It is naturally unrealistic for the emperor to go to Xuzhou.
In the current situation where China is still uncertain, even if the emperor leaves Jiankang, not to mention going to the front lines and battlefields, it will make people sweat.
Even if His Majesty the Emperor leaves the palace without authorization, and the Empress Dowager finds out, she will probably give him a word or two.
Although the emperor is the Supreme Being, this profession also has many limitations. From a certain perspective, he is actually a prisoner of the system.
Most emperors in history never left the capital several times in their lives.
Comparatively speaking, the emperors of the unified dynasty were relatively free and could occasionally move around the capital, but it was difficult for them to travel around like Master Shen.
Shen Yi smiled and said: "There is no problem with Your Majesty's trip to Xuzhou, but it needs to be pushed back. When the situation in the north stabilizes in the future, Your Majesty may not be able to go and take a look."
"Yan Du, I'm still waiting for Your Majesty."
The emperor sighed with emotion: "If I can see Yandu in my lifetime, I will have no regrets in this life."
Having said this, he looked at Shen Yi and asked: "Shen Qing's new artillery, if it is produced, how much better will it be than the current artillery?"
Shen Yi lowered his head slightly and said: "For artillery to be useful on the battlefield, the most important thing is not how powerful it is or how far its range is, but how compact it is."
"To put it simply, with the same power, the lighter and smaller it is, the more suitable it is for the battlefield."
"In the past, most of the artillery was placed on city walls. Some of them weighed several thousand kilograms. They were only useful for defending the city, but they would do more harm than good in field operations."
For many years, Da Chen has been far inferior to the Qi people in terms of field battles, but in terms of defending the city, he is stronger than the Qi people.
The main reason is that Dachen has a slightly stronger application of artillery, which is widely used in city defense.
Mr. Shen looked calm and continued: "A few years ago, when I was suppressing Japanese invaders in the southeast, I had people improve the artillery and reduce the weight of the artillery, so that these artillery can be used on the field battlefield."
"However, these new artillery are much weaker in power, and the barrel becomes thinner as they become lighter. Generally, they must cool down after firing three or four rounds, otherwise they will easily explode."
"Later, I sent people to go to the West and found a few Western gunsmiths and brought them back. I kept them by my side and asked them to work with the craftsmen in the firearms workshops to improve the artillery, and let them teach apprentices on the land of Dachen."
"It has been several years now, and there has finally been some progress."
"The new artillery weighs only about 400 to 500 kilograms."
Shen Yi paused for a moment and continued: "If it is done successfully, the power should be comparable to that of a two thousand kilogram artillery."
Five hundred kilograms, in the field of artillery, can only be regarded as a small artillery.
As long as they are equipped with wheels, one or two people can easily push them and be used on the battlefield.
In fact, the artillery currently used by the Huai'an Army is almost the same weight, but its power is much worse.
After Shen Yi paused for a moment, he continued: "In addition to artillery, I have found an old book in the past few years, which was almost a hundred years ago."
"This book was written by an official of the Ministry of War during the reign of Emperor Taizong. It says..."
Shen Yi looked up at the emperor and whispered: "It says that during the reign of Emperor Taizong, a craftsman from the Bingzhang Bureau came up with a new type of cannonball that could explode after falling into the crowd."
"It's quite powerful."
"It's just this kind of shell..."
Shen Yi sighed and said, "It seems to have been lost."
"I have searched in the Ministry of War, the Hongwen Hall of the imperial court, and other secretaries' places, but I have not found any detailed records of this kind of artillery shells."
"But in the first half of the year, Xu...Xu Fu found a descendant of an old craftsman from the Bingzhang Bureau among the people, and roughly found out some sporadic production methods. The craftsmen in the workshop have studied together in the past few months and have figured it out. I’ve got a rough idea.”
"Next year, hopefully it will be done."
The emperor was obviously very interested in these things. He pulled Shen Yi, sat down on a chair nearby, and asked, "Tell me about the experience in detail."
Shen Yi nodded.
"After that, the old craftsman actually didn't know much about how to make flowering cannonballs. He just said that reeds should be added to them."
"After I learned about it, I discussed it with several craftsmen and couldn't figure it out."
"Until more than a month ago, when I was about to return to Jiankang, I saw dry reeds by a small river."
"Only one o'clock."
"I just roughly figured out the key."
The emperor looked at Shen Yi and said softly: "Keep talking."
"Probably, we need to prepare a hollow thin-walled iron ball. The iron ball is hollow with only one hole leaking out."
"When needed, fill the iron ball with gunpowder and insert a reed."
Shen Yi whispered: "First light the reeds, and then throw the cannonball into the barrel. When the cannonball reaches the enemy, the reeds burn out and explode immediately."
"At that time, the thin iron wall covered with gunpowder immediately burst into pieces, and its lethality was much higher than today's solid bullets..."
After Shen Yi paused, he said, "It's a lot stronger."
