Do you know: I am the crown prince

Chapter 521 A scholar dies for his confidant
If this thing were used in later generations, when thermal weapons became mainstream, there would be many ways to deal with it, but its power was indeed limited.

But when cold weapons were still the mainstream, it was just like plowing the field.

Although field warfare is more effective, it does not mean that attacking and defending a city is useless.

The range of more than one thousand meters can only be achieved by the most advanced crossbows in this era.

But even if the bed crossbow can shoot so far, its power is almost gone.

The most important thing is that such a crossbow is extremely expensive and has very high material requirements. The actual cost is not much less than that of making a cannon.

Moreover, the material is very scarce and it is difficult to popularize it on a large scale.

For something with a long range like this, it's hard to guarantee accuracy, and the same goes for artillery.

Therefore, if you want it to be effective on the battlefield, you need to assemble it on a large scale.

However, this type of crossbow is huge in size, difficult to carry, and has little practical use.

But the situation is different with artillery. Although it is not light, its size is not as large as a crossbow, so it can still be carried.

As for the issue of construction cost, Zhao Xing didn't care at all.

As long as the money houses start operating, the imperial court will never be short of money.

Things that can be made with money are nothing at all.

Things like food are actually what give Zhao Xing a headache.

There are only so many farmlands in the world, and the total amount of grain produced is limited. Frequent wars consume too much food and fodder.

Even if the imperial court wanted to control it, it could not stop the rise in food prices.

To put it bluntly, food is a necessity, but the materials used to cast artillery are not.

"Let's go, take me to have a look." Zhao Xing said.

"Yes!"

Cao Mian responded, waited for Zhao Xing to get on the carriage, mounted his horse and led the way for Zhao Xing.

Han Zhang and the other two also got on the carriage with curiosity.

The three of them had heard what Cao Mian had just said, and it seemed that he was not optimistic about the artillery in his words.

But Zhao Xing didn't seem to care. They also wanted to see what a cannon was.

Cao Mian led Zhao Xing's carriage to the training ground for testing artillery.

Chen Kui, who was fiddling with artillery with a few people, also stopped and stood aside with his head bowed.

"Greetings to Your Majesty!"

Zhao Xing nodded slightly, looked at Chen Kui and smiled, "I promised before that as long as you can build the cannon, no matter how powerful it is, I will give you an official title."

"Your Majesty..." Chen Kui was so excited that he didn't know what to say.

"I'm waiting to see the artillery test firing!"

After Zhao Xing finished speaking, he walked towards the platform under the guidance of Cao Mian.

"My dear husband."

When Prime Minister Shen heard that Zhao Xing actually promised to give an official position to a craftsman, he was shocked and looked at Han Zhang.

Scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans are already clearly divided into classes.

Before the imperial examination system emerged, this class was difficult to cross.

Although the emergence of the imperial examination system did break the class monopoly in a sense.

Farmers, businessmen and industrialists could all enter the "scholar" class through the imperial examination.

But in fact, the impact on the "scholar" class was not as great as imagined.

Take the Song Dynasty for example, there were officials who were of commoner origin, and a considerable proportion of them.

However, it is almost impossible for commoners who pass the imperial examination to be granted a real job unless they rely on the powerful.

As long as an official's rank reaches a certain level, his descendants can receive a title.

It can ensure that future generations will always serve as officials.

More than 70% of the officials holding official positions in the imperial court had fathers and grandfathers who were officials.

Even among the officials admitted through the imperial examinations in the early days of the founding of the country, most of their fathers and grandfathers were officials in the Tang Dynasty.

Their ancestors were all commoners, and very few of them passed the imperial examinations and were granted real jobs.

Prime Minister Shen does have some discrimination against farmers, businessmen and industrialists entering the government.

But most people in the court have this kind of discrimination.

The most important thing is that the imperial court selects officials either through imperial examinations or through hereditary appointments.

In addition, there is another channel, which is to become a relative by marriage.

For example, if a girl in a family is selected to enter the palace and is favored by the emperor, her family members can be granted titles.

Zhao Xing directly appointed craftsmen as officials, which was tantamount to breaking this rule.

It can’t be said that it is nonsense to say that rules are made by the makers to constrain others, but it is not entirely correct either.

Many rules must be followed even by the people who made them.

At least when it comes to the arbitrary appointment of officials, in Shen Xianggong's opinion, even the government cannot break this rule.

Once it is broken, subsequent emperors will follow suit. What if a foolish emperor appears and appoints officials at will according to his own preferences?
Han Zhang shook his head slightly and gave Mr. Shen a look.

Zhao Xing didn't know all this. He came to the stands and sat down. He asked Han Zhang and the other two to sit down. He watched with interest Chen Kui and the others who were busy in the distance.

"Your Majesty, the sound is quite loud when the cannon is fired. You need to cover your ears to avoid being frightened. Also, stay away from the war horses." Cao Mian said.

