In addition, the establishment of the local prosecutor's office and the branch of the Daming Royal Bank has been slower than expected.

Of course, there are Emperor Chongzhen's own reasons for this. When the imperial driver went out on the expedition, many things, such as the chief official of the local metropolitan procuratorate, did not have the power to determine the state, and he had to be the emperor himself. The same is true of the chief officer of the branch of the Royal Bank of Daming. Even more troublesome than the establishment of the local procuratorate is that the bank must have a principal deposit for the people of the Ming Dynasty to exchange silver taels at any time. However, the transfer of this money must also be approved by the emperor's imperial pen, and the superintendent has no power.

Emperor Chongzhen also understood in his heart that these two things, one related to the governance of local officials and the other related to local economic drives, could not be hasty. Therefore, after going through the list, he first set up the four provinces of Shanxi, Shandong, Yingtianfu and Henan.

The reason for this is that there is Hong Chengchou on the Shanxi side, and whether it is officialdom or the army, including businessmen, they have all been cleaned up fiercely, and they have the foundation to overturn and start over. And on the Shandong side, it is Lu Xiangsheng who is watching, and the reconstruction of Dongjiang Town is also in urgent need of money and the support of officials.

Ying Tianfu won't talk about it, it's the capital of the Ming Dynasty, and this must be there first. As for Henan, Chen Qiyu, the governor of the five provinces, watched personally, and he had just suffered from military disasters and droughts, and he also needed the support of the imperial court.

After doing these things, Emperor Chongzhen began to reform the tax system. All in all, the agricultural tax cannot be increased, but in terms of commercial tax and other taxes, he is ready to do it.

Of course, this matter is too important, and it can't be directly ordered without brains, and Emperor Chongzhen and the eunuch Cao Huachun, the eunuch of the master of ceremonies, and Xue Guoguan, the first assistant, have a secret discussion.

During this period, Emperor Chongzhen also took time to go to the War Bureau to inspect, and it was also the first time he met Bi Maokang.

"Your Majesty, Weichen didn't dare to slack off in the past few months, and he has created two militaristic weapons!" After seeing the ceremony, Bi Maokang immediately said.

When Emperor Chongzhen heard that he had created two militaristic weapons, he couldn't help but be overjoyed, and hurriedly waved his hand and said: "What kind of militaristic weapon, quickly present it for a look!" ”

Bi Maokang naturally prepared for a long time, and hurriedly beckoned, asking two of his subordinates to bring a large long pole wrapped in red cloth, and after uncovering one of them, he introduced: "Your Majesty, this one, Weichen calls it a ten-eyed gun, one ignition, can be fired ten times, several strokes together, the enemy cavalry is difficult to approach!" ”

Emperor Chongzhen was a little dumbfounded, Da Ming has a three-eyed gun, and a four-eyed gun actually has it, but there are not many of them. Because of the military test, the three-eyed gun is the most suitable for military use. But this Bi Maokang even created a ten-eyed gun, which is the kind of ten guns in a bundle.

I thought it was some kind of militaristic weapon! Emperor Chongzhen sighed secretly in his heart, but on the surface, he still kept a smile, nodded and asked, "What is the range?" How powerful is it, and how accurate is the shot? ”

This ten-eyed gun looks bulky, and it must be difficult for a person to shoot.

As soon as Bi Maokang heard this, he immediately asked the emperor to move to the shooting range and show the emperor live ammunition.

Emperor Chongzhen did as he wanted, anyway, it was just a few steps, and when he arrived at the shooting range, he watched him and let people demonstrate.

To Emperor Chongzhen's surprise, this ten-eyed gun turned out to be operated by one person. However, instead of aiming in the hand like an ordinary firecracker, it uses a shelf and stands on the ground, and the person who puts the gun is half-squatting. The mouth of the gun is pointed diagonally upwards.

Seeing this, Emperor Chongzhen immediately remembered the tiger squat cannon, isn't it about the same!

Unexpectedly, Bi Maokang actually moved out a tiger squat cannon and operated it together on the side, obviously, he was going to compare the advantages and inferiors.

When Emperor Chongzhen saw it, he took a closer look at the difference between the two, and he knew it in his heart.

Sure enough, the results of the experiment, the advantage of this ten-eyed gun is that it can ignite ten eyes together, and it can be one by one; The Tiger Squat Cannon has no shooting accuracy at all, but these ten eyes can be aimed at within the effective killing of twenty paces. However, this distance is too short, right? It's better to squat at the cannon, just wait for the enemy to approach, and pull it down with a shot.

