In the evening, Zheng Sen finally returned to the Imperial College in disgrace.
When I came to Yilun Hall and asked, I found out that Shengshang had gone to Wuyi Lane.
Zheng Sen hurried to Wuyi Lane again, because the Holy Master asked him to meet the driver immediately after returning to the city.
So he turned to the end of Wuyi Alley and saw a group of barbarians stuck outside the door like javelins.
The leader was Wu Batan. When he saw Zheng Sen, he nodded lightly as a greeting.
Zheng Sen bowed back and walked in past Wu Ba Tan and Yi Ding, but was stopped by Gao Qiqian.
"Gao Qiqian, what are you doing?" Zheng Sen yelled, "The Holy One summoned me to see you, but you dared to stop me?"
"Oh, Mr. Zheng, you have wronged our family." Gao Qiqian said with a smile, "How can our family have the courage to stop you? It's just that the Lord is busy now, so I have to trouble you to wait for a while."
Zheng Sen reacted instantly, with an embarrassed smile on his face.
After waiting for nearly half an hour, Chongzhen finally walked out of the hanging flower door of Li's house.
Zheng Sen quickly bowed his head to the ground and said, "My lord, Zheng Sen, bows before the Holy One. May the Holy One be blessed with thousands of blessings and gold."
"No need." Chongzhen passed by Zheng Sen, patted Zheng Sen on the shoulder, and said with a smile, "Let's talk in the car."
After finishing speaking, Chongzhen stepped onto the carriage. Zheng Sen said the order and got into the carriage, and sat cross-leggedly opposite Chongzhen.
The Holy One is indeed amiable, but as a minister, you still have to maintain a sense of distance.
This was what Zheng Zhilong taught him. Zheng Sen felt that his father was right, so he always maintained the humility that a minister should have in front of the emperor, prince and king Yong.
Chongzhen's eyes fell on Zheng Sen's face.
I saw several scratch marks on his handsome white jade face.
At that moment, Chongzhen asked with a smile: "Did it fall from the sky?"
"Yes, I fell." Zheng Sen said with some shame. "The wind was too strong and I couldn't control it. I hit the cliff of Guanyin Mountain and fell."
Chongzhen said: "Everyone else is fine, right?"
Zheng Sen said: "Everyone is fine, except for some scratches."
"It's good for people to have nothing to do." Chongzhen smiled and asked, "What do you think?"
Zheng Sen sighed and said: "Your Majesty, you are right. This hot air balloon is too difficult to control. It is especially weak when encountering strong winds. Therefore, there is no hope of forming an air force."
Chongzhen smiled and said: "What is your intention in forming the Air Force?"
Zheng Sen immediately said: "Of course it is to fly on Jiannu's head and throw thousands of enemies at him."
"If this is the case, perhaps there is no need for the air force." Chongzhen said, "If we change our thinking, we can also throw thousands of enemies at the head of Jiannu."
Zheng Sen understood immediately and asked: "The Holy One is talking about the divine fire flying crow? The fire dragon coming out of the water?"
The Divine Fire Flying Crow is a land warfare firearm, and the Fire Dragon is a water warfare firearm. During the Wanli Dynasty and Tianqi Dynasty, the frontier armies and naval forces were equipped with them, but by the Chongzhen Dynasty it was difficult to see such firearms again.
Because such firearms were expensive, the imperial court had no money to purchase them.
"Yes and no." Chongzhen nodded first, then shook his head, "Although the working principle is the same, the things are two different things, and they are completely incomparable."
Fire Dragon Izuku is a simple two-stage rocket.
Although the Shenhuo Flying Crow is made into a crow shape, it only has a crow shape, gliding body, and aerodynamics do not exist, so it can only perform Brownian motion.
Brownian motion means that there is no problem in launching the rocket, but it is impossible to accurately hit the target, and it may miss the target by several hundred meters.
The reason is also very simple. The crow body of the flying crow and the bamboo tube of the fire dragon are all made from local materials and based on experience. There is no uniform standard size at all. The binding of the booster rocket to the crow body and bamboo tube is also done by craftsmen.
From personal experience, if the direction of the booster rocket is slightly tilted, the direction will be thousands of miles away.
Therefore, firearms such as the divine fire flying crow and the fire dragon coming out of water also serve as a deterrent. It is impossible to count on them to kill the enemy unless it is a stroke of luck.
Of course, burning ships at close range is quite effective.
But this is not the case with the divine artillery that Chongzhen wanted Zheng Sen to build.
What Chongzhen wanted Zheng Sen to build was a standardized divine artillery.
First of all, this divine artillery must have a launcher, and each launcher must be the same size. The launcher must also be equipped with a simple ruler to facilitate calibration of the shooting angle.
Secondly, the main body of the rocket must be a standardized gliding body, which can greatly increase the range.
Finally, the booster rocket and warhead must be standardized. The size and charge of the warhead, the size and charge of the propeller rocket, and the installation location must all be unified.
Only in this way can the rockets fired be predictable.
Even if there are still errors, at least it won't be Brownian motion.
Of course, don't expect this divine artillery to dominate the battlefield. This is unrealistic.
This is not to say that the destructive power of the divine artillery is weak. Although the energy released by one gram of black powder is only about 800 joules, not even one-fifth of one gram of TNT, it takes several kilograms or even ten kilograms of black powder to make one.
