To the west of Beijing, at the foot of Shijingshan, near the left bank of the Yongding River, there is a large courtyard surrounded by a wall, and there is a unit guarding the courtyard day and night. This is the important place of the ordnance superintendent, one of the five most important production factories in the Ming Dynasty. With the development of weapons in the Ming army in the direction of firearms, * production has become one of the most important production tasks of the ordnance supervisor.

The original workshop in Beijing was relocated to this empty riverside saline-alkali land. First, it is safer to produce here, and it will not disturb civilians because of explosion accidents; Second, with the help of the hydraulic power of the Yongding River, the rolling and crushing of many raw materials can save manpower as much as possible and speed up the production process.

As the director of the Ordnance Supervision, Sun Yuanhua has always come to stay for a few days every other week to inspect the quality of the finished products and whether there are any errors in the processing process, and by the way, he will inspect the nearby ironworks and gunsmiths. Although these jobs are the most boring chores for scholars, for Sun Yuanhua, dealing with these steels and * is much more comfortable than intriguing with those colleagues.

However, recently, Sun Yuanhua has frowned every time he comes to the factory, and he is not very satisfied with the output and quality of this factory. But he didn't call the factory stewards and master craftsmen to reprimand them, because he knew that the problem was not with them.

Under the order of the emperor and the research of craftsmen, the production of the Ming Dynasty has entered the process of standardization, that is, in addition to the three materials of willow charcoal, sulfur and saltpeter, no more admixtures are added to increase the power. And the purification and mix ratio of these three * raw materials have very clear regulations. This also made the Ming military* quickly get rid of the reputation of poor quality and become a reputation of stable quality and full of power.

However, in addition to willow charcoal, sulfur and saltpeter are not easy to obtain in the north. Among them, the sulphur is now completely sourced from overseas, such as Japan, Taiwan and Southeast Asia. There are three sources of nitrate, the soil nitrate in the saline-alkali land in the north, the cave nitrate in the southwest mountains, and the saltpeter in India.

Among the three types of nitrate, Indian saltpeter has the best quality, but now it can only be transported to China for nearly 1,000 tons a year. And just a new army soldier needs 50 pounds of training medicine for a year, and 200,000 new army guns and guns training for a year will cost as much as 7,500 tons, if you add 7,500 tons of war backup medicine for the new army, then the annual supply of the new army will be as high as 15,000 tons.

As for other troops and civilian hunters, about 10,000 tons of drugs are used, and 3 or 4,000 tons are exported, that is to say, the annual production of each factory under the military monitoring system is nearly 30,000 tons. Just six or seven years ago, Daming's * output was only 3, 4,000 tons, and the quality was still very uneven.

30,000 tons* is equivalent to about 22,000 tons of nitrate, most of which still comes from soil nitrate. However, with the gradual completion of the treatment of the Haihe River system, the saline-alkali wasteland that was originally everywhere in Hebei is now being rapidly transformed into paddy fields suitable for cultivation. This is of course to increase Hebei's grain production, but also the largest soil nitrate production area in the past is constantly shrinking production, making the production of Daming* precarious.

You must know that with the completion of the new armament, it has also become the most important material for the Ming army. In addition, as the Ming Dynasty continued to sell obsolete firearms, it also made * the most profitable business of the Ordnance Supervisor.

Originally, the price of the ordnance superintendent was 230 yuan per ton, and it was still a third-class military*, but these* were much better than those made by Europeans and Southeast Asian natives. Therefore, the * per ton of export has risen to 460 yuan a ton, which is still in short supply.

As for the price of the ordnance superintendent's supply to the Ming military, it has also risen from 178 yuan a ton to 200 yuan a ton, and the profit from the annual production alone is enough to feed more than half of the people in the ordnance superintendent. If the production problem of saltpeter can be solved, then the first neck of the production will be able to break through.

After thinking about it for a while, Sun Yuanhua finally returned to the duty room of the * factory and sat down to write a memo to the emperor, in which he described in detail the importance of * to the Ming Dynasty, and then made two suggestions to the emperor. The first is to establish a compulsory soil nitrate collection agency to forcibly purchase soil nitrate boiled by the people in various saline-alkali areas to ensure the use of weapons supervision; Second, it is hoped that an award can be set up to call on the Royal Academy of Sciences and civil talents to study how to make saltpeter more effectively, or to understand the chemical principles of saltpeter.

Just when Sun Yuanhua was working the case, a tense test was also being carried out in the Ordnance Supervision Gun Manufacturing Bureau, which was a few miles away from him. Bi Maokang, deputy director of the Ordnance Supervision, looked at the hundreds of musket parts on the square table in front of him, and asked Bo Jue on the side quite worriedly: "Zijue, is it really done this time?" ”

Wearing a short shirt, Bo Jue, who was full of energy, replied unceremoniously: "If it doesn't work out, I will eat all these parts today." ”

Bi Maokang hurriedly said in a round game: "If you don't make it, you can't do it, it's a big deal, let's do it all over again." This thing can't be eaten, so I'll treat you to a combination of dishes later. ”

Bo Jue didn't pay attention to him, just took a deep breath, and randomly picked up the parts on the table and assembled them. Bo Jue, whose hometown was in Changzhou, Suzhou Prefecture, was recommended to the imperial court by the local county officials because of his attainments in astronomy, mathematics and mechanical manufacturing, and was immediately called to study at the Royal Academy of Sciences.

