Wang Shao, Tang Mu, Yuan Xuan, Xu Fan, Liang Cai, Li Long... and other Zhejiang officials collectively sent Wang Yuan aboard the ship, feeling extremely complicated at this moment.
As officials of the Third Division of Zhejiang and the prefect of Hangzhou, although they could not understand many of Wang Yuan's practices, they could not deny his achievements.
Zhejiang's third division is related to tax sharing, and the local coffers are filling up rapidly.
The Chief Secretary of Zhejiang Province even made a lot of money by casting copper coins and selling silver for foreign exchange. The two Chief Ministers took the opportunity to make money, which is not considered corruption.
Li Long, the capital of Zhejiang Province, is now cooperating with Shaoxing Iron Works to cast cannons. He can make a profit from every cannon he casts. Moreover, this guy got a sea-going ship from nowhere and sent his confidants to do sea trade in a big way.
Pirates make more money by accepting filial piety.
Hangzhou Prefecture is obviously more prosperous and lively. Any active citizen can support his family by carrying burdens and selling snacks on the streets. Many idle residents and farmers in the suburbs have been dragged to the dock to make a living. There are even small businessmen opening laundry rooms and hiring peasant women.
Specialized in washing clothes for sailors.
The legend about Mazu's reincarnation has spread rapidly through opera, with Hangzhou as the center. The angry-looking statue of Guanyin is spread throughout the province.
In the major counties of Hangzhou Prefecture, no one has dared to drown babies for half a year. As for other prefectures and rural areas, not only has the phenomenon of infant drowning disappeared, but it has also significantly reduced a lot, and the trend of extravagant weddings has also been somewhat curbed.
All this can be seen and touched.
Everyone's feelings towards the Governor include resentment, fear, respect and love, which cannot be summed up simply.
Of course, there are also simple ideas.
For example, Wu Dayou, the salt transport envoy of the two Zhejiang provinces, Xu Tingguang, the grain governor, Liu Luan, the salt inspection censor, and others. They were frightened by Wang Yuan and hid in other places. When they heard that Wang Yuan was leaving, they ran back to Hangzhou in a pretentious manner and greeted them warmly.
Send Wang Yuan back to Beijing.
Only businessmen loved Wang Yuan the most and even regarded him as the God of Wealth. They were reluctant to leave their beloved Governor!
Under the farewell of thousands of people, Wang Yuan took Xia Chan, Yuan Da, and the 500 Shenji Battalion to board the ship. In addition, there were 500 fire muskets left in Hangzhou for Zhang Cong to mobilize, in order to avoid any danger.
The careless trouble maker. Wang Yuan was quite comfortable with the official named Zhang Mu, so he left it to Zhang Cong for the time being.
Several disciples of the School of Physics stayed at Hangzhou Industrial and Commercial School to serve as teachers and promote the study of physics.
"Farewell to the Governor!"
More than 20 scholars from the government stood at the pier and bowed from a distance. They were Wang Yuan's crazy fans, and some even joined the physics school voluntarily.
Corresponding to this is Wang Yuan's stupidity, and there are many such scholars in Hangzhou.
He Tang, Gui E, Chang Lun and others waited until the fleet disappeared on the sea, then returned to the city to drink together and discuss how to persuade the gentry - some of them would definitely jump when the governor returned to Beijing.
Inside the cabin.
Fire Man Ya San asked cautiously: "Mr. Governor, is China really going to restore Manlajia in the future?"
Wang Yuan smiled and said, "I never said this."
Huo Zhe Ya San said: "The governor's construction of ships and cannons in Hangzhou must be useful. Perhaps he wants to imitate the eunuchs of Sanbao and sail to the West. And Manlajia blocks the throat of the waterway. How can the governor allow the Franji people to occupy it?"
"Don't think wildly, just do your translation with peace of mind." Wang Yuan said.
Fire Man Ya San said: "If one day, the Governor leads a huge ship to drive away Folangji, I am willing to do my best! I don't dare to ask for anything else. I just want to get back the land that belongs to me."
Wang Yuan just smiled, neither admitting nor denying.
Fireman Yasan went north this time to translate for Wang Yuan.
Those Portuguese cannon-casters fell into the hands of our king's governor, which is equivalent to Liu Bei borrowing money from Jingzhou, obviously borrowing it and never repaying it. The reason is very straightforward, he said that he did not have skilled gunners, and he wanted to bring these cannon-casters back to Beijing to help train gunners.
