Chapter 487: The Firearms Research Institute

With the Western books brought by Nicolas Trigault as a foundation, combined with the books of the Great Ming, many books were now being published.

Under such circumstances, a foundation had been laid for many things, and the rest could be built up from there. What Zhu Youxiao was doing now was exactly this—having people compile and edit books.

These books might seem unremarkable to later generations, but in this era, they were nothing short of earth-shattering creations.

That was why the book compilation here was kept secret. Many things would only be made public after they had been transformed into tangible results.

Especially matters concerning physics and chemistry—Zhu Youxiao could not afford to be careless.

In this era, people did not have much sense of secrecy. They ran all over the world, spreading all sorts of things everywhere.

Aside from various viruses, there were also all kinds of good things, like the various books and experimental equipment that Trigault had collected.

But Zhu Youxiao knew that these things could not be casually spread around.

After Zhu Youxiao arrived here, he soon met Wang Zheng.

Clearly, someone had gone to deliver word to Wang Zheng. That was only natural—after all, Wang Zheng was the chief officer here, and the men below would not dare to act recklessly.

Looking at Wang Zheng, who was performing the ritual bow, Zhu Youxiao said directly, "Rise."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Wang Zheng hurriedly acknowledged, rose from the ground, and stood respectfully to one side, his expression perfectly calm. He quietly waited for Zhu Youxiao to speak.

Zhu Youxiao glanced at Wang Zheng and said, "Walk with me."

Having said this, Zhu Youxiao turned and walked out toward the front.

As he walked, Zhu Youxiao could not help but look around in every direction.

Although this place was very important to him, he had not been here for nearly half a year. This time counted as stealing a moment of leisure from his busy life—otherwise, he would not have had the time to come and look around.

As Wang Zheng followed behind Zhu Youxiao, his expression remained perfectly calm.

Since he had begun compiling books here, Wang Zheng had truly learned a great deal. The knowledge was more profound and more difficult to grasp than what he had learned from the Westerners before. But one thing Wang Zheng knew was that the knowledge here was richer and more truthful.

As they walked further in, Wang Zheng introduced things to Zhu Youxiao along the way.

After taking a few steps, Wang Zheng finally said, "Your Majesty, there are some people inside who wish to conduct experiments to verify their hypotheses."

Hearing this, Zhu Youxiao furrowed his brow.

There were quite a few people here. When this place was first established, Zhu Youxiao had even transferred some personnel from the Hundred Works Institute.

But the positioning of this place was not for experiments—it was solely for compiling books. The matter of conducting experiments was for the people of the Hundred Works Institute to handle; the Hundred Works Institute was the one that did scientific research.

But clearly, these people who spent their days compiling books could no longer restrain themselves in their hearts.

Glancing at Wang Zheng, Zhu Youxiao said directly, "Those who have such ideas can be sent to the Hundred Works Institute. The Hundred Works Institute is the place for experiments. It would be best not to do anything reckless here—this place is not suitable for experiments either."

Hearing this, Wang Zheng felt somewhat helpless.

Wang Zheng did not actually want to raise this with His Majesty—it was simply that the men below were pressing him too hard. Otherwise, he would not have made such a request.

He had spoken of this before, but the Hundred Works Institute was already handling such matters, and this place could not act recklessly.

"Your Majesty, it is not like the Hundred Works Institute—it would only be a small laboratory for verification." Wang Zheng spoke once more.

Zhu Youxiao shot Wang Zheng a sidelong glance.

If he believed that, he would be a fool.

Having been emperor for many years, Zhu Youxiao could distinguish very clearly which words from his ministers were true and which were false.

If he gave them an opening, they would definitely make it very, very big. Just like a great dike—though it may only show a small crack, as the water erodes it, the crack would grow larger and larger, until finally the entire dike would burst open.

After pondering briefly for a moment, Zhu Youxiao thought it over and said, "Then build one."

As for the scale and such, Zhu Youxiao did not mention it at all. These people would certainly start by building a small one, but as time went on, the scale would inevitably grow larger and larger—that was not something he could stop.

Either they were not allowed to build at all, or once they were allowed to build, it would be very difficult to stop them from expanding.

The reason Zhu Youxiao agreed to them was, on the one hand, that he did not want to dampen their enthusiasm, and on the other hand, he genuinely wanted to see what they could produce.

After all, these people were learned and knowledgeable, and it was clear they had many ideas that truly needed proper verification.

Under such circumstances, letting them build a laboratory did no harm—competing a little with the Hundred Works Institute was not a bad thing either.

In the past, it was because of a lack of money; now, it was like having so many lice that you stop itching, and so many debts that you stop worrying—let them do whatever they pleased.

Hearing Zhu Youxiao's words, Wang Zheng finally breathed a sigh of relief, and said with a smile on his face, "Your servant thanks Your Majesty!"

Waving his hand, Zhu Youxiao did not wish to continue discussing this matter with them, because there was simply no need to keep talking about it.

