After this reward, Song Yingxing's whole person was confused, two million taels, how much silver is that, in the face of this huge wealth, he was really a little confused, how to divide the one million taels to his subordinates, how to spend his own million taels, he was full of these questions, and he even forgot to greet the emperor.

Zhu Cijiong was not in a hurry, he saw Song Yingxing standing there in a daze, knowing that this goods should have been shocked by such a large amount of money, and needed a little time to think and adapt, he did not interrupt Song Yingxing's train of thought, but looked at the furnishings of the study curiously.

This study can be said to be the most unlike study he has ever seen, although there are a lot of books, there are more messy things than books, the whole study is full of jars and jars, and I don't know what is inside, the strangest thing is that there is a half-person tall kite in the corner of the study!

Well, maybe it's not a kite, the main reason why Zhu Cijiong thinks it's a kite is because it's made of bamboo strips and paper, but the shape really doesn't look like a kite, because it's a boxy frame.

What the hell is this thing for? Zhu Cijiong couldn't help but stand up and walked towards the corner, wanting to take a closer look and see if he could guess its use.

Zhu Cijiong was observing the 'kite', Song Yingxing finally came to his senses, he saw that the emperor looked at the Kong Ming lantern he made with a puzzled look, and hurriedly walked up respectfully, and carefully introduced: "Your Majesty, this is a large Kong Ming lantern." “

Kong Ming lantern! Zhu Cijiong reacted instantly, he said that how to look at this thing is a little familiar, in his impression that the Kong Ming lantern is only one foot square, after magnifying it so many times, he really didn't think about it, but why do you want to be such a big Kong Ming lantern?

He couldn't help but ask curiously, "Chang Geng, what is this for?" “

When Song Yingxing heard this, his old face turned red, and he said embarrassedly: "Weichen sees that there is a lot of refined oil, so he wants to use it in the war, isn't there a lot of fortresses in Siberia, Weichen thought, if you light a bunch of Kong Ming lanterns outside, add more oil, string them together, and put them over the fortress with the wind, and then use a sniper rifle to break them and fall down, wouldn't the fortress fall into a sea of fire!" “

This time it was Zhu Cijiong's turn to look confused, this tactic, how to say, it seems to be a bit desirable, the cost is not very high, and it is not very difficult to operate, but it always feels strange to play such a primitive tactic when you have muskets and artillery.

Seeing Song Yingxing's embarrassed look, he couldn't bear to hit the enthusiasm of others, so he could only say politely: "Even if Kong Minglan is so big, I'm afraid it won't be able to carry much oil, and it takes not a little oil to make a fortress fall into a sea of fire." “

Unexpectedly, as soon as he said this, Song Yingxing became energetic, and he saw this product excitedly gestured: "Your Majesty, Kong Ming lanterns can be made bigger, half a person tall can almost hold a pound of oil, a person tall can hold a few pounds of oil, how much oil can be made as big, if you can load a hundred pounds of oil at a time, isn't it a few Kong Ming lanterns, and the entire fortress will fall into a sea of fire?" “

This goods, the more you talk about it, the more outrageous it becomes, how big it has to be if you load a hundred catties of oil, I'm afraid a house is not enough for such a big house!

However, how can it seem a little familiar, what is a huge thing, heating the air through a flame and flying into the sky?

Zhu Cijiong thought about it for a long time, and finally remembered, it was a hot air balloon!

Hot air balloons have slowly lost their usefulness after the appearance of airplanes, but before there were no airplanes, it was still useful, especially in war.

Of course, hot air balloons are not used to pour oil into enemy castles, their main role is to reconnoitre, observe the landing point of shells, and locate artillery.

For example, in siege warfare, especially in the battle of attacking the fortress, due to the difference in height, the attacker cannot see the situation in the fortress at all, and the artillery attack can only cover the attack with the most consumable ammunition, and the effect is not very good.

It's different with a hot air balloon, tie the hot air balloon with a rope, and then rise to a height higher than the fortress, the scouts can use binoculars to see the situation inside the fortress clearly, the location of the enemy's artillery, the arrangement of personnel, the landing point of their own artillery, etc., these can be informed to the commander below through the flag, in this way, only a small number of shells can achieve a terrifying effect, than aimless coverage attack I don't know how many times better.

With hot air balloons, the battle in Siberia was easier, because the main thing the Ming army had to face was the enemy's bastion.

The more Zhu Cijiong thought about it, the more excited he became, he couldn't help but pull Song Yingxing to the desk, and said excitedly: "Chang Geng, I will draw something for you, you can see if you can make it." “

With that, he picked up a brush, dipped it in ink, and drew a sketch of a hot air balloon with a few brushes.

I have to say that his painting skills are quite profound, although it is only a few tens, but the hot air balloon is painted vividly.

However, Song Yingxing couldn't understand it, and he couldn't help asking, "Your Majesty, what is this?" “

Zhu Cijiong pointed to the sketch and explained in detail: "This is a hollow ball sewn with cloth similar to oiled paper, and below it is a hanging basket woven of bamboo or rattan, in which people can stand, as long as you find a way to fill the inside of this ball first, and then heat it with fire, it will carry people into the air like Kong Ming lanterns." “

When Song Yingxing heard this, he was shocked: "Take people into the air, how big does this thing have to be?!" “

Where did Zhu Cijiong know the specific size of the hot air balloon, he could only spread his hands and said: "You can try it slowly how big you want to be, this thing is very useful for the big war in Siberia next year, I hope you can concentrate your manpower to make it first." “

When Song Yingxing heard this, he immediately fell into deep thought, since it was useful for the Great War in Siberia, he naturally tried his best to make it as soon as possible.

After thinking for a while, he couldn't help but ask: "Your Majesty, is it okay to sew a layer of oil paper on the outside of the cotton cloth, it seems difficult to make the cloth breathable, and besides, such a big thing, what if it rises up and is blown away by the wind, the people inside will be dangerous." “

Zhu Cijiong heard this, thought for a while, and then said: "If the cloth is soaked in sticky things and then dried, it can also be breathable, of course, if it is not troublesome to sew oil paper, you can also try, as for the problem of being blown away after liftoff, you can tie it to the ground with a rope." “

When Song Yingxing heard this, he couldn't help but say embarrassedly: "Thank you for the emperor's teachings, I don't know how to name this thing, is it still called Kong Ming lantern?" “

It is naturally inappropriate to call Kong Ming lanterns, Zhu Cijiong pretended to think for a while, and then said slowly: "This thing is spherical, and it is lifted into the air with heat, so it is called a hot air balloon." “