As for firearms, as a time traveler, you will attach great importance to them.
Anyone who knows a little about history knows that at the end of the Qing Dynasty, a few hundred foreign gunmen from the Eight-Power Allied Forces were able to defeat tens of thousands of Qing soldiers. Although this was due to the decay of the Qing soldiers, no one can deny that cold weapons are of great use in modern times.
It's really vulnerable to guns.
A great man once said that political power comes from the barrel of a gun. Whoever has a gun in his hand has the right to speak. I am also determined to win the research and development of firearms.
In the late Southern Song Dynasty, China's science and technology was definitely leading the world. However, just a few decades later, Europe began to rise. In the 14th and 15th centuries, with the vigorous development of the European Renaissance, its science and technology also improved rapidly.
development, while the ancient eastern country with a thousand-year glorious civilization gradually sank into conservatism, and was later bullied by a small island country for eight years.
After the four great inventions, a series of major inventions in the world are almost no longer with us. In addition to the conservative thinking of those in power, ancient scientists also have a fatal weakness, that is, they know it but don’t know why.
For example, Shen Kuo, a great scientist in the Song Dynasty, had known about the phenomenon of magnets for a long time, but did not further study why such a phenomenon occurred. This directly led to the failure of many ancient inventions to be continued well, let alone applied.
Creation and invention are the strength of every nation. Without or lacking them, they will become insignificant, insignificant, vulnerable, and ultimately passively beaten.
The glorious history of the past is not equal to the glory of the present, and I will continue this glory.
Gunpowder is one of the four great inventions of our country. The research on gunpowder began with the ancient Taoist alchemy. By some mistake, I failed to develop the elixir of life, but by chance, I invented gunpowder. This kind of gunpowder is made of sulfur and charcoal.
, the mixture formed by saltpeter ultimately changed the cold weapon age for thousands of years.
The earliest muskets had also appeared at this time, but the gun body was made of bamboo tubes and could not be used in actual combat. However, the steel production in the Southern Song Dynasty was already very large, and I am very confident that the invention of muskets will be advanced.
The Ordnance Supervisor is affiliated to the Ministry of War, and its original location was also the headquarters of the Ministry of War. In the early years, when Jia Sidao was concurrently serving as the Ordnance Supervisor, he moved away from the Ministry of War and found a separate house nearby.
Three years ago, there was an explosion in the Gunpowder Department under the Ordnance Supervision, and the Gunpowder Department was moved to the relatively remote Luoshi Mountain outside Lin'an South Gate. In addition to the South and North Square, which was originally located in the suburbs, the Weapons Supervision location was divided into three. I want to
The place to watch the fireworks is right outside the south gate.
The Gunpowder Department consists of a gunpowder workshop, a firearms workshop and a fireworks workshop. This fireworks workshop was set up by Jia Sidao in favor of the late Emperor Li Zong, and was specially used to produce fireworks and firecrackers for the royal family and dignitaries.
When you get out of the south gate, go straight and you will be on the road south to Fuzhou. Turn right and you will reach Luoshi Mountain for about five miles.
This time I am no longer on a private visit incognito. In addition to Yuan Ji, Xiao Qi, Wen Tianxiang and others, there is also a team of 100 people personally led by the deputy commander of the imperial guards Shen Mo to escort me. These 100 imperial guards have a neat lineup, and several flags are accompanying them.
The wind was blowing, and the fanfare along the way made it look majestic.
"Your Majesty, there is a large amount of gunpowder stored here. It's better not to go in. Once the ministers take out the fireworks, your Majesty will set them off in this open space." When approaching the Gunpowder Department, Wen Tianxiang persuaded again.
"Song Rui, don't worry. I'm already at the door. There's no reason not to come in." I smiled and shouted, "Shen Mo."
"My subordinate is here."
"Take some people to look around, and the rest will guard the door." After saying that, I took Yuan Ji and others forward.
Chen Dongping, the head of the Gunpowder Department, had already received the order from the new weapons supervisor Wen Tianxiang and greeted him at the door with the stewards of the three workshops.
"See you, Your Majesty, long live my Emperor." Chen Dongping led the people who greeted him and knelt down to pay homage.
"Let's all be flat."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
"Master Chen, lead the way. I'll go to Sanfang first to have a look."
