The rise of the prince

Chapter 229 The Accumulation of the Royal Palace; Reform; The Eve of the War

"My lord, this one is the most resistant to burning." Zhu Rong took two middle-aged men and dragged a dark half-human crucible to Li Xingzhou.

The crucible is dark in appearance, cylindrical in shape, with an elliptical lower surface, a small and deep inner diameter, and a thick outer wall. The overall height is about 1.5 meters. It is fired with clay and graphite powder.

Zhu Rong patted the pitch-black crucible, and said in disbelief: "My lord, usually at this heat, even the pig iron will turn into water, and the wrought iron will start to soften, but this thing doesn't even move at all, not even the slightest sign of softening! For most of my life, I have done so many blacksmith and colored porcelain work, and I have never seen such a thing.”

As an old craftsman of firing ceramics, Zhu Rong also worked as a blacksmith when he was young, so he naturally understands what this means, facing the temperature that can turn iron into water, it is not damaged at all!

Qiu'er next to Li Xingzhou was also dumbfounded, while He Qian and Yue'er were more excited. They just thought it was pure fun, and they didn't understand the reason behind it, nor did they understand the great use of this thing.

Li Xingzhou was naturally also happy, nodded and asked Zhu Rong: "Have you written down the ratio?"

Zhu Rong nodded quickly, then carefully took out a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to him. There was a rough form on it, recording the experimental results of various proportions of clay and graphite powder in the past few days.

In fact, the most difficult thing in the field of materials science lies in the tedious and complicated experimental verification.

It takes a lot of time, energy and money, and there are no shortcuts.

For this simple example, the most cutting-edge material field in later generations must be the field of aero-engines.That is the basis for a big country to rule the roost, and it is also a means to easily surpass other countries, but the problem is that a lot of information is actually public, just like common sense, as long as you are a delicate and curious person in your life, you can hear a lot .

For example, the most difficult engine blades were initially made of aluminum alloy, then titanium alloy, and then replaced by a more excellent nickel-based alloy.

People tell you clearly, yes, there is no need to go through various detours, it is aluminum alloy, titanium alloy, and nickel-based alloy.

But why is it that even if the later countries are struggling to catch up and can achieve cornering overtaking in many aspects, it is difficult to achieve such a feat in the most fundamental field of materials science?
Why is that?
Because there are no shortcuts in the field of materials.

This requires a lot of time, experience and money. The field of materials science cannot be supplemented by ingenuity and wisdom. It needs more money and a lot of time to complete, to fill, to constantly explore.

For example, titanium alloy, regardless of the other elements in it, whether the proportion of titanium is 2.5% or 1.0% is better, the difference is very small, but for the field of materials, it is a huge value, because the best performance ratio It may be 2.4449% or it may be 1.0001%, and it is a thousand miles away.

How to draw conclusions and obtain the optimal solution is the only way to repeat experiments again and again, which consumes countless time and money, and there is no other way.

Even if you are lucky and win the lottery, there is no such thing as you can't determine which is the optimal solution until all the experimental values ​​are compared.

And these precious knowledge, bought with countless time, energy and money, will be called the heritage of a country in later generations!

This kind of heritage is the foundation of a country's strength, and it is also the reliance on its indomitability.

And now, Li Xingzhou is going to do exactly this kind of thing. He knows that graphite and clay can refine refractory materials with very good performance, because this is common sense.One of the several major types of refractory materials today is graphite refractory materials, which can be seen everywhere in life with a little attention.

But he doesn't know what is the best ratio of graphite and clay?Do you need other special materials?
These can only be a little bit of experimentation, which will consume a lot of manpower, material resources, and financial resources.

But he is willing to transform the wealth of the palace into this kind of permanent knowledge, because it is richer, invisible, and far-reaching wealth.

"Reduce by five percentage points, and then continue to try. If the funds are not enough, apply to Yan Yan." Li Xingzhou read the ratio table Zhu Rong gave him, and then carefully put it away. These data are the background of the palace, and he must carefully collect them.

For the sake of the experiment, he spent two days teaching Zhu Rong what a percentage point is and how to draw the simplest statistical tables. Not to mention that Zhu Rong looks rough and not good at communication, in fact he is quite smart. Just say it.

In the past few days, the grenade workshop in the back mountain of Wangfu has also begun to operate normally. With the help of more than 400 people from the Wu De Division, it is not a waste of time to build a wooden workshop.