The destructive power of the explosive bullets is still very terrifying when mixed with broken porcelain, broken glass, glass or iron pear, etc. inside the bullet body.
It is said that the divine artillery cannot dominate the battlefield because it is expensive and cannot be covered in a blanket manner.
A 20-kilogram lead bullet is only worth eight taels, plus ten kilograms of gunpowder is only worth one tael, and a Hongyi cannon that can fire a hundred shots is only worth a hundred taels.
But one shot of Divine Fire Flying Crow is worth one hundred taels.
Firearms such as the Divine Fire Flying Crow and the Fire Dragon are already expensive enough. After standardization, the Divine Fire Cannon will be even more expensive. Yes, you heard it right. After standardization, it will be even more expensive, and the price will double exponentially.
Before, Chongzhen once took it for granted that costs would be reduced after standardization, but he was soon taught by the cruel reality.
Before obtaining stable, sustainable, reliable and strong mechanical power, the implementation of standardization will greatly increase the number and workload of craftsmen. Yes, in the era of manual workshops, standardization can only rely on craftsmen to spend time and polish it bit by bit based on experience.
Otherwise it would be impossible to obtain parts of the same size.
Therefore, the manufacturing cost keeps going up.
For example, before the implementation of standardization, the purchase price of each Lumi gun was only one tael and one cent. However, after the implementation of standardization, the purchase price of each gun rose to two taels, almost doubling!
The Rumi gun is not the most exaggerated, the most exaggerated is the Hongyi cannon.
Before the implementation of standardization, the purchase price of a 4-inch caliber Hongyi cannon (1,000 kilograms) was 100 taels per gun, but after the implementation of standardization, it rose directly to 600 taels, a six-fold increase!
Just purchasing 500 4-inch guns cost the Ministry of Internal Affairs 300,000 taels!
When Chongzhen first got the price, his first reaction was disbelief. How could it be possible?
Chongzhen immediately asked Huang Zongxi to take Qin Wangshizi from the Supervision Section to inspect the Hongyi cannon production line of the Ming Dynasty Arsenal. However, the final inspection result was that there was no problem and the price was very reasonable.
The reason is that in order to achieve size standardization, the Hongyi cannon workshop has added a large number of craftsmen, and the finishing time has also been greatly extended. In addition, a lot of tools and molds have been added, so the cost has been rising.
The standardization of Lumi guns has nearly doubled the cost, and the standardization of Hongyi cannons has resulted in a six-fold cost increase.
It is completely conceivable that if the divine artillery is to be standardized, the cost will definitely increase exponentially compared to the divine fire flying crow and fire dragon water. It is also possible for a rocket to cost a thousand taels, and it may be even more expensive.
Exactly how expensive it will be will not be known until it is built.
Anyway, before the steam engine was built and matured, and before machining appeared, it was impossible to reduce the cost of standardized components like this. The larger the size, the more exaggerated the cost increase.
Because it was too expensive, Chongzhen would not expect to rely on divine artillery to cleanse the battlefield.
But if you get dozens or hundreds of rockets and save them for the most critical moment, you still have a chance to have a decisive effect on the battlefield.
So you might as well let Zheng Sen try it first.
Chongzhen took out the sketch of the divine artillery that he had drawn, handed it to Zheng Sen and said, "Look at the sketch I drew first."
Zheng Sen took the sketch and saw the three words "Godly Fire Cannon" written on the title of the sketch. He immediately read out: "Godly Fire Cannon? This is what the Holy One said, the different Godly Fire Flying Crow?"
"Yes." Chongzhen said, "Are you interested in building it for me?"
Zheng Sen asked: "Your Majesty, is there any difference between this and the Divine Fire Flying Crow?"
"Of course there is." Chongzhen said, "You will know when you build it."
Zheng Sen asked again: "Your Majesty, are you asking for advice, or are you issuing a decree?"
"Of course I'm asking for advice." Chongzhen smiled and waved his hand, "If you don't want to, I will never force you."
"Then I still don't want to." Zheng Sen was quite stubborn and said through gritted teeth, "I still want to build an air force."
"You are really... stubborn." Chongzhen couldn't help but put his hand on his forehead, "Okay, then you can continue to build your air force, but I have a suggestion here, will you listen?"
Zheng Sen quickly said: "I respectfully listen to the holy teachings."
Chongzhen took out a piece of hemp paper and a goose quill brush to draw an airship.
Then he said to Zheng Sen: "If you change the shape of the hot air balloon to this, then make it bigger, and I'm afraid your propulsion mechanism will have to be changed."
While talking, Chongzhen drew a set of propellers.
After thinking about it, Chongzhen drew another set of acceleration gears.
He added: "It's not possible to rely on the bellows for propulsion. You have to pass the propeller, and you can't crank it by hand. Hand cranking is not as powerful as pedals. You have to pedal, and you have to use multiple sets of gears to accelerate."
"Ah this?" Zheng Sen frowned and said, "With so many things added, can it fly?"
Chongzhen said: "So you have to increase the size of the hot air balloon. You can try it yourself."
"Accept the decree." Zheng Sen rolled up the sketch drawn by Chongzhen and carefully put it into his arms. Then he got off the car halfway and couldn't wait to return to the flight department's duty room to convene a meeting with his subordinates.
