Chapter 49: Turning the situation around

Ye Tianheng remained silent. Zhang Deming took the conversation and said, "Brother Chen, after the prince learned your thoughts, he came to the Military Arts Prison and asked us to discuss it, and then returned to the East Palace. We invited all the masters of the Military Arts Prison and discussed it for two days and two nights, thinking that artillery was of no use. The master and I have some relationship with my brother, so I will be entrusted to come and tell you."

When Chen Wanrong and Zhang Deming talked about steelmaking, Ye Tianheng believed it because they had studied it before and had a point of fit. Except for Chen Wanrong, who knew it was powerful, it can be said that there was no other person in the Tang Dynasty. They didn’t even have any concepts, so it was normal not to believe it.

Cannons are useless? Chen Wanrong seemed to be listening to a fantasy, and his eyes widened in surprise! The reputation of the God of War was tempered by thousands of years of war, and it was worthless to say to the Tang people. Chen Wanrong could not have thought of it anyway. He stood up suddenly and asked loudly: "Say, how can you believe that cannons are useful?"

Since Chen Wanrong came to the Tang Dynasty, he rarely got angry. He was angry at this time, regardless of whether Ye Tianheng in front of him was the person he liked. He stared at the two of them with his eyes wide open and stared at them.

Ye Tianheng sighed and said, "Don't be angry with my friend! To be honest, Ye agrees with my friend's idea very much, but there are many masters in the military weapon prison. They think it's useless, so I can't do anything about it. Besides, I'm just coming up with an idea now and I've been leaving any more care."

"Can you make artillery?" Chen Wanrong calmed down and asked.

Ye Tianheng nodded and said, "The artillery is fine. We think it is not difficult to build it. But, the explosive things you mentioned are unlikely, right? The good craftsmen in the military weapon supervisors are all knowledgeable people, and no one has heard of something that can explode."

Gunpowder was in its infancy in the Tang Dynasty and did not even apply to firecrackers. Even those who studied gunpowder found that it could burn quickly. It was really difficult to believe that this was true, after all, it was beyond their seriousness. Understanding this truth, Chen Wanrong calmed down and sat back on the chair: "Master Ye, according to your opinion, did you say that as long as I prove that gunpowder can explode and has lethality, there would be no problem with other things?"

Zhang Deming nodded and said, "Brother Chen, this is the case."

Chen Wanrong smiled and said, "Okay, I'll let you see the power of gunpowder now. However, let's first agree that as long as I prove that gunpowder has great lethality, you must strive for artillery to pass through the military weapon supervision."

Seeing that Chen Wanrong was no longer angry, Ye Tianheng relaxed and smiled and said, "Don't worry, if you really want to prove that artillery is a good thing, you have to make it anyway." Zhang Deming echoed.

"I will prove it to you now. Come with me!" Chen Wanrong stood up and walked in his head, with Ye Tianheng and his disciples following behind.

When he came to the room where gunpowder was stored, Chen Wanrong pointed to the black gunpowder and said, "This is gunpowder, and the lethality comes from gunpowder."

Ye Tianheng looked the gunpowder for a while, stretched out his two fingers of food and food, pinched it, and asked, "What is this made of? I have never seen it before."

"Master Ye, what you have never seen before is not said to be none. Not long ago, I discovered a ruin in the west mountain of Luojiadian. A senior was studying gunpowder, but he was finally blown to death." Chen Wanrong was still very regretful when he thought of the nameless senior and sighed softly.

Ye Tianheng smiled a little embarrassedly and said, "My friend is right, there are many things in the world I don't know, I'm ignorant."

"Master Ye is so serious." Chen Wanrong comforted him and said, "Let's try it now." He picked up more than a dozen pieces of oil paper and spread it on the table. He poured a bowl of gunpowder on it, then wrapped the oil paper. Put the fuse and tied it up.

The explosion principle of gunpowder is to use the rapid combustion of gunpowder to instantly release a large amount of gas (nitrogen and carbon dioxide) and heat. The original small gunpowder suddenly expands its volume and increases by several thousand times. If it occurs in a closed container, an explosion will occur.

Chen Wanrong does not have a suitable container now, so the same is true for using oil paper. It only needs to prove that it can explode and has lethality. Oil paper can meet this minimum requirement.

After the maintenance was completed, Chen Wanrong packed the explosives out of the house, and Ye Zhang and the others followed. Chen Wanrong called someone to call Sima Chengzhen and the others. They wanted to see it. When they heard that Chen Wanrong was going to test gunpowder, they all rushed to the front, for fear that they would be late and missed the opportunity.

When he came to a tree, Chen Wanrong asked Xiao Shangrong to climb onto the tree and tie the explosive pack to a branch as thick as his arm. After Xiao Shangrong came down, Chen Wanrong asked everyone to retreat. Until everyone retreated to a safe distance, Chen Wanrong took out the fire break, lit the fuse, and ran to the crowd and stood like flying.

Looking at the fuse of sparks, Ye Tianheng and Zhang Deming secretly said that they were confused. Sima Chengzhen and the others had seen each other yesterday, and were not surprised at all. They were all looking forward to the explosion as soon as possible so that they could feast their eyes.

