Zhang Hu blinked his little eyes and saw Qian Jun take out a carved nanmu box from the cabinet in the study, open it, and inside was a black and shiny iron tool, which looked very strange.

"What is this?" Zhang Hu couldn't help but ask.

"Artillery!"

"Why is it so small? Does it work? Zhang Hu couldn't help but show some suspicion.

"You'll find out later."

Qian Jun's personal servant Wan Ping took the box from the master's hand and retreated, Qian Jun took Zhang Hu and his entourage to a remote place outside the city.

Zhang Hu looked at the verdant eyes, inexplicable, and didn't know what Qian Jun was going to do.

Wan Ping saluted to his master, and Qian Jun waved his hand: "Let's act." ”

Wan Ping opened the box, packed the gunpowder, someone had already brought a few sheep, scattered at the foot of the mountain, Wan Ping aimed, lit the fire twist, picked up the gun, there was a loud bang, a hundred steps away, the sheep who were running happily, all fell.

Qian Jun waved his hand: "Master Zhang, today I invite you to eat mutton, this is a good thing for autumn and winter tonic." ”

Zhang Hu was already stunned, and subconsciously touched his chest, he was also a martial arts master, but how could this flesh and blood body withstand such a powerful artillery?

"Darts can't be hit that accurately." Zhang Hu said to himself, "Besides, darts can't fall several sheep at once. ”

Qian Jun didn't speak, looked at the other party quietly, and waited for him to come back to his senses, then said: "Master Zhang, I am fortunate to have come to Maocheng, otherwise, how can You Junmin, that idiot, see this?" We are still dreaming of the Spring and Autumn Period, and we will climb to the top of our heads, and in the long run, one day they suddenly come to a few big ships, full of soldiers with firearms, and our Maocheng will fall into the mouth of the tiger. ”

Zhang Hu nodded again and again, not thinking that this was alarmist at all. Perhaps, twenty years ago, Maocheng only had a little tax, and the imperial court would consider closing the port, but now, with a tariff of tens of millions of taels of silver a year, who can afford this huge temptation? Then the only way to do this is to build a strong navy to protect this rich land.

From a personal point of view, Zhang Hu and the crown prince also make a lot of money a year, and they themselves are reluctant to close the port.

"Lord Wang, we can't make such a small firearm, what should we do?" Zhang Hu was worried.

"Master Zhang, when I say this, this king is also ashamed, and he won't either, if not, we will send someone to study."

"Who would teach this thing?"

"Maybe, Master Zhang, the previous dynasty, didn't you have a fan to learn? We have learned our waterwheels, gunpowder, and guide cars back, and we will let them return them now, anyway, whether they are taught or not, whether they learn or not, maybe, they will come back. ”

"Okay."

"Master Zhang, this king still has an idea, that is, we can't count on others, we will also arrange people to ponder this matter ourselves, what if there is a good result?"

Zhang Hu smacked his lips: "But, no one understands this, how can you figure it out?" ”

Qian Jun wrung his eyebrows, looked thoughtful, and said after a while: "There must be brave men under the heavy reward, we can't all count on those who learn from foreigners, we have to mobilize more and better people to engage in this industry." ”

Zhang Hu shook his head, feeling that Qian Jun was whimsical, and before he could say it, Qian Jun said again: "No, the year after tomorrow, the opening of the department and the establishment of the Ming Calculation again, you have also seen that the imperial court now wants to build ships, and the people sent to it are all Hanlin, and they will not know anything, and if those craftsmen fool him, there is no way." Besides, skilled craftsmen are still slaves in the court, smart and capable people, who wants to enter this industry? In my opinion, the imperial court should improve their status, such as the corresponding officials of the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, all of whom are promoted from the Ming Calculation Jinshi, so that they can stand out and not worry about no one engaging in this industry. ”

Zhang Hu thought so deeply and smiled: "Let's go back and tell the prince what the prince meant, but I'm afraid it's not so easy." ”

"I understand that since ancient times, 'everything is inferior, only reading is high', thousands of years, how can it be changed for a while? But people are still practical, as long as the prince can make up his mind. ”

Zhang Hu nodded: "I will convey to the crown prince what the Prince of Nanhai said, but the Prince of Nanhai still has to make his own proposals, and the prince's willingness to maintain it has been done to the extreme." ”

"This, I understand, of course the prince can't be rashly proposed, we must make some preparations first!" Qian Jun said, a melancholy look appeared on his face, "This king is far away from Jingshi, and now he speaks, it is estimated that no one will listen." ”

"How so? Who in the court can compare your prestige, Prince? ”

Qian Jun smiled bitterly and shook his head, Zhang Hu knew that this was the truth, so he quickly lowered his head, concealed his compassion, and secretly made up his mind to persuade the prince not to guard against the Prince of the South China Sea like this, and at the same time, he also cooperated with the Prince of the South China Sea to suppress and suppress Wang Yingcheng's forces, otherwise, the situation is really not optimistic.

Zhang Hu said goodbye and left, his mood was also a little low, he has now become the prince's henchman, which should be a good thing, but most of them are making money for the prince, but the industry is a little lax, in the palace, his deputy is quietly rising, the last time he went back, he found that his words were not so good, some people began to disobey the yang and yin, Zhang Hu is trying to rectify, but he doesn't want the prince to send it out again, Qian Jun's words just now aroused his worries. He is still in the capital for most of the year, the prince of the South China Sea came to Maocheng, and it was three years in a flash, and some people in the capital didn't take him seriously, Zhang Hu didn't have to think about it, and he knew that this was true.

"Fortunately, the prince is very good and trusts him, and when he goes back, he will deal with those people ruthlessly, killing chickens and making an example, otherwise, I will be like the Prince of the South China Sea." Zhang Hu gritted his teeth viciously, with a hideous look, and clenched his fists.

Soon, Qian Jun wrote to the emperor, proposing to re-enlighten the calculation, and also proposed to open up the way of speech, a hundred schools of thought together, and reform the imperial court employment system to meet the requirements of the development of the new era.

Re-mentioning the contention of a hundred schools, Wen Jin persuaded Qian Jun to spend a lot of effort to depose the hundred schools of thought and respect Confucianism alone, which is to consolidate the basic idea of feudal rule, and the inheritance of thousands of years, Confucianism has penetrated into the bone marrow of Jurong scholars, and it is really difficult to change.

Wen Jin knew that she came to that time and space, and because of this, she caused deep harm, but fortunately, she came to this time and space, and it was not irreparable, and if she didn't work hard, she would come to this trip in vain. As Qian Jun expected, the prince was unequivocal and rejected his recital, which was for the ministers to see, and it was also for the prince to test the degree of acceptance of the ministers, and wait for him to write again and again, and then decide how to go in the future. Qian Jun was not discouraged at all, he had already been mentally prepared, the road was long, and all the success was not so easy.

...