"Phew! Bitter. ”

Zhu Ming squatted on the edge of the melon field and spit out the watermelon he had just eaten.

Zhu Guoxiang chewed and tasted carefully: "I only have a trace of bitterness, but it can be used to quench my thirst." ”

He picked up his son's melon again, took a bite and frowned, and said, "You are really bitter." The watermelon seeds are quite large and can be used to fry melon seeds. ”

"I miss the crisp sweet red watermelon," Zhu Ming said with emotion, "These watermelons in front of me are all white and yellow, and they are not delicious at first glance, so hurry up and grow the sweet watermelon." ”

Zhu Guoxiang said: "How can it be so easy, you have to hit the luck and other watermelon gene mutations." ”

Zhu Guoxiang stretched out his hand and called a few officials from the Department of Agriculture: "If you are thirsty, eat these watermelons." It was too bitter to endure it, so he gave it to the livestock. Take the sweet or not bitter watermelon, choose the best seeds, and plant them again next year. ”

"Yes!" Advise the peasant officials to receive orders.

The father and son walked all the way, and the watermelon field was not far from a large sand fruit forest.

This thing is also called Ringo, an apple species, and when the Song people wrote poems, they often called it Begonia.

As for apples, there was a tribute in the Tang Dynasty, and the corresponding Buddhist scriptures at that time were called Pinpo fruit. The Song people have never seen the apple again, so they can only be far-fetched and mistake the Buddha's eye fruit for the Pinpo fruit in the Buddhist scriptures.

Zhu Ming pointed to Sha Guolin and said, "This fruit is very delicious, like an apple and a plum." ”

Zhu Guoxiang introduced with a smile: "Probably in the Five Dynasties period, there have been two kinds of differentiation, one is the genus Apple, and the other is the genus Prunus. You used to go to the supermarket, and the big red plum is most likely the plum it differentiated. ”

In the experimental fields of the Department of Agriculture, there are more and more types of crops.

This sand fruit forest is the original, and after careful care by the agricultural officials, the fruit bears more and better than before. After maturing last year, except for a very small number of seeds, the rest were used to reward concubines and ministers.

Today's Ming officials call the experimental field of the Quannong Division "Imperial Garden", and they are proud to be able to eat the vegetables and fruits in the "Imperial Garden".

Further ahead is Jinming Pond, which is completely free to open before and after the Dragon Boat Festival, and the common people can also see many lively programs. Now it is going to be closed for two months, because the emperor and the crown prince often bring their wives and children to row a boat to enjoy the coolness.

Coming to the parking lot of Jinmingchi, Zhu Ming rode on the grandson of the cornucopia and said to his father: "I'll go to the southeast suburbs." ”

"Okay, remember to go back to Jinmingchi for dinner." Zhu Guoxiang reminded.

Zhu Ming's bunch of wives and concubines and children are all taking refuge in Jinmingchi at the moment, which is much cooler than the East Palace.

With a few guards, Zhu Ming galloped all the way, and soon came to the ordnance experimental field in the southeastern suburbs (the gunpowder factory was also nearby).

This used to be a mass grave, and anyone could be buried here.

Later, it was made into a leaky garden by Cai Jing, that is, an official charity cemetery. If you want to bury it again, you have to go through the process and go through the formalities, after all, this is Cai Xianggong's political achievement, and everything must be up to standard and beautiful.

Zhu Ming turned over and dismounted, and two administrative officials came to greet him with a bunch of tricksters.

Several pieces of ordnance, improved by repeated experiments, were placed on a table in the open space.

Zhu Ming first picked up a pair of cloth armor and asked, "How is the effect?" ”

Peng Xiu, the chief officer of the ordnance test plant, said: "The cost has been almost halved, and the time taken is shorter. Lighter weight, stronger defense, not afraid of being cut rope, usually more convenient maintenance. The only drawback is that the cloth has to be riveted again after it is badly damaged. ”

The "badly damaged" here means that the finger seams cannot be sewn. Otherwise, even if the cloth is cut into a mop, it can continue to be sewn and mended.

