Chapter 645 Shocking the World 1 Changan.
Three o'clock in the afternoon.
The emperor Weifu quietly walked out of the imperial city with Zhu Huiguang and dozens of other entourages, went out of the city through the Mingde Gate, and went straight to Kong Sheng's manor outside the city, which is also the location of Kong Sheng's firearms casting workshop outside the city.
The emperor's mentality and purpose are actually very simple, he wants to take advantage of Kong Sheng's absence in Beijing to visit the workshop in person to see how the mysterious cannon was cast.
He had always been very curious.
He even has the intention of directly taking over the firearms casting workshop, after all, such an artifact and the sharp weapon of the country are related to the fortunes of the country and the rise and fall of the Li Tang royal family.
When Kong Sheng was there, the emperor could not act rashly, lest it would intensify the contradictions; But as soon as Kong Sheng left, the emperor's mind began to liven up, and he couldn't stay in the palace anymore.
Murong Chong, who was in charge of the firearms casting workshop, was taken aback when he heard that the emperor was visiting, and hurriedly led the steward of the Jiangning County Palace's manor outside the city to welcome him out of the manor, but what surprised and angered the emperor was that the firearms workshop was now empty, and it had long since ceased to be in its former glory.
The craftsman who undertook the casting task was nowhere to be found, and the workshop was shut down, which was equivalent to being scrapped.
The emperor's face was gloomy, and he said angrily: "What's the matter, how did the artillery workshop stop working, tell me in detail" Murong Chong bowed to the ground with a frightened face, and said respectfully: "Report to Your Majesty, the workshop was suspended before the county king left the capital, and at the same time, the county king also dismissed all the craftsmen. ” The emperor's face was pale, the corners of his mouth trembled, and he shouted: "Why?"
Murong Chong was taken aback, and said softly: "Back to Your Majesty's words, because in addition to pig iron, the materials required for artillery casting also require a large amount of raw copper, but raw copper is a raw material strictly controlled by the imperial court, and it is difficult for the workshop to purchase it."
Because of the lack of raw copper, the cannon could not be cast, and the king had no choice but to order the furnace to be temporarily suspended. ” The emperor was furious: "This is all an excuse that I have already told Kong Sheng that day, and I also issued an edict to the Ministry of Household Industry, all the raw copper required for artillery casting must not be controlled, and it will be supplied as a whole, how can there be a shortage of raw materials?"
"Your Majesty, the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Households replied, because the place of copper production is far away from Chang'an, and the copper born is not much left except to meet the needs of the imperial court to mint money, which is far from enough for artillery casting, so we have no choice but to wait with peace of mind."
Murong Chong's face turned pale, and he didn't know why the emperor was angry for some reason.
The matter of the household department, the matter of raw raw copper, this is not fiction, you can know it when you ask.
Although the emperor explained to the Ministry of Transfer and the Ministry of Industry that there must be no delay in the use of copper for Kong Sheng's artillery workshop, but now the output of raw copper in the Tang Dynasty is limited, and it is stretched to meet the normal coinage, how can he come up with more to meet the supply of Kong Sheng's side.
The emperor's face was gloomy like water, he naturally knew that Murong Chong did not dare to lie, and the imperial court did need a large amount of raw copper to mint copper coins at present, and most of the copper born in the southwest border was supplied to the minting money workshop of the household department, and it could not provide too much raw copper for artillery casting.
But the emperor intuitively felt that this was Kong Sheng's excuse.
Kong Sheng's real purpose was not to let the emperor control the casting technology of the artillery after he left, so he simply stopped the furnace.
Otherwise, why would he have dismissed all the craftsmen?
But the corner of the emperor's mouth sneered, and said in his heart You dismissed the craftsmen, can't I convene again You said that there is a lack of raw copper, then, I will allocate it to you, and I want to see if there is any excuse for this artillery casting to stop As soon as he thought of this, the emperor's mood became calmer, and he said lightly: "It's easy to talk about raw copper, I immediately ordered the household department to raise raw copper and send it to the workshop, Murong Chong, all the craftsmen, you recall it immediately, I want the artillery workshop to open the furnace and cast it immediately."