Although the Song Dynasty was still an era of cold weapons, gunpowder had gradually been widely used. The gunpowder technology of the Southern Song Dynasty was still ahead of the world at that time. If it were not for the conservativeness of the Yuan Dynasty later, the history of this musket might have been advanced. In addition, the Ming and Qing dynasties were also
They also did not pay attention to the development of firearms, otherwise our country's ordnance technology would not have lagged behind Europe and the United States.
The gunpowder department located in the suburbs covers a large area, especially the gunpowder workshop. I stayed in the gunpowder workshop and firearms workshop for a long time, and I talked about this and that with the masters in the two workshops from time to time, but these people never
I had never seen the emperor come in person, and I was almost too nervous to speak. From a few words, I had a general understanding of the gunpowder firearms of this era.
The gunpowder workshop is filled with many packaged detonators and finished gunpowder. These items are neatly stacked, and there is a large water tank filled with water every now and then. It seems that Manager Chen has also put a lot of effort into safety.
There are many artillery pieces in the firearms workshop. I took a look and found that there are at least ten types, including single-shooting cannons, double-shooting cannons, five-shooting cannons, seven-shooting cannons, tiger crouching cannons, pillar-belly cannons, whirlwind cannons, and combined cannons.
, sleeping car cannon, traveling car cannon, traveling cannon, etc. However, these so-called cannons are very similar. They can only fire stones. Perhaps it is more appropriate to call them stone machines. As early as the Song Dynasty
During the reign of Renzong, Zeng Gongliang and others spent five years compiling "Wu Jing Zong Yao", which had detailed records, but it was not further improved after that. This book was in the imperial study room of Ningqian Palace. At that time, I was just a beginner.
After browsing it briefly, it seemed that I would have to study it carefully when I returned. In a corner of the firearms shop, I finally found an incomplete "gun".
As for the fireworks display, I only took a cursory glance, which puzzled Wen Tianxiang and others who knew I was there to see the fireworks.
Back in Manager Chen's office, I took out the musket I found in the firearms shop from Xiao Qi and said, "Master Chen, who made this musket?" The musket in my hand has
The barrel, gunpowder, and projectiles. Although the barrel is still a bamboo tube, it has the prototype of a modern gun.
"Back to the Emperor, this was made by Master Yunyue, a native of Shouchun, the former manager of the weapons workshop."
"The former manager? What about the others?" I asked hurriedly.
"Your Majesty, Master Yunyue died in an explosion three years ago."
"Ah, tell me, what's going on?" I heard Wen Tianxiang mention this explosion on the way here, but I didn't expect that it would kill a firearms master, and my face suddenly darkened.
Seeing that I was anxious, Chen Dongping quickly pointed to a steward next to him and said, "Your Majesty, this is Master Peng Chong, a disciple of Master Yunyue. He is currently the steward of the firearms workshop. Let him tell the Emperor about the situation at that time."
The masters of the weapons supervisor are divided into masters, middle divisions and junior divisions according to their abilities, which are equivalent to modern chief engineers, senior engineers and engineers. Yunyue and Peng Chong are the masters and middle divisions of the firearms workshop. After Yunyue, the firearms workshop
There was no more master.
The steward named Peng Chong was so nervous that he stammered: "Your Majesty, three, three years ago, subordinate, I..." I knew that Peng Chong was extremely nervous, so his expression softened slightly and he said: "Steward Peng, don't be nervous.
, drink some water and speak slowly."
Peng Chong saw that my expression became gentle, calmed down, took a sip of water, and said: "Back to the emperor, three years ago, the master said that he found a way to improve the fire gun to be used by one person, and it could shoot broken iron
pieces, broken porcelain pieces and other projectiles. On that day, the master fused gunpowder and broken iron pieces into projectiles.
, when launching, the bamboo tube unexpectedly burst. The projectile did not fly straight out, but exploded and shot into the surrounding gunpowder. This caused a series of explosions, causing the master to be killed by the gunpowder on the spot. The master made a total of two
One of them was blown up on the spot, and only this one was left incomplete."
"Then, you should know how to do this." I secretly said with hope.
"Go back to the emperor, my subordinates don't know how to do it."
I sighed, speechless for a moment, with a look of disappointment on my face.