The room goes through the late Ming Dynasty, and the back door leads to North America at the beginni

Li Zicheng looked at the cannon in front of him gloomily.

Seeing this, Li Yan stepped forward, knocked the barrel of the gun, and asked the official, "It is said that the artillery of the Yi army is made of fine iron. Have you tried using fine iron?"

After all, Li Yan was born in Juren. Although he did not understand physics, after learning that the cannons of the Yi army were made of fine iron (steel), he also speculated that this was the main reason for the lightness of the cannons.

The promotion officer smiled bitterly after hearing this, "We have tried to cast a fine iron cannon, but it is very difficult to cast. We barely managed to make one, but it exploded after a few rounds. Moreover, it was extremely expensive and took longer to make. , far less useful than a cast iron cannon."

After hearing this, Li Zicheng asked displeasedly: "Then why was the Yi army able to make fine iron cannons?"

The Tijuan official said, "Reporting to your Majesty, the Wei army must have a secret recipe for casting fine iron cannons. If it can be obtained, the Gun Bureau may be able to make similar ones."

What he said was somewhat of a passing off.

There is no secret recipe, you can just study it.

However, the Dashun court only allocated so much funding to the Gun Bureau. Nowadays, there are not many craftsmen who are good at casting artillery under the Dashun rule. Even if they are interested in developing fine iron cannons, there is nothing they can do.

But he couldn't help but blame the blame for this matter - if Li Zicheng really thought that the gun bureau was responsible for not being able to build a fine iron cannon, he would kill people.

Seeing Li Zicheng frowning, Niu Jinxing rolled his eyes and stepped forward and said: "Your Majesty, it is okay if the Gun Bureau can cast pig iron cannons - although this cannon is inconvenient to move, it is suitable for defending the city.

If you can build more and place them in various cities and fortresses, if the Yi army comes to attack, they will definitely suffer. "

Li Yan glanced at Niu Jinxing in surprise, but he didn't expect that Niu Jinxing could also make decent suggestions.

Li Zicheng nodded slightly and said, "How much money does this pig iron cannon cost?"

The promotion officer first glanced at Niu Jinxing gratefully, and then said: "The cost of a cannon depends on its weight. Generally speaking, the heavier the cannon, the more expensive it is. For example, the cannon in front of you weighs three thousand kilograms, and the cost is one thousand three hundred and three hundred pounds." Thirteen taels of silver."

"So expensive?!" Li Zicheng looked at the official with cannibalistic eyes, obviously suspecting that the official was corrupt.

Zhu Yuanzhang hated corrupt officials, didn't he, Li Zicheng, hate them too?

He has decided to go back and ask the guards to investigate the official. If he is really corrupt, he will follow Zhu Yuanzhang's example and skin him day lilies!

The elevating official was so frightened that he knelt down and shouted, "Your Majesty, this cost is the result of the minister trying his best to keep it down - now the price of food is so expensive..."

Food prices, food prices, food prices again!

Li Zicheng felt that his blind eyes began to hurt again, and he waved his hand to interrupt the howling of the official, "Okay! As long as you don't embezzle money from the gun bureau, I won't blame you!"

As for these Hongyi cannons, let’s build fifty of them first - the Zuo Military Advisor will send someone to inform you of the specific details later! "

When he was promoted to an official position, he felt as if he had been granted amnesty. He kowtowed and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty... I will never dare to do anything corrupt."

"Get up and take me to see the grenades you made."

"Yes."

The Guns and Artillery Bureau was established only a few months ago and was actually not very big. Soon Li Zicheng and his party arrived at the site where grenades were tested.

The promotion officer also had a box of grenades delivered.

Li Zicheng liked bows, knives, and horses. He really disliked firearms such as guns and even grenades, and even vaguely resisted them. He had heard and seen many cases of gunmen being injured by firecrackers before, and he always felt that these firearms Unsafe and not as reliable as bows, swords and horses.

Therefore, this time he asked the guards to try the grenades.

The guard captain named Hu from before stood up, picked up a grenade, lit it, threw it out immediately, and ran in front of Li Zicheng.

After waiting for about a breath (six seconds), the grenade exploded, sending up a handful of black smoke and knocking several wooden men in armor around. At first glance, the effect seemed good, but Li Zicheng frowned again.

He had seen the power of the Taijun grenade more than once, but it was much scarier than the scene before him - it was louder and more powerful.

Although this grenade blew up several wooden figures and knocked them around, it was because the wooden figures were placed densely and the grenade was thrown right in the middle.

"Go and take a look at the target." Li Zicheng ordered with a cold face.

Soon a wooden man was carried over by the guards.

Li Zicheng looked at it and his face became even more gloomy. He looked at the official and said, "See for yourself. The fragments in this grenade haven't even penetrated the wood. What's the use of putting it on the battlefield? Is it to scare people?"

The Tijuan officer cried out again, "Your Majesty, we have made this grenade slightly larger than that of the Yi army, so that it has such power.

To be more powerful, more gunpowder must be added, which will also make it heavier and larger. At that time, it will be no different from an enemy with ten thousand people. "

"Then why are the Yijun grenades so small but so powerful?"

"I don't know what kind of secret recipe their gunpowder is made from, but it is much better than ours." After the official finished speaking, he noticed Li Zicheng's gloomy face that was almost dripping with water, and said hurriedly: "The minister has already asked The craftsmen are studying improved gunpowder, but it will take some time to receive the goods."

In fact, part of the reason why Zhu Yuanzhang was able to dominate the north from the south was the emergence of early firearms such as artillery and muskets.

Therefore, since the early Ming Dynasty, Ming officials and craftsmen have been continuously improving gunpowder.

However, because there is no systematic knowledge system as support and it relies entirely on empiricism, as well as the low status of craftsmen and other reasons, there has been little progress in this area.

Not big doesn't mean none.

After all, the benefits of improved gunpowder are obvious.

Therefore, after Li Zicheng established the Chang'an Guns and Artillery Bureau, the promotion officials learned about the power of the Yi army's grenades and indeed asked the craftsmen to study improved gunpowder.

Li Zicheng actually didn't pay much attention to craftsmen. At most, because he needed craftsmen now, the treatment and rewards he gave were better than those in the Ming Dynasty.

However, the gunpowder craftsmen under Dashun were as rare as the gunsmiths, and there was no one to guide them. Naturally, it was impossible to produce results in a few months.

Although Li Zicheng did not understand these factors, he heard that the Gun Bureau was not inactive, so his anger softened a little.

At this time, Li Yan said: "Your Majesty, what the soldiers are most afraid of when facing the Yi Army is grenades - although the grenades made by the Gun and Artillery Bureau are not as powerful as those of the Yi Army, they are still better than nothing.

It's better to let them make a batch first and equip the army. Let's not mention the effect. At least it can boost the morale of the army. "

Li Zicheng nodded, "What you said makes sense, let's do it like this - calculate how many you want to make, and then tell the Guns and Artillery Bureau that this is the place."

"As ordered."

When Li Zicheng came out after inspecting the artillery station, he saw a deputy commander of the guards rushing over on horseback. After dismounting, he knelt down on one knee, clasped his fists and said, "Your Majesty, Yulin border gate reported that there is a team of Qinglu envoys coming to Chang'an!"

"Qinglu envoys?" Li Zicheng became inexplicably angry when he thought of Qingluo envoys. He wanted to order the Qingluo envoys to be captured and chopped, but after thinking about it he still said: "Then let them come to Chang'an - I want to take a look, Qingluo envoys." What do you want to do?"

Li Yan on the side said: "If I guessed it right, the Qing captives are probably here to make peace or even make an alliance." (End of this chapter)