Villager of Daming

Chapter 1318: Step Jumping, Craftsman Guarding (Four Other Chapters)
The large air conditioner was whirring, and everyone picked up their own meat and grilled it without the need for help from the palace maids.

There were only Zhu Wentian, the head of the village, Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Yuanzhang's five sons, and Empress Ma here.

Zhu Wentian had a pair of chopsticks in each hand, one pair for eating and one pair for serving others. He was very skilled. He was practicing flying skewers, which required his fingers to be flexible.

Empress Ma didn't need Hanhan to roast meat because her son was around. Hanhan only roasted meat for the head of the village and Zhu Yuanzhang.

Queen Ma took a sip of beer and said, "Now that we don't need to use the winter ice reserves, the people in the north have one less thing to do. What has Hanhan been busy with recently?"

“To reply to the Queen, there are so many messed up things that I can’t tell the priorities.

This ice! We still need to stockpile it, as ice-making equipment cannot be popularized to all parts of Daming for a while.

It is relatively convenient to obtain local materials in the northern region, and currently the production of ice machines is given priority to ocean-going vessels.

Using solar energy to boil water and then using condensation equipment to obtain distilled water, the sailors have a set of equipment to feel confident.

The laboratory has recently been promoting a naval warfare auxiliary equipment, a submarine. We made a small model, which is only electrically driven. I will go and take a look after dinner."

Zhu Wentian emphasized the priority of equipment. Currently, the largest ice-making factory can only supply ice to the people of Yingtian Prefecture. People usually eat ice in the form of popsicles, ice cream, and shaved ice.

The equipment on the ships of the Ming Navy is not as big as that in the factories, so it is enough to supply one ship.

You can make money by selling ice outside, but in places like Luzon, they will never know what ice looks like.

Not to mention South America, the Pacific Islands, and Africa.

The crew relies on ice-making equipment, and the steam engine cannot use seawater. If they take fresh water out, even if the steam engine has distilled water recovery equipment, it will still consume fresh water and cannot be recycled 100%.

How can we survive in the vast ocean without fresh water?
Given a set of equipment, seafarers will set up the solar cooker when the weather is good, boil seawater and condense it into fresh water.

As long as one of the containers containing fresh water on the ship is not full, the seafarers will be anxious and they must keep them full of water at all times to feel at ease.

After saying something that has been said several times, he mentioned the new weapon, or weapon platform, the submarine.

Air compressors are available, diesel engines and gasoline engines are available, sealing technology is also good, and batteries have further increased their unit power storage capacity.

Then it was time to bring in submarines and torpedoes, lay the decks of the larger ships, and then put the aircraft on top.

"The submarine is... Let's eat first." Queen Ma knew that if she wanted to watch it now, she would be late for dinner.

Everyone inadvertently sped up their eating speed, and it still took an hour to finish.

The group came to the village's confidential testing area, which was strictly guarded by people from the Prince's Mansion. No one else was allowed to approach, including the guards from the palace.

A new swimming pool was built here. The reason why a large fish tank was not used was that the small model was more than three meters long, so the only thing that could be built was an aquarium, and Xiaqiu Village did not have that technology.

The swimming pool can only be viewed from above unless you wear the equipment while in the water.

The three-meter-one submarine has a control line and is controlled by wire. It can move forward, backward, turn, dive and ascend, and is powered by electricity.

Ling'er operated the submarine and explained: "The submarine dives by using its own gravity and filling the empty compartments with water, which means it can still float.

If you want to dive, you need to release the air in the compressed air bottle and push the water out of the cabin, so it is best to have the water inlet and outlet of the cabin at the bottom.

In a submarine, if you want to see what's happening outside, you raise the periscope. Look, this periscope is raised, but this is a model, it doesn't have a periscope function."

Ling'er first let the submarine move on the surface and underwater so that it could rise and fall.

Then a row of small wooden boats were placed in front, and Ling'er continued, "Submarines can be used for reconnaissance, and the enemy cannot detect submarines.

At the same time, it can also carry a small number of combat or surveying personnel quietly ashore. If they are good at swimming, they can directly get out of the submarine and swim over underwater.

