"Ministers to see Your Majesty, long live my emperor, long live, long live!"

"Zhong Aiqing is flat!"

"Zheng Qing, come forward." Emperor Zhao Xu was very interested, and asked Zheng Qi, the master, to introduce him to the brilliant achievements of the iron eunuch of the Great Song Dynasty.

"Your Majesty, you see that the blast furnace here is all designed by Master Li, and then the iron supervisor is improved in the process of use, and it can be opened in three days, and one furnace produces 50 stone of steel. The blast furnace over there, after the improved design, uses the water blast of the sluice, which can open a furnace in three days, and produce 200 stone of steel in one furnace. ”

In order to increase production, Zheng Qi completely abandoned the process of smelting pig iron and directly used pig iron to make steel. As a result, the output of high-end hemp steel has skyrocketed.

In the Iron Construction and Smelting Iron Workshop, there are more than a dozen such blast furnaces everywhere, some are under construction, some are already in use, and they are spitting black rock. Just looking at so many big chimneys, although it is a little squinting, but people standing under the blast furnace, even if such a blast furnace is only four or five zhang high, can make people have the illusion of insignificance. There is even a kind of trance, the industrial age of the Great Song Dynasty has come.

Emperor Zhao Xulongyan was delighted, and said to Hao Sui: "Those who have meritorious service will be given a first-level official rank, and a special official robe will be rewarded." ”

"Yes!" Hao Sui made a note and waited until he went back and asked the household department to distribute it. As for the official position, after it was drawn up by the Metropolitan Hall, it was called the Hanlin Yuan to draw up the decree. Anyway, it's not a real shortage, it's just an official rank. To put it bluntly, it is to increase the salary by one level, and nothing else will change.

"Li Qing, do you have anything to say?"

Zhao Xu came to the Iron Prison on the surface because of Zheng Qi's good news, but in fact, the emperor came to obtain a wave of his own great achievements. It's a pity that such a great credit has not attracted the attention of Cai Bian and others.

Li Kui bowed and said, "Your Majesty, now the production capacity of the iron supervisor has reached its limit. In fact, water conservancy and wind blasting can only solve the urgent need. Around the capital, there were no conditions for the establishment of large-scale iron-smelting workshops. Relocation is already imminent. ”

"Is that true of Zheng Qing?"

Zheng Qi glanced at Li Kui with slight dissatisfaction, isn't this ruining the masters? finally raised his eyebrows and exhaled once, but Li Kui said in a blink of an eye that he wanted to relocate.

Yes, that's right, the blast furnace of the Iron Prison will certainly not be able to rely on manpower now.

It is simply impossible to stir up a strong wind into the blast furnace, especially after heating, and people cannot get close to it. Otherwise, how could pig iron turn into steel?

But if he moved, wouldn't he also leave the capital?

"In addition, the minister thinks that the most important focus of the iron-smelting workshop in the capital in the future should be on casting firearms, rather than increasing the output of steel, which is very important." Li Kui was a civil official in the court who unswervingly insisted on developing firearms, and even Zhang Dian and Li Qingchen saw the role of firearms on the battlefield, but they were still hesitating.

And Li Kui didn't even have a hesitant tone or reaction.

This makes Zhao Xu very strange, this kind of determined attitude will give people a kind of confidence. But at the same time, it can also cause a lot of trouble.

Could it be that without firearms, the army of the Great Song Dynasty really couldn't do it?

Emperor Zhao Xu turned to look at Zheng Qi: "Zheng Qing, in addition to the use of steel for artillery, has the flintlock pistol that Li Qing said have been built?" ”

"Your Majesty, it's not that the minister deliberately shirked it, but that Lord Li asked the Fusilier to make a very confusing problem, hitting the spark with flint and then igniting the gunpowder, which is not difficult to do. However, how to quickly and accurately fall the trigger of the flintlock pistol after it is pulled open, and it will not be broken for a long time, so as to achieve the effect of firing, there has been no good way for the ministers. ”

This is a material problem, Li Kui wants to help, but he can't help.

But what puzzled Li Kui was that after Zheng Qi finished speaking, he also aimed at him with his spare eyes, which made him very strange. Could it be that there is something else going on?

Zhang Dian watched from the side, and did not speak. He listened to Zheng Qi's instructions on how to make charcoal into coke, how to blow air, how to heat the wind, how to add materials, and how to remove impurities...... These things hurt the old man's brain. But he could see that Zheng Qi seemed to have something to say.

asked Zheng Qi: "Zheng Tiejian, do you have anything to say?" ”

"This ......" Zheng Qi couldn't help but look at Li Kui, especially in front of the emperor, he didn't dare to talk nonsense.

Li Kui said angrily: "Lord Zheng, why are you so unhappy? ”

On weekdays, Zheng Qi is also a person who has something to say, but in front of the emperor, he doesn't seem to be able to speak.

Zheng Qi hesitated: "Other parts of the flintlock pistol can be made in the iron-smelting workshop now, that is, if the spring is according to the design of Lord Li and Lord Han, it will be broken." ”

"Didn't use the forging folding process?"

