The crisp autumn air makes it the time for hunting.
The common people are still working hard for their livelihood, but the dignitaries in the capital are already busy hunting.
The royal autumn hunting tradition of the Ming Dynasty was once discontinued.
During the period when Emperor Dingtai was reorganizing his army, he resumed autumn hunting activities. Even after the railway from Beijing to Zhangjiakou was built, he personally led his troops there by train, and then crossed the Cross-country Fox Ridge to Yanzicheng (Zhangbei County) for hunting.
Immediately afterwards, the army was ordered to conduct one drill every year and one drill every five years.
That is to ask all major military regions across the country to organize a small military exercise every year and a large military exercise every five years.
But in the later years of Emperor Dinh Tai, the military exercises began to be fooled again. When asking for military exercise expenses, everyone was more aggressive than the other; when the actual military exercises were carried out, the scale became smaller and smaller, and most of the garrison troops were too lazy to mobilize.
This time, taking advantage of the autumn hunting, the Luoyang Forbidden Army will conduct its annual Xiaotiao (small military exercise).
As the consort, Xie Yan naturally had to participate.
Because the Prince Consort is a top military position, even if he does not have any military power, he still has to attend such major military events.
"This is a flint-fire gun sent by the Ministry of War," Zhu Tangxi pointed to a long box and said, "Does Liu Lang know how to use a fire gun?"
Xie Yan shook his head: "No. Can I keep this gun forever, or can I only hold it during the autumn hunting period?"
Zhu Tangxi explained: "Liu Lang is a second-grade military officer. He can keep no more than five firearms in his private residence. However, he is not allowed to possess artillery, thunder and other items, and there are also restrictions on the ammunition he can possess."
Xie Yan happily opened the gun case. How can a man not like weapons?
In his previous life, he had only touched a gun during military training in college.
Xie Yan knew very little about ancient muskets, but he also knew what rifling was. He found that this flintlock gun was already rifled, and the bullets were long strips with a conical or spherical bullet at the front end and a paper shell at the rear end.
Wrap it tightly.
"Will this fire gun explode?" Xie Yan couldn't help but ask.
Zhu Tangxi smiled and said: "No."
Over the past hundred years since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, due to minimal internal and external military pressure, the development of firearms has naturally been very slow.
Even rifled guns were popularized when Emperor Dingtai reorganized the army.
Before this, the rifled gun had been invented, but from the civil servants of the court to the army officers, no one was too lazy to carry out large-scale replacement. As long as it can be used for now, why spend so much money to replace it with a rifled gun?
Mercury flash cap guns are also available.
Mercury fulminate was created by a Taoist priest who was a part-time chemist. He was half-dead by the explosion on the spot and died of infection more than ten days later.
At that time, Emperor Ding Tai also wanted to develop a mercury flash cap gun, but the risk factor during storage and transportation was too high, and the loading speed was slower than that of a flintlock gun, which led to strong resistance from the logistics department to the combat troops.
In recent years, some people have proposed combining flash caps with fixed-load ammunition, but the imperial court has never allocated research funds.
It is estimated that even if someone researched it at their own expense, the court would not agree to change the army's uniforms. Because there are too many interests involved from top to bottom, and the firepower is enough to crush the enemy without changing the uniforms.
"Your Highness, Liu Lang is so majestic!" Qingluan had little stars in his eyes.
However, Xie Yan put on a python robe, which was specially made for the military. Not only did the sleeves narrow into arrow sleeves, but he also had to wear wrist guards. A pair of leather boots were also specially made military boots.
Zhu Tangxi said: "Although it is not really going to the battlefield, it is more than enough to serve as the emperor's guard of honor."
Autumn hunting and drills both require the little emperor's presence.
The prince-in-law is the auxiliary horse. When the emperor travels, he sits in the front chariot. The prince-in-law is the horse in charge of the auxiliary chariot.
Although there are a lot of princes-in-law in the Ming Dynasty, there are not many under the age of forty, so young princes-in-law like Xie Yan are needed to support the scene.
After trying it on for a while, Xie Yan took off the python robe and went to see the newly renovated laboratory.
The laboratory was renovated from two rooms in the Princess Library. The walls are mainly made of bricks and stones, and as little wood and other flammable materials are used as possible.
All the experimental equipment and chemicals purchased from the Chemical Society were delivered this morning.
"This is a crucible, this is a test tube..." Xie Yan took out various items and introduced them to the princess while placing them. Qingluan, Daiyu, Baochai and others were also listening nearby.
They are all likely to be Xie Yan's laboratory assistants.
Especially Daiyu, because she was very careful in her work, Xie Yan decided to let her take care of the laboratory.
Xie Yan said: "Chemicals with names labeled on red paper are relatively dangerous. They must be handled with care, avoid contact with flames, and avoid contact with other chemicals. I will not be in the laboratory for the next period of time.
Don’t come in by yourself when you’re doing it, wait until you’re all familiar with the operation.”
Zhu Tangxi smiled and said: "I have done physical experiments myself before, and I can definitely get started with these chemical experiments quickly."
After packing up the laboratory, Xie Yan took everyone away.
The weather was cool today and he didn't feel like working. He planned to play in the garden.
Well, when the weather is hot, he doesn't really want to work.
The weeping willows by the pool were blowing in the wind, and the skirts and belts of the princess and the maids were blown up and down by the autumn wind from time to time.
Xie Yan held the princess's little hand and walked in the breeze. The autumn sun was warm and cool, and he felt that life like this was enough.
After walking around in the garden for a while, the princess suddenly wanted to play shuttlecock.
Everyone quickly moved to the court. Xie Yan boasted of his superb badminton skills and played against the princess and Qingluan one against two.
"Oh, the wind has gotten stronger!" Qingluan suddenly exclaimed.