It is easiest to exit through the torpedo launch port, without the need to build a separate sealed cabin.

A torpedo is a large bomb that travels through water and is launched by ships, submarines, and aircraft.

The launching distance depends on the power of the torpedo explosion. If there is too much explosives and the torpedo is too close, it will destroy the submarine on your side and the underwater shock wave will be very strong.

We are currently researching electric fish propulsion, dual propellers, and gyroscopes. Our tourbillon watches have this technology.

If the enemy has a larger ship in the future, they will consider using steam-driven torpedoes, but they are not needed at present. Look..."

As she spoke, Ling'er manipulated the controller in her hand to adjust the direction of the submarine. When she felt it was about time, she stopped. The torpedo launch bay next to her opened, and whoosh~~ a torpedo shot out.

The torpedo was traveling in a straight line, and in front of it was a small wooden boat. The torpedo hit the wooden boat directly, knocking it off course, but it did not explode. There was no explosive device inside it at all; it was just a toy.

Three more missiles were fired, and one missed the target and did not hit the small wooden boat.

“The model only carries four torpedoes, but a real submarine can carry many more, and the torpedo tubes are only for launching torpedoes, which are loaded and fired manually.

If you don't put it in a submarine, you can put it on a ship. This is also fine, because the enemy ship can't avoid it anyway.

The enemy's small boats cannot fight in naval battles. If we want to fight near the coast, we can send out small steam ships.

When fighting in the open sea, their ships did not have enough time to adjust their direction and did not have enough power.

When they figure out how to dodge electric-propelled torpedoes, we will use steam-powered torpedoes, which are so fast that even our navy's ships cannot dodge them.

Torpedoes must be equipped before submarines. From now on, all officers and soldiers of our Ming Navy must be proficient in operating torpedo launches.

Don’t be afraid of wasting money. Only when you hit the target can you be safe, and only when you are safe can you make money.”

Ling'er said as she handed the remote control in her hand to Zhu Yuanzhang and asked him to try it.

As a result, before she could explain, Zhu Yuanzhang started to operate it. A few seconds later, the small wooden boat that had just avoided the torpedo was smashed into pieces by the submarine. Then the submarine crashed into the edge of the swimming pool and cut off the power.

"Ling'er, you're right. We really need to practice more! Yeah! Hehehehe..."

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Ling'er awkwardly, indicating that Ling'er was right.

"Anything else?" Zhu Xiongying, who was waiting to play nearby, asked with a complicated look on his face.

"Fix it immediately, it will be fixed soon." Zhu Yuanzhang said, since it wasn't him who was repairing it anyway.

Half an hour later, Zhu Xiongying finally got the repaired submarine with spare parts. He took it apart to see which part was damaged and replaced the parts.

"The kid is really clever!" Zhu Yuanzhang breathed a sigh of relief and sat under a parasol next to the swimming pool drinking beer and eating fennel beans.

"It's you who didn't listen to the explanation, sorry little sister... Hey? Are you asleep?"

Zhu Xiongying wanted to pull his sister to talk to grandpa together, but when he turned around, he found the little girl sleeping soundly on the mat, with someone next to her adjusting the angle of the fan.

Zhu Xiongying is addicted to playing. Before, he had cars and tanks with remote controls, and now he has submarines.

Empress Ma said leisurely: "Before the possible enemies can come up with a way to restrain our steam-powered ships, we have already designed weapons to target their warships.

Others used swords and spears, figuring out how to shoot bows and arrows farther and how to make crossbows more powerful.

We can replace it with better assault rifles and mortars, even if it can't fire rapid-fire water-jet rifles, they are good, accurate, and have a long effective range.

If we still lose the battle even though we have such weapons, it only means one thing: we will lose a lot of heads.

Speaking of which, the weapons of our Ming Dynasty and those of others seem...abnormal?"

When Empress Ma talked about weapons, she felt that the Ming Dynasty's weapons seemed to be missing something.

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at his sister and said, "It's more than just weapons. Look at the steam engine and the electric light. Which one is normal?