Bo Jue, who gave up the imperial examination and only wanted to study knowledge, suddenly found his ideal in the Royal Academy of Sciences and the Ordnance Superintendent. In the past few years, he and Bi Maokang have only studied two things, how to make a good gun and how to achieve standardized production of firearms.

Although from the day of the establishment of the Ordnance Supervisor, the emperor required the officials and craftsmen of the Ordnance Supervisor to standardize production and unify weights and measures. But it is a long road to truly standardize the production of firearms.

While optimizing the performance of the flintlock musket, Bo Jue and Bi Maokang disassembled the flintlock musket into parts that could be mass-produced. To this end, the two of them and the craftsmen also designed a series of machine tools for machining, which made it possible to streamline the production of firearm parts. In the process, the two also developed a series of production standards, thus laying the foundation for the realization of standardized production in the factory.

After three years, Bo Jue was full of confidence in today's experiment, and soon assembled a flintlock musket in his hands, followed by a second... Bi Maokang and the craftsmen on the side all widened their eyes, watching the smooth movements in Bo Jue's hands, and they didn't dare to gasp.

Just as the last musket was being assembled, Bo Jue suddenly stopped the movement in his hand, and Bi Maokang immediately asked nervously: "What's the matter, the parts can't be loaded?" Is there something wrong with that place? ”

Bo Jue shook his head, gently blew on the parts in his hand, blew off the crumbs attached to it, and reinstalled it. With the final "kata" sound, five assembled muskets appeared on the square table.

Bo Jue forced himself to calm down and said to everyone: "The next step is to shoot the target, as long as we can pass the target test, then our standardized production process of the musket will be truly successful." ”

Bi Maokang unceremoniously picked up a musket and said, "What are you waiting for, everyone take one and go to the shooting range..."

A day later, Sun Yuanhua, Bi Maokang, and Bo Jue's recitals were sent to Chongzhen. After reading Sun Yuanhua's recital, Zhu Youzhen's expression did not change much, but he just instructed Wang Chengen to transfer it to the cabinet according to Sun Yuanhua's requirements.

However, when he watched Bi Maokang and Bo Jue's recitals, he was stunned for a while. After a long time, Fang pushed away the chair and stood up, walked quickly to the balcony and looked at the scenery outside for a while, and then said in a comfortable mood: "Today's weather is really good." It's worth a drink. ”

Lu Qi and Wang Chengen glanced at the gloomy dark clouds outside, and they really didn't know where to start with this good weather. However, Wang Chengen quickly catered and said: "Shaoxing Mansion sent 20 jars of 20-year-old champion red ten days ago, this wine is mellow and healthy, why don't you prepare a little for Your Majesty at noon?" ”

Zhu Youzhen nodded and said, "Okay, get me a pot." In addition, 10 altars of champion Yuanhong were sent to the Ordnance Supervision Gun Bureau, so that Bi Maokang, Bo Jue and those craftsmen could celebrate together. In addition, the merits of the people in the Gun Bureau will be approved, and the rewards that should be given will be implemented one by one, and this matter will be handed over to the king's companion and you..."

In the same hall, when Amin walked out of the bathroom after washing, he saw Erli who had heard the news and came to visit him. The father and son hadn't seen each other for more than two years, and seeing each other at this moment was like a lifetime, and Elle couldn't help but hug his father and cry bitterly.

Amin still looked normal, he patted his son's back and said, "What are you crying about, our father and son can see each other alive, what else is there to ask for." ”

Erli finally stopped her tears, and immediately asked anxiously to her father, "What about E-Niang and her younger brothers?" ”

Amin's expression suddenly became a little embarrassed, and Song Xiance, who was standing on the side, hurriedly relieved Amin and said: "At that time, the situation was critical, and we didn't know if we could escape from Shenyang, so how could we take Fujin and a few sons."

However, Huang Taiji didn't dare to attack Fu Jin and several sons, otherwise everyone would not be in danger with the blue flag. What's more, no matter how ruthless Ji'er Harang is, he will not watch Huang Taiji deal with his sister-in-law and nephew, otherwise how can he control the blue flag. ”

Amin nodded, quickly took over the topic and said, "What Mr. Song said is right, I was too busy to take care of myself that day, how can I take your mother and a few younger brothers on an adventure." They still have a little chance of staying in Shenyang, as long as I don't die, they will eventually fight back to Shenyang.

We haven't seen each other for a long time, so it's better to sit down and talk slowly. Can Mr. Song order a table of wine and food for us? ”

Song Xiance bowed to Amin and went out to prepare a banquet for the father and son. Amin then took his son's shoulders and walked to the living room and said, "Tell me, what kind of person is this Ming Emperor?" Does he still trust you? Do you think I'm here for the Ming Dynasty, can this emperor let me lead the army..."