Zhu Ming picked up the cloth face armor to try it on, and said to Bai Sheng: "Slash me." ”

Bai Sheng's smile stiffened: "Your Highness, it's better to let me hold on to my armor, and you can use a knife to cut it." ”

Peng Xiu hurriedly said: "His Royal Highness the Prince, this armor has been verified repeatedly. You can wrap the armor and cloth armor around the fat pig that you killed, and then compare them with a knife and a spear. ”

Cloth face armor, a jacket on the outside, and a large armor plate riveted inside.

Stronger defense than Zaka, lighter in weight than Zaka, warmer to wear than Zaka, and much cheaper to craft.

But there is a very big drawback, it is easier to cut corners than Zajia when the officials are corrupted!

In addition, this thing is not convenient to make heavy armor, it is best to make light armor and medium armor.

Last year, when he changed the big nail piece for Zajia, Zhu Ming thought about making cloth face nails. As long as the smelting level is sufficient, cloth armor is the first choice for explosives, and it can truly achieve good quality and low price, and the quantity is full.

After cotton is produced in large quantities, of course, cotton nails can also be made, but the cost of cotton nails is much higher.

Zhu Ming asked people to put a set of cloth armor on the wooden stakes in the school yard, and ordered a few guards to shoot arrows.

A total of more than 30 arrows were fired, most of which were bounced off or hung on the cloth, and the defense was really strong.

Zhu Ming looked at the other weapon on the table again-Heaven-Shaking Thunder!

Historically, the earliest record of similar weapons appeared in Taiyuan, Shanxi Province, in the late Jin Shizong period. A hunter named Li Tie stuffed gunpowder into a clay pot and installed a fuse, alarmed the foxes through the sound of explosions, drove the foxes into the net and then captured them.

On this basis, the Jin people invented a metal bomb called "Iron Artillery". The Southern Song Dynasty also quickly learned and changed its name to "Earthquake Thunder".

When the Mongol army attacked Kaifeng, the Jin soldiers used earth-shaking thunder, which once blew up the Mongol soldiers and did not dare to approach the city wall.

Destroying the Jin Kingdom, the Mongols also learned to make bombs.

By the end of the Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, bombs had been played, and there were even records of the use of landmines in the Battle of Jingjing.

This ordnance manufacturing officer named Peng Xiu held a spherical bomb in both hands, and with a twist of force, it easily broke down into two bowl-shaped structures. The gunpowder inside is wrapped and will not be easily scattered.

Zhu Ming took a closer look, and the closing place was made of wedge grooves and live buckles, which could be quickly opened or closed.

"The whole body of pig iron casting, the cost is not very high," Peng Xiu explained, "counting the gunpowder, this earth-shaking thunder weighs four catties and three taels." ”

Zhu Ming said: "How can this be voted out? It's too heavy! ”

Peng Xiu said: "Throw it down when defending the city." Or, use a cannon to throw it. A few pounds of artillery can be thrown with a very small leveling cannon (return cannon). This small and lightweight leveling cannon can be installed on a warship, placed on a city wall, and can also be pulled by a mule to accompany the army in field battles. ”

Well...... All right.

Zhu Ming provided the idea of making a sky-shaking thunder, but I am afraid that he did not explain it very clearly.

His plan was to make grenades and then train grenadiers.

However, Peng Xiu, a military worker, made a bomb weighing four or five kilograms, which was specially used to defend the city or let the catapult throw it.

Zhu Ming felt that this idea was not bad, and it could be used to increase the firepower of the Triassal Array.

When the time came, the cavalry of the Jin State rushed to one hundred and twenty paces and threw bombs with catapults. When you reach a hundred paces, you will fire another volley with your musket. Then shoot shotguns with tiger cannons and wooden cannons, and use bows and arrows and crossbow arrows. Muskets, bows, and crossbows can be refired.

In the whole process, there are more than six long-range firepower, and even eight to ten firepower can be reached when you are proficient. In this way, he can still rush to the front of the car formation, which can only be said that the golden soldiers are blessed by the gods.

Zhu Ming instructed: "This kind of earth-shaking thunder can be retained, and then some light ones can be made, and it is best to control it within three catties." ”

"Yes!" Peng Xiu took the order.

Zhu Ming went to inspect the gunpowder factory again, and the reason why he placed it in the suburbs was because he was afraid of a big explosion one day.

