At the foot of Huiji Mountain, the water of Puyang River rolls away, the willows on the shore are still around, and the fishing boats on the river come and go, swaying and bumping, and haunting the waves.

From ancient times to the present, the Puyang River is not a quiet river, with a short temper, occasional flooding, and bursting embankments is commonplace.

Under the shade of the willows on the bank, Zhao Hong sat on a chair and looked at the surging river.

The bigger the wind and waves, the more expensive the fish!

Brother Qiang's words suddenly flooded in his heart.

Brother Qiang, you are fishing, don't you know that when the wind and waves are strong, people will die.

This seems to be in line with the situation in which he is currently struggling.

I thought it would take only four or five days, or 10 days at most, to cast the cannon at the iron mill, but now I have been staying for a month, and the cannon has not come out.

And he had to go back and forth between Lin'an City and Shaoxing Mansion Huiji Mountain, and he never got tired of it.

Easier said than done. A cannon mold is thousands of catties, prepare the gun mold, and then turn the iron to pour, start the mold with the mouth, and then smooth the inner chamber of the cannon, drill the fire door, etc., one by one is extremely complicated, far from as simple as he imagined.

Fortunately, he was watching here personally, and the officials of the Ministry of Industry, as well as those well-dressed beasts who came to inspect from time to time, no one dared to restrain them. Everyone knows that once you offend this hot-tempered prince, the end will definitely be miserable.

In the shallow water by the river, some half-grown children are playing in the water, full of interest. Zhao Hong couldn't help but persuade loudly:

"Don't swim far! Be careful! ”

"Got it, Your Highness!"

The river on the shore is shallow and calm. Children also know the dangers, and there should be no surprises.

I just don't know, once the Mongolian iron horses roll in, will they be able to play as happily as they are now?

"Your Highness, you still care about yourself."

Li Tang was on the side, holding up the black face that would never change.

"What's wrong?"

"The students petitioned, the ministers wrote one after another, and the officials remained motionless. It seems that the situation of His Royal Highness's crown prince is not good! ”

mentioned the court, Xu Sheng's face was full of worry.

"The emperor is not in a hurry, the eunuch is in a hurry, I thought it was something. Calm down! ”

Zhao Hong reacted and smiled slightly.

"The bigger the wind and waves, the more expensive the fish! I don't believe that Shi Miyuan and Yang Guizhi can cover the sky with one hand! ”

His brother-in-law Zhou Ping was strategizing in Lin'an City and making waves, so he didn't believe that Shi Miyuan could withstand the turbulence of public opinion.

Even if Shi Miyuan can bear it, what about Yang Guizhi? Under the double blow of Zhao Kuo and public opinion, can she resist?

In the final analysis, Zhao Kuo is still the king of a country. As long as he proposes to make Zhao Hong the crown prince, Shi Miyuan will be difficult to stop.

After all, this is a major matter of the royal family, and if he wants to block it, the division will be unknown, and he will be criticized by the government and the opposition.

"At this time, I still want to eat fish! You're not an emperor yet! ”

Li Tang muttered a sentence in his mouth.

"Your Highness, the artillery is out! Zheng Tu, please come over! ”

Zhao Hong was about to speak, when Hu Datou rushed over and reported to Zhao Hong.

"Let's go! Check it out! ”

Zhao Hong perked up and subconsciously stood up.

After a long time, the artillery he had been thinking about for a long time finally came out.

A piece of artillery is placed on a wooden frame, smooth and bright, and a figure-eight support frame is like a large and small animal squatting on the ground, ready to fire.

"Your Highness, this is a small artillery, weighing 30 catties and two feet long, this is a small projectile of 50 yuan, and this is a large lead bullet of 30 taels, which is the same size as the caliber of the artillery. As for the range and how much gunpowder to load, it will be decided by test guns. ”

Zheng Tu's face was full of red light, and he first introduced the small cannon.

Such a beautiful handicraft should be in the eyes of His Highness.

"Bring it all and try it now!"

Zhao Hong's heart is also full of expectations.

Like a beast squatting on the ground, this is the so-called tiger squat cannon in later generations.

In a wilderness at the foot of the mountain, two small black cannons were placed side by side on the ground, and the body of the cannon was cold and faint under the sun.

"Li Tang, you and Xu Sheng weigh it, how far is the cliff in front of you to this?"