Just as everyone was looking forward, a ball of fire flashed, and a shocking sound came. The tree skill hit the ground, and the leaves made a sudden rustling sound.

Such a loud noise was rare, except for the thunder, Sima Chengzhen and the others were stunned for a moment, no one spoke, only breathing sounds.

After a while, everyone screamed in unison: "What a loud noise!" Zheng Qing and Qing'e covered their mouths even more exaggeratedly, their eyes widened, and they realized for a long time.

Ye Tianheng was originally in his seventies, and although he was in good spirits, he was old and had difficulty walking. However, now he seemed to be fifty years younger, and he was running fast. He rushed to the tree and looked up at the tree. He saw a black lacquer and black piping, and fresh juice could not be oozed out of the broken branches.

Looking at the broken branches on the tree, Ye Tianheng sighed: "What a great power! I have never seen such a magical thing before! I've opened my eyes! I've opened my eyes!"

Sima Chengzhen had long disappeared from the quiet state of a monk. He looked at the branches with a look of surprise and kept saying: "It's so terrible. When you encounter this thing, no matter how high your martial arts are, it's useless."

Chen Wanrong was very satisfied with the power of gunpowder and smiled and said, "Actually, this power is not very great. If the gunpowder is put into the shell, it would be even more powerful." Although oil paper can make the gunpowder explode, it is too fragile and much less powerful. At the same time, the shrapnel has no lethality, and the power it shows is less than one-tenth.

"Can it be even more powerful than this?" Ye Tianheng was a little unbelievable.

Chen Wanrong said very affirmatively: "If Master Ye doesn't believe me, you can make some shells for me and I'll demonstrate it to you."

"No, no, I believe my friend's words are true." Ye Tianheng slapped his mind and said, "My friend, let's say goodbye now. We are going to rush back and tell the masters that we are ignorant."

Chen Wanrong smiled and said, "Master Ye, you don't have to rush back, let's linger."

Ye Tianheng smiled and said, "My friend, to be honest, I also want to linger with you and ask for more benefits. But now it won't work. You have to know that if the cannons can be made, you should report to the prince and ask the soldiers to temporarily suspend the attack. If you delay a little, it will be life. Oh, I'm ashamed, we don't believe that artillery is useful. If the soldiers suffer, many more people will die." He shook his head and regretted it.

Life is at stake, and Chen Wanrong can't help but keep it. He smiled and said, "Since that's the case, I won't keep the master. However, Master Ye, I have to ask you for help and help me make some things."

For Ye Tianheng now, it is a great honor to be able to do things for Chen Wanrong. He hurriedly said, "My friend, I will obey everything."

"Master Ye is so serious, so I dare not take the order." Chen Wanrong politely said, folded a branch and drew it on the ground. He painted the shape of sweet potatoes. Chen Wanrong thought that the Crescent School always caused trouble for me. Now that he has gunpowder, it is better to make some grenades to let them taste it well.

Of course, the grenade that Chen Wanrong thought was not a modern grenade, but just a small dense container filled with some gunpowder and a fuse. When used, it had to be manually ignited. That's it, it was enough to kill people.

As soon as Chen Wanrong finished painting, Ye Tianheng agreed without any trouble and promised to do it as soon as possible. Under Zhang Deming's care, Ye Tianheng went straight to the carriage at the door. Zhang Deming helped him into the carriage, said goodbye to everyone, and returned to the military weapon surveillance.

Everyone was shocked and talked around Chen Wanrong for a long time before they parted in their own affairs. Chen Wanrong had nothing to do now, so he accompanied Zheng Qing to take a look. Under her command, the progress of the past two days was good. Chen Wanrong was very happy and took advantage of his own words to reward Zheng Qing well.

When it was almost dark, Zhang Deming came. As soon as Chen Wanrong saw him, he asked, "Master Zhang, are you in trouble?"

Zhang Deming smiled and said, "Brother Chen, can't you come to your house to have a cup of tea?"

"You who don't go to the Three Treasures Hall will have time to ask for tea unless the sun comes out from the west." Chen Wanrong teased and responded.

Zhang Deming smiled and said, "Those who know me are brother Chen. Brother Chen, I am here to send you something."

"What?" Chen Wanrong asked hurriedly.

Zhang Deming pretended to be mysterious: "Of course it's what you want." He took out a bag from the car, and Chen Wanrong opened it and saw that it was exactly the "sweet potato" he wanted. He said in the morning. He made it happen now, and this efficiency was too high. Chen Wanrong was surprised: "Is it done so soon?"

"Brother Chen, you don't know how famous you are in the military weapon surveillance now!" Zhang Deming said proudly: "My master and I went back and told me about the morning events. The masters were shocked by Mo Ming, standing there like wooden stakes, not even knowing that they had to move. After a while, they kept asking whether it was true. The chicken mouthed and duck mouthed, and the master was anxious and had to get angry and said, "Has I, Ye Tianheng, told me all my life? You don't believe me!"

