I really don't want to be emperor at the end of Ming Dynasty

Chapter 212 The War Begins

Chapter 211

"boom!"

Following this loud noise, a mass of orange flame burst out from the gun barrel, the smoke billowed up, the ground shook violently as if an earthquake had occurred, and the feet of those guys who were hiding in the distance to watch the excitement went limp , They all turned into ground gourds, and their ears buzzed like they were slapped severely!

A lot of sand and gravel were thrown high and fell down like hailstones, making everyone look ashamed, but everyone didn't overreact to the dust on their faces, and all of them turned pale, which obviously made the thunderous explosion huge. The sound is frightening!
Not only Cheng Shijie, as well as the craftsmen and technicians around him, but also the workers in the gun bureau factory farther away were frightened, and they could be seen flying around hundreds of meters away!

Don't blame them, most people have never heard such a terrifying loud noise in their lives, and it is normal to be scared out of their wits.Amidst the smoke, Cheng Shijie was still calm.

Because he knows the power of artillery shells of later generations, the current five-inch guns with 150 times the caliber, converted into units of later generations, are larger than the caliber of the 150mm howitzer, because the caliber is large enough, and the shells are also large enough. The shell weight of the [-]mm howitzer is between [-] kg and at least [-] kg, and the charge is also about [-] to [-] kg.

Although the artillery of the Ning Navy is far less advanced than that of later generations, the problem is that the gunpowder and warheads of the Ning Navy now use nitrocellulose.

This is a powerful explosive, its power even exceeds that of TNT, even the most perfect black powder formula, its explosion power is only equivalent to 30.00% of TNT, but the problem is that nitrocellulose is very sensitive and easy to explode. Explosion, if the environment is too wet, it will lose its sensitivity, and it will be difficult to be detonated, thus failing.

In the autumn of 1863, Nobel successfully invented nitroglycerin. In October, he obtained a patent for nitroglycerin explosives and established a nitroglycerin explosive company.

The power of nitroglycerin is huge, two or three times that of black powder. Its appearance has made human beings truly equipped with explosives for making high-explosive shells.Before it appeared, the lethality of the so-called black powder was pitifully small, and it could only produce a dozen or so pieces of shrapnel at a time. It was simply a dream to rely on this amount of shrapnel to kill the enemy in large numbers.

But the problem is that nitroglycerin is too sensitive, therefore, nitroglycerin is also known as "cheat oil".Using diatomaceous earth or flour to absorb the yellow solid made of nitroglycerin completely solves this problem. Dynamite is very safe.

The inventor of gunpowder in Ning Haijun is Chen Yiming. Chen Yiming is a fireworks craftsman for generations. Starting from Chen Shigui, the ancestor of Chen Yiming, he has been engaged in gunpowder work for generations.Cheng Shijie rewarded him with 1000 taels of silver and [-] mu of land for his invention of granular black gunpowder, which improved the power of gunpowder.

Chen Yiming experimented wildly. As a result, he mixed nitric acid with cotton in the experiment to produce nitrocellulose. In fact, Ning Haijun did not solve the absolute safety problem of nitrocellulose, but adopted isolation methods, including the flowering shells. First of all, A small copper tube with water at one end and quicklime at the other, sealed with paraffin in the middle.

Nitrocellulose will explode at a temperature exceeding [-] degrees, so when the shell falls on the ground or in the water, the paraffin in the copper tube will pierce the paraffin film, and a chemical reaction will occur between the water and the lime, producing a large amount of Heat, thus detonating the nitrocellulose.

That is to say, the explosive power of nitrocellulose is [-] times that of TNT. Due to the large volume of nitrocellulose, the explosive charge is not as good as that of TNT under the same volume, so the power of the two sides is actually similar.

Following the cylindrical shell fired by the five-inch rear-loading rifle, under the action of twelve riflings, it flew towards the woods south of the Gun Bureau in a right-handed posture, only immediately in front of the woods. A big orange fireball rose up.

