go of his thoughts, thinking about the follow-up matters, feeling a little overwhelmed.In fact, Wang Xiaolie thought of this when he built those new clubs in Xinye.It's just that there are no talents for a while, so I can only think about it.After a few years, when enough mechanical talents are cultivated, it will be very different at that time.

What will it be like by then?When productivity increases on a large scale, society will inevitably be turned upside down.

(End of this chapter)