With the lessons learned from last time, the workers Li Xingzhou hired this time were all ordinary people around the palace, jobless and homeless.

Because he gradually understands that the market economy is the kingly way, and it is okay to implement the plan in the early stage, but it will seriously affect the enthusiasm for labor over time.

As for the issue of confidentiality, he is not worried at all. He subdivided more than 20 steps into the grenade production. He stayed up all night to write a detailed production form, and then only one step was done in each workshop. The assembly line production was confidential and efficient.

At the same time, instead of calculating money on a daily basis, wages are paid according to the amount of work completed.

For example, in the second step of punching holes, workers can get a penny for every ten holes that meet the requirements with iron awls. They register at the end of the day and pay the bill once a month.The monthly settlement is to worry that some workers will come today and not come tomorrow, which will greatly affect the progress of the project.

Of course, each workshop must have a person from the palace responsible for acceptance, but not only does it not count, but the money for damaged materials will also be deducted.

In addition, Gufeng Li Xingzhou, who was in charge of wine making in the palace, also removed his servants and gave him money to hire new workers. However, the core distilling process was still done by the palace itself.

The distillery was originally located in a remote backyard. It was very convenient to tear down a section of the back wall and open a back door to allow people outside the palace to come in and work.

Now the first battalion of the Wu De Division is stationed in the back of the palace, and the armored elites have also played a good role in deterring and maintaining law and order.

Even in Tingyu Tower, Li Xingzhou is gradually transferring the old people in the palace back to the palace, and then let Yan Kun hire outsiders to train talents again.

For this reason, Yan Kun came to the palace to find him and complained euphemistically several times, but Li Xingzhou ignored him at all. In the end, he could only compromise and recruit new talents again with a bitter face.

Now there is only one production line controlled by people in the palace, and that is the saltpeter and gunpowder production line led by Yan Shen.

Even so, Li Xingzhou gradually asked Yan Shen to trim manpower and hire new personnel to add to insignificant links, such as digging and transporting nitrate on the mountain, and transporting gunpowder to the grenade workshop is just doing coolies and does not involve core production links Worker.

These can all be replaced by outsiders.

As for the nitrate and gunpowder workshops, although Li Xingzhou could not use the method of paying according to the results of labor to motivate them to work like ordinary hired workers, because they were originally from the royal family and had monthly money.

But he also set up a performance reward system, which can also guarantee to a certain extent that they will not lose their enthusiasm for labor over time.

With the growing size of the palace, Li Xingzhou also clearly understands that reform is imperative. It is impossible for him to manage a larger group in the same way as he used to run a small group, and he cannot allow the core system to affect the group's expansion.

When the size of the Wangfu was small, he could maintain the relationship through the sense of identity of the people in the Wangfu, stimulate everyone's enthusiasm for work, maintain centripetal force, and implement planned production.

But when the size of the palace increased and more and more people joined, he had to change his strategy.

If the palace wants to grow, it is impossible to use only its own people, and it is obviously impossible to get rid of its own people in the palace, and to maintain this group through connections and sense of identity, because many workers in the periphery are no longer from the palace.

What Li Xingzhou thought of was the contract.

He must gradually establish a benign contract relationship with all the workers in the palace.

Because now there are more than [-] employees outside the Wangfu in the saltpeter gunpowder workshop, grenade workshop, graphite workshop, wine shop, perfume factory, restaurant, treasure pavilion, etc., and it is necessary to establish a new relationship with them. Use the new system to maintain groups that are growing in size.

At the same time, he also began to gradually transfer the old people of the palace, those who had fought with King Xiao on the battlefield, and those who were given names by King Xiao to stay in the palace, back to the core of the palace, and put them in some important positions to become the backbone. Support the main body of the entire group, because these people are more trustworthy.

The palace has already begun to show its grandeur, like a huge machine, which is running in an orderly manner under Li Xingzhou's plan. This step is the most difficult. Many groups will collapse and die due to improper transformation during this step.

Li Xingzhou can do a good job thanks to his management experience and knowledge beyond the age of thousands of years.

