Chapter 260: The Wedding (Part II)

If you want a high temperature, it is better to use coke. Li Wei does not understand the complex coking technology. But knowing the simple principle, it can also be achieved with a clumsy method, placing bituminous coal in a sealed environment and blowing high temperature into it, the principle is similar to Zhu Qucheng's principle, let it dry, pyrolyze, melt, bond, solidify, shrink in this sealed space, and after cooling, it will become coke.

Where is the coal, I don't remember much, only know Datong, Zhunbei, Xuzhou these super large coal mines. Even if you remember it, it's buried in the ground, and with the current technology, it's impossible to find it. If you have this ability, you can have coal, copper, and iron in such and such a way, and even point to the Luzon Islands, where there is a lot of copper, which will be of great help to the Tang Dynasty. It's a pity that no, even if you remember the exact shape, the landform has changed a lot from later generations, but it still can't be realized. However, there are many open-pit coal mines now, and no one has paid attention to them, all of which are primitive ore sources.

If you find anthracite, you can make honeycomb coal, unlike now, charcoal is used, especially in winter, when there is little cotton, most of them stay at home, and use charcoal to bake the fire, and the same is true for the palace. So a large number of trees were cut down, and why Shaanxi became a high soil and high slope was caused by overdevelopment. Not only did the land become a loess slope, but the rivers were damaged. Like the current Jing, Wei, Wei, waterlogging, Feng, Shan, Ba, Chan eight rivers around Chang'an, will there be in the future? No, it's only recorded in the annals of history!

When you think about it this way, it's a lot more important.

While pondering, Zhu Qucheng asked cautiously, "Your Highness, how is the minister's discussion?" ”

The prince said it was good, but if he didn't say it was good, he still couldn't get anything.

"This is a very good idea," Li Wei replied, not an invention, but an improvement, especially this tic-tac-toe stone burning method, which will save a lot of charcoal or coke. Therefore, he immediately ordered the guards to take out a reward of two thousand yuan.

Dai Zhide whispered to him: "Your Highness, although the toffee comes from the East Palace, it has already fallen into the people, and it should not be exploited too harshly. ”

I don't know Li Wei's details, but the prince is lavish, and the money definitely doesn't come from the East Palace.

Li Wei was happy, and immediately called the prime ministers over, this time it was regarded as forcing out his potential, the new canal had not yet begun, and all kinds of things that were beneficial to the country and the military appeared one after another. Briefly talking about coke, blast furnace steelmaking dare not think, but the higher the temperature, the better the quality of steel, or iron, not only steel, but also porcelain, no matter how charcoal is burned, it can't burn high-temperature porcelain. With high temperatures, the porcelain will really deform. The voyage came out, and the Tang Dynasty always had to have more things to show up. Porcelain passed by, but I didn't dare to say much, mainly talking about steelmaking.

As soon as Liu Renliang heard this, he became cautious, not only about the coal, but also about the gunpowder, and even sent some guards to be the helpers of the Qingxu Daoist to help him develop the formula ratio.

Immediately send someone down to inquire.

Then they discussed the matter of planting trees, at first everyone was very strange, Li Wei briefly said, the roots of the tree solidify the soil, and then said that Weishui quicksand, lack of convincing. However, Li Wei's suggestion is very simple, all barren mountains and mountains, encourage local officials to lead the people to plant trees, and after 20 years, the trees will become mature and belong to the tree planter, and there is only one rule that one must be replanted if one is cut down. There is no coercive method, the people will plant if they want, and they will not sin if they are unwilling, and they will not worry about the people.

Whether it has an effect, Li Wei is not sure, but it is definitely better to plant than not to plant, if the coal is officially mined, reduce the cutting of forests due to charcoal burning, and the combination of the two will help more or less soil erosion.

I wrote a letter to Liang Jinzhu to return to Beijing quietly, it was about firecrackers, black powder appeared, and with the wisdom of the Chinese people, I thought that firecrackers would appear soon. Let other businessmen make it, it is not good to collect taxes, otherwise it is "competing with the people for profit", it is better to let Liang Jinzhu dig the first pot of gold. As for whether it will be expensive after paying taxes, Li Wei doesn't care, this thing has no other effect except for making noise and adding some festive atmosphere, on the contrary, it will give rise to some incidents. It's just honeycomb coal, which is intended to be made by the people themselves.

