Everyone was confused, and who knew what His Majesty said could help the soldiers? Some ministers thought that His Majesty was just doing it for his own entertainment, without any hope.
But looking at His Majesty's seriousness, they had a glimmer of expectation. But without exception, no one dared to disturb or stop His Majesty, even if the team was asked to wait here for a while.
At this time, a general from Yang Kuo's army hurried over and reported: "My lord, the army does not have much dry food. It can last for three days at most. Do you want to speak to His Majesty?"
After hearing the news, Yang Kuo suddenly felt a little worried. His Majesty's team plus Guan Ning's army already had nearly 10,000 people. The food needed for these 10,000 people to march on the road was very huge, and there were some in the team.
For ministers and dignitaries, it is okay for their soldiers to be a little tighter, but it is not good for them to be pampered.
This will eventually lead to many problems. Without food and grass, the soldiers will not have the strength to fight, let alone fight to the death. Those officials, on the other hand, enjoy preferential treatment. Such a comparison will inevitably make the military morale unstable.
"Don't let the soldiers know about this first. If anyone asks, just say that there is enough food and grass." Yang Kuo glanced at His Majesty, who was still tinkering with his things. He was too embarrassed to disturb him, so he had to arrange it like this first.
"My subordinates know."
At this time, when he saw the general whispering something to Yang Kuo, and seeing worry on their faces, Wang Jiayan, as the Minister of War, naturally guessed it.
He stepped forward and asked: "General Yang, is it possible that the army does not have enough food and grass?"
Looking back, he saw Wang Shangshu approaching, and Yang Kuo hurriedly bowed and saluted. Although he, as the commander-in-chief, was not assigned to the Ministry of War, after all, his official position was one level higher than his own, so etiquette was still required.
"Master Shangshu, this is indeed the case." Yang Kuo did not hide it. If something went wrong, he would be the only one to bear the responsibility. If Wang Jiayan also knew about it, he might be able to think of a solution.
"This matter is important, so we can't be careless. It's better to report it after His Majesty has finished his work." Wang Jiayan was well aware of the difficulties of leading troops, so he only gave him a few words of warning.
"What exactly does Your Majesty want to make?"
The two of them stood in the distance and watched Zhu Ling keep fiddling with things. One moment he asked for liquor, the next moment he asked for bamboo, which made them confused.
They even asked Wang Guoxing to get limestone and some mud. After the operation, all the ministers present were helpless.
"I don't know either. His Majesty said that this thing can help soldiers, but I can't guess its specific function." After that, Wang Jiayan turned to him and asked: "General Yang has been leading troops abroad for many years.
,Do you know the purpose of your majesty making this thing?"
Hearing this, Yang Kuo chuckled, feeling ashamed and said: "I really don't understand what your Majesty is doing."
"By the way." Wang Jiayan said suddenly: "On what day did General Yang leave Shanhaiguan? Or should we say General Wu."
Hearing these words, Yang Kuo was stunned for a moment. He didn't know why Lord Shangshu suddenly asked about this matter. However, if he didn't answer or was vague, the other party would definitely think that they deliberately concealed it, so he had to laugh and said: "Sir, Lord Shangshu, it's true.
Sorry, I really don’t remember."
Afraid that Wang Jiayan would continue to ask questions, he immediately explained: "In those days, there were not only soldiers, but also countless people. It was too chaotic, and I am a rough man, so I can't help but forget about these days."
"That's right, that's right. Confusion is unavoidable in an expedition." Wang Jiayan responded with a smile, but he was already sneering in his heart. When he asked about this today, he wanted to question him, and even more so, Wu Sangui behind him, why
If the king is not diligent in time, even if he brings many people with him, the march of the army will be delayed.
As long as he was willing to divide ten thousand troops, he could alleviate the predicament of the capital being besieged, but what was the result? He marched slowly and slowly, and even when the capital was captured, he remained unmoved.
As the Secretary of the Ministry of War, although he does not have the power to command troops, he is also responsible for mobilizing troops. When the intruders attacked, His Majesty and the cabinet issued five emergency documents, requesting the commander-in-chief of Xuanhua, the commander-in-chief of Miyun, Tang Tongbu, and Zuo Liang.
