Hot air balloons are indispensable to Jin Feng's current situation.
Although the hot air balloon he made did not have enough maneuverability and relied on the wind to move, with the addition of grenades it became a low-profile version of the air force, firmly controlling the air.
On the battlefield, if one side has an air force, it has absolute initiative.
If you want to fight, you can fight. If you don't want to fight, you can leave at any time.
Therefore, hot air balloons and grenades have always been Jin Feng's core equipment, and their importance far exceeds armor, heavy crossbows and catapults.
Since taking away a group of death row prisoners in Xichuan Prison, the stability of explosives has been greatly improved. After assembly line operations, the output has been greatly increased, and now the conditions are met for large-scale equipment for escorts.
However, in order to prevent accidents, Jin Feng and Zhang Liang did not do this. Instead, they strictly controlled the mines.
Whether it is the Eagle Flying Team or an ordinary escort, every grenade distributed must be recorded.
This is true for grenades with relatively complex structures, and even more so for hot air balloons.
In fact, the principle of hot air ballooning is very simple. It has only been publicized for more than a month, and some vendors in Beijing have already started making paper Kongming lanterns for sale.
There was no Zhuge Kongming in this world, so the traders named it Zhenyuan Lantern.
It is not only to commemorate the Battle of the Yellow River where the Zhenyuan Escort repelled the Eastern Barbarians, but also to express the people's hope that the Zhenyuan Escort will shock the distant world.
Small traders can make Zhenyuan lanterns, let alone craftsmen supported by the powerful.
Recently, countless craftsmen have been secretly studying hot air balloons, but they have all ended in failure.
Because they have a technical difficulty that cannot be circumvented, and it is also the biggest technical barrier for hot air balloons - fire-resistant cloth.
If you want to make a hot air balloon that can carry people, paper will definitely not work. You need fire-resistant cloth that can withstand high temperatures.
Except for Jin Feng, no one in Dakang knew how to make fire-resistant cloth.
This is also Jin Feng’s biggest trump card.
But refractory cloth is not difficult to say. Although Jin Feng is disguised, craftsmen who know the material may be able to see its raw materials.
Therefore, the control of hot air balloons has always been stricter than that of grenades. Except for Eagle and others, there are very few people who can come into contact with them.
Recently, in order to respond to possible emergencies in the capital at any time, Eagle has placed hot air balloons in several places inside and outside the city to ensure that no matter which wind direction the hot air balloons take off at any time and quickly reach every place in the capital.
A house on Xinglong Street is one of the placement sites.
These places are also strictly guarded to prevent hot air balloons from being stolen.
"Since we know that he stole the hot air balloon, we can just interrogate him and imprison him. Why are we still asking?" Da Zhuang asked.
The escorts responsible for guarding the placement point were all arranged by Da Zhuang, and Platoon Leader Chen was considered his subordinate.
Recently, I have also caught some people who were trying to get close to the placement point, but they were all arrested by the escort.
"This man is not an ordinary thief. Platoon leader Chen said he is Zuo Zhiyuan, the official of the Ministry of Industry." The guard replied.
When Jin Feng and Ninth Princess heard this, they both understood why Platoon Leader Chen came to ask for instructions.
The Ministry of Industry is one of the six ministries of the imperial court. It is not only responsible for various civil and water conservancy projects, but also for the research and development of various agricultural equipment.
This kind of department is most prone to corruption. During the purge before the Ninth Princess, the Ministry of Industry was the hardest hit area by corruption. From the ministers and ministers to the managers of several departments, almost all of them were taken down because of corruption.
On the contrary, this Lang Guan named Zuo Zhiyuan has no problems at all. He is one of the honest people in the department who works hard.
After all, the Ministry of Industry is a department that needs to be pragmatic, so the Minister of Industry promoted Zuo Zhiyuan and asked him and his department to work exclusively.
This purge not only caused heavy casualties in the Ministry of Industry, but also in other departments such as the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Punishment, and the Ministry of Rites.
