I am Da Song

Chapter 379 A Longer Prospect

Zhao Huan's decision to sell cast iron cannons to merchants was carefully considered.

The most worrying thing about this decision is undoubtedly whether the civilians own a large number of artillery and whether it will affect the country's governance.

After all, there are the most peasant uprisings in China and abroad in the past and present.

If the people who rose up and brought a lot of artillery to fight the civil war, would it overthrow the rule of the Song Dynasty?

This should be the one thing that is most likely to cause heated discussions in the world after the decree is spread.

This matter must be seen by the benevolent and the wise.

But Zhao Huan felt that the harm was still within the controllable range.

First of all, it is the experience of the Central Plains. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, let alone artillery, there are everything from automatic rifles, anti-aircraft guns, and artillery.

The two villages competed for a water source, and they could use artillery to fight.

But it does not affect the stability of the rule in the slightest, and I have not seen anyone crazy to use these heavy weapons against the country.

On the other hand, there is foreign experience.

After foreign businessmen got the artillery, no one would think of aiming the cannon at their own army.

After all, there is no doubt about the strength of their own army. If a businessman floats up with a few cannons, he will be surrounded by powerful battleships and blow his bones to ashes.

In the Age of Discovery, one country after another had an astronomical number of armed merchant ships. For centuries, no merchants clashed with their own fleets.

If it can't reach Da Song, this universal commonality will be invalid.

But the most reassuring point is not military.

When a country is actively making progress, productivity continues to increase and wealth continues to increase, people think about how to earn wealth, not how to rebel!

Sailing out to sea, setting sail, where can't you earn a lot of wealth, why should you fight against the emperor, against the million kings of the Song Dynasty?
Is the colonial rule not fragrant?Or is it that the millions of forbidden troops in the Song Dynasty can't lift their swords anymore?
Compared to being crushed by Master Wang, it is obvious that most people prefer to enjoy life.

It is true that people in the Central Plains like to make uprisings, but uprisings must also follow a basic logic.

Willing to cut himself to pieces, dare to pull the emperor off his horse, that is the last choice he has to face if he can't survive.

No one will rebel when wealth is expanding, society is progressing, and everyone is enjoying peace and prosperity.

Of course, even if some people with strange brains can't figure it out, in the face of the country's stable rule, it is very likely that he will be arrested and thrown into prison without even going out of the village or village.

In addition to this major consideration related to the country's society, Zhao Huan also had a hope, that is, he hoped to promote the development of Song Dynasty's cast iron artillery technology through the market demand of the people.

The cannons sold to the people are definitely not cast copper cannons. This kind of cast copper cannons are so expensive that no one can accept them except the unparalleled financial resources of the Song Dynasty.

Even if the imperial court is willing to sell it, the wealth of the merchants cannot afford it, and they cannot purchase sufficient quantities to arm the ships.

Therefore, the Third Division of Arms must launch cast iron artillery with larger output and lower cost to supply the needs of merchants.

And once it faces the market, procurement will be more direct and flexible.

Merchants don't care about the sweat and hard work of the Third Division of Armaments. The market doesn't believe in tears, but only in strength.

Whoever can launch a more stable and advanced product, the merchants will choose which artillery.

Businessmen who vote with their feet will promote the rapid development and rapid iteration of the cast iron artillery technology of the Third Armament Division.

After all, the general law of scientific and technological innovation is: application demand is an important driving force for technological progress.

Although the Song Dynasty army used cast copper artillery, it does not mean that this is the real direction of development.

Just like cold forged armor is the strongest armor of this era for the time being, but high temperature iron smelting represents the future.

The bronze-cast artillery of the Song Dynasty was just Zhao Huan taking a shortcut for the Song army with the unparalleled financial resources of the Song Dynasty.

Now the Song Army's artillery is basically the upper limit of copper-cast artillery, and there is no longer much room for improvement.

However, cast iron artillery still has infinite possibilities. Improvements will eventually surpass the current level of copper cast artillery, and eventually reach the level of later generations.

The development of cast iron artillery technology will be stimulated by national finance and merchant procurement, which will improve the level of cast iron artillery day by day.

For the development of artillery, Zhao Huan has to grasp both the bottom line and the upper limit!
After talking about the armed merchant ships, Zhao Huan and his group asked the excited businessmen, "You and the others are all wealthy businessmen from my dynasty's family background, and they must have a lot of business. Is there anyone walking in the northern border of the Holy Dynasty?"

The northern border of the Holy Dynasty is the territory opened up after the Song Dynasty destroyed the Kingdom of Jin. The northernmost point reaches the North Sea and Siberia, a land of ice and snow.Under the jurisdiction of the Heishui Dufu, there are ice fields and pastures everywhere.

It can be regarded as a veritable place of bitter cold beyond the Great Wall in the eyes of the people of the Great Song Dynasty.

For merchants living in the misty south of the Yangtze River, very few people would go there to do business.

But a businessman still stood up, bowed his hands to Zhao Huan and said, "Report to the official family, I have contracted a pasture in Heishui Duhu Mansion, about [-] mu. It mainly trades in leather, deer antler and ginseng."

Zhao Huan immediately looked at the businessman named Sun Du with great interest. He was also rich and handsome, but compared to other businessmen, his complexion was darker, and he seemed to be often active outside.

Zhao Huan asked with a smile, "Aside from the ranch in the Heishui Dufu, what other trades do you do?"

Sun Du replied respectfully: "I also trade raw silk, porcelain, spices, and tortoiseshell, mainly selling porcelain and silk to the southern countries, and transporting spices, hats, and precious stones to the Central Plains."

"Any more?"

"That's right..." Sun Du hesitated.

"It's okay to say it straight."

"I also manage Yangzhou Shouma, Orchids in the Western Regions, and Fusang beauties."

There was a burst of suppressed laughter in the room, this is still a erotic trader, searching and selling beauties everywhere.

But Zhao Huan's eyes lit up, this person is the one he was looking for.

"There are many categories, both land and water. Then tell me, where has Qing's caravan been to the farthest. Starting from the Heishui Protectorate, how much do you know about the north of the Heishui Protectorate?"

Seeing that the officials were so solemn, the atmosphere in the room suddenly became tense, and no one dared to speak out.

No one expected that at this banquet, it was this dark and unattractive Sun Du who finally won the appreciation of the officials.

Sun Du's excited heart was beating wildly, and he immediately knew whether he could be in the emperor's heart. Once he soared, it depended on the next answer!
"The minister's son, Sun Lin, is in the Heishui Protectorate. He is a wild man, and he just wants to go hunting in the Heishui Protectorate. So he has a very wide footprint. He wrote that he once led a hunting team hundreds of miles north, everywhere. It's icy and snowy."

"He wanted to see the Bingyang in the history books, but failed the first time he tried. It is said that he found a team of guides and wanted to try again in midsummer."

Zhao Huan was very interested and asked, "It's freezing everywhere, and there are people living there? There's even a guide."

(End of this chapter)