Li Laosi, who was following Zhong Jinwei, heard what the Westerner said. He moved forward a little, half-drew his sword, and shouted at Gongsa: "I want to beat you until you are convinced!"
Li Laosi looked very fierce, and he was half a head taller than Gonsa Zhan, so he had a lot of momentum.
But Gonzago was a captain in the Portuguese army. He had traveled thousands of miles to the Ming Dynasty and had seen a lot. He was not afraid of Li Laosi, so he kept an eye on Zhong Jinwei.
Zhong Jinwei smiled, took a step forward, asked Li Laosi to step back, and then said to Gongsa: "It's okay if you don't accept it, I understand. In addition to measuring the distance, there are indeed other factors that affect the firing of cannons."
When Zhong Jinwei spoke like this, he became the focus of the audience again. Everyone was watching him to see what he said.[
I just heard him twist his fingers and say to Gonsa: "The elevation angle of the muzzle is a factor. The distance of the cannon will vary with the elevation angle. Among them, a forty-five-degree angle can reach the longest range, right?"
Gonzago came to this conclusion after many times of practice. Now when he heard Zhong Jinwei say it, Wei Wei was a little surprised. Could it be that this high-ranking official of the Ming Dynasty also fired a lot of cannons?
He didn't deny it, nodded and replied: "Yes."
"Secondly, the amount of gunpowder loaded will also affect the distance of the cannon's impact point. When firing artillery, the more gunpowder the better, the appropriate amount of gunpowder must be loaded according to the distance measured in advance, right?" Zhong Jinwei asked again
road.
"Yes."
"Furthermore, the accuracy of artillery fire is also affected by the size of the cannon, rainy days, strong winds and other weather conditions. Of course, the heavier solid ones are used now, so the impact of these factors is not great."
After Zhong Jinwei finished speaking, he took his knife from Li Laosi, scratched the ground for a while, and then said: "This is the parabolic formula of the cannon coming out of the chamber. This is a constant, a fixed value, and it is the acceleration of gravity, which is approximately
, as long as these conditions are met, I can calculate for you the line along which the cannon flies, which is the value composed of x and y."
Zhong Jinwei talked based on his memory, and was not afraid of whether he had remembered something wrong or whether the formula he learned in middle school was consistent with the actual flight trajectory of the cannon. Because he knew that in this era, or in this place, with his status, there was no
People can prove what they say is wrong.
When other people heard that the thing on the ground could have such an effect, they all looked over, but they couldn't understand. They just felt that Zhong Jinwei suddenly became mysterious.
Gongsar was speechless. The performance of the senior officials of the Ming Dynasty in front of him was completely different from his previous impression of the Ming Dynasty people. Although he could not understand the formula, he could feel from Zhong Jinwei's expression that he was interested in the Ming Dynasty people.
Absolute confidence in what you scratched on the ground.
He knew that the Ming Dynasty used hieroglyphics, but what the supervisor painted on the ground had various Western characters. He even believed that Zhong Jinwei was from overseas like him, maybe even from Western Europe.
Sun Chengzong looked at Zhong Jinwei who was confident in front of the Western commanders and was writing and drawing on the ground with deep thought in his heart.
No one knows that Zhong Jinwei has just watched a lot of movies and used the mathematical knowledge he learned to pretend to be an expert. He only has theoretical knowledge on how to fire cannons.
When Zhong Jinwei saw that Gongsa was silent, he continued: "If you are still not convinced, just bring your tools over and I can tell you how to use them after taking a look at them. This thing is not difficult at all."
Sun Chengzong looked at Zhong Jinwei's aggressive momentum and felt happy again. He never thought that he was so proficient in artillery that he could ask Zhongxing Hou to teach his soldiers how to fire cannons and save the court a lot of money.
He smiled and praised Zhong Jinwei: "Zhongxing Hou is worthy of having returned from overseas. He is well-informed. No wonder he is highly regarded by the emperor."
Zhong Jinwei didn't feel much after hearing this, because he didn't come back from overseas at all.
