Chongzhen's domineering

Chapter 52 Punishing Traitors Requires Loyal and Virtuous Officials (Part 1)
It was almost noon when Zhu Jue finished instructing Xiong Wencan.

He was considering whether to dine at Kunning Palace or go to the East City to eat with the artisans when Song Yingxing suddenly rushed over, holding a copper cylinder, and bowed as if presenting a treasure, saying, "Your Majesty, the telescope is ready."

I haven't been to your place for a few days, and you've already made a telescope!

Zhu Jue immediately stood up, took the binoculars, and pointed them towards the gate.

The main hall of Yuxi Palace has a base, which is much higher than the silkworm pond to the south, so the view is not bad. However, further south is the dense forest by Taiye Pond, and those trees are even taller than Yuxi Palace. He can only see the treetops.

With the view obstructed, you can't see very far at all.

He adjusted the focus slightly and was able to see the leaves on the treetops clearly; the clarity was quite good.

The telescope wasn't actually that difficult for them to use.

Xu Guangqi had seen the actual object and even handled it, so he didn't need to explain in detail what the lens tube looked like or the structure of the telescope.

The key issue is the material of the lens. Initially, the glass they produced was substandard, containing impurities and pores, making it unsuitable for lens production.

As for the issue of polishing it smooth, there's no need to worry about that. Experienced craftsmen can polish copper rods until they're as smooth as a mirror, so polishing lenses is naturally no problem.

Once the problem of lens material was solved, the telescope was naturally made.

Zhu Jue examined it carefully for a while, then asked, "How far can this telescope see?"

How do you say this?

Song Yingxing thought for a moment, then explained, "Your Majesty, this telescope can see about two or three miles away, but it can only see very clearly within two miles. Beyond two miles, it becomes increasingly blurry."

The visibility of two or three miles is not enough.

Nowadays, Western-made cannons have a range of five or six miles. If you can't even see the enemy at a range of two or three miles, you'll get hit.

However, this line of sight is barely enough for commanding melee combat or for musketeers to fire.

Zhu Jue thought for a moment, then asked, "Do you know how to increase the viewing distance of a telescope?"

I've only just made a sample; I haven't even considered those other things yet.

Song Yingxing shook his head slightly and said, "Your Majesty, this humble subject still needs to try it out slowly."

Yes, this definitely requires constant experimentation, but the direction of the experimentation must be correct.

Zhu Jue thought for a moment and then instructed, "There are roughly two ways to increase the viewing distance of a telescope: one is to increase the concavity or convexity of the lens, and the other is to make the telescope bigger and longer. You can try these two approaches first."

Oh, so that's how you try it.

Song Yingxing nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty, I understand."

Zhu Jue then asked, "What is the production volume of this type of telescope? How many can be made per day?"

Uh, how many do you make a day?

Song Yingxing cautiously said, "Your Majesty, the lens tube is easy to make. Most coppersmiths can make it. We can hire more coppersmiths and make ten sets a day without any problem. The key is the lens. Polishing it takes too much time."

We only managed to recruit a few master craftsmen who polish bronze mirrors. They also had to polish steam engine parts, so I could only spare one master craftsman to polish these two mirrors. It took him almost two days to polish both mirrors.”

One every two days?
This is too slow.

Zhu Jue thought for a moment, then decisively said, "You need to recruit more master craftsmen who polish bronze mirrors. If there aren't any left in the capital, then recruit from other places."

Also, you need to carefully observe their polishing process, and then consider using machines to replace manual polishing. It's not that the machine needs to be able to polish the lens in one go, but at the very least, the most time-consuming polishing processes should be replaced by machines. Do you understand?

Machines are replacing manual labor for polishing?
Song Yingxing thought about it with great interest, then nodded excitedly and said, "Your Majesty, I understand."

"Alright, judging from your expression, you're probably eager to start figuring out the machine." Zhu Jue nodded slightly and then waved his hand.

He kept the telescope in his other hand.

Song Yingxing glanced at the binoculars in his hand with some reluctance before quickly bowing and taking his leave.

Zhu Jue looked at the binoculars in his hand and suddenly had an idea.

He arrived at Kunning Palace rather impatiently, and took advantage of the moment when Empress Zhang Yan was using a telescope to get close to her!
Empress Zhang Yan didn't think anything of it. She had raised her fifth brother, and she used to hold him every day when he was little. It was only natural for them to be affectionate with each other.

Zhu Jue, however, felt extremely satisfied!

That's human nature; the more unattainable something is, the more one desires it.

He spent some time happily playing with the telescope alongside Empress Zhang Yan and Princess Zhou, then had lunch with them. Around 1 p.m., he summoned Lu Xiangshan and Fang Zhenghua, and headed straight for the East City.

The East City has changed dramatically by now.

The foundations of the city wall on the west bank of the Chaobai River have already been dug, and nearly 100,000 craftsmen and their families are working like ants, desperately building the wall.

The steel plant and shipyard on the north bank of the Tonghui River are already taking shape. The giant steelmaking furnace in the steel plant is almost as tall as a person, and the waterway in the shipyard has been dug to a depth of nearly ten feet.

The main roads between the factory buildings were dug up to be about ten feet wide, compacted and flattened, and then covered with coal slag.

This road surface issue is also one of his biggest concerns.

The roads outside the city were originally dirt roads, which became muddy and dusty after a few days of sunshine. Even inside the city, there were roads like this.

There weren't many stone-paved roads in the inner and outer city of the capital; most were dirt roads covered with a layer of river sand.

River sand isn't very effective, mainly because it's loose and can't be compressed into a cohesive mass. If you spread it too thickly, you'll sink into it when you walk on it.

Coal slag is different; even after being compacted, it still retains a certain degree of binding properties.

However, this is only a temporary solution; these roads will eventually need to be paved with cement.

He has invested in several cement plants, so technology is naturally not a problem for him. The key issue is that they don't have time to build cement plants yet, and the machines for making cement still need to be developed.

At this point, they haven't even developed the machines to manufacture muskets and cannons yet, and who knows when they'll be able to build a cement plant.

As he was scanning the road and considering the possibility of building a cement plant, he suddenly spotted a man with a pointed mouth and monkey-like face loitering around on a mound of earth by the roadside, looking around like a thief.

This guy is definitely not a thief, because there are tens of thousands of artisans and able-bodied men here. If he came here to steal something, he would be dug up by a hoe in no time. There is definitely no thief in this world who is that stupid.

If he wasn't there to steal, yet he was looking around suspiciously like a thief, then there's only one possibility.

This person is a spy!
The traitors within the Ming Dynasty court finally couldn't resist sending someone to spy on them.

Fortunately, the factory buildings here are not yet completed, so we can't uncover any secrets yet.

However, spies must not be allowed to infiltrate here, otherwise their secrets will be exposed to the Jurchens sooner or later.

He thought for a moment, then calmly beckoned Lu Xiang-sheng and Fang Zheng-hua to ride their horses to the mound. Suddenly, he waved his hand, ordering his men to surround the mound, before coldly asking, "Who are you, and what are you doing here?"

When the man saw that he was surrounded by more than two hundred riders, he even said in a cocky manner, "You think the Imperial Guards are so great? Why aren't you guarding the capital? What are you doing here?"

This person is definitely a spy.

The uniforms of the Imperial Guards and the soldiers of the Beijing Garrison were indistinguishable without close inspection, yet this person could tell the difference with just a glance!

Upon hearing this, Zhu Jue snorted coldly, then waved his hand and said, "Take him down!"

(End of this chapter)