Palace of Heavenly Purity.
Zhu Youxiao looked at Sun Yuanhua's eager eyes and couldn't help but stroke his forehead, pretending to think.
The emperor was quite clever, and he could come up with solutions to many manufacturing problems. For example, using crucible steelmaking, smelting iron with coke, and adding limestone to steelmaking...
This was the feeling that Xu Guangqi, Sun Yuanhua and others gradually developed. Even though they found it strange, they did not dare to ask in detail and could only explain it as natural intelligence.
In fact, these were all things that the young emperor learned from the vast amount of online knowledge in his previous life, and he only had a superficial understanding of many of them.
However, this partial understanding often served as a flash of inspiration and sudden enlightenment for the technical difficulties that troubled Xu Guangqi, Sun Yuanhua and others.
Crucible steelmaking was successful because the technology itself was simple, the core being the production of a clay crucible. By experimenting with different proportions, the problem was easily solved.
Once high-hardness steel can be produced, it is only a matter of time before the carbon ratio is adjusted to produce highly elastic steel sheets.
In other words, the dawn of the manufacture of flintlock rifles had already appeared.
However, the difficulty raised by Sun Yuanhua is the speed and efficiency of crucible steelmaking, that is, he wants to greatly shorten the time for melting iron from the current three hours.
Zhu Youxiao had visited the Capital Steel Plant to see how it was doing, and he thought that if the output was low, he could just make more crucibles. However, this lazy thinking was defeated by Sun Yuanhua's responsibility and eagerness to learn.
"Well, I think—" Zhu Youxiao finally found a solution from his previous life's visit and said slowly, "Blowing air is to make the coke burn better, but blowing in cold air is not good."
Sun Yuanhua blinked, feeling as if he had grasped some idea, and tentatively asked, "Wansui, do you mean to heat the cold air first and then blow it into the crucible furnace?"
Zhu Youxiao nodded and said, "Well, Sun Qing is very clever. This is what I was thinking. Adding a preheating device to the blast channel and blowing hot air in might be effective, right?"
Of course it will be effective. Steel mills all have heat storage rooms. Blowing cold air is for cooling. How can it be the same as blowing hot air?
Sun Yuanhua seemed to be thinking about something, and asked, "If we blow hot air on the iron, it should also speed up the process, right?"
Yeah? This is a bit like blowing steel, but I don't know what the difference is between blowing air and blowing oxygen?
Zhu Youxiao remained silent and encouraged him, "Sun Qing, just go ahead and try it. Only then will you know if it will work or not!"
After a pause, Zhu Youxiao quickly changed the subject and asked, "Sun Qing, you said that a craftsman at the Ordnance and Gunpowder Bureau suggested casting a cannon with an iron core and a copper body?"
"Your Majesty, that's indeed the case." Sun Yuanhua bowed and said, "I think it's feasible and have organized people to conduct experiments. First, cast the iron mold, and after it cools, use the clay mold method or lost wax method to make the mold..."
Zhu Youxiao nodded repeatedly, interrupted Sun Yuanhua's long speech, and said, "Regardless of whether it succeeds or not, we will first reward this craftsman generously. Well, Mr. Sun, if there is nothing else, you can withdraw first. I have important matters to attend to."
Sun Yuanhua hurriedly stood up, bowed, and left the palace.
Huh, Zhu Youxiao leaned back in his chair and let out a long sigh.
I am here to fulfill my desire to be an emperor, not to be a tech geek, okay?
Of course, if I can make money, I don't mind. Well, speaking of making money, it seems to be coming soon!
Zhu Youxiao's gaze turned and stopped on a piece of glass on the table.
That’s right, it’s glass, and it’s transparent. Sun Yuanhua and others were ordered to work with a few foreigners and spent several months tinkering with it.
Glassmaking technology is no longer a secret in the West, and many countries can produce it. However, when it comes to the exquisite and dazzling glassmaking, Venice, Italy, is the most famous.