The Portuguese governor didn't care about this, they were just a few cannon makers. If they could please the Ming Emperor, then all this would be worth it.
Portugal had long ago occupied Goa, India, and built the largest shipyard and gun foundry in Asia. There were not enough craftsmen in Malacca, so just go to Goa and get some. Pires was the governor-general of India.
Wang Yuan called the gunsmiths over, and Yasan the Fireman acted as translator, and continued to discuss the artillery issue with them on the ship.
There is a huge doubt that has been lingering in Wang Yuan's mind: why were all Portuguese artillery guns breech-loaded in the early 16th century?
Wang Yuan asked: "Are there front-loading artillery in Europe?"
A gunsmith replied: "If it is used for siege, then all cannons are muzzleloaders. If it is used for field battles or naval battles, most of them are rear-loaded cannons."
"Why is that so?" Wang Yuan asked.
The gunsmith said: "Because the front-loading cannon is powerful and has a long range, it is most effective for sieges. The breech-loading cannon has a fast rate of fire and is more practical for naval battles and field battles."
"I see," Wang Yuan asked again, "Why are breech-loading cannons less powerful and have a shorter range?"
The gunsmith said: "Because the cannon bore is leaking."
Early breech-loading guns appeared in Europe during the Jingtai and Chenghua years.
Don't mention "breech" and think that it is more advanced than "front". The fatal flaw of early breech guns was the leakage of gunpowder gas!
In about thirty years, the Portuguese artillery will gradually switch from breech-loading to front-loading cannons, and for the next two hundred years, front-loading cannons will dominate the world.
The Fran cannon introduced to China is now considered the best in the world, because it is an improved version of early European breech-loaded cannons. The design of the mother-and-bubble gun can slightly reduce the leakage of gunpowder gas, and the rate of fire is also greatly improved.
"Master, let's have some porridge." Xia Chan came in with eight-treasure porridge, her face was pale and her steps were shaky.
Wang Yuan fiddled with the cannon without raising his head: "Put it down. Go back and rest more. Seasickness is not something you can get used to in a day or two."
Xia Chan said: "I vomited a few times and I feel much better."
Wang Yuan said: "Then sit down."
Xia Chan stood nearby and asked curiously: "What is the master doing?"
Wang Yuandao: "Let's see if we can improve the artillery."
"Oh." Xia Chan stopped talking.
What can I say about the Fran cannon? It completely subverted Wang Yuan's understanding of artillery. It was a bit like an enlarged version of an old-fashioned breech-loading gun.
The belly of the gun is open and has a huge groove.
The gunner can load iron bullets and gunpowder into the sub-gun in advance. When shooting, he directly places the sub-gun into the slotted belly, then wedges the breech block used to fix the sub-gun to ignite.
This kind of artillery has a fast rate of fire, fast heat dissipation, and fast reloading. It can be fired once in less than a minute.
Moreover, the safety is very high. The main and sub-guns are separated, so there is no need to worry about the gunpowder overheating and spontaneous combustion of the gunpowder. The sub-gun bears most of the explosion pressure. If it is worn out, just replace the sub-gun. The service life of the main gun body is very long. If Wang Yuan
If you want to save money, you can use wrought iron as the main gun body and only use steel to cast the subgun.
However, the air tightness is extremely poor and may explode in serious cases. It has a short range and low power, making it very unsuitable for heavy artillery.
Wang Yuan thought about it on the boat for several days and gave up when he arrived in Tianjin.
This kind of breech and belly design cannot improve the air tightness at all. If you want to prevent air leakage, you must redesign the belly, which is equivalent to Wang Yuan designing a brand new artillery by himself.
If the Portuguese, who dominated the oceans, generally used this kind of artillery, then it can be speculated that the artillery at this time was an auxiliary in naval warfare. It was too weak to sink the enemy, and had to rely on side battles at critical moments.
But, it can be called a powerful weapon for land field battles. Cannons that fire every tens of seconds, where else could you find in the early 16th century?
On the Tianjin seaside, workers at the weaving factory have been waiting for several days.
Twenty artillery pieces and ammunition were unloaded from the ship, and then the cotton cloth was loaded onto the ship. The ship continued to sail towards Japan, and the workers rowed to carry the artillery pieces to Tianjin Wei, and then took a boat along the Grand Canal straight to Beijing.
Zhu Houzhao had urged Wang Yuan many times to lead his troops quickly.