Early the next morning, as soon as Chen Qing arrived at the official room, Chao Qing came forward and said, "Your Highness, two pieces of cloth were delivered to you from the No. 3 Weaving Workshop in Xianyang yesterday and were placed next to Your Highness's desk."
"I understand, what else is there?"
"And Xie Ying, the manager of the Firearms Bureau, came before dawn and has been waiting for His Highness to arrive."
"I understand, please invite him over!"
Chen Qing came to his official room. Next to the table were two pieces of cloth wrapped in paper. This was kapok. They had sent one piece more than ten days ago, but Chen Qing was not satisfied. The cloth was not dense enough and fine.
If it wasn't enough, I asked them to go back and improve it. I didn't expect it to be delivered within half a month.
At this time, Chao Qing came in with Xie Ying. Xie Ying placed a wooden box at the door. Chen Qing came over and asked with a smile: "Did you make it?"
Xie Ying quickly opened the lid of the box and said with a smile: "According to His Highness's request, we made a hedgehog without a fuse."
Chao Qing withdrew and closed the door gently. Chen Qing stopped him and said, "Let someone find Lu Wei, the director of the military department, and Wang Hao, the internal guard!"
"I'll go to my humble position right now!" Chao Qing agreed and left in a hurry.
Chen Qing squatted down and studied the iron fire thunder for a moment. It was exactly the same outside. He asked with some concern: "Can the other party imitate the iron fire thunder through research?"
Xie Ying smiled slightly and said: "Your Highness, we are afraid that they will not study it."
"Why?"
"We always failed at first. The main reason was that we recognized that the finer the gunpowder particles, the better, and finally ground them into powder, but it was still wrong. We then thought it was a problem with the formula and the iron shell. Later, we changed the pig iron to mature iron and copper.
Hundreds of plans were developed and it took many years of tossing and turning.
Later we discovered that gunpowder was first ground into powder and then condensed into particles. The burning speed was faster. After adding a small amount of powdered sugar, the gas expanded more violently. The thickness of the iron shell must not be the same.
The more carbon it contains, the easier it will break. Only by integrating these experiences and trying it thousands of times can you succeed."
"So where is this iron fire thunder?"
"So this iron fire mine was the wrong path we took at the beginning. The finer the gunpowder particles, the better, the more uniform the iron shell, and the purer the pig iron. If they get this iron fire mine, they will definitely embark on the wrong research, etc.
Three or four years have passed since they discovered that this road was not feasible, but I can guarantee that if no one leaked it, Jin Bing would never have been able to develop the Iron Fire Thunder."
"But it was also successfully developed in Bianliang, Tokyo."
Xie Ying smiled bitterly and said: "Your Highness, we have also discussed this issue. The thinking at that time was that the finer the gunpowder, the better. It has not yet reached the transition from fine to thick, and it has not been thought of making the iron shell brittle. With the current situation at that time,
It is absolutely impossible to create iron fire thunder with firearm technology, and none of us have seen the actual object, all the craftsmen who made it are dead, and no drawings have been left, so we suspect there is a big misunderstanding here."
"What misunderstanding?"
"We all believe that the Zhentian Lei at that time was actually a box-type wooden shell fire mine, just like our 500-pound box-type fire mine. It used enough quantity in exchange for power and called it Zhentian Lei, but no one has ever known it.
We said it was an iron shell fire thunder, but we just took it for granted that it was an iron fire thunder."
Chen Qing nodded, "If you understand Zhentian Lei as a five-hundred-pound box-type fire thunder, then all doubts will be solved."
"Yes! With the technology at that time, it was easy to make wooden box fire mines, and it was also easy for us to make box-type fire mines. This is also the real reason why we did not continue to use sky-shaking mines during the second siege. It was probably because
The gunpowder was already used up during the first siege of the city. How much can we have in stock if we explode five hundred kilograms at a time?"
Chen Qing smiled and said: "I understand, this Iron Fire Thunder was made according to the original idea, so it will never succeed."
"It's absolutely true, and we also slightly modified the gunpowder formula. A small change in the details, but the impact is huge."
Xie Ying said goodbye and left. Not long after, Lu Wei and Wang Hao hurried over.
The two of them bowed and saluted together, "See you, Your Highness!"
Chen Qing glanced at Chao Qing, who immediately went out and closed the door.
"The stuff has been delivered!"
