Mao Yuanyi said with a smile: "Xiaobao, you think too simply, now the emperor is building new-style schools in various places, which is very different from the previous private schools. You have to learn pinyin and arithmetic in the normal school, and there are special palace maids to teach you. These palace maids were all taught by the emperor himself, so you can't lose your manners. ”

Wang Wei clenched his little fist and said: "The concubine doesn't believe it, how difficult can that pinyin arithmetic be, so that talented women like my sister and me need to learn." ”

The next day, Mao Yuanyi begged to see the emperor and said that the two daughters were willing to enter the normal school to study and prepare to be the first batch of female teachers in the Ming Dynasty. Zhu Youxiao was overjoyed and said: "Mao Qing's move is really a model of my Ming Dynasty. Mao Qing's two concubines were given ten pieces of silk and ten colored coins to encourage. ”

Mao Yuanyi thanked him and said: "Your Majesty, I came here today because Master Bi thinks that the flowering bomb can be put into practice, and I ask Your Majesty to go to the acceptance and guidance." ”

Zhu Youxiao said happily: "That's great, factory minister, call the cabinet and go and have a look." ”

He took the five cabinet ministers to the weapons test site of the Ordnance Bureau. There are more than two miles of road from the Ordnance Bureau, and there is a cement road in the middle. The three bigwigs of the Weapons Bureau are waiting here.

Zhu Youxiao said: "Come and try it." ”

Sun Yuanhua invited the emperor and ministers to the observation site, and Mao Yuanyi helped Bi Maokang conduct the final inspection. The cannon was 500 paces away from the observation site, and the preset impact point was 500 paces away from the observation site, and now there were more than 20 straw men and more than a dozen cattle and sheep staying there.

Mao Yuanyi waved a small red flag three times, and Sun Yuanhua also asked people to wave the small yellow flag three times, and then said to Zhu Youxiao: "Your Majesty, this is the beginning." ”

Zhu Youxiao nodded, Sun Yuanhua asked people to wave the yellow flag again, and Mao Yuanyi returned the flag, only to see a burst of smoke erupting from the muzzle of the cannon, and a cannonball flew towards the point of impact. Just as it was about to hit the ground, the shell exploded, and there was a cloud of smoke and the screams of cattle and sheep in the smoke.

When the smoke cleared, I saw the grass man and the cattle and sheep falling to the ground. Sun Chuanting said: "Your Majesty, the minister wants to come close and have a look." ”

Zhu Youxiao actually wanted to go and have a look, but he knew that the ministers would not allow it, so he nodded and said, "Look carefully." ”

After Sun Chuanting thanked the emperor, he came to the bullet point. He lifted the armor from the straw man and found that some were one-layer, others two-tiered or even three-tiered. In the direction of the shell explosion, even the three layers of armor were already completely penetrated. The cattle and sheep are even more miserable, the cattle are full of dense bullet holes, and a few sheep can no longer be seen to be sheep.

He returned to the observation site and said, "Your Majesty, within thirty steps of the cannonball landing, all the layers of armor have been pierced, and within ten steps of the three layers of armor have also been pierced. Cattle forty paces away were killed, and sheep were unrecognizable. This kind of shell is much more lethal than solid bullets and chain shells. ”

Zhu Youxiao nodded, and then Bi Maokang stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, the ministers use a time-delay fuse, and the outer shell is thinner, and the inside is filled with gunpowder and small projectiles. When a shell lands or is about to hit the ground, the fuse ignites the gunpowder in the shell and fires the projectile out, killing and injuring the enemy in large numbers. This shell was effective against cavalry and dense enemy forces, but not very effective during sieges. ”

Zhu Youxiao said: "Take a cannonball and take a look." ”

Mao Yuanyi came over with a cannonball and a fuse and placed it on the table at the observation site. Zhu Youxiao saw a wooden disc behind the round cannonball and asked, "What is this?" ”

Bi Maokang replied: "Because the shell is relatively thin, there was a situation where the muzzle of the cannon burst as soon as it came out of the previous experiment, so everyone thought of such a way to install a cork disc behind the shell, so that it can be buffered and not rupture the shell." ”

Zhu Youxiao said: "Oh, I see, this disc can not only play a buffering role, but it should also make the shell shoot farther." ”

Bi Maokang said excitedly: "Your Majesty is indeed born a saint, and the ministers only knew it after the experiment, and Your Majesty can understand it at a glance, and it is indeed a person who is born to know." ”

Zhu Youxiao said with a smile: "This disc increases the air tightness, which of course will increase the range of the shell." Is this tube in front of you a fuse? Take a look. ”

Mao Yuanyi took out the fuse and handed it to the emperor. "This is a wooden fuse, and the gunpowder in it has tested the combustion rate, so according to the range that the gun can reach, the corresponding length is specially made to ensure that the gunpowder in the cannonball is ignited when it is about to land. ”

Zhu Youxiao looked at the fuse carefully, thought for a while and said: "Now there is only this kind of flowering shell, and this kind of cannon is used, this is a twelve-pound cannon, so if we want to make a larger cannonball, use a cannon of other calibers, then the length of the fuse will have to be changed, right?" ”

Bi Maokang replied: "Indeed, if you use a fifteen-pound cannon or even a twenty-four-pound cannon, then the length of the fuse must be changed accordingly. ”

Zhu Youxiao said: "If the 12-pound cannon is still used, but the purpose of the shell may be different, some are to kill infantry or cavalry, and some are to blow up the obstacles in front, the amount of charge and the angle of the muzzle will also be different, and the landing time is also different, and the fuse still has to be changed, right?" ”

Bi Maokang looked at the emperor and said, "Yes, the cannonballs are different, but you can use different fuses of different lengths, so there is no problem." It's just that the angle of the muzzle is different, and it can be changed at any time, and there is no way for the fuse to change with it. ”

Zhu Youxiao smiled and said, "So what I mean is that we can change the fuse at any time." Now this fuse is ignited at one end and ignites the gunpowder inside the shell at the other end. If we mark the woodpipe fuse with a scale, different shells and different angles, the required distance can be calculated, we send this standard to the soldier, the soldier before firing the shell, calculate the distance, and make a hole in this position in the woodpipe, so as to change the time when the fuse ignites the gunpowder. ”

Bi Maokang stared at the emperor blankly, his eyes motionless, but he seemed to have no focus at all. Seeing this, Mao Yuanyi quietly tugged at his sleeve. Only then did he react, and immediately knelt on the ground and said: "Your Majesty, state affairs are handled by all the ministers, and Your Majesty only needs to control the overall situation." The ministers are courageous, and ask Your Majesty to be stationed in the Ordnance Bureau to guide the research of the ministers. Your Majesty's words are better than half a year's effort. ”

Ye Xianggao hurriedly stepped forward and scolded: "Bi Maokang, are you phlegm?" What crazy thing to say? Sun Yuanhua didn't ask anyone to take him away. ”