"Summoning Bi Maokang, who submitted this sparseness, into the palace."

After speaking, Zhu Youxiao began to think carefully.

After watching the troops in the martial arts arena, Zhu Youxiao felt a little more confident in his heart, and now that he finally has such an absolutely loyal army in his hands.

There is no one who does not understand this truth, and the 6,000-strong Yongwei battalion is just the beginning.

Not long after, a worried Bi Maokang came.

Now he is just a small Shandong Salt Patrol Imperial History, a seven-grade official, although the local authority is heavy, but he has no right to speak when he enters Beijing.

This time, he just returned to Beijing to report on his work at the beginning of the year, as usual, and he will leave to return to his post in Lianghuai in a few days.

Since the Ming Dynasty, the two Huai patrol salt imperial history was summoned by the emperor of the current dynasty, and he was only afraid that he was the first person!

Thinking like this, he took two steps forward, not daring to look at it more, but respectfully shook his body and said: "The minister patrols the salt imperial history Bi Maokang, see the emperor." ”

"Excuse me, sit down."

While speaking, Zhu Youxiao was lying on the couch on his side, holding the book of Zhao Gao's biography in his hand, looking up and down at the powerful man in front of him.

Do you know that you are a priceless treasure here?

Although the salt business is also the main source of money, you are not the material for patrolling the salt.

Merchants all say that the world's huge profits are all based on tea, horses, salt and iron.

Tea, horses, salt and iron, casually can make people rich overnight, but because they are banned by the imperial court, this can also make people raid their homes and destroy their homes.

In the thirteen supervision of the imperial history of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, those who are in charge of inspecting salt affairs are called patrolling the salt imperial history, one person in two Huai, one person in Zhejiang, one person in Changlu, and one person in Hedong.

The main duties were to collect salt taxes and supervise the official sales of salt merchants.

Shandong has a patrol inspection department, the capital to the salt transport envoy and other real power official offices, which was originally a temporary post of salt patrol imperial history, but gradually institutionalized after Yingzong, overriding the local salt patrol office.

Nowadays, the sale of illicit salt, which was banned by the imperial court, has long become an important part of the fortune of unscrupulous businessmen.

Thinking of this, Zhu Youxiao felt a little embarrassed.

In charge of private salt, the emperors of the Han Dynasty were simple and rude, and directly set the "salt and iron monopoly", since the salt business makes money, then the money must be earned by the state!

Zhu Youxiao also wanted to do this, but now the barrel of the gun and the handle of the knife are not hard, and the steps are too big and easy to pull the egg.

Bi Maokang is now in the age of knowing his fate, but his eyes are bright, his appearance is also dignified, and he has a good face.

When the palace people who had just packed up the Xuande furnace lifted the chair up, Zhu Youxiao watched him sit down carefully, and then asked with a smile:

"I have heard that Er and Brother Maoliang are both good at firearms?"

If Bi Maokang was still worried about why the emperor called him before, now he is greatly relieved.

It seems that his own music has played a role.

"The emperor has a good reputation, and the ministers dare not call it good." Bi Maokang's words are low-key and uninhibited.

has lived for fifty years, and now it is only a seven-grade salt patrol imperial history.

Bi Maokang thought that he would have no chance in this life for the word face saint, but he didn't expect that there would be a day when he could see Long Yan with his own eyes.

When he got the news, Bi Maokang was already slightly excited, and he was also walking like a fly on the way here, and today Zi is so sage, he is happy for Daming in his heart.

"The people who fear China the most are also firearms." Zhu Youxiao picked up his recital and said with a smile: "These words are your original words, and I also think so." ”

Bi Maokang could no longer suppress the excitement in his heart, and shouted: "Emperor Shengming, I will investigate and settle the chaos, and firearms are indispensable!" ”

He has been studying this kind of thing for a long time, and if it can really be made, the combat performance of the Ming army on the battlefield will be greatly improved.

Many people who heard it were unimpressed by their life's work, and now that someone finally realized the power of the self-generated fire gun, he was still the emperor, how could he not be excited.

But the next moment, Zhu Youxiao's question gave him a feeling of being poured a basin of cold water on his head.

