Shen Kuo was a native of the Northern Song Dynasty, and the term oil was first formally proposed in his book, and it was widely quoted later. However, China's understanding of oil did not begin in the Northern Song Dynasty, but began long ago.

The earliest records of oil can be traced back to the Western Zhou Dynasty, but the records at that time only said that there was a fire burning in the lake, which actually referred to the burning of oil vapor on the surface of the lake.

The records of the real use of oil by the Chinese people are actually more recorded in the Western Han Dynasty and the Western Jin Dynasty. For example, Ban Gu said in his book of the former Han Dynasty that crude oil appeared in Gaonu, which is now Yan'an.

In fact, there have been records of this thing in various periods later, which is not uncommon.

Moreover, in ancient times, China actually had relatively many oil and gas producing areas. For example, Xinjiang, Shaanxi and other places, in short, basically have something to do with the later big oil fields.

Although the history of utilization is very early, the development of petroleum technology in ancient China is very slow. To sum up, it is nothing more than lighting, ink making, moisturizing ~ slippery agent, medicine and military use.

Among them, the use of lighting should be the first to be discovered. After all, this thing is the thing that is most closely related to the lives of the people. As for other uses, it is the result of people's continuous understanding in the process of research.

For example, the function of ink making was invented by Shen Kuo. However, because of its cost, it was not handed down later, after all, it can't compare to pine smoke ink!

The military application is actually used for fire attack. This method of warfare is more common in the Jiuquan area, mainly because there is more oil production there. The great battle with the Hu people in Jiuquan during the Northern Zhou Dynasty was preserved because of this thing.

In addition, because this thing has a moist ~ slippery effect, it is usually used to apply it to the wheel axle, and the effect is very good.

Of course, oil will be used militarily, mainly because this thing cannot be extinguished with water. Moreover, the more water is poured on it, the greater the flame, I believe many people understand this truth!

But at this time, there was no one in the world who used this thing on a large scale to fight. The main reason is that the oil extraction technology at this time did not appear at all, and it can only be said that some natural outflow is taken.

Moreover, oil is not everywhere like anything else. Judging from the mining situation in later generations, it is known that they are roughly distributed in the northwest area. Therefore, it also restricts its development and use.

Li Xin hadn't thought about this before, but when he saw it unexpectedly, he immediately had a new idea.

"Thank you, brother, for solving your doubts in the next place, the hour is not early, and I will leave first!" An idea was constantly churning in his heart, and Li Xin hurriedly said.

After saying a hurried farewell to the host's family, Li Xin immediately returned to the post house. He basically didn't sleep that night, but sat at his desk to write and paint. As soon as the morning dawned, he immediately called Liuzi and the others over.

"Let's not go back first, you go to find the stone grease water immediately, and after collecting some more, we will bring it back to Chang'an!" Li Xin commanded.

"Yes, the last general obeys!" Although he didn't know what he was going to do, the sixth son immediately took the order and left.

After staying in Yan'an County for three days, the six sons collected three large urns of stone grease water, and then loaded it in a car, and then the group returned to Chang'an.

Along the way, Li Xindu felt a little absent-minded, and after finally returning to Chang'an, he didn't even go back to the palace, so he went directly to the military workshop of the military department. At the same time, he also asked the old horse to be called.

Li Xin's sudden arrival was naturally a surprise to these people in the military workshop. The head of the workshop thought that he had made some mistake, and hurriedly came forward to serve.

"Your Highness is coming, your subordinates are not welcome, please forgive your Highness!" The master of the workshop bowed down.

"Excuse me! This king has come to tell you what to do, get up and talk back! Li Xin looked around, saw that everyone was busy, nodded and said.

"Your Highness! Your Highness has nothing to explain, all you need to do is send someone to give the order, so why do you need to come in person? Hearing that this was the case, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief and hurriedly said.

"This matter is important, it is better for this king to come in person! Do you have a quiet place to speak? Li Xin glanced at him and said lightly.

"Yes, yes, Your Highness, please come with the villain!" The workshop owner didn't dare to say anything, and hurriedly led Li Xin to the backyard.

Not long after, Lao Ma also rushed over from the Ministry of Works.

"When did Your Highness return to Chang'an? Why did you get here in the first place? When he arrived, the old horse saluted and asked.

"This king has just returned to Chang'an, and there is something I want to do for you!" Li Xin looked at the two of them and motioned for the sixth son to bring the oil over.

