Later generations often said that science and technology are the primary productive forces, but Li Zhang felt that interests are the productive forces that drive everything, because science and technology are also to serve interests, and only science and technology that can bring benefits to people will be studied, otherwise it will only be shelved by people.

The same is true for the musket, before Judge Liu only helped him make the first sample gun out of favor to Li Zhang, but when he saw the power of the musket, he got Li Zhang's promise that he would give him credit in front of Liu E when he presented the musket, which immediately made Judge Liu feel like he had been beaten with chicken blood.

In the afternoon of the same day, Judge Liu borrowed a fast horse from Huyan Shouxin, and galloped back to the city of Tokyo, and three days later he returned with a cart of fine iron, and five older blacksmiths, who, according to him, were the most skilled blacksmiths under him, each with his own unique skills, and whose skills were not even a little better than those of the previous blacksmiths who made muskets.

With these blacksmiths and fine iron, as well as the original experience of making muskets, the second and third muskets were soon made, but these muskets cannot be said to be completely successful, and there will still be some defects in some places, but Li Zhang is not in a hurry, and when he encounters problems, he will work with those old blacksmiths to study solutions, and slowly improve the performance and manufacturing methods of muskets.

Time flies quickly, in a blink of an eye, the project on the side of the imperial mausoleum has been completed, and Zhao Heng's body is about to be buried, and at this time, the musket developed by Li Zhang and the craftsmen has finally entered the practical stage, they have studied and sorted out a set of musket manufacturing process, and the quality of the musket manufactured has also been guaranteed, for example, at the beginning, Li Zhang did not dare to test shoot the musket himself, so he could only tie it to a tree and shoot it with a rope, but now he has no worries about the musket made.

Of course, the musket still has a certain degree of tolerance, especially the barrel, the number of shots, even if it does not explode, it will make the barrel expand, resulting in a decrease in shooting accuracy and other problems, and in serious cases, it may also crack, but it is rare to explode, unless the gun is not filled with too much gunpowder as required.

Originally, Li Zhang also wanted to make the barrel detachable, but later found that the technology could not be reached temporarily, mainly because the technical requirements for disassembling the barrel were too high, and ordinary people could not complete it at all, and it must be done by a special craftsman.

In order to increase the planting area of potatoes as soon as possible, Li Zhang chose to harvest in half a year, and the potatoes after the harvest were immediately sprouted, and then planted again, and this time the planting area reached more than 200 acres, and it is estimated that by the spring of next year, the entire Huangzhuang can be planted with potatoes.

After planting the potatoes, Li Zhang also immediately returned to Tokyo City with a musket, firstly, to report the situation of the potatoes to Liu E, and also to present the musket to the imperial court, after all, it is useless to rely on the petty fight between him and Judge Liu, the most important thing is to have the support of the imperial court.

"See the big lady!" After Li Zhang entered the palace, he went straight to the vertical arch hall, and then saluted Liu E, while holding a few potatoes in his hand, which was also a gift he gave to Liu E.

"How was the potato harvest this year?" Liu E also learned the news of Li Zhang's return in advance, and then she also put down the pen in her hand and asked with a smile.

"Qi Yu Niangniang, a few acres of potatoes planted at the beginning of this year, the yield per mu is more than 3,000 catties, this is the reason why the potato planting spacing is relatively large, this year and more than 200 acres, and I will also plant potatoes more intensively, the yield may rise, at this time this year's harvest of a few potatoes, please check the big lady!" At this time, Li Zhang raised the potatoes in the tray to his chest and said again.

At this time, an attendant immediately took the potatoes and sent them to Liu E, and Li Zhang also picked them up and looked at them for a while, and showed a satisfied smile on his face, the yield per mu was more than 3,000 catties, although she had long been mentally prepared, but when she heard this number, she couldn't help but be very happy, you must know that the yield of rice per mu is only about 400 catties, and the wheat is only about 300 catties, this is still the yield of good land, if the field is worse, the yield will only be lower, and the yield of potatoes is ten times that of wheat, which makes her not surprised?

I saw Liu E put down the potatoes in her hand at this time, and then carefully looked at Li Zhang for a while, and then spoke again, "It's dark, I've lost weight, but I've grown a lot taller, and you've worked hard in the past six months!" ”

"Thank you for the compliment, but these are what I should do!" Li Zhang said modestly again at the moment, in fact, the reason why he turned black was not because he was exposed to the sun in the field, but because he ran to the blacksmith shop every day, and it was normal for him to become darker under the smoke and fire, plus he had grown tall and thinner in the past six months.

"Don't be arrogant, you really didn't disappoint this palace!" Liu E nodded with satisfaction again at this time.

"Big Lady, in fact, when I come back this time, I still have something to offer to Big Lady." Li Zhang suddenly saluted again at this time.

"Oh? You're not going to make some new food, are you? Liu E couldn't help laughing when she heard this, Li Zhang's aftertaste has become one of the most famous restaurants in Tokyo, and Li Zhang himself is also proficient in cooking, and he used to bring food to Zhao Zhen and them, during this time Li Zhang was not there, Zhao Zhen and Miao Yuan were not less noisy and wanted him to come back.

"Aunt Qi, this time it's not food, it's a weapon, to be exact, it should be a firearm!" Li Zhang said with a solemn expression at the moment, during this time, he has also been thinking that if the army of the Great Song Dynasty can be equipped with muskets, it may be able to make up for the military weakness, and even completely reverse the current situation, and it is also possible to recover the sixteen states of Yanyun at that time.

"Firearms?" Liu E couldn't help but be stunned when she heard this, she never dreamed that Li Zhang would offer a firearm, she still knows a little about firearms, after all, the army is also equipped with firearms, but the number is very small, and the use is also very limited.

"Auntie, the firearm I brought was stopped in front of the palace gate, I don't know if someone can get it, I want to give you a rehearsal in person!" Li Zhang spoke again at this time, the palace is heavily guarded, even if the guards don't know the role of the musket, but it is impossible to bring such a large piece of iron into the palace, after all, the badminton racket that Li Zhang brought to Zhao Zhen last year was stopped, let alone the musket.