Do you know: I am the crown prince

Chapter 409: Gunpowder is ready
"Your Majesty, do you mean that the loud noise and vibration were caused by the Firearms Inspectorate?" Han Zhang asked in surprise.

"Not bad!"

Zhao Xing said with an unpleasant expression: "There is a problem at the Firearms Bureau."

He asked Zhang Feng to go to the Firearms Depot to investigate. Half of the depot had been blown up, causing heavy casualties. They were now busy rescuing people, and he had no idea what exactly had happened.

"Your Majesty, once this news gets out, I'm afraid people will panic." Han Zhang said worriedly.

He didn't know the purpose of the Firearms Bureau, but this explanation was too far-fetched, and the people would think it was an attempt to cover up the truth.

And if it happens once, it is likely to happen a second time. What should we do if something similar happens again?

"So this news cannot be announced. We should tell the public that it was a dragon turning over, but it has passed. As long as there are no more earthquakes, the people will slowly calm down." Zhao Xing said.

"But what should we do if this happens again?" Han Zhang frowned.

"Now nearly half of the Firearms Inspectorate has been destroyed. Once the matter is thoroughly investigated, I will move the Firearms Inspectorate to another place." Zhao Xing said.

"Your Majesty, if the Firearms Bureau is so dangerous, why not shut it down?"

"Does the great lord know how much damage that loud noise and vibration caused?"

Zhao Xing said calmly: "It can blow up a huge hole with a radius of 100 meters. Sir, do you think if it is used on the city wall, which city wall in the world can withstand it?"

"hiss…"

Han Zhang sucked in a breath of cold air and said in disbelief: "Your Majesty is exaggerating a bit, right? Is this something that human beings can do?"

"Maybe it's exaggerated, but it's basically the same. If you don't believe it, you can come with me to take a look." Zhao Xing said.

You must know that the Firearms Inspectorate was more than 20 miles away from Bianjing, and the city of Bianjing was already very large. In this case, Zhao Xing could feel the vibration in the palace, so the power can be imagined.

But what Zhao Xing wondered was how big the gunpowder bag had to be to produce such a great effect.

He had told Cao Mian to be careful, so how could such a problem occur?

However, many people were killed in the explosion and they were busy rescuing people, so the specific situation was still unknown. Zhao Xing planned to go and take a look in person.

"Your Majesty!"

Han Zhang said quickly: "Let's not talk about whether it's true or not, but the son of a rich family should not sit in the hall. Moreover, Your Majesty is the emperor, how can you take this risk!"

Zhao Xing was stunned when he heard this, hesitated for a while, and gave up the idea of ​​going to check.

Han Zhang was right. With such a big accident happening in the gunpowder depot, who knew if there was any danger. Zhao Xing was very afraid of death and was unwilling to take the risk.

"What you said makes sense, sir. I won't go. You should appease the people first, and then we can talk about it after the matter is clarified!" Zhao Xing said.

"Yes!" Han Zhang replied.

…………

"Your Majesty!" Sanshui bowed and said, "The Director of the Firearms Bureau is asking for an audience!"

"Let him in!" Zhao Xing said lightly.

Soon, Cao Mian, in a state of disgrace, walked into the hall, knelt down with a plop, and cried, "I am ashamed of your majesty's trust. I beg your majesty to execute me!"

"What?" Zhao Xing said coldly, "Do you think I dare not kill you?"

Those who come up and ask for death don’t really want to die, otherwise they would have committed suicide.

"I dare not!" Cao Mian said quickly: "I..."

"Don't waste your words on me. Tell me what happened in detail. I will make the final decision on whether he is dead or alive!" Zhao Xing interrupted Cao Mian and said indifferently.

"Yes!"

Cao Mian did not dare to waste words and quickly recounted what had happened in detail.

After the Firearms Bureau was established, Cao Mian arranged some people who knew about gunpowder to develop gunpowder according to the formula provided by Zhao Xing.

However, the ancient technology was backward and Zhao Xing knew only a limited amount, so even with the formula provided by Zhao Xing, progress was still slow. Every time gunpowder was developed, it would be tested.

There had not been much progress, so Cao Mian naturally became anxious, and urged the craftsmen to speed up.

Not only Cao Mian was anxious, but the craftsmen were also anxious. After all, Zhao Xing promised that once they made contributions, they would be given official titles, and those with great contributions could even be given titles.

Those craftsmen increased the power of gunpowder while trying to improve its sealing.

A few days ago, a craftsman suggested that the amount of gunpowder used might be too small, and whether we should try increasing the amount.

But Zhao Xing had previously instructed Cao Mian not to use too much gunpowder.

Cao Mian naturally strictly carried out Zhao Xing's orders.

The applications of those craftsmen were not approved by Cao Mian.

So the craftsmen secretly increased the weight.

The effect was indeed there, but the power was only slightly greater, and it was still far from what Zhao Xing required.

After careful discussion, the craftsmen felt that it was still a problem of quantity, so they made explosive packs of various sizes, including an extra-large one.

In fact, the gunpowder they made was powerful enough.

At least under the current conditions, the power is acceptable.

The reason why the effect is not up to standard is entirely due to the sealing problem.

The gunpowder manufactured in this era is definitely not comparable to the gunpowder of later generations. The sealing is not up to standard and the amount of gunpowder is small, so naturally it has little power.

However, increasing the amount of gunpowder can naturally compensate for the sealing problem to a certain extent.

Zhao Xing didn't quite understand these principles, let alone the craftsmen.

Originally, these craftsmen had been conducting experiments since childhood, and such a thing would never have happened.

However, when the gunpowder bags were made and not yet tested, they accidentally went off and ignited the piled-up explosive bags.

There were multiple explosions at that time, but because of the distance, Zhao Xing only heard the loud noise when the largest explosive pack exploded.

After hearing this, Zhao Xing realized that Cao Mian could not be blamed entirely.

Although the Song Dynasty had gunpowder, it was not taken seriously because of its power.

Although Zhao Xing had strict requirements, people who had not truly experienced the power of gunpowder always felt a little skeptical.

This included Cao Mian and those craftsmen, but Cao Mian had Zhao Xing's instructions, so even if he disagreed, he still prohibited those craftsmen from making too large explosive packs.

However, in order to gain merit, those craftsmen made it secretly, which caused this disaster.

"How many people were killed or injured? Is Chen Kui okay?" Zhao Xing asked.

What Zhao Xing was most worried about was Chen Kui, who was the key person in the development of the musket.

He did not expect Chen Kui to invent the musket, but Chen Kui's musket was the earliest musket. Only by continuous research could a musket be made.

"Your Majesty, almost all the craftsmen who were researching gunpowder died, with less than ten people surviving. More than two hundred soldiers died! There were also many injured. Chen Kui was safe because he was far away." Cao Mian said.

Even though Zhao Xing knew that the casualties were heavy, he still felt heartbroken when the numbers were placed in front of him.

There were hundreds of craftsmen studying gunpowder, and more than 300 of them died this time, and the number would be even higher if the injured were included.

"Keep this news secret and don't let any word leak out!" Zhao Xing said.

"I understand!"

Cao Mian said: "Your Majesty, although there were many casualties this time, the gunpowder was successful!"

(End of this chapter)