The production of artillery workshops is a huge task, but safety issues should not be taken lightly.

Li Zhongyi was in the artillery workshop, while turning around, he repeatedly emphasized the importance of safe production.

As the supreme ruler of the empire, Li Zhongyi repeatedly emphasized the matter, and Li Hu, the judge of the armament, naturally did not dare to underestimate it. He not only recorded the contents of Li Zhongyi's speech in a complete way, but also made up his mind that no major accident would occur again in the ordnance prison.

On the whole, Li Zhongyi is quite satisfied with Li Hu's work attitude. Among them, the most important thing is that Li Hu is honest, hard-working, hard-working, and serious.

What Li Zhongyi wants is the word serious!

After Li Zhongyi walked through the entire artillery workshop, he beckoned Li Hu to his side, and said earnestly: "Even if the progress of artillery production is slow, it doesn't matter, there must be no more major accidents." Every craftsman in the workshop is my heart, and no matter who I hurt, I can't eat. ”

Li Hu hurriedly stood up straight, made a promise: "If there is another major accident, the minister is willing to be severely punished in any form." ”

Li Zhongyi nodded, Li Hu is Li Qiniang's biological father after all, if he makes another big mistake, although the crime will not be killed, but it is completely possible to degrade the remote military state.

At noon, Li Zhongyi ordered people to prepare a meal in the artisan canteen, sat opposite Li Hu, and ate separately.

Because they have been in the military for a long time, Li Zhongyi and Li Hu have a distinctive eating characteristic, that is, the wind and clouds!

In the army, no one knows when the enemy will appear, and it is inevitable to gobble up food!

Although Li Zhongyi is a famous doctor, he knows that gobbling up is not good for digestion and absorption, but he can't stand the habit of taking it for granted, and he kills the food that comes by dividing it by two.

In terms of the speed of eating, although Li Zhongyi is relatively fast, Li Hu is faster than him.

Li Zhongyi looked at the empty dishes and rice bowls in front of the two, and couldn't help laughing: "I'm not as good as you." ”

Although Li Hu is naïve, he is not really stupid, he quickly got up and arched his hand: "The minister is a martial artist, and he is afraid that the enemy will come when he eats, so he has no time to eat." ”

"Sit down, sit down, sit down and talk." Li Zhongyi smiled and beckoned Li Hu to sit down again, "I'm also an old soldier, how can I not know such a reason?" ”

Li Hu calmed down a little, sat sideways on the chair, and stared at Li Zhongyi intently. Although Li Hu is Li Qiniang's biological father, he can barely be regarded as Li Zhongyi's quasi-father-in-law and the quasi-national ruler of the entire empire.

However, people know themselves, and Li Hu is quite self-aware. Li Zhongyi is the supreme monarch of the empire, that is, a lonely person as ordinary people say, even if he Li Hu is the biological father of the queen, it is impossible to take advantage of the power.

Therefore, in front of Li Zhongyi, Li Hu's position has always been extremely positive. Li Hu is a minister, Li Zhongyi is a king, and he is like a tiger, and he Li Hu does not dare to make a mistake at all.

Li Zhongyi liked the lively environment of the artillery workshop in the ordnance prison, anyway, the fire burned by the Confucian students in the capital was not at its most vigorous, so he simply lived in the artillery workshop.

There is really no precedent for the lord of the dignified empire to live in an artillery workshop that contains great dangers.

Li Hu's nerves instantly tensed to the extreme, lest there be an unpredictable accident, then he would simply die of death.

On the experimental field, Li Zhongyi held a monocular in his hand and stared at the bronze cannon nearly a thousand meters away, a little distracted.

Generally speaking, compared to iron cannons, bronze cannons have the characteristics of fast heat dissipation and better metal elasticity. It's just that the fly in the ointment of the bronze artillery is that the cost is too high!

However, bronze's good metal stretch made the current dynasty, which was not yet mature in iron smelting technology, find a shortcut to reduce the explosive rate of artillery.

However, due to the rapid development of papermaking, the paper money vigorously promoted by Li Zhongyi, Jiaozi, Qian Yin and small banknotes, is penetrating into all walks of life at an astonishing speed.

Historically, and now, the Celestial Empire has never been a major producer of copper, and the problem of money shortages caused by copper shortages has plagued successive rulers.

More importantly, whether it is copper four lead six, or copper six lead four, because the value of copper is much higher than the purchasing power of copper coins, there are always powerful people or businessmen who are not afraid of death, and privately melt copper coins and take copper to make copper ware.

