Chapter 422: Gunpowder Is the Foundation of Everything

The capital was full of all kinds of commotion, but life still had to go on day by day.

Though the news had been out for a long time, there had been no movement at court. The weather was growing colder, and the pace of the entire capital had instead slowed down.

For the past while everyone had been busy with the autumn harvest, busy securing the grain supply, and everyone's energy was focused on that. Every year at this time, the court was at its busiest. Though they were all used to it, they still dared not slack off.

This year, however, things had turned out considerably better. Though it was tiring work, the results were far stronger than in previous years. After all, the area planted with potatoes this year wasn't very large, but the harvest was excellent.

Zhu Youxiao was strolling about the palace. He had already received reports from below that today's potato harvest had gone well — at least this winter's food supply was secure. Many common folk, even if they had to rely on eating potatoes, would be able to fill their bellies through the winter.

One had to understand that in the present Great Ming, winters were still very hard to get through. Never mind the cold weather — the common people had nothing to do, no way to earn money, and even getting enough to eat wasn't easy. Chopping firewood and hunting kept them busy, but they usually still went from hungry one meal to full the next. Now with potatoes, they could have a good year.

Glancing at Chen Hong, Zhu Youxiao said, "Has Bi Maokang arrived?"

"Your Majesty, he is already waiting outside," Chen Hong replied promptly.

Zhu Youxiao nodded and said, "Then have him come in."

Before long, Bi Maokang walked in from outside.

For those in the court, Bi Maokang could be considered a rising star. He had already reached the post of Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works, and now oversaw the Hundred Crafts Institute.

Many people had predicted that the next Minister of the Ministry of Works would very likely be Bi Maokang.

Bi Maokang had dressed himself carefully, yet he still looked travel-worn. At the Hundred Crafts Institute, he was busy every day without a moment's rest.

At this moment Bi Maokang looked somewhat disheveled. Though he was forcing himself to stay alert, he still appeared very weary.

After Bi Maokang had performed his ceremonial bow, Zhu Youxiao waved his hand and said with a smile, "Enough, no need for that effort. Sit down and speak."

Chen Hong brought over a brocade stool and set it directly behind Bi Maokang.

After Bi Maokang sat down, Zhu Youxiao continued, "You've heard about building the new city, haven't you?"

"Your Majesty, I have heard of it," Bi Maokang replied promptly.

Zhu Youxiao nodded and said, "I've been wanting to talk with you. How is the matter of bricks and cement progressing?"

In building the new city, what Zhu Youxiao wanted to use were bricks and cement. And the bricks were red bricks, not the gray bricks used by the Great Ming.

Gray bricks were of better quality, but their production cost was too high, which didn't match Zhu Youxiao's expectations.

Many people in later generations had said that ancient houses were beautiful and that their interlocking structures were ingenious. But those were the houses of princes, nobles, and aristocrats, built without regard for cost. What kind of houses did the common people of this era have?

Most were mud houses with thatched roofs — they couldn't even use ordinary tiles, let alone glazed tiles or golden ones.

The appearance of cement greatly reduced the difficulty and cost of construction, and most importantly, it increased building efficiency.

If one built according to the Great Ming's current methods, whether using stone or timber, those were difficult materials to procure. Not only was the cost of harvesting them high, but the cost of transport was hardly economical either.

New building materials replacing old ones — this was decided by cost, and it was the trend of the times.

This time, in building the new city, aside from promoting education, Zhu Youxiao's purpose was to make money. And that money, naturally, the more the better.

Lower the construction costs, and wouldn't the money come?

Hearing Zhu Youxiao's question, Bi Maokang quickly said, "Your Majesty, the problem of bricks has already been solved, and we previously resolved the matter of refractory bricks as well. The firing of cement has also been preliminarily settled — as long as funds are invested, it can go into mass production."

Hearing these words from Bi Maokang, Zhu Youxiao nodded with satisfaction.

If so, that was naturally for the best. The architectural style of the new city naturally would not adopt the style of later-era office buildings or public structures.

First, it couldn't be built too tall — that would require reinforced concrete. The Great Ming didn't have that much steel rebar, so building heights couldn't possibly be that high.

Second, it had to follow the Great Ming's palace architectural style — the layout had to be rigorously symmetrical, with clear hierarchy between primary and secondary. The main structures would use brick, stone, and concrete, while the secondary structures would still use brick walls with wooden beam frames, only with far less timber used. As for how to actually build it, Zhu Youxiao believed the Great Ming's craftsmen had more say than he did.

From ancient times to the present, the craftsmen of the Celestial Dynasty had never let people down, producing flying eaves, bracket sets, caisson ceilings, and carved beams and painted rafters that formed the Great Ming's distinctive architectural style.

Zhu Youxiao nodded and said, "Leave this matter to you and the Ministry of Works. Produce a plan as soon as possible and make a budget. Best to make a full plan for the new city — I want to review it carefully."

Hearing Zhu Youxiao's words, Bi Maokang quickly nodded and said, "Yes, Your Majesty."

"A few days ago you submitted a routine memorial asking to see me. What is it about?" Zhu Youxiao looked at Bi Maokang and asked.

