Jingtai: Making the Ming Dynasty Great Again

After a quick lunch, Zhu Qiyu went straight to the study in the side hall of the Qianqing Palace.

This place has now become his main venue for handling government affairs.

He rubbed his temples and picked up a brush to write and draw on a piece of rice paper.

The paper was not filled with ordinary memorials for review, but rather with strings of strange symbols and numbers.

Zhu Qiyu frowned and muttered to himself:

"Sulfur... saltpeter... charcoal... potassium, nitrogen, oxygen... what were their atomic weights again?"

He dipped his brush in ink and wrote several chemical formulas on the paper: S, KNO₃, C.

After thinking for a moment, I wrote down the reaction formula: S + 2KNO₃ + 3C → K₂S + N₂↑ + 3CO₂↑.

"One part sulfur, two parts saltpeter, three parts charcoal, that's the folk saying, but the ratio should be different depending on the purity."

Zhu Qiyu muttered to himself as he tried to recall the gunpowder knowledge he remembered from his previous life.

"According to this equation, sulfur has an atomic weight of 32, and saltpeter..."

Potassium nitrate has a molecular weight of 101, so two of them would be 202. Charcoal has an atomic weight of 12, so three of them would be 36.

So the weight ratio should be...

He wrote down the calculations: 32 parts sulfur, 202 parts saltpeter, and 36 parts charcoal.

The simplified ratio is approximately sulfur: saltpeter: charcoal ≈ 1 : 6.3 : 1.1.

After finishing the calculation, Zhu Qiyu shook his head again and again: "No, this ratio of saltpeter is too much. The detonation velocity may be too fast, which could easily cause the barrel to explode."

I remember that in the early Ming Dynasty, gunpowder formulas contained more than 70% saltpeter, which was powerful but unstable.

The mature formula for gunpowder in later generations seems to be 75% saltpeter, 10% sulfur, and 15% charcoal?

He then wrote down a new set of figures on the paper: 75% saltpeter, 10% sulfur, and 15% charcoal.

Furthermore, by deducing the atomic ratios from the chemical formulas, several possible ratios were summarized.

"Your Majesty," Xing'an entered quietly and reported in a low voice, "Minister of Works Shi Pu has arrived in the capital and is currently waiting outside the palace gates for an audience."

Zhu Qiyu raised his head, a glint of light flashing in his eyes: "Shi Pu is back? Quickly, summon him in."

"As you command."

Zhu Qiyu put down his pen and tidied up the paper filled with equations and proportions.

Shortly after, footsteps were heard outside the door.

A middle-aged official in a scarlet robe entered the study under Xing'an's guidance.

This man was around fifty years old, with a thin face and a slightly dark complexion due to years of supervising construction projects, but his eyes were full of energy.

Without hesitation, Shi Pu knelt down, performing the three kneelings and nine kowtows: "Your subject, Shi Pu, Minister of Works, pays his respects to Your Majesty. Long live Your Majesty!"

In the Ming Dynasty, ordinary officials were not required to kneel and bow when meeting the emperor.

However, this was his first meeting with Zhu Qiyu after his ascension to the throne, so he naturally had to perform the full ceremony.

Zhu Qiyu raised his hand in a gesture of support: "Minister Shi, please rise. You must be tired from your journey. Please take a seat."

Shi Pu stood up but did not sit down immediately. Instead, he bowed and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty. I was ordered to oversee the Yellow River, which delayed my return."

"This prevented me from participating in Your Majesty's enthronement ceremony, which is a dereliction of duty. I beg Your Majesty's punishment."

Zhu Qiyu gestured for him to sit down and speak: "Hey, river management is a major issue concerning the lives of millions of people. Minister Shi has done his duty diligently. What crime has he committed?"

Minister Shi, how is the flood situation on the Yellow River? Are the projects progressing smoothly?

Shi Pu then sat down sideways: "Your Majesty, I was ordered to go to Henan in the thirteenth year of the Zhengtong reign to supervise the repair of the dikes from Kaifeng to Xuzhou."

The autumn floods of this year have passed, and all the newly built dikes are stable. Despite the test of continuous heavy rains, none of them have collapsed.

More than 300 miles of river channels were dredged along the way, 400,000 cubic meters of silt were removed, and seven new sluice gates and flood control dams were built.

Barring unforeseen circumstances, the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River should be free from major flooding within the next three to five years.

Zhu Qiyu nodded repeatedly as he listened: "Good, Minister Shi is truly dedicated to his duties, and I am very pleased."

The reason you are being transferred back to the capital is because the defense of the capital is urgent, and the Ministry of Works urgently needs an experienced person to oversee the repair of the city's defenses and the manufacture of military equipment.

Are there any appropriate arrangements for the follow-up work on the Henan project?

"Your Majesty, rest assured, before I left I appointed Li Tang, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works, to manage the aftermath."

This man has served me in river management for two years and is familiar with all matters; he will surely be able to handle things properly.

After a brief pause, Shi Pu's face showed some worry: "However, on my way north, I have seen many people in Hebei and Shanxi displaced, fields abandoned, and Oirat cavalry frequently raiding..."

Zhu Qiyu looked dejected; Beijing was now in a state of utter chaos.

They simply couldn't deal with the Oirat cavalry that had fled to Hebei and Shanxi.