Many dignitaries next to the palace have also gradually discovered this situation. There are many swords and guns in the back of Prince Xiao's mansion, and the security is heavily guarded. There are armored soldiers patrolling from time to time. Every day is full of enthusiasm, people's voices are buzzing, and there is a fiery atmosphere everywhere. As long as you pass by the palace, you can hear it at any time. to people talking loudly with joy
Some nearby people who have experienced the glorious years when King Xiao was alive, the palace was full of traffic, full of guests, and some old people who were old and frail and did not go out all the year round, thought that King Xiao was back, and couldn't help asking what happened to their son's palace.

And many sharp and smart people gradually began to have some premonitions in their hearts. Could it be that Xiao Wangfu will be the same as before.
Tong Guan happily sent off Zhao Guanghua and his party, feeling refreshed.

Gao Xing walked into the room with horoscope steps, grabbed the candied yellow peaches from the fruit plate on the table and threw it into his mouth, and hummed a ditty alone. Early this morning, Zhong Daoyu invited him again to talk about the military reform. Righteous words refused.

As a result, as soon as he returned home, Zhao Guanghua kept his promise, and came to thank him in the afternoon with his belongings.

Tong Guan was naturally happy and felt that what he had done was worthwhile.

At this time, his favorite concubine from the third room also came out, and after counting the belongings, she said happily: "Master, this money is comparable to your half-year salary!"

Tong Guan sternly said: "This is a big deal from like-minded friends. How can you say that money is not money?"

But then he laughed again: "However, there is nothing wrong with my concubine saying that. After all, he, Mr. Zhao, only supports money, and I am the one who does things. Money is something outside of us. How can we compare with me? But since he has a heart, we are considered Friends, you can't treat him badly, small merits are also merits, so let him share some."

Speaking of that, Tong Guan took out the two largest silver ingots and handed them to his concubine: "Didn't you make a fuss a few days ago to buy some perfume from the Zhenbao Pavilion? Today is just right, and these are yours."

The concubine bowed happily and quickly thanked: "Thank you, master!"

"Hahaha" Tong Guan laughed and hugged her into his arms.

Then he said to himself: "Hmph, this Zhong Daoyu has evil intentions, if he mentions the military reform in court tomorrow, I will definitely fight to the end!"

Then he looked at the white money on the table, and said generously: "A man was born to be a king and a country, maybe this is not enough, I need to unite with my colleagues more, and it is the best policy to persuade them. As for falling into isolation."

Just do it, he hurriedly stood up, and then shouted loudly: "Ah San, prepare a car for me, I'm going to see my colleagues."

"Okay sir!"

Soon, Tong Guan packed up and set off ambitiously.

"I have been following Tong Guan since he left the house. He went to the commander's residence of the Shenwu Army, presumably to persuade others to resist the general's army reform together." Report from Zhong Daoyu.

"General, in my opinion, Li Xingzhou's idea is to play around with children. Tong Guan objected to it before, but after all, he was only one person. Now it's all right, he gave gifts and money, and in the end, Tong Guan began to learn how to tie up party members It's gone! Isn't this a bad idea that won't help you?" Wei Chuan said bluntly, and sat down on the stone table next to him in dissatisfaction.

Zhong Daoyu stopped the hoe in his hand, frowned and thought for a while, and then asked, "Was Tong Guan happy when he left?"

Wei Chuan poured out the tea on the table and took a big sip: "I don't know, I don't dare to get too close, but I will definitely be happy. If I get so much money for no reason, I will be happy too."

Zhong Daoyu nodded, put down the hoe in his hand, and Wei Chuan quickly poured him a cup of tea.

Zhong Daoyu took a sip, then sat down: "To be honest, I don't understand what kind of way he is."

"The general still believes him." Wei Chuan was indignant.

Zhong Daoyu didn't speak, just drank tea, and asked calmly after a long time: "Then do you have a solution?"

Wei Chuan was at a loss for words all of a sudden.
Zhong Daoyu said calmly: "It's better to have a solution than to have no solution. Whether it works or not is another matter. Those who can think of a solution will always have a chance. If there is no solution, it doesn't matter that they can make it."

As he spoke, he stood up and continued to pick up the hoe to dig the ground: "So don't underestimate those who can always think of a way when they encounter problems. They may be wrong for a while, but they can't be wrong forever, so they dare not think of a way People who don’t even have the right to be wrong.”

Wei Chuan opened his mouth, and finally replied sullenly: "I know the general, and I will follow what the son said in the future."

