The Jagged Empire of Daqin

"I didn't see the string either!"

As soon as the big iron lump was dragged out, it immediately attracted the surrounding armorers. Many armorers were full of curiosity about this big iron lump, and looked at this strange thing with curious eyes.

Seeing this big iron bump, Zheng Yue showed doubts and curiosity like the rest of the weapons masters, and couldn't help asking Fang Zi next to him: "Fang Ling, what kind of weapon is this?"

"Cannon!" Fang Zi said two words expressionlessly.

"artillery?"

A strange word rushed into Zheng Yue's mind, making Zheng Yue more curious and confused.

"It's all scattered!"

"Start experimenting with artillery!"

"Where's the recorder?"

"exist!"

"Ready to record!"

"As ordered!"

Fang Zi became serious and gave orders one by one. After the orders were issued, the hundreds of armorers surrounding the cannon stepped back twenty steps, and the cannon barrel was aimed at the wood a hundred steps away. target.

After doing this, two guards came carrying a wooden box, and after placing the wooden box next to the cannon, the guards hurriedly retreated, and then Fang Zi walked to the side of the cannon alone, stretched out his hand to open the wooden box, revealing the wooden box The real face inside.

There was nothing inside the wooden box, except for a layer of straw, there were only two black balls with a thin string. Fang Zi took out a black ball, walked to the gun barrel, and took out the firearm. Zhezi ignited the string on the black ball, and quickly threw it into the gun barrel, Fangzi also ran away in a hurry.

"Boom!!"

Just when everyone didn't know what Fang Zi was doing, the cannon shook in vain and let out a boom!There was a loud noise, and a thick cloud of dust shook around the artillery, followed by a huge roar from the wooden target a hundred steps away!

"boom!!"

The wooden target exploded within a radius of five steps, and made an earth-shattering explosion sound. The entire experimental site shook, and then flames erupted, setting off a wave of heat, causing the armourers who were a hundred steps away to subconsciously reach out to block it!

When the heat wave dissipated and the dust dissipated, everyone was stunned and shocked. The wooden target a hundred steps away disappeared without a trace, leaving only a piece of burnt black scorched earth, and the air was filled with gunpowder smoke.

"hiss!"

There was a sound of gasping, and everyone was shocked by the power of this artillery!

Everyone on the field was shocked by the power of the cannon, but Fang Zi frowned and observed the cannon. While observing, he muttered to himself: "After the cannon is fired, the thrust will be three steps, and it needs to be fixed with a steel plate, otherwise there will be a cannon behind the cannon." It's possible to turn over!"

The cannon is too powerful, and the rear thrust is also great. After the cannon was fired, the original position of the cannon retreated three steps. Fortunately, he did not stand behind the cannon, otherwise he would die or be disabled. This is a huge shortcoming that needs to be improved.

Fang Zi looked at the gun mount and found that the supporting iron rod of the gun mount has been twisted. This is also a problem with the rear thrust. A stronger support iron rod needs to be replaced. In addition to the problem with the gun mount, the problem with the gun barrel is even bigger. Double the size, and the bottom will expand twice as much. If there is another shot, the barrel will explode.

"Where is the recorder!" Fang Zi shouted lightly!

"In the!"

Under Fang Zi's soft drink, the recorder who was in shock immediately came to his senses and walked to Fang Zi's side.

"Remember, the range of the artillery is limited to [-] steps, which is too short and far from meeting the needs of the battlefield. It needs to be improved, and the range should be increased by at least [-] steps. The accuracy is not counted for the time being. After ten experiments, I will calculate the accuracy again. Spend!"

"The power of the shell is within five steps of the target, which also needs to be improved. At least the power must be increased within ten steps of the target; the destructive power is not counted for the time being, and the next wall test will be counted; the artillery barrel is seriously worn out, and it can only be opened at present. For a single shot, the material of the barrel needs to be upgraded, the material of the iron frame of the artillery is not up to standard and needs to be improved, the rear thrust of the artillery is a lot, and a buffer structure and strong fixing are needed!"

Fang Zi told the first performance of the cannon like a few treasures, and the recorder standing next to him quickly took notes. After memorizing it, Fang Zi waved to the ten guards who had pushed the cannon. Shocked, he pushed the damaged artillery back.

After the cannons left the field, the shocking soldiers came to their senses one after another. Fang Zi was surrounded by the crowd like a superstar, and weapons masters kept asking questions:

"Fang Ling, what kind of weapon is this?"

"Fang Ling, where is this weapon used? Is it specially made for siege?"

"That's right, Fang Ling, what made that thing explode!"