Moreover, the Ministry of Industry is a technical department, and when officials from other departments are sent there, they are laymen leading experts, and it is easy for jokes to happen.
More than a hundred years ago, the then Minister of the Ministry of Industry suddenly died of illness. The emperor asked the Minister of Rites to be transferred to the Ministry of Industry as Minister. As a result, after the Minister arrived at the Ministry of Industry, he did not first survey the terrain for building bridges and roads, but took the workers with him every day.
The craftsmen in the department learned the knowledge of etiquette and caused many ridiculous things.
After the Ministry of Industry was purged, Zuo Zhiyuan, the fifth-rank official, became the highest-ranking official among the survivors. In addition, the Ninth Princess was also a pragmatist and liked people like Zuo Zhiyuan, so he was promoted to Minister of the Ministry of Industry, temporarily.
As acting minister, he manages the Ministry of Industry.
Although he only held the position of temporary minister, Zuo Zhiyuan could now be regarded as a high official in the court.
Platoon leader Chen is just a bodyguard. If Zuo Zhiyuan is imprisoned at will, tomorrow morning I will ask the emperor, where is the minister of the Ministry of Industry? Could it be said that he was imprisoned by a bodyguard with no official position?
That would really be a joke.
"What kind of trouble is he going to make?"
Princess Ninth asked, rubbing her eyebrows.
Jin Feng also looked helpless.
In fact, he was no stranger to Zuo Zhiyuan.
Zuo Zhiyuan came from a family of craftsmen. He didn't value money and power, but was obsessed with various machinery and the like.
In the past, my status was low and I couldn't get in touch with Jin Feng and the Ninth Princess.
But since the Ninth Princess asked him to serve as the Minister of the Ministry of Industry temporarily, he became qualified to go to court.
If it were anyone else, he would definitely have a good relationship with the Duke and other officials of the same rank at this time, but the first person Zuo Zhiyuan approached after going to court was Jin Feng.
With Jin Feng's current status and influence, actually building a good relationship with Jin Feng is the right thing to do.
But Zuo Zhiyuan didn't go to Jin Feng to get close to him at all, but went to Jin Feng to ask for a hot air balloon.
It was Jin Feng's first time meeting Zuo Zhiyuan, so it was naturally impossible for him to give him the hot air balloon, so he refused without hesitation.
But Zuo Zhiyuan has had a dream of flying since he was a child. He has been studying various birds and imitating various wings with the intention of flying and realizing his dream.
Naturally, everything failed, and Zuo Zhiyuan was almost thrown to death.
I had already given up, but when I saw Jin Feng's hot air balloon, I was immediately shocked.
Even after being rejected by Jin Feng, he didn't give up. He didn't have the consciousness of a minister of the Ministry of Industry. He thought about how to manage the Ministry of Industry every day. Whenever he had a chance, he took various bird wing models he made and ran to the door of the royal study to block Jin Feng.
Dakang values literature over martial arts and despises craftsmen even more. Scholars all want to read the books of sages and become officials. It is rare to meet someone with the same interests in Dakang. If it is just a simple discussion on mechanical issues, Jin Feng will be very happy.
But he really didn't want to discuss bird wings with Zuo Zhiyuan.
Because countless pioneers in previous lives have proven that it is impossible to fly by relying on imitation bird wings.
Zuo Zhiyuan firmly believes in this.
After Jin Feng persuaded Zuo Zhiyuan several times, he found that he could not defeat Zuo Zhiyuan, so he asked the bodyguard guarding the palace gate to immediately take a small road to notify him when he saw Zuo Zhiyuan entering the palace.
Can't you just hide away if you can't afford to offend me?
Zuo Zhiyuan tried several times but failed, so he stopped going.
Who knew that in the end, he went directly to steal his own warehouse...
"The top priority now is the Cao family's business. Don't worry about what trouble he wants to cause. There is no time to care about him now."
Jin Feng's head hurt when he thought of Zuo Zhiyuan carrying all kinds of wings: "Just let Lao Chen drive him away. I'll have a good talk with him later."