Chapter 152: The problem with saltpeter

"The King of Shu?"
Xiao Ming said gently.
What followed was the memory of his predecessor, Xiao Ming, about this king of Shu. Among the princes, the fifth prince had the worst relationship.
The two rebellious two clashes constantly in Chang'an.
Xiao Ming and the king of Shu fought many times because of their jealousy, so they were often scolded by Xiao Wenxuan.
The fifth prince is now in the domain of Shu, but he hasn't thought of him for a long time.
In Xiao Ming's memory, Shu was remote and mountainous, and its location was also remote. However, since ancient times, Shu has been called the land of abundance, and there has never been a lot of food.
The only shortcoming is that Nanban in the south of Shu and Tubo in the west often disturb the border.
But overall the situation of the king of Shu is slightly better than him, but he is not much better.
In addition, Shu is in the inland area and the mountain roads are rugged, which seems to make the fifth prince more uncomfortable.
"Yes, your Royal Highness, think about it, originally Qingzhou purchased a large amount of saltpeter. The merchants from Shu were very happy and wanted to make this money, but suddenly the merchant couldn't get saltpetre, except for the king of Shu. Who can do it if you have the ability?" Lu Tong complained: "If this is the case, the king of Shu is simply harming His Royal Highness. The barbarian clan is short of time to go south. He also gave His Highness the envoy. This is not to show your Royal Highness What a joke."
If it was someone else, Xiao Ming might still think about it, but if it was the king of Shu, he really believed that the king of Shu had this mind.
Shu Road is difficult, and it is difficult to climb to the sky.
Because of this, the land of Shu is easy to defend and difficult to attack. Now the king of the south and the king of the north have two minds.
The king of Shu naturally belongs to the vassal kings in the south. If the north is lost, he can be happy just by guarding a place of Shu.
Moreover, the king of Shu also knew that the throne of the Kingdom of Great Yu was not destined to him, but when the chaos happened, it would be different.
After pondering for a while, Xiao Ming said: "Did the king of Shu do it? It is not yet known. How much gunpowder can be produced from the remaining materials?"
"Up to five hundred catties of gunpowder." Lu Tong said.
Xiao Ming felt agitated, and 500 catties of gunpowder was not enough to fill the teeth of the barbarians.
Today’s artillery fires solid shells. The power is only equivalent to a direct-fire stone thrower, but the range is longer and the damage is not great. If the shells don’t directly hit the body, they can’t kill people, not like blossoms. Shells can also kill the enemy with shrapnel and shock waves.
This gunpowder is sufficient, and the battle is still difficult. If this gunpowder is not enough, I am afraid that Cangzhou City will only be reduced to a short-armed battlefield.
"I'll figure out how to deal with materials. You'd better produce it as soon as possible." Xiao Ming said with a gloomy expression.
The front is iron and coal, because this matter has been discussed in the court, the other vassals did not deliberately make things difficult for him.
In addition, the coal mines and iron ore mines were flooded with water, but the locals could barely provide some, not without them, and the king of Wei was willing to do his best to make Xiao Ming a shield for himself.
Therefore, coal and iron have not been a problem.
But now this saltpeter is really killing him. Dayu is already using gunpowder, but the use of gunpowder has not yet reached a large-scale level, so the demand for gunpowder is not great.
The saltpetre used to produce gunpowder also came from Shu, but because it was used by the Chang'an Machinery Division, the king of Shu naturally did not dare to make a fuss about it.
After leaving the workshop area, Xiao Ming returned directly to the palace, and now he can only write to Chang'an and let Xiao Wenxuan resolve the matter.
At the same time, he was going to ask King Wei for some saltpeter and gunpowder, but it is estimated that the gunpowder and gunpowder that he can get from King Wei will not be much.
Because Wang Wei did not pay much attention to firearms.
After writing the letter, Xiao Ming asked Aster to go to the inn and sent him to Chang'an quickly.
This great Yu country is not modern. If there is a problem, a phone call can solve the problem. The fastest way to send messages between cities is the inn, but it takes at least nine days to go back and forth for an 800-mile journey.
And if there are any more forks later, you have to send letters back and forth to pass information.
Thinking of this, Xiao Ming became more and more annoyed. The one thing he feared most was that King Shu deliberately did it. If so, King Shu only needed a drag formula to make him overwhelmed.
When Cangzhou City was finished, the saltpeter came late, and it was useless at that time. If Cangzhou City was breached, he didn't need to send saltpeter. Instead, Xiao Wenxuan would rely on him in the future.
"King Shu, if you do it intentionally, this king will peel you off sooner or later." Xiao Ming hated his teeth, but he couldn't help it.
The land of Shu and Qingzhou are thousands of miles away, and he is beyond reach.
While asking Chang'an for help, Xiao Ming consciously couldn't sit still, so he sent a letter to King Wei.
At the same time, someone was sent to inform Qian Dafu to come back.
In the evening of the next day, Qian Dafu, who got the news, arrived at the palace.
"His Royal Highness, when was so anxious?"
Qian Dafu is also exhausted from eating and sleeping. These days, he has suffered a lot from mining, and he has lost a lot of weight.
"Don't look for other minerals for the time being. From now on, you have to search for saltpeter and sulfur with all your strength, and delay the rest for now," Xiao Ming said.
The upgrading of industry can be postponed, but it is urgent to deal with the barbarians.
Moreover, once he uses artillery to defeat the barbarians, Da Yu Country will inevitably attach importance to gunpowder. At that time, saltpeter will become a killer for all forces to restrain themselves.
This is the same as modern oil. An oil-poor country is very sad. If oil is blocked, the economy will soon collapse.
"His Royal Highness, what happened?" Qian Dafu asked puzzledly.
Xiao Ming said about the saltpetre, and Qian Dafu's expression suddenly became serious.
"This saltpeter is related to the king's life, so let me transfer five thousand young and strong slaves to you~EbookFREE.me~ In the saltpetre mine area, even if you are digging, you must find the saltpeter." Xiao Ming The sound is loud and loud.
Realizing the seriousness of this problem, Qian Dafu bowed and said, "The old slave will now withdraw the mining teams from all over the place and try his best to search for saltpeter."
Having said that, Qian Dafu turned around and left the palace. As soon as he arrived at the door, he met Pang Yukun who was walking over.
"Steward Qian looked anxious, what happened?" Pang Yukun had always been good at observing words, and couldn't help asking.
"Hey, there is a problem with the saltpeter. Your Royal Highness is getting angry. You have to be careful when you go in." Qian Dafu said.
Pang Yukun frowned, "It's really a blessing and misfortune that does not come singly, I am afraid that your Royal Highness will get angry again."
Qian Dafu was eager to find mines and had no time to inquire about other things. He just arched his hands and turned on his feet and galloped away.
Pang Yukun gave a wry smile after looking at Qian Dafu's leaving back, hesitated and entered the palace.
(To be continued.) Enable new URL