Chapter 250 Thunderbolt Cannon and Firearms Supervision
As an emperor, Li Shimin has just learned a few tricks, but as a general, he has been battle-tested for a long time. Qin Lang made gunpowder and firecrackers for Lizhi, and he immediately saw the importance of its military application.
Not to mention, just this thunderous loud noise, this thing can play a great role in the hands of an excellent general, not to mention, looking at Chai Lingwu's embarrassed look, and then looking at another Li Shimin became more and more excited about the small bamboo tube in Qianniu Beishen's hand.
The emperor ignored Chai Lingwu standing there dumbfounded. He directly grabbed a firecracker and studied it carefully in his hand. Although he watched the whole process when Qin Lang made it just now, he still showed great interest now. He picked out the blocked paper ball, pulled out the lead wire, and poured out the paper ball inside, and finally a small amount of black powder.
"Why is this thing so powerful?"
Qin Lang was shocked by Li Shimin's keenness, and he could only explain that he was studying in Sanyuan some time ago, and after reading some miscellaneous books, he saw the records of alchemy failure and explosion in several alchemy books, and felt that this thing seemed very powerful, so he tried it himself Down.
"If more medicine is added, will the effect be more powerful?" Li Shimin asked.
Qin Lang looked at his wolf-like eyes and knew where the emperor was going, so he could only bite the bullet and said, "I just experimented a few times casually. The ratio of nitric acid and sulfur is not perfect, and the effect of the explosion is not perfect." There are good times and bad times, and the most important thing is that the medicine primer has not been studied well.”
"Does it mean that more medicine can be more effective?"
"Theoretically, it is true." Qin Lang also knew that he had released a beast, but he didn't know what to be happy about. "The minister speculated and calculated that if he took a coffin filled with hundreds of catties of gunpowder, Then dig a tunnel under the city wall, put the gunpowder coffin in it, and if it is ignited and exploded, the city walls at the general state and county level will be able to collapse..."
Li Shimin quickly turned his head to look around, then glared at Qin Lang, "Follow me."
Before he left, he ordered the news of the firecrackers to be blocked, and no one was allowed to leak a word, otherwise he would be executed.
The emperor directly took Qin Lang to his bedroom, the room was very warm.
"Tell me specifically."
In fact, there is not much to say about this thing. Gunpowder is the product of the failure of Taoist priests in the late Tang Dynasty to make alchemy. Taoist priests made alchemy, and their favorite thing is to add various chemicals, such as lead, copper, mercury, sulfur, nitrate, etc., properly. It is the alchemist and chemical expert in the Middle Ages.
After gunpowder was knocked out by mistake, it soon began to be used in warfare.
From simply making loud noises to scare the enemy, to making gunpowder packs and throwing them into the enemy's city to explode, and then improving them to arrows and making rockets to boost them. In the Northern Song Dynasty, gunpowder weapons became more and more widespread. What fire thorns , poisonous smoke ball, and then the shocking thunder, thunderbolt cannon, etc., have developed from simple arson firearms to explosive firearms.
Wait until the Southern Song Dynasty, tubular firearms appeared, copper fire blunderbuss and bamboo firearms all appeared.
Qin Lang is not an expert in firearms, so he doesn't know how to directly research such things as firecrackers and artillery, but he knows that whether it is a booster rocket, a poisonous smoke ball, or a thunderbolt, these different firearms actually have different effects on the proportion of gunpowder. It is not different, and the effect of different ratios is also different.
Put hundreds of kilograms of gunpowder directly into the tunnel under the city wall to explode. That is just the simplest application, it consumes a lot of medicine, and the effect can only be said to be mediocre.
But in Li Shimin's view, it is different.
During a normal siege, digging tunnels is indeed a routine tactic, but experienced enemies will also have countermeasures, such as burying tanks to listen to the ground, or digging trenches to block them, or pouring water and setting them on fire. The longer it takes to dig a tunnel, the easier it is to be exposed.
Sometimes when the attacker dug the tunnel, he only dug under the city wall and stopped digging. He would set up wooden pillars, etc., then put in a lot of dry firewood, pour oil on it and set it on fire. The walls will come down.
However, this kind of project is too large, and it is easy to be exposed and discovered.
And the method Qin Lang is talking about now is much simpler. Just dig a small tunnel quickly. There is no need to hollow out a large area below, as long as it can accommodate a coffin. According to Qin Lang, at most When digging, it is necessary to dig a turning point, and then build up the aisle at the turning point, and just ignite it.
As for why he did this, Qin Lang said that it was easier to form a dense forest space, and when it exploded, the shock wave would be even bigger.
Li Shimin didn't understand it very well, but it didn't matter. What was important was that he knew that this thing could easily blow through the city wall with a thousand catties.
During war, siege is essential, especially when encountering some strong fortresses, they cannot be bypassed and must be attacked by force. I think they attacked Luoyang back then, and for example, they conquered Goguryeo several times in the Sui Dynasty, but they were finally stopped by Liaodong Jiancheng and those dangerous mountain cities.
If there is such a powerful thing, if you make ten or eight gunpowder coffins at once, and blast them in several directions at the same time, even the fierce Goguryeo people will not be able to defend them.
The more Li Shimin thought about it, the more excited he became, and he was so excited that he didn't feel the slightest bit drunk.
"This kind of gunpowder is not only useful for that, isn't it? The explosion of the firecracker just now is also very powerful? Do you think it is possible to develop a weapon that looks like a firecracker, and throw it in your hand to explode?"
Qin Lang couldn't help admiring the emperor, he was quick to think about it, and immediately came up with the idea of throwing firearms.
"This should be possible, but the effect of the bamboo tube is definitely not lethal. It must be replaced with a pig iron shell, which is easy to break and splash after the explosion. Maybe the broken iron pieces have the function of armor penetration. Of course, if it can be mixed with gunpowder Broken iron pieces, iron nails, ceramic pieces, etc. are estimated to be more lethal. However, it is not easy to make this. If it is too big, it cannot be thrown out, and it may not be exploded. It is light and has less gunpowder. Not lethal."
Li Shimin laughed and said, "As long as the direction is right, are you afraid that you won't find a solution?"
Qin Lang was also said to be excited, "Actually, I think it can be matched with a catapult and made into a thunderbolt cannon."
Li Shimin imagined this kind of weapon, and couldn't help clapping his legs and praising it. It can shoot far, make a loud noise, and explode. It's really amazing to think about it.
"I have decided to set up a new firearms department, and you will be in full charge of it. Secretly recruit a group of craftsmen and Taoist priests to study the military use of this gunpowder."
Qin Lang could only nod his head, he couldn't even push this thing away.
"For saltpeter and sulfur, you can find a few mines and mine them yourself." Li Shimin confessed again.
Qin Lang now also has a feeling that he doesn't worry about having too many debts, and he doesn't feel itchy when he has too many lice.
The Firearms Supervision is temporarily a top-secret institution, not affiliated with the Transshipment Department or other yamen. In order to achieve the effect of secrecy, the emperor also specially selected a place for Qin Lang outside Chang'an City, and pulled out the imperial army to block the guards.
After a long time of secret discussion between the monarch and his ministers, when Qin Lang walked out of the hall, he met Prince Chengqian and Li Tai who were still standing in the corridor for punishment.
Li You, the culprit, saw Qin Lang coming out, and said in a very bachelor way, "Sanlang is really powerful, I never thought you would make such a powerful firecracker, you don't know, just now Chai Lingwu couldn't move, wait for the guards to go over and take him away, Only then did I realize that he was standing on the ground, with a big spread of yellow, hahaha, he peed in fright!"
Seeing that Chang Le was not here, Qin Lang asked Cheng Qian, "Did King Qi return all the lucky money to you just now?"
"I paid it back, I am willing to bet and admit defeat. I, Li You, am not someone who can't afford to lose." Li You said dissatisfied, "Sanlang, can you get me some of these firecrackers?"
Qin Lang smiled, "Your Highness, don't you forget the gag order His Majesty issued just now?"
Li You laughed.
Qin Lang bid farewell to Cheng Qian and others and left the palace.
On the first day of the Lunar New Year, this was originally a rare holiday when Baisi Yamen was sealed off, but a minister in a position like Qin Lang didn't have that much free time.
It’s Chinese New Year, but I’m still busy.
After leaving the Taiji Palace, Qin Lang went to the Zhengshitang in the Imperial City Zhongshu Province.
Although his transshipment department is not under the management of the Zhengshitang now, he has to contact and cooperate with them.
"What's the matter with the eldest grandson's servant calling down the official?"
Qin Lang came to Changsun Wuji's public house.
Changsun Wuji stood up and crossed his hands to Qin Lang with a smile, "Happy New Year."
"Happy New Year, grandson."
Changsun Wuji looked at this niece and son-in-law, smiled and patted him on the shoulder, and beckoned him to sit down and enjoy the fire. There was fine silver charcoal in the charcoal basin, and there was no smoke but the firepower was very strong. Qin Lang sat down and realized that Taro is still roasting on the charcoal.
During the Qin and Han Dynasties, taro was a specialty product in western Sichuan. Today, taro is grown in many places in the Central Plains. At this time, taro is not a vegetable, but a staple food like corn.
Simmering taro over charcoal fire is really a good thing in winter. When you are busy and hungry, it can satisfy your hunger and satiate your stomach, and the taste is not bad.
"A piece?"
Qin Lang took it with a smile, patted off the ashes, and gently tore off the taro skin outside.
"Your Majesty said that he would reward the Sifang envoys who paid tribute to congratulate him, what is your plan?" the eldest grandson asked.
"The treasury is out of money again, isn't it?"
The eldest grandson blew on the taro, "You brought a lot of money into the national treasury years ago, and there is still some money now, but this money is very precious, and it cannot be given to those barbarians so easily, right?" However, when the eldest grandson came to Qin Lang, he naturally didn't want to use the money, "Before Xia received it, the court's life would be very tight, and money was needed everywhere."
Qin Lang nodded, expressing his understanding.
Those who are not in charge of the family do not know how expensive firewood is.
"What does the eldest grandson mean?"
"The result of the discussions among the members of the Zhengshitang, is this reward or your transshipment department will be responsible." Changsun Wuji said with a smile, "Sanlang should be able to do it, right?"
"As long as the lords are willing to hand over the tribute paid by the vassal envoys of various countries to our transshipment department, then we are willing to take over the reward."
"A tribute to you?"
"Grandpa Changsun, if you give us the tribute, we still have to lose it? Otherwise, let the Zhengshitang be in charge of this matter, and we don't have anything to do with it."
Changsun Wuji said helplessly, "You little fox, you are very cunning. Well, the tribute will be given to you, but the reward will also be given to you. No matter what you think of, you must follow His Majesty's will and reward generously. It must be richer than the tribute of the feudal envoy, and I must not lose face of my Tang Dynasty."
"Please don't worry about this, grandson."
Qin Lang dared to accept this matter, but felt that there was actually room for manipulation in this matter, and it was not simply a matter of posting money.
After launching such a money-subsidizing errand, Changsun Wuji felt much more relaxed.
"Saburo, the Transshipment Department is going to start a census of households, right? What are the problems now?"
(end of this chapter)