Zhu Qiyu sighed: "The Oirat Mongols have taken the retired emperor hostage, and their military force has already reached Datong and Xuanfu. They may march south soon."

Only a major defeat for Esen in Beijing can resolve this crisis.

Therefore, I urgently summoned Minister Shi back, precisely to rely on your talents to assist me in defending the city.

Shi Pu rose and cupped his hands in greeting: "Since I am receiving the emperor's bounty, I should do my utmost."

Zhu Qiyu picked up the sheets of paper from the desk where he had just calculated the gunpowder and handed them to Shi Pu: "Now that Minister Shi has returned to his post, I have a matter here that I can entrust to the Ministry of Works for further consideration in the future."

Shi Pu took the paper with both hands and saw that it was covered with strange symbols and numbers.

There are also words like "sulfur", "nitrate", and "charcoal".

Shi Pu looked up, his eyes filled with doubt: "Your Majesty, what is this?"

Zhu Qiyu had already prepared his explanation: "This was a gift from an immortal in a dream. The immortal said that this item could help the Ming Dynasty prosper!"

He pointed to the chemical formula: "The 'S' is sulfur, the 'KNO₃' is saltpeter, and the 'C' is charcoal."

When the three elements meet and burn, the resulting gas expands rapidly, thus creating an explosive force.

However, I don't remember everything in the dream, but roughly it was about 75% saltpeter, 10% sulfur, and 15% charcoal...

Although Shi Pu was not familiar with modern chemistry, as the Minister of Works, he was no stranger to gunpowder manufacturing.

He listened carefully to Zhu Qiyu's description, and the more he listened, the more he felt there was a deeper meaning hidden within it: "Is this truly a method of immortals?"

Zhu Qiyu nodded and said, "Of course!"

A light shone in Shi Pu's eyes, but then confusion settling in: "Does Your Majesty still remember the method of preparation?"

Zhu Qiyu replied matter-of-factly, "Of course I don't remember, otherwise I wouldn't have had the Ministry of Works test the proportions."

Shi Pu: "..."

Seeing that Shi Pu seemed to be deep in thought, Zhu Qiyu added: "However, with the defense of the city imminent, the Ministry of Works' primary task is still to rush to produce existing standard military equipment and strengthen the city's defenses."

There is no need to rush the improvement of this gunpowder, and it is even less necessary to assign scarce craftsmen to focus on it.

"It's not too late to experiment after we've defeated the Oirat."

Shi Pu carefully folded the paper and put it into his sleeve: "Your Majesty understands. I admire Your Majesty's profound wisdom."

Gunpowder is a powerful weapon for the military. If its power could be increased without losing its stability, it would be a great blessing for the nation and the military.

The Ministry of Works will certainly study this matter carefully and live up to Your Majesty's expectations.

He glanced at the other sheets of paper on the desk, covered with calculations, and couldn't help but ask, "Your Majesty's methods of calculation seem different from ordinary arithmetic. Are they from the Western Regions or the West?"

Zhu Qiyu pondered for a moment: "It can be considered as a mixture of some deductive methods from ancient and modern times, both Chinese and foreign."

Knowledge has no boundaries; it is only about practical application.

"If Minister Shi is interested, I may discuss this with you at my leisure in the future."

Shi Pu hurriedly bowed: "Your Majesty is too kind. Your Majesty's learning is truly beyond the reach of ordinary people."

Zhu Qiyu waved his hand and returned to the main topic: "Now that Shi Qing has returned to the capital, the Ministry of Works needs to take over its affairs as soon as possible. There are several things that are most urgent now:

Firstly, the construction of shelters in the outer city needs to be accelerated, as the number of refugees is increasing daily and the weather is getting colder; they cannot be allowed to sleep in the open.

Secondly, the manufacture of military equipment, especially bows and arrows and armor.

Thirdly, the city's defenses need to be strengthened, with additional watchtowers and trenches built at the nine gates and vulnerable areas.

Fourth, although there is a shortage of raw materials for firearms, the maintenance of existing cannons and muskets, as well as the training of gunners, cannot be neglected.

Shi Pu solemnly replied, "Your subject obeys the decree. I will go to the ministry today to take charge of affairs, summon the secretaries and assistant secretaries of each department to verify the progress, and ensure that all preparations for war are completed before the arrival of the Oirat army."

Zhu Qiyu looked approving: "Good, I trust Minister Shi to handle things well."

Shi Pu then reported on some observations in Henan and offered some scattered suggestions on the defense of the north.

The two talked for about an hour, and when Shi Pu saw that Zhu Qiyu looked a little tired, he took his leave.

As he left the Qianqing Palace, Shi Pu couldn't help but touch the few sheets of paper with gunpowder proportions written on them in his sleeve.

The new emperor was quite different from what he had imagined.

Before ascending the throne, he was low-key and patient; after ascending the throne, he was decisive and ambitious; and now he is even able to delve into such exquisite crafts.

Moreover, the method of deduction and the symbolic formulas were unheard of, yet I vaguely felt that they contained profound truths.

There are also those so-called methods passed down by immortals.

Shi Pu thought to himself, "Perhaps it is truly a blessing from heaven for the Ming Dynasty, that such a wise ruler has emerged in this time of crisis?"