His own business was finished; now it was Bi Maokang's turn to speak.

"Your subject requests that Your Majesty grace the Hundred Crafts Institute with a visit," Bi Maokang said without hesitation.

Hearing this, Zhu Youxiao was instead taken aback.

It wasn't that he had never been to the Hundred Crafts Institute, but this was the first time he had received an invitation. It seemed the Hundred Crafts Institute had something new — otherwise Bi Maokang wouldn't have been bold enough to ask him to come see it.

Zhu Youxiao looked Bi Maokang up and down and said with a smile, "That confident?"

"Yes, Your Majesty." Bi Maokang raised his head and said.

This wasn't a matter for Bi Maokang alone, but for the entire Hundred Crafts Institute from top to bottom. His Majesty had spent so much money, everyone had worked so hard for so long, and finally there were results. Bi Maokang couldn't help but be excited, and he couldn't allow himself to lower his head.

Zhu Youxiao was even more intrigued and said, "Then tell me, what have you come up with?"

"Yes, Your Majesty." Bi Maokang acknowledged and said, "The flintlock has completed its trial production — the first batch of one hundred flintlocks has been finished."

"Beyond that, we have also made progress in the development of cannons. Your Majesty previously reminded us that materials were the top priority. Over this past year and more, we conducted several hundred experiments and finally found a suitable ratio — moderate in hardness and softness — that can be used to cast new cannons."

"The problem of cannon gas sealing has also received a preliminary solution."

"We also attempted metal-cased shells, but black powder's effectiveness wasn't very good. As for the new type of gunpowder Your Majesty mentioned, we are still researching it, and for now we haven't achieved any major breakthrough."

Zhu Youxiao looked at Bi Maokang, his face full of gratification.

The money hadn't been wasted — they had truly achieved results and breakthroughs.

First was the flintlock, which they had now produced. In truth, by current craftsmanship standards, making a flintlock wasn't very difficult — the hard part was mass production and cost.

Judging from Bi Maokang's demeanor, he seemed to have already solved that problem.

In this era, the flintlock was the most complete firearm available. To have breech-loading firearms, one had to solve the problem of metal-cased ammunition. And that problem was nowhere near as easy to solve — even metal-cased cannon shells couldn't be managed yet.

In Zhu Youxiao's expectations, what he hoped Bi Maokang and his people could produce was a mortar.

First, a mortar didn't need as good gas sealing as a breech-loading cannon; being also muzzle-loaded, it didn't need rifling either — one only needed to solve the metal-cased shell problem.

A shell with tail fins could ensure flight stability after leaving the barrel, allowing accurate hits on target. If this problem were solved, the mortar could be put on the agenda.

In this era, if mortars were put into application and metal-cased shells could be mass-produced, that would be a leap-forward advance. But for now, that still didn't seem possible.

Beyond that, what Zhu Youxiao also wanted was progress in gunpowder.

Black powder had too many shortcomings. Even with granular black powder, its power was just so-so. And the most convenient of the new explosives was picric acid explosive (yellow explosive) — its detonation velocity and blasting power could leave black powder of equal mass a hundred streets behind. Zhu Youxiao had already set Bi Maokang and his people to work developing it.

As for nitroglycerin explosives, they also set up a group to manufacture them. This substance was even more dangerous, and was only being produced on a small experimental scale.

Picric acid itself was a yellow dye obtained by treating indigo with nitric acid, and Zhu Youxiao had people begin searching for it throughout the Great Ming.

The Great Ming truly had no shortage of yellow dyes — after all, the imperial household used yellow quite extensively, and yellow pigments were also used heavily in painting. After a search, they really did manage to collect a great deal of picric acid.

Picric acid is a bright pale-yellow flaky crystal or powder produced by treating phenol with concentrated sulfuric acid and concentrated nitric acid — trinitrophenol. It is highly corrosive, can corrode metal, and generates highly sensitive, extremely explosive picrate salts.

However, the transport and storage of picric acid posed major problems. In particular, its tendency to corrode artillery shells was a problem that had never been solved. The ones who truly solved this problem were the Japanese — they painted the inside of their shells and attached a thick layer of paraffin wax, isolating the picric acid from direct contact with the shell casing, using such a simple, ingenious, and inexpensive method to resolve a major problem.

Until someone developed a new type of gunpowder, picric acid explosives were absolutely the best substitute for black powder.

Once a new type of gunpowder was obtained, the step from zero to one would be complete, and subsequent research would receive tremendous inspiration.

Zhu Youxiao had kept Bi Maokang working on it, but there were no particularly good results. Judging from the current situation, the Hundred Works Institute was united as one, and the Emperor was willing to pour in money, yet still there was no effect.

Who knew how long it would take to produce results. Still, having the flintlock was already a very good outcome. Besides, the Hundred Works Institute's cannons should count as fairly advanced artillery at present.

As for the specific situation, Zhu Youxiao would have to go see for himself.

But Zhu Youxiao did not hold out much hope either.

Gunpowder was the foundation of everything — without good propellant, everything else was empty talk.