So a few days later, the Tang Dynasty was looking for coal.

If it is an individual search, it is not easy, even if there is, it is negligent, but the state to search, a few days later, there is news that a open-pit coal mine has been found in Zhongnan Mountain. At this time, the bounty list was unveiled again, and he was another craftsman, a pyrotechnician in the weapons superintendent, named Kang Yin, who was half Zhaowu and half Han with nine surnames.

The most common weapons in the Tang Dynasty are bows and arrows, swords, or Mo knives, horizontal knives, horizontal knives are used more than Mo knives, as well as large lances, guns, spears, and others, such as the weapons used by Xue Rengui are the combination of spears and guns, halberds, and hammers, the golden gourd used in the ceremonial guard of the imperial court also belongs to a kind of hammer, not necessarily round, all kinds of shapes, as well as like a pagoda-shaped whip, infantry short-range combat with a mace, sticks, folk mostly used to fight, rare on the battlefield, less common is hook, boring, pestle and other weapons, In ancient times, the commonly used Ge was rarely used by soldiers, either it was a sword, not a straight sword in Tibet, and the sword of the Central Plains was often worn, and it was also rarely practical on the battlefield.

There are also some generals who have designed some strange weapons for themselves, as well as some equipment, so it involves spiral patterns. I accidentally see that if the two threads match the size, they will go up and down by rotating themselves. There was no reward from Li Wei, just a curious discovery. After hearing the bounty, I used my brain and then designed a device.

To build a steel column, the steel tip must be made of 100 steel, and then the upper hoop can be replaced after the steel tip is smoothed, and the steel column is behind it, and the appearance is all threaded. Then create an iron ring with the same size of the inner ring, and the inner side of the iron ring is also a thread, but the thread of this spiral and the steel column must be consistent. Under the iron ring are three feet, standing on the ground, and there are four holes on the periphery, inserted with long iron rods, and several or dozens of big men push the iron ring to rotate and squeeze the steel column down.

When Li Wei heard it, he said, "Damn! ”

This is the original version of the drilling rig, used in water conservancy, although it is said to make a hole, but with a hole can be put gunpowder into it, improved well, it can also be used in the cliff wall to play the hole of the plank road, used in civil use, the building will have a role, and even when digging a well, it can also be slightly improved, it can also come in handy. Only amazed by the wisdom of the common people.

But that's all there is to the surprise, after these things were invented, no one else has come up with any good methods. However, it was far beyond Li Wei's expectations. With these things, at least mining stone will be less than half the difficulty.

At the end of September, because of the large number of manpower and financial resources, the experiment was very fast. However, because of the appearance of Li Wei, it greatly changed the course of history, and the early gunpowder was used in the military soon after it came out, but because the ratio was wrong, the ratio of nitrate to sulfur was almost one to one, and the arson line was low, and the explosion power was low, so the application was not very common. By the Song Dynasty, a variety of formulas appeared, and gunpowder weapons gradually improved. It wasn't until after the Qing Dynasty that the formula of gunpowder really became standardized.

However, because Li Wei demanded explosive power and emphasized the different proportions of the experiment, the progress was accelerated by a thousand years at once. In the end, the ratio of nitrate, sulfur and carbon was 71 to 154, which was very close to the best standard for black powder explosion 74.8 to 11.8 and 11.3. Besides, the purity of sulfur and saltpeter is not high, and there is no real standard. It changed from powder to granular, at least to some extent comparable to the advanced gunpowder of the late Ming Dynasty. And it is really regarded as a civilian material, not a plaything for fireworks or a weapon of war.

At this point, everything is ready, only the east wind is owed!

So on the second day of October, the construction of the Guangtong Canal officially began, but the plan changed slightly. Originally, it was intended to start by dredging the Guangtong Canal, but now it has become a new canal to dig the Fengshui to the Guangtong Canal. Because there is a section in the middle, the top is dirt, and the bottom of the riverbed is rock. However, unlike the stubborn rocks of the Renmen Peninsula, the rocks are mostly limestone, which is relatively easy to mine.

