The situation in front of him made Guo Shao unable to hide the disappointment in his heart, the power of firearms was not as strong as he imagined, but very weak...... The performance is not even half that of a bow or crossbow, and it is a little farther away than a shuttle gun, but it is much more troublesome, and it is really not very useful.

People are very practical, and if they make decisions about it for anything else, it will definitely be just a gimmick for a novel weapon, and it will be used to scare people. But Guo Shao doesn't think so: at the beginning, firearms are definitely not as good as cold weapons, but the future direction belongs to hot weapons, there is no doubt about this.

Guo Shao has personally seen the great advantage of ** weapons against sword and arrow warfare (until the Opium War, the great powers also used black weapons), and those who have already confirmed the results with their own eyes, if they do not go in the right direction, this is unreasonable in itself...... Knowing that the gun is powerful, he deliberately avoids it, and doesn't touch it or try it, Guo Shao feels that there is no need to do it.

Moreover, even if firearms are not of great use now, Guo Shao has the entire national resources in his hands, and there is no shortage of research and development consumption. The disappointment was fleeting, and in a blink of an eye, Guo Shao straightened his mind and planned to continue.

He asked the ordnance superintendent Zan Jurun to rearrange the test and see with his own eyes the effectiveness of metal pipes of various materials. When the group came to the school grounds, the craftsmen erected the target, loaded the ** into the firecracker, and then fixed it on the ground with a wooden frame facing the front.

The firecracker is all semi-finished products, only a metal tube, **, after the projectile is loaded, a long lead is pulled out from the front, the lead is a paper package**, and the lead of a firecracker is almost the same.

After a while, the craftsman lit the "firecracker lead" and ran away, and the fire on the wooden frame "banged" and the smoke of gunpowder rose. Just looking at the scene, it really looks like a musket being fired. After some testing, everyone checked the damage to the gun tube and the bullet holes in the target. The situation is not much different from what Zan Jurun described...... Guo Shao completely confirmed that the power of this thing was indeed not very great.

…… Guo Shao took Zan Jurun and others to a room next to him and sat down, there were many tools in this room, including the kind of drill that Guo Shao had seen that used hemp rope to twist force.

Guo Shao asked someone to put paper and ink on the table, picked up the pen and asked casually: "Even if it is that kind of bronze firecracker, the production cost is lower than that of a crossbow?" ”

"Of course." Zan Jurun said, "Although the imperial court lacks copper, a bronze gun does not cost much copper, and casting, drilling and grinding are far less than the manpower consumed by crossbow arrows...... What's more, the right to open mines is in the hands of the government, even if copper is expensive, it consumes less manpower and does less harm to national strength and people's livelihood; Making a bronze gun was much less burdensome to the imperial court than making a crossbow. ”

Guo Shao nodded in approval after hearing this, and said in his heart: A person who has the ability to be the center has more insight and mind than ordinary people.

Guo Shao picked up the pen not to record, but to draw a table, after a long time he put the pen on the inkstone, picked up the paper in his hand and blew by the way, handed it to Zan Jurun, and said: "In the future, I will report all kinds of affairs of the Ordnance Supervisor, and follow this form to understand it more clearly." It's also not easy to miss every attempt. ”

"Whoa." Zan Jurun hurriedly took it with both hands and watched attentively.

"Each thing, what is the size, what the material is, and then another box writes about the process and the manufacturing process, and there is a description after the experiment. Sort it out first, and then write a few sentences of summary text. Guo Shaodao, "There are also standards for length and weight, and the size used in the world is not accurate, so Zan Gong thought of a way to set the basic standards, and in the future, the size of all kinds of ordnance produced by the ordnance supervisor will be according to the standards of the government." ”

Zan Jurun hurriedly clenched his fists and replied: "The minister obeys the order." ”

Guo Shao said again: "The craftsmen we are looking for are well paid, and they may be more attentive to their work at the beginning, but it is difficult to say whether this place will become a place for people to live a mess after a long time." You have to set some rules, clear rewards and punishments, and reward those craftsmen who work hard to produce results...... Let everyone have a head. ”

…… Guo Shao stayed here for a while, and by the way, he ordered the development of artillery and throwing.

Anything related to the use of **, firearms workshops can ask for funds to try. However, the key directions designated by Guo Shao are still guns, cannons, and projectiles...... Only these three things are the most practical, and the conclusion still comes from insight.

In later generations, when the development of black weapons was to the extreme, especially when the Western world came from behind, after years of melee and testing in various countries, musketeers, artillery, and grenadiers were the most useful types of troops. And other things that look fancy and peculiar may not actually do much...... For example, that rocket, it seems to be dozens of shots at a time, but because the trajectory of the ballistic trajectory is completely uncontrollable, it is basically not lethal.

However, Guo Shao did not intend to restrain people's attempts, and did not refuse in case they created something new and practical. Anyway, the school field looks at the effect.

…… His desire to rely on firearms to solve military problems failed, so Guo Shao did not stay in the firearms workshop for too long and soon left here. However, the emperor came here in person, which also showed that Guo Shao attached great importance to this matter.

