Chapter 1444: Get together

He put the ginseng back into the box, looked at the cinchona bark again, and even broke a little bit into his mouth and tasted it: "This medicine has been proven in the South China Sea. It is miraculous in treating dysentery. Unfortunately, it is just like astragalus.

It’s still too expensive.”

Bian Guan smiled and said: "Uncle, as a discipline of Neo-Confucianism, we always solve the problems that exist first, and then solve the problems that are good or not."

Su Song suddenly laughed: "Haha, what we said about the flat cans is reasonable. Maybe they will be planted in the South China Sea next year."

Putting away the bark carefully: "Hurry up and process it and preserve it. The medicinal properties will not last for a few years if left here. Let's go. Since Zhang Er has already made it, we can only eat it. Otherwise, it will be a waste."

Zhang Er didn't dare to serve a few items that were said to be poisonous, so he boiled sweet potatoes, corn, and peanuts in salt water and served them on the table.

Su Song was very satisfied with the taste of sweet potatoes and corn, and sighed: "If this thing is really drought-resistant, a poor family can get it, and cook it with rice, it will be a hundred times better than Yuqian Tongzi..."

In the past few years, the Song Dynasty has had continuous bumper harvests. Even the beggars in Beijing have flesh-colored faces. However, apart from the three major developed areas, the Song Dynasty still has vast areas of barren land.

Even if there are three consecutive years of bumper harvests, the farmers there will barely have enough to eat.

Chen Zhaoming said: "Your Majesty, the number of fifth-class households and tenant households is decreasing day by day, and the number of fourth-class household registrations is increasing day by day. It is fundamentally different from the situation when Wang Xianggong was there, when incomes increased and the poor became more prosperous."

Su Song nodded and shook the sweet potato in his hand: "With these things, the people of Song Dynasty are expected to live a good life. Flat pots and chairs, you are the great contributors."

When it comes to eating from flat pots, no one is convinced: "Zhang Er's method is the same as that of the natives of Dongsheng Prefecture. If dad were here, he would definitely be able to cook countless delicacies."

Su Song also laughed: "I'm surprised. When your father heard that you brought back several products, he immediately wrote a letter and clearly stated their planting methods. However, he had nothing to do with the local indigenous slash-and-burn cultivation. He was from China.

The path of intensive cultivation.”

"When did he become a planting expert again? Could it be that Hachiko gave him a dream?"

Zhang Qi said: "Young Master also has skills in this area, such as Lihuang and Gao Bamboo, and the ploidy method he studied with my little sister..."

Su Song waved his hand: "Those things can be obtained from observation and experiments, but he has never seen any of these..."

He thought for a while and then said: "But we can also bypass it one by one and plant taro and yam. Hachigong is a great expert. Xiao Su's "Yam Planting Notes" was published in the Times last year. It is a famous article and will definitely be remembered for thousands of years.

spread."

Zhang Dunli was eating happily, but when he heard this, his face turned dark: "I don't know some unscrupulous person is spreading rumors that the young master in that article is me. It makes no sense."

Everyone here knows that the villain in Su Che's article is originally based on him, so they can't help but find it funny.

But Su Song discovered a problem: "Huh? Why are you still here, Prince Consort? I didn't even notice you even if you didn't say anything."

Zhang Er came over with a pot of chicken soup and put the fans on the table. Hearing this, he said: "This Zhuangzi, the Prince Consort comes more often than the Master and his wife! One visit means one less big capon in the pen. The Prince Consort comes here."

They are all very arrogant and not polite at all!"

Everyone at the table laughed loudly, and Su Song was also very happy: "We haven't seen each other for a year, and Zhang Er's knowledge has improved again, and he even learned how to make words!"

After dinner, the intellectuals of the Su family moved to the study room and lit the blowtorches to continue discussing knowledge.

During this voyage, Can and the Chair made suggestions for improvements to many aspects of the ship and the marine boiler.

For example, the rather rubbish double foremast structure did not have to wait until the end of the voyage. Midway through the voyage, the flat cans and the others had already changed it into a single mast on their own initiative. They added a traction rope between the foremast and the hull, and increased the jib to five.

In this way, the design of the left-hand spinnaker's foremast jib is greatly simplified, and the crew's operation is also greatly simplified.

For example, on the deck, sealed doors have been added to all entrances and exits, so that even if waves surge onto the deck, they will not rush into the hull.

The iron ribs that make up the hull can extend from the inside of the hull to the deck to form a pulling pile for pulling the upright mast. This can make the schooner mast stronger and bear a larger sail area.

As for the marine steam engine, there were too many piecemeal modifications. The big machine tool was a burden, clogging the flat pots and colanders.