"Fang Ling, have you mastered the technology of this weapon?"

Questions flooded in like a flood, Fang Zi made a quiet gesture dumbfounded, and smiled at everyone: "Everyone be quiet, first listen to this order, this weapon is called artillery, and artillery has a wide range of uses. As long as a qualified artillery is developed, no matter Whether the two armies are fighting or attacking the city, it will be of great use!"

"The method of cannon explosion is very simple. Colleagues can refer to pyrotechnic lift-off and explosion. As for this technology, this order has not fully mastered it. As you have seen just now, the material of the cannon is not good enough. It is necessary to forge stronger and more durable iron. keep improving!"

"In addition, what I want to say is that the ability of one person is limited. If there are colleagues who are interested in this artillery, they can improve the artillery together with this order. There are not many people, as long as twenty people are interested, you can come to this order. sign up!"

"I am willing to participate in the development of artillery with Fang Ling!"

"I would too!"

"Count me in!"

"Aren't you stupid, sign up, Fang Ling, I, Niu Saburo, sign up!"

After learning that Fangzi needed people to develop the artillery together, everyone froze the pot instantly and signed up for Fangzi one by one hungry. After a period of assessment, Fangzi finally selected twenty ordnance masters of different levels to participate in the artillery development with him. plan.

The Armorers who were not selected were all overshadowed and felt a deep sense of loss.

PS: "I'm used to seeing all the arrows fired, I might be looking forward to all the guns fired!"

Chapter 738 Budget!

What I have to say is that when Zheng Yue saw the power of the artillery, he immediately dismantled his failed product, the large crossbow, because in his eyes, Fang Zi developed a powerful artillery, a large vehicle There is no need for crossbows.

Zheng Yue also applied to Fang Zi, wanting to participate in the development of artillery. After careful consideration, Fang Zi finally decided to give Zheng Yue, a rookie armorer, a chance to see if he had the talent in this area.

June [-]th, Chenshi!

Military Yamen, courts!

In the court hall, a long table-shaped sand table was placed in the center of the court hall. Around the sand table stood several officials wearing black official mansions and gem-studded official hats. Minister of the Ministry of War Yang Ze was also among them. In addition to Yang Ze, there were also Liang Yong, the left servant of the Ministry of War, Zhu Shun, the right servant, Gao Bian, the ordnance doctor, Xia Ming, the military son, Cai Guan, the military doctor, Tian Yu, the border guard doctor, Fan Zheng, the city guard doctor, and Hu Wei, the stable shepherd doctor!

This lineup is the most luxurious lineup of the Ministry of War!

Ordnance Doctor, as the name suggests, is in charge of Daqin Ordnance, and is also the immediate boss of the Ordnance Department!

Among the military sons, he is responsible for conveying the military orders to the major military camps!

He is a military doctor who is in charge of the military registration of the whole country. It can be said that he has read every name of the generals of the Great Qin Dynasty, but if he has seen it, he has read it, and he does not know if he remembers it or not.

Border doctor, in charge of border construction!

Chengwei Langzhong is in charge of the garrison troops and officers and soldiers of the prefectures and counties of Daqin. If the government wants to recruit officers and soldiers, it first needs to be reviewed by the Chengwei Langzhong. There are too many officers and soldiers, or there are too many officers and soldiers in the garrison.

The stable shepherd is responsible for the supply of Daqin war horses!

Standing at the forefront of the sand table, Yang Ze, Minister of the Ministry of War, glanced around at everyone, and said calmly, "Your Majesty wants to abolish the Bailan Camp, Ningta Camp, Surabaya Camp, and Qingkou Camp. Returning, do you have any opinions?"

The frontier doctor Zhong Tianyu pointed to a certain area on the sand table and said at the same time: "Master Shangshu, you can change the Surabaya Camp to Longmen Camp and station at Longmen Gate, and Qingkou Camp to Manshan Camp and station at Manshan Pass. The camp was changed to Wuyang Camp and stationed near Wuyang Harbor to prevent Yin Li from attacking Wuyang County. Ningta Camp was changed to Haozhou Camp and stationed near Haozhou Harbor to prevent Yin Li from attacking Haozhou. It is also to prevent the navy of the Xia Empire from landing and invading from the harbor of Haozhou County!"

The frontier doctor is worthy of being a frontier doctor, and quickly pointed out several important military locations.

Longmen Pass is sandwiched between Mingguang County and Meng County. It is located on the southern border. It was originally the border of Yanzhao and is now the border of Qin and Zhao. Manshan Pass is sandwiched between Meng County and Haozhou County. Originally the border of Yanxia, ​​now it is the border of Qinxia!