As a consequence of this, the amount of copper coins produced by the imperial court was far lower than the demand for copper coins in circulation.

It is impossible to get a real alleviation of the shortage of money, which is an unsolvable quantitative problem and a terminal disease of lack of copper resources.

Based on the current situation of tight money, Li Zhongyi's exclusive mastery of papermaking technology also came in handy.

The Money Making Division, which was subordinate to the Yamen of the Third Division, came into being under the vigorous promotion of Li Zhongyi.

According to the demand in the market, the Minting Division has produced a total of five denominations of banknotes, Shiguan, Consistent, Baiwen, Shiwen, and Yiwen.

At this stage, it belongs to the period of parallel paper money and copper coins, that is, the listing of paper money does not affect the use of copper coins.

It's just that the copper coins collected by the government at all levels are forbidden to be used again, and they must be registered and shipped directly to the Yamen of the three envoys in Kaifeng.

The biggest drawback of issuing paper money is not that the people don't like to use it, but that the imperial court unscrupulously makes paper money, which leads to hyperinflation.

Historically, after the issuance of paper money, it has been in the downward channel of continuous depreciation of the currency, which is inseparable from the indiscriminate printing of money by Confucian officials without financial knowledge.

Therefore, Li Zhongyi's death rule for the Money Maker Department was: as much copper money as he earned, he would issue as many banknotes, and not a penny would be printed.

In fact, Li Zhongyi knew in his heart that for every 100 wen yuan that the imperial court earned, it could actually issue 120 to 150 wen yuan.

In other words, the money making plan of the early money division is tight on weekdays. When Li Zhongyi really wants to use money, he can add a certain amount of money-making plans to make up for the shortfall in fiscal expenditure.

Most of the copper coins collected by the three envoys to the yamen went into the palace as a reserve for Li Zhongyi to stabilize currency fluctuations. The other part was given to the Ordnance Superintendent for the manufacture of bronze artillery.

In addition, due to Li Zhongyi's position of attaching importance to overseas trade, merchants from various countries came to the Celestial Empire to do business, and the proportion of paper money used was also increasing.

This was the monetary tax earned by the imperial court. Just like the beautiful knives of later generations, a large amount of hard-earned money is quietly extracted from people from all over the world.

At present, there are 58 countries in the Eurasian region that trade with the Celestial Empire, including Champong, Chenla, Sriwijaya, Kelantan, Boni, Balinfeng, Lanwuli, Diche, Sanyu, Dashi, Daqin, Persia, Baida, Majia, Yilu, Gulin, Xilan, Dengliumei, Zhongli, Sgariyano, and Mulan Pi.

Under the personal supervision of Li Zhongyi, the craftsmen of the experimental artillery strictly followed the operation process and carried out the preparation work before firing one by one.

The key to bore damage is that the fuse must be long enough. Last time, three craftsmen were seriously injured because they did not strictly follow the operating procedures.

This time to test the artillery, Li Zhongyi was watching the battle on the spot, who dared to be careless?

When everything was ready, a craftsman held a burning incense stick and lit the fuse.

After a long wait, "Boom! With a loud bang, the black iron projectile was immediately discharged, and it slammed into the distant target like a lightning speed.

Li Zhongyi turned the monocular in his hand, stared at the direction of the iron projectile discharge, and carefully observed it for a while.

The iron projectile did not hit the target accurately, although it was a wooden frame ten meters long and five meters wide.

Li Zhongyi has long known the shortcomings of smoothbore guns, and the accuracy of shooting is indeed difficult to master.

The craftsmen in charge of the experiment pushed the bronze, which had moved backwards for a certain distance, back to its original position.

After cleaning the chamber according to the standard procedure, the craftsmen reloaded the gunpowder and projectiles in preparation for the next firing experiment.

This is an experimental requirement deliberately made by Li Zhongyi!

Even if the metal is a bronze gun with good metal stretch, the maximum firing threshold must be known in the same batch of production.

The so-called firing threshold is a term determined by Li Zhongyi himself, that is, the highest number of consecutive fires of a bronze cannon.

Thermal weapons, whether guns or cannons, have a limit on the number of consecutive fires. After a few shells, the barrel turns red due to the heat and needs to be completely cooled down before it can continue firing.

In the eyes of ordinary people, scientific experiments are unusually boring and boring, and there is not much patience to wait.

However, Li Zhongyi was an alternative, he not only observed the launch experiment with great interest, but also took it upon himself to record the relevant parameters of the launch experiment in a small black book.

Climbing the tech tree cannot be a seizing the day, but it is actually a long process, and it often requires great luck before major results can occur.

