Zhu Cijiong thought about it for a long time, and finally decided on the overall strategy of the European continent, he personally wrote a secret edict, ordering the Jinyi Wei to command Xiao Jiucheng to send a group of masters to the European continent, handed over to Zheng Chenggong, and stayed to assist him in dealing with the next matters, and at the same time asked people to invite the Ministry of Industry Shangshu Bi Maokang to discuss the issue of arms competition.

Bi Maokang, the secretary of the Ministry of Industry, has not been in a very good mood recently, because the experiment of new gunpowder has had an accident, and it is not a one-time accident, but a series of accidents, and several researchers have been injured, and the injuries are still very serious, and some may even be disabled.

He blamed himself very much for this, the emperor told him to be careful, careful, careful, but he was still careless, after this series of accidents, every time those researchers went to do experiments, it was the same as going to the execution ground, and even everyone wrote their wills!

Their reckless research spirit made him blame himself, how can he be foolproof? Gunpowder doesn't recognize people when it explodes, unless you don't touch it, as long as you blow it up, even if you wear armor, it's useless, because the impact can't be stopped at all.

This is a problem he has been having a headache recently, hearing that the emperor summoned him, he thought that the emperor already knew that the gunpowder experiment had an accident, and he always had to come, he followed the eunuch to the palace without fear, he took this responsibility, and he had no opinion on how the emperor would punish him.

Qianqing Palace, a small conference room, after the monarch and the ministers saluted, the two sat down without barriers.

Zhu Cijiong saw Bi Maokang's heroic appearance, and couldn't help but ask curiously: "Meng Hou, what's wrong with you?" “

When Bi Maokang heard this, his face turned straight, he stood up and saluted: "Weichen is guilty, please punish the emperor." “

Zhu Cijiong is inexplicable, what kind of guilt, what punishment, he asked Bi Maokang to come over to discuss the expansion of super battleships and the production of weapons and ammunition, and it has nothing to do with any crime and punishment.

He couldn't help but raise his hand and said, "Meng Hou, you sit down first, what's going on, what crime is not guilty and not punished?" “

This time it was Bi Maokang's turn to be inexplicable, the emperor was not looking for him for the gunpowder experiment, but since he had already spoken, he didn't want to back down, the emperor would know about this sooner or later, rather than let Jinyiwei or Dongchang tell the emperor, it was better for him to say it himself.

Of course, the people of Jinyiwei and Dongchang have all received the emperor's will, and they will not come to investigate them who are engaged in research and development.

But paper can't contain the fire after all, and Bi Maokang didn't want to hide it from the emperor, so he stood there directly and blamed himself deeply: "Your Majesty, Weichen should be damned, there was an accident in the gunpowder experiment, and more than once, there have been a series of accidents recently, and several researchers have been injured, and they are all seriously injured." “

Zhu Cijiong was stunned when he heard this, it turned out that this was the case, there would be an accident in the gunpowder experiment, he had already expected this, with the current level of science and technology, there was no way to make a protective device that completely resisted the impact of explosives, this was originally an experiment full of danger, Zhu Cijiong did not mean to blame Bi Maokang.

He said earnestly: "Meng Hou, not any experiment is not dangerous, especially the gunpowder experiment, it will be a matter of time before something happens, you don't have to blame yourself too much, try to let them be careful when they do the experiment." “

Bi Maokang didn't expect the emperor to say this, he was moved: "Your Majesty, Weichen is ashamed, those researchers are the hope of the future of the Ming Dynasty, and now all of them have written their wills, and they are desperate to develop a new type of gunpowder, and Weichen can't stop it!" “

Zhu Cijiong heard this, nodded, and said with a solemn face: "A new type of gunpowder must be developed, and now the military strength of the Habsburg Alliance is getting stronger and stronger, if the Ming Dynasty stagnates, sooner or later it will be caught up, even if there are casualties, we must persevere, so let's do it, all those who are seriously injured in the experiment will be rewarded with 10,000 taels of silver, those who are seriously injured and disabled in the experiment will be rewarded with 50,000 taels of silver, and those who die in the experiment will be given 100,000 taels of silver to their families as a pension!" “

Bi Maokang is still a little unbearable, after all, they are all outstanding talents cultivated by the Ministry of Industry.

Zhu Cijiong saw Bi Maokang's hesitant expression, and couldn't help persuading: "Meng Hou, bear with it a little longer, the frequent accidents prove that the experiment is not far from success, as long as there is a new type of gunpowder, the Ming Dynasty can gain an overwhelming advantage on the battlefield, and their sacrifices can be exchanged for the lives of thousands of soldiers of the Ming Dynasty, and the peace of hundreds of millions of people in the Ming Dynasty, it is worth it!" “

When Bi Maokang heard this, he nodded heavily and said: "Weichen understands, please rest assured, with the current progress, this year, we will definitely be able to produce a new type of gunpowder that is ten or even a hundred times more violent than ordinary gunpowder!" “

When Zhu Cijiong heard this, he nodded with satisfaction: "Okay, Meng Hou, I look forward to your good news." Let's not talk about this for a while, the top priority now is to increase the production of super battleships and weapons and ammunition, the anti-Habsburg coalition is developing too fast, their manufacturing capacity has surpassed that of the Ming Dynasty by a lot, we must increase investment to bring back this disadvantage. “

Next, after lengthy consultations, Zhu Cijiong and Bi Maokang finally decided on a specific plan to increase the production of super battleships and weapons and ammunition.

First of all, Daming will rebuild and expand the Nanda Construction Shipyard, and send skilled technicians to preside over it, and strive to transform the Nanda Construction Shipyard into a super-large shipyard with an annual output of 200 super battleships.

Later, iron ore and timber from the South Seas and South Asia regions were directly transported to the Nanda Construction Shipyard and processed into super battleships, while iron ore and timber from the Central Plains, Liaodong, Monan, Mobei, Siberia and other places were transported to the Dongda Construction Shipyard, and the two shipyards produced at the same time, striving to increase the annual output of super battleships to 400 in one fell swoop.

Then, the Ming will send technicians to Spain and Portugal to assist them in building large shipyards, so that they can both have the capacity to produce a hundred super battleships per year.

Finally, Daming will also provide relevant equipment and technicians to assist Spain and Portugal in increasing their ammunition production capacity to meet the consumption of European and Allied armies.

Of course, these must be implemented only after Zheng Chenggong receives a secret decree and goes to negotiate with the kings of Portugal and Spain, and the two sides reach an agreement, and Zhu Cijiong next set his sights on North America.

Most of the vast territory of North America fell into the hands of Britain in history, and with the abundant resources there, Britain finally achieved hegemony at sea.

Taking advantage of the fact that the main force of the anti-Habsburg alliance was dragged near the European continent, Zhu Cijiong decided to send an armed fortune ship to detour through the North American continent from Dongying, and send the Ming Army Corps over to drive away all the anti-Habsburg alliance powers above, and then directly start colonizing, so that the British could not get a single hair!

PS: I recommend the new book "Zhen Nanming" by the great god of history again, I have seen the latest chapters, it is indeed very exciting, highly recommended.