[Second Update.] 】

Guo Kui walked a full five miles before he saw Zhang Dian and his party who went out of the city to greet him.

The old handsome man who ranked first in the Great Song Army had a modest smile on his face, and he had already scolded in his stomach, what do you do to come out to greet you honestly, you sit in the city, I rode into the city, and it is convenient for everyone. Now it's good, so that he has to get off the horse and walk from a long distance.

If the court really wants to give face, it is enough to directly give his son a Jinshi background. Guo Kui has no other requirements, he just hopes that future generations will not become military generals. Bullied! Involvement!

Guo Kui complained, but he couldn't see it on his face.

Zhang Dian strode up to meet him, with a smile on his face, and when he came up, he jerked Guo Kui, "If it weren't for Taiwei guarding the north gate, how could I sleep peacefully in Beijing?" ”

"The victory of the official army over Liao is presided over by the Empress Taishang, and the minister, privy councillor, and political participation are strategizing in Beijing. Han Xuanhui also attacked his flank in the east of the river. That's how you can barely resist it. Guo Kui's work is really not worth mentioning. The seal of the imperial court, Guo Kui deserves it. ”

The scene and etiquette were done, and he thanked Empress Taishang for her kindness in the direction of the imperial city, and Guo Kui was finally able to get on the horse.

He was parallel to Zhang Dian on the official road, but he was only slightly half a foot behind. After chatting a few words of gossip about the battle with the Liao, Guo Kui mentioned one thing that he is very concerned about now: "I heard that Han Xuanhui is presiding over the Firearms Bureau, and I heard rumors that what artillery is being built inside, but is it true?" ”

"It's true."

"If it's okay, Guo Kui really wants to see it."

"The captain came back just in time, the first trial cannon is about to be cast in the past two days, and if it is successful, presumably Han Yukun will definitely ask the captain to come over for guidance."

"Oh. That's really good! Guo Kui was in Hebei, and he also heard that artillery was especially better than thunderbolt artillery and eight-bull crossbows. If the officers and soldiers have such sharp weapons in the future, it will be easy to break the thieves. ”

Guo Kui, accompanied by Zhang Dian, chatted all the way to Xuande Gate, and Song Yongchen was in front of the door, passing the will of Empress Taishang, and ordered him to enter the palace immediately to see him.

As soon as he arrived in Beijing, he crossed the line. As a famous general of the town, Guo Kui's face is given enough by the imperial court.

Not to mention that after he met him, a series of rewards from the imperial court, from mansions to fields, gold and silver, as well as knighthoods and food, on the whole, were much richer than Han Gang, and he was the only current festival envoy other than the nobles of the clan. You must know that Guo Kui does not have Han Gang's decision-making skills, and he can get such a reward, which shows his wealth.

For military generals, the consistent attitude of the Great Song Dynasty is to be high, generous, and reduce their power. It's just that there is no Jinshi of Guo Zhongxiao. In this regard, the civil servants are still watching very closely.

The mansion rewarded by the imperial court had been cleaned up by the Kaifeng Mansion before Guo Kui arrived in Beijing, and as soon as the reward was said during the day, Guo Kui's family moved in at night.

The huge house is just a little empty. The hundreds of people brought back by Guo Kui could not even fill one-third of the houses, so they had to support the Taiwei Mansion and hire more talents in the capital. However, Guo Kui handed over these family affairs to his old wife Shi to take care of, and his family did not pay attention to them.

During the day, he was given a banquet in the palace, Guo Kui was not full, and ate a little more at night, while taking a walk in the unfamiliar back garden to watch the scenery and eat by the way, he recruited his son Guo Zhongxiao to accompany him.

Although Guo Zhongxiao was studying in Guozijian to prepare for the Jinshi examination, his own Laozi came back and went out of the city to meet him the day before, and then followed Guo Kui's side.

Walking onto a small bridge and looking down at the flowing water under the bridge, Guo Kui asked, "What is the big thing in the capital during this time?" ”

"If you talk about big things, there is nothing like inner meditation."