Lao Ma didn't know what he wanted to do, especially when he saw the three urns, he was even more puzzled.

"Look at it, do you know this thing?" Li Xin asked.

The old horse and the workshop owner hurriedly took two steps and opened the lid to look at it. Smelling this smell, both of them couldn't help frowning and avoided it directly.

"Your Highness, what is this, and why does it smell so bad?" The old horse asked.

"If the villain remembers correctly, this seems to be stone fat water! Where did Your Highness get this? Could it be that Yan'an County can't succeed? "But the master of the workshop, after thinking for a while, said.

"Oh? Do you recognize this? Li Xin was surprised.

"Don't hide it from Your Highness, the villain's father and ancestors were originally from Gaonu County, but they fled to Guanzhong to live in peace due to the war. Therefore, the villain has heard them talk about this thing, but he has never had a chance to see it! I don't want to see the real face today! ”

"Yes, this is the stone lipid water! This product is made from nature, hidden deep underground! It is flammable and water-inducing, but intensifies. It is for this reason that this king has specially brought this thing back, and is ready for you to study it carefully and see if you can make some new weapons! "Since someone understands, it is naturally the best," Li Xin nodded.

Lao Ma didn't understand Li Xin's intentions until this time, and hurriedly said: "Your Highness, don't worry, the ministers don't dare to say anything else, but the ministers must do it with their hearts!" ”

"By the way, everything that should be developed in armor must be kept strictly confidential, and absolutely no trace can be leaked! If this king finds out that something that should not be spread is spreading, he will ask you! You know? After thinking about it for a while, Li Xin specially instructed.

The weapon contains ~ the highest technology, the most important thing is that this thing is too powerful, once it is mastered by the enemy, it is not a good thing for yourself!

"Your Highness, rest assured, the ministers all understand!" The old horse hurriedly said.

"It's good to understand! It's rare for this king to come here, so take this king around! Li Xin nodded.

"Yes, Your Highness, please!" The head of the workshop hurriedly led the way.

As a matter of fact, since the establishment of the Sixth Ministry, the production of ordnance has been separated from the Ministry of Industry, and the unit in charge of it has also been transferred to the Ministry of War. However, due to the common interconnection of military and civilian technology, the Ministry of Industry will still participate in it in many cases.

This is also the reason why Li Xin did not call Tian He, the secretary of the Ministry of War, here, but called Lao Ma, the secretary of the Ministry of Industry. After all, professional things should be handled by professional people!

The maturity of the ordnance industry is directly related to a country's military system and to the life and death of a country. If you can only buy, buy, buy, and have no core technology at all, you will inevitably be controlled by others.

Especially in such an era, it is impossible to rely on others for this kind of thing, after all, these are relatively simple and do not contain high technology like later generations. If even this can't be self-sufficient, then how can Datang survive and grow.

Therefore, from the very beginning, Li Xin paid special attention to this matter. Over the years, a relatively complete system has been built.

The center of weapon research and development is located in Chang'an City, and there is only one in the entire Tang Dynasty, which is where Li Xin is at the moment. It can be said that the highest science and technology of the present day are gathered here, and many things that later flow into the private sector are located in this place.

In addition to here, there are already five workshops for the production of weapons! These five workshops are also located in the area around Guanzhong, and the scale of each workshop is much larger than the one established by the Huashan Army at the foot of Huashan Mountain.

Now, every month, 300,000 arrows of all kinds are produced from these five workshops. And that's not even counting the other armor, knives, guns, and so on. However, one of the five workshops is a special workshop dedicated to the production of important weapons such as the Mo Knife.

The reason why this efficiency has become so high is because Li Xin adopts the method of assembly line. In this way, this production efficiency can be greatly improved. This method is undoubtedly far ahead of the curve compared to the previous method of one person being responsible for all the processes and completing one thing separately from start to finish.

In addition, while ensuring efficiency, it can also ensure stable quality.

It is precisely because of the existence of such a system that it can ensure that Datang's conquest machine is constantly moving. Only then can it ensure that the army of the Tang Dynasty can get sufficient material support at any time when it is fighting abroad.

Otherwise, once there is a risk of shortage in the middle of the war, it will be very unfavorable to the war situation.

Moreover, because Li Xin improved the status of craftsmen, he adopted various incentives and means. Therefore, craftsmen are very active in the development of new weapons. By now, the fruits are beginning to be reaped gradually.