"How long will it take to build a self-grown bird now, and how much will it cost?"

Zhu Youxiao's words are very simple and very realistic, and the self-generated bird gun in the words is the name of the Sui Gun in the Ming Dynasty.

How do you build it if you don't have money? How can you build without technology?

Bi Maokang pondered for a long time and said: "The self-generated bird gun is just the conjecture of the minister, and the actual gun has not yet been made, the specific price and manufacturing time, these can only be estimated by the minister..."

"Then you can estimate it, I only need an approximation." Zhu Youxiao immediately said.

"If it is a skilled craftsman, it takes more than a month to polish and manufacture the pipe of a bird's gun, and if the self-generated bird's gun after the improvement of the firing device is calculated as a single blacksmith's furnace, it will take at least two months."

"As for the price, it should be about three taels of silver a rod..."Speaking of this, Bi Maokang wanted to speak again and again, and finally closed his mouth and stopped talking.

What he just said was just an ideal situation in his guess.

This is not counting the time it takes to make the spring material of the flintlock mechanism, but also the loss and time wasted in case the test fails.

He was afraid that if he said it all, the emperor, who had finally become interested in his own birds, would temporarily retreat.

"Well, it's twice as expensive as the Bird's Gun, and it's twice as slow to manufacture..."

Zhu Youxiao was talking to himself, which made Bi Maokang a little worried.

Since his ascension to the throne, Zhu Youxiao has not only practiced horseback riding, but also read books and practiced calligraphy, all of which are once a day and never stop.

Looking through the palace classics, I learned that in the forty-eighth year of Wanli, the manufacturing time of the bird gun used by a pole guard was about more than a month, and the price was within two taels of silver.

According to Bi Maokang's estimates, it will take at least two months to build a pistol for even a skilled craftsman.

As for the cost, it has reached a shot of three taels.

What if it is blown up and not made?

Isn't it all all in vain?

At this moment, Zhu Youxiao sighed again, he always thought that when he became an emperor, he would not worry about eating or drinking, he would be his own all the time, and he was the richest.

Now take a look at it, except for the people at the bottom, the poorest is yourself.

How is it that in this world, no one is better off than me?

In fact, although these concerns are reasonable, they are completely unnecessary.

Zhu Youxiao has traveled over from later generations, and in this era, he naturally knows what is the most powerful, and he can't be scared.

No matter what the cost, the pistol must be built, and it is far easier to train a qualified musketeer than an archer or cavalryman.

With this thing, the next step is to build a Napoleon cannon, and if brass can't be refined, then it's okay to resign to building a twelve-pounder infantry cannon.

When the guns are available, it is not too sour to deal with the cavalry cluster charge of Jianyu.

Concrete examples have been found in later generations.

In the battle of the Bali Bridge of the famous general Seng Lingqin in the late Qing Dynasty, tens of thousands of iron horsemen of the Tatar Qing Dynasty followed one after another with their heroic and unyielding fighting spirit, and finally set a brilliant record of thousands of dead and unwounded enemies.

Zhu Youxiao thought that such a record was enough to go down in history.

Thinking of this, Zhu Youxiao gritted his teeth and stomped his feet.

"I plan to set up an ordnance department, set up a civilian officer of the Commander's Ordnance Department, and subordinate officials include assistants, secretaries, directors, supervisors, etc., which will be arranged by you."

"The emperor trusts the minister so much, the minister has nothing to repay!" Bi Maokang was in tears, looking incredulous.

"I'm not done yet, you get up." Zhu You corrected his color and said: "This Weapons Bureau is not affiliated with the Ministry of War, nor does it belong to the Inner Court, and from now on, I will be your top boss." ”

"I will first grant you 50,000 taels of silver to be used to select a site for the construction of the government office and the blacksmith's house, if it is not enough, ask me for it. Foreigners came out, and I am not bad either! ”

"But listen, I only give you three months, and if I can't make a self-born bird, I'm going to remove you and replace you, understand?"

Hearing this, Bi Maokang felt that he had a long way to go, and all his enthusiasm turned into three sonorous and powerful words.

"Obey the order!"