Cheng Shijie didn't see how far the distance was, but he felt that it was at least 700 meters away. The range of this kind of artillery was much greater than that of the three-inch gun.

"Go over and have a look."

Cheng Shijie didn't even have time for the observers to report the results, so he rode his horse and ran towards the place where the shells fell. Huang Lidong, Chen Yiming, and Luo Ruwang, the foundry gunner who was in charge of developing the new 600-inch cannon, was hired by Sun Yuanhua Master Foundry, when he was in Dengzhou, he could receive [-] taels of silver from Sun Yuanhua a year, which is considered top-notch in Dengzhou.

Cheng Shijie is even richer and richer. His income has doubled by more than ten times, because he has 300 apprentices, and the cost of bringing apprentices is more than 6000 taels per moonlight. Adding his basic salary and subsidies, it is more than [-] taels. two silver.

Cheng Shijie has a point of view, that is, once the money is sufficient, the brain must be enlightened. With Cheng Shijie's heavy reward, Ning Haijun's scientific research level has improved rapidly.

After more than ten minutes, Cheng Shijie finally came to the explosion point of the shell. At this time, it seemed as if the place was swept by a tornado. Dozens of hundreds of trees were blown to pieces. on a tree pole.

This power is quite wow.

The power of this five-inch gun is really unbelievable. This cross-age artillery uses nitrocellulose as the propellant and nitrocellulose as the explosive warhead. As long as it hits one shot, any sailing warship in this era can die up! "Reporting to the commander, we have three thousand seven hundred and eighty-two steps in this test!"

In the Ming Dynasty, one step was five feet, equivalent to 150 centimeters, and the shooting range was nearly 6000 meters.Of course, this is not the longest range of this artillery. The firing angle is basically different, which should be between 500 meters and 8000 meters.

The era of artillery is at hand.

Cheng Shijie saw that the infantry could not use this new five-inch gun, so he asked, "Luo Ruwang, how heavy is this gun?"

"Reporting to the commander, the total weight of this cannon is 460 jin!"

Cheng Shijie became silent when he heard this. In the Napoleon era, the French four-pound gun weighed 560 kilograms, or 1120 kilograms, and it needed four horses to pull it. This was based on the good quality of European horses and the reasonable structure of the gun carriage. basically.Napoleon's artillery company needed an average of thirteen horses for one gun.

Based on the situation of horses in the late Ming Dynasty, it was impossible for two horses to pull a [-]-jin five-inch gun.On better road conditions, especially on the newly built official roads in southern Liaoning, it is no problem to pull this kind of artillery, but it is impossible for all infantry artillery to travel well, and there is no road. Ning's navy and army have become mules and horses, and the troops march faster.

Under such circumstances, the artillery department of the Ning Navy has no way to equip five-inch guns, even if this five-inch guns are extremely powerful, because the cannons are heavy and the speed of the army is fundamental.

Just like the Jiannu army actually has a lot of artillery, but the problem is that most of these artillery are relatively cumbersome Hongyi cannons, weighing three thousand catties and five thousand catties. , Often the cavalry in front fought for several days, but the artillery did not keep up.

What's more, the current Ning navy and army do not have an urgent need. The crux of the problem is that this kind of five-inch gun is also of the heavy artillery level in later generations, and if it is loaded on a wooden sailing ship, can the sailing warship carry the huge rear? Seat power?

When Cheng Shijie asked about the other data of this cannon, neither Luo Ruwang nor Huang Lidong could tell why, because the development method of this cannon is like kneading dough. After adding and adding, such a monster was added.

In later generations, there is a saying that there is a mathematical way to measure everything, but the problem is that the mathematics of Ming craftsmen is generally not good, and Cheng Shijie's mathematics is barely average, but in the Ming Dynasty, he can crush most mathematics experts.

In desperation, this new five-inch gun can only be installed on the Jusha class and slowly tested.

"You have done a very good job. You have made great contributions to the success of the five-inch rifled gun. With this sharp weapon, our army may be able to reverse the outcome of a battle and save the lives of thousands of soldiers. !"

Cheng Shijie's most concerned question: "How much can this five-inch gun make?"

"The commander-in-chief means..."

"Two months!"

Cheng Shijie planned to catch Zheng Zhilong by surprise at the end of December, that is, during the Chinese New Year, or he would beat him to death if he didn't do it.

Now that Cheng Shijie is deliberately shouting and killing in Liaodong, it is certain that Zheng Zhilong has a lot of eyeliners in Liaodong, and Cheng Shijie's every move cannot be hidden from them. In this way, Zheng Zhilong can be given an illusion.

Cheng Shijie couldn't help Zheng Zhilong, so he could only talk about it.

"Six doors!"

"No, at least twelve!"

"Marshal, this cannon problem is too..."

Before Luo Ruwang could finish speaking, Cheng Shijie said: "We currently have two Jusha-class battleships that are about to enter the fleet, and I plan to install five-inch guns on them!"

After coming out of the Gun Bureau, Cheng Shijie visited the gunpowder factory of the Gun Bureau, which was producing gunpowder day and night.

At present, the application of the new explosive nitrocellulose is becoming more and more widespread. Mining and road construction are inseparable from it. It is even used to blow up those treacherous reefs on the waterway to clear the waterway. Therefore, the business of the gunpowder factory is booming.

Shiploads of nitric acid, cotton, tar, flour, and yellow phosphorus were sent over, and then turned into collodion, collodion, etc., which are necessary for murder and piracy.For example, gun cotton and nitrocotton glue are stored in the arsenal. Gun cotton is the propellant of bullets and shells in guns and artillery, and the demand is very huge.

"How much inventory do we have now?"

Chen Yiming replied: "Now we only have [-] catties of inventory, which are divided into three warehouses: Dongshan, Nanshan, and Lantau Island. We must use up some of them. It is dangerous and takes up space to pile them up in the warehouse..."

"Don't worry, I will take care of it."

Cheng Shijie knew that once the fight with Zheng Zhilong started, the demand for gunpowder would definitely increase greatly. Fifty thousand catties sounded like a lot, but the problem was that only 25 tons of gunpowder,
"The storage capacity of [-] catties is not enough, it is far from enough. The commander needs you to increase production immediately, and the strategic reserve needs at least [-] catties."

Overall, Cheng Shijie is very satisfied with the results of this inspection. His military factory already has a fairly strong production capacity, and has also accumulated a considerable amount of ammunition inventory, which is enough for him to fight a big battle.

Satisfied, Boss Cheng once again rewarded those active craftsmen and skilled workers, and then he left with satisfaction and went to the Agricultural Science Research Institute in Zhenhai City.

Chen Zilong, Song Yingxing and a large group of agricultural technical experts of the Western French Party are working in full swing.

At the beginning, Cheng Shijie was worried that these more than 100 agricultural experts would leave southern Liaoning, so he specially ordered the garrison soldiers of the Zhenhai Garrison Bureau who were in charge of protecting them. If any of them wanted to leave, they must be stopped and reported to Cheng Shijie immediately. .

As a result, Cheng Shijie thought too much. Although Xu Guangqi taught a large number of agricultural students, the problem was that Xu Guangqi did not have a lot of money to support their research.

When they were in Shanghai, they didn't even have an experimental field, but Cheng Shijie was very generous and directly assigned them a county seat in Xinghai, not only providing more than two million mu of land, but also good dry fields, There are also good paddy fields, hills, grasslands, and even a large number of virgin forests, and [-] households of military households in the fields have been transferred to accept their command.

It not only solves the educational problems of the children of these technical experts for Zhenhai Academy, but also provides them with good living conditions, good living conditions, and sufficient research funds.These agronomy experts who devoted themselves to research had a very happy time.

When Cheng Shijie arrived, Chen Zilong was still worried that their hybrid wheat and rice would not produce results, so he brought Cheng Shijie to a research team that developed pesticides.

