In recent years, the Ming Dynasty had frequent exchanges with Western countries, and had a lot of contacts with Portugal, Spain, and the Netherlands. Ad-free site.

In the face of the rising powers on the sea, Wang Yan even prepared to plan an embassy, just like the eunuchs of the Three Treasures went to the Western Ocean to take a look at the Western Domains and understand how big and far these opponents who can compete with the Ming Sea are.

However, at the moment, there are a lot of things behind his ass, and this is just one of his thoughts.

The Jesuits undoubtedly played a huge role in the exchange between China and the West.

He not only introduced Western technology and Christianity to China, but also translated Chinese culture and philosophy into Western languages and transmitted them back to the West.

China may not be very prominent in science and technology, but in terms of culture, system, and ideology, it is very prominent, and the etiquette, righteousness, benevolence, wisdom, and faith advocated by Confucianism, which can be said to be politically correct at that time,、、、 and other books have been translated.

Wang Yan has a very close relationship with the Society of Jesus, and this time he has naturally attracted some Jesuits to come over.

Wang Yan allowed them to preach freely, but the people of the church needed to abide by the laws of the Ming Dynasty, that is, the law of the country was greater than the teachings, and their political status was the same as that of the local Buddhism.

Western missionaries, in the missionary means commonly used, is to first set up churches and missionary schools, did bring a different scenery and ideological impact to Nanjing, but this is not too unusual, as early as before the Song Dynasty, there was a church in Quanzhou, before the Nanjing teaching plan, the Jesuits were also active in Nanjing.

Building a church costs an unimaginable amount of money and takes a long time.

Wang Yan funded the Jesuit Society to build a cathedral in Nanjing, and the Jesuit councillor who was being prepared in Macao, Bo Yingli, was immediately excited when he received the news, and while writing a letter to the Pope, he was pleased to report on the results of the mission in China, and on the other hand, he packed up his things and rushed to Nanjing from Macao.

In addition to training craftsmen, the Faculty of Engineering School actually has another function, which is to improve and invent new equipment and firearms.

At present, regarding firearms, the person in charge is Bi Maoliang, the younger brother of Bi Maokang, who invented the first self-generated firearm in the eighth year of Chongzhen.

It is a strange book, the Ming Dynasty can now produce its own fire, mainly because of the record of this book, but unfortunately this book, in the history of the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty was banned and destroyed by the Manchu Qing Dynasty, fortunately there is a single book remaining, later generations only know that I China once had this artifact, and it is not behind the world.

The Bi family is also a big family in the south of the Yangtze River, Bi Maokang and his brother Bi Maoliang are both Jinshi, and there are a few people in the clan, Bi Maoliang is a meritorious person, because he once followed Bi Maokang to write and was proficient in firearms, so he was favored by Wang Yan.

In addition to Bi Maoliang, there is another person, who is Bo Yingli who came from Macau, but because of the problem of physique and the inherent concept of the imperial court, the Ming Dynasty has not been completely opened, so the school is mainly Han Chinese, supplemented by Xiyi.

At this time, Wang Yan came to the firearms area, and Bi Maoliang and Bo Yingli waited inside.

There were also many models in the room, Wang Yan looked at it, his eyes fell on a model, and he pointed with a smile and said, "This is the Hongyi cannon!" Bi Maoliang on the side immediately stepped forward and said, "What Your Highness said is that this is the Hongyi Cannon!" ”

Bo Yingli was a little unhappy when he heard this, "Your Royal Highness, although Da Ming is the overlord of the East, he should not be so arrogant. I know you mean the Dutch, but as a Westerner, I don't think His Highness treats us the same as the Chinese. ”

Wang Yan's cultivation is still there, in front of Xiyi, there is basically no need to use the word Yi, after all, they are opponents who can compete with the Ming Dynasty at sea, and he will talk about Xiyi in private at most.

This Hongyi cannon, the Ming Dynasty has always called it that, he just glanced at so many models, and blurted out.

