It was the day when the emperor and ministers went out of the city to pray for rain. Zhang Zhou chose this day to test the cannon, which naturally had his purpose.
Artificial rainfall enhancement.
He can't create artificial rainfall. Today's cannons can't fire that high, and dry ice and other refrigerants can't be produced these days.
But when it rains, it is possible to use silver iodide as a nucleating agent or hygroscopic agents such as salt particles to achieve artificial rainfall enhancement.
"It's set up and can start at any time."
Sun Shangqi went over to check the condition of the artillery and came back to inform a few people.
While talking, a guard from behind brought the telescope over and prepared one for each person.
Zhang Zhou said, "If you want to find a high place, the slope is good."
"No need," Zhang Mao said, "The terrain in front is low, and you can see far. ”
Old man Zhang seemed too lazy to take a few more steps.
Xiao Jing smiled and said, "Mr. British, we'd better listen to Mr. Zhang."
The group arrived on the slope.
Everyone took out the telescopes purchased by the imperial court from Zhang Zhou and looked into the distance. In fact, they did not know what they wanted to see or how far they wanted to see.
Zhang Zhou took out his binoculars.
"Mr. Zhang, yours is a bit unique." Xiao Jing looked sideways at the telescope in Zhang Zhou's hand.
Zhang Zhou smiled and said, "I have bad eyesight, so I made a pair of binoculars so that I can see the same from a distance."
"Oh."
Xiao Jing He nodded vaguely understanding.
The one with two tubes can see farther
Guo Ang, who was next to him, handed his telescope to Xiao Jing and said, "Eunuch Xiao, you can use this one"
It means, you have one, add this to me, and put together your own binoculars.
"Yes."
Xiao Jing looked at Guo Ang with admiration, as if to say, you are the one who knows how to do things.
But when he put the two telescopes in front of his eyes, because there was no structure to adjust the focus and interpupillary distance, Xiao Jing just glanced at it and felt dizzy, and then handed Guo Ang's one back. " You see too."
Looking back at Zhang Zhou's telescope, he seemed to be even more envious.
If only we could have one in our family
"Bang"
Just when Xiao Jing was wandering in the sky, the sound of cannons came from below.
But I saw a fireball flying out of the air and falling nearly two miles away. After landing, there was another burst of fire, followed by a large amount of smoke and dust.
Using a telescope, you can vaguely see that the open space two miles away was completely devastated by the bombing.
"Okay"
Sun Shangqi, who was below, accompanied Jia Laoshui after firing off the cannons, shouted, and greeted the people on the slope with the small flag in his hand.
"Change"
Zhang Zhou shouted while also using a small flag to give orders to his subordinates.
Xiao Jing couldn’t bear to move his eyes even through the telescope, hearing thisThen he put it down and looked at Zhang Zhou with a look of astonishment and said, "Mr. Zhang, how far is that?"
Zhang Mao's grandson, Guo Ang and others were also looking at Zhang Zhou in disbelief.
Zhang Zhou said, "It's less than two miles, almost. This is a blooming bomb just now. It is a part of the mighty gunpowder that will explode after it hits the ground. The shotgun used below is a shotgun with a relatively large coverage area." Everyone, let’s continue watching.”
Xiao Jing swallowed his saliva and said, “Sir, isn’t the mighty gunpowder very dangerous? Can it be sent out directly?”
As a person close to the emperor, Xiao Jing knew Something about nitroglycerin being difficult to store.
We also know that Zhu Youtang originally wanted to use nitroglycerin in the possible war in Ningyuan, Liaodong, but Zhang Zhou refused on the grounds that transportation was inconvenient, and even the craftsmen could not make it in time. Transfer over.
That’s why Xiao Jing asked this question.
"I improved it a bit, using a kind of diatomaceous earth, a kind of loess, to absorb the mighty gunpowder. Unfortunately, I can't find much of this stuff at the moment. I may have to give it up later. The governments from various places will help to see if they can find the mineral deposits." Seeing the flags waving below, Zhang Zhou pointed to Xiao Jing and said, "Let's continue looking."
" Bang”
Another shot.
This time it will not explode when it hits the ground, but the shotgun shells alone will make the ground two miles away a mess, with smoke and dust everywhere.
"Hahaha"
After the second shot, Zhang Mao looked into the distance with a telescope, already overjoyed.
Xiao Jing asked, "Are there other kinds?"
"There is another kind, but there is no need to test it. It has other uses. Eunuch Xiao didn't see enough and couldn't do anything, so he brought this one." Two powerful physical cannons are ejected, and the cost is relatively high, so I can’t afford it.”
Zhang Zhou started to cry out again.
Xiao Jing smiled bitterly and said, "If you fire these two cannons, not to mention the physical body of the Tatar cavalry, even rocks can be exploded by him. It's really impossible to survive."
Zhang Mao smiled and said, "Bingkuan, where did you make this cannon yourself?"
Zhang Zhou wanted to say, I learned it from the future, why do you still want to steal it< /p>
Zhang Lun then asked, "Mr. Zhang, did you mean that Brother Zhijie also brought this kind of cannon when he went out to Liaodong?"
"Yes."
Zhang Zhou nodded.
Zhang Lun lowered his head sadly. After experiencing the shock of seeing the power of the artillery earlier, he also began to feel a little lost.
Even Zhang Mao noticed his grandson's expression, which was clearly unwilling.
Look at Zhu Zhijie, he followed Wang Weining to Pianguan to win the battle, and he was granted the title of uncle and became a general. Now he is going to Liaodong, and he has made great achievements again.
As a disciple of Zhang Zhou, Zhang Lun has not yet had a chance to go to the battlefield.