Zhong Daoyu nodded and said no more.

Yang Hongzhao is also a person who has fought in battle. Although he is not the commander in chief, he is the general who leads the troops and executes the military orders of General Zhong Daoyu, but he still has rich experience in the battlefield.

He stood at the bow of the boat, facing the spring breeze, observing the situation of the river from time to time.

He "invited" several local fishermen in Suzhou to be guides, and one of them reported tremblingly: "The official of the imperial court, at the current speed, he will be able to reach Anxiakou in two days. Suzhou City”

Yang Hongzhao nodded and told him to back down.

He had been to Suzhou before, but it was not by water. He waved his hand, and the orderly next to him hurriedly approached with a flag on his back.

"Order, the whole army sets sail and slows down."

After the messenger left, his son Yang Jianye, who was also the commander of the Seventh Army of the Shenwu Second Chamber, asked in puzzlement: "Father, we are about to reach Jiangzhou, why should we slow down? If you can't read the book of war, it is said that soldiers are expensive and fast. Do this It doesn't make sense."

Yang Hongzhao glanced at him, and said seriously: "Soldiers are expensive, but you have to use your brains. If Suzhou people dare to assassinate the emperor in Beijing, it is certain that our army will come. We have been prepared for it, and the speed and slowness are different." What's the use?
If the enemy is on guard, our army cannot rush forward. We go down the river, and it is easy to advance and difficult to retreat. If we rush forward too quickly, it will be too late to retreat in case of danger. It is safest to set sail and advance slowly. "

After hearing this, Yang Jianye curled his lips in disdain: "Father, there is no need to be so cautious. The Suzhou Xiang army is only a few thousand. We have more than ten thousand elite soldiers, countless crossbows, and hundreds of warships. There is no reason for defeat."

"Nizi!" Yang Hongzhao was furious: "What do you know! Do you think I'm afraid of those Xiangjun who have thousands of wine bags and rice bags? I don't know the world and talk arrogantly, and I will suffer a lot in the future sooner or later!"

Yang Jianye was scolded, with an expression of disbelief.

Looking at him, Yang Hongzhao became more and more annoyed. He turned his head and stared at the water in front of him, and said in a deep voice, "Do you know how many troops were raised by King Wu?"

"Of course we know that there are more than [-] men with armor, and tens of thousands of people who can fight." Yang Jianye said proudly. He has memorized these histories by rote. He memorizes all the wars, who the two sides are, how they won or why they lost, etc., just so that one day they can gallop on the battlefield.

But now that the opportunity has come, my father is timid and afraid of getting into trouble, slowing down his march
Yang Hongzhao shook his head: "Hmph, you've heard it from hearsay, you only know one thing and don't know the other. At the time when the King of Wu sent troops with armor, there were only [-] soldiers!"

Yang Jianye was stunned for a moment: "How is this possible, obviously it is"

"There are tens of thousands of people?"

Yang Jianye nodded.

"That's why he coerced the people and people from all walks of life who were dissatisfied with the imperial court!" Yang Hongzhao said seriously: "So when he arrived outside Wuguan in the capital, he had tens of thousands of troops who could fight."

"This, this, this..." Yang Jianye was stunned, stuttering and unable to speak. Things seemed to be different from what he thought and heard.

After Yang Hongzhao finished speaking, he slapped him hard on the face: "Remember it for your father! It's not the superficial things such as swords, guns and armor that are scary when you are out in the field." He patted Yang Jianye's body neatly. Polished black and brown iron armor.

Then he beat his son's chest with his fist: "It's the people's hearts that are afraid! There are over one million households in Ansu Mansion. If the people's hearts change, let alone a hundred thousand teachers, there are millions of them! With spirit, once you enter Suzhou territory, you will not lose even a moment."

Yang Jianye looked dazed and nodded quickly.

Only then did Yang Hongzhao turn his head. What he was most afraid of was the disapproval of the people of Suzhou. According to the fishermen, the mouth of the Anxia Gorge was a big bay with fast currents. If Suzhou wanted to resist to the end, it would definitely not let them cross the gorge easily.

He is not a fool, if they can get through Anxiakou safely, and set up a formation, they will bring all elite soldiers with strong armor and strong soldiers, and they will not be afraid of Suzhou people at all.But what he is most afraid of is that the other party is not a fool.
(End of this chapter)