Zhao Hong looked at the hillside in the distance. It's about two or three hundred meters, so I think I can hit it.

For the first time, you shouldn't expect too much.

"Your Highness, about 62 zhang!"

Li Tang measured it and ran back to report.

62 zhang, about 190 meters, the first test gun, should be a good distance.

"Stand the target in front of the stone wall and test the gun!"

Zhao Hong was full of interest and waved his hand.

Tian Yi picked up the hammer, "Bang Bang" a few times, and fixed the artillery with iron nails. He loaded the ammunition himself and couldn't wait to light the arquebus.

Zhao Hong walked away with everyone and covered his ears.

Staying away, the main reason is that they are afraid that the artillery will explode and endanger their personal safety.

"Peng!"

The smoke was filled, the target cards in the distance were fragmented, and the broken stones on the stone walls were flying, and the momentum was very scary.

"Oh my God! If this hits people, it will be worth it! ”

Li Tang and Xu Sheng ran over to check, and several people looked at each other, all of them pale.

What kind of artillery is this, this is a weapon for killing!

"Change the target again, pull the gun to 100 zhang, and continue to test the gun!"

Zhao Hong continued to shout.

"Yes!"

Tian Yi was full of interest, first cleaned the gun chamber with a wet mop, and then dragged it dry with a dry mop, loaded the ammunition, and began the next round of tests.

After several attempts in a row, the gun did not explode, but the effective killing range was set at about 80 zhang.

"Your Highness, you are truly a man of God! The villain admires! ”

Li Tang and Zheng Tu knelt on the ground and kowtowed.

If this thing is used on the battlefield, it must not knock down a large area. If there are hundreds of cannons, thousands of troops will have to fart.

"Get up."

Zhao Hong looked at the artillery and frowned slightly.

He vaguely remembered that the killing range of the small cannon, that is, the armor-piercing distance, should be at least about 500 meters, that is, about 160 zhang.

How is this only 80 zhang, half the effective range?

Could it be that the dosage is too small?

However, if you want to increase the dosage, the medicine room will be full, and the gunpowder will not be able to burn sufficiently.

It seems that the diameter and length of the medicine chamber will have to be expanded.

"Your Highness, aren't you still satisfied?"

Zheng Tuhu asked suspiciously.

Such a long distance, such a great lethality, should be enough.

"Of course not! The design of the artillery was still flawed and needed to be improved. Otherwise, you have to take human lives! ”

Zhao Hong told the truth, pointing to the location of the medicine room.

"Zheng Tu, here in the medicine room, increase the length by one inch, expand the diameter by another inch, and the charge is in ...... Eight taels or so. ”

"Your Highness, what about the cast artillery?"

Zheng Tu was dumbfounded for a moment.

"Cold salad! Take it back and re-dissolve it, and remake the mold! Remember, this is the important weapon of the country, this is also science, it takes many repeated attempts, and you must not be careless! ”

Zhao Hong commanded solemnly.

This is technology, how can it be achieved overnight!

Only firearms could change the disadvantage of the Great Song army to the Mongol cavalry. Whether or not he will become emperor in the future, this is the only thing he can do at the moment, and he must do.

"The villain obeys!"

Zheng Tu nodded solemnly.

As Zhao Hong said, how can there be a reason for a success in the country's important weapon?

"Your Highness, these are two larger cannons."

Zheng Tu followed and introduced.

Turning his gaze to the two large artillery pieces, looking at the two-wheeled frame car loaded with artillery, Zhao Hong shook his head slightly.

"This is the gun carriage?"

A good cannon is placed on it, like a pedal tricycle to collect tatters.

That's too cheap!

It seems that we have to give a good explanation to these guys and build a good gun truck as soon as possible.

"Your Highness, this is a temporary pull, not a regular artillery carriage. This is a general cannon, weighing 500 catties, 1.5 meters long, and firing 7 catties of solid iron balls. ”

Tian Yi's face turned red, pointed to the cannon on the broken car, and asked tentatively:

"Your Highness, do you want to try a few shots?"

"Don't talk nonsense, hurry up and test the gun!"

Although the artillery carriage was in tatters, Zhao Hong was still very interested in this kind of field artillery.

Zheng Tu and Tian Yi stepped forward together, loaded ammunition, and everyone avoided from afar. Tian Yi lit the fire rope, ran away quickly, and hid behind the hillside with everyone.

In fact, there is no need to worry, the amount of gunpowder loaded for the first time is small, and there is no need to worry about the cannon exploding.

"Peng!"

The smoke was filled, and the cannonball flew into the air, turning into a black dot, and the inch-thick wooden target was broken, and sawdust flew everywhere.

"Report it, how far?"

Zhao Hong shouted loudly and waved the flag.

Soon, Xu Sheng on the opposite side waved the green flag.

"100 zhang!"

Tian Yi was excited and laughed.

100 zhang is enough to shock the world.

"It's only 100 zhang, happy fart! Add half a catty of medicine, and be careful to blow up the chamber! ”

Zhao Hong's strange scream came.

"How many?"

Another cannon rang out, and Zhao Hong asked loudly.

"Your Highness, 200 zhang!"

Tian Yi's shouting came. This time, it should be okay.

"Add another half a catty! Stay away, be careful! ”

Zhao Hong pondered for a moment and shouted loudly again.

It would be nice if there was a loudspeaker!

Tian Yi shook his head. Add another half a catty of medicine, and the medicine room will be full.

"Peng!"

In the roar of the artillery, the shells whistled out and ejected on the ground, breaking a small tree and breaking it with a "click".

"Your Highness, 250 zhang! 250 zhang! ”

Li Tang's red flag was raised, and Tian Yi's strange scream sounded again.

250 zhang, 750 meters, a full range of one and a half miles.

In fact, Zhao Hong also knew that the dosage could be increased, but 250 zhang was already a good effect.

"After I go back, make the medicine room bigger, it can reach about two catties, and the range is 300 zhang, which should be about the same."

Zhao Hong said to himself, Zheng Tu and the others shook their heads secretly.

It seems that all the artillery that has been built can only be dissolved and recast.

"Xu Sheng, squat down and borrow your tiger's back!"

Zhao Hong took out a pencil and paper, put it on Xu Sheng's back, and slowly drew it.

"Your Highness, this is ......"

Zheng Tuhu asked suspiciously.

"This is another kind of artillery, the shells and artillery are already loaded, and the shells are called sub-cannons. When firing, just stuff the subcannon into the belly of the cannon and ignite the fire rope on the top of the subcannon. It fires quickly, is easy to carry, and is not easy to blow up. ”

What Zhao Hong is talking about is the later generations of Franco machine artillery, a gun with five or six sub-cannons, the firing is very fast, is a sharp weapon on the battlefield in later generations.

Zhao Hong thought for a moment and continued:

"To facilitate field battles, the artillery should not be too heavy, the heavy ones should not be more than five or six hundred catties, the medium ones should be two or three hundred catties, and the light ones should be several dozen catties and one hundred catties. As for the amount of medication, you need to keep trying. ”

"Your Highness, this is a rear-loading gun, which saves you the trouble of loading ammunition. Don't worry, it's made by villains! ”

Zheng Tu looked at Zhao Hong in surprise, full of interest.

I wonder how many things are still hidden in this prince's head?

Still, it piqued his interest. It turns out that there are so many kinds of artillery, and there are so many interesting things.

"Zheng Tu, don't worry about trying! When the time comes, the artillery will be built, and the public will have its own reward! ”

Zhao Hong nodded and solemnly promised.

"If I try this every day, I don't know how much gunpowder it will cost?"

Tian Yi said with a sad face, as uncomfortable as having been dug up a piece of flesh on his body.

"You kid, you're a miser! Sulfur comes from Sichuan, and fire nitrate can be made by itself, as for the wood, there are mountains all over the mountain. And don't let you spend your own money, why do you feel distressed? Make your gunpowder well! ”

Zhao Hong was tough on the lips, but he was helpless in his heart.

This is war, and what is fought is logistics, and what is fought is national strength. Labor and money, this is also a way to no way.

"Your Highness, there is one more thing."

Zheng Tu ran over and took two iron lumps from the wooden box on the ground.

"What is this? Shocking thunder? ”

Zhao Hong watched carefully and blurted out.

The solid wood handle, the wire comes out from the small point of the iron head, how to look at it, it seems to be really earth-shattering.

Brother Qiang, did you use this guy to fry fish?

For the Great Song Dynasty, which was lax in armament and weak in border affairs, it was enough to protect itself with these sharp weapons that were beyond the times!