Today's Li Zhongyi is not in a hurry at all, after all, with the efforts of thousands of craftsmen, the annual output of artillery has reached more than 200 pieces.

The mass production of muskets has not made much progress, and it is still in a state of groping in the dark.

However, the steady production of artillery can make the imperial army not afraid of any form of positional warfare or siege warfare.

The fly in the ointment is that with the continuous equipping of a large number of artillery units with troops, the most important ingredient in gunpowder, saltpeter, has been unable to keep up with the progress.

The territory of the empire, north of the Yanshan Mountains, east and south to the sea, west to the northwest Lingzhou, in addition to the Western Shu and the Northern Han have not yet been unified, the prototype of a super empire has jumped on paper.

In the vast territory, there are only a handful of production areas of fire and nitrate, and with the rapid increase in the amount of fire and nitrate, its resources are showing a trend of increasing depletion.

In Li Zhongyi's memory, there is a remnant of saltpeter from Sichuan Jiangyou, which is produced in the records of Laojun Mountain in Chonghua Town. If he remembers correctly, during the Ming and Qing dynasties, Laojun Mountain in Chonghua Town was the world's largest production base of gunpowder raw materials.

The gunpowder used by the Ming Dynasty to deal with the enemy was basically 100,000 catties, and at the same time, one million catties of gunpowder were prepared on the nine sides, which can be said to be an astronomical amount for other countries of the same era in the world.

During the five-year Battle of Jinchuan, the Qing army's gunpowder consumption was as high as more than 4.2 million catties. At that time, the gunpowder needed by the Qing army was basically supplied by Laojun Mountain in Chonghua Town.

After going around in such a circle, cutting down Shu has obviously become a top priority!

Li Zhongyi knew very well in his heart that because the Khitans were a people on horseback, they were very migratory. As long as Jeruhuko was determined to avoid a decisive battle in a strategic position, and adopted the strategy of luring the enemy deep into the field and clearing the wilderness, it would be difficult to destroy him in one fell swoop.

The national war with the Khitans is impossible to accomplish in one battle, and Li Zhongyi's mind is unusually sober about this.

I think that at the beginning, when Jin destroyed Liao, the war was fought for ten years.

The female straight people of the Jin Kingdom belong to a semi-nomadic and semi-fishing and hunting nation, and it will take ten years to destroy Liao, not to mention the Han nation with agricultural culture?

In the early stage of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, relying on geniuses like Wei Qing and Huo Quzhi, he only managed to make the Huns temporarily avoid the edge.

In the later period of the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, after Wei Qing and Huo Qubing died one after another, the war between the Han and the Huns became a disadvantaged situation with more defeats and fewer victories.

Among them, the most suffocating sigh is Li Guangli, the general of the Second Division. Li Guangli was involved in the political whirlpool of witchcraft, which led to his eagerness to win and failure. In the end, Li Guangli, who was completely annihilated, surrendered to the Xiongnu and was killed the following year.

A national war is a national war, and you must not rush for quick success, or be careless!

Accompanied by Li Hu, Li Zhongyi stayed in the artillery workshop for three days in a row.

In the past three days, Li Zhongyi has not been idle at all, he has been watching while walking, always thinking about one thing: how to make the established operation specifications meet the needs of real production?

Science belongs to science, and science has laws!

Politics is politics, and politics is also regular!

Li Zhongyi locked himself in the room and carried out the first large-scale revision according to the existing operating specifications.

The main purpose of the revision of the code of practice is that people are more important than utensils, and it is necessary to minimize the casualties in the process of production experiments.

For three consecutive days, Li Zhongyi's three meals a day were all eaten in the room, and he never left the study for half a step.

On the evening of the fourth day, Li Zhongyi finally finished writing the last word and threw down the charcoal pen in his hand.

Li Zhongyi picked up the tea cup in his hand, looked at the thick stack of papers on the table, and showed a satisfied smile.

What does it mean to keep up with the times? That's it!

After completing the revision work, Li Zhongyi pushed open the door and walked outside, breathing in the fresh air while thinking about how to deal with the gang of Confucian students in the capital.

According to the secret report of the Tiqi Division and the Police Temple, the Confucian students in the capital are still quarreling, and the focus of the quarrel is still focused on whether to confront each other head-on, giving Li Zhongyi a big lesson.

"Hmph, Xiucai rebelled, and it didn't work out for 100 million years!" Li Zhongyi snorted coldly, it is useless to be a Confucian student, this is not a hat he buttoned, but a conclusion in history.