There are also a lot of people, and the salary of 50 yuan a day, although it includes food expenses, and they also bring their own tents and dry food, as well as bring some tools by themselves, for the people who have the means or ability, the treatment is lower. But for the poor and helpless people, it is winter, and there is nothing else to do, so they can earn some allowances. And it is very humane, every seven days of "paid leave" for one day, and two meals every seven days, some meat added by the imperial court, comforting the people, and also stipulating a team of every 300 people, and they elect three people to cook, and the three can also enjoy allowances. This measure once again put an end to the greed of officials, who want to eat as much as they want, and do it themselves, and officials who want to be greedy have no way to get into their pockets. As a result, more than 38,000 people were gathered in a short time, and if it were not for the fear of wasting people's and financial resources, it would have been even more.

Of course, this is working on the plains, and when you get to the Danshui Canal, or the newly opened river on the Renmen Peninsula, the allowance will not be increased, and it is estimated that not so many people have such high enthusiasm. But the officials all smiled bitterly, the prince did this, and the people's anger would definitely be gone, but the subsidy alone would cost more than 60,000 yuan in January, plus other expenses, and 100,000 yuan in a month. There is also a subsidy for the demolition of houses, and the 200,000 yuan allocated by the imperial court cannot be maintained for a winter. Although the people have to rest because the weather is too cold in Layue, it must start work in the winter month, otherwise tomorrow the spring water will come, and the Guangtong Canal will not be completed, and it will be delayed until the end of autumn next year, and it will be a huge expense to re-pump and discharge the flood.

But the opening of the Guangtong Canal, is also a major event, the Guangtong Canal, if the three new rivers are completed, coupled with the Danshui Canal, such a major water conservancy project, for the country, no less than the expedition, just a side work, one is the water conservancy work.

Therefore, Li Zhi recuperated for more than a month, and finally issued an edict to personally lead his ministers to watch.

Sick and cured.

But Li Wei was guessing that he had solved all the troubles, and he saw that the two channels were possible, and even because the businessmen began to move, with the money to raise donations, his father came to grab the credit. Could it be that this is a son carrying a tree, and Lao Tzu enjoying the shade? Can this not be robbed, hearing the talk of the government and the opposition, Li Zhi felt that most of the chairs under his buttocks were gone in Daming Palace.

On the second day of October, between Fengshui and Guangtong Canal, there are crowds of people, and tens of thousands of people gather together, which is very spectacular. Even Yan Liben was supported and came to the construction site.

Wei Hongji asked the soldiers to beat the drums, and the construction of the project began. Tens of thousands of people worked together, and soon the mud layer on the riverbed was lifted to the stone layer below. A few new things are starting to show up. First, 100 drill rigs, which had been improved by the superintendent, drilled the rock layers. This is also the power of the state apparatus, otherwise with so many drilling rigs and hammers, I don't know that it will be done well in that year, and of course, it will cost a lot of money.

After drilling out of the stone hole, put it into the ** explosion, even if it is an improved black powder, it is impossible to blow up deep pits, but blow up shallow pits, and some stones are blown up and fly into the air. Li Wei didn't think so, and the people and monarchs who could watch saw this kind of power, and their faces turned pale one by one. Cracks also appeared on the stone layer. Next, began to ram with a cannon hammer, and it was impossible to ram the entire riverbed, just to make a tic-tac-toe trench.

Constantly drilling, blasting, ramming, three horizontal and four vertical tic-tac-toe trenches appeared.

Because it was not over yet, Li Zhi led his ministers to have a simple lunch at the construction site. In the afternoon, I continued to watch, and from time to time some people used sledgehammers to break the remaining stones, and other people immediately picked the gravel aside, which was just used to make the embankment.

Then in front of the three horizontal ditches, a huge square furnace was put on it, and the people were asked to put some of the coke refined in the past few days in the furnace, and there were more than a dozen large bellows, which were blown and burned. Smoke and fire immediately rose from two large makeshift chimneys at the other end.