Wang Yan was a little embarrassed, and Bi Maoliang next to him immediately said: "Your Highness, this kind of artillery is also called Eagle Falcon or Half Snake Gun!" ”

When Xu Guangqi introduced artillery, there was a set of names for Xiyi artillery, but the Hongyi cannon was more vivid, so the name Hongyi cannon was mostly used.

"Eagle Falcon." Wang Yan hurriedly smiled and said, "Director Bo misunderstood, our side has always been called that." ”

As he spoke, he looked at the cannon next to the model, which was many times larger than the Hongyi cannon, and asked with some surprise: "What is the name of this artillery, it seems to weigh at least six or seven thousand catties!" ”

"This is a big snake gun, also known as a Western cannon!" Bi Maoliang said.

Bo Yingli also said: "This is not the largest, it is generally used for fortresses, and the smaller ones weigh four or five thousand catties, mainly used for the bottom of the battleship." ”

Western three-tier warships, in order to maintain the center of gravity, generally put eighteen pound guns on the bottom layer, and the magnitude of the guns on the top is gradually reduced.

Wang Yan was not too surprised, because he already knew a few years ago that the Hongyi cannon salvaged from the sea by the Ming Dynasty was nothing more than a cannon on a Western armed merchant ship, and it was about a twelve-pounder cannon.

According to the Western saying, four or five thousand catties should be an eighteen-pounder cannon, and the Hongyi cannon of the Ming Dynasty was mostly a twelve-pounder cannon of two or three thousand catties, and this six or seven thousand catties should be a thirty-two-pounder cannon.

There are not many ships in the West equipped with four or five thousand pounds of heavy artillery, and most of them are in the West, and they will not sail to the East if they have nothing to do, and most of the sea sports are armed merchant ships.

"Can you make this cannon? How much does a course cost? "Such a thing, Da Ming must have, Wang Yan touched the model, looked up and asked.

"I can make it!" Bi Maoliang nodded affirmatively, "The Ministry of Industry Casting Workshop, 100 catties of cast cannon iron, about six taels of silver, casting a cannon like this, raw materials plus artificial technology, will not exceed five hundred taels." ”

Before the Industrial Revolution, there weren't really many differences or gaps in technology.

Five hundred taels of one gate, to be honest, is a bit expensive, but the total economic volume of the Ming Dynasty, which accounts for at least more than half of the world, is no problem if you want to build it.

Wang Yan pondered, "Lone will let the Ministry of War place an order according to the need, and you are ready to contact the workshop of the Ministry of Industry to provide them with technology and make a batch first." ”

Bi Maoliang hurriedly said: "Your Highness, rest assured, we will definitely help the Ministry of Engineering to build the concoction." ”

The main artillery of the Ming Dynasty now is the twelve-pound Hongyi cannon, and the eighteen-pound one is relatively few, and now it is actually necessary to build a thirty-two-pound cannon, and the span can be said to be very large.

However, compared to these giant cannons, Wang Yan was more interested in small cannons of about six or seven pounds.

Wang Yan looked at the many molds, and suddenly saw a small cannon, which was obviously used for field battles.

Because it is placed on top of the gun carriage, the tail bead of the cannon is stuck in the arc-shaped iron trough, and the tail bead can be fixed at different angles with iron bolts according to different shooting angles.

The gun carriage had only two wheels and a ring at the tail, which could be towed away by horses.

Wang Yan immediately became interested when he saw it, "The reaction in the army is that the air tightness of the Franc machine gun is insufficient, the firing range is short, and the power is small, so it cannot meet the needs of the army." Since the firearm was equipped with the army, the firepower of the infantry army has increased, but the strength of the artillery team has not kept up, which limits the flexibility of the army. ”

Bo Yingli had already seen Wang Yan notice the small cannon, and he immediately said: "Your Royal Highness, this cannon is an improved version of the Burgundy cannon, the front sight and the light door cooperate with the gun rail at the tail of the cannon, which can quickly adjust the muzzle for quick fire and quick aiming, the key is that it is made of bronze, very light, and can be dragged by two mules and horses, which is very convenient for maneuvering and very in line with the requirements of His Royal Highness." ”