At the beginning, the Zhu family father and son started their army in Hanzhong, which happened to be the most important saltpeter producing area in northern China.

Now, the father and son of the Zhu family have temporarily set the capital of Kaifeng, and the counties of Kaifeng Prefecture happen to be the top nitrate producing areas in China!

There is no shortage of nitrate, and there is no shortage of gunpowder.

What really matters is to strictly manage the gunpowder production process, otherwise the gunpowder recipe will become an ornament.

During the Opium War, the generals of the Qing army in different places used completely different gunpowder ratios, and the fundamental reason was that gunpowder production cut corners.

For example, nitrate, which is repeatedly purified three times by the soil method, is qualified, while Qing Dynasty craftsmen often only purify it once or twice.

A responsible Qing army general had to guess the quality of the raw material nitrate he obtained based on the actual power of the gunpowder in his hand, and then let his craftsmen adjust the ratio of nitrate in the gunpowder accordingly (often increasing the percentage of nitrate).

How tired you have to fight like this!

After an inspection of the gunpowder factory, Zhu Ming felt very satisfied, and in view of the fact that he had to lose his head by cutting corners, the craftsmen were still extremely serious and responsible.

He asked the Ordnance Experimental Factory to send people to Cizhou and Xuzhou respectively to bring the production methods of cloth mask armor and earth-shaking thunder.

Now the armor rate of the whole army is extremely high, and the cloth armor is not in a hurry for the time being, but the earth-shaking thunder has to be made quickly.

The shell of this thing is cast in pig iron, and it doesn't care about the quality of steel, so it can be mass-produced quickly and cheaply.

After it was built, the earth-shaking thunder produced by Cizhou was transported to Zhang Guangdao nearby.

The earth-shattering thunder produced in Xuzhou was loaded and shipped to Li Bao, Zheyanzhi, Yelu Yujian and others in Haizhou. In fact, they need the earth-shaking thunder the most, because there are not many troops across the sea, but they may face a large-scale siege by Jin soldiers at any time.

Grandpa Li Bao and Li are naturally the first to obtain new weapons.

After finishing Yan Zongwang's 10,000 elites, they were still on the way to the sea road, and Li Bao obtained the first batch of 800 sky-shaking thunders, which were transported along with the military rations.

"How do you use this thing?" Li Bao was holding a bomb weighing four pounds, a little skeptical of the true power of this thing.

The technician who followed the bomb smiled and said, "Gong Li can let people try it." ”

Outside the seaside county.

A wasteland was erected with many straw men, and the earth-shattering thunder was placed in the center.

Li Bao was standing more than ten steps away, and the technician reminded: "Li Gong has to retreat a little more." ”

"How far back?" Li Bao asked.

The man said, "It is better to take another twenty steps back to prevent any broken pieces of iron from flying." ”

Including the brothers Da Mingzhen and Da Mingyi, who surrendered the city, also brought their own soldiers to watch the excitement.

I saw a soldier light the fuse, quickly run to the large pit dug a few meters away, and then jumped into the pit to dodge.

"Boom!"

The loud roar rang out, and it was really deafening.

As the smoke gradually dissipated, Li Bao personally approached to check. Within a radius of one and a half meters, all the straw figures were shattered by the shock. Within a radius of three meters, the straw figures were shocked and twisted, and many of them fell.

And in a radius of more than ten meters, or even farther away, there are pig iron pieces that have been blown away everywhere.

This amount of gunpowder is really sufficient!

The record of "Jin History" is even more exaggerated: "The gunpowder attacked, the sound was like thunder, the heat reached more than half an acre, the people and cowhides were broken and there was no trace, and the armor and iron were penetrated ......."

Da Mingyi looked at the scene of the explosion, glad that he had voted for Da Ming, otherwise what would he do if he encountered this thing?

He turned his head to look at Da Mingzhen, and found that his brother was already standing on the spot, looking at the scorched earth on the ground dumbfounded.

"We will win, Daming will win!" Da Mingyi's heart was agitated, and he shouted violently, and the soldiers around him also shouted loudly.

The earth-shattering thunder has not yet been actually used on the battlefield, but it has already boosted the morale of the Ming soldiers!

(End of chapter)