Although it is brief, you can imagine that Ye Tianheng took a long time to make the masters believe it is true. He really didn't expect that it would be so difficult to believe that a new thing was so difficult, so he kept shaking his head.

Zhang Deming continued: "The master said you want this thing. They felt that the artillery was useless in the past, and they were a little sorry for you, so they were busy making it for you. Brother Chen, see if it suits you? If it doesn't suit, ask them to do it again. With your current fame, they dare not say anything, but they dare not say anything."

It doesn’t matter that it must be Ye Tianheng’s contribution. He is a famous craftsman in the military weapon supervision. He introduced Chen Wanrong like this. How dare others say no? Chen Wanrong couldn’t help but feel a little funny. He looked at the sweet potato for a while and nodded and said, “It looks good, very good. But there is a lid, which is not easy to hold gunpowder.”

Zhang Deming laughed and was very proud: "Brother Chen, you don't know this now. This is the secret of our military weapon surveillance. It's not for you to use it. You want it. If it were someone else, how could you give it a thread?" He picked up one, twisted it skillfully, and twisted the lid off in just a few strokes.

Chen Wanrong looked at the sweet potato in his hand, and saw that there were threads on the hole, and then the cover was still threads. Look at the processing, it was done very well, and the threads were clearly visible. Although it was inferior to modern threads, it was already rare in the Tang Dynasty.

"How did this be done?" Chen Wanrong never expected that the Tang Dynasty could make such a level of thread, and was so surprised that he almost sat on the ground. Chen Wanrong taught Yuan Tiancheng to make threads, which was also made using molds, and this was on iron tools. Not to mention that Chen Wanrong was surprised, any modern person would be surprised.

Zhang Deming didn't care at all, and asked with a smile: "Is this so difficult? Brother Chen, I didn't tell you, don't say that it's okay to make threads on iron tools, even threads on gold and silver. You have to know that making threads on gold tools is much more difficult than this, and the requirements for decorating them are much higher."

Archaeologists have found threads from unearthed Tang Dynasty goldware. Although it has been more than a thousand years, it is still clearly visible, and it is really formidable achievements.

Chen Wanrong didn't know about this. He was surprised when he heard this and asked quickly: "Since that's the case, why don't you use more threads?"

Zhang Deming shook his head and said, "Brother Chen, you don't know this. This thing is difficult to make and you want. The masters dare not do their best. If you wait for an idle person, you will not use that tool. That tool is really difficult to use. The knife is limited and you will never use it once you use it. Except for the court asking for goldware, it is generally not used."

It is very likely that the knife was made by a good worker unintentionally, and then he could not do more, so he could only save it. It is also possible that the good worker did not pass on the technology and brought it into the coffin. In either case, this achievement is really shocking. At the same time, the technology was not passed on, which is also a pity.

Some ancient Chinese science and technology are more advanced than modern technology. Some technologies cannot reach that level even modern technology, but they were used in ancient China. Friends who are familiar with the history of Chinese science and technology must know this, so I won’t say much.

These regretful words were heard in Chen Wanrong's ears, as beautiful as the heavenly sounds. Chen Wanrong grabbed Zhang Deming: "Master Zhang, I know how to do that knife!"

Materials science is also one of the compulsory courses for chemical engineering, especially steel, which is the top priority in village materials science. Chen Wanrong cannot guarantee that he still knows austenite and martensite. Chen Wanrong still remembers some of it. If he says it, he will cooperate with the masters of the military weapon supervisor, tools will definitely not be a problem.

Needless to say, threads are just processing on steel. The Tang Dynasty had the initial processing ability of steel. Chen Wanrong gave another tip, and its processing ability will be improved, and mechanics is likely to be introduced. As soon as the machinery comes, let alone chemical engineering, it will be improved in all aspects. Its wonderful prospects cannot be described by brush and ink.

This is a change, a technological change! The impact will be very far-reaching! Chen Wanrong's words were not spoken, but were sung.

Zhang Deming looked at Chen Wanrong in surprise and confirmed once: "Brother Chen, did you not tell lies?"

"Oh, is it useful for me to tell lies?" Chen Wanrong was a little impatient: "You have to know, if this knife is made, how much impact will it have? What will it make?"

Don’t underestimate the changes of the times when machining tools are caused! The Tang Dynasty had the machining ability, and after accumulation, it would become stronger and stronger. Then, there would be more things that the Tang Dynasty could make, and in a few years, it would not be impossible to achieve steam engines. If the power is solved, other things will not be a problem, and it will not be possible to change.

Looking at his disbelief, Chen Wanrong really wanted to give him a few tricks. Zhang Deming hesitated for a while and jumped up: "This is really great! We have long discovered that this knife is of great use and can never be made and cannot be used in other aspects. If Brother Chen has a way, then there is no need to mention the benefits."

Chen Wanrong knew its usefulness well and said excitedly: "Let's go to the military weapon supervision now!"

"Okay!" Zhang Deming responded without thinking, and quickly changed his words: "No, it's not possible now. I have something to tell you. This is your big deal!"
Chapter completed!