Warrior in Turbulent Han Dynasty

It's getting colder and it's snowing in Tokyo. The snowflakes fluttered in the wind, mixing with the black smoke from the chimney of the earthen house in Jiazaofang, like soot.

Zan Jurun and a few people walked into a room, put away the umbrella and shook the snowflakes on his robe, he immediately frowned and covered his nose with a handkerchief, a choking burning smell rushed towards his face with a wave of heat!

The house was very noisy, and the noise made the ears "buzzing" and it was very uncomfortable.

Bian water has frozen, it is the dry season. However, the donkey in the basement pulled the huge wheel and made the sound of "cracking". It drove a whole row of blowers to blow air towards the furnace. The blast furnace with bricks and mud outside was the main heat source of the high temperature in the house. In addition, there is the sound of the blacksmith "ding ding kuang kuang" waving a hammer.

Zan Jurun looked over and saw several bare-chested blacksmiths, their yellow muscles were covered with sweat, and they were beating their heads with hammers.

Not long after, a big man in a thin, torn linen jacket came over, wiping the white ash on his face with a sweat towel. An official in front said: "I report to Zan to assist the government. He is Xu Sheng."

The big man also folded his fists and bent over, saying, "Young one, I pay my respects to Zan Fuzheng."

Zan Jurun looked him up and down, and said, "You said you can improve the barrel of the firearm?"

The big man named Xu Sheng answered loudly, otherwise he would not be able to hear him. He said: "I don't know yet, Zan Fuzheng will come two days late! We have to wait for the iron to be melted. There is no blast furnace in Beiyuan, but there is Jiajiafang. I'll come and try it."

This Xu Sheng is a blacksmith from the Beiyuan Firearms Workshop, and he asked for orders to come to the Bianshui Workshop, and Zan Jurun only heard about what he was doing. The Firearms Workshop in Beiyuan is a relatively small workshop dedicated to testing new firearms; while the Bianshui Armor Workshop has a great demand for iron materials, and built a blast furnace for melting iron. Xu Sheng said he wanted a blast furnace, so he came here to test.

Zan Jurun attaches great importance to this matter.

The royal family set aside a piece of land in Beiyuan for the Military Arms Supervision to try out firearms. It costs a lot of money to support so many people; but after several years of development, they haven’t come up with a name... What kind of "blossom bomb" is made, it is really tasteless to drill a whole stone into a hollow and use a catapult to shoot|throw it.

In the past, whether it was the method of removing impurities by dissolving and filtering saltpeter, granulating gunpowder to burn faster, or bronze blunderbuss and mortars, it was Guo Shao's own idea, and the firearms workshop only implemented it.

Now that the end of the year is approaching, Zan Jurun is going to summarize the achievements of the various yamen of the Military Weapons Supervision this year... When he wrote the memorial to the Beiyuan Firearms Workshop, did he write "wasting money and food, no results"?

This made Zan Jurun feel very difficult. Fortunately, this craftsman has brought him some expectations recently.

"Can you try it?" Zan Jurun asked.

Xu Sheng was a little hesitant, and said loudly: "Anyway, if the barrel is cast, it must have a large hole and a thick body; if the gunpowder runs out of gas, it will not be able to hit far! You have to use the method of forging."

"Using a cold stick as the core and wrapping it with iron plates?" Zan Jurun said, "Didn't you try it?"

Xu Sheng said: "Yes, wrought iron is too soft, and it will deform when it is fried; if it is hard and brittle, it will crack when it is fried. But I have thought about it, and there are two things wrong. One is that the iron material is not good, and the other is that the gunpowder is not good."

Zan Jurun turned his head and said to a scribe accompanying him, "You write down what he said."

"Here." The clerk hurriedly took out a pen and ink from his bag and prepared.

Xu Sheng said again: "The gunpowder we use is too strong, it burns too fast, and it is easy to burst the iron pipe; but there is little smoke, and the bullets can't go far in the chamber. The gunpowder is good for bombing things, and the lead bullets are not very useful. I adjusted the ingredients again and added more charcoal.

In addition, the iron used for forging the barrel is too ripe and soft, and when it is hard, it becomes brittle. I have tried many methods, adding limestone can make it better... But before I hammered wrought iron, I added limestone powder at the same time, and all the slag was hammered into the iron material. Now think again and add it to the molten iron in the stove! "

Zan Jurun asked, "What's the reason?"

Xu Sheng looked blank: "The young one doesn't know, the small family has been blacksmiths for three generations, relying on experience."

He pointed to the large hot furnace behind him and said, "After the molten iron was recast into blocks, I heated it up repeatedly and forged it to make mature iron. Then I used this wrought iron to re-forge the gun barrel."

Zan Jurun said: "If you succeed in doing it, I will reward you with a hundred guan!"

Xu Sheng's eyes widened: "Zan Fuzheng keeps his word!"

Zan Jurun said decisively: "As long as you succeed, I will reward you even with salary!"

But it will take at least one more month for this thing to be tested, Zan Jurun can't wait, it will be next year in more than one month! He just wrote a memorial on the situation of the collection, which is better than writing "wasting money and food and getting nothing".

... As soon as Guo Shao walked into the study room of the East Hall that day, he saw that there were many memorials on the imperial case, most of which were persuading the change of the country name, and they had been classified into categories, so he left them aside and refused to reply, and then refused them all.

You have to have a good posture, if you take the initiative to change the name of the country and become the founding emperor, it will be very ugly; you have to get many people to support yourself, "reluctantly" to do this... Although Guo Shao himself is also the founding emperor.

Moreover, Guo Shao still has some things to think about, so he can't be in a hurry.

