After finishing talking about the affairs in the south, Zhou Yuanlang hesitated for a moment and said: "Your Majesty, I heard today that the newly appointed governor of Kyoto whipped people on the street with his horse, and even trampled two vegetable farmers to death on horseback..."
"Many officials are discussing this matter today..."
"Look..."
The current situation in Yandu is a bit complicated.
A few months after the new emperor ascended the throne, his position gradually stabilized, so he began to cultivate his cronies and placed them in various confidential yamen.
Most of the courtiers in the court had kowtowed to King Qi too much, and they were worried that one day the new emperor would bring up the old issues again, so they were particularly well-behaved. Basically, the courtiers would fill any official vacancies that Emperor Zhaowu wanted.
What official vacancies are given?
Try not to give the new emperor any excuse to fall out.
And here's the problem.
The emperor and his ministers did not trust each other.
If it is a normal new emperor who ascends the throne, although he will have to take control of the key yamen in the court as soon as possible after taking the throne, he will usually choose among the original officials in the court, that is, he will win over some while suppressing others.
This group is the victors of the new dynasty and will become die-hard loyalists of the new emperor.
But now, most of the people in the imperial court had worshiped King Qi as emperor, and there were some inherent barriers between monarch and ministers. Therefore, in the process of seizing power, Zhao Kai did not choose from the original officials of the imperial court.
It is the old name of Prince Wei's Mansion.
And...the group of people who "started a business" with him.
For example, the Zhou family, the Tu family, and the most important Lang family.
In fact, the one who benefited the most from that coup was Zhao Kai's mother family, the Lang family, one of Zhu Lizhen's old families.
In fact, after the New Year and the Yuan Dynasty, the Yandu court added two new prime ministers, one of whom was named Lang.
Langcheng, cousin of Emperor Zhaowu and Zhao Kai.
Zhu Lizhen's old family all established their families with martial arts when they entered the customs, and most of them are still generals now. For example, the Lang family has many family members who are distributed in various armies, and even take care of the imperial army for a long time.
This resulted in that there were not many scholars in the Lang family.
Although Tong Jian and Ma Cheng of the late emperor's dynasty were also from Zhu Lizhen's old family, they were both serious Jinshis and served as officials. Even though Zhu Li was given preferential treatment when he passed the Jinshi examination, those two still had some ink in their stomachs.
And the newly appointed prime minister...
It's hard to say anything.
All we can say is that he is literate and has studied.
He was forcibly carried into the meeting hall by the new emperor.
Lang Cheng's visit to the prime minister is just a microcosm of the political situation in Yandu.
Because of this mistake in the transfer of the throne, the quality of personnel in almost all key yamen in Yandu is generally low.
For example, the newly appointed governor of Kyoto is named Lang Shiqi. If calculated, he should be regarded as the cousin of Emperor Zhaowu Zhao Kai. He has only been in office for seven or eight days.
The emperor raised his head, looked at Zhou Yuanlang, and frowned slightly: "Are many people talking about this matter?"
Zhou Yuanlang smiled bitterly in his heart, bowed his head slightly, and said respectfully: "Back to the emperor, many people are discussing this matter in the streets and courts. After all, it is in broad daylight, and the impact..."
"It's too bad."
The emperor touched his chin and considered it for a moment, then said: "Then I will pass the decree and give the two vegetable farmers a generous burial, and ask the Kyoto Prefecture to compensate them with some money. At the same time..."
The emperor said in a muffled voice: "I have decreed that Lang Shiqi be fined with a salary of one year, demoted to one level, and his original post will be put aside for future use."
Although Zhou Yuanlang now only has the official position of Zhongshu Sheren, because he has won the trust of the new emperor, he is actually doing the work of a secretary, and he has a lot of say in the new dynasty.
But after hearing the emperor's decision, he frowned subconsciously.
This punishment is too light and can be said to be neither painful nor itchy.
In Zhou Yuanlang's view, although it was difficult to shake Lang Shiqi's position as governor of Kyoto, he should at least put a few symbolic seals on him, kill the horse that trampled the person to death in public, and declare to the outside world that it was a crazy horse that injured someone, so that the matter could be over.
However, thinking that Zhu Li was always arrogant and did not treat the Han people as human beings, Zhou Yuanlang quickly lowered his head to cover his frown.
"emperor…"
"wise."
…………
Xuzhou Prefecture.
In an inconspicuous farm outside Xuzhou City, Mr. Shen was in the backyard of this large farm.
At this time, his hands had turned silver-black, and there were one or two less obvious streaks of black ash on his face.
However, his eyes were quite excited.
Because, in front of him, there was an inconspicuous black ball.
The black ball is hollow, slightly larger than an adult's fist, and is completely integrated, but there is a hole exposed.