The Wuyang Seaport and Haozhou Seaport are naturally the seaports in the east of the two counties. If the enemy wants to land inland, [-]% of them will choose these two seaports to land, so they are very important military locations. If these two If the place is not under control, Wuyang County and Haozhou County have become the back garden of the Xia Empire Navy and Donghai King Navy.

Yang Ze nodded in satisfaction, looked up at the crowd and said, "Have you heard it all? Now that you have heard it, what do you guys think about it!"

"The lower officials seconded the proposal!"

"The lower officials seconded the proposal!"

"The lower officials agree!"

All the officials expressed their opinions one after another, and they all agreed with Tian Yu's placement plan. After all, Tian Yu is a frontier doctor and a professional in this field.

"Okay, where is the military commander!" Yang Ze called softly!

"My subordinate is here!" Xia Ming, the military commander, responded respectfully.

"Immediately, in the name of the Ministry of War, convey the order to return to the battalion to General Zhenbei, Shangyang Hou, General Gu Yuan, and General Polu!" Yang Ze ordered solemnly.

"I obey orders!" Xia Ming bent down and responded, then turned around and left to do what he was supposed to do.

"Where is the left servant!" Yang Ze called softly again!

Liang Yong, the servant of the left, immediately bent down and said: "The next official is here!"

"Your Majesty has decreed that the Yanshui Camp will help the Northern Wei Dynasty. Due to the limited conditions of the Northern Wei Dynasty, it is impossible to provide for the soldiers of the Yanshui Camp. Therefore, I, Daqin, can only pay for it. You should immediately ask the Ministry of Households to allocate 200 million shi of grain. Then send someone to Yanshui camp!" Yang Ze said in a tone of no seriousness.

"Has Your Majesty increased the budget for the Ministry of War?" Liang Yong didn't answer directly, but asked about the budget.

The budget of the Ministry of War has already been taken out from the Ministry of Households, that is to say, the Ministry of War has already taken all of its quota. If His Majesty did not increase the budget for the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Households would not allocate food. He was scolded bloody by the minister of the household department. If he didn't ask about this matter, he would not dare to go to the household department to ask for food.

"Aren't you talking nonsense? If Your Majesty didn't increase the budget for the Ministry of War, I would ask people to go to the Ministry of Households to ask for food?" Yang Ze said suddenly.

Hearing this, Liang Yong breathed a sigh of relief, and immediately saluted, "I'll do it right away!" After speaking, Liang Yong left the court in despair.

After Liang Yong left, Yang Ze waved to the crowd, "You are all fine, you all step back and remove the sand table!"

"The officer will leave!"

"The officer will leave!"

All the officials saluted and resigned one after another, and the officers and soldiers guarding outside the courtroom also carried out the sand table, restoring the courtroom to its original state. After everyone had left, Yang Ze sat back on the first seat and began to pick up the officials on the desk to review.

tread... tread...

There was a sound of footsteps coming from outside the hall, Yang Ze subconsciously raised his head to look up, and saw Fang Zi, the ordnance orderer, stepping into the courtroom, seeing that it was Fang Zi who came, Yang Ze immediately showed a happy smile on his face, and immediately stretched out his hand towards the chair beside him Said: "Fang Zi is here, sit down!"

"No need for Mr. Shangshu, and Mr. Shangshu should call you the official name, otherwise, some people will always think that the lower official got to his current position because of your relationship!" Fang Zi said dumbfounded.

What many people don't know is that Yang Ze married his only daughter to Fang Zi, and also gave birth to a son and two daughters for Fang Zi, so in terms of personal relationship, Fang Zi is the son-in-law of the Minister of the Ministry of War, and it is precisely because of this, Yang Ze was so happy when he saw Fang Zi.

Seeing Fang Zi's attitude, Yang Ze nodded in satisfaction, "That's right, I'm very pleased that you can have this awareness, tell me, what's the matter with Fang Ling coming to see me?" Yang Ze's face turned serious. , his expression became serious.

Fang Zi bowed down and saluted with a solemn expression: "Please, Lord Shangshu, increase the budget of the Ordnance Department!"

Yang Ze raised his eyebrows, "Why?"

PS: "Ask for a monthly pass, ask for a full order, and ask for a reward!"

Chapter 739 Ironmaking Technology of the Great Qin Empire!

"Xiaguan is developing a new weapon. This weapon is called artillery. The range of the finished artillery can reach [-] paces. The lethality is enough to destroy any tall building and thick wall. I am not talking nonsense. As long as the artillery is developed, any border city wall will be destroyed. Can't stop my Great Qin Iron Cavalry!"

