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

Chapter 266
Zhang Yifan didn't care after hearing this.

In fact, he knew very well that Zhu Yuanzhang would not be able to take the initiative to open up other battlefields before completely defeating the remnants of Meng Yuan.

The reason why he said this again was just to remind Zhu Yuanzhang, and say it from time to time, so as to avoid Zhu Yuanzhang saying something about the country without conquering it later. It would be very difficult for him to slap him in the face again.

At this time, Zhang Yifan stopped mentioning the Japanese country and continued to talk about other things: "Father, I still believe that if our Ming Dynasty has special products, other countries will also have special products. For example, in the Han and Tang Dynasties, after the opening of the Silk Road in the Western Regions, , is to communicate with each other. Therefore, apart from the Western Regions, there will definitely be good things that our Ming Dynasty does not have!"

After hearing what he said, Zhu Yuanzhang did not interrupt, but nodded slightly.This principle is actually very simple and easy to understand.

Seeing him nodding, Zhang Yifan asked: "Perhaps we can send people to travel around the world as soon as possible to collect specialties from various countries for our Ming Dynasty to use. When the news about our Ming Dynasty patents spreads in the future, we can't care about what happened before, right? No matter what In this way, our Ming Dynasty has a strong fist, but it is also reasonable, right?"

Having said this, he paused and then said: "By the way, I can also prove that the earth under our feet is actually a round ball."

When Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, he couldn't help but smile, pointed at Zhang Yifan and said: "You have so many tricks! After talking so much, why don't you let me practice your new learning? In your words, through Experiment to prove your correctness!"

After hearing this, Zhang Yifan thought to himself, you are the smartest person. If it weren't for you, would I bother to say it?Anyone in future generations will know these things: the earth is round!

However, on the surface, Zhang Yifan showed a hint of embarrassment and replied to Zhu Yuanzhang: "What I think is really impossible to hide from my father's fiery eyes!"

Zhu Yuanzhang was stunned for a moment after hearing this, and asked: "What are the blazing eyes and golden eyes?"

Zhang Yifan was stunned for a moment, then thought about it immediately.The origin of Fiery Eyes and Golden Eyes is Monkey Sun in "Journey to the West", but this was the early Ming Dynasty, and the four famous works were still in the library in Xiangshan County, and were not widely circulated.

So, he explained to Zhu Yuanzhang: "The fiery eyes and golden eyes are from the fairy novel "Journey to the West". It is said that the fiery eyes and golden eyes can identify the disguises of monsters and monsters."

Hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang wished he had a pair of piercing eyes that could see through the inner thoughts of every minister.He had accepted this flattery.

Zhu Biao at the side heard it, and said with a smile, "Yifan and Jingjing run the popular literature club quite well. I've heard about it from your sister-in-law. It's a pity that I'm too busy to read it."

Hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but give him a sideways look, and immediately remembered Zhu Biao's words conveying Zhang Yifan's theory of bucket shortcomings in his mind, and his original intention of scolding Zhu Biao was gone.

Maybe I should also find a reasonable way to govern the country and see how short the wooden board of the bucket should be to suit most Ming emperors?

With this matter in his mind, Zhu Yuanzhang said to Zhang Yifan who looked expectant: "Well, what you said makes some sense. It is possible to send some people back to sea to understand the situation in foreign countries. But what should be used in it? The name, the appropriate number of people to send, and how to contact countries need to be carefully discussed!"

Zhang Yifan: "..."

Hearing the meaning of these words, his mind immediately thought about Zheng He leading a huge fleet to the Western Ocean.

As far as the virtues of their father and son are concerned, the results of their discussions may be similar.

If it were really on such a scale, the father-in-law would definitely arrange this matter after the remnants of Meng Yuan were defeated.

So, Zhang Yifan hurriedly said: "Didn't my father always say that only when you know yourself and your enemy can you be sure to do something? If we want to be so formal, we don't know foreign countries, so it will be difficult. It is better to collect foreign news in an informal way first. and specialties. Wouldn’t it be better to wait until we come back and have a good idea of ​​foreign countries before we can set principles for exchanges between countries?”

When Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, he frowned slightly and thought for a while, then nodded, looked at him and said, "What you said makes sense, so just follow this idea. It just so happens that I don't have to worry too much about these little things. "

Having said this, he turned to look at Zhu Biao and said, "If Yifan said this, you can handle it."

Zhu Biao glanced at Zhang Yifan, and then replied: "Yes, father!"

Zhang Yifan saw that the matter of sending people overseas unexpectedly came to a conclusion today, and he couldn't help but feel very happy. He immediately said to Zhu Biao: "Brother, I also have some ideas about this matter. I will discuss it with you later!"

"Okay!" Zhu Biao nodded without hesitation.Even if Zhang Yifan didn't say anything, he would still look for Zhang Yifan when he turned around. After all, his brother-in-law was the instigator.

Unconsciously, Zhu Yuanzhang stayed here for a long time.He looked at the sky, remembered something, and said to Zhang Yifan: "It's still early, come with us to the war station and see what happens with black gunpowder and sugar!"

He still puts military matters first.

Zhang Yifan couldn't refuse his request.I can only accompany him to the military battle station.

The Bingzhan Bureau does not have any sugar reserves.Not to mention that sugar is still relatively expensive at the moment, let alone, who would have thought that sugar could be related to firearms.

Fortunately, before Zhu Yuanzhang set off, he sent someone to urgently distribute some sugar to the Military War Bureau.

According to Zhang Yifan's impression, the ratio of white sugar to black gunpowder seemed to be one to two, so he asked the Bingzhan Bureau to mix it like this, and then use explosive packs to test the power of this new formula.

Inside the bunker, Zhu Yuanzhang looked at the experiment site in the distance with a serious face.Whenever it comes to military affairs, he has always attached great importance to it.

With him like this, Zhang Yifan and Zhu Biao couldn't communicate happily.I can only stay with him and watch the experiment first.

In order to prove the change in power in comparison, the method of this experiment is to use the same amount of explosive packets, bury them under a section of the wall, stretch the fuses, and ignite them at the same time. After almost exploding together, you can see the effect.

As long as the emperor is around, everything must be consulted. After step by step, the fuse is finally lit.

Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao were under the bunker, staring at the test site in the distance with their eyes wide open.

Even Zhang Yifan was no exception and was watching closely because he had never experimented before and did not have a complete idea of ​​what the result would be.

Suddenly, two loud noises sounded one after another.

"Boom" "Boom"

These two loud noises were obviously of different sizes.

Not only that, but from Zhang Yifan's perspective, the phenomenon he saw was completely different.

I saw an explosion that toppled a wall in one place and caused debris and soil to fly around. It was far bigger than the other place.It is not an exaggeration to describe it as "a big witch sees a small witch".

Needless to say, the more powerful part is naturally the one where sugar is added. There is no need to report it, you can confirm it from the direction reported in advance.

With a hint of excitement, Zhu Biao turned to Zhang Yifan and said, "Yifan, that's right. The place where sugar is added makes the explosion several times more powerful!"

However, Zhu Yuanzhang was not excited. Instead, he said to the eunuch waiting beside him: "I want to go and see for myself."

The eunuch listened and quickly ordered the guards around him to rush over to eliminate possible dangers. After ensuring safety, he guided Zhu Yuanzhang and others to the explosion site.

After a while, Zhang Yifan accompanied the Emperor and the Crown Prince of Ming Dynasty to the scene where Lin Li, the Jinyi Guards School Captain, watched the explosion scene at close range.

From a distance, the power of the explosions in the two places is already different.The contrast is even more pronounced at close range.

The wall without sugar is just a hole where the explosive package was buried.The impact on the entire wall is not very great.

However, when it came to the explosion scene with Sugar, the entire wall was blown to pieces and spread all over the place.

If it really happened to blow up the city wall on the battlefield, it can be seen from this experiment that the amount of explosives used is obviously added with sugar. Not only can the amount be smaller, but it can also be more powerful.

After reading it, Zhu Yuanzhang finally showed excitement and immediately said: "Try with other ratios to find the mixing ratio with the greatest explosive power!"

After giving the instructions, he took his son and son-in-law and returned to the observation bunker.

This time, he did not watch from the observation post, but sat on a chair and motioned for his son and son-in-law to sit down as well.

