Nanming Engineer

Chapter 185 Arsenal

Meng Zhiyu was unable to refute what Wang Huan said, and he felt that every sentence seemed reasonable, but it shocked the world. This argument ran counter to the education he had received in his life. No matter how many emperors would dare to monopolize the grain business and compete with the people for profit thing.

"My lord, but with the opening of our grain depot, can we compete with those big grain merchants? From the beginning of my Ming Dynasty, there have been grain merchants, many of whom are from aristocratic families, and have continued from the Song Dynasty to the present. If we want to monopolize the grain business, we will inevitably conflict with them. As the saying goes, cutting off people’s wealth is like killing their parents. I’m afraid there will be many difficulties at that time. And once the big thing fails, the grain depot will be a small matter. It's a big deal to lose your prestige, not to mention offending the big grain merchants. They are united and united to raise the price of grain. If we make mistakes and wait for the grain with tens of thousands of mouths, maybe it will spark a civil uprising , the foundation of adults..."

Meng Zhiyu didn't dare to speak anymore, thinking about the consequences of failure made him feel cold all over his body.

Wang Huansurong listened carefully. After all, Meng Zhiyu has been a local official for many years, has practical experience in politics, and has a certain understanding of the intricate political and business relations in eastern Sichuan. Although his opinions cannot influence his own thinking, they can provide some necessary references. .

Nodding his head, Wang Huan agreed, "That's right. It's impossible for a government order to implement this matter without hindrance, so we must use some means."

Meng Zhiyu was confused, worried and hesitant, frowning and thinking about it, when she heard that Wang Huan wanted to use means, she was surprised and said, "Measures?"

Wang Huan nodded: "Yes, this matter should be implemented slowly. What you said is very reasonable. Once the grain merchants realize that their interests are threatened, they will unite and resist. Even if we push it with iron and blood on our own territory, we cannot control it." If we go to provinces with large production volumes outside, the grain merchants in other places will unite and not sell us grain, and we will not be able to meet the demand within two or three years if we only rely on our own production and sales. Therefore, the government treasury needs to be built, but The action should not be too big, and the situation of official warehouses will bloom everywhere first, and reliable people will be put in place to manage them, and enough food reserves will be hoarded, and when the time is right, the government will monopolize it."

Hearing this, Meng Zhiyu let out a long sigh of relief. Her persuasive persuasion finally paid off. In this way, the matter will be buffered. As for the future, Wang Huan may not have this idea at that time.

Wang Huan also felt a little emotional in his heart. He originally thought that as long as he had soldiers in his hands, he would implement the executive order forcefully, but he did not expect that there would be so many worries before and after. It seems that being in power for the country is not as easy as it is taken for granted. An era has its specific Under the circumstances, it is not possible to simply implement an idea immediately after it comes out. Maybe the idea is very good, but it is another matter to implement it.

"Let's do this, Mr. Meng has to take care of it." Wang Huan rubbed his temples and said.

Meng Zhiyu respectfully replied: "Yes, I will obey your orders."

The two asked and answered for a long time, and at this time the matter was settled. The other people sitting in the hall, Ma Wannian, Chen Xiang, Zu Bian and others, kept staring at each other, unable to intervene or listen. I understand, but I dare not talk too much, it is very boring.

While he was bored, Wang Huan spoke to the three of them. He pointed to Li Huai'en, who was sitting at the bottom near the door, and introduced to everyone: "This is Li Huai'en, the former supervisor of the Imperial Military Bureau, Mr. Li, recommended by Mr. Chen. , I will take up a post in our army today, and I plan to use him as the chief of the Kuizhou Military Bureau, so you all come to get acquainted and get close."

The people in the hall were originally curious about what this wooden stake with a dull expression was made of. Now that they heard Wang Huan talking about it, they realized that this person was still an internal official. They stood up one after another and said some words of "long admiration" and "fortunate meeting".

Wang Huan introduced everyone's name and position to Li Huai'en. Li Huai'en was indeed worthy of the wooden man's true qualities, and he greeted everyone with a stiff expression. Farewell, it seems that saying one more word will kill him.

This kind of personality really cannot be mixed in the inner prison.Wang Huan slandered, but he was very happy in his heart. People like this are needed to engage in technology, and it is not at ease to use things like courtesans.

Everyone met each other, and the hall fell silent. Li Huai'en's sternness almost assimilated everyone in the hall, and even the atmosphere became a bit awkward. Wang Huan coughed, and asked someone to bring a bird stick, and a extinguisher Captive bomb.

"Master Li, look at this bird, how good is it?" Wang Huan looked at Li Huai'en and said.

Li Huai'en took over the bird handle from his own soldiers. It was a bird handle captured by Zeng Ying's army. The handle was black and shiny, and the varnish on the handguard was a little faded, mottled and worn out. It looked like it had been used for a long time.

The people in the hall were all staring at Li Huai'en, watching his movements. Wang Huan was the same. He was even a little nervous and full of anticipation. This was to try Li Huai'en's skills and listen to what he would say. In the future, it will be a major event in the manufacture of weapons and firearms in Kuizhou.

Li Huaien didn't realize that everyone in the hall was looking at him. All his attention was on the bird's mouth. He held the bird's mouth flat with both hands, took a look, and then turned to look at the mouth of the bird. mouth, he returned the bird system to the soldiers.

"How is it?" Zu Bian asked more anxiously than Wang Huan.

