It was the day when the emperor and ministers went out of the city to pray for rain. Zhang Zhou chose this day to test the cannon, which naturally had his own purpose.
Artificially increase rainfall.
He couldn't create artificial rainfall. Today's cannons can't fire that high, and dry ice and other refrigerants can't be produced these days.
But when it rains, it is possible to use silver iodide as a nucleating agent or hygroscopic agents such as salt particles to achieve artificial rainfall enhancement.
"It's set up and ready to start at any time."
Sun Shangqi went over to check the condition of the artillery and came back to inform a few people.
While he was talking, a guard from behind brought the telescope over and prepared one for each person.
Zhang Zhou said: "If you want to find a high place, the slope is good."
"Isn't it necessary?" Zhang Mao said, "The terrain in front is low, and you can see very far."
Old man Zhang seemed too lazy to take a few more steps.
Xiao Jing smiled and said: "Mr. British, we should listen to Mr. Zhang."
…
…
The group arrived on the slope.
Everyone took out the telescopes purchased by the imperial court from Zhang Zhou and looked into the distance. In fact, they didn't know what they wanted to see or how far they wanted to see.
Zhang Zhou took out his binoculars.
"Mr. Zhang, this of yours is... somewhat unique." Xiao Jing looked sideways at the telescope in Zhang Zhou's hand.
Zhang Zhou smiled and said: "I have bad eyesight, so I made a pair of binoculars. It makes me see the same thing from a distance."
"oh."
Xiao Jing nodded as if he understood.
Can you see farther with two tubes?
Guo Ang, who was next to him, handed his telescope to Xiao Jing and said: "Eunuch Xiao, you use this humble position..."
It means, you have one, add this to me, and build your own binoculars.
"Um."
Xiao Jing looked at Guo Ang with appreciative eyes, as if to say, you are the one who knows how to do things.
But when he put the two telescopes in front of his eyes, because there was no structure to adjust the focus and interpupillary distance, Xiao Jing just glanced at it and felt dizzy, and then handed Guo Ang's one back: "You also have a look..."
Looking back at Zhang Zhou's telescope, he seemed even more envious.
If only we could have one at home...
…
"boom!"
Just when Xiao Jing was wandering in the sky, the sound of cannons came from below.
But I saw a fireball flying out of the air and falling nearly two miles away. After landing, there was another burst of fire, followed by a large amount of smoke and dust.
With a telescope, you can vaguely see that the open space two miles away was completely devastated by the bombing.
"alright!"
Sun Shangqi, who was below, accompanied Jia Laoshui after firing off the cannon, shouting and greeting the people on the slope with a small flag in his hand.
"Change it!"
Zhang Zhou shouted while also using a small flag to give orders to his subordinates.
Xiao Jing couldn't bear to move his eyes away from the telescope. After hearing this, he put it down and looked at Zhang Zhou with a look of astonishment: "Mr. Zhang, how far is that?"
Zhang Mao's grandson, Guo Ang and others were also looking at Zhang Zhou with incredulous eyes.
Zhang Zhoudao: "It's less than two miles, almost. This is a blooming bomb just now, which is partially filled with mighty gunpowder...it will explode after it hits the ground. The shotgun below is used, which has a relatively large coverage area...Everyone, Shall we continue watching?”
Xiao Jing swallowed when he heard this and said, "Sir, isn't the mighty gunpowder very dangerous? Can it be sent out directly?"
As someone close to the emperor, Xiao Jing knew that nitroglycerin was not easy to store.
We also know that Zhu Youtang originally wanted to use nitroglycerin in the possible war in Ningyuan, Liaodong, but Zhang Zhou refused because of the inconvenience of transportation, and even the craftsmen were unable to transfer it in time.
That's why Xiao Jing asked this question.
"I made some improvements. I used a kind of diatomaceous earth, a kind of loess, and sucked in the mighty gunpowder. Unfortunately, I can't find much of this stuff at the moment. I may have to ask the local government to help me look at it later. , can we find the mineral deposits?" Zhang Zhou saw that the flag was already waving below, so he pointed to Xiao Jing in the distance, "Let's continue to see."
"boom!"
Another shot.
This time it won't explode when it hits the ground, but the shotgun shells alone will make the ground two miles away a mess, with smoke and dust everywhere.
"Hahaha……"
After the second shot, Zhang Mao looked into the distance with his telescope, already overjoyed.
Xiao Jing asked: "Are there any other types?"
"There is another one, but it doesn't need to be tested. It has other uses. Eunuch Xiao didn't see enough and couldn't do anything about it, so he brought these two powerful physical cannons out. The cost is relatively high, and I can't even afford it."
Zhang Zhou began to complain about poverty again.
Xiao Jing smiled bitterly and said: "When you fire these two cannons, not to mention the physical body of the Tatar cavalry, even rocks can be exploded by him. It's really impossible for a blade of grass to grow."
Zhang Mao smiled and said: "Bingkuan, did you make this cannon yourself? Where did you learn it?"
Zhang Zhou wanted to say, I learned it from the future, so why do you still want to steal it?
Zhang Lun asked: "Mr. Zhang, did you say that Brother Zhijie also brought this kind of cannon when he went out to Liaodong?"
"Um."
Zhang Zhou nodded.
Zhang Lun lowered his head sadly. After experiencing the shock of seeing the power of the artillery earlier, he also began to feel a little lost.
Even Zhang Mao noticed his grandson's expression, which was clearly...unwilling.
Look at Zhu Zhijie, who followed Wang Weining to Pianguan to win the battle, and was granted the title of uncle. Now he is going to Liaodong, and he has made great achievements again.
As Zhang Lun's disciple, he, Zhang Lun, had not yet had a chance to go on the battlefield.