Li Kui couldn't get spring steel for Zheng Qi, and he didn't know how to match this thing. Even if he knew, he couldn't get the alloy material. Metallurgy has always been his blind spot. To be able to make a blast furnace is already burning high incense. Forging and folding can take advantage of the characteristics of different steels to achieve rapid rebound after bending, and do not deform for a long time.

Zheng Qi said nervously: "You can change the direction of the spring, and then after fixing the spring, you can fire it through the elastic force of the steel without folding too much." ”

"Why didn't you say it earlier?"

Li Kui waited for the flintlock pistol to be made by the iron-smelting workshop, but he didn't expect that because the materials were not up to standard, there were no samples for a long time. The problem of materials, he can improve through design, any weapon, as long as it is easy to use and can be used. As for the design, isn't it a big deal to change it?

Although Li Kui is not very good at changing the design, Han Gonglian can even design a hydrodynamic armillary sphere, and this kind of improvement in the design of the gunpowder gun is not a piece of cake. Besides, it was almost impossible to make a hydrodynamic armillary sphere Li Kui, but the spring of the flintlock pistol changed the angle, and it was not difficult for him.

At this time, it was Zheng Qi's turn to be aggrieved, and he hesitated: "Master Li, I don't dare to change it at will. ”

"Why?" Li Kui said curiously.

"You've never missed it!"

Some people are so prestigious that they have even become authoritative. And then no one dared to question it, even if he was wrong.

Li Kui did not expect that he would one day become a reactionary technical authority, if he could become a technical authority, wouldn't he be ruining this good word?

Li Kui clenched his fists angrily and wanted to beat Zheng Qi violently, you don't understand, you don't understand, come and ask!

Li Kui immediately asked the emperor to say: "Your Majesty, the minister suggests that Han Gonglian be transferred to the iron prison, and the technical difficulties of the flintlock pistol should be broken through as soon as possible. As long as the flintlock pistol is made, it will be my Great Song Dynasty to completely reverse the decline of the grassland cavalry and completely crush the grassland people. No matter whether it is the Xiongnu, Turkic or Khitan, they can't stop our Great Song soldiers. ”

"Oh, really?" After all, Emperor Zhao Xu did not have an intuitive understanding of this, he just blindly believed in Li Kui.

But what Li Kui said exceeded Zhao Xu's knowledge of history, so he asked. Li Kui was very confident, bowed down and said: "I implore Your Majesty to rule out public opinion and support the development of flintlock pistols." Once my Great Song Dynasty has this artifact, not to mention the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, it will be easy to break Zhongjing. Once my Da Song has a flintlock pistol, the first opponent is the party item, a soldier and a soldier, and it is not a problem to break the party item with 100,000 elites. ”

One soldier is more than 10,000 soldiers.

"Zheng Qing, if you transfer Han Gonglian here, how sure are you that you can make the flintlock pistol that Li Qing said?"

"A month."

"I want two thousand." Li Kui opened his mouth.

Zheng Qi's head jumped angrily, and he said angrily: "Two hundred at most, is this flintlock pistol troublesome?" ”

However, Emperor Zhao Xu was not satisfied, Li Kui said, and used the party item to give the flintlock pistol to the flag, indicating that he was full of confidence. More than 10,000 people and horses can break the party's project of 100,000 people, isn't it 30,000 horses that can subdue the Hexi Corridor?

The emperor was a little dizzy with happiness, and immediately gave Zheng Qi a death order, three months, and 5,000 flintlock pistols. If he can do it, promote him to a servant.

After the emperor left.

Zheng Qi is happy and troubled. Happily, there is hope for promotion. If he followed his previous career experience, he would probably have to be an official in the iron supervisor in this life.

Because of the official position of iron eunuch, civil officials can do it, and eunuchs can also do it. Of course, there needs to be a premise, professionalism.

Generally, civil officials will be forgotten after they sit in the official position of iron supervisor.

Zheng Qi was once an unlucky person forgotten by officialdom.

If he was unlucky, he would have been an official in this official position for nine years. Then he was almost sixty years old, and he didn't have a few days to live.

But now it's different, as long as he makes great contributions, he can be promoted immediately, and when he is a servant, he may be able to return to his hometown with the dignity of a third-grade official, which is a great honor.

Even in his previous career as an official, it was the first time in his life that he could be so close to the emperor.

The emperor has the guards of the Imperial City Division by his side, and ordinary people want to get close, which is simply wishful thinking. Especially in the workshop, where there are many coolies, it is even more well-guarded.

But for Zheng Qi, where has he ever had such treatment in his life?

The high-ranking officials of the Great Song Dynasty have not experienced the pavilion test, and the officials who have entered the secretary province basically want to be promoted to the third grade, which is even more difficult. As for Zheng Qi, he wanted to take the pavilion exam, but the exam was too difficult, and he went to be a foil for others. The iron supervisor of the fourth grade is already sitting on the end for Zheng Qi.

