Volume 2: The Capital, I’m Back Chapter 86 I'm Not Short of Money
After the earthquake, Li Zhen looked at Beilin with lingering fear.
terrible!
Thinking back to the time when I followed the emperor deep into the desert and fought against the enemy behind the Oirat, I did not feel such a strong sense of oppression.
This kind of power is completely beyond the control of humans. If it weren't for Beilin's tough approach, even using force to force the people to evacuate, the entire Mizhi County would have become a living hell.
"Mr. Bei, you have done a great job!"
Beilin didn't see a trace of relief on her face, she sighed: "This is just the beginning!"
Earthquake disasters not only destroy houses, but what is truly terrifying is the series of consequences that follow the earthquake.
Just think about it, the originally stable land suddenly changes, mountains and rivers move, groundwater is diverted, and rivers burst their banks. This is a terrible thing.
At this time, the Wuding River was flooded and the county town was turned into a swamp.
Even though the 3,000 soldiers were driving them away ferociously, some people still refused to change their ways and insisted on staying at home. At this point, it was unknown whether they were still alive.
There are also some villages that have not had time to evacuate due to time constraints, and I'm afraid they have also suffered heavy casualties.
Beilin said sternly with a cold face: "Three thousand camps, follow me to rescue the disaster!"
Li Zhen clasped his hands together and said, "I obey your command!"
…
On the outskirts of Beijing, Wanggongchang in Xishan.
Zhu Qizhen specially arranged for Yu Qian to go to disaster relief, and continued to devote himself to the cause of developing the country through science and technology.
After Li Shulin took charge of Wang Gongchang, he recruited a large number of craftsmen from the public and set up five special research groups. The first group was mainly responsible for the improvement of steel smelting technology, the second group was responsible for the forging and polishing of musket accessories, the third group was responsible for the research and development of granular gunpowder, the fourth group was responsible for the casting of the falconet, and the fifth group was responsible for the improvement of shrapnel shells.
When Zhu Qizhen walked into the workshop of Group 2 and saw the huge wooden shelves, he almost dropped his jaw.
Is this a lathe?
Seeing the emperor's interest, Li Shulin introduced: "This is a gun bed. It can only be used if the wood is straight. If it is tilted after a long time of use, it must be replaced. If it is not replaced, it will vibrate when it is fired, and the gun barrel will shake, so it will not be accurate. It must also be painted to prevent rainwater from seeping in and damaging it."
Zhu Qizhen was shocked. It turned out that manual lathes existed in the Ming Dynasty!
He squatted down and took a closer look. The working principle was almost the same as that of a modern lathe, and the gun drill also used water power. He couldn't help but admire the wisdom of the ancients!
Li Shulin continued to introduce: "This drill bit is five inches long, the top one inch is slightly sharp, and the middle four inches must be evenly round and of the same size, so that the barrel can be straight after washing."
Zhu Qizhen nodded and asked, "How is the effect?"
"Your Majesty, please come this way!"
The two walked out of the workshop and came to a room guarded by someone. Li Shulin took out three new muskets and said, "Your Majesty, look... "
Zhu Qizhen picked up his first gun, which looked very similar to a musket, except that the barrel was much longer.
Li Shulin introduced: "This gun is an improvement on the original fire gun. After the barrel is extended, the effective range is significantly increased. However, it is easy to explode, so the requirements for fine iron smelting and forging are very high."
As he spoke, Li Shulin picked up the second gun and said, "This gun... no, it should be called a matchlock gun. It has a matchlock device, and a buttstock is installed according to your drawing. When shooting, the buttstock is used to support the shoulder, which greatly improves the shooting aim. The disadvantage is that the gunpowder chamber and matchlock are exposed to the outside and are easily affected by moisture, especially in rainy and snowy weather, the gunpowder will become ineffective, so..."
Li Shulin picked up the third gun. From its appearance, it basically took on the prototype of a modern rifle.
"Using flint to trigger instead of matchlock can avoid this situation. As long as it is properly maintained, it can be used normally even in rainy days or in humid environments."
