At this time, Li Xiandao said: "Everyone, please be patient and listen to the chapter and continue the banquet lecture."

When everyone heard this, they agreed that this was not a court and there was no need to argue, so they slowly became quiet.

But Zhang Zijun asked: "What did the official say just now?"

This sentence made everyone dumbfounded, and someone reminded him: "There is a big treasure in the Hetao." The four-wheeled carriage can turn, and can make a musket with a range twice as long as the existing musket. The capital only needs 10,000 soldiers. Hehehe!

Obviously these people were joking, but Zhang Zijun took it all as a tonic. Yes, let me talk about the treasures in the Hetao area first. However, when I say what I am going to say next, I hope you will not interrupt me in the middle. If you don’t

If there is an explanation, perhaps there is something wrong with what the official said. After the banquet is over, the official will definitely come to ask for advice.

This opening statement makes people really irritated. As a bachelor, how can he say the wrong thing? This is not qualified. On the surface, he sounds nice, but in fact, he can only listen to what he says, and he doesn’t let everyone ask, what is this?

reason.

"I have mentioned the importance of the Hetao area before. The biggest treasure of the Hetao area is a grain-producing area. Because it is irrigated by the Yellow River water, the grain production is no less than that of the Jiangnan area, especially wheat, rice, rice, soybeans, and sorghum.

, corn, sugar beets and other crops can grow very well. In addition to food, there are many minerals, especially coal, that is, pebbles are abundant. With coal, iron can be smelted. Unfortunately, there is a large iron mine in the Hetao area.

mine

, but now, not to mention the Hetao area, even Shanxi has become a pasture for the Tatars. The strength of a country, in addition to the production of grain, is steel. With steel, it has a backbone, and can make more swords and guns.

, you can also build armored warships, build high-rise buildings, erect bridges, build more powerful guns, and build railways, all of which do not require steel as support. Oh, by the way, how much iron can the Ministry of Industry produce in a year?

"

An official from the Ministry of Industry said: "The annual output is 140,000 kilograms."

Zhang Zijun laughed when he heard this. Only about 70 tons of iron are produced in a year. No wonder ordinary people can't afford iron pots. Some farm tools are all made of wood.

Zhang Zijun immediately said: "What if we could produce 14 million catties per year, or ten million catties, one hundred thousand catties, or one million catties a year?"

Everyone is whispering again, this kid is a lunatic, he thinks it is easy to make iron, just talk about it, he is obviously a nerd.

Zhang Zijun thought that a few hundred years later, a small blast furnace in a small town or village would have a furnace capacity of 300 tons. This would be unreasonable.

Zhang Zijun ignored those people's doubts and continued: "The Hetao must not be lost. There are nine bends in the Yellow River. The only one that is rich is the Hetao area. For no other reason than the Hetao area, it is also the pasture for our horses. We have lost our generals.

There are no war horses available. The underground iron ore and coal mines are the treasures that the country needs most at present. The way to deal with it is not to occupy it, but to develop it, develop a land, build a land, cultivate iron workshops, grow food, build cities, and repair vehicles.

road."

After Zhang Zijun said this, he stopped talking. He couldn't say anything more, and the listeners didn't want to ask questions because there were too many words in it that they couldn't understand.

The secretary recorded all Zhang Zijun's words. Some people can't understand. They can explain it slowly later. The most important thing is to implement Li Xian's idea of ​​sending troops to regain the Hetao area. Zhang Zijun has completed the task.

Li Xian seemed to feel something. Sun Jizong, the hostess of Huichang, was thoughtful, and only heard Li Xian say: "That's all for today's banquet." He also whispered to the cabinet minister Chen Wen, Peng Shi and several big bosses, and finally agreed on the "Xiao Jing Banquet" at noon.

, attended by the Emperor, Wang Zhi, Minister of War, Zhao Rong, Minister of Industry, and the cabinet, Zhang Zijun continued the banquet to talk about the relevant details.

Zhang Zijun’s speech at the banquet contained many words and opinions that needed to be sorted out. The amount of information was too much for the moment, but he could not refute the overall policy. Do you want to say that the Hetao area is not important? Do you want to say that mining iron ore to increase iron production is not important?