However, Emperor Chongzhen did not show an angry expression, but just watched Bi Maokang start to introduce another militaristic weapon.

This militaristic weapon, Emperor Chongzhen has seen in later generations, is the middle and late Manchu Qing Dynasty lifting gun, that is, the enhanced version of the current arquebus, in terms of size, weight, charge, power, recoil and other aspects are larger than the arquebus.

Bi Maokang asked people to demonstrate, the same one person carried the barrel of the gun, and the other person aimed and shot from behind. Needless to say, the power is naturally much greater than that of ordinary arquebuses.

After the demonstration, Bi Maokang returned to the front of the emperor and introduced to Emperor Chongzhen: "These two sharp weapons can make up for the current lack of ordnance, and the long and short firearms can make our army's combat power to a higher level!" ”

Emperor Chongzhen's eyesight is very good now, and he can see at a glance that Bi Maokang has a slight smug look in his eyes, and it is obvious that he cares a lot about his new invention. This Bi Maokang still has the pride of a literati, so it's not good!

So, he sank his face, shook his head and said, "Bi Qing, although your ten-eyed gun is different from the previous one, not one by one, but I still can't see that this kind of firearm has a basis for being widely used on the battlefield. Judge in one word: chicken ribs! ”

As soon as he heard this, Bi Maokang's face suddenly turned red. He didn't expect that the emperor would not approve of it.

"If Bi Qing thinks that my comment is unfair, Qing can list it from many angles such as cost, construction time, ease of use, shooting accuracy, power, etc., and compare it with ordinary firecrackers to see if it is cost-effective? Then, you can also create a little use in the army and listen to the comments of the generals in the army. In this way, I believe that Qing should be convinced! ”

When Bi Maokang heard this, his expression was a little gloomy. He remembered that the emperor had just returned from leading the army, and he was obviously very familiar with the affairs of the army, so he must be sure.

Just when he was a little sad, he heard Emperor Chongzhen say again: "However, this gun has a certain merit, when the artillery is inconvenient to use, it can be used for infantry support." However, this situation should not be too much, and it is no problem to build a small amount for use in the military. ”

When he said this, he glanced at Bi Maokang and said: "Then so be it, whether the weapon is good to use in the future, whether it can be used or not, according to what I just said, speak with data, test in the army, and be welcomed by the soldiers, that is a good weapon!" ”

"Wechen obeys!" Bi Maokang listened, and finally sighed in his heart and replied.

Emperor Chongzhen knew that he was in a bad mood, but he didn't care. There is a bad thing about these civil officials in the Ming Dynasty, that is, no matter what they do, they like to use similar words like approximately, almost this kind of words, rather than using data and accuracy.

Therefore, Emperor Chongzhen intended to start from the side of the war bureau and slowly cultivate this way of doing things with data.

However, there is one thing that Bi Maokang did not disappoint Emperor Chongzhen, that is, the creation of a flintlock pistol.

After he arrived, he knew that the emperor had an explanation to build an assembly line, so he did it according to this meaning. It was found that the size of each craftsman was somewhat different, and in the end, the effect required by the emperor could not be achieved. Therefore, after pondering, he began to implement the design like a standard part, and after two months of running-in, it was finally almost done.

When the emperor came to inspect, he had built more than 110 of them, and the accuracy and power met the requirements of Qi Jiguang in the book of war, and the flint ignition rate reached about 80 percent.

I listened to Bi Maokang Gong playing: "Now there are two lines being made, and you can make twenty handfuls a day; It's just that this fire shrapnel is extremely demanding, and it is currently stuck here. Otherwise, Wechen will be able to increase the assembly line to create more flintlock pistols! ”

When he said this, he showed a slight wry smile, and said: "Your Majesty, the cost of this flintlock pistol is too high, and Wei Chen is a little distressed when he does it." ”

With so many craftsmen in the military battle, it can only reach 20 per day, and it is okay, it is better to be stricter, otherwise, the ignition rate will not go up, and it will be fatal on the battlefield. Emperor Chongzhen was thinking so, but he didn't expect him to say such a sentence, so he smiled and said: "As long as the thing is good, it can bring greater battlefield advantages to the Ming army, and no matter how expensive it is, it must be built." Bi Qing might as well think about it, just say that the last time Jianyu entered the customs, how much loss was caused in the customs? If so many losses were used to build ordnance and thus prevent the capture from wreaking havoc, is it worth the money? ”

When Bi Maokang heard it, it turned out that he could still settle accounts like this? If you really want to settle accounts like this, it's really worth it!

