In the imperial study, Li Wenhou, the head of the household, accompanied the four old princes to drink tea.

It's all old foxes.

After knowing that all this was already in Li Chen'an's calculations, and there was no room for maneuver at this moment, they quickly adjusted their mentality and made trade-offs, and became deeply interested in the win-win strategy that Li Wenhou said.

So they didn't wait for Li Wenhou's subsequent visit, but drank tea and discussed in the imperial study.

This is exactly what Li Chenan wants.

Li Wenhou has full authority to handle this kind of matter, and it is also what he is most happy to see.

He took Amu and ran to the Ministry of Works.

Huang Xiumu, the secretary of the Ministry of Industry, was taken aback.

"Regent, if you have any orders for such a heavy snowfall, just send someone to say no to the lower officials?"

Li Chenan walked into the yamen of the Ministry of Industry, and in the shocked sight of all the officials, he shook off the wind and snow and grinned:

"I'm not here to tell you anything, but to see the Ordnance Division."

Huang Xiumu was stunned, "Why don't you ...... Would you like to sit on a fire for a while to warm up? ”

"No, go now."

"Then please come with the next official."

Huang Xiumu took Li Chenan and left the Yamen of the Ministry of Industry, and the few officials in the Yamen immediately turned their heads and ears:

"You said that the regent wants to see the Ordnance Division, are we not doing well enough?"

"Probably not, didn't you see the smile on the face of the Lord Regent when he came in? I'm afraid it's related to the situation we are facing in Ningguo now, and I'm afraid the Ordnance Department will be busy next. ”

"War?"

"Isn't it! I heard that the Ministry of War has inspected several armories in the past few days, but the results are not good, the inventory is seriously insufficient, and the weapons in the arsenal are also neglected to maintain, and sixty or seventy percent of them can no longer be used! ”

"Think about it, even the armory of the Four Acropolis in Kyoto is so unbearable, how good can the armory of the four border armies be?"

"It's only going to be more messy!"

"Once there is a war, there will be endless troubles!"

"But...... It takes silver to craft weapons and armor! Our Lord Huang has written every year to ask the household department to allocate silver taels, but every year it has failed, and I heard that this year's household income is still unbearable,"

The official shook his head, "Even if the regent has the heart, he is afraid that he is powerless. ”

"Hey...... Speaking of which, the nearly 20 years that Ji Tai has been the prime minister are the 20 years that our Ningguo has been completely backward! ”

"The last time the regent held a court meeting, he said that if people are poor, they will be bullied, and if the country is poor, they will be beaten. Now those neighboring countries see that our country is poor, and they are all ready to move, and the regent is ...... It's not easy! ”

"Lao Zhu, do you think the regent can come up with a way to get the silver?"

"This is not a matter of tens of thousands of taels of silver!"

"If you want to meet the weapons and armor of the front-line soldiers, you must activate the ordnance bureaus of the states!"

"In the past 20 years, the ordnance bureaus of the states have existed in name only, and the provincial governments still exist."

"But how can the output of the Ordnance Bureau of the Dao Mansion meet the needs of the four border armies?"

"If you want to restart the Seventy-two State Ordnance Bureau, this silver ...... At least a million! ”

"Where?"

"What's more, once the war end, the cost of war horses, grain and grass is even more bottomless!"

“…… So according to what you say, there is no solution? ”

The elderly official surnamed Zhu pondered for a moment and shook his head: "It's hard to understand! Incomprehensible! ”

……

……

Huang Xiumu took Li Chen'an for half a cup of tea and came to a wide courtyard behind the yamen of the Ministry of Industry.

The yard is surrounded by a wall.

As far as the eye can see, several chimneys are faintly visible in the white snow.

But there was no smoke coming out of the chimney.

Even the walls were filled with the sparse sound of clanging iron.

"Regent,"

Huang Xiumu looked at Li Chen'an cautiously, and said in a low voice: "The price of charcoal has risen this year, and the household department ...... The subordinate over there is still coordinating with Li Shangshu, but there is no result yet, so, so there is no work to be done in this ordnance department, and there are not a few craftsmen left. ”

"Is there enough iron ore or ingots?"