Of course, at the end of the Ming Dynasty, there was abnormal weather in the Little Ice River, and there were a lot of pests and diseases, which were almost endless, especially yellow spots. Although there was no drought or rain in Liaodong in the sixth year of Chongzhen.But the problem is that in most areas of Shandong and Henan, certain macular diseases have appeared.

Based on the experience of many years of farming farmers, these agricultural experts have formulated several kinds of farmers' medicines. For example, before sowing wheat, mix it with such messy things as castor oil, spirits, and even tobacco water, and the disease resistance will be greatly enhanced. .Another example is to use the fruit or root of the son of heaven to grind into powder and mix it with water and spray it on the crops, which can kill a large number of pests and so on.

At least half of the credit for Ning Haijun's military field to get such a good harvest this year is due to these pesticides.The advantage of this kind of pesticide is that it is pure natural, there will be no pesticide residues, and you can eat it with confidence after the expiration date. Even if there are pesticide residues, people nowadays don't care.In order to survive, even the Avalokitesvara soil can be eaten as usual, and still afraid of this little pesticide residue?

What surprised Cheng Shijie the most was that he just proposed a concept, and now they have built a greenhouse. Although there is no plastic sheet, they use glass to make a greenhouse.And in the middle of winter, juicy greens, bright red tomatoes and even thick and long cucumbers are grown.

In the eyes of Liaodong people, these agricultural experts who gather together to mess with some messy things all day long are simply gods!
Under the leadership of Chen Zilong, Cheng Shijie visited the Pesticide Research Institute, and then came to the greenhouse outside Zhenhai City. The greenhouse here has a size of several hundred acres. He has seen a lot of stuff.He is very satisfied with the work results of the Agricultural Research Institute, and the 45 taels of silver he allocated every year was not in vain.

You must know that this is nearly one-twentieth of Daming's fiscal revenue. No wonder these agricultural experts are unwilling to leave southern Liaoning. This is entirely Cheng Shijie's money-making ability.

……

More than a dozen transport ships that were officially written in the Shachuan Gang or the Ninghai Navy entered the port of Xiamen dejectedly under the escort of the Zheng family's fleet. The cargo worth 10,000+ taels of silver all became the Zheng family's spoils of war.

A group of sailors happily carried several boxes of the most exquisite goods onto the trestle. The person in charge of this operation was Shi Daxuan, one of the eighteen Zhizhi. Shi Daxuan was not well-known among the eighteen Zhizhi, but he had a son who was very famous. The traitor Shi Lang.

Shi Daxuan said to Zheng Zhilong who was waiting here: "Master Admiral, the surname Cheng sent us another 10,000+ taels of silver!"

Zheng Zhilong squatted down, picked up a few goods, looked at them with interest, and said, "Yes, they are all very valuable goods! Are these the only ones?"

"The biggest thing is actually grain and raw silk!"

Shi Daxuan said excitedly: "Guess how much food is there, Admiral?"

"how many?"

"Sixteen ships full, totaling more than [-] stones!"

Zheng Zhilong smiled: "I also want to thank the surname Cheng for helping me raise soldiers!"

Zheng Zhilong told the truth, these grains are high-quality rice, although the value is not high, because rice is abundant in the south of the Yangtze River, but the problem is that in the late Ming Dynasty, if there is grain, you have everything, you can recruit soldiers, and you can hoard it for profit.

Zheng Zhilong will not sell these grains. Although he has 10,000+ people to farm for him, the grains he can produce are barely enough to eat, not to mention eating well and being full.

Most of the money Zheng Zhilong earns every year is used to purchase warships and artillery. You must know that Zheng Zhilong does not have his own R&D team and factory like Cheng Shijie. Zheng Zhilong has three shipyards, but the problem is that he cannot build his own artillery. purchases from foreign or British hands.

Of course, the British did not follow their good intentions. Britain and the Spanish Empire fought a great naval battle more than 50 years ago, the Gravelines naval battle. After the naval battle, the British did not have enough financial resources to support these huge navies. Retire in one step.You must know that this is a battleship with more than 3000 naval guns. Although the battleship is rotten, the naval guns can still be used.

These five or sixty-year-old naval guns were not cheap when they were sold to Zheng Zhilong. One gun cost two to three thousand taels of silver, and ten guns cost two to thirty thousand taels of silver.In addition to the expensive naval guns, shells are not cheap.

It can be said that Zheng Zhilong's protection fee, except for a part to support the army and a part to satisfy his luxurious life, most of it went back to Europa.

Zheng Zhilong's 20 troops, the navy is better, and most of the army is slightly stronger than the Ming army, and they don't eat well either, so they can only eat two meals a day.

Zheng Zhilong looked at the supplies and said, "These wool cloths, as well as carriages and wood, contact the buyers in Jiangnan and sell them for a [-]% discount!"

"Okay!"

Shi Daxuan pointed at these sailors and said, "These guys..."

"As for these guys..."

Zheng Zhilong pointed to the frightened Cantonese sailors, "Can they be thrown into the sea to feed the fish! I want to see if they are really not afraid of death, dare to ignore my warning again and again, and set sail to sea!"

Zheng Zhilong's eldest son, Zheng Sen, couldn't help persuading: "Father, is it necessary to do something like this? They all paid protection money to our Zheng family. We not only robbed their goods, but also took their lives. What will the sea merchants think if they find out?"

"I don't care what they think. In short, I don't want to see another sea ship sailing from Guangzhou, bypassing us and directly trading with Xiyi, even if it pays us protection fees!" Zheng Zhilong patted Zheng vigorously. On Sen's shoulder, the words were deep and deep: "Sen'er, you must remember that there can only be one king in this sea!"

At this moment, a captured sailor said: "We are people from Ning Haijun. If we rob our goods, we can still negotiate, but if we kill our people, there is no way to settle this matter!"

"I don't believe Cheng Shijie dares to be my enemy!"

In all honesty, Zheng Zhilong still admires Cheng Shijie, and there are really too few people who can make Jiannu suffer repeatedly.However, now he has come to the opposite side of Cheng Shijie. means of pressure.

Having said that, Zheng Zhilong did not throw more than 600 Ning Navy sailors into the sea, but threw more than [-] people from the Shachuan Gang into the sea. That’s right, but the problem is that the Zheng’s pirates tied the hands and feet of the sailors of the Shachuan Gang and tied them to boulders...

As an old opponent of the Shachuan Gang, Shen Boyun is not a person who can only be beaten. He also has a lot of eyeliners in Xiamen and Quanzhou. The news of Zheng Zhilong's killing spree in Xiamen also reached Cheng Shijie's ears through Shen Boyun.

"Marshal, you must avenge your brothers!"

Shen Boyun hugged Cheng Shijie's thigh, crying with tears and snot running down his nose.

Faced with this situation, Cheng Shijie really didn't want to wait any longer. Regardless of whether Emperor Chongzhen gave him the authorization to kill Cheng Shijie's people, a war must start.

"Go to war!"

Cheng Shijie officially issued the order on the second day of November in the sixth year of Chongzhen.

The Liaodong Ning Navy started the overall mobilization. At the South Port of Lushun Port, the North Port of Lushun Port, the East Port of Jinzhou, and the West Port of Jinzhou Port, a large number of workers shouted chant and ran like flying on the docks, moving boxes of heavy materials. go on board.

The warehouses of the major warehouses were also opened, and various military supplies such as cans, dry food, shells, bullets, explosives, raincoats, shoes, socks, quilts, etc. were moved out and transported to the dock.

However, at this time, on the eighth day of November, the imperial edict was officially issued.Gao Qiqian personally came to announce the decree, ordering the Ning Navy to transfer elite troops to the south to destroy the pirates in the South China Sea and ensure the safety of the people in the coastal areas.

PS: There was something last night, there must be more at [-] o'clock in the evening, if you don't write it down, just wash your hair upside down.

(End of this chapter)