"That's Wenchen's business. Good things are not the father's turn. Guo Kui said stupidly. Mo said that he was not in the capital, even if he was in the capital, and he was still in Xifu, those civil officials would not take him. Maybe they will send troops to surround their mansions.

"That is, a few days ago, Cai Jing of the Yushitai impeached Han Xuanhui for being too high, which was not conducive to the national Zuo, and Han Xuanhui said that as long as Cai Jing was an official outside, he would not be the prime minister for a day."

The Father heard about it. Although Han Gang is not a military general, he is so popular, and the suspicion on his body is heavier than that of his father. Don't you take the opportunity to find a step down and wait for the Son of Heaven to send him to Lingnan after he takes power? Guo Kui's laughter was cold and bitter, he, a martial artist in a high position, knew best how to avoid suspicion.

Regarding Guo Kui's words, Guo Zhongxiao was a little unimpressed. In the Guozi Prison, there are all kinds of speculations about why Han Gang swore an oath. Some people think that Han Gang's character is strong, and when he saw Cai Jing slandering him, he couldn't be angry, so he made such a poisonous oath, and as for other reasons, it was just incidental. Some people also speculate the same as Guo Kui. There are also those who think that Han Gang wants to keep his qi safe and sound, and he has changed his means to defile himself.

But Guo Zhongxiao still remembers Han Gang's new life after the plate armor and made a spaceship, and he always felt that these speculations were still too superficial, and Han Gang's mind was treacherous, and it was not so easy to guess what he was thinking.

Looking back and seeing his son's half-believing appearance, Guo Kui was unhappy, and snorted coldly, "If you don't believe it, don't believe it, if you have something to say, say it directly." When did you tell the truth, and you were unhappy? ”

Where did Guo Zhongxiao dare to tell the truth, "The child just can't figure it out, Han Xuanhui has already let go of the two mansions, and he can still do the affairs of the Heart Firearms Bureau and the Mint Bureau with peace of mind." ”

Otherwise, how to say that Guo Zhongxiao can follow the text, give him such a beating, Guo Kui immediately remembered what he had been paying attention to during this time: "To be honest, Han Gang said that artillery can be worthy of thunderbolt cannons and eight-bull crossbows, and he absolutely doesn't believe it for his father." ”

"For what?"

"Different weapons have different uses. What does Wujing always have to do to list so many weapons? are all useful. The artillery cart and the bed crossbow have their own functions, and they cannot be replaced by a single weapon. ”

What is for the moment, for the purpose of the moment. Plate armor replaces the fish scale armor of the past, from the lowest-grade step armor to the highest-grade Mingguang armor, now all of them are in the style of plate armor, but many generals have to put a layer of chain mail inside when they go into battle, which cannot be eliminated.

Another example is Chengdu Fu Road in the south, where the special rattan armor in the southern barbarians is not much worse than the ordinary iron armor after being coated with wet mud, and it is far lighter. After the plate armor came out, a large number of rattan armor was still stored in the arsenal of Chengdu Prefecture.

The artillery is a thunderbolt to the extreme, and the bed crossbow is an eight-bull crossbow to the extreme, and artillery can replace these two completely different types of weapons at the same time, and the use methods and functions are also completely different, and they can be used on the battlefield. Guo Kui didn't believe it. At most, in certain cases, the artillery wins. Thunderbolts and eight-bull crossbows cannot be eliminated.

"But it is said outside that Han Xuanhui is a man of his word, since he dares to say that the artillery is good, it must not be wrong, otherwise why would he say that."

Han Gang didn't know how to speak. What he preached publicly, it was not impossible, but it always dragged on time, and the iron boat that he said in front of the emperor back then has not even seen a shadow now. Now when it comes to artillery, I can't make sure what comes out. ”

"Actually, the iron ship already has it." Guo Zhongxiao whispered.

Guo Kui raised his eyebrows: "Where, why haven't I heard of it?" ”

"It was made by the Ordnance Supervisor a few days ago. It's still too small to carry people. ”

"Oh, that's a shadow." Guo Kui sneered, flicked his sleeves and continued to walk forward: "How many years has this been?" ”

Guo Kui didn't believe Han Gang's promise. In his opinion, Han Gang can at most come up with something that fills the façade, and then make a new gadget that works around, so that the world will forget about artillery.

It's like when he said he wanted to build an iron ship, but he took out the plate armor. And back then, Han Gang said that he wanted to open up the transportation from Jingxiang to the capital, but in the end, he left the track at Fangcheng Mountain and didn't care. The imperial court was happy to collect the money, and no one remembered the project that Han Gang vowed to complete at the beginning.

It's all the same.

Anyway, he wanted to see with his own eyes what tricks Han Gang could conjure.

……………………

'Guo Kui mentioned artillery? ’

When Han Gang heard the news of Zhang Kui's dispatch, he didn't care, as Guo Kui, of course, he would want to know what the most advanced weapons of the Great Song Dynasty looked like.

However, Zhang Dian said that it was not advisable to invite Guo Kui to watch after the casting was completed, and with Han Gang's idea, it was better to wait until the experiment was successful before inviting all parties to review.

At this stage, in addition to the early success of the shells, not only the artillery body has not yet been cast, but even the gunpowder is also a problem.

The charcoal calcined from various woods, as well as the fire nitrate after dissolving water and drying it, plus sulfur, it takes a lot of time to test it to find the most suitable ratio. The original formula ratio of one sulfur, two nitrate and three charcoal was too rough, and what Han Gang needed was a refined answer.

In addition, how to prevent the resurgence of black powder. Han Gang can be sure that there must be a simple and easy way. Since later generations were able to use black powder in warfare until the nineteenth century, there must be a solution to the problem of the resurgence of black powder, but people need to think about it and find it with their hearts.

But before that, artillery has to come in handy. To show the power of artillery, compared to thunderbolts and eight-bull crossbows, this is now enough.

Improvement should be done step by step, and there is no need to go to the sky all at once. In the process of improvement, more outstanding craftsmen can be promoted, and the research team can be fully trained. This is a virtuous circle, and all Han Gang has to do is make requests, decide on the direction, and review the results.

Han Gang is now distracted from the new issue of Nature. In his hand he was holding a sample of a freshly engraved engraving plate.

Looking at the words above, you can see that two of the words were engraved and found to be wrong, and then the original version was shoveled out to correct it. If it's movable type printing, it's not so troublesome.

Movable type printing, it is necessary to standardize the commonly used words. Otherwise, wooden movable type can make do with a word that is not there at the critical moment, but what about metal movable type?

If movable type printing doesn't work, Han Gang still has the heart to try lithographing. It's just that compared to the lead movable type, the lithographic technique, Han Gang has only heard of the name, and he doesn't know anything else. The principle can be speculated to be similar to the stele extension at this time, but how to make concave and convex lines on the stone slab? The easiest guess is acid etching, Han Gang had seen such a pattern carved on glass in the set of popular science books he had read in his previous life, and if he used a similar principle, it was indeed possible to succeed. But how much chemical raw material is needed to etch an entire stone except for the parts with words?

And there is also the problem of ink, after another letter to explain in detail, Longxi finally knew what Han Gang wanted, not an ink block made after burning oil to make smoke, but used to print ink that can adhere to the metal. But so far there has not been a single letter. Seeing Feng Congyi this time, he didn't have a positive reply, which made Han Gang very impatient. However, he also confirmed that it is not easy to get a good ink.

The further you go, the more difficult it is to develop science and technology, and it is impossible to break it with a single sentence like thunderbolt artillery or medical care. Many studies cannot be done by one person or a small group alone, and progress can only be achieved by involving more people.

Holding the sample issue of "Nature", Han Gang sighed, saying that the key to everything is still in universal education.