?Are you going to say that food production is not important? Are you going to say that the modification of firearms is not important?

Zhang Zijun has been in the Ming Dynasty for twelve years, and has been waiting for an opportunity, because his backer Li Xian's time is short, and Li Tai and Wan An should be in power next, and all future safety will depend on him.

Being an official in such a private enterprise is too risky, and one could accidentally expropriate one's family and destroy one's family.

For the young emperor Zhu Jianshen, the morning banquet was the most interesting topic. The young man had the dream in his heart to charge forward and sweep everything away. Recovering the Loop was also the first thing Zhu Jianshen had to do after he came to power.

, without it, he could achieve what Yingzong could not achieve, avenge the shame of Tumu Fortress, and boost his imperial power.

Zhao Ronghui, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, together with the chief of the Yamen of the Military War Bureau, were waiting early for the afternoon "Small Sutra Banquet", because for the Ministry of Industry, it would mean that the imperial court would allocate funds to the Military War Bureau.

Li Xian was convening in the cabinet with Wang Fu, the Minister of War, and Sun Jizong, the Marquis of Huichang. According to Zhang Zijun's suggestion, this plan was indeed a good strategy, but it had to be recruited by the general. The chief military officer guarding Datong, Zhang Wu Bo, Yang Xin, was familiar with the geographical location and should be summoned back.

When he returned to Beijing, he negotiated and asked Xiuwu Bo Shen Yu to take his place.

In the afternoon, the "Small Sutra Feast" in the Wenhua Hall began. The number of people suddenly decreased a lot. All the people present were departments involved in the recovery of the Loop. The atmosphere was relatively relaxed. Li Xian presided over the beginning, and Zhang Zijun was still the speaker. Before that,

Zhang Zijun asked about the current Ming Dynasty weapons in the court of the Ministry of Industry.

After a rough explanation, while waiting for the afternoon "Xiao Sutra Banquet", I also learned about the situation of firearms from the director of the Military War Bureau. The problem was huge, so when I started the lecture, I directly took out a few sketches I had drawn with a brush.

This is the current battle formation diagram between the enemy and us. Please circulate it to everyone.

Huichang Hou Sun Jizong, who was in charge of the military affairs of the fifth military camp, was also in charge of the rear military capital, and was also in charge of the 12th regiment camp, and presided over the banquet. After looking at it, he didn't know what Zhang Zijun wanted to do next.

What Zhang Zijun wants to explain is, everyone, please see, our Ming army's battles against the Tatar cavalry are often grand and have little effect. However, in the Hetao area, the Tatar cavalry can come and go freely from the east or west. If we want to reverse the situation, we must first consolidate the border town.

Use small shares

The elite take the initiative to attack, but at present, it is not advisable to defend blindly. The best defense is to take the initiative to attack. The thieves invaded the Hetao and invaded the border areas.

.

How to consolidate Gubian Town? It is necessary to have a defensive weapon that can move a light cannon at will. The "city defense cannon" we currently have is too bulky and difficult to move, so we must develop a small and light cannon.

, then improve the musket and increase the range.

Zhang Zijun took out a few more drawings and showed them to the director of the Military War Bureau.

Zhang Zijun had an idea when he learned that the Ming Dynasty did not have later generations of French cannons. The introduction of French cannons to the Ming Dynasty would have to wait until the Zhengde period. The Guangdong Navy fought a battle with the Dutch and captured two of them.

It was only after ten years that it was copied on a large scale.

At this time, take it out for use. For now, it is not difficult to make, there are no technical difficulties, and there is room for improvement. This gun is small and light, and one horse can carry two guns, which are divided into main guns and sub-guns. In addition,

The existing cannons were improved, lightweighted, put on two wheels, and could be hauled by horses. This increased their mobility and could be deployed in the field at any time to launch attacks, thereby weakening the mobility of the Tatar cavalry.

Zhang Zijun already had a plan for making improved firearms in his mind. The small workshop that repaired farm tools in the village before crossing could make a musket a hundred times better than the current hand-made ones. The key to the problem lies in the cutting.