Later, Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said to Zhang Yifan: "Even if the power of other proportions is not as powerful as this time, I believe that the strength of our Ming army can definitely be improved a lot. In the future, we will use less troops. War is also possible."

The reduction in military strength does not reduce combat effectiveness, which plays a huge role in logistics.Especially for Daming, who needs to recuperate now, it is very needed.

After hearing this, Zhang Yifan reminded Zhu Yuanzhang: "This kind of black gunpowder with added sugar has greatly improved the explosive power. It is of great benefit to the miniaturization of explosive packages. In the future, Ming soldiers will even be able to project explosive packages without trebuchets. Instead, it can be made into something that can be thrown by hand. But for other aspects, such as for use in muskets and artillery, I am afraid that other technical improvements are needed to coordinate it!"

"Oh?" Zhu Yuanzhang immediately expressed great interest when he heard it, and said to him immediately, "Tell me!"

Even if Zhang Yifan didn't say anything about the miniaturization of explosive packs, he had already thought of it.What he wanted to hear at this time was Zhang Yifan's other thoughts.

So, Zhang Yifan looked at Zhu Yuanzhang and said: "Now our artillery fires iron bullets, and the lethality is a line. If the enemy attacks in a scattered manner, then in terms of lethality, the artillery bombardment will be a loss." . In other words, the lethality is limited.”

"Another way of killing artillery is to fill it with gravel, and then it is propelled by gunpowder and sprayed out from the muzzle. It is very lethal to enemies who rush close. However, the range is too short."

"Now that we have this more powerful gunpowder, if there is a technology that can combine the two methods of artillery killing just now, then our Ming Dynasty's artillery will be truly powerful. But how can we achieve this? Obviously it is not just As long as the gunpowder is powerful, it also needs to be coordinated with the technology of exploding the shells in the enemy thicket in the distance after being fired."

Zhu Yuanzhang thought about Zhang Yifan's description in his mind. Even though he was in his fifties and had experienced countless hardships, he still became excited and said immediately: "Can it really be done?"

He has fought in wars in his life, and he knows best what the battlefield will look like if Zhang Yifan's idea can be realized!
That's why he couldn't help but be excited.

Zhang Yifan listened and did not give a definite answer. He just replied: "With such an idea, we need to continue to practice and study it. Maybe one day in the future, it will be realized. At least in my feeling, as long as I use my new knowledge, If you do it with your knowledge and methods, it should be no problem!”

"Haha!" When Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, he immediately burst into laughter and said, "You are just selling melons, but I think it's okay, it's okay!"

At this moment, there was a "boom" from outside. It should be that they were experimenting with the explosive effects of different sugar ratios.

Zhu Yuanzhang was not interrupted by the voice, but looked at Zhang Yifan and said: "The Grand Master has not given me a conclusion yet, but I can tell you first that your new learning is indeed very useful. I agree to join In the future imperial examinations, we will cultivate talents in this field for the imperial court!"

Finally, Zhang Yifan used facts to prove the power of Xinxue and got a positive answer from Zhu Yuanzhang.

So Zhang Yifan smiled.

When Zhu Biao saw it, he also laughed, happy for Zhang Yifan and happy for the Ming Dynasty.

Afterwards, Zhang Yifan became more considerate, and said to Zhu Yuanzhang: "The army can still continue to use counterweight trebuchets to throw this new explosive package, killing a large number of distant enemies. The farther the distance is, the more the trebuchet will be." It is too big and will be inconvenient to carry. It will be better to eliminate the trebuchet in the future after the research on artillery has made progress."

No matter how big the trebuchet is, its projection distance is still limited, far less than that of artillery.

If you can kill the enemy at a longer distance, your own advantage will be greater.It can even be used not only for siege warfare, but also for field battles without any problem.

Zhu Yuanzhang could also think of these things and immediately nodded in agreement.

They were talking, the military battle bureau was experimenting, and when Zhu Yuanzhang had to go back in the evening, the result of the experiment was still the most powerful at the first time.However, Zhu Yuanzhang went back before the experiment was completed and he was not in a hurry to reach a conclusion in one day.

However, before going back, Zhu Yuanzhang still said to Zhang Yifan: "The price of sugar will definitely be more expensive in the future. You have made a lot of money!"

(End of this chapter)