At this time, the hollow black ball was filled with gunpowder, and a reed was inserted through the hole.
The black ball was placed in the middle of the yard. Mr. Shen personally held the torch and carefully lit the reeds that ignited the fire, and then quickly retreated.
As the reed was ignited, the fire quickly spread into the black ball filled with gunpowder.
"boom!"
A violent explosion sounded throughout the courtyard.
The iron ball was exploded and scattered in all directions.
Mr. Shen ran up quickly and said loudly: "Pick up all the fragments, quickly!"
There were dozens of people following him, and they immediately began to search around. After taking some time to find a cup of tea, they finally gathered the fragments together, and the integrated iron ball was blown into six pieces.
Shen Yi looked at the fragments in front of him and frowned: "The iron wall is too thick and made of molds, so it cannot be broken by explosion."
He said to a middle-aged man who was also covered in black and looked to be in his early thirties: "Sending it to the battlefield like this will not be very lethal."
This middle-aged man's surname is Chang, whose single name is Ping. He is the master craftsman of Shen Yi's gunpowder workshop.
He was a firearms supervisor in the Military Bureau, and later followed Shen Yi to the Huai'an Army. He was basically responsible for the Huai'an Army's artillery and gunpowder.
After Chang Ping carefully looked at these fragments, he thought for a while and said: "Mr. Shen, if we start the fire on the ground, the explosion force will naturally be smaller. If it is shot out of the barrel, it will be charged by the gunpowder in the barrel, and it will almost explode."
enough."
Chang Ping said seriously: "If the iron wall were thinner, I might not be able to withstand the explosion of gunpowder in the barrel and it would explode directly."
Shen Yi also thought about it carefully, and then said: "In this way, bring in a few cannons, let's shoot them with real cannons, and then see the results."
Chang Ping nodded: "Just in time, two or three new cannons have been made. At this time tomorrow, Mr. Shen, please come back and let's test the new cannons with the new cannons."
Mr. Shen has been in the gunpowder workshop for almost a whole day now.
He wiped the gunpowder ashes from his face with his sleeve, then took another black ball, played with it for a while, and whispered: "If cannonballs of this size are feasible in the future, when gunpowder is filled in, You can add some iron pieces and pottery pieces."
After Chang Ping heard Shen Yi's words, the muscles on his face couldn't help but twitch, and his eyelids jumped.
This young Jinshi master... looks gentle and elegant, but...
He is so cruel!
Mr. Shen rubbed his chin and thought about it for a while, and then said: "In a few days, a batch of... um... chili powder will be delivered. Then it will be mixed with gunpowder in proportion and filled into the cannonballs."
At this time, peppers had not been introduced on a large scale, and even Shen Yi had not seen them being grown anywhere.
However, after Xu Fu's fleet was able to go to sea, Shen Yi immediately asked him to bring back pepper seeds. It has been several years now.
The cultivation of peppers has also reached a small scale.
At this time, although it is still very expensive, there is no problem in getting some chili powder to use as a weapon.
With the addition of paprika, the usefulness of the explosive bomb immediately becomes much greater, because after it is filled with paprika, it becomes more than just a killing skill.
It will also be a control skill!
After discussing the filling of the cannonball, Shen Yi communicated with Chang Ping about the idea of fuse. After all, using reeds was a bit too primitive.
It's best to get a serious gunpowder fuse.
If you don't have that technique yet, you can also consider using hemp rope dipped in tung oil.
After roughly explaining the production process, Mr. Shen played with a black ball and said to Chang Ping with a smile: "Try the cannon tomorrow. If you can shoot one step further than the old cannon, you will be rewarded with an extra tael of silver."
Chang Ping looked at Shen Yi: "Master Shen, is it only for the younger one, or..."
Shen Yi smiled and said: "All the craftsmen involved have a share."
Chang Ping was overjoyed when he heard this and was about to speak when he heard Shen Yi continue: "Master Chang, the five hundred firearms and gunpowder craftsmen sent by the imperial court will arrive in the next few days."
Master Shen looked serious.
"After the cannon and shell tests have been successful in the past few days, your firearms workshop must produce the new cannon and this new type of shell for me as soon as possible."
"The sooner the better."
Chang Ping patted his chest and produced a large cloud of gunpowder ash, which made Master Shen almost unable to open his eyes and had to take two steps back.
Master Chang's voice is very loud.
"Don't worry, Mr. Shen. In the past few years, you have treated us brothers in the gunpowder workshop very well. Now you need us. Brothers don't eat or sleep, but we must do the things you have given us!"
"It's not necessary to not eat or sleep."
Mr. Shen waved his hand and fanned the gunpowder ashes away, then looked up at the sky, made a silent calculation in his mind, and then said with a smile.
"Within two or three months, enough people can be driven out for a big battle..."