Zhu Tangxi said: "We must have the upper hand."
Xie Yan had no choice but to switch places. He was facing one against two against the wind, and was beaten to a pulp by the two women.
There was constant laughter on the court, and every time Xie Yan was embarrassed, the princess and the maids burst into laughter.
"I can't do it anymore, I need to take a rest."
Xie Yan soon broke out in sweat from exhaustion and handed the badminton racket to other maids.
Not long after, a maid came over with her male attendant Wang Xing: "Liu Lang, a telegram from Cizhou Machinery Factory."
Xie Yan opened the telegraph newspaper and read it, only to see it read: "The main components of the ball mill have been cast, and welding and assembly will begin tomorrow. Will the prince-in-law come to Cizhou to participate in the test?"
"No need to reply to them," Xie Yan said to Wang Xing.
"Yes!" Wang Xing immediately ran to send a telegram and run errands.
The structure of the most original version of the ball mill is very simple, and the machine factory can do it by itself.
The real purpose of the next test is to know the optimal rotation speed of ball mills with different inner diameters when grinding different materials. Then based on various test results, the gears of the ball mill are adjusted to make machines suitable for different scenarios.
Xie Yan provided the design ideas and basic drawings for this thing, and Cizhou Machinery Factory was responsible for manufacturing, improvement and repeated testing. After the patent was applied for, both parties to the patent rights would each hold half.
Check out the correct version one by one!
Of course, since Cizhou Machinery Factory is a government-run organization and ball mills are widely used, the Ministry of Industry is planning to buy out the patent.
The government-run cement plants used to build the Zhentai-Taiwan Railway also had to buy the patent rights from Xie Yan. It is not known how long these cement plants will last. In rare cases, they may be closed after the railway is built, so the relevant patents are also bought out in one go.
Zhu Tangxi came over to rest after being tired from playing badminton, and Xie Yan casually talked to her about it.
"I'm afraid there are more than one or two cement plants built for the Zhentai Railway, and many of them are built in mountainous areas. They will close down after the railway is built," Xie Yan said.
Yes. Mainly ball mills, which can be used in various mines and factories."
Zhu Tangxi said: "How much do you plan to sell it for?"
Xie Yan said with a smile: "I want to sell one million dollars, but the Ministry of Industry must think that I am too open-minded."
"One million dollars?" Zhu Tangxi asked in surprise, even she thought it was a huge sum of money.
Xie Yan said: "One million yuan only sells off half of the patent. After all, the other half of the patent is in the hands of Cizhou Machinery Factory."
Zhu Tangxi said: "It is too expensive and the court cannot agree to it."
"Then let's ask for 300,000 guan. My base price is 150,000 guan." Xie Yan also preferred to sell the ball mill patent to the court.
Because it is too troublesome to negotiate patents with partners one by one, especially patent sharing is even more troublesome.
At this time, inventors basically did not engage in patent sharing, because it was easy for businesses to cheat and default on their accounts. If they wanted to make money through patents, it was more common to sell out the license by region.
For example, I choose a high-quality partner in Hebei Province and sell the right to use the patent in Hebei Province to them at one time. I don't care about the rest. If someone infringes the patent in Hebei Province, it has nothing to do with me.
Negotiating province by province is more practical than keeping the patent completely in your own hands.
What's more, several provinces are talking about cooperation.
Zhu Tangxi said: "If you bid 300,000 guan, it is estimated that the final transaction will be around 200,000 guan. This is a lot of money. I didn't expect the ball mill to be so valuable."
"I said I wanted to make money to support my sister. Is that true?" Xie Yan said with a smile.
Zhu Tangxi felt sweet in her heart: "I knew Liulang wouldn't lie."
In fact, if Xie Yan did not have the status of a prince-in-law, or if his status in the academic world was not high, his invention patents would most likely be stolen.
Patent law rarely truly protects the interests of inventors; more often it is a tool of the court or capitalists!
The next day.
Xie Yan and the princess packed up and arrived outside the imperial city early.
As the Queen Mother Regent, Queen Mother Ye naturally had to participate in this autumn hunting exercise, and Zhu Tangxi had to accompany her as a princess.
Of course Xie Yan is the little emperor's follower.
He was wearing a military-style python robe, and the silver saddle harness he used when welcoming his bride was also equipped on the horse today. There was also a gun bag hanging on the side of the silver saddle, which was used to place the musket issued to him by the Ministry of War.
There were six people accompanying the Prince Consort.
Including Xie Yan, two are the little emperor's uncles, and four are the little emperor's brothers-in-law (half-sisters).
The prince-in-law, who is too old, did not participate today.
Shortly after dawn, the young emperor and Queen Mother Ye drove out of the palace.
Zhu Tangxi's carriage followed closely behind Queen Mother Ye's Luan.
Xie Yanze and five other princes-in-law followed the young emperor's chariot, accompanied by many princes of different surnames who did not lead troops.
Following the chanter's shout, Xie Yan got on his horse and followed the driver slowly forward.
Not only did he have a musket stuck on the side of his saddle, but he also had a sword hanging on his waist.
On both sides of the street, many Luoyang citizens came to watch the excitement. People cheered and celebrated the autumn hunt.
Xie Yan was also very excited, hunting for the first time in his life.
By the way, learn how to use an ancient flintlock gun.
(Thanks to the book friend for reminding me that steel with too many impurities cannot be tempered.)
(Currently, the Ming Dynasty’s converters are of poor quality, and most of the steel produced is low-quality steel. Only some iron mines in Xuzhou and Zunhua, because of the higher quality of the ore, can use their converter steel for railway construction. A large amount of scrap steel has been accumulated. , there is an urgent need to invent an open hearth for digestion.)