Tibet

After lunch, Zhang Hao hurried back to the official office to sort out the report. Wei Jiansu and Zhang Li accompanied Li Ye to the new city for inspection.

The construction of Chang'an New City was completed last month. As long as it expands in the three directions of east, west and south, after discussions between civil and military officials of Manchuria and the DPRK, as well as soliciting opinions from tens of thousands of people, the court finally decided not to demolish the existing city walls and build the new ones. Chang'an City is called Waikou City, including Han Chang'an City, and the new city has been integrated with Han Chang'an City.

The old city inside is called the inner city, and then there is the imperial city and the palace city.

In addition, the city walls of the West Inner Courtyard and the East Inner Courtyard were rebuilt into tall and strong walls to increase the privacy of the Inner Courtyard. The West Inner Courtyard was the place where troops were garrisoned, and the East Inner Courtyard was completely the emperor’s back garden. There would be people there every day. Female cavalry patrol the inner garden.

Li Ye stood on the former west city wall. He looked back at Yonghefang behind him, which was where he lived when he was a boy. The front was originally farmland, but now it has become a city. Thousands of people are busy building roads. Several spacious and flat official roads have begun to take shape.

A few miles away is the new city wall. There is currently no house on the vast land. All the villages have been demolished. Each villager will receive one acre of homeland and five hundred guan as compensation.

"Is anyone coming to buy land now?" Li Ye asked with a smile.

Wei Jiansu smiled and nodded, "Of course, there are many every day. The rich and powerful families in all states and counties all over the world want to own a house in the capital, so there is an endless stream of inquiries every day. In two days, the land will be measured. After the measurement is completed, we will Start selling land.”

At this time, He Yuantu, the chief official of the Ministry of Industry in charge of city construction, came forward to see Sheng. Li Ye smiled and asked, "When will the road to Waikou City be completed?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty, it will be completed by the end of the month. Then we will level the land, build river embankments, and plant trees in the spring."

Li Ye saw the craftsmen laying stone slabs and asked: "Are all roads paved with stone slabs?"

"Reporting to your majesty, if the main road is paved with stone slabs, it will be impossible to pave the road in the square."

Li Ye nodded and smiled at Wei Jiansu and Zhang Li: "In ten years, this place will probably be completely different."

"Yes! The Tang Dynasty has entered the prosperous era, which gives people hope. There will be big changes every day."

Li Ye said happily: "I will check back in a few months. I hope there will be new changes!"

After inspecting the city wall, Li Ye then came to the Firearms Supervision and Development Institute. The Firearms Supervision is the newly established military weapons manufacturing department, including the Firearms Department, the Gunpowder Department, the Vitriol Refining Department, the Iron Smelting Department, and the Materials Department. The new supervisory order Officially known as Duan Xiu Shi, he was obsessed with new weapons and voluntarily resigned from his high position as Privy Councilor to prepare for the establishment of a new weapons supervisor.

Li Ye and two prime ministers came to study, and Duan Xiushi happened to be here too. After receiving the news, he quickly led a large group of officials to welcome him out.

"The humble minister Duan Xiushi is here to see His Majesty!"

Seeing that he was dark and thin, Li Ye guessed that he had suffered a lot during this period. He couldn't help but sigh and said, "If Duan Aiqing doesn't take good care of yourself, you will have to beg your old age and retire from office in ten years."

Duan Xiushi smiled and explained: "The main reason is that the Firearms Supervision Bureau has just been established, so there are many things to do and it is quite hard. Once it is running normally, it will not be so tiring."

"Take care of yourself! I can't help you."

Li Ye walked into the courtyard and happened to see the Ordnance Supervisor Hu Jiuling. He was the second person in the newly established Ordnance Supervision. Li Ye saw that he was also sallow and thin, so he had to smile bitterly and said: "What new style has been introduced recently?" firearm?"

Hu Jiuling quickly bowed and said: "It's a coincidence that your Majesty is here. He has been testing a new type of firearm recently."

Li Ye perked up and asked quickly: "Where is it? Let me have a look!"

Duan Xiushi smiled mysteriously, "Your Majesty and the two prime ministers, please come with me!"

Wei Jiansu and Zhang Li came to visit with the emperor. They were not very interested. They looked at each other and had no choice but to follow the enthusiastic emperor to the backyard.

When he came to the stone platform in the backyard, Li Ye saw the artillery he had been waiting for for a long time. In fact, he also guessed that it was an artillery piece. After all, the one-piece casting technology has long been mature. After so many years of continuous accumulation and exploration, it was cast last year. The copper tube is very dense and has no trachoma. As a cheating master, he drew the drawings and explained the principles, so it should be developed soon.