"As the saying goes, the better the thing, the more expensive it is, and the same is true for artillery. A artillery needs at least 60 catties of refined iron. According to the price given by the iron smelter, a catty of refined iron costs about 6000 yuan, and [-] catties That's [-] yuan, a contract of [-] taels of silver!"

"This is just an estimate. How much refined iron is really needed is still unknown. After all, the artillery is still under development, and the development cannot be successful at one time. It will fail one after another. Every failure is a loss of silver!"

"This year's Ordnance Department's budget is just right, but due to the emergence of artillery, the budget is not enough. Please, Lord Shangshu, increase the Ordnance Department's budget by 100 million taels of silver!" Fang Zi told Yang Ze the reason for his budget.

Yang Ze was quite frightened, mainly because he was frightened by the numbers. It takes [-] jin of fine iron to make a cannon. You know, a pair of fish scale armor only needs [-] jin of fine iron, and [-] jin of fine iron is enough to make a cannon. Two hundred fish scale armors.

"How likely is it to succeed?" Yang Ze asked hesitantly.

"The basic structure and blueprints of the cannon have been mastered by the lower officials, but they still need to be continuously improved. As for how long it will take to improve, the lower officials cannot give an accurate figure!" Fang Zi answered truthfully.

"Okay, I will approve the increase in the budget of the Ordnance Department!" Yang Ze nodded and agreed without much hesitation.

As one of the six ministries, the Ministry of War has a considerable budget every year, and even has an extra budget of one million taels of silver every year, and the extra budget will naturally not be returned to the Ministry of Accounts, but will be kept as a backup. He has already saved 400 million taels of silver and a budget of 100 million taels of silver, so he can still make his own decisions.

Fang Zi was overjoyed for a while, and hurriedly edited and saluted and said with a smile: "Thank you, Lord Shangshu!"

"Thank you sincerely, and thank you with the finished artillery!" Yang Ze smiled slightly.

"nature!"

"If it's okay, step back, someone will deliver the 100 million taels of silver soon!"

"The officer will leave!"

Soon, Fang Zi withdrew from the court and walked out of the yamen of the Ministry of War. In front of the gate of the yamen of the Ministry of War, Zheng Yue was waiting outside. Seeing Fang Zi walking out of the yamen of the Ministry of War, he ran over expectantly and asked, "Fang Ling, Lord Shangshu Do you agree?"

Fang Zi smiled triumphantly, "Of course, among other things, the imperial court attaches great importance to the Ordnance Department, let's go, follow Ben Ling to the Iron Smelting Department!"

"Okay!" Zheng Yue smiled happily.

Next, Fang Zi took Zheng Yue to the northern suburbs of Xianyang. Now Zheng Yue is completely Fang Zi’s younger brother. He follows wherever he goes. Fang Zi also likes Zheng Yue to follow. Without him, Zheng Yue can do things and is smart. , with his help, he was much more relaxed.

And the northern suburb is a commercial suburb, but this commercial suburb is not that commercial. The meaning of this commercial suburb is that it is all factories that produce goods, such as winery, soap factory, mosquito coil factory and so on.

The Iron Smelting Division of the Ordnance Department is located in the north of the northern suburbs. Although it is called the Iron Smelting Division, it is actually an iron smelting plant.

The ironworks is very large, covering an area of ​​over a thousand acres, and the scale is the same as that of the weapons testing ground, except that the ironworks are not open to the air, but are covered by a large iron shed.

Fang Zi and Zheng Yue walked for about two quarters of an hour before they arrived at the iron smelting department. The iron smelting department was very hot, not so hot. Not long after Fang Zi and Zheng Yue entered, they took off their clothes and went to the iron smelting department. Walk in there shirtless.

The iron smelting department has a total of thirteen blast furnaces. The blast furnace looks like a super-large iron drum, but the inside is sophisticated and ingenious. Iron ore is thrown into the blast furnace, and coal is placed under the blast furnace to generate high temperature. The high temperature will destroy the iron ore in the blast furnace. The stone is melted to separate the impurities from the iron ore, and the impurities are separated, and the iron is refined.

The iron-making technology of the Great Qin Empire is still very advanced. The iron-making technology of other countries is still in the use of iron pots. This is not only slow, but also very manpower-intensive. Like the blast furnace iron-making technology of the Great Qin Empire, each blast furnace Only five or six people are needed to control it, and the difference is not a little bit.

"Wow, this is too big!"