However, Zhu Youxiao did not want to compete with the Venetian craftsmen in "blowing", but to find another way to surpass the Venetians in another manufacturing process that made them rich.
Now, it’s still a little bit short.
Zhu Youxiao fiddled with the not-so-big piece of transparent glass, pursed his lips, and showed a money-loving smile.
Through the glass, Zhu Youxiao saw Wang Tigan holding the box and walking into the hall. Putting down the glass, the young emperor coughed dryly.
"Your Majesty." Wang Tigan stepped forward and knelt, presenting the secret memorial box. "This is a secret memorial from Wei Zhongxian, the governor of the Eastern Depot."
Zhu Youxiao reached out and took it, found a key from the drawer of the desk, opened the box, took out the secret memorial and read it.
Uncle Wei reported on the work of clearing out the land granted by the princes and borrowing money to build a bank. He then talked about the Tang Palace in Nanyang and attached a memorial from Zhu Youjian, the grandson of the Tang Prince.
King Tang Zhu Youjian, well, is still the crown prince and has not inherited the title of king!
Zhu Youxiao still had a good impression of this Ming Dynasty prince who died for his country, but he didn't bother looking for him. But now that Zhu Youjian had submitted the memorial, he could no longer ignore it.
Although Zhu Youjian did not dare to say in his memorial that he and his father were imprisoned by his grandfather, Wei Zhongxian's secret memorial stated it.
This old King Tang was truly cruel. For the sake of a concubine, he imprisoned and tortured his own son and grandson like prisoners.
Zhu Youxiao pondered and thought, and felt that he could not do as Zhu Youjian said in the memorial. He just summoned him and his father to the Imperial Academy in the capital, and although he escaped from imprisonment, he did not gain anything!
Zhu Youjian was an ambitious man. Could he use this incident to create a breakthrough or set an example in his work on dealing with vassal states?
Zhu Youxiao thought about it again and again, picked up his pen and wrote a reply to Wei Zhongxian, preparing to send someone else to handle the matter, and then sealed it in a box and handed it to Wang Tigan.
"Your Majesty." Wang Tigan did not retreat immediately. Instead, he bowed and said with a flattering smile, "The shops in the city have started operating, and sales have been quite good in the past few days."
Zhu Youxiao smiled and nodded, saying, "Thank you for your hard work, Wang Ban. Don't look down on this small business. As long as you don't lose money, you can do something big by accumulating small amounts."
After a pause, the emperor thought of something and said, "The funds for building the Martyrs' Shrine and the Hall of Famous Ministers haven't been collected yet, right?"
Wang Tigan answered truthfully, "Your Majesty, we're still short of over 100,000 yuan, but it won't affect the current construction. We still have a few months left, and we'll be able to raise the money."
Zhu Youxiao nodded slightly and raised his hand to signal Wang Tigan to leave, but in his heart he resented the stinginess of the powerful people in the capital.
Just as he was wondering when to take action to deal with these stingy people, Liu Ruoyu walked in with a pile of question books, interrupting the emperor's thoughts.
While drinking tea, Zhu Youxiao listened to Liu Ruoyu reading the memorials and petitions from the ministers, and then began his own work.
Overall, the overall situation is moving in a positive direction, and various reforms are being implemented. Crucially, fiscal revenue has increased significantly, and we have a lot more money on hand.
Mainly taking advantage of the aftermath of the Wenxiang Sect rebellion, the emperor mobilized the imperial guards and the army to severely punish the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River who were in arrears with taxes and grain, as well as some landlords and evil gentry who had occupied military settlements.
No one is stupid, and they can't see that they are killing a chicken to scare the monkeys. But under the big hat of treason, no one dares to speak up for these people.
On the contrary, the deterrent effect was great. The gentry in Jiangnan who owed money and grain readily paid it all, and most of the landlords and evil gentry who had occupied military farms in several northern provinces also promptly returned the farmland.
They are all cheap bastards, they won't behave themselves unless they are beaten.
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