There was no title of meritorious official when he was enthroned, so now the founding of the country should be considered... and the current military power system is suitable for frequent large-scale wars, but it is not conducive to ensuring the safety of the imperial power. This is an indisputable fact.

In history, the reason why Zhao Kuangyin released his military power with a glass of wine was also because he saw the risks involved. Guo Shao also wants to draw a ladle and have a glass of wine to release his military power? He denied this approach, because his military philosophy is completely different from Zhao Kuangyin's... and according to that method, the imperial court really doesn't have so much money to "redeem" the military power of the generals.

Guo Shao decided to wait.

At this moment, a memorial from the Military Weapons Supervisor came into Guo Shao's eyes. Most of his other memorials were sent to the ministers of the Political Affairs Hall and the Privy Council for their discretion, but he was very interested in the memorials of the Military Supervisor... Ancient scholar-officials didn't pay much attention to technology, but Guo Shao's concept was different after all.

In Zan Jurun's own memorandum, he mentions a craftsman named Xu Sheng's attempt to improve the barrel of the gun.

Guo Shao was very absorbed in watching it, and only thought it made sense... In my impression, the musket|gun didn't seem to be made of golden copper, but really an iron pipe! It's just that I tried to use iron pipes many times before and failed, so I came up with the nondescript musket|gun.

As for the principle of adding lime powder to the iron material?

Guo Shao thought about it for a long time, but he didn't understand it. He picked up a pen and scribbled some chemical equations on the paper. Unfortunately, his chemistry knowledge was only limited to middle school, and he had forgotten most of it! If he majored in metallurgy, he might be able to understand it now, but unfortunately he doesn't. Guo Shao is also half a pot of water, and he doesn't know much about many things.

Fortunately, he also worked as a blacksmith for his livelihood before, so he still has a little understanding of the craftsmanship at that time.

He couldn't understand the craftsmanship of the craftsman. He guessed that there was too much sulfur in the iron ore or there were some impurities that affected the strength of the metal. The additives added could remove the impurities?

In any case, craftsmen who can innovate must be encouraged! When Guo Shao picked up the pen, he remembered that Zan Jurun was in the study.

Guo Shao raised his head and said, "Zan assists the government."

Zan Jurun hurriedly got up and walked over, bowed and said, "The minister is here."

Guo Shao returned the memorial to him: "This Xu Sheng, if he can really make an iron gun barrel, tell him that he will be rewarded! Choose a house in Tokyo, Kaifeng government will allocate a piece of official land, and give him a thousand guan."

Zan Jurun was surprised, after all, he was just a small craftsman.

However, Guo Shao has always been generous to the things he cares about, he pondered for a moment and said: "Find a vacancy for the military supervisor, and give him an official position."

Zan Jurun couldn't help but said: "This man is a craftsman, I'm afraid he doesn't even know a few big characters."

Guo Shaodao: "This matter is of great importance. If Xu Sheng can make meritorious service, even a craftsman can afford a heavy reward. I also want him to set an example. Those who are talented are not just those who are good at writing."

Zan Jurun had no choice but to say: "Your Majesty is wise."

After a while, Guo Shao accidentally discovered a very interesting memorial on the imperial case: written by Fan Zhi.

He actually persuaded Guo Shao to found the country and proclaim himself emperor! Because there were too many people persuading this matter, the memorials were divided into categories, and Guo Shao almost didn't notice... Fortunately, Fan Zhi's memorials were placed on the top, so they were easy to see. Probably several cabinet assistants paid attention to Fan Zhi's memorials and did it on purpose.

From the bottom of my heart, Guo Shao personally doesn't like Fan Zhi very much!

He stood up, paced outside the screen, and all four cabinet officials stood up. Guo Shao turned to look at them and asked, "What do you guys think, how about reinstating Officer Fan Zhi?"

Several people looked at each other, Zuo You clasped his fists and said: "Before the Northern Expedition, Duke Fan strongly opposed it, saying that His Majesty could not win. Now that His Majesty has won and returned to the court, he is very tolerant towards Duke Fan. This is the heart of Donghai."

In fact, Fan Zhi rebelled against Guo Shao at the beginning because he opposed Fu Jinzhan's ruling and made a lot of trouble. It's just that Zuo You didn't mention it. .

Moreover, the reason Zuo You advocated returning to Fan Zhi's official position was not what he said... The most important reason is not easy to put on the surface!

Fan Zhi's identity is very special, he is an old minister in the late emperor's time, and he has never been accepted as a confidant by Guo Shao. At this moment, many former courtiers will hold a wait-and-see attitude in their hearts... After all, the emperor and the courtiers! If Fan Zhi, a person who caresses the dragon's beard and jumps up and down, is fine, do the former courtiers and officials still worry about their own status and interests?

Since they are all officials, and they are not aliens who entered the Central Plains. As long as his own interests can be guaranteed, Guo Shao puts himself in the position: If he is such an official, he must still be an official, and he has no desire to oppose the emperor's founding of the country and proclaiming himself emperor.

As for what Zuo You said, the reason is not important, but his attitude is the most important. It is estimated that Zuo You and others have also seen this.

Sure enough, Huang Binglian and the other three also said one after another: "Your Majesty is magnanimous, and the hearts of the world are at peace. I think that the talent of Fan Gong, the prime minister, is very fortunate to be forgiven by Your Majesty."

Guo Shao was also very straightforward in handling affairs. Hearing that the four people had the same attitude as himself, he immediately turned his head and said, "Come here, go to the Fan Mansion to deliver an order, and ask him to be on duty at the Political Affairs Hall tomorrow. Whatever he was doing before, he will do now."

The eunuch on duty is Cao Tai, with a weak voice: "Your servant obeys the order."\u003c