He returned to the imperial study of Jinxiang Palace, and Zuo You and the others had already presented the arranged pieces. Guo Shao didn't look at it immediately, and thought about what he was going to do first...... Defeat the Northern Han Dynasty.

But the preparations are far from complete. First of all, he had to wait for the Privy Council sent to the Northern Han Dynasty to get back the more detailed information before deploying troops and tactics. Sun Tzu said, knowing oneself and knowing one's opponent will win all battles; If it is a completely uncertain battle, the best option is not to fight if you can.

Guo Shao began to deal with the recitals, which were all "streamlined and translated" by Zuo You and Huang Binglian, and it seemed to be very fast; At present, when the military is the top priority, government affairs are inherently secondary, and this method has allowed Guo Shao to improve the efficiency of governance...... But it was not a good way, he had already discovered the shortcomings, and it was difficult to obtain the advice and thoughts of the ministers and wise men. So Guo Shao still has to read the original text written by Wenyan from time to time, and he can probably understand it, but it's just a little harder.

A while ago, he participated in two "scripture feasts", that is, the talented and famous Confucians gave lessons to the emperor. Guo Shao didn't feel very good, the Confucians focused on the idea of preaching scriptures and classics, and Guo Shao didn't agree with their concepts. So he went twice, and he didn't go.

What Guo Shao needs is an ancient literature enlightenment teacher, in fact, it is enough to teach Mengxue in the countryside, and he can systematically teach him ancient literature knowledge. But he didn't dare to invite that kind of person to give a lesson to the emperor, for fear that he would be laughed at by Shilin. So Zuo You took on this task.

After dealing with the business, Guo Shao called Zuo You to the back room and asked him to teach him basic courses, and there was homework for copying and practicing calligraphy every day. The two of them spent a long time alone in that room almost every day, and they didn't know what kind of conspiracy they had to discuss...... Guo Shao didn't want to be watched by a group of officials outside that he was studying.

Guo Shao studied very seriously, he sat at his desk like a good student, and recited the unpunctuated Analects with all his might in the same way as the children. Because Guo Shao realized the importance of literacy and sentence breaking in this environment, otherwise he wouldn't even be able to read the chapters, and what country would he govern...... He remembered the Emperor of the Apocalypse of the Ming Dynasty, whose hobby was to be a carpenter, and he didn't want to handle government affairs personally; Now Guo Shao understands the carpenter emperor a little, because he is illiterate, how uncomfortable it is to deal with government affairs as an illiterate, Guo Shao, a "semi-illiterate", empathizes.

I finished reading the day's content. Zuo You talked to Guo Shao for a while.

Zuo You picked up a piece of music and said: "This article was written by a local magistrate, and he meant to speak to Your Majesty, prohibiting officials over the age of fifty from serving as the highest bureaucrats in a locality. ”

Guo Shao asked, "What is Mr. Zuo's attitude?" ”

Zuo You said: "This person is a bit cynical and bold in his remarks, but it is not unreasonable. After many years of mixing in officialdom, what future do older officials have? There is no hope for promotion, and there is bound to be greed for money. Once these people grasp the power of life and death, accumulate family property, and are arrogant and lascivious, it is the most important thing, as for the political performance, the people's livelihood, and the governance of officials, what benefits do they have? ”

Zuo You talked eloquently: "The minister thinks that it is not only these corpses that are vegetarian. There are many more officials, with no hope of promotion, and the same will be true...... The reason for this is that for many years, military generals can be promoted by military exploits, but civilian officials can only rely on the appreciation of the top, and this method of seeking merit and selecting people cannot benefit most officials. It is too difficult for people who have no background and connections and no fame to make a difference. ”

Guo Shao nodded and said yes, Zuo You is a low-level official, and he may know the situation very well.

Guo Shao pondered for a moment and said: "However, to solve this situation and reform the system, it is not a day's work, let alone the current important matter. At present, the first thing that the imperial court needs to open up is the situation and pattern, and it is necessary to advance the national defense of the territory to the Great Wall, and then it can tidy up the interior like cooking small fresh.

At present, we should not act rashly and affect the interests of too many people, otherwise it will cause storms. Although the current rule of officials is not very good, it is a situation formed by a hundred years of melee, and the new monarch is very calm after ascending the throne, which is a good thing; We can't easily move them until we are sure. ”

Zuo You listened to it and thought it was good.

Guo Shao reviewed the layout of the imperial study and said: "I need a knowledgeable and intelligent staff group, and it is time to establish a cabinet auxiliary government. The rooms in this place are not easy to use, and I feel that I can't do all kinds of things. Mr. Zuo asked someone to bring me the construction drawings of the Jinxiang Palace, and helped me choose a place to rearrange a center for handling state affairs. ”

Guo Shao immediately picked up the pen and wrote his own ideas. Let a room be outside, a place for the decree to be given, and the message to be delivered; Then a place for cabinet officials to work and rest, to assist the emperor and to give advice at any time; a room where the emperor worked; A place for him to think alone, stickers, and store military aircraft...... There should also be a place for private meetings with ministers, as well as places where important ministers are gathered for deliberations.

While discussing with Zuo You, he wrote it down, preparing to build a central core and become the brain-like institution of the entire imperial court.

.........