The emperor thought about it for a moment and then asked: "How to ensure that the cannonball will explode when it hits the ground?"
"We can only rely on people."
Shen Yi said: "Someone needs to trim the length of the reeds according to the distance and even the wind direction, so that the cannonball can explode just right."
The emperor thought for a while and asked again: "How to make a hollow thin-walled iron ball?"
Shen Yi sighed.
This is the crux of the problem. In this era, there is no technology to produce iron sheets. You cannot rely on people to beat the iron sheets bit by bit.
He lowered his head slightly and said, "The only option is to cast a mold."
For mold casting, the efficiency will be slower, and it is not easy to accurately control the thickness of the iron sheet, and a more powerful blacksmith will be needed to cast the mold.
Moreover, it is not easy to control the precise thickness.
Shen Yi said softly: "In addition to these, the timing and craftsmanship required for this thing are very demanding. I estimate that even if it is made, 50% of it can be successfully exploded."
The emperor squinted his eyes and said: "I estimate that there is a high probability that it is not as powerful as the solid bullet."
After the solid bullet is fired, if it lands in a crowd of people, it does not require any other fancy operations. It can kill people instantly just by relying on its huge kinetic energy. If the number of people is dense, one shell can easily injure more than ten people.
This type of blooming cannonball is most likely not as heavy as a solid cannonball, and at the same time, it is no longer made by "smashing".
It may not be possible to hurt ten people.
It's just that solid bullets deal linear damage, while blooming bullets deal range damage. The two methods are different.
Shen Yi did not deny the emperor's view.
In fact, the emperor was right.
In this era where there is no high-explosive gunpowder or nitroglycerin, ordinary gunpowder only has the same amount of powder as a cannonball, and the damage is not necessarily any greater than that of a solid cannonball.
"Your Majesty is right. Even if this thing is produced, it may not be as powerful as solid bullets. However, if it is a field battle and the enemy formation is relatively scattered, this thing will be much more powerful than solid bullets."
Emperor Hongde sighed softly: "It is difficult to prepare, and it may not be possible. It also requires experienced hands to temporarily cut off the reeds that ignite the fire. No wonder this thing has been lost."
"Fortunately, Shen Qing was thoughtful and found it."
Mr. Shen smiled and said: "There is no useless thing in the world. If this thing is used well, it will be much more powerful than solid bullets."
This is a question of routing.
When muskets first came out, they were far less useful than crossbows. Even in Dachen's era, when gunpowder had been widely used in the military for a hundred or two hundred years, muskets were still not as useful as crossbows.
The same is true for solid bullets and blooming bullets. When blooming bullets are first made, they may not be much better than solid bullets, and may even be inferior.
But this thing…
The potential is endless!
The emperor and his ministers sat together and discussed a lot about the battlefield. When it was almost time and Shen Yi was about to leave, the emperor patted Mr. Shen on the shoulder and said: "The Huai'an Army has a very heavy task next year. After the New Year, I allow you to go to the Bingzhang Bureau, um..."
"I'll let you take five hundred craftsmen north."
Shen Yi quickly bowed to express his thanks.
The emperor looked at Shen Yi and smiled: "There is also the Xu Fu that Shen Qing mentioned. Although he is not in the court, he has indeed done a lot for the court. Where is he now? I want to commend him. "
Shen Yi was silent for a while, lowered his head slightly and said: "Return to your majesty, please give him a reply..."
"Going to the West."
The emperor was startled and a little surprised: "He went there in person? Couldn't he just send a caravan?"
"He had always wanted to go, but he was stopped by me. After he gave birth to a son in the second half of this year, he hurriedly went to the Western Ocean with the ship."
"He said he wanted to see with his own eyes what the west is like."
The emperor paused, and then sighed: "If I remember correctly, he was born a beggar."
Shen Yi nodded: "He was born as a beggar, and his minister brought him to Jiankang from Jiangdu."
Emperor Hongde was silent again and sighed slightly: "Now, his knowledge may have far surpassed mine."
Sir Shen flattered me at the right time.
"Your Majesty has not left Jiankang, and his mind can embrace the whole world. How can he be compared to Xu Fu?"
When the emperor heard this, he just shook his head and did not express his position.
"In my heart, I am a little envious of him."
Shen Yi lowered his head and said, "When he returns to Jiankang, I will ask him to report to His Majesty what he saw along the way."
The emperor smiled and nodded, and said: "This is a good suggestion. When he returns to Jiankang, let him come to the palace to see me."
When the two of them talked, the emperor said seriously: "During this period in Jiankang, if the Eastern Route Army still lacks or needs anything, try to mention it to me or to the Yamen of Yousi."
"The Northern Expedition is not only a matter for Shen Qing alone, but also for me and the entire imperial court."
"No need to be polite to them."
Shen Yi bowed in response.
"Your Majesty has this intention, and the Northern Expedition will be successful."