The reason why Zheng Qi was able to be promoted to the official position of Iron Supervisor was mainly because he had been an official in the Great Song Dynasty Iron Supervisor. Iron smelting, he is the professional.

At first, he was assigned to the mine because he was ranked very low in Jinshi...... It's all a handful of tears. In line with the spirit of doing a line of love, he dived into the study of iron-smelting skills, and a few years later he managed the mine and was promoted. Later, because of the increasing demand for iron in the Great Song Dynasty, he received a lot of credit. And how big is the demand for steel in the Great Song Dynasty?

Yuanfeng period, 1.1 million stones.

Converted into tons, it is about 85,000 tons.

It was 700 years before the British reached this level, when the Industrial Revolution had already been completed.

It can be said that the Great Song Dynasty has reached the standards of the Industrial Revolution in terms of its industrial output. If the Great Song Dynasty of this era opens the hegemony mode, it is foreseeable that in the next thousand years, or even longer, the whole world will have to use the Great Song standard. If the British stubbornly want to use the pound as a unit of weight, it doesn't matter, until he changes it himself.

It's a pity that the military strength of the Great Song Dynasty is too weak.

If the military strength of the Tang Dynasty and the stability of the Great Song system, the whole of Asia would have to be decided by the Great Song Dynasty.

Anyone who has studied the history of China will find a pattern.

Although the dynasty ruled by the Han nationality was also a feudal dynasty, technological innovation was continuous, and social financial resources grew wildly. Once a dynasty is established by the steppe tribes in the north, it will inevitably retreat in great strides.

Although the regression of the Central Plains was not obvious during the Yuan Dynasty, compared with the Song Dynasty, the productivity of the Yuan Dynasty was even inferior to that of the Southern Song Dynasty.

That's the essential difference.

It was the Qing Dynasty that left China behind the whole world. During the 300 years of control of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, the industrial capacity was not half that of the Ming Dynasty, and the accumulation of social wealth was about the same, but the extra 200 million people, is it fake?

In fact, the Qing Dynasty used more than twice the population, nearly three times the population, and was only equal to the productivity of the Ming Dynasty. It is equivalent to that ordinary people are five or six times poorer. Aren't they all flowers?

A dynasty, or a predominantly agrarian dynasty, was five or six times poorer.

This is also why the envoys of Western countries came to China in the Qianlong Dynasty and found that what they saw was completely different from what the Italian said. Where did the Oriental people who said they were wearing silk clothes and being graceful and luxurious go? Why are they all poor and desperated, with ugly braids?

The British, the French, and even the Dutch felt a great deception.

However, they were relieved afterwards. Marco Polo was Italian, and it was a mistake for Europeans, especially Western Europeans, to believe the nonsense of the Italians.

But in fact, China really had such a rich era. However, it is not the Yuan Dynasty, but in the Great Song Dynasty, if it is more precise, it should be the city of the Great Song Dynasty.

But the wealth of the Great Song Dynasty was incomplete, and this dynasty had the richest side, but also the weakest side.

Military.

The Great Song Dynasty now has enough troops to hang the whole of Europe, but what makes people desperate is that Huaxia's opponents have always been the strongest steppe tribes on the planet. The Huns, who were almost destroyed by the Han Dynasty, ran to Europe and beat the Eastern Roman Empire to the point that they could no longer take care of themselves. In Central Asia, the Tang Dynasty fought with the powerful Persian Empire, and it also won more than lost. This Tang army is not the main force of the Tang Dynasty, but a partial division with a number of 20,000 or 30,000 people. If the main forces of the Tang army had appeared in Central Asia, the Persians would have perished long ago. And all of Europe at that time lived in the shadow of the Persian Empire.

The strong military power of the Tang Dynasty was built on the basis of the martial arts of the Tang people. But in the Song Dynasty, if there was no weapon reform, when the Song Dynasty fell, it would not be possible to gain the absolute initiative on the battlefield when facing the nomads to fight.

Zheng Qi didn't believe that what Li Kui said was true, and said worriedly: "Renjie, how sure are you of giving my brother a foundation?" ”

"I'll go to the northwest to command in person, how sure are you sure?"

The all-firearms army, looking at the Great Song Dynasty, only Li Kui can command it. After all, no one else had heard of it.

And Li Kui commanded the operation, how could he fail?

Zheng Qi smiled happily at this time, as if the position of a straight bachelor had been decided. For Li Kui, flintlock pistols and artillery seem to be weapons, but they are the products of the great industrial era, and once the Great Song Dynasty can stabilize the surrounding situation, it will surely embark on the track of rapid development. In particular, once the important industrial indicators of coal and steel reach a terrible number, the Great Song Dynasty will inevitably undergo huge changes. Even the imperial power will change.

But for Huaxia, this is Huaxia's only chance to completely get rid of the threat of the northern tribes.

Once the Great Song Dynasty has no threat from the north, even Li Kui is curious about what the Great Song Dynasty will develop.

Was it that when the West was still under the dark shadow of the Middle Ages, the Great Song Dynasty had already completed the Industrial Revolution?

Anything seems possible.