A hint of wonder flashed in Murong Chong's eyes.
He slowly took out a roster from his arms: "Your Majesty, this is the roster of all craftsmen, and there is no problem for the villain to immediately summon the craftsmen."
However, even if the craftsmen returned and the raw copper was available, the cannon could not be cast. ” The emperor's face changed suddenly, and he said angrily: "Why can't bastard things be minted" Murong Chong observed the emperor's face with some trepidation, and said cautiously: "Your Majesty, the artillery casting procedure is cumbersome, the process is complicated, and each link requires a lot of manpower and material resources, and it needs to be connected according to the map.
But the little one doesn't have a drawing, the drawing" "Because artillery is the most important weapon of the country, the king of the county keeps the drawings very secret, and there is no second person in the workshop except him.
Moreover, the final and most important level of smoothbore calibration of artillery casting and molding was basically done by the king of the county himself in the past, and ordinary craftsmen could not work it. ” "Also, the composition of the shells required for the artillery is also prepared by King Kong Jun himself, and we can't master the formula."
"Kong Sheng personally went to do the work of the craftsman, and the drawings and recipes were in the hands of Kong Sheng alone" The emperor's face became extremely blue again, and the corners of his mouth twitched, wanting to be angry, but after all, he still held it back, and walked away angrily.
It is so obvious that Kong Sheng did not let go of artillery casting at all, and the key technologies and core technologies are in the hands of Kong Sheng alone.
The emperor returned to the palace with a monstrous rage, and he had a strong urge to capture Kong Sheng back to the capital and coerce Kong Sheng to hand over the art of cannon casting.
But reason told him that this was unrealistic, and it was useless except to force Kong Sheng to rebel.
In terms of Kong Sheng's "smelly and hard" temperament, he would rather die than succumb.
The Emperor remembered a secret conversation he had with Kong Sheng that day about the art of cannon casting, or a kind of exchange of interests and mutual compromise.
Kong Sheng agreed to hand over the art of cannon casting in the future, but for now, he repeatedly stressed that the technology was not mature and needed to be gradually perfected, and when the emperor asked how long the process would take, Kong Sheng was silent for a while, and replied that it would take two to three years.
The emperor was sulking in the imperial study alone, and Zhu Huiguang and other palace maids and eunuchs knew that the emperor was angry, so how dare they hit the emperor's gun, so they quickly hid far away.
The emperor's gloomy gaze was fixed on a famous painting of Wu Daozi hanging on the wall, and a cold smile slowly formed at the corner of his mouth.
After a long time, he said to himself: "Kong Sheng, I can afford to wait for these three or two years.
I want to see how long you want to treasure yourself.
In this case, I will not force you, on the contrary, I will give you great grace.
I will give you everything you want, and it will even surprise you, but if you dare to continue to hide what I want, you will not blame me for being unsympathetic in the future. ” As soon as he thought of this, the emperor suddenly burst out and said, "Someone is coming."
Zhu Huiguang hurriedly pushed the door in fear and bowed down: "The slave is here" "Edict: Kongsheng, the king of Jiangning County, has made meritorious contributions to the imperial court, in recognition of his merits, he has given a side of the merit archway in front of the palace, and the regulations are the same as those of the prince.
Ten female eunuchs and one gold and silver property were given to the palace, and they went to Jiangnan to listen to the dispatch and use.
Tell the world that Kong Sheng is a virtuous minister and capable minister of the Tang Dynasty, and I regard him as a descendant" The emperor's slightly gloomy voice came into Zhu Huiguang's ears, and Zhu Huiguang looked up in amazement, a little shocked.
The regulation is the same as that of the prince, and it is even rewarded to a subordinate palace eunuch to use, which is not an ordinary grace.
I also want to tell the world that the emperor regards Kong Sheng as a descendant, isn't this a bit outrageous But how dare Zhu Huiguang question the emperor's decision t1706231537: