I, the Ming Dynasty, can still save me

Chapter 110 Improved Krupp Cannon
When Sun Yuanhua found Xu Guangqi, the director of the artillery workshop was discussing expansion matters with him.

“The venue here is too small. The original plan was to have only one or two hundred people, so the original workshop was just enough.

However, since the Gunpowder Department of the Military War Bureau was merged into the company, the space has become tight and there are many hidden dangers.There are more than [-] people in this workshop alone. There are many people in the small area, and it is a place where artillery is cast. It is easy for accidents to happen. "

After hearing this, Xu Guangqi looked at the busy scene in the workshop and nodded in agreement.

"I will ask people to find a venue during this period. In the future, there will be many types of Krug artillery and the demand will be great. This space will definitely not be enough."

Seeing that Xu Guangqi agreed, and seeing Sun Yuanhua coming, the chief also bowed and retreated.

"Chuyang (Sun Yuanhua's name), you're here. Sit down quickly. Is the Krupao on the way? Where is your uncle Li Zhizao? Have you received it?"

"Teacher, don't worry. The Krupao has been signed and taken on the road. It is estimated that he will arrive in Liaodong by the end of the year. As soon as I handle this matter, I rushed back to the capital with Shibo overnight. Now I have arranged for Shibo to stay in your guest room, waiting for you. We’re done here, let’s have a banquet with him.”

Xu Guangqi felt relieved after hearing this. Sun Yuanhua was always at ease when doing things.

"Then I can rest assured. Brother Zhizao is also proficient in Western magic. With him here to help, we will be much more relaxed."

Since he was re-employed by the emperor, he felt that his ambition had finally been put to use. He spent the whole day eating and sleeping, thinking about how to fulfill the emperor's entrustment.Now that we have help, we will get twice the result with half the effort.

Sun Yuanhua also knew that Xu Guangqi had worked hard during this period, but Xu Guangqi was already old, over sixty years old.

During this period of time, after finishing the work at the Ministry of Works every day, I would spend time in the artillery workshop, pondering skills, and would not go home until late at night.

If things go on like this, my body will definitely be unable to bear it, so I couldn’t help but persuade:
"Teacher, although we as ministers must not let down His Majesty's trust, I really can't bear to see the teacher expending energy and body every day. Many things can be left to me or the craftsmen. There is no need to do everything personally."

Xu Guangqi's old face showed a gratified smile, waved his hands and said:

"I am an old man with ambitions for thousands of miles. A martyr is still ambitious in his old age. What's more, it's me. Your Majesty treats me well, and I have to make achievements to relieve your worries."

"You come with me to go out and have a look first. His Majesty said before that the Krug cannons should be classified into A, B, and C and the specifications should be determined. Today, the dimensions of the Krug cannon will be determined first."

After saying that, he led Sun Yuanhua out of the barracks and walked towards the cannon casting room.

The craftsmen along the way were casting the cannon according to the order. They first poured the molten iron into the grinding tool and waited for it to cool. Then they hammered it to cast the iron tire. After it cooled, they poured bronze juice into the cast iron tire and waited for it to cool...

Along the way, there were sounds of banging, shouting, and voices urging attention, making it quite lively.

"You heard it just now. Now that there are more people, the efficiency has also improved. When the grinding tools are ready next month, the output can be increased to forty units a month. It's just that this workshop is far from enough. I thought for the teacher It's time to find a more open space.

The same goes for your gun workshop over there. Find an open space. There will definitely be demand for it in the future. "

Xu Guangqi looked increasingly satisfied with these results.

He has been interested in these tools and other things since he was a child. Now he is finally doing a career that he likes to do all his life. He is very happy and can't help but introduce his future plans to Sun Yuanhua.

Sun Yuanhua quickly nodded in agreement. His gun workshop was just getting started and was far from as good as the artillery workshop here. Seeing the excitement here, he wondered if he should also find some helpers.

The two of them walked along the workshop. When they reached the innermost room, they found that the master cannon casters of the workshop had gathered in a circle and were discussing something.

Seeing Xu Guangqi and the others coming, everyone bowed their heads and said:
"Sir, according to the requirements of each model specified by His Majesty, the specifications of the three types of Krupp cannons, A, B and C, have been finalized. Please take a look."

As he said this, one of the people in the middle handed the drawing in his hand to Xu Guangqi. Xu Guangqi took it and opened it and looked at it carefully.

"Cannons such as the Krug armor weigh [-] kilograms and can fire [-] kilograms of shells. This cannon is difficult to transport and cannot be pulled without four or five horses, so it can be used to defend the city."

"The second-class Krug gun weighs [-] kilograms, can fire ten kilograms of shells, and can be pulled by two horses. This kind of gun can be used for city defense and field battles. It is considered a heavy artillery in field battles."

"The Krugun C gun weighs [-] kilograms and can fire five to six kilograms of shells. It can be pulled by a horse at ordinary times and is suitable for field battles."

Xu Guangqi looked at these three specifications and thought that His Majesty should be satisfied now.

Since the last cannon test at the school, Zhu Youxiao had communicated with him many times within a month about the details of the Kru cannon, and clearly requested that not only cannons be cast for city defense, but also cannons that can be used in field battles.

So during this period of time, he has been making calculations with the cannon-casting masters, looking at how to classify the castings. After much deliberation, he put the use as the first consideration and successfully planned out these three types of cannons.

"Just do the calculations. You can cast one of each to see the performance and remember the advantages of each.

For Class A guns, safety and power are the first considerations; for Class B and C guns, portability is the first consideration.

Your Majesty has already given me instructions. As long as we can cast it well, we will be rewarded heavily. "

If you want a horse to run fast, you must give it enough grass. Xu Guangqi understands this truth. He has already obtained a reward from Zhu Youxiao, and he will give out rewards only when he succeeds.

"Thank you, Sir!"

The cannon-casting masters in the field also smiled when they heard the news, and they were naturally very grateful to Shilang Xu.Since he took charge of the Ordnance Bureau, he had no official pretensions towards their craftsmen. He also asked the emperor for rewards on their behalf many times, which kept them motivated.

"It's all about sharing the worries for Long Live. Just do your best." After saying that, he stopped staying. After giving some instructions, he went back home with Sun Yuanhua to see Li Zhizao.

At Xu Guangqi's house, Li Zhizao was already waiting here. When Xu Guangqi saw him, he apologized:
"Zhenzhi (Li Zhizao's word) I'm really sorry for keeping you waiting."

Li Zhizao had a very good relationship with Xu Guangqi, so he naturally didn't care about this, so he joked:

"Nothing, nothing. Yuanhua has already told me that you are a very busy man now, and His Majesty also has great trust in you. Of course, you are busy with things, and it is different from the past! Hahaha"

Xu Guangqi also laughed, but his expression also became sad.

"Don't make fun of me. If a tree is as beautiful as a tree, it will be destroyed by the wind. Don't think that I am now in the emperor's important position, but I don't know how many people are plotting against me. How many people can't stand me and want to pull me down. "

As he talked, he looked at Li Zhizao and said with emotion:
"It would be great if you came, and my burden would be reduced a lot."

Li Zhizao naturally knew Xu Guangqi's difficulties.

Although the Ming Dynasty is open to public opinion, these Westerners are often criticized by many people.

Some people just believe in Western religion and think that they are citizens of the heaven, but they like barbarian things, which is extremely despising.

Some people are afraid that they will introduce these strange and obscene skills to bring trouble to the imperial court. Others are just for profit and do not want the imperial court to learn more about the world and continue to implement the maritime ban.

But whatever the reason, life was not easy for them.However, after Xu Guangqi calmed down his emotions, he asked his servant to go to the study to get "Elements of Geometry".Li Zhizao was surprised when he saw this and said:
"Oh, this book has been published?"

Xu Guangqi laughed when he heard this and said:

"Yes, although there are many criticisms, some people also come to cling to me when they see that I am being used in an important way, and spend a lot of money to publish more than 500 volumes of Elements of Geometry.

This book was translated by the two of us together with Teacher Matteo Ricci, but it has never been published in Shuntianfu, Beizhili. Now that it can be printed, I want to give it to more people and study it more. "

Thinking of this, he said with great interest:
"The emperor is also very interested in this book. He explicitly asked me to send him a copy. He also asked me to translate more books."

"Your Majesty is young and will definitely be interested in these new things. Tang Ruowang should not have set off in Macau yet. I will write to him later and ask him to bring more books to Beijing.

When the time comes, we can translate it, and we can show it to the emperor and distribute it to the courtiers. Stones from other mountains can be used to attack jade. "

Li Zhizao was also happy to hear that the emperor was interested, and he felt like he could see the moonlight through the clouds. As long as the emperor was interested and had the support of the Holy One, everything would be easy to handle.

"Okay, I've heard you say that Tang Ruowang is very knowledgeable and I really want to ask him for advice in person.

Okay, okay, let’s not talk about this anymore. Since you have come all the way, I asked Guangxing House in the capital to prepare a table of Jiangnan cuisine. I also wanted to let you taste the Jiangnan cuisine in the capital to see if it suits your taste. Woolen cloth. "

Xu Guangqi saw that it was already getting late, so he couldn't help but ask him to eat first and talk after eating.

Naturally, the three of them had endless things to talk about.On the other side of the capital, Ye Xianggao also arrived in the capital.

He had been the sole prime minister in the Wanli Dynasty for seven years, and he also had a mansion in Beijing. After he came, he naturally went to his house.

After seeing him coming, his disciples, former officials and people from Donglin in Beijing came to ask for an audience, but they were all politely rejected by him on the grounds that he needed to rest after a long journey.Outsiders are not seen, just because there are more important people who need to be seen.

In the study room of the mansion, Wang Wenyan was discussing the recent situation in the capital with Ye Xianggao, and also brought Wang An's expectations.

Wang Wenyan was originally a jailer. He was clever, chivalrous and strategic. He committed a robbery while guarding, so he fled to the capital and joined Wang An's family, becoming Wang An's disciple.

Because Wang An already had a good relationship with the Donglin Party, he was often asked to secretly collude with the Donglin Party. Therefore, he had a very good relationship with Yang Lian, Zuo Guangdou, and Wei Dazhong of the Donglin Party.

Since Wang An lost power last time, he also knew that although his life was saved, he would have to go to Nanjing to guard the mausoleum in the future.

But he still doesn't trust Wei Zhongxian. He knows that Wei Zhongxian is a lonely minister who will do anything for his own honor and disgrace.

So he thought of Ye Xianggao, so he asked his retainer Wang Wenyan to discuss with Ye Xianggao in person to see how to deal with it in the future.

"It's Ye's honor that the prince values ​​me so much. It's just that Wei Zhongxian is deeply trusted by his majesty and is in a high position, so he is invincible."

Ye Xianggao also knew what medicine Wang An was selling in the gourd, and he just wanted him to compete with Wei Zhongxian.

But he had just arrived in the capital, and Wei Zhongxian was now deeply attached to the Holy Spirit, so he naturally did not want to act rashly.

Moreover, he had been independent for seven years, and now he has returned to the cabinet. He does not want to just serve as an assistant minister, but his goal is to be the chief minister.Now Wang An, who had lost his power, sent a retainer to ask him to fight. He felt that the loss was not worth the loss.

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(End of this chapter)