Early Ming Dynasty: Turning Clouds and Rains into New Learning Saints

Chapter 119 Differences between East and West (Second update)
Zhu Di was stunned for a moment after hearing this, and then thought for a moment before replying: "If the difference is much greater, the power will probably be weakened!"

As he spoke, he was not sure.

Zhu Wu who was behind them heard it and interjected, "Your Highness, son-in-law, after the gunpowder has been transported for a long distance, it will be remixed before the battle."

Obviously, Zhu Di has no actual combat experience and is not clear about these details.But those who have fought many battles will know this.

Hearing this, Zhu Di was thoughtful.

When Zhang Yifan saw it, he stretched out his hand and shook the gunpowder barrel, and then said to Zhu Di: "Did you see that the different ingredients in this gunpowder must have different weights. Assuming a very extreme example, if you keep shaking, the final As a result, the lighter ones must go to the top and the heavier ones to the bottom, don’t you think?”

After hearing this, Zhu Di reached out and shook the powder keg, and then stared at it seriously.

After a long time, he asked with some confusion: "Then what?"

After hearing this, Zhang Yifan pointed to the small bag of gunpowder on the fire gun soldier and said: "For the same reason, as long as the bag contains these powdery gunpowder, if it takes a long time, there will definitely be this problem. Therefore, this large barrel of gunpowder will re- Stir, but will the sachet affect it? Will it affect the power of the gunpowder?"

After Zhu Di heard this, he couldn't help but nodded, feeling that what Zhang Yifan said made sense.

If you talk about someone who doesn't pay attention to details, you might say it doesn't matter.However, Zhu Di is a very serious person, and he is very concerned about the details that Zhang Yifan raised that may affect the war.

Zhang Yifan has something to say.I heard him ask Zhu Di again: "If the army is suddenly attacked by the enemy while marching or is not prepared, and there is no time to re-stir the gunpowder, is it possible that the power of the gunpowder will be greatly reduced?" sex?"

"Absolutely!" Zhu Di nodded solemnly and replied.

So, Zhang Yifan immediately asked: "Now that we have discovered the problem, how should we solve it?"

"..." When Zhu Di heard this, he was stunned. How to solve it?

Fortunately, he knew Zhang Yifan better, so he didn't think too much, looked at Zhang Yifan and said, "You must have an idea, right?"

Zhang Yifan smiled after hearing this and asked him: "Have you ever seen a dung beetle rolling a ball of dung?"

"???" When Zhu Di heard it, a string of colons, what kind of dung beetle, and a dung ball?

He didn't think much about it at all. With a little excitement, he patted Zhang Yifan and said, "You have a smart mind. Please tell me how to do it!"

Zhang Yifan was speechless as he looked at the clothes Zhu Di had patted, which left a black palm print. He reached out and patted it, but found that it couldn't be patted away, so he had to forget it and said to Zhu Di: "You can add water to wet the gunpowder first, and then dry it in the shade. Make it into small, granular ones. I think this way, the composition of each gunpowder will be similar, and there will be no separation of light and heavy!"

This is the granulation of black powder.

In the original history, the West was recorded in books around 1405, that is, in the early fifteenth century.

In China, granulated black gunpowder was found on unearthed Ming Dynasty landmines. According to research, it is most likely that it was artificial rather than natural.

In addition, there are also records in Qi Jiguang's "New Book of Ji Xiao" and other military books of the middle and late Ming Dynasty.

However, at the end of the Ming Dynasty, the finances collapsed and armaments were lax. They could not even pay military salaries, let alone strictly require gunpowder.

Another difference between the East and the West is that the gunpowder granulation in the West uses urine, while the records in the East use water.

Of course, it is impossible for Zhang Yifan to talk about specific details at this time.

This kind of thing is not difficult as long as it is spoken out.After a reminder, there were a lot of talents in the early Ming Dynasty, and the emperor was not stupid, so naturally someone could do it.

At this time, Zhu Di was a little confused when he heard that the gunpowder was wetted with water.Even if it dries in the shade, will the gunpowder still be useful?
After all, he is only 16 years old, and he has seen too few of them.However, one advantage of being young is that it is easy for him to believe what Zhang Yifan says. After all, there are already examples.

Therefore, after Zhu Di was silent for a while, he said to Zhang Yifan: "Okay, then I'll let someone try it first."

After Zhang Yifan gave this suggestion, he went back.

This time, Zhu Di did not force him to stay.

The Yuanyang Formation has been mastered, and the next step is confrontation training and actual combat training. Zhu Di believes that Zhang Yifan cannot help with these matters.

And, no matter what, Zhang Yifan spent [-] yuan and proposed a close-range artillery idea and an idea of ​​improved gunpowder, which far exceeded his expectations for Zhang Yifan.

Zhang Yifan is also very satisfied with Zhu Di's training. He is even looking forward to it. There are less than two months left. Will Zhu Di really defeat Lan Yu and shock everyone's jaws?
If you can defeat Lan Yu, this will be considered a big gift package anyway. Isn't it considered a broken promise?

He didn't know that the public opinion in the capital had already changed somewhat.

Zhang Yifan did not want the reward of a hereditary title, but instead asked for [-] guan. As the emperor fulfilled his promise and actually gave him [-] guan, the competition began to attract attention again.

If at the beginning, public opinion basically believed that King Yan and the Prince Consort were overestimating their capabilities, then most of them have now changed this negative view.

"Ambition does not depend on age. If you have no ambition at all, what can you do?" "Yes, King Yan and the Prince Consort are both real heroes. It doesn't matter if you fail this challenge, but you have to fight for it!"

"Hey, Lao Wang, you didn't say that before!"

"You see the Prince Consort is so kind, I will definitely side with the Prince Consort!"

"That's right, that's right. The prince-in-law is so kind, compassionate, and has great merits. Of course he is a good person. How could he overestimate his own abilities!"

"..."

For the same thing, after the position changes, the view will change!

However, it is a bit regrettable that although many people's positions have changed, their views on the results have not changed.

Zhang Yifan naturally doesn't care about these.At this time, he began to worry about his villa in Liujiacun.

Zhu Jingjing's skills in music, chess, calligraphy and painting were put to good use.Zhang Yifan described, Zhu Jingjing painted and started the design of their other courtyard.

The couple is quite comfortable staying in their own house.

On this day, when Zhang Yifan and his wife were almost designing the courtyard, someone from below suddenly came to report that Zheng Jingxue wanted to see him.

Zheng Jingxue is Zhang Yifan's first teacher, so Zhang Yifan naturally wants to meet him.

What he didn't expect was that Zheng Jingxue was not the only one who came: he brought his father.

Zhang Yifan immediately knew that classmate Zhu Yuanzhang still listened to the advice. It was probably that the Jinyiwei went to various places to verify the results, and Zheng Shiyuan was considered an upright official, so he was released.

So, he naturally congratulated Zheng Shiyuan and wished that the clouds had cleared and that he would be blessed with great blessings after the disaster.

What he didn't expect was that Zheng Shiyuan said that he was going to retire and return to his hometown to farm.

Seeing Zhang Yifan's stunned look, Zheng Jingxue explained: "My father was an official and devoted himself to serving the country and the people, but suddenly he was imprisoned. If it hadn't been for the words of the consort, I don't know what would have happened in the end. And now for As an official, his salary was meager and he didn't even have the money to treat my mother. It was thanks to the money given by the prince-in-law that my mother was cured. So my father thought, he might as well go home and farm."

He and Zhang Yifan were considered acquaintances, and knew what kind of person Zhang Yifan was, so he dared to say such things.

Even if his father winked at him from the side, he ignored it and told the real situation.

Zhang Yifan was really a little sad after hearing this.

Among the officials in the Hongwu Dynasty, Zheng Shiyuan was not the only one to have this idea.

There was a minister who retired from old age and returned to his hometown to farm.Zhu Yuanzhang didn't understand, so he secretly sent people to check. When the people he sent arrived at the place, they asked the old farmers in the fields, how to get to so-and-so's house?
It turned out that this old man was the minister who retired from old age and returned to his hometown.

Zhang Yifan remembered this, but forgot his name.He had seen at least two similar things.

If a good official like Zheng Shiyuan resigns and goes back to farming, it will be a real loss to the people.

However, if Zheng Shiyuan does not resign, unless he makes some extra money, it will be a problem to support his family.

Those who were able to function as officials in the Hongwu Dynasty must have other sources of wealth.

Thinking of this, Zhang Yifan felt that it was necessary for him to find time to have a good chat with classmate Zhu Yuanzhang.I don't know how many times we talked about it before, did Zhu Yuanzhang listen to it, and it would be best to ask about the situation?
With this thought in his mind, Zhang Yifan put aside the matter first, and then asked Zheng Jingxue what his plans were.
"Of course I want to go back with my father." Zheng Jingxue's eyes seemed a little unwilling, but in the end he answered truthfully.

Originally, as long as there was a vacancy for an official, he was now a top student in the Imperial College, so he would definitely be given priority to become an official.

After hearing this, Zhang Yifan thought for a while and said: "The sociology in Liujiacun has not been established. One of the reasons is the lack of a good teacher. Can you stay and be the teacher of the sociology in Liujiacun? Three times a month, see you at the end of the year How about giving me another five to twenty guan after one year of teaching?"

Mr. Sociology, how can there be so much money, Zheng Shiyuan couldn't help but want to grab it when he heard the offer.

This is much easier than going home to farm, and he makes more money!
Zheng Jingxue was not very willing to go back at first. When he heard this, he was immediately overjoyed and quickly said that he did not need so much money. He even took out the money and wanted to give it to Zhang Yifan to pay off the previous debt first.

Just listen to him say: "The ten strings used for betting must be returned to the consort no matter what. Please do not refuse, otherwise I will not be able to take advantage of this sociology gentleman."

You don't have to pay to catch his father, so you save a lot of money, and you have this money to pay back.

When Zhang Yifan heard this, he thought for a moment and did not force him, so he reached out and took the Ming Dynasty treasure note presented to him by Zheng Jingxue.

Thinking of Zhu Di's misunderstanding, Zhang Yifan looked at the face value of each Ming Dynasty banknote.As a result, his brows furrowed at this glance.

(End of this chapter)