"Your Majesty, the two brothers Zhao Kuangyin and Zhao Kuangyi have been escorted out of the door." Just when Li Zhongyi was distracted, Zhang Sanzheng walked to his side lightly and reported the latest situation.

Li Zhongyi put his hands behind his back, looking up at the clear sky and white clouds, hehe, it's finally time to deal with the Zhao brothers!

This person, it is impossible to have a backbone in his brain from the beginning, but with the expansion of strength, his ambition has also swelled.

I think that at the beginning, when Chai Rong was not dead, even if Li Zhongyi had the ambition to be the emperor, he had to do his best to put on the posture of a loyal minister.

When Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty did not die, Huo Guang not only did not have the style of half of the ministers, but also deliberately pretended to be a loyal minister among the loyal ministers.

Otherwise, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty would have even forced his own son Liu Ju and his own son and his mother Mrs. Gouyi to death, not to mention a mere Huo Guang?

With Li Zhongyi's order, Zhao Kuangyin, who had just been escorted from the capital, was brought to him.

"The criminal minister Zhao Kuangyin, knock on the emperor." As soon as Zhao Kuangyin saw Li Zhongyi, he bowed his head without the slightest hesitation.

Li Zhongyi looked at Zhao Kuangyin who was kneeling in front of him, and couldn't help but fluctuate in his heart, and his thoughts were full of thoughts.

I think that at the beginning, it was Zhao Lao Er in front of him, in order to rescue Zhao Lao San, who was captured by Li Zhongyi, he dared to ride into the enemy camp alone, what kind of wisdom and courage is this?

Now, Li Zhongyi has pacified Jiangnan, and Zhao Kuangyin is already a pending prisoner. In response to the old saying, thirty years in Hedong, thirty years in Hexi.

Zhao Kuangyin's knowingly kneeling down not only did not arouse Li Zhongyi's sympathy, but instead aroused his murderous intentions.

The second Zhao in history, pretending to be tame, not only deceived the little emperor and the Empress Dowager Fu, but also deceived the eyes of the old politician, what kind of performance skills is this?

Li Zhongyi took a deep breath and asked Zhao Kuangyin lightly: "Are you guilty?" ”

"Your Majesty, the ministers deserve to die, and there is no redemption for a hundred deaths...... Zhao Kuangyin has long been waiting for the opportunity to see Li Zhongyi in person, and at the critical juncture of life and death, he must finish his words.

Li Zhongyi looked at Zhao Kuangyin coldly, he really wanted to take the opportunity to kill Zhao Lao Er to get rid of future troubles forever.

However, Li Zhongyi has a sense of expectation, what kind of amazing performance will Zhao Lao Er, who has lost his military power forever, have?

Just when Li Zhongyi was undecided, Zhao Kuangyin knocked his head three times and cried: "I just ask the emperor to spare his brother." ”

Although Zhao Kuangyin pretended to be very similar, Li Zhongyi still saw through his weakness at a glance.

As a good brother in the past and an opponent in essence, Zhao Kuangyin knows Li Zhongyi's temper well, and he knows at least three points.

Li Zhongyi belongs to the personality of eating soft and not hard, the more you push him, the more he rebounds.

Of course, with Li Zhongyi's current authority, slaughtering the Zhao brothers is no more difficult than stepping on an ant.

The reason why the Zhao brothers have been locked up and neither killed nor released is mainly because Li Zhongyi did not have murderous intentions.

I think that at the beginning, after Fu Zuoyi's peaceful uprising, he regretted it for various reasons and wanted to do things secretly.

However, Mr. Fu, the Minister of Water Resources, does not have a single soldier in his hands, and even if he wants to do something, it is a typical skillful woman who is difficult to change without soldiers.

Because of Mr. Fu's precedent, Li Zhongyi summoned Zhao Kuangyin today, in fact, he wanted to put him in the position of the envoy of the capital, so that he could make due contributions to the construction of water conservancy, the opening of canals and dams.

Of course, not killing Zhao Lao Er does not mean that Li Zhong will gently let go of the Zhao brothers.

In front of Zhao Kuangyin, Li Zhongyi lightly instructed: "Come here, hand over Zhao Kuangyi to Kang Ze, the governor of the Inner Chamberlain, and castrate him as a small waiter in the inner court." ”

When Zhao Kuangyin heard this, he was immediately shocked, and in a panic, he shouted loudly: "I beg the emperor to spare my brother, he is still young......"

Li Zhongyi snorted coldly and said lightly: "The death penalty can be avoided, but the living crime is unforgivable, understand?" ”