At the head of the Beijing Division, the artillery of the Beijing battalion is preparing a Hongyi cannon with a thick muzzle and a relatively petite Furlong cannon.

In artillery science, the Ming Dynasty has always adopted the doctrine of taking.

During the Chenghua period, when he saw that the Portuguese Franc rear-loading gun had a fast rate of fire, he imitated it on a large scale.

During the Jiajing period, when he saw the strong firepower of the Hongyi cannon of the Dutch warship, he bought it with blood.

In addition, there are also some self-developed light field guns such as the Tiger Squat Cannon, which are mainly used to intensively kill infantry.

Chongzhen, surrounded by the commander of Beijing, Xiangcheng Bo, Li Shouqi and others, inspected these important weapons of the country.

The Tiger Squat Cannon is the smallest in size, and it is not so much a cannon as a larger shotgun.

However, this cannon was the most flexible to use, and even many Ming cavalry units were equipped with it.

The Furlong cannon was larger and rear-loaded.

The biggest advantage of this type of artillery is safety, because it is fired in such a way that the sub-gun containing gunpowder and the warhead is placed in the mother gun chamber and fired in turn. The mother gun does not react directly with gunpowder, and the risk of exploding is greatly reduced.

And because it can be fired in rotation, this cannon also has the fastest rate of fire. Almost every turret is equipped with one.

On the corner tower, Xu Guangqi, the left attendant of the Ministry of Rites, is leading a team of foreigners to clean up the Hongyi cannon that has shown its might many times before.

When Chongzhen saw these foreigners who were out of place with the surroundings, he immediately became interested and led everyone to watch.

Xu Guangqi stepped forward to greet him and introduced these cannons, which already had some modern design.

Chongzhen stroked the bronze cannon body, frowned and asked, "Why is this cannon tail so thick and heavy, but the gun head is relatively light?" ”

Xu Guangqi explained, "This Hongyi cannon is designed according to the different pressures in various places after the explosion of gunpowder in the chamber, so it is not a round barrel, but a spindle-shaped. ”

He pointed to the barrel of the cannon and said, "Your Majesty, please see, the gunpowder explodes at the tail of the barrel, so the tail barrel with the greatest chamber pressure is also the thickest. However, there is no gunpowder explosion pressure at the muzzle itself, which only restricts the trajectory of the shell, so it does not need special reinforcement. ”

Xu Guangqi patted the muzzle of the cannon with emotion, "It is precisely because of this design that the power of this Hongyi cannon is far greater than that of the Furlong machine gun, and the firing range can reach eight miles away." ”

"Eight miles away? Even if the famous general Li Guang of the ancient times shot with all his strength with a strong bow, he couldn't reach this far, right? Chongzhen laughed heartily, and the people around him hurriedly followed with compliments.

Some people even said that it was rumored that the slave chief Nurhachi died under this kind of artillery.

Just as he was about to leave, Chongzhen suddenly remembered a question, and turned back to Xu Guangqi again, "You Hongyi cannon, is it accurate?" ”

Xu Guangqi's face turned red when he heard the question, and he replied, "Although this Hongyi cannon is powerful, the accuracy is offset, and the arrangement on the city tower restricts the cannon angle, and the place near the city has become a blind spot. ”

He also pointed to the foreigners who did not understand the language, "And this cannon has a straight trajectory, and it is impossible for a non-skilled gunner to exert its power." Therefore, it is also dependent on these Portuguese technicians to help. ”

Chongzhen was also sincere and honest when he heard what Xu Guangqi said, so he didn't make any more troubles, but comforted him with gentle words.

It's just that Chongzhen suddenly felt as if he had missed something, but he couldn't think of anything right now.

After inspecting these important weapons of the country, Chongzhen, accompanied by Bi Ziyan and other civil officials, inspected the various materials stored in the city before the war.

To fight a war is to fight logistics.

What is needed for logistics is not only grain and grass, but also all kinds of civilian and military materials such as clean water, medicinal materials, saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal.