After the emperor's words, at this time, he suddenly felt a lot more relaxed.

But at this time, Emperor Chongzhen changed his words again, and said with a smile: "But then again, if Bi Qing can optimize the process and reduce the cost without losing his power, it will be the best!" ”

"Wechen obeys!" When Bi Maokang heard this, he also smiled, and hurriedly replied, thinking in his heart, he really thought that the emperor didn't care about money at all, and he also thought that he could save money!

An hour later, Emperor Chongzhen came out of the war bureau.

After seeing the flintlock pistol, I had a bottom in my heart, and I thought that the Yongwei Battalion and the Rock Battalion could be trained with flintlock pistols. At the beginning of next year, I will transfer some money to Lu Xiangsheng's side, which will reduce the pressure on him to rebuild Dongjiang Town.

In addition, there was no fear that the flintlock pistol would be captured by the Manchus. After all, even on the side of the War Bureau, it is so difficult to create a qualified flintlock pistol, and I don't believe that with the craftsmanship of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, it can surpass the side of the War Bureau. Besides, with that little capital of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, how many flintlock pistols can be created?

If you really want to be a toddler in Handan, Emperor Chongzhen will be desperate. It's better to spend all the money on building flintlock pistols, and then on the battlefield, and the firing rate is only two or three percent, then there will be fun.

Thinking so, Emperor Chongzhen went to the Wenhua Hall and sent a decree to Song Yingxing, a member of the opening department, to meet him.

This Song Yingxing has heard of a reputation in later generations, but he has not seen it yet, and this is also the first time he has met like Bi Maokang.

Bi Maokang has the habit of a literati, I don't know how this Song Yingxing is? Emperor Chongzhen thought so in his heart, so he was a little curious.

It didn't take long for Song Yingxing to come. Emperor Chongzhen could see that he should be a pragmatic official just by looking at him.

In fact, Song Yingxing is different from Bi Maokang, he hit his head on the road to the imperial examination, no matter how many water chestnuts he has, he has been worn away, and he no longer thinks about the road to the imperial examination, but just does some unexpected things in the imperial examination with interest. In this way, his attitude towards things is naturally different.

So, he asked Song Yingxing about "Heavenly Creation".

Song Yingxing's side, the emperor's kindness, was originally very grateful; In addition, when he heard that the emperor was wise and martial, he had just triumphed, and he was even more respectful to the emperor. Whatever the emperor asks, he answers.

I have to say that in the field he is good at, even if Emperor Chongzhen is from later generations, he nods his head again and again. As recorded by Song Yingxing in "Heavenly Creations", it was all recorded in his mind, and every content, he could tell the emperor, where and when he saw and recorded, and what were the key technical links?

Of course, when he had doubts, he was also blunt, saying that this was just speculation, and he had not done it himself, so he couldn't guarantee it.

Emperor Chongzhen admired his attitude very much, so he encouraged Song Yingxing and said: "The lack of people, money, and things in the Kaiwu Division is directly proposed to me, and I will solve it for Qing." However, I only have one requirement, that is, the process of verification, and each step of the process, be documented in detail, and not just in generalities, but in numbers. If the existing dimensions, weights, etc., are not enough to express, we will create smaller or larger units of measurement, for one purpose, to ensure that your verification is repeatable, and preferably understandable! ”

This piece is actually scientific research. Speaking of which, it can be regarded as a large input, but the output may not be large!

However, for Emperor Chongzhen from later generations, this scientific research must be done, and it must be done systematically, only in this way can there be science in the future of the Ming Dynasty.

Song Yingxing sighed in the preface of his "Heavenly Creation" that he had no money and no one to verify some speculations. Now that the emperor promised to ask him directly for money and things, he would support it, which made Song Yingxing feel ecstatic, and hurriedly agreed. At this time, he didn't want to say that he recorded it in detail, even if he asked him to strip naked, he would probably do it.

At the end of the communication with Song Yingxing, Emperor Chongzhen suddenly said to him: "The one that Qing mentioned in the last chapter of "Heavenly Creation", I know a detail, as long as it is ......."

Listening to his introduction, Song Yingxing's face was obviously surprised. After listening to it, he was a little excited, and hurriedly replied: "Your Majesty, Weichen will do this verification first!" ”

Of course he knows that this thing is valuable, and if he really wants to do it, he can feel less guilty about spending a lot of money on the opening of the department, and he also knows that the court is short of money.

"Well, but remember that this matter needs to be kept secret!" When Emperor Chongzhen heard this, he told him.