Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 527 Cans and Genius

Zhu Youjian's purpose in making the pressure cooker was not just to demonstrate the danger and power of steam.

Also, the canned food that Shangshenjian was trying to make required high-temperature sterilization.

Using a pressure cooker to generate high temperatures to kill microorganisms in food is a commonly used sterilization method in later generations.

Although Zhu Youjian did not understand the specific operations, he knew the principle.

He asked the craftsmen in the inner court to make a pressure cooker, which sterilized the food at high temperature and then stored it in sealed ceramic jars. It has been successfully stored for more than three months without spoiling.

It has not been tested for a longer period of time, but a batch of canned food has been sent to Jiangling Principality and other places for testing.

Zhu Youjian also began to use this sterilization method to disinfect milk, and after confirming its safety, he used it to supplement nutrition for himself and his children.

He also sent some pressure cookers to the Panchen Lama and the Dalai Lama so that they could eat cooked food and enhance the Ming Dynasty's influence on the plateau.

Dalinghhe Fort, one of the fortresses most valued by Zhu Youjian, also received a batch of canned food.

However, Zhu Youjian did not dare to send too much food to prevent the soldiers from eating rotten and spoiled food and losing their combat effectiveness.

But the soldiers here like canned food very much.

This is not only because the cans were bestowed by the emperor, showing the emperor's concern for them.

Also, various types of canned food enrich their taste buds.

Canned sea fish are especially popular. When cooking in the army, people don’t even need to add salt.

This type of canned food is also the most produced, because Zhu Youjian originally invented canned food in order to transport perishable seafood to the mainland.

In order to preserve it for a longer period of time, a lot of salt is generally added to canned marine fish. This is very unpopular in later generations, but it is the reason why canned marine fish is popular at this time.

Huo Weihua asked Zheng Zhihu who was delivering the supplies:

"In just over a month, the Daling River will freeze over. Please be sure to bring more canned goods."

"Otherwise, not being able to eat good food for four months of freezing weather would be very damaging to morale."

Zheng Zhihu explained with some embarrassment:
"The can is a new product made by His Majesty, and it has only been tested for three months."

"Because they were worried that they might go bad, most of them were sent to Gangneung."

"I'm sorry I can't agree to Mr. Huo's request."

Huo Weihua was so anxious that he jumped up and down and said:
"What are they transporting to Jiangling Principality for?"

"How can they compare with us?"

"I will write a petition to ask His Majesty to send more canned food here."

He wrote a memorial in a very eloquent manner, requesting the emperor to make more canned food and transport it to the Dalingh River front.

In the memorial, he also reported on the progress of the No. 2 Fort on the Dalingh River, believing that it would be enough time to build the fort before the ice formed.

At that time, the two fortresses will help each other, making it more difficult for the Jianlu to break through the Dalingh River defense line.

Finally, he also requested the allocation of more telescopes to build beacon towers in the Dalingh River area.

He planned to set up a signal station on the beacon tower to observe and transmit information.

With these people's investigation, it would be more difficult for the Jianlu to sneak through.

The beacon tower was built according to the specifications of a blockhouse and could resist the invasion of small groups of Jianlu troops.

This memorial was taken to Tianjin by Zheng Zhihu and then sent to the capital from Tianjin. Zhu Youjian was very happy to see that the canned food was recognized.

However, he was still very cautious about this, and specially selected a chef from the Shangshenjian who was involved in canning to teach the soldiers of Dalinghe Fort how to eat canned food. Let this chef use his rich experience to observe and taste whether the canned food has gone bad. The telescope is even simpler. Thanks to the firing of transparent glass, the production of telescopes began to get rid of crystal, and the cost was also reduced.

In particular, the emergence of a talented inventor made the manufacturing of telescopes in the Ming Dynasty take a big step forward.

This genius is Bo Jue, who is only twenty years old this year.

He read in the newspaper that Lu Xiang was awarded the title of Centurion for making guns and cannons, and that the emperor also offered a reward of one centurion for the flintlock, the thunder gun, the principle of the hot air balloon, etc. His enthusiasm was immediately aroused, and he began to invent and experiment.

The first thing manufactured was a cannon equipped with a telescope. The combination of the telescope and the cannon greatly improved the accuracy.

This invention was praised by local officials, and Bo Jue was recommended to come to Beijing.

Zhu Youjian was also surprised that Bo Jue could think of this, so he asked Bo Jue to specialize in the research of artillery scopes for artillery.

Bo Jue lived up to expectations and successfully invented the periscope according to Zhu Youjian's description. It is more convenient to find targets, observe shooting effects, and measure the deflection of artillery shells. It can also be used to observe battlefields and detect terrain, reducing the possibility of exposure.

During this process, he also improved the telescope, allowing the craftsmen of Shaofu Temple to stably manufacture telescopes that could see clearly ten miles away.

This improvement enabled the rapid construction of the armboard communication system. Zhu Youjian therefore knighted him and encouraged him to continue improving.

The manufacture of the telescope this time was also handed over to Bo Jue.

However, at this time, Bo Jue turned his attention to making guns and cannons.

He knew that his contribution to simply building the telescope was limited and it would be difficult to continue to improve his title.

So he made the same choice as Lu Xiang and turned to developing the guns and cannons that the Ming Dynasty most needed.

The first thing he targeted was the flintlock, for which the emperor had offered a reward.

He had no idea how to increase the success rate of the flintlock. After all, the court craftsmen had already experimented with all the flint and fire steel they could find. If there was a way to increase the success rate of ignition, someone would have proposed it and received the reward.

So Bo Jue did not think about working on flint and fire steel. Instead, he came up with a clever way to solve the problem of the flintlock lighter.

At this time, he took the opportunity to present the telescope to the palace, took a flintlock lighter, and carefully showed it to the emperor:

"Your Majesty, please look at this, this is the flintlock lighter that I have improved."

"Just add a pick to the end of the flint clip, and you can quickly reset the flint clip and fire it again."

"Even if the first ignition fails, you can fire it a second time and a third time until the ammunition is fired."

It can be said that this mechanism is very simple and easy to operate. The flint clamp can be reset with just a press of your finger.

Zhu Youjian's eyes lit up as he watched. He never expected that the success rate of igniting a flintlock would be so simple.

If this method succeeds, Ming Dynasty's firearms will enter the era of flintlock rifles and further gain an advantage over the Jianlu.

So he immediately ordered:
"This method is very good!"

"Let the Equipment Research Institute concentrate its efforts on testing and finalize this flintlock as soon as possible."

"It looks like the goal of developing the first generation we set earlier will be achieved this year!"

Previously, the task that Zhu Youjian assigned to the Equipment Research Institute was to organize the production of heavy and light muskets that had already been finalized and put into service, and to develop spring-wheel muskets and flintlock muskets with changed ignition mechanisms.

Due to cost issues, the spring-wheel musket was not used on a large scale after it was successfully developed.

If the flintlock musket is successfully developed, this goal will be achieved.

The firearms of the Ming army are about to be updated.

(End of this chapter)