Flat Can's suggestion is to get rid of the flashy machine tool and equip it with a large number of preparatory components.

As for naval guns, the two people’s suggestion is to miniaturize them, at least partially.

Although the thunderbolt cannon is very powerful, it weighs 1,500 kilograms together with the gun mount, making it inconvenient to move on land.

One Thunderbolt cannon weighs as much as five infantry cannons, so it is better to remove some parts and modify the cannon into smaller ones. The size can be combined to facilitate disassembly and transportation, and can be flexibly allocated to the landing Marines.

It's a good suggestion, but the 40mm-caliber "cannon" is really too "small" in the concept of the monarchs and ministers of the Song Dynasty.

Zhao Xu was very happy when he received the report, but after learning that the artillery shell drawings were in a one-to-one ratio, he stretched out three fingers to cover the warhead drawings, then shook his head and said no.

The emperor said no, then it had to be changed. This is what Flat Can and Chair were doing during this period. Eventually, the caliber of the infantry cannon was increased to 75 millimeters, the barrel was shortened to less than one meter, and the high and low firing range was adjusted to minus six degrees.

To seventy degrees, shoot left and right to twenty degrees.

However, even if the barrel is shortened, the weight of this gun still increases to 400 kilograms.

The advantage is that it is easy to disassemble and can be disassembled into several parts for transportation separately.

With the strong support of Zhengzhou Military Industry, the prototype gun was quickly built, and two types of ammunition were tested. The power made everyone very satisfied.

The time-delay fuze designed by the chair was a genius move to match this kind of cannon. Su Song carefully studied the fuze drawings: "After the projectile body is enlarged, the processing difficulty of this thing has been reduced a lot. It is your majesty's unique vision."

This is the brainless praise of stupid fans. Su Song is infinitely loyal to His Majesty the Emperor. This kind of thing is said very naturally.

Although it is true, it was Zhao Xu who got it right once, okay?!

Su Song put down the drawing: "You two brats are both sailing and building cannons. Are you not planning to join the Zuoban?"

Chen Zhaoming said: "Although the chair has designed an infantry cannon, His Majesty still wants him to study ethics and take the imperial examination in the future."

"As for Bian Guan, he is the mastermind of this escape. The Duke said that as a military minister in the right class, he may be more compatible with his temperament."

Su Song took off his reading glasses and wiped them with chamois leather, and sighed: "If this is the case, the happiest person is probably Mr. Shi. With his skills, he doesn't have to worry about having no successor..."

After saying that, he shook his head: "No, Bian Guan, you still have to pass the Jinshi examination, even if you are ranked in the right class. The right class with the title of Jinshi is different from the right class without the title of Jinshi. Otherwise, no matter how great your merits are.

, others will say that you are a rice worm who has been favored by the father."

"So this Jinshi must take the exam. As for the ranking, the requirements can be lowered. Just don't fall to the top four or five and make people laugh."

The flat pot is stupid, and the top four and five grades are just a joke? Then half of those who took the etiquette exam in the new year are all jokes?

But the children's protests were useless. Although I didn't perform very well in the imperial examination, I still ranked first in the examination and was a solid academic champion.

In a family where there are many top students, the bad students have no say.

During the rare few days of vacation, everyone studied together and unveiled the mysterious yarn of Dongsheng Prefecture. There were too many things to digest.

So Zhang Er discovered that not only Master Jiayan, but also the Second Master Zhao were gathering at the Sujiazhuang. Later, the two consorts and Master Yanbi refused to go home when it was time for dinner, and several eldest princesses also followed.

Then the mother-in-law who was responsible for serving the princesses and the lieutenant of the bodyguard also came over, and now the Sujia Zhuangzhuang became lively.

Bian Guan handed over the set of "Bamboo Book Chronicles" he found to Han Jiayan, but Han Jiayan was no longer interested because he had asked the princess to find this book in the secret pavilion. Now he was interested in Bian Guan's book from Dongsheng Prefecture.

The standard text brought back.

Based on these characters, Han Jiayan believed that the people there independently developed another hieroglyphic system based on these most basic Chinese characters and character creation rules.

However, Chen Zhaoming still believes that this statement is not very rigorous.

Everyone became very interested in why there were no widely used metal tools on that continent. They were obviously in a large mineral deposit, so why were they not interested in the things under their feet?

Finally, I think this may have something to do with economics, which can be explained from the aspects of demand, supply and circulation.

In other words, there is no demand.

Gold, silver, and copper are all soft and not as hard as obsidian, so they are not suitable for use as tools.

The circulation relied on cocoa and salt, and gold and silver had no value to them.

There are also rich local products, and you can live well through slash-and-burn farming, without any requirement for technological advancement.
Chapter completed!