Gao Yihuan explained the matter of compiling the book, and asked Chen Huiting to make persistent efforts to continue to improve the self-generated guns, reduce costs, and achieve mass production as soon as possible.

This self-generated gun is still far from mass production, but Gao Yihuan is still happy when he finally sees the real thing.

At this time, due to the limitations of technology and materials, he wanted to use his own guns to fight in a short time, which is unlikely, but since the thing is made, it will be useful sooner or later.

After watching the self-generated gun, Gao Yihuan came to the gunpowder workshop with everyone again.

Iron, gunpowder, and grain, these three things are extremely important things for war preparation.

Food is the foundation, related to the problem of eating, there is no panic in the heart when there is food, iron and gunpowder are the tools of war, with them, only then can we have the confidence to confront the Qing army.

At present, Gao Yihuan is barely making his own food, and the iron ore is also begging from Li Yan, at the beginning of the year, 3,000 people have been sent to mine it, and the reserves of iron ore will gradually improve.

In this way, the remaining problem is gunpowder.

In Gao Yihuan's team, the proportion of firearms is relatively high, and without gunpowder, the firearms are like burning sticks.

In order to stock up on gunpowder, Gao Yihuan set up a gunpowder workshop early, and more than 300 people were responsible for making gunpowder.

At this time, Gao Yihuan stood outside the workshop, watching the hired workers busy, and asked the person in charge of the workshop next to him: "How many medicines can be produced in a month now?" ”

The gunpowder workshop was managed by an old Xiucai in his fifties, and he arched his hand and said: "Back to the general, now the workshop can produce 500 catties of gunpowder in a month. ”

After Gao Yihuan heard this, his expression sank, "Why hasn't the output increased, why is it still so little in a month?" ”

This bit of gunpowder, which can be finished with a few shots, is not enough for the army to use.

Lao Xiucai was a little frightened and said: "Back to the general, the output can't be raised, the main thing is the old problem." There was a lack of raw materials, especially sulphur, in the workshop. If you want to increase production, this matter will have to be solved by the general~"

At the beginning of the establishment of the gunpowder workshop, the workshop reported to him the problem of lack of raw materials.

The formula of gunpowder is very simple, that is, saltpeter, sulfur, charcoal.

Among them, the source of charcoal is always worrying, and the key is the lack of saltpeter and sulfur.

There is a saying in ancient times: "Boiling nitrate for a thousand days is not worth a cannon from the general", which can reflect the hardships of boiling nitrate.

The saltpeter of the Ming Dynasty mainly came from Yunnan, Guizhou and the northwest, and another source was the folk soil method of nitrate.

For example, the people's old houses and the floating soil next to the toilet will produce salt-like crystals, and poke them with burning charcoal to "sizzle" sparks, scrape off these crystals, and then refine and purify them to get fire nitrate.

The saltpeter in the workshop is mainly made from the soil method.

Not long ago, Gao Yihuan asked the craftsman to come up with a way to temporarily solve the problem of saltpeter, and he didn't want to be in a hurry again.

Although sulfur is not a large component in gunpowder, it acts as a binder.

The sulfur of the Ming Dynasty was mainly imported from Japan, and the sulfur before Gao Yihuan was smuggled from Nanzhi, but since he beat Nanzhi and destroyed Liu Liangzuo, the Ming Dynasty strictly controlled this strategic material, and it was difficult to get it even outside the horse.

Gao Yihuan also didn't know where to get sulfur, and now that he was using firearms, it would be a big problem to get a stable source of sulfur.

This made Gao Yihuan a little anxious, "Did the workshop find a way by itself?" ”

Lao Xiucai said: "General Hui, I also sent people around to collect it, but it was difficult to receive it, but not long ago, people who went to Henan Mansion brought back a batch of sulfur in Luanchuan County, northwest of Funiu Mountain. According to the people who came back, there is a sulfur mine over there, but it has been mined, and they are asking for a very high price, and the money in the workshop is not enough, so they can't buy it in large quantities~"

Nanluan actually has a sulfur mine, Gao Yihuan couldn't help complaining, "Why didn't you say it earlier." Then he waved his hand again, "This is something I already know, and if you continue to produce, it will be solved as soon as possible." ”

Gao Yihuan didn't expect the sulfur to be right in front of him, since it was in Henan Mansion, there should be no problem for him to get sulfur.

Now that he is barely self-sufficient in food, and there is also iron ore for forging weapons, the problem of gunpowder will also be solved, and he will not be stuck in his neck, and he will have the bottom of his heart.

At that moment, Gao Yihuan checked the armor workshop and the earth-shaking thunder workshop before returning to the mansion.

At this time, as soon as he arrived at the gate of the mansion, a personal soldier stepped forward to help him hold the reins of the horse, and then said urgently: "The general came back by coincidence, and he was about to ask the general to come back~"

~~~~~~~

At the beginning of May, Nanzhili, Suzhou Mansion, Changshu County Luyuan Xipu, Qian Qianyi's hometown.

At this time, in a hall, the door was closed, and more than a dozen important figures of the Donglin Party were sitting inside.

Qian Qianyi, as the leader of the party, naturally sat upright in the middle hall, and next to him were a group of disciples and opposition bigwigs such as Liang Yungou, Huang Zongyi, Lin Shiright, Jin Bao, and Ding Shikui.

"Everyone, a few days ago, Lu Zhenfei, the governor of Huai'an, reported the fall of Beijing and the news that His Majesty had hanged himself, and it had arrived in Nanjing." Qian Qianyi said.

After everyone heard this, their hearts trembled, their faces changed greatly, and some people began to hide their faces and sob, but Huang Zongyi got up and said: "Sir, I don't know if the crown prince and several princes can escape from Beijing?" ”

Qian Qianyi shook his head, "Now the news is more complicated, some say that the crown prince was martyred with His Majesty, and some say that the prince was picked up, and there is no definite news coming." ”

Jin Bao said loudly: "Sir, isn't it rumored that Shandong Gaofutai raised troops to welcome His Majesty and the crown prince on their southern tour, is there any news from Gaofutai to Nanjing?" ”

Qian Qianyi shook his head, "According to the news from Ma Shiying, the governor of Fengyang, Governor Gao was defeated by the thief Liu Fangliang and has retreated to Jining Prefecture without welcoming back the prince. ”

The Donglin Party people present couldn't help but be silent for a while, the entire Chongzhen Dynasty, the party struggled constantly, but in general, the Donglin Party still held the right to speak in the government and the opposition.

Now that the Chongzhen Dynasty has fallen, it is naturally a big blow to the Donglin Party, and since the imperial court is controlled by the Donglin Party, now that the imperial court has collapsed, is there any responsibility as a ruling party?

For a while, there was silence in the hall, and many people felt sad for Chongzhen's martyrdom and melancholy for their own political future.

This is not surprising, since it is a big ruling party, they naturally do not want to cross the Ming Dynasty, but the Ming Dynasty was indeed brought down by them, or they took a lot of responsibility.

Qian Qianyi looked at everyone and couldn't help but say in a deep voice: "Everyone, now is not the time to be sad. The most important thing now is to think about the future. It is to consider who should inherit the throne if His Majesty and the crown prince have been martyred! ”

This sentence reminded everyone, and there was humanity: "If the prince can't go south, then legally speaking, the most suitable person to inherit the throne is the Fu and Gui domains." ”

As soon as these words came out, the faces of everyone in the hall immediately changed, Huang Zongyi, Lin Shizhen, Jin Bao and others immediately stood up, "Fu Fan is definitely not good~~~"