Yubu, Huang Degong, Shandong General Liu Zeqing and Ningyuan General Wu Sangui came to serve the king.
But what's the result?
Out of the five troops, only Tang Tong's troops arrived on time. The other four troops all had their own reasons, either delaying or simply staying behind closed doors.
Zuo Liangyu has an army of 200,000 and has a self-respect of 200,000. He actually asked His Majesty to make him the king before sending troops to serve the king. If such evil villains are not eliminated, they will become a big problem in the future! But the most important thing at the moment is Wu Sangui. Does he want to imitate Zuo Liangyu or do he want to imitate Zuo Liangyu?
Want to join the Jian slaves?
Although Wu Sangui cannot be contacted, if he breaks through from Yang Kuo, he might be able to ask something.
"Master Shangshu understands us, I am deeply grateful." Faced with such a shrewd and scheming person, Yang Kuo naturally did not dare to relax at all, and was extremely careful with every word he said.
The two of them stopped talking. If they continued talking, they might say something extreme. They both looked at His Majesty, who was still busy.
Zhu Ling also imitated step by step based on the knowledge he had learned. First he used Hu Mingyu's porcelain bottle, and then found bamboo. This was to condense the vapor of ethanol into liquid, and then connected the bottle to the bamboo.
, seal it with the mud that Wang Guoxing found.
At this time, hot water was needed again, and I had to use a fire to heat some hot water, and then use another container to collect the distilled ethanol. However, there were not so many items in ancient times, so I had to distill it several times.
After struggling for nearly two hours, the sun had reached noon, and the food sent from Wuqing County should also have arrived, so he directly ordered the army to rest for a few hours, while he continued to work.
At this point, quicklime was added to it. It was hard to find quicklime these days, so I had to send many people to look for it, and then I managed to get some.
At this time, it was close to the last few steps, and he brought silk silk for filtering. He did not care at all that the silk silk he used for filtering was the finest silk fabric tribute from the south of the Yangtze River.
Finally, the hard work paid off and nearly 100% alcohol was obtained. But the final goal still required 75% alcohol. After thinking hard, I finally came up with a way.
Mix three bottles of alcohol of this purity with one bottle of distilled water, and you get four bottles of 75% alcohol!
It took three hours to make the alcohol, which was quite tedious and laborious, but it was finally done. Looking at the hard-made alcohol, I couldn't help but smile.
"I finally made it!"
With Zhu Ling's loud laughter, everyone gathered around, wanting to see what His Majesty spent several hours making.
Looking at the porcelain vase in His Majesty's hand, all the ministers looked confused. They had no idea why His Majesty was cheering, but since His Majesty said that this thing was useful to the soldiers, they also acted like His Majesty was wise.
.
Only Li Banghua stepped forward, looked at His Majesty's crazy look and asked, "Your Majesty, what is this? Why are you so happy?"
Seeing that Li Banghua had asked the doubts in everyone's minds, everyone present hurriedly came closer and pricked up their ears. They all wanted to know what was in His Majesty's hand that could cause His Majesty to expend so much energy.
However, Zhu Ling did not answer Li Banghua's question. Instead, he turned his attention to Yang Kuo and said: "Yang Kuo, are there any injured in the army, and the wounds are already festering? Find me a few people."
"As you command!"
Yang Kuo did not dare to neglect, and immediately turned around to find a few injured people, and brought them to His Majesty one by one. Their weapons and armor were naturally removed.
"Let them lie down and expose their wounds."
Hearing this, everyone looked in disbelief. Among them, Yang Kuo was the most panicked and hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, they are all soldiers. If they are exposed in front of Your Majesty, I am afraid..."
"It's okay, I forgive you." Zhu Ling really disliked Yang Kuo for being so pretentious, so he asked him to lie down impatiently.
Several soldiers of the Guan Ning Army did not dare to disobey and hurriedly lay down, exposing the injured parts. Almost everyone's wounds already had some traces of ulceration.
Seeing this, Zhu Ling no longer hesitated, but to prevent them from struggling, he reminded them first: "This will be very painful, please bear with it, but it will be good for you."
After that, without waiting for them to nod, they poured the alcohol directly on them. In an instant, several people couldn't hold back the pain and yelled out.