Zhao Xing nodded and looked at Sanshui. "Let the imperial guards stay behind and the cavalry stay away. Let them be careful to prevent the horses from getting scared."

"Yes!" Sanshui responded and went down to make arrangements.

"Sir Cao, is this thing more powerful than the musket?" Zeng Gongliang asked in surprise.

When the arquebus was used to deal with the Liao cavalry, it was not entirely due to the power of the arquebus, but also the sound of the arquebus.

Although the sound of a single musket was not small, it was not too loud and was not enough to scare a warhorse.

If a war horse was so easily frightened, it would no longer be called a war horse.

War horses have undergone rigorous training, and will not be frightened even when facing swords, bows and crossbows.

But it would be a different story if tens of thousands of muskets fired at the same time.

This is also the reason why the Duke of England left his cavalry behind.

If the sound of a cannon is louder than that of a musket, how can it be used?
If we really go to the battlefield and the enemy is still fine, but our camp is blown up because our horses are frightened, that would be really funny.

"Return to the Privy Councilor!"

Cao Mian bowed, swallowed his saliva, and said, "The sound is indeed much louder. It can be described as thunder."

He recalled the first test launch. Not only was the sound like thunder, but most importantly, the test launch was not successful.

You have to know that he was not far away from the artillery at that time.

If Zhao Xing had not warned Chen Kui that it was very dangerous to test-fire the artillery, he would have asked him to be more careful when conducting research.

When Chen Kui was testing the firing, he required everyone to keep their distance, and the person who ignited the fire had to stay away after ignition, otherwise he would be in danger.

At that time he was a little nonchalant, but the artillery test firing failed, and when the barrel exploded, the bronze cannon weighing hundreds of pounds was blown away.

Even though several months have passed, he still feels scared.

Zeng Gongliang didn't know this, but after hearing what Cao Mian said, he frowned and looked at Zhao Xing, bowed and said, "Your Majesty, if the sound of artillery is like thunder and is used in the army, not only will our horses be frightened, but even ordinary soldiers will suddenly be frightened."

"I know."

Zhao Xing waved his hand and said, "If it is to be used in the army, the soldiers will definitely be allowed to adapt first. As for the war horses, they can also be allowed to adapt, or their ears can be blocked."

Zeng Gongliang knew what Zhao Xing was thinking, so he didn't say much and just bowed and sat down.

When Chen Kui learned the news of Zhao Xing's arrival, he took people to check and clean the barrel of the gun.

When the soldiers pushed the cannon out, they led people to check it again. In the stands, Zhao Xing couldn't see the cannon clearly because of the distance.

After Chen Kui finished the inspection, he started to load the gunpowder and shells himself.

After the inspection was completed, he gave an order to a soldier, who then raised a flag and signaled to the stands.

Cao Mian quickly reminded Zhao Xing and Han Zhang to cover their ears.

"boom!"

There was a loud bang, and the artillery was immediately shrouded in thick smoke. An iron egg drew an arc in the sky and fell more than a thousand meters away.

Immediately, a soldier ran towards the place where the shell landed.

"Let's go and have a look!"

Zhao Xing released his hands that were covering his ears, said something to the stunned Han Zhang and others, and left the stands.

Han Zhang and his companions were not prepared for the sound of the artillery, and they also wanted to see how loud the sound was. Although they covered their ears, they did not use force and it seemed more like they were just pretending.

When the sound of artillery was heard, their hearts trembled.

Fortunately, the distance was far and he was not deafened by the shock.

Only when he heard Zhao Xing's voice did he come to his senses and hurriedly followed him.

It was four or five miles from the stands to where the shells landed.

Zhao Xing jogged all the way, but it still took him quite a while to get there.

It was the end of August and although the temperature had dropped a bit, it hadn't rained recently and the ground in the school field was still relatively hard.

Even so, when the shell hit the ground, it created a semicircular hole and rolled forward more than ten meters.

When Zhao Xing saw this, he was quite satisfied with the power of the artillery.

However, the iron ball was only slightly larger than an adult's fist, which showed that the caliber was not large.

"I am quite satisfied with the distance, but the cannon is still too small. It needs to be cast bigger. It should be at least the size of two fists to have enough killing power." Zhao Xing said.

He originally wanted to say that the shells had to be cast with a caliber the size of a human head to be useful.

If it could really be cast, given the strength of the current city walls, as long as there are enough artillery, the walls of some county towns could be destroyed.

But if you think about it carefully, even if a copper cannon of such a large caliber could be made, with the current smelting technology, it is unlikely that it could withstand the casting.

The most important thing is that such a large-caliber artillery piece would definitely be heavy and difficult to transport.

There are too many defects, it is not as good as one with a smaller caliber.

"Your Majesty, I have asked Master Chen to study it." Cao Mian said.

"Ah."