Zhu Qizhen picked up the gun and looked at it carefully. Even as a modern man, he had only seen this thing in movies and TV dramas, and had never touched the real thing.
When I first drew the blueprint, I was just basing it on my impressions. It was just a rough sketch at best. I didn’t expect Li Shulin to be so capable and he finished it in just two months.
"How powerful is it? How about testing it?"
"No, Your Majesty!"
Zhu Qizhen asked in confusion: "Why?"
Li Shulin smiled bitterly and said, "The biggest problem is still the steel. I have been conducting experiments, but the current steel is not ideal in terms of toughness, strength, wear resistance and other properties. The high-strength steel is easy to explode. The tough steel is not wear-resistant enough. The gun in your hand can only be regarded as a decoration now. If you go to the battlefield..."
Having said that, Li Shulin shook his head helplessly.
Zhu Qizhen was dissatisfied and said: "If that's the case, why don't you send more people to expand the experiments of smelting and forging technology?"
"Your Majesty, we have no money!" Li Shulin sighed. "I have spent a lot of money on developing new firearms. Now when I go to the Ministry of Revenue, they will avoid me..."
"How can this be possible!"
Zhu Qizhen slammed the gun on the table and said angrily, "Tell me, how much do you want?"
"Your humble servant...your humble servant..."
Li Shulin was quite surprised. He made a quick estimate and said, "It will cost about five thousand taels..."
"What? Five thousand taels?"
Zhu Qizhen frowned and stared at Li Shulin closely.
"Three...three thousand taels is fine..."
"Three thousand?"
"Two thousand, that's it! Your Majesty, it really can't be any less!"
Zhu Qizhen stretched out a hand and waved it in front of Li Shulin.
"Five hundred? Well... well..."
Li Shulin didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Five hundred taels... well, it's better than nothing...
"Fifty thousand taels!"
Zhu Qizhen slammed the table and said, "I'll give you 50,000 first, and send someone to the Ministry of Revenue to get the money now!"
Are you kidding? Am I short of money?
In the Wang Zhen case, more than 30 million taels of silver were confiscated, and there was also the Cao Jixiang case of treason, the Kang Neng case of killing innocent people and claiming credit, and the Shanxi merchants case of collusion with thieves. Now the national treasury is almost unable to hold all the confiscated silver.
Isn’t it just money?
How much do you want? Just ask!
Li Shulin was so shocked that he fell to his knees with a thud.
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
"Don't thank me yet!"
Zhu Qizhen waved his hand and said, "If you don't have enough money, go to the Ministry of Revenue to get it. I have only one request, and the result must be obtained before the end of the year. No matter the cost, I just want the result. Do you understand?"
"I understand!"
Zhu Qizhen nodded and asked, "How is the development of the Portuguese cannon going?"
"Your Majesty, there are two main technical difficulties with the falconet cannon. One is the airtightness of the barrel, and the second is the problem of steel performance that I just mentioned..."
Li Shulin suddenly thought of a question and said quickly, "Oh, Your Majesty, when I was improving the shrapnel, I developed a new thing that is extremely powerful."
"Let's go and take a look!"
Zhu Qizhen came to the artillery test site with great interest. Looking at the black iron lump in front of him that was the size of a watermelon, he immediately fell into deep thought.
"Is this the new thing you were talking about?"
"good!"
Li Shulin introduced enthusiastically: "Once, Pingxiang Bo came to the gunpowder workshop and said that the current cement production could not keep up with the supply. He asked me if I could increase the amount of artillery experiments and help him quarry stones. So I suddenly had an idea and made a few extra-large shrapnel shells. I didn't expect that they were so powerful. So I thought that if I could bury them in advance on the necessary roads to the place, the effect would be imaginable. But there is no good solution for how to detonate them."
Zhu Qizhen thought for a while, isn’t this a landmine ?
However, I still have a general understanding of the principles of artillery and rifles, but how mines explode when stepped on...