Turning around with his hands clasped behind his back, he continued walking forward. After passing through the corridor, Zhu Youxiao soon arrived at the street behind.

Zhu Youxiao did not want to stay here any longer—he would go somewhere else and continue his stroll.

On the street behind, a carriage was already waiting.

After boarding the carriage, Wei Chao personally drove it, turning his head to ask Zhu Youxiao, "Your Majesty, shall we return to the palace?"

"No." Zhu Youxiao shook his head and said, "Let us go take a look at the Firearms Research Institute."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Wei Chao hurriedly acknowledged and urged the carriage forward.

The carriage began to move slowly, quickly heading toward the Firearms Research Institute.

A few days earlier, Zhu Youxiao had received a memorial from Bi Maokang, saying that they were conducting an extraordinary experiment there.

Originally, Zhu Youxiao had not planned to attend—he could simply wait for them to finish the experiment and then look at the finished product. But this time, having come out for a stroll, the sky was still early and he did not feel like going back, so it was just right to go over and take a look.

Qi Yuangong led his men on both sides of the carriage, dutifully guarding Zhu Youxiao as they moved forward together.

After the carriage left the new city, it headed north and soon arrived at the Firearms Research Institute.

The surroundings here were desolate, with sentries standing guard everywhere.

Aside from that, not even a wild hare could be seen.

When the carriage reached the gate, Bi Maokang came out to greet them.

Bi Maokang had now been given the additional official title of Minister of the Ministry of Works. It could be said that he held great power and authority, controlling the Hundred Works Institute of the Great Ming. He was a figure rarely seen by ordinary people and was deeply valued by Zhu Youxiao.

"Your servant Bi Maokang pays respects to Your Majesty." Upon seeing Zhu Youxiao, Bi Maokang hurriedly spoke.

Although he did not know why the Emperor had come at this time, when Bi Maokang had submitted his memorial earlier, the Emperor had not said he would come.

Now that His Majesty had come here, it was presumably out of curiosity, or perhaps because he had nothing better to do. This sort of thing was not uncommon, so Bi Maokang was not nervous.

After a glance at Bi Maokang, Zhu Youxiao nodded and said, "Rise. Lead me inside for a look. Have your experiments begun?"

"Your Majesty, not yet," Bi Maokang said hastily.

Hearing this, Zhu Youxiao smiled, a brilliant grin spreading across his face as he said, "Then it seems I haven't arrived too late. That's good—it lets me see for myself. How are preparations coming along?"

"Your Majesty, everything is ready," Bi Maokang answered promptly.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go take a look." Zhu Youxiao said with a smile.

With that, Zhu Youxiao, in good spirits, gestured for Bi Maokang to lead the way, and the group hurried toward the rear.

When they arrived at the firearms testing ground, many people were already busy at work there.

Upon seeing Zhu Youxiao, everyone hurriedly bowed in salute.

Zhu Youxiao waved his hand, signaling them to dispense with the formalities.

Wei Chao raised his horsetail whisk, cleared his throat, and said, "You may continue with your work."

Zhu Youxiao was already captivated by what was to be tested today.

What met his eyes were a dozen or so round tubes arranged on the left side.

Seeing these objects, Zhu Youxiao was momentarily stunned. Then he walked over excitedly, reached out, and gently caressed these smooth tubes, his expression tender, carrying a smile no one could decipher.

The reason Zhu Youxiao behaved this way and wore such an expression was simple—he had never imagined he would see such things again. Not only was he seeing them now, but he was also reaching out and touching the real articles.

The cold touch only made Zhu Youxiao even more reluctant to let go.

Zhu Youxiao had seen this object in his previous life—this shape was the Type 63 60mm mortar.

Zhu Youxiao looked at Bi Maokang, suppressing the excitement in his heart, and asked with forced calmness, "You've already broken through the technical difficulties?"

In fact, over the past few years, the Hundred Crafts Institute had never ceased its assault on difficult problems. Zhu Youxiao had given them a great deal of money, and combined with the knowledge obtained from Nicolas Trigault, the Institute's craftsmanship had advanced by leaps and bounds.

Roughly a year and more ago, they had produced fixed metallic ammunition.

And just recently, the Hundred Crafts Institute had also developed a new type of gunpowder.

You see, if these were filled with black powder, the blast radius wouldn't be nearly as large. Such a mortar would have little power—far inferior to rockets. This explosive was naturally picric acid explosive.

Producing a better nitroglycerin explosive was extremely difficult. Picric acid explosive, on the other hand, had previously been used as a pigment—it had already been in use for over a hundred years before its explosive properties were discovered, used to dye clothing yellow.

Later, after picric acid was discovered, the French treasured it like a gem and began large-scale production. The British followed suit afterward—it could be said to be an extremely, extremely mysterious and precious substance.

However, this substance was not entirely without drawbacks—it had once posed a great challenge to the British and French. That was the problem of transport and storage. Picric acid is an acidic substance with strong corrosive properties; it can corrode metal and produce highly sensitive, extremely explosive picrate salts. This was the problem the British and French pioneers had never managed to solve.