Zhao Xing nodded, heard the chaotic footsteps behind him, turned around and laughed.

Han Zhang, the oldest among the group, is now over sixty years old.

The younger Mr. Shen is also over fifty years old.

Zhao Xing is young and has been exercising all the time, so he jogged all the way here without getting red in the face or out of breath.

But they couldn't do that. In order to keep up with Zhao Xing's speed, they had to run all the way, and had to be supported by the soldiers behind them to get here so quickly.

Zhao Xing waited for them to calm down for a while, then smiled and pointed to the ground, saying, "My three ministers, what do you think of the power of the artillery?"

"With such a long range and an iron ball, you can imagine how powerful it is. Congratulations, Your Majesty. The Song Dynasty has such a magical weapon. Who can defeat it?" Han Zhang said excitedly.

He had led troops before and had a clearer understanding of the power and function of artillery.

When facing foreign enemies, the Song Dynasty usually took a defensive stance.

Therefore, the weapons used in the military tend to be long-range.

This can be reflected in the weapons.

In the Tang Dynasty, the most famous weapons were the horizontal sword, the Mo Dao, and the Ming Guang armor.

But the Song Dynasty was famous for its Shenbi Crossbow.

For defense, long-range weapons such as bows and crossbows are definitely the best.

The Song Dynasty tended to be defensive, so it naturally made great efforts to research and develop long-range equipment.

It can be said that the power of bows and crossbows in the Song Dynasty far exceeded that of other dynasties.

The range of artillery is very suitable for the army of the Song Dynasty.

"Haha."

Zhao Xing laughed and saw Chen Kui trotting over. He said with a smile: "Chen Aiqing, you came at the right time. Your research on artillery will be of great benefit to future generations. I will appoint you as a doctor in the Ministry of Works!"

After all, the Firearms Bureau was newly established by him and there was no specific official position.

Although Zhao Xing could set up some, the grades and so on still needed to be carefully studied, and some of the existing official positions were not as clear at a glance.

The Langzhong of the Six Ministries was of the sixth rank, and was certainly not considered a high-ranking official in Bianliang.

But Chen Kui was originally just an ordinary craftsman.

When he heard that Zhao Xing had directly appointed him as a sixth-rank official, he excitedly bowed and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty!"

"Haha, my dear minister, you should call yourself a minister from now on." Zhao Xing said with a smile.

"I have spoken out of turn. Please forgive me, Your Majesty!" Chen Kui said.

Shen Xianggong took a step forward and was about to speak when he was stopped by Shen Xianggong, who shook his head slightly at him.

"But the power of the cannon is still a little small. My dear, you can make a few more of different sizes and experiment to find the most powerful cannon that will not explode easily." Zhao Xing said.

"I obey your order!" Chen Kui replied.

"I'll give you half a year. Not only must you test it out, but you must also cast no less than twenty cannons and a thousand shells. Can you do it?" Zhao Xing asked.

Chen Kui's eyes flashed with embarrassment when he heard this. Half a year was too short, and now he couldn't guarantee whether he could make it.

Moreover, the shells are also a big problem. Even if the mold is cast, the shells produced have to go through secondary polishing, which is very time-consuming.

But a gentleman will die for his friend, and Zhao Xing had just conferred him a sixth-rank official position, allowing him to rise from a craftsman to an official. How could he say no?

"Your Majesty, don't worry. If I can't do it, I will have no face to live in this world!" Chen Kui said gritting his teeth.

"Don't say such things!"

Zhao Xing waved his hand and said, "I want the artillery, and you have to be there too. If you can do it, I will give you a title."

"I will definitely live up to your Majesty's expectations!" said Chen Kui.

"Hmm!" Zhao Xing nodded slightly and asked, "Any progress on the musket?"

"Your Majesty, there has been some progress, but it will take a long time to achieve what Your Majesty said," said Chen Kui.

"Take me to see it." Zhao Xing said.

…………

Zhao Xing inspected the other research of the Firearms Bureau, put forward some suggestions, and then drove back to the palace.

"My Lord, His Majesty just gave a craftsman an official title. I wanted to persuade him. Why are you stopping me?"

Shen Xianggong sighed and said, "Your Excellency should know how much of a stir this matter would cause if it were to spread. Not to mention the officials in the court, even the scholars in the world would not agree if they knew about it."

For many scholars, they have studied hard for many years but have never been able to pass the imperial examination.

How could they accept that a craftsman could not only become an official but also directly become a sixth-rank official?

"Alas, your majesty is trying to buy horse bones with a huge sum of money, and we can't stop him." Han Zhang sighed.

"If we can't stop it, why not stop it?" Shen Xianggong retorted.

Han Zhang opened his mouth when he heard this. He didn't want Prime Minister Shen to anger Zhao Xing.

Otherwise, it is hard to say whether Zhao Xing would let Prime Minister Shen take over his position.

(End of this chapter)