Without the addition of machine tools, everything is done by hammering, and the resulting gun will either explode or leak air.

First of all, everyone does not agree with Zhang Zijun’s ideas. It is difficult to convince the ancients with a piece of paper before seeing the real thing. Especially Sun Jizong, who has experience in leading troops, can move light cannons at will.

Maybe, daydreaming, if you want a cannon with a long range, you will inevitably increase the weight of the cannon. Let's say that the current city defense cannon is more than three feet long and weighs more than 2,000 kilograms.

, with a charge of more than one kilogram, it can shoot two miles, and only dozens of people can move it. And Zhang Zijun said that a cannon that can shoot two miles will not weigh more than five hundred kilograms. This is still using existing iron smelting, not

Calculated using steel. If the blast furnace iron-making technology of hundreds of years later can be used, and the converter steel-making technology can be used, then a cannon that can shoot two miles is only a single-army weapon, and one person can carry it and run.

Wang Fu, the Minister of War, asked: "Does Master Zhang know how to make cannons?"

Zhang Zijun replied: "Of course! We can also make muskets and increase the power of current gunpowder, but I don't want to make them. That's a matter for the Ministry of Industry. How can I let Hanlin interfere? The so-called name is not justified, and the words are not correct."

"

Sun Jizong, the Marquis of Huichang, said anxiously: "What's so difficult about this? If Mr. Zhang could build a cannon, wouldn't the border troubles be settled?"

Zhang Zijun said: "First of all, you don't just want to make it, you need to have a steel-making workshop. Without good steel, you can't make a good cannon."

After a discussion between the cabinet and His Majesty, the Cabinet Peng Shi announced His Majesty's decree and appointed Zhang Zijun as the Left Minister of the Ministry of Industry, in charge of the military affairs bureau, and presided over all construction matters. Three French guns and small cannons were built first. This is it!

Only then did Zhang Zijun give up. He was a third-grade official. Who would be willing to do it if there were no benefits?

The first is site selection, to solve the power problem. For power, Zhang Zijun has long thought about using the great invention of water reactor drive. It is located seven miles from Chaoyangmen in the eastern suburbs, next to a small river, which leads directly to the mainland.

The canal, with its rapid water flow, is a good place for a manufacturing workshop

Fang, but the land here belongs to the family of Xu Yongning, Duke of Dingguo. Zhang Zijun doesn't care about this. He wants this land in a petition. The cabinet and the emperor have to decide. If you want cannons, you have to do it, or else don't care.

If you don't deserve to be the Minister of the Left, then you shouldn't, but you will make the cabinet very angry.

Zhang Zijun used the computer at home to draw a simplified diagram of the blast furnace and converter, and marked the text and dimensions. According to the current scale that the Ministry of Industry can achieve, only mini models can be built. The iron-making blast furnace must first create a volume by feeding materials at one time.

Fifty cubic meters, a steel-making converter is a furnace, but it is different from the current iron-making furnace in the Ming Dynasty.

That is, the factory building that needs to be built is also drawn. Because the outer shell of the blast furnace is originally wrapped in an iron shell, but there is no such condition now, first use refractory bricks to make the inner core of the blast furnace, build the blast channel directly vertically on the outer wall of the inner core, and build a tamping

The inner shell of the blast furnace and the blast channel are wrapped in an earth shell, and bricks are built on the outside to insulate and protect the air.

Warm, connect the upper smoke outlet channel directly to the converter on the side, so that the shape of the blast furnace core is like a large vase, with a big belly and a small neck at the bottom, which is perfect for exhausting smoke. The bottom is the molten iron outlet and the slag.

Mouth. A small half is underground and a large half is on the ground. This makes it easy to feed materials. You can directly put the limestone.

Iron ore and coke are poured in. This is also the method of using a porcelain kiln in order to raise the temperature enough to melt the iron stone. The molten iron flowing out flows into the converter on the side to continue to make steel. For this method

, Zhang Zijun doesn’t know if he can succeed. If he fails, it won’t be too big. At least he can give birth to iron.
Chapter completed!