Sun Chengzong's words gave Gongsa inspiration. The young man in front of him could obtain a high-ranking official title in the Ming Dynasty. If he worked hard, could he do the same?
Gonzago has always been envious of the wealth and prosperity of the Ming Dynasty. If he could live like a rich man in this place, he would be unwilling to go back even to death.[
Thinking of this, he bowed his head to Zhong Jinwei and said, "I'm convinced. There are indeed people in the Ming Dynasty who know how to set off cannons. They did give us a bite of food before. No matter how much you offer, I will never counter-offer."
Gonza's posture was very low, and his "confession" attitude was very good, which made Zhong Jinwei, who was slightly guilty, feel very proud.
He looked at Sun Chengzong and saw that he slightly chinned his head and let himself make the decision, so he said to Gongsa Zhe: "You have come thousands of miles away and escorting firearms all the way to the capital is really not easy. I won't embarrass you, so I will give you a deputy
How about giving your subordinates the treatment of a thousand households and giving them the treatment of a hundred households, and then they will be promoted after they have done well?"
Gonzawa had long followed Zhong Jinwei's example and set lofty ambitions. With the mentality of being slaughtered, even if it was in vain, as long as there was hope, it would be worth it.
Unexpectedly, Zhong Jinwei also gave him a good treatment. He knew Qianhu's official position, so he quickly agreed.
Historically, Gonza received a salary of 150 taels per year, plus an additional 15 taels per month, while the rest received a salary of 150 taels per year, plus an additional 10 taels per month for food. After Zhong Jinwei's intervention
Later, it was changed to a monthly salary of fifteen taels per month for Gongsar, and a monthly salary of ten taels for the rest.
The artillery is fine, and there is a preliminary intention for the employment contract. There is no need to worry about it, there will naturally be someone to hand over and arrange the subsequent matters with them.
Sun Chengzong and Zhong Jinwei returned to the Central Army tent. On the way, Sun Chengzong raised his own question: "Why should you pay them such a high price? You don't even need to hire them. Isn't it okay for you to teach some people?"
Zhong Jinwei shook his head and replied with a smile: "I only have theoretical knowledge and have never practiced it. Moreover, hiring these people not only allows them to teach the gunner's operation, but also learns some Western military training methods from them.
The technicians who follow us can also gain experience in making cannons, and if we combine them with our own cannon-making experience, we might be able to reach a higher level."
Sun Chengzong thought about it and stopped worrying about this aspect. He said to himself: "The upcoming siege will all depend on these artillery pieces!"
After finishing speaking, he said to Zhong Jinwei: "I go back to write the memorial. Will you write it alone or sign under my memorial?"
Zhong Jinwei didn't know about this. It turned out that he had to write a memorial, so he must have chosen to sign it.
After getting Zhong Jinwei's reply, Sun Chengzong walked in silence for a while, turned around and said to Zhong Jinwei: "Today's incident made me realize the importance of mathematics again. Do you think you can prepare some practical content to teach me?"
"
It was rare for Sun Chengzong to put down his arrogance and ask Zhong Jinwei for advice. Naturally, he had no problem, and even went a step further: "Master Sun, if I want to teach soldiers knowledge in Guangna's quartermaster system in the future, I hope you can give me your full support."
Although Sun Chengzong heard Zhong Jinwei talk about this matter before, his understanding was not profound. Today, after experiencing an example of mathematics being applied to military affairs, he already had experience. Therefore, he agreed to Zhong Jinwei's request without hesitation.
When Emperor Chongzhen learned how Zhong Jinwei used mathematical knowledge to convince Western commanders when testing cannons, he was very happy. He felt that Zhong Jinwei could surprise himself from time to time. With Zhong Jinwei, he was really a rare commodity.
At the same time, this incident also made him realize that the authenticity of the application of mathematics mentioned by Xu Guangqi has been effectively verified at least in the military aspect. This made him more determined to carry out national education in the future.
Emperor Chongzhen, the big boss, agreed to the employment benefits offered by Zhong Jinwei for the Folangji people, and gave an order to Sun Chengzong to select reliable soldiers to serve as Folangji people's apprentices and learn how to use cannons.