"Bingkuan, if you have free time in the future, please give more support to my Zhang Lun. Although my grandson is young, he is very capable and can withstand beatings. Don't underestimate him." Zhang Mao stood up for his grandson.Talk about items.
Zhang Zhouxin said, your grandson is only half a boy, but he wants to go to the battlefield and make contributions
Even if I want to help him, the emperor will not agree.
Let’s talk about it in ten or eight years.
Xiao Jing complimented and said with a smile, "Mr. Zhang established his military power when he was young, and the Zhang family always produced young talents. This is all passed down by the British father-in-law."
"Haha , Where, where?" Zhang Mao looked proud, and then thought that he was so proud of himself here.
Today Zhang Zhou is the protagonist.
"Bingkuan, from what I have seen, a cannon like yours is enough to catch Di Yi off guard, especially the range. Does it mean it can always go this far?"
Zhang What amazed Mao most was not the power of this artillery, but the range of this artillery.
The Tatars have formed an inherent concept when fighting with the Ming Dynasty border troops. If they do not expect that the Ming Dynasty firearms will greatly increase the range, they will deploy defenses according to the previous strategy. So this kind of The power of the new artillery is reflected.
Erli Di is still a range attack.
If there are too many such artillery pieces and the surface is covered, the Tatars have other options besides running away
To fight the Tatars, you must first have a shooting range , can be powerful.
This is also the reason why Zhang Mao first questioned the airtightness of the artillery.
"Oh, it's not that far. If we go back and improve it, maybe it's three or four miles away. It's going to be okay. It's got to be increased little by little, what do you think?"
Zhang Stunned.
You are a kid who won’t stop until you say something shocking, right?
But when I thought about it, hey, it’s true.
Today let the Tatars see artillery two miles away. Tomorrow you will change your formation and use artillery three miles away.
"This day has changed."
Zhang Zhou looked up at the sky.
Xiao Jing didn’t have the time to think about whether Zhang Zhou was bragging, because no matter how powerful the artillery developed by Zhang Zhou was, the credit belongs to others, but Xiao Jing had everything to do with praying for rain that day.
Xiao Jing said with surprise on his face, "Oh, the weather has changed. There are more clouds and the sun has disappeared. Is it going to rain?"
Zhang Zhou stretched out his hand After feeling it for a while, "It seems like the wind has picked up."
Zhang Mao said, "Your Majesty is going to pray for rain today, so the wind will pick up, right?"
Zhang Zhou smiled and said, "Eunuch Xiao, calm down."< /p>
After all, Zhang Mao didn’t know why the emperor suddenly went crazy and went to pray for rain in person today. When he listened to the conversation between Zhang Zhou and Xiao Jing, he suddenly realized something.
Zhang Zhou greeted, "Let's move quickly, change the place, and change the cannon. I hope the rain will come down and alleviate the drought in the capital. Recently, the wells at home are almost drying up. It’s not easy to get water.”
In the south of the city, there is the Temple of Heaven and Earth.
The rain praying ceremony is already in progress.
Originally, the ministers didn’t take it too seriously. They were just acting together, and they all wanted to finish the memorial as soon as possible.Go back to the city early to rest.
But at this moment, someone shouted "The wind is rising"
Everyone then realized that it seemed to be true, and then looked up at Zhu Youtang on the altar. The father and son saw that Zhu Youtang was seriously praying to God, and even opened his arms to the sky.
Because of the distance, no one could hear clearly what the emperor was saying.
But even as he talked
the wind was blowing, and the clouds in the sky were gathering more and more, and the sky was gradually getting darker.
"This"
Xie Qian is usually the talkative one, but when he saw this scene, he didn't know what to say.
Nearly everyone present looked up at the sky.
This weather, this scene
Xu Qiong looked at the three cabinet members and asked, "Is it really going to rain?"
Li Dongyang looked serious "Is it possible that someone is really praying for rain at this time?"
The implication is that Zhang Bingkuan did not come today, so he would not be a "gunman" behind the scenes to help the emperor with this suit of gods and ghosts. The emperor was waiting just now At the time agreed with Zhang Zhou
"ia"
Raindrops fell on the minister's head.
It started sporadic.
But then rain fell one after another from the sky.
"It's raining. It's raining. Your Majesty and His Majesty the Prince pray for rain and the welfare of all people."
Wow
The rain is in a line.
Although it is not pouring down, there is a tendency to gradually increase.
The ministers, a group of old guys in their seventies and eighties, were dizzy from the sudden rain, but the emperor and the prince had not taken shelter from the rain on the altar, so they could only stand in the rain.
They were also puzzled as to where the rain came from.
At this time, Zhu Youtang turned around and said to the ministers present, "Everyone, please take shelter from the rain first."
The wind and rain were coming heavily, and his voice was almost heard. cover.
But then the Jinwu Guards and the Jinyi Guards brought out the umbrellas they had prepared. Only then did the ministers realize that the emperor had to bring rain gear when he went out to pray for rain, otherwise it would be unprofessional.
Put up hats, umbrellas, etc.
At this time, Zhu Youtang and Zhu Houzhao, father and son, also came down from the altar with the canopy on their shoulders.
"Your Majesty"
All the ministers also gathered around.
Nothing else.
The emperor set an example and told the ministers how much hard work he had put in to pray for this rain.
Look
The rain on my body was given by God before.
You are getting wet, and so am I.
Zhu Youtang looked at Liu Jian and others and said with emotion, "God sympathizes with my and your family's hard work, and has sent rain and dew to benefit all people. I am very relieved. Thank you for your hard work."
"Your Majesty's Holy Grace."
The EmperorThe emperor said that praying for rain is a tribute to the ministers, but the ministers must be aware of the situation.
It is clearly the credit of the emperor and his son. Whoever dares to steal this credit please remember to save it. The latest and fastest website can be read for free without anti-theft