The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 253: Vigorously Develop Resources

Wanli returned to Beijing!
It seems that when he went to Jinling City, he only met Pan Jixun, the Minister of Works of Nanjing, and then he summoned the craftsmen to go to the Jiangxin Island across the Longjiang River to do some random construction.

This guy built so many water wheels, docks, shipyards, waterways, and workshop yards that I don’t even know how many he built.

He probably wanted to build a ship.

The problem is, the ship hasn’t even been built yet, and he actually returned to Beijing!

He didn't even bother to meet with the officials from various government offices in Jinling City.

When he came, few people knew about it, but when he left, it was so grand that everyone in and outside Jinling City knew about it.

Because he was on that huge ship of a thousand tons, not only was it guarded by a hundred navy centipede ships, he also recruited five hundred grain ships.

He took away the Embroidered Uniform Guards, the Imperial Guards, and tens of thousands of war horses. Now everyone naturally knew that he had returned to the capital.

This time he returned to Beijing just in time for the south wind.

Because summer is here, the heat from the south is stronger than the cold from the north, so the south wind blows.

That thing, once the sails more than two meters high were erected, the speed of the thousand-ton giant ship was comparable to that of a centipede boat rowing at full speed.

The 800-ton canal boat also has sails, but the sails are not high, only about ten feet. With the help of the south wind and rowing hard, it can barely catch up with the speed of the 1,000-ton giant ship.

They returned extremely quickly. At about 5 p.m. on the fifth day, before the sun set, they arrived at the Summer Resort.

It's a bit hot in the capital now, but the Summer Resort is cool and pleasant. It's a good time to escape the summer heat, and he is too lazy to go back to the capital.

He was too lazy to meet with the court officials. He could just send a navy speedboat to pick up the concubines, princes and princesses. He was busy.

Early in the morning of the sixth day, around noon, he summoned Duke Peng Qi Jiguang, Duke Ding Xu Wenbi, Earl Yongnian Wang Wei, Earl Xinjian Wang Chengxun and others to the lobby of the original county government office to discuss the matter.

This time, there were some strange drawings on the long table in the middle, all of which were drawn by him.

After the emperor and his ministers exchanged greetings, he pointed to a drawing of a short stick that looked like it had a tortoise shell and said, "Father-in-law, can you build a thunderbolt?"

The thunder bomb is very simple, I can make it naturally.

Question: Is this a thunderbolt?

Shouldn't the thunder bomb be a round ball the size of a fist?

Yongnianbo Wang Wei stared at the blueprint in a daze and said, "Your Majesty, please forgive me. I can only make spherical thunder bombs. I have never seen the one you drew."

It's normal that you haven't seen this before, because there is no such thing now. This is a bit like the blasting tube in later generations, but not as long as the blasting tube.

Wanli explained in detail: "The Sky-shaking Thunder is made like this mainly for ease of processing.

We can press out such straight cylindrical shapes using a mold just like making small bottles for medicine. One mold can press out several at a time, and thousands of them can be pressed out in a day.

Furthermore, the tortoise shell pattern is designed to create as many small pieces as possible when the thunder bomb explodes, thus increasing the damage range and making it easier to injure the enemy's skin and flesh."

Oh, that’s what it meant.

The tortoise shell pattern is indeed necessary, because the old-style thunder bomb may split into two halves when it explodes. Then you can just hear a noise and scare the enemy, but it will not hurt anyone at all.

Upon hearing this, Yongnian Earl Wang Wei could not help but nod slowly and said, "Your Majesty is wise. I understand. By the way, Your Majesty, how big and long can this thunder bomb be?"

How can I do it if you don’t even give me a size?

Wanli spread his hands and said straightforwardly: "You should ask Yuan Jing to arrange for the soldiers of the Beijing Camp to test it. Have people make some samples of various sizes and lengths by hand, then load them with gunpowder and let the soldiers of the Beijing Camp throw them to test it.

Anyway, it has to be easy to hold in your hand and the farther you throw it, the better. That's all I ask. You can do whatever you want."

Oh, so I still have to try.

Yongnian Earl Wang Wei nodded repeatedly and said, "I understand."

Wanli pointed at the blueprint and said, "We also need to make another one without the tortoise shell pattern. This one is for kerosene, the kind used by the navy. Make it thin enough to shatter when it hits wood."

This is also simple.

Yongnian Earl Wang Wei nodded repeatedly and said, "I understand."

Both of these things are simple, let me give you a complicated one.

Wanli pointed to another somewhat confusing blueprint and said, "Father-in-law, you know how to make this wine distillation system, right?"