"Bingkuan, if you have free time in the future, please give more support to my Zhang Lun. Although my grandson is young, he is very capable and can withstand beatings. Don't underestimate him!" Zhang Mao said on behalf of his grandson.
Zhang Zhouxin said, your grandson is only half a boy, but he wants to go to the battlefield and make achievements?
Even if I want to help him, the emperor will not agree.
Let’s talk about it in ten or eight years.
Xiao Jing complimented him and said with a smile: "Mr. Zhang established his military power when he was young, and the Zhang family always produced young talents. This is all passed down from the British father-in-law."
"Haha, blah blah blah..." Zhang Mao looked proud, and then thought that he was so proud of himself here.
Zhang Zhou is the protagonist today.
"Bingkuan, from what I've seen, a cannon like yours is enough to catch Di Yi off guard, especially the range. Does it mean it can always go this far, or..."
What Zhang Mao was most amazed by was not the power of the artillery, but the range of the artillery.
The Tatars had formed an inherent concept when fighting with the Ming Dynasty border troops. Even if they did not expect that the Ming Dynasty firearms would greatly increase the range, they would still deploy defenses according to the previous strategy. This will reflect the power of this new artillery. .
Erlidi...it's still a range attack.
If there are too many such artillery pieces, covering all the faces, what other choice do the Tatars have besides running away?
To fight the Tatars, you must first have range before you can have power.
This is also the reason why Zhang Mao first questioned the airtightness of the artillery.
"Oh, it's not that far. If we go back and improve it, maybe it will be three or four miles away. It will have to be increased little by little, what do you think?"
Zhang Mao was speechless.
You kid will never stop dying if you don't say anything shocking, right?
But when I thought about it, hey, it’s true.
Today, let the Tatars see the artillery two miles away. Tomorrow you will change your formation and use the artillery three miles away...
"This day has changed."
Zhang Zhou raised his head and looked at the sky.
Xiao Jing didn't have the time to think about whether Zhang Zhou was bragging, because no matter how powerful the artillery developed by Zhang Zhou was, the credit belongs to others, but the prayer for rain that day...had everything to do with him.
Xiao Jing said with surprise on his face: "Oh, the weather has changed. There are more clouds and the sun has disappeared. Is it going to rain?"
Zhang Zhou stretched out his hand and felt it: "It seems the wind is blowing."
Zhang Mao said: "Your Majesty is going to pray for rain today, but the wind is blowing now, isn't it..."
Zhang Zhou smiled and said: "Eunuch Xiao, calm down."
After all, Zhang Mao didn't know why the emperor suddenly went crazy and went to pray for rain in person today. When he heard the conversation between Zhang Zhou and Xiao Jing, he suddenly realized something.
Zhang Zhou greeted: "Let's get active quickly, change the place, and change the cannon. I hope the rain will come down and alleviate the drought in the capital. Recently, the wells at home are drying up, and it is not easy to get water.
ah."
…
…
To the south of the city is the Temple of Heaven and Earth.
The rain praying ceremony is already in progress.
At first, the ministers didn't take it seriously. They were just acting together. They all wanted to finish the memorial quickly and return to the city to rest early.
But at this moment, someone shouted: "The wind is blowing!"
Only then did everyone realize that it seemed to be true. Then they looked up at Zhu Youtang and his son on the altar, and saw that Zhu Youtang was seriously praying to God, and even opened his arms to the sky.
Because of the distance, no one could hear clearly what the emperor was saying.
But just talking...
The wind was blowing, and the clouds in the sky were gathering more and more, and the sky was gradually getting darker.
"this……"
Xie Qian is usually the talkative one, but when he saw this scene, he didn't know what to say.
Almost everyone present looked up at the sky.
This climate, this scene...
Xu Qiong looked at the three cabinet members and asked, "Is it really going to rain?"
Li Dongyang said with a serious look on his face: "Is it possible that someone is really praying for rain at this time?"
The implication is that if Zhang Bingkuan didn't come today, wouldn't he be a "gunman" behind the scenes and help the emperor with this suit of magic? The emperor was just waiting for the time agreed with Zhang Zhou?
"pia..."
Raindrops fell on the minister's head.
It started just sporadic.
But then... crash... rain fell from the sky one after another.
"It's raining! It's raining! Your Majesty and His Highness the Prince pray for rain and the welfare of all people..."
Wow...
The rain is falling in a line.
Although it is not pouring down, it has a tendency to gradually increase.
The ministers, a group of old guys in their seventies and eighties, were dizzy from the sudden rain, but the emperor and the prince had not taken shelter from the rain on the altar, so they could only stand in the rain.
They were also puzzled as to where the rain came from.
At this time, Zhu Youtang turned around and said to the ministers present: "Everyone, please take shelter from the rain first!"
The wind and rain were blowing hard, and his voice was almost muffled.
But then the Jinwu Guards and the Jinyi Guards brought out the umbrellas they had prepared. Only then did the ministers realize that the emperor had to bring rain gear when he went out to pray for rain, otherwise it would be unprofessional.
Set up bamboo hats, umbrellas, etc.
At this time, Zhu Youtang and Zhu Houzhao, father and son, also came down from the altar with the canopy on their shoulders.
"His Majesty!"
All the ministers also gathered around.
For nothing else.
The emperor set an example by telling his ministers how much hard work he had put in to pray for this rain.
have a look……
The rain on my body was given by God before.
You got wet in the rain, and so did I.
Zhu Youtang looked at Liu Jian and others and said with emotion: "God sympathizes with my and your family's hard work, and has sent rain and dew to benefit all people. I am very relieved. Thank you for your hard work."
"Your Majesty's Holy Grace."
The emperor said that praying for rain was a tribute to the ministers, but the ministers had to be wise.
It is clearly the work of the emperor and his son. Who dares to take this credit?