Li Ye gently stroked this divine general. It was about one and a half meters long and very smooth. It had two hoops to prevent the barrel from exploding. The bottom was very thick. The muzzle above was about the size of a medium bowl. The cannon god was engraved with Four big characters 'General Shenwu! ’

"How many people usually need to operate?" Li Ye asked again.

"Generally three people are enough, one gunner and two assistants!"

"Did the test succeed?" Li Ye asked again.

"Success is a success, but we feel that the range and power are not satisfactory. We are still adjusting the gunpowder formula and trial and error to find the most satisfactory results."

"Solid bullets or fire bombs?"

Hu Jiuling said quickly: "Reporting to Your Majesty, it must be solid bullets now. We will switch to fire and thunder bullets after complete success."

Li Ye nodded, "You can cast a few more cannons, long ones, short ones, thick ones, thin ones, or even cast them with pig iron. A good article is made through repeated revisions. Likewise, a good firearm is also made." Through trial and error, the dosage and bomb weight are determined, and then standardized operations are carried out.”

Seeing that no one understood, Li Ye explained: "The gunpowder required for each shot must be packed in a special wooden barrel or bamboo tube. There is no need for personal experience to measure it. There are different amounts of gunpowder depending on the range and the weight of the cannonball." Tube, do you understand what I mean?"

Everyone was an experienced expert, and they immediately understood what the emperor meant. This was just like arrows. Different types of arrows would be used depending on the combat environment, the type of bow and crossbow, and the required shooting distance.

Li Ye was very pleased to see that everyone understood his standardization ideas, and smiled and said: "I will not give you a time limit, you must be patient and keep experimenting."

"Thank you, Your Majesty, we will definitely test again and again, and will never disappoint the general's expectations!"

Li Ye encouraged everyone a few words, he turned around and saw Wei Jiansu and Zhang Li standing beside him in confusion, so he smiled and explained: "This is the catapult among firearms, which can project a fire mine to explode several miles away. If it is a siege, launching a fire mine can blow up the city gate or collapse the city wall. If it is a confrontation between two armies, we can attack the other side two or three miles away. This can be said to be the longest-range projectile weapon, and it is amazingly powerful. With it, we are invincible."

Wei Jiansu was overjoyed and smiled and said: "Not only are we invincible, but we also make a lot of money!"

Everyone laughed.

The three returned to Daming Palace. In the carriage, Li Ye thought of something and said to Wei Jiansu with a smile: "I have a private matter that may trouble Wei Xiangguo."

"Your Majesty, don't be polite, just say it directly!"

"Yesterday I promised my daughter that I would let their girls' school take the Shuguang to Jiangnan for a study tour in the spring of next year. They may need to be received by the government along the route. All expenses will be borne by me personally."

Wei Jiansu laughed, "This is not just your Majesty's private matter! My two granddaughters are also studying with the eldest princess, and they will go together!"

Zhang Li next to him also said: "My eldest granddaughter is also in the Hongwenguan Girls' School!"

Li Ye laughed dumbly and said: "It seems that I can't pay for it alone!"

The three laughed together.

Wei Jiansu smiled again and said, "Your Highness, don't worry about this. I will let Hongwen Academy arrange it by itself. Studying abroad is part of education, and this expense should not be borne by the students' families."

Li Ye pondered for a moment and said, "Because their study abroad next year is different from that of ordinary students. First of all, the safety requirements are very strict. There are also local officials to receive them, and the food and accommodation expenses along the way are not small. They are still riding on my 30,000-stone Shuguang ship. I will pay half of all their expenses, and the other half will be paid by the inner treasury."

Wei Jiansu shook his head, "Your Majesty doesn't have to pay for it personally. This has always been a convention. When the princes or princesses of the Tang Dynasty travel to other places, all expenses are borne by the inner treasury. It started in the Taizong era."

Li Ye thought for a while and said, "What I just said was about the women's study. If it is a hall, then the same is true for the Hongwenguan Men's School. Tomorrow spring, we can arrange study tours. Male students can go to Longyou and Hexi to study. They can ride horses and live in tents. The conditions will be a little difficult. The prince will go with them to train them to endure hardships and all expenses will be borne by the inner court. "

Zhang Li laughed dumbly and said, "Your Majesty, I am biased! Girls are pampered, but boys must endure hardships and work."

Li Ye also laughed and said, "That can't be helped. Girls are the treasures of every household. They can't be spoiled. They are bad boys! In the future, they will take on the responsibility of the Tang Dynasty. Of course, the requirements will be stricter."

Wei Jiansu nodded, "I agree very much to train them to endure hardships and work, but after all, the prince is here, and safety protection cannot be sloppy at all!"

Li Ye pondered for a moment and said, "I will arrange for the inner guards to be fully responsible for safety. "