open sea

Chapter 767 Supervision
When the emperor approached the battle station, there were countless cheers and noises in the high wall, and it was not until the accompanying eunuch Wang An went to inform the emperor that he was coming.

Xiao Wanli saw a miraculous scene when he led Lu Wang into the military battle.

There is a stove on a wooden cart, and behind the stove is a square wooden box. The arm of a wooden figure on the side of the box is connected with the wood chips protruding from the inside, pushing the irregular wood chips around the outside of the wooden box over and over again with both hands. Turning around, with white smoke billowing above the head—the wooden cart was moving forward by itself.

King Lu was following Emperor Wanli to accept the worship of the eunuchs and maids, when he suddenly saw this wooden cart, which was no more than three feet long, walking around by itself, his eyes widened, and he almost instinctively rushed to Wanli. He exploded, protecting his elder brother with his small body, and said anxiously: "Someone come to escort you, wooden man!"

Like hell.

Little Wanli was very moved by his younger brother protecting him like this, especially when he saw Lu Wang's legs trembling under his little red robe.

This startled the eunuchs in the military battle bureau, Zhang Hong, the eunuch in charge, hurried forward and said: "You frightened the lord, this slave girl begged the lord to forgive me, it's not a wooden monster, it's just made into such a shape by the craftsmen of the Ministry of Industry, But the chimney and the crank rod."

Lu Wang had been frightened for a long time. He gritted his teeth and opened his arms, still maintaining the appearance of protecting his brother. He stared at the wooden cart with big eyes, then at the eunuch Zhang Hong, and said firmly, "Impossible! The cart is sweating!"

"It's true, Lord Lu, it's called Lishi boy." Zhang Hong looked at the earnest King Lu, looked helplessly at Emperor Wanli behind him, then turned his head and pointed to a corner of the courtyard and said, "Please look, my lord, there are two more people over there." Jetboys, they're just carpented like that, not spooky."

Xiao Wanli followed Zhang Hong's hand and saw two similar wooden carts parked under the high wall farther away. The bottom of the cart was close to the ground and a small half of the gear was exposed. There was no wooden box on the cart, only a large wooden chair. The gear should be hidden in the armrest of the wooden chair. On the wooden chair sits cross-legged a boy-like wooden figurine, covering his face with his hands and puffing his cheeks to blow under the chair.

It is more magical than the Daojun Temple in Acapulco.

Wanli raised his hand and patted Lu Wang, and said calmly and in an ordinary manner: "Don't panic, it's just a wooden figure, what makes it move is the steam in the boiler."

Xiao Wanli was never as proud as he was at this moment when he was studying Chen's Tao Te Ching, and he often complained about Chen Mu because it only described concepts but not many real things. This made him feel unparalleled pride.

Where does all this come from?
Knowledge!

"This is the steam that was brought up in one stroke after electricity, right?"

Little Wanli said to himself, and then asked: "Zhang Hong, I didn't ask Bingzhan Bureau to do this, who did it?"

"Returning to Your Majesty, this was not done by the Military Bureau. Your Majesty ordered the servants to make thorns in the Military Bureau next year. The servants went to the Beiyang and Xuanfu Military Bureaus successively. Only then did they know that the Xuanfu Water Machine Hammer and Beiyang Lighter Hammer were forged. Armor is very good for fighting soldiers, and the spears that your Majesty wants to make must be water fire machines and lathes."

The Xuanfu water machine refers to the large-scale hydraulic forging workshop when the Xuanfu Armament Bureau was first established, and the lighter is a steam forging hammer.

Zhang Hongdao: "Both lighters and lathes are produced in Guangdong. The servants sent people to buy them, but they heard that Zhou Sijing, the head of the Beijing North Branch of the Ministry of Industry, had been handling lighters in recent years, so they went to buy them and ordered them from the Beijing North Branch of the Ministry of Industry. I discovered this when I was forging the lighter for the sword, and I sent someone to fetch it for His Majesty's pleasure."

"Oh, you have a heart, this car is very ingenious."

Little Wanli laughed, then frowned and said, "But what's the use of this car?"

It is no more than three feet long and two feet wide. From the time Wanli entered the gate until now, he has moved forward slowly and leisurely for no more than twenty steps.

Wanli thought that this small cart could also carry the Siamese servant, but it was not as fast as the Siamese servant at all.

"Slaves also think it's useless."

Zhang Hong said with a smile: "However, Director Zhou of the Ministry of Industry seems to be very obsessed with this matter. He said that better boilers and mechanisms can make lighters more powerful. By then, lighter locomotives will be better than horse-drawn carriages, and they can tow heavy loads." At that time, you will be able to take a plow to plow the land, a sickle to harvest wheat, and even a flag army to go into battle!"

As he said that, Zhang Hong was afraid that his words would make the emperor have a bad opinion of Zhou Sijing, so he quickly added: "Although it is wishful thinking, better lighters will allow the three major arms bureaus to build better weapons for your majesty. I have been obsessed with this for several years, and it is very hard work.”

Wishful thinking?
Little Wanli shook his head. He didn't think there was anything wishful thinking about it. Now that the small car can carry Siamese servants, as long as it is made bigger, it can hold a person and carry a gun. Why can't it carry more people in the future? Go to war and plow the land with heavier implements?

The little emperor muttered something that only he could understand: "As long as the steam engine can produce a pond of force, arable land will not be a problem. If it can produce a pond of force, it will definitely be able to march and fight!"

After finishing speaking, the little emperor waved his hand and said: "The Beijing North Branch of the Ministry of Industry will do this, and you will be asked to make a new type of thorn. Last time, you said that it is not easy to install the new type of thorn in the old bird blunderbuss, and a new type of blunderbuss is needed. How are you doing? "

"Returning to Your Majesty, Huangzhuang by the Yongding River has already made a new gun bed. The new type of gun stab is not easy to make, but the finished product is ready. Your Majesty is invited to watch the battle."

Little Wanli nodded in satisfaction, put his two small hands hidden in his big sleeves back, walked into the Bingzheng Bureau's office with his head held high and his chest held high - he walked like this all the time without Zhang Juzheng beside him.

Not long after, a bright short knife was presented to the emperor. The inscription on the hilt was that the thorn was made in the sixth year of Wanli, and the thorn was made by the 24 Yamen Bingzhang Bureau. It also had the number Tianyi on the back. The hexagonal round hole, the tail of the knife also has a long card slot and two round buckles on both sides.

Zhang Hong leaned slightly beside the emperor and reported: "The knife is one foot and two inches long, the blade is nine inches and six inches long, and the handle is two inches and four inches long. It is made of steel, pig iron, wrought iron and wood chips. The price is one tael and seven cents of silver."

Wanli raised his eyebrows. His hands were small, and the proportion of the bayonet held in his hand was just like the proportion of a sergeant holding a waist knife. It was heavy in his hand. It is conceivable that this is a little heavier than the past gun bayonet, but the cost is a bit too high. up.

The cost of a Yanling knife that weighs more than two catties is only seven cents of silver. How dare you ask for one tael and seven cents of silver for a gun stab that is half the size?

"Why is it so expensive, it is harder to make than ordinary swords?"

"Returning to Your Majesty, the blunderbuss stab is no different from finding a waist knife. It is nothing more than stabbing and chopping. The only thing that is stuck on the bird bludgeon is that it is easier to insert it directly. But if you want it to be stable, chop and chop It is much more difficult to stab without being able to bend or break the barrel without damaging the barrel."

"This is not the most difficult thing. The most difficult thing is the specifications and standards. The craftsman has been careful, and some defective products are still unsuitable. For example, it is even more difficult to make it with the bird's gun. The thickness of the bird's gun itself varies. There are subtle differences, although most of them can fit in, but there will always be some that can't fit in."

"There are many unsuitable ones, and the cost of the finished knife is much higher."

Wanli clapped his hands, thinking that if this was the case, he would be able to accept the cost... His clan had just given him enough silver to make one hundred thousand gun thorns, he nodded to Zhang Hong and asked, "How many battles can we make? "

"The Huangzhuang by the Yongding River can make [-] knives a month."

Emperor Wanli was dissatisfied, he shook his head and said: "This is not possible, I want to inform Beiyang, Xuanfu, and Guangzhou Military Weapons Bureau of this shape and specification, and let them build it together with the Bingzhan Bureau to see who can make it better and more beautiful." Many, I can promise the Beiyang soldiers that this year they will use the new thorns!"

"You have to make the thorn well, and add a line of words on it." Pointing to the inscription on the blade, the little emperor proudly said: "In the sixth year of Wanli, Bingzhanju was built, the name of the craftsman, and——Zhu Yijun supervised the production!"

(End of this chapter)