This is actually a carpentry job. Steaming barrels and wine barrels are both large wooden barrels, and bamboo can be used as pipes in the middle.

Yongnian Earl Wang Wei nodded repeatedly and said, "I will do it."

Wanli explained in detail: "What I want to make is not for steaming wine, but for steaming oil. These two barrels must be made of hundred-fold tempered steel and must be made to prevent oil leakage. Moreover, the barrel for steaming oil and the pipe in the middle must be guaranteed to be airtight." Is this oil also steamed?
You may have never seen how the oil comes out.

Yongnianbo Wang Wei said carefully, "Your Majesty, please forgive me. This oil is either fried or squeezed. The steamed one looks like it's either wine or water."

You are talking about animal fats and vegetable oils.

Wanli nodded slightly and said, "I know. I'm not talking about the oil. I'm talking about petroleum."

oil?!
That stuff is black and smells very bad. You can't wash it off your hands for days. You even use it to steam it. Wouldn't it be so suffocating that it would kill people?

Upon hearing this, Yongnian Earl Wang Wei was stunned for a moment before he cautiously said, "Your Majesty, I'm afraid the iron bucket you're talking about can only be cast in two halves, then sealed with copper sheets in the middle. Do you think the thickness of a cast iron pot is enough?"

Is it cast?
The iron pot is so thick, so wouldn’t a standard oil barrel made from it weigh dozens or even hundreds of pounds?

Moreover, that thing is not durable and cannot be dropped on the ground, as it may break if it falls.

It seems that if we want to develop oil resources, we have to make iron sheets.

Wanli thought about it carefully, then asked, "Father-in-law, do you know how gold and silver foil are made?"

Yongnian Earl Wang Wei nodded repeatedly and said, "I know. That was hammered out with a special giant hammer, and a special black gold paper was placed underneath."

what?
Hammered out?

Isn’t it pressed out with two big iron rollers?

Okay, since the only thing we can do right now is hammer, let’s use it.

Wanli picked up a piece of manuscript paper and gestured, "Father-in-law, we'll need a lot of iron barrels to store kerosene. We can't use cast iron barrels. Cast ones are too heavy and not strong. We must bend them out of sheet iron like this, then fold the edges, interlock them, and pound them tightly to seal them."

This iron plate can be bent into a barrel, so how thin does it have to be hammered?

Upon hearing this, Yongnian Earl Wang Wei asked cautiously, "Your Majesty, how many of these iron buckets do you want?"

several?

Wanli shook his head slightly and said, "I don't want a few, I want tens of thousands. You must make at least ten thousand every day."

what?
Upon hearing this, Yongnianbo Wang Wei was stunned and said, "Your Majesty, it's impossible to make tens of thousands of these iron barrels a day with the current hammering method."

Then improve it.

Wanli pondered, "If you use clay molds to cast iron plates, you should be able to cast iron plates as thick as iron pots.

After this iron plate is cast, it is heated red and pressed into a tempered steel mold. After a few hammer blows, it becomes thinner. Coincidentally, the iron plate pressed out of the mold does not need to be trimmed and can be directly rolled into a barrel.

Alternatively, use the same method to punch out two round pieces of thin iron sheets with curled edges, seal them together, and you have a barrel, right?

This one.

It is easier said than done.

How big should the mold be?

However, no matter how difficult it is, since His Majesty has said it, we have to do it.

Upon hearing this, Yongnian Earl Wang Wei nodded solemnly and said, "I understand. I will order someone to make a mold."

For now, this is the only stupid way.

Wanli nodded slightly and said, "Well, you should make a set of these oil steaming tools first, whether it is hammered out or cast, I want a set to try steaming oil."

Yongnian Earl Wang Wei nodded repeatedly and said, "I understand."

He understands.

Duke Peng Qi Jiguang, Duke Ding Xu Wenbi, and Earl Xinjian Wang Chengxun were all confused.

What they said is somewhat beyond ordinary people's understanding.

Is the oil steamed?
Wanli did not explain it in detail to others, but they understood it after the oil was evaporated.

He thought for a moment, then instructed, "Yuan Jing, order one thousand Shenjiying soldiers to take one hundred grain carts and the navy warships led by Kemai to go to the original Yansui Town.

Oh, and bring some large water tanks with wooden lids. Have them go to places with oil ponds and bring me a few hundred tanks of oil. Remember to keep the lids on the tanks after they're filled with oil to prevent leaks."

I'm afraid those water tanks are going to be ruined. If the grain carts are stuck with water, I don't know how to clean them.

Qi Jiguang bowed without hesitation and said, "I obey your order."

(End of this chapter)