"Back to the regent, these are not sufficient, and the reasons are a little complicated."

"Oh, tell me."

Saying this, Li Chen'an walked towards the iron gate.

"There are some mines in the hands of our Ministry of Works, and originally, originally, there were craftsmen mining."

Huang Xiumu followed Li Chen'an's side step by step, and came to the iron gate, he hurriedly walked over and pushed open the iron door.

When Li Chenan stepped through the door, he followed up and said:

"But the imperial court is not allowed to sell official iron, that is to say, the iron ore mined by the government can only be used for the creation of some special iron tools."

"For example, weapons and armor, such as saddle and hoof nails used for war horses, and free agricultural tools allocated by the imperial court to encourage farmers, etc."

"It's all custom-made."

"Originally, it didn't matter if the treasury had silver, but then it ...... Later, Ji Tai came to power, the country's tax revenue became less and less, and the household department ran out of excess silver, so the Ministry of Industry gradually stopped mining the mines, because there was no silver to pay the miners. ”

"It's been more than ten years since this stop."

"Mining stopped, and there was less and less ore in stock, so the armoury bureaus in the states also stopped, and I heard that now the ordnance bureaus in many places have even been bought by the local wealthy, not to make iron tools, but to turn them into cattle farms."

Li Chen'an was not surprised by this, because the dossier of the Imperial City Division had detailed records.

"This is the yamen of the Ordnance Division, the regent, please go and sit inside."

Huang Xiumu stretched out his hand and led Li Chenan to a second-floor building.

As soon as he walked to the door of the two-story building, a rough voice came from inside:

"No matter how difficult it is, this flint cannon must be made!"

"Lao Tzu has seen the scene of the regent's fireworks exploding and exploding, and he has also smelled the smell of the fireworks, there must be saltpeter and sulfur in them!"

"Fireworks explosions produce fire, smoke, if we get this thing out and let it explode and explode in a small space, like this bamboo tube."

"The bamboo tube restrains the light and fog of the fireworks explosion, and it creates a powerful impetus that can project the stones that fill it out, even farther than the arrows!"

"You know what that means?"

"This means the birth of a completely new weapon!"

"This means that our fighters are able to get ahead of the enemy at a greater distance!"

"Now we can't make weapons and armor for our soldiers, if we come up with this cheap and good thing...... Our soldiers on the front line can always kill a few more enemies, so maybe they can save their lives. ”

"Don't be afraid to fail, continue to verify!"

Li Chenan stood at the door and listened carefully, a smile appeared on his face.

He was about to push the door in, but he heard another voice from inside:

"Lord Zhao, we have been verifying for a month, three people have died and six people have been injured...... The villain believes that this thing is very powerful, and now that the regent is already the regent of our Ning Kingdom, why don't Lord Zhao ask to see the regent and ask him for this method of making fireworks...... We can also take fewer detours and die a few fewer people. ”

There was silence for a moment, and the Lord Zhao opened his mouth, and his words were a little low:

"After all, it was invented by the Regent, it can be called an artifact, how could he teach us like this."

Li Chenan pushed the door and entered with the wind and snow.

He looked at the sturdy man with a dark face, "You are Zhao Sanmu of the Ordnance Division?" ”

Zhao Sanmu was stunned for a moment, and looked at Huang Shangshu, the respectful boss standing behind Li Chen'an, and he immediately understood who this young man was.

He hurriedly bowed and saluted: "Xiaguan Zhao Sanmu, I have seen the regent!" ”

There were six craftsmen in the house.

Startled when they heard this, they immediately knelt down and said in fear: "The grass people knock on the regent!" ”

"Get up, I don't practice these rituals."

Li Chenan looked at Zhao Sanmu: "I'm here to tell you how to make fireworks, and I want to talk to you about some of my own views on making artillery." ”

"I may be able to inspire you."

Zhao Sanmu was overjoyed, "Regent, please take a seat!" ”

Li Chenan sat down and found that there was really no charcoal fire in the room.

It's not easy...... This ruined country!