Late Ming Dynasty: Oops, I am surrounded by the Donglin Party

"What you said, sir, is indeed an idea that I have never thought of before. I have made note of it." Bi Maokang said.

Bi Maokang no longer dared to ignore Zhang Shikang's words this time, although he still didn't understand why the young master in front of him, who was just over twenty years old, knew so many things.

But none of that matters.

Bi Maokang was well versed in firearms and knew very well the impact that increasing the speed of reloading would have on war.

Perhaps just such a small change can change the situation of a war.

"Well, the power of black powder is just that. As far as I know, there are many gunpowders in the world that are more powerful than black powder.

Among them, there is a kind of gunpowder that is not only more powerful than black powder, but also does not produce smoke when it burns.

As Mr. Bi knows, the burning of black powder greatly affects the sight. If we can develop smokeless powder, it will greatly improve the accuracy of shooting. "Zhang Shikang thought for a while and said again.

"Sir, I have never heard of any gunpowder in the world that does not produce smoke?" Bi Maokang frowned.

“Of course there is, not only smokeless powder, but also anthracite, there are so many amazing things.

Even the power of smokeless gunpowder cannot be ranked up there. I know of something called TNT that is more powerful.

Just our boss's workshop, less than a pound of TNT is enough to blow it to pieces.

However, that thing is not gunpowder, it is explosives." Zhang Shikang explained to Bi Maokang based on his shallow understanding of firearms.

Zhang Shikang knew the difference between gunpowder and explosives.

Zhang Shikang also knew about smokeless gunpowder and TNT.

But he didn't know how smokeless gunpowder and TNT were produced.

Therefore, when it comes to science and engineering giants such as Bi Maokang and Wang Zheng, Zhang Shikang only dares to express the concepts that he is more certain of.

For those guesses that are not very clear, he will also tell them that these are his guesses.

He directly provided a goal, and it is definitely right to move towards this goal. As for how to reach this goal, that is the business of these science and engineering giants.

The reason why we don't speak nonsense is that if we say something wrong, it may cause too many craftsmen to waste their energy.

"Gunpowder... Explosives. This is the first time I've heard of explosives."

“In short, gunpowder burns and dynamite explodes, which is related to chemistry. Alas, we still don’t have the conditions for it now.

Mr. Bi can still think about smokeless gunpowder, but forget about TNT. "Zhang Shikang shook his head.

At that time, there was not even a periodic table of elements, nor any qualified glass beakers, so there was no way to start.

“Now that the new copper cannon has been successfully developed, the next step is mass production.

It is estimated that mass production can only begin after the artillery workshop at the Manufacturing Bureau is completed.

But before that, we still need to train more artillery craftsmen, so I'll leave this to Mr. Bi."

The people responsible for imitating this bronze cannon were Bi Maokang and Johann Adam Schall von Bell, and there were only more than 20 craftsmen involved.

But if we want to achieve mass production, we have to at least teach more craftsmen.

"I obey your command." Bi Maokang accepted the order happily.

"Well, this matter still needs to be kept secret, so we must carefully screen the craftsmen when recruiting them, and don't let our core technology leak out."

After Zhang Shikang finished explaining the matter, he chatted with Bi Maokang for a while.

As Zhang Shikang expected, there was no progress in rifling the gun barrel.

Zhang Shikang was not too disappointed. After all, rifling technology was still too advanced at that time and the industrial level was simply not there.

Next, Zhang Shikang took his brother Chongzhen to find the project that Wang Zheng was in charge of, which was mainly the research and development of glass and cement.

The development of cement is still in the stage of collecting raw materials. There is no volcanic ash in Beijing, but according to Wang Zheng's investigation, he plans to use a stupid method and send people to Yunnan to transport some of it back first.

In any case, let's try it first to see if it works before doing anything else. If volcanic ash is mixed with quicklime, it can really achieve the level of solidity that Zhang Shikang said.

What remains is how to solve the problem of large-scale transportation.

Compared to cement, the progress of glass is much better.

After all, our ancestors knew how to make colored glaze more than a thousand years ago.

The firing methods of colored glaze and glass are almost the same, it is just a matter of raw materials. Wang Zheng ordered people to obtain materials from different regions.

After repeated experiments, it is now possible to produce almost completely transparent glass, but there are still many other defects that need to be solved.

As usual, Zhang Shikang gave some commendations. As they were a little tired from walking, he took Brother Chongzhen to the barracks to rest for a while.

"Your Majesty, how is it?" Zhang Shikang asked his brother Chongzhen while drinking tea.

The implication is to ask this guy if he has found a hobby that interests him.

Zhang Shikang thought that Chongzhen's previous activities such as carpentry, fishing and alchemy were ridiculous.

It’s not that there’s anything wrong with fishing and carpentry, but for the emperor, having a hobby related to science is a good thing for the country.

As the saying goes, if the emperor loves alchemists, everyone in the world will learn from them. If the emperor loves to invent, make gunpowder, and explosives, everyone in the world will learn from them, and the Ming Dynasty will probably take off faster in firearms.

But Emperor Chongzhen obviously did not understand Zhang Shikang's "painstaking efforts". He said calmly:

"Most of those things are weapons that kill people. As the Son of Heaven, I should govern the people with benevolence. How can I think about how to kill people every day?

As for the glass cement, I have seen glass before, but it is just a strange and ingenious technique that is of no benefit to the country or the people, so I am not very interested in it. "

Zhang Shikang raised the corner of his mouth, thinking to himself, you don't have to think about how to kill people, but if others are always thinking about how to kill you, how will you respond?

However, Zhang Shikang knew that this brother had a stubborn temper.

Seeing that Brother Chongzhen was not interested in these, the two of them took a break, and then Zhang Shikang took Brother Chongzhen to the next place to look for his hobbies - Song Yingxing's experimental field.

Before clearing the land and re-measuring and redistributing it, Zhang Shikang allocated a full 5,000 acres of experimental land to Song Yingxing in the name of the General Administration of Manufacturing.

In addition to trial planting new crops such as corn, peanuts, potatoes, and sweet potatoes, these experimental fields will also be responsible for the cultivation and improvement of Ming Dynasty's existing crops such as rice and wheat in the future.

Of course, the top priority today is still the breeding of new crops.

Zhang Shikang and Song Yingxing planned to use these 5,000 acres of land to grow more potatoes, sweet potatoes and other seeds for promoting farming in the entire arid northern region at the end of last year.

It is mid-April now, and new crops such as potatoes and sweet potatoes have already been planted when the weather warmed up in early March.

When Zhang Shikang and Emperor Chongzhen arrived at the experimental field, the land was already full of green seedlings of new crops.

Many seedlings have grown to half a foot long, and they sway in the warm wind, full of vitality.

Some hired farmers were loosening the soil for the seedlings, and some were weeding. Zhang Shikang looked around but couldn't find Song Yingxing.

But when he turned his head, he found Brother Chongzhen looking at the lush green experimental field with his eyes shining.

……