Someone in the Ming Dynasty once counted that just a small county town needed 2,000 stone of grain to ensure that the defenders had enough food and the people did not starve to death.

How much food is needed for a huge capital?

Chongzhen walked through rows of huge elite guarded granaries, and there was still no end in sight.

And this grain is only enough for the defenders and citizens of the capital to eat for a year.

Only then did he deeply feel how big the capital was and how heavy the burden was on his shoulders.

On the side, Bi Ziyan introduced, "Your Majesty, do you want to inspect the equipment warehouse over there again?" The household department has a special warehouse for lanterns, oil, lime, nails, arrows and other materials. ”

When Chongzhen heard this, his feet hurt a little, so he hurriedly waved his hand to stop. "No need, since there is a special warehouse, it is good to take care of it."

In these days, Chongzhen has already felt Bi Ziyan's ability to get along with the ministers, and he is indeed a busy but not chaotic and meticulous talent.

He patted Bi Ziyan's shoulder with satisfaction and said, "You did a good job!" ”

On the side, Wen Chen saw that Bi Ziyan took this opportunity to win the "holy favor", and they all gritted their teeth secretly, and the roots of their teeth were about to sour.

Seeing this, Cao Juan, the secretary of the Ministry of Industry, hurriedly jumped out and said, "The Ministry of Industry also has six gunpowder factories and bureaus, why don't Your Majesty take a look?" ”

Oh? Chongzhen was interested. Anyway, in the past, I used to take a sedan chair, and I only needed to get down and walk by myself when I was inspecting.

With a wave of your hand, let's go!

When they came to the factory where gunpowder was put in the Ministry of Industry, everyone was reluctant to take a closer look because these things were harmful to the body.

Unexpectedly, Chongzhen took the lead with his nose covered, and the others had to follow.

At this time, the gunpowder had not yet been mixed, and the main stocks in the factory were all kinds of high-precision raw ore.

As for the prepared powder, it should be carefully stored in a jar and kept away from temperature and humidity.

Chongzhen walked around the factory, suddenly frowned, and went around the outside again.

Everyone was puzzled, but they had to follow this master in circles together.

"Cao Juan, you come over to me." Chongzhen couldn't see the depth on his face.

Cao Jian hurriedly walked forward, only to hear Chongzhen ask, "Around this factory, why aren't there dozens of large water tanks prepared?" ”

He asked, "What if the factory runs out of water?" Don't you want to repeat the explosion of Wang Gong's factory during the apocalypse? ”

Cao Juan's heart tightened, and it was said that this Wang Gong Factory was also a famous shameful incident in the Ministry of Industry. "Your Majesty allows Lao Chen to consult with his subordinates, presumably the factories and bureaus of our Ministry of Industry will not lack fire prevention preparations."

Cao Jian panicked, and the servants and directors of the Ministry of Works below were naturally like ants on a hot pot. Everyone searched carefully, but found the piled up water tank not far away, but when they lifted the lid, they saw that there was no drip left in it.

It turned out that before the war, not only the officials were in Tunshui, but also the citizens. However, there was a lack of wells near the factory in the Ministry of Industry, so the residents of the nearby area brought the water from these tanks back to their homes in order to save effort.

After Cao Jian finished reporting to Chongzhen, his heart became nameless and said, "Your Majesty, I'm going to ask the Inspection Department to knock on the door to see which people dare to steal the water from my Ministry of Industry?" ”

Chongzhen said dissatisfied, "The matter has come to this, you don't have to disturb the people, hurry up and let people pull the cart to fill the water, and then send one from the guards in the factory bureau to inspect these water tanks." ”

Cao Jian was naturally sweating like rain, and he confessed again and again. The colleagues who watched it were also compassionate.

These days, I always feel that there are some changes in His Majesty.

It's not as foolish as it used to be!

At this moment, there was a sudden rush of horses' hooves, and an urgent military information was sent to Chongzhen.