My father is Chongzhen? Then I have no choice but to rebel.

Chapter 42: What I want most now is a flintlock rifle! (Please ask for more data!)
"By the way, Mr. Bi, do you know any artillery experts?"

Suddenly at this moment, Zhu Cilang continued to ask.

Although Bi Maokang is a rare firearms expert, it can be seen that his main research direction is still to improve firearms such as muskets.

Artillery still needs more professionals to make it!

Bi Maokang pondered for a moment and then said:
"I do know two people who both have unique insights into artillery."

"One is Song Yingxing, and the other is Tang Ruowang!"

Song Yingxing, a scientist in the late Ming Dynasty, played an important role in the development of science and technology in later generations through his scientific and technological innovations.

At the same time, his book "The Exploitation of the Works of Nature" also provided valuable scientific knowledge and technical experience for future generations.

His research on agriculture was very profound, and he proposed many theories and methods on agricultural production, which greatly improved the production efficiency of crops.

In addition, he conducted in-depth research in handicrafts, metallurgy, and textile industries, and invented many tools to improve production.

All in all, he is indeed a great talent!
As for Johann Adam Schall von Bell, he is quite special.

Because he was not from the Ming Dynasty, nor was he Han Chinese, but a Catholic Jesuit missionary from Germany.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, a large number of Catholic missionaries came to the Ming Dynasty, wanting to spread their beliefs throughout the Ming Dynasty. Tang Ruowang was one of them.

The difference is that in addition to being able to preach, Johann Adam Schall von Bell also possessed a lot of advanced Western knowledge.

He not only had a very profound study of astronomy, but also of artillery.

Chongzhen once ordered him to help the Armory to improve the existing artillery. Tang Ruowang finally lived up to his mission, successfully improved the artillery, and even wrote his experience into a book.

The title of this book is "Essentials of Fire Attack".

This book records the most advanced artillery manufacturing technology in Europe. It is the most authoritative work on Western cannons in the late Ming Dynasty and had a great influence even until the late Qing Dynasty.

As a time traveler, Zhu Cilang certainly knew the existence of these two people.

Among them, Song Yingxing had already sent people to look for him, and he would arrive in the capital soon.

As for Johann Adam Schall von Bell.
This guy has actually been in the capital all the time. Zhu Cilang would even see him when he went to court every day.

Because he is now the director of the Ming Dynasty's Imperial Observatory.

The Imperial Astronomical Observatory, to put it simply, was actually an astronomical observatory in ancient China, responsible for observing celestial phenomena and promulgating calendars.

The position of Jianzheng of the Imperial Astronomical Observatory is equivalent to the director of the National Astronomical Observatory.

Since the calendar is related to farming seasons and ancient people were relatively superstitious, the Imperial Observatory has always been of great importance since ancient times.

It seems that I have to go see Johann Adam Schall von Bell tomorrow. If I can convince him to join the Firearms Research Institute, I will definitely be able to develop more powerful artillery.

Originally, in Zhu Cilang's mind, the best artillery experts should be Xu Guangqi and his apprentice Sun Yuanhua.

But unfortunately, they are all dead.

Xu Guangqi was fine, as he died of old age.

But Sun Yuanhua's death was quite tragic.

In the fifth year of Chongzhen, Sun Yuanhua's subordinate Kong Youde rebelled against the Ming and surrendered to the Qing. After that, Denglai was captured. Sun Yuanhua attempted suicide but failed and was released by the rebels.

But in the end, Chongzhen blamed the incident on Sun Yuanhua and executed him!

As a rare artillery expert, he died so unjustly. Zhu Cilang felt it was a great pity just thinking about it.

After coming to his senses, Zhu Cilang finally spoke:

"I have already sent people to look for the Song Yingxing you mentioned, and they will arrive in the capital soon."

"As for Johann Adam Schall von Bell, I will go see him tomorrow."

Bi Maokang nodded, and then said:

"I, your humble servant, would like to recommend another person. His name is Wang Zheng. In his early years, he was fond of ancient instruments and machinery. He developed hydraulic, wind, and load-carrying machinery, and even compiled a book on them." "It's called 'Illustrated Explanation of Newly Made Instruments.'"

"Later, he worked with the Swiss missionary Deng Yuhan to compile the Illustrated Book of Strange Instruments from the Far West."

"This person has a very high level of knowledge in mechanics and may be able to help His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!"

王徵
Zhu Cilang thought about it and seemed to have heard of this name. It was said that he was a master of mechanics in the Ming Dynasty.

He was even called "Southern Xu and Northern King" together with Xu Guangqi.

Rumor has it that he even developed a steam engine at the time.

Regardless of whether the rumor was true or false, Zhu Cilang still wrote down the name and prepared to send the Jinyiwei to announce the imperial decree tomorrow.

If the Ming Dynasty wants to develop, it will definitely use various equipment in the future, and such talents cannot be missed.

Then, Zhu Cilang said:

"I've noted the name and will send someone to look for it tomorrow."

"Also, I will send someone tomorrow to look for a suitable place to build a firearms research institute. Before that, I will first find a suitable place for you in the East Palace."

"Whatever personnel or materials are needed, they can be dispatched from the Armoury and Armoury Bureaus."

"I will give you another 100,000 taels of silver for the initial funding. If it's not enough, please let me know anytime."

When Bi Maokang heard this, he hurriedly bowed and said:
"Don't worry, Your Highness. I will never let you down!"

"I just don't know what kind of firearms His Royal Highness the Crown Prince needs most right now?"

There are so many types of firearms recorded in "Illustrated Explanation of Military Equipment" that it is unrealistic to study them all at once.

So Bi Maokang wanted to know what kind of firearms Zhu Cilang currently needed, and then he focused on researching it.

Zhu Cilang said seriously:

"Although the current firearms of the Ming Dynasty need to be improved, what I need most right now is a flintlock rifle!"

As Zhu Cilang spoke, he opened the "Illustrated Explanation of Military Equipment" this time and showed the page about the flintlock rifle to Bi Maokang.

Then he continued:

"The quality of the firearms currently in the Ming Dynasty is extremely poor. The risk of explosion is extremely high, which has led to soldiers not liking to use firearms."

"And during the rainy season, firearms cannot be used."

"So what we need most right now is to develop a new firearm to replace the existing ones. The flintlock rifle mentioned in this book is the perfect replacement!"

Bi Maokang thought for a moment, then said:

"Your Highness, I understand what you mean, but there is something I must inform you of in advance."

"I've roughly estimated before that the production cost of a flintlock rifle is at least ten taels of silver, while an ordinary fire gun only costs three taels of silver or even less."

"So if you want to mass-produce flintlock rifles, you'll need a lot of money!"

This is probably why Chongzhen did not support Bi Maokang's improvement of firearms in history, because it was too expensive.

The money used to make a flintlock rifle can be used to make three or four ordinary muskets.

Where was Chongzhen's money at that time?
Although Chongzhen had no money, Zhu Cilang did!
Even if 15 million taels of silver were allocated to the Ministry of Revenue, the treasury still had nearly 30 million taels of silver and several million taels of gold.

After the eight imperial merchants of Shanxi are raided, the revenue will be at least another 50 million taels of silver.

Not to mention that he also has the system plug-in, and the accumulated system currency can be exchanged for 100 million taels of silver anytime and anywhere!

So, the prince is really not short of money!

(End of this chapter)