To put it bluntly, just like climbing stairs, everyone should go up one step at a time, but Daming skipped dozens or even hundreds of steps at a time.

Hanhan, tell me, if we follow the steps one by one, what kind of weapons should we use?"

Zhu Yuanzhang discovered the key point: the Ming Dynasty was developing in leaps and bounds, both in technology and economy.

Zhu Wentian gave a thumbs up: "Your Majesty, the Empress has sharp eyes and is very observant. She can tell the end of the year by seeing a fallen leaf."

He first praised it, and then talked about the weapons: "After the development of the firearm, there was the fire gun, then the improved fire gun, and then the three-barreled fire gun.

Later, they made a matchlock gun, which was loaded from the front and had a ignition hole at the back. They would light the slow-burning match to touch the powder to fire the gun.

With the matchlock gun, there was the flintlock gun, and the flintlock gun was upgraded to a breech-loading gun with a metal bullet shell.

Continuous-fire weapons began to appear, including submachine guns, assault rifles, light machine guns, and heavy machine guns according to their functions.

In fact, if we want more weapons now, we can install machine guns and large-caliber heavy machine guns, whose bullets can explode or not.

What about the cannon? I don't want to build one. No matter what kind of cannon it is, it is very large and heavy, and it is very inconvenient to carry, even if it is a self-propelled artillery.

We’ll try to make a few later, just so we know this thing exists.

Cannons, howitzers, mortars, and rocket launchers.

Make a type of each, a few doors of each type, and put them there. Just know that they exist, and start mass production when needed.

Uh... let's build a few thousand small direct-fire cannons with small mortars! No protective gear, reduce weight, install wheels, and tow them.

Direct-aiming cannons are easier to operate, unlike mortars where you have to calculate the trajectory. OK, that's it."

As Zhu Wentian was talking, he decided to launch a small cannon that would normally equip the army. This kind of cannon is easy to use and simple to operate.

But the smallest direct-aimed gun is heavier than a small mortar, and is better suited for attacking or defending a city, or for loading onto ships.

"Is it harder to move than a catapult?" Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to make a comparison.

"If it's as difficult to transport as a catapult, our cannon is much more powerful. Dozens or even hundreds of people plus tools are needed to transport a cannon. Once it's transported to the combat position, it can destroy every blade of grass within 15 miles.

The enemy couldn't see where we were until the shells fell and killed a large number of people, then they realized they were being hit."

Zhu Wentian thought about it and gave a rough estimate. As long as one is not afraid of wasting time and is willing to invest a large amount of transportation manpower, the artillery can be very powerful.

Daming should build roads well, so that transportation will be simple. If we go out to fight others, we will use their roads...

"Build it!" Zhu Yuanzhang ordered, "Let's build it first so that the craftsmen can get familiar with it. Then we can see how it is built. Hanhan, you jumped well on this step. Keep jumping on the next step."

"Then your majesty, I will build some of the steps before jumping the stairs? The Northern Yuan Dynasty ran away with the gunpowder technology. They will probably work hard to study and see if they can follow the steps!"

Zhu Wentian had no objection, but he made life difficult for the craftsmen. He cut off external communication and did not allow people of different trades to discuss their work with each other.

In the production of weapons and ammunition, there will be a division of labor, with some people being responsible for part of the work.

Those who make gun barrels, bolts, gun frames, bullets, magazines, gunpowder, etc. are the only ones who know everything about it. They have guards to "protect" them when they go out.

For example, Wang Yiqian, when he was following the team, he just strolled around casually, but now wherever he goes, there are dozens of people around him.

It's not that I don't trust him, it's a necessary procedure. At the same time, I'm more worried that he will be abducted by someone else.

"Thank you, Hanhan, for preparing a big banquet at the beginning of autumn. Please prepare everything in advance.

The third day of July marks the beginning of autumn. The holiday starts from the first day of July and ends on the fifth day of July. The next holiday will be the Ghost Festival, which falls on the fifteenth day of July.

List the silage and autumn harvest crops in various places, the vegetable harvest and the seed harvest, and ask various places to provide data. "

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded to Hanhan and began to assign work to the head of the village.

To prepare a big banquet, many ingredients need to be prepared in advance, such as dried abalone, dried bear paws, dried shark fins, dried sea cucumbers...

Now I am considering what dishes to cook, how to prepare them, and how to arrange staff.

The head of the village looked at Hanhan and said, "Your Majesty, how big a banquet do you want? With the cooking techniques and variety of dishes we have now, we can put together dozens or even hundreds of dishes."

"Aren't those dozens of dishes the ones we have in our cafeteria?" Zhu Yuanzhang felt that dozens of dishes were too few.

The head of the village shook his head and said: "The food in the canteen is home-cooked, and they make a few special dishes occasionally.

For home-cooked dishes like cabbage, the difference between stir-fried cabbage with vinegar and cabbage with soy sauce lies in whether vinegar or dark soy sauce is added. Some people don’t like vinegar.

Eggplant with minced meat can be fried or steamed. The fried one is oily, while the steamed one is light.

The big meatballs are blanched or steamed. The relationship between lion head and four-happiness meatballs is that they are roughly chopped and finely chopped.

Stir-fried pork intestines and fried pork intestines are common dishes, but nine-turn large intestines are not.

The requirements for a grand banquet are very high. When eating cabbage, only the heart is eaten, and when eating bean sprouts, only the middle is taken. The more delicate the preparation, the more manpower is needed. "

"Chongba, there's no need for this at the beginning of autumn! Just make a few dozen dishes, what do you think?"

Queen Ma understood that Xiaqiu Village could prepare a banquet with hundreds of dishes, each of which was a masterpiece.

"Sister, you're right. Why use a butcher knife to kill a chicken? We're just attacking a den of thieves. Why do we need to mobilize the elite troops of the Crown Prince's Mansion and four royal palaces to overwhelm them?"

Zhu Yuanzhang realized that this was just like fighting a war, it all depended on whether it was worth it or not.

The guards of the Prince's Mansion and the palaces of his four younger brothers went to fight, and they were definitely not fighting against external enemies, but against the rebel generals of the Ming Dynasty who had similar weapons.

Once they go up, they will cover you with firepower and bombard you at all costs. The individual soldiers' quality will be stronger, and they use so much ammunition in normal training that they cry.

The enemy can live if they surrender, but the guards of the palace will die with their entire family if they surrender. There is no other outcome in suppressing the rebellion.

Therefore, even though he really wanted to see the grand banquet with hundreds of dishes, he felt that the timing was not right.

"Your Majesty, a big banquet can last for seven days and seven nights, and a small banquet can last for one day and one night. How about forty-nine dishes? They will be served one after another, not like in a cafeteria, where it's a buffet and you can eat whatever you want. There are many dishes, but you can't eat them all."

The village chief suggested that, out of the total of 7749, the small dishes should not be counted.

It is impossible to make a pickle with dozens of vegetables mixed together, and then pick out the pickles separately. One dish of cowpea is one dish, one dish of spicy cabbage is one dish, and one dish of peas...

Even if you set up a table and add a bowl of noodles, it's just a bowl of noodles. According to the Northeastern dialect, there is not even a single main dish!
"Okay! Yichang will take care of the arrangements!" Zhu Yuanzhang was satisfied.

"Grandpa, do you have snow bean paste?" Zhu Xiongying, who was playing with a submarine there, suddenly turned around and asked.

"Yes, we have everything you like to eat." The head of the village nodded vigorously.

"I love everything that's made in our village! Oh! I almost hit my head against the wall like my grandfather did. No, I almost let the submarine hit the side. Grandpa, I'm not saying anything bad about you. No one is perfect!"

When Zhu Xiongying turned around, he found that the submarine was about to hit the wall of the swimming pool, so he quickly adjusted it.

Zhu Yuanzhang: "..."

……

The industrial zone received a call and began to organize manpower. When the people from Xiaqiu Village came with a set of drawings, they immediately got busy.

Drill the barrel, make shells, and work on other auxiliary facilities of the gun mount.

If people who only have experience in making small mortars are asked to suddenly make large artillery, it will take at least three to five years for them to achieve results.

Fortunately, Zhu Wentian already had detailed drawings and formulas, so he just followed them.

The drawings included drawings of tools for making the barrel, and the lathe was readily available.

Smoothbore and rifled guns, cannons, howitzers, mortars, barrels and shells are made according to size and combat needs.

Some craftsmen felt helpless after reading the drawings.

Because they had also thought of these things and were in the process of designing and experimenting, the drawings that Xiaqiu Village threw over covered all their ideas and were better and more complete.

The only consolation is that they can get money. They just need to turn their ideas and designs into reports and submit them. If the new weapons use their ideas, they will be rewarded.

In fact, Zhu Wentian didn't need them, but he had to give them to them, otherwise it would discourage the enthusiasm of the craftsmen.

For example, for hydraulic equipment, Zhu Wentian casually threw out a set of technology. The craftsmen had already submitted a report before, envisioning using hydraulics to solve the problem of mechanical levers.

The craftsman worked very hard and actually thought of using a hydraulic lever instead of a mechanical lever. The craftsman was right, he just had not been to the future.

If craftsmen are not rewarded, will they still work hard?

Once they lose their enthusiasm, the craftsmen will start to slack off. The more skilled the craftsmen are, the more they will slack off. You may see them as diligent, but in the end they don't produce any results.

So Wang Yiqian spoke to a group of craftsmen through a loudspeaker: "It is because of the ideas and designs submitted by you that Xiaqiu Village has come up with new technologies after sorting and synthesizing them.

Without your contributions, there would be no Ming Dynasty's current industrial base. Without your efforts, there would be no Ming Dynasty's breakthroughs in weapons research and development.

Your wisdom is the stars, shining in the darkness of the night sky.

Brighter than the moon, more eternal than the sun.

There is still half a month left. Your Majesty, if you want to see results, please treat this as a war."

"With the hearts of the people surging, the sun and the moon can be changed! With heavy industry, the world will be overturned!"

The craftsmen were screaming and shouting as if they had been given morphine, and it seemed like there was no problem in letting them rub a nuclear bomb with their hands.

Their salaries are too high, their benefits are too good, and they take care of everything for the family.

The craftsmen in the industrial zone are no longer pursuing material enjoyment, they want spiritual enjoyment.

……

"It was built so quickly? Will these guns explode? They are too big."

Zhu Yuanzhang came early in the morning. Today was the beginning of autumn, and he invited a lot of people who had surrendered before to come for dinner.

By the way, let them see the current weapons of the Ming Dynasty and tell them not to be afraid of being beaten by other enemies, because our Ming Dynasty is strong.

It was definitely not a threat to them, telling them not to think about rebelling again, otherwise...

No one else has come yet! There are a lot of artillery pieces standing there, and Zhu Yuanzhang is worried about problems.

"Don't worry, Your Majesty. We have tested them all, except that the shells are not loaded with explosives, but the weight ratio is the same."

The village head guaranteed it, and Hanhan had verified it, and the craftsmen were willing to guarantee it with their entire family's lives.

"It's so fast!" Zhu Yuanzhang exclaimed, the speed is so scary!
"Because everyone has dreams and beliefs. Some craftsmen even stayed awake for three days and three nights. Later, we had no choice but to give them soup and medicine, and they fell asleep.

In fact, the village has developed a new drug that can allow people to stay awake for 72 hours and keep their mind clear and their behavior normal.

But that is for combatants and will not be used unless absolutely necessary.

The craftsmen are all great, Your Majesty should commend them and give them honor when you pay them, because they don’t lack money anymore.”

The head of the village waved back as he spoke, and the people from Xiaqiu Village behind him came over pulling large boxes.

Zhu Yuanzhang took a look and said: "There is no village for us, right? You guys are always silently contributing!"

"Instead of silently dedicating ourselves, how about we just pursue the Ming Dynasty?" The head of the village shook his head.

(End of this chapter)