Li Huaien bowed his hands to Wang Huan calmly, and then to his ancestor Bian who asked the question, and replied slowly: "My lord, this bird is made by the Ming Dynasty in the tenth year of Chongzhen, and it weighs seven catties." Three taels, five feet and one inch long, shoot three taels of lead, use black powder and three coins to ignite, and can shoot two hundred steps. However, the iron used in this system is uneven, and the quality is not good. Burst."

There was a strange silence in the hall again, no one spoke, and all the people had the same expression: eyes wide open, mouths opened more or less wide open, dumbfounded.

As soon as the expert kung fu is done, you will know if it is there.

Everyone has seen this bird system before. There is no inscription or mark on it. Li Huai'en just picked it up casually and looked back and forth. After weighing it, he can accurately tell the exact size. For anyone sitting here It is impossible for one person to do it.

"Well, Master Li, how do you know that this bird was built in the tenth year of Chongzhen? There is no inscription on it." Zu Bian licked his lips and asked.

Li Huai'en sat still, only his mouth was moving: "You can see the fineness of the iron used for the whole body. In the ten years of Chongzhen, due to the shortage of iron ore production in Shandong, the Bingzhan Bureau used iron from Hebei, and the forging process was different. The color of the body is different, and it can be distinguished."

Zu Bian still had some doubts: "But since it was built so early in the tenth year of Chongzhen, it has not exploded after using it for so long, so the quality is not very bad, right?"

Li Huai'en glanced at him, and moved his lips: "If the Ming army didn't fight, I'm afraid they wouldn't be able to fire a few shots in a year. After seven or eight years, this bird shot will not exceed fifty times. As long as you're lucky, use medicine Less, it won't explode."

Completely speechless.

What is an expert, this is an expert.

Indeed, almost none of Daming's Niaotong soldiers, no matter the Shenji Battalion or the local guards, dared to load enough gunpowder according to the requirements of the drills.

After a brief silence, everyone's eyes became hot, looking at Li Huai'en as if seeing a fairy, Wang Huan was even more fanatical, and almost couldn't help rushing down to give him a hug.

Fortunately, he suppressed it, endured the joy in his heart, and ordered his soldiers to hand over the ammunition to Li Huai'en: "Master Li, look at this again."

Li Huaien looked at the bamboo tube in the hands of the soldier in surprise. The bamboo tube was not big, only one foot long and three inches thick. Both ends were blocked by yellow mud. A small hole was dug in one end, and a match rope was led from it.

"Fireball?" Li Huai'en shook his head and said to himself.

He held the bamboo tube and looked it upside down. Wang Huan felt complacent. His invention seemed to make this firearms master confused, so he felt a sense of accomplishment spontaneously.

Li Huai'en looked at the thin matchlock lead suspiciously, and became even more confused. He leaned closer and sniffed it, his face changed suddenly, and he quickly took out a sharp iron awl from his body, pierced the yellow mud of the bamboo tube, and put the inside of it Nail gunpowder poured on the hem of his clothes.

Yellow gunpowder is very different from black gunpowder in terms of color and smell, and anyone with a little knowledge can tell the difference, let alone Li Huai'en. After tasting it in his mouth, a look of surprise and suspicion appeared on his face.

It's not just Wang Huan who is proud, but the people sitting there are very proud, as if they invented the yellow gunpowder and the exterminator bomb.

"This is... gunpowder!" Li Huai'en finally raised his head with a shocked expression on his face. There was still a little yellow powder on his lips, and he looked as strange as if he had eaten yellow gunpowder: "How could there be such gunpowder? Who made it?" of?"

Zu Bian shook his head and flaunted: "My lord made it. You know Zeng Ying, right? His army was killed by thousands of enemies in this bamboo tube. My lord gave it a name, Destroyer Bomb!"

Li Huai'en looked at Wang Huan in surprise, with the same expression as Wang Huan looked at him just now, Mu Na's face was replaced with rich facial movements, which dispelled the doubts of those who suspected his facial paralysis: "My lord, my lord, this This little guy who grows gunpowder has never heard of it, can you let me take this bamboo tube back and study it carefully?"

Wang Huan looked at the eager Li Huai'en and smiled reservedly: "Don't be anxious, Mr. Li, I have a special place to manufacture this kind of gunpowder in large quantities. Its effect is far better than black powder."

"Far better than black powder?" Li Huai'en had already stood up, and the iron nails on the hem of his clothes fell to the ground with a crackling sound.

Wang Huan nodded: "The workshop is in Shizhu Wanshou City. If you want, you can go there tomorrow. However, Mr. Li, this kind of gunpowder is overbearing, but there is no bird commander who can launch it. I appoint you as the chief of the War Bureau. I just hope that you can create a firearm that can use it, after all, it is only thrown by hand, the distance is too short, and the method of use is too limited."

"Okay, my lord, the villain is willing, don't wait for tomorrow, the villain will leave immediately." Li Huai'en can't wait: "As for the firearms that use this kind of gunpowder, it is nothing more than thickening the tube, but the tube is too heavy in this way. Soldiers are inconvenient to use, and villains have to use a lot of copper and iron to experiment and spend some time to develop."

"Copper and iron are not a problem, as much as you want." Wang Huan became more and more happy, and said without hesitation: "It's just time, we have to hurry up, we are in a hurry, hahaha."

(End of this chapter)