After burning for nearly an hour, all the white heat on the stone was steamed, and finally all the water was evaporated, and the stone began to glow red, and then white vinegar was sprayed on it with a bamboo pipe. It's a bit wasteful to do this, but the first battle is to sacrifice the flag, so it's reasonable to waste some. The white vinegar was sprinkled on the hot stone, and a thick mist came out again, exuding a sour smell, which was quickly evaporated, whether there was a chemical reaction, or how much it affected the stone, Li Wei could not know. The soldier continued to sprinkle, and after more than half an hour, the stone began to really glow red, and Wei Hongji ordered again: "Stop." ”

When it stopped burning, the square furnace was carried away, and the water flow valve stored on it was opened, and it rushed into the trench at once, and many people outside poured water on the surface of the stone, and the riverbed immediately made a beeping sound, and at a speed visible to the inner eye, cracks appeared. But before it stopped, the stone cooled down, and the water was immediately pumped away by dozens of new water wheels, pried open the earth, which was almost burned to bricks, and stuffed it in**. This time, the amount of ** is very large, in order to make the ** power better horizontal development, and press the mud bag on the **. Then ignited, the amount was large and the power was greater, even if it was far away, the eardrum shook and ached.

Then countless huge stones were blasted into the sky. There were also some stones that stood stubbornly and were rammed again with cannon hammers. Tens of thousands of people also began to come over, some with baskets, some with crowbars, some with poles, carrying large stones and small stones to both sides of the riverbed. It is not forced labor, but an allowance, and the motivation of the people is very high, and in just one day's work, this riverbed with a length of more than 30 meters and a width of more than 10 meters is basically formed. In fact, the stones in this area are not hard, and the speed is incomparable with the speed of opening mountains and splitting rivers in later generations, but in this era, the monarchs and ministers and the people are dazzled, and they smack their tongues one by one.

Yan Liben said twice: "The new canal can be completed, and the new canal can be completed." ”

Of course, this is the riverbed in this area, like the riverbed of the Xinkai River, the width should reach at least 20 meters, and the depth may reach an average of 20 meters, plus the hardness of the stone, it is still not easy to mine. There is another problem, which Li Wei still has not solved, how to build an embankment in the deep water of the rapids. These two difficulties will be encountered many times not only in the Xinkai River, but also in the Danshui Canal. It's just that the danger of the river is missing. However, it is much simpler than the original clumsy mining method, and it also saves a lot of manpower and material resources. As for the difficulty in the back, since the prince can come up with a solution in just one month, it shouldn't be difficult.

Yan Liben has a lot of confidence in Li Wei. This old man, who was originally exhausted, only wanted to see the new law to open the stone, so he supported it to come today. When I returned home that night, I passed away with a smile. Of course, it may be a matter of talent, it may be a matter of character, as a prime minister, he is not a very good prime minister, but Yan Liben is not a traitor, and he has done his best for the court.

Li Zhi was also overjoyed and said, "Reward." ”

rewarded Qingxu Daochang, Xiong Jiaoyan, Zhu Qucheng, and Kang Yin, each with 500 horses of silk and 300,000 yuan. Zhu Xiongkang and the three of them were rewarded for the second time, but this was an official reward from the imperial court. Li Wei has no objection to this. Even Qingxu also has merit, if it weren't for these Dao Masters refining the Immortal Pill in order to refine the Immortal Pill, they would not have invented or refined pure sulfur and saltpeter, and let Li Wei come by himself, there would be no way to invent gunpowder. Even if there is gunpowder, it is only black powder, and without the supplement of Xiong Zhu and the others, it is still not easy to blow up the stone.

Li Zhi looked at Li Wei again, and Li Wei said in his ear: "Father, as soon as the new canal is opened, it is for the sake of our Li family, and the sons and daughters should do it, and the father does not need to be rewarded." ”

Li Zhi said with a smile: "But it's also good news, it happens to be when your big wedding is coming, which is a good omen." ”

Li Wei and Pei Yuhe's wedding date is at the end of October B, that is, October 14, and there are only 12 days left!