Chen Qing pointed to the box on the ground. The two of them were overjoyed and hurriedly knelt down to check Tie Huolei.
Chen Qing asked Lu Wei again: "Are they still looking for you?"
"We had two meals together. Yesterday afternoon Lu Qiao came to ask me about my situation. I told him to let him know if there was any news."
"How is Lu Jiao doing in the granary?"
Lu Wei smiled bitterly and shook his head, "If it hadn't been for His Highness's instructions, I would have fired him. The Military Food Administration's order reported to me that it has been almost half a month since he took office as the chief clerk of the grain depot, but the total time he has spent in the grain depot has added up.
It was less than three hours, and he almost disappeared after showing up in the morning. He showed up again in the afternoon when things were about to end. He arranged for someone to be on duty during the Chinese New Year, but no one dared to arrange for him, so everyone was very dissatisfied with him."
"His situation is quite special, just hold on a little longer!"
Chen Qing asked Wang Hao again, "Has Zhong Huan reported to you? The situation of those two people."
"I also reported to my humble position yesterday. These two people are very active in Jingzhao. They don't stop all day long. They go out every day, either to ask about market prices, or to check the situation of the city and moat, or to go to the surrounding places to go to the military camp.
I’ve only been there three times nearby.”
"You haven't been in contact with anyone, right?" Chen Qing asked again.
"Zhong Huan said, nothing was found!"
Chen Qing nodded, "There is another thing. Regarding the protection of firearms craftsmen, once the Jin Kingdom cannot study it, they will definitely attack them. The internal guards must strengthen the protection of their families to prevent the Jin Kingdom people from jumping over the wall. If the internal guards
If we are short of manpower, we can recruit more people.”
Wang Hao bowed and said: "The number of internal guards in the third district of Xianyang has reached 500, and the number of low-level officials has increased to 1,000. Everyone entering and exiting the third district must have an identity card. The identity of each household is confidential.
There is no problem with living security in the third district."
Wang Hao said that the third district of Luoyang is the residential area for the craftsmen of the Ordnance Department. It is located in the northwest of Xianyang County. It is composed of more than a thousand households and occupies 20% of Xianyang County. It is surrounded by walls and is a city within the city. It is responsible for the internal guards.
It is safe and heavily guarded. The people living inside are protected confidential craftsmen. One hundred and thirty-two craftsmen from the Firearms Department all live in the third district, including Xie Ying, the manager just now.
"You guys, please go back! I will send someone to send this iron fire thunder to the Military Department. It will be revealed to Lu Jiaolu in the next two days. The internal guards will also take action to monitor how they transport the iron fire thunder out.
"
"Obey!" The two of them bowed and left.
Chen Qing arranged for his soldiers to send Tie Huolei to Lu Wei, and after a while he put the matter aside for the time being.
At this time, he saw the two pieces of cloth next to him and immediately became interested. He wondered how the weaver girl Yang Xiaomei had improved the wooden cotton cloth?
Chen Qing pulled off the top layer of oil paper, but inside was a second layer of packaging, wrapped in a layer of linen cloth. Chen Qing immediately understood what the other party meant, that he was comparing himself with the linen cloth!
He untied the fine linen cloth, and finally exposed the white and delicate wood cotton cloth, also called white folded cloth. Chen Qing couldn't help but exclaimed. It was as white as snow, fine and dense, and had a silky smoothness to the touch. This texture was like
It gives people a very high-end feel.
Chen Qing was satisfied. He mainly wanted to know how well the wood cotton cloth could be woven, and he was not disappointed.
Of course, Chen Qing also knows that this kind of high-end wood cotton cloth cannot be woven by ordinary people, and the output must be small and expensive. In fact, he is more concerned about the mid-range wood cotton cloth, which has the value of promotion.
In addition, the raw materials of kapok cloth must also be guaranteed. The first is kapok, and the second is cotton. Kapok is mainly produced in Ryukyu Island. In addition, it can also be found on Fujian Road. Kapok is not a big problem. The key is cotton. Currently, it is only produced in Gaochang area.
For planting, it is best to find a state in Shaanxi Road that specializes in planting.
Thinking of planting, Chen Qing suddenly remembered something. The year before last, he asked all states to promote the planting of alfalfa along streams, rivers and fields. I wonder how it went?
Chen Qing immediately told Chao Qing: "This afternoon, I will convene the counselors of the Internal Affairs Hall to discuss important matters. Please inform them first, and I will tell you the specific time later."
