Chapter 153

"King of Shu?"

Xiao Ming read it softly.

What followed was the memory of the predecessor Xiao Ming about the king of Shu. Among all the princes, he had the worst relationship with the fifth prince.

The two men, who were both rebellious and unruly, were in constant conflict in Chang'an.

Xiao Ming and the king of Shu fought each other for many times because they were jealous, so they were scolded by Xiao Wenxuan.

The fifth Prince is now a vassal of Shu. He hasn't thought of him for a long time.

In Xiao Ming's memory, Shu is remote and mountainous, and its location is also remote. However, since ancient times, Shu has been called the land of abundance, and there has never been a lot of food.

The only drawback is that Nanman in the south of Shu and Tubo in the West often disturb the border.

But on the whole, the situation of the king of Shu was a little better than him, but not much better.

In addition, Shu is located in inland areas, and the mountain road is rugged, which seems to make the fifth prince more uncomfortable.

"That's right, your highness. If you think about it, Qingzhou originally purchased a lot of saltpeter. The merchants from Shu were very happy and wanted to earn the money. But suddenly, the merchants couldn't get saltpeter. Who else could do it except the king of Shu Lu Tong complained: "if this is the case, the king of Shu is really harming his highness. The barbarian's time is running short, and he trips his highness. It's not a joke that he wants to see his highness."

If it was someone else, Xiao Ming might think about it, but if it was the king of Shu, he really believed that the king of Shu had this idea.

Shu Road is hard, but it is hard to reach the sky.

Because of this, Shu is easy to defend but difficult to attack. Now the vassal kings in the South and the north have two thoughts.

The king of Shu naturally belongs to the vassal king in the south. If the north is lost, he can live happily just guarding a Shu land.

Moreover, the king of Shu also knew that the throne of the state of Dayu had no chance with him, but the chaos was not the same.

After pondering for a while, Xiao Ming said, "is it the king of Shu who did it? It is not known at present how much gunpowder can be produced from the remaining materials?"

"Five hundred catties of gunpowder at most." Lu Tong said.

Xiao Ming's heart was agitated, and 500 Jin of gunpowder was not enough for the barbarians.

Today's cannons fire solid shells, which are just as powerful as a direct shot riprap machine. However, with a long range, the damage is not great. If the shells do not directly hit the body, they can not kill people. Unlike flowering shells, they can kill the enemy by shrapnel and shock wave.

There is enough gunpowder, and it will be difficult to fight. If there is not enough gunpowder, Cangzhou City will be reduced to a battlefield of close combat.

"I'll figure out how to deal with the material. You'd better produce it as soon as possible." Xiao Ming said, looking a little gloomy.

Iron and coal were in front of him, because this matter had been discussed in the court, but other vassal kings did not deliberately make trouble of him.

Moreover, the coal mines and iron mines were irrigated with water, but the local government could barely provide some. Moreover, in order to make Xiao Ming a meat shield for himself, the king of Wei was willing to work hard.

So coal and iron have never been a problem.

But now the saltpeter really killed him. The state of Dayu is already using gunpowder, but the use of gunpowder has not reached a large scale, so the demand for gunpowder is not great.

These gunpowder producing nitrates also came from Shu, but because they were used by Chang'an equipment department, the king of Shu naturally did not dare to make an issue in them.

Out of the workshop area, Xiao Ming goes back to the palace directly. Now he can only write to Chang'an and ask Xiao Wenxuan to solve the problem.

At the same time, he was ready to ask the king of Wei for some gunpowder and saltpeter, but it was estimated that he would not get much gunpowder and saltpeter from the king of Wei.

Because the king of Wei also did not attach importance to firearms.

After writing the letter, Xiao Ming asked aster to go to the post station and sent it to Chang'an quickly.

This state of Chongqing is not modern. If something goes wrong, one phone call can solve the problem. The fastest way to send messages between the cities is the post station, but it takes at least nine days to go back and forth 800 miles.

And then if there's any fork, you have to send messages back and forth.

Thinking of this, Xiao Ming gets more and more angry. What he is most afraid of is that the king of Shu deliberately does it. If so, the king of Shu only needs a drag word formula to make him unbearable.

When Cangzhou city is finished, saltpeter comes late. At that time, nothing is useful. If Cangzhou city is broken, he doesn't need to send saltpeter. Instead, Xiao Wenxuan will rely on him in the future.

"King Shu, if you want to do it, I will skin you sooner or later." Xiao minghen's teeth itch, but there is no way.

Shu and Qingzhou are thousands of miles away, and he can't reach them.

When he asked for help from Chang'an, Xiao Ming realized that he could not wait to die. He wrote a letter to the king of Wei.

At the same time, the messenger informed Qian Dafu to come back.

The next evening, Qian Dafu, who got the news, arrived at the palace.

"When is your highness so anxious?"

Qian Dafu is also tired of living in the open air. He has suffered a lot from mining these days, and he is also thin."Don't look for other minerals now. From now on, you should try your best to look for niter, sulfur, and other minerals." Xiao Ming said.

Industrial upgrading can be postponed, but it is urgent to deal with barbarians.

Moreover, once he defeated the barbarians with artillery, the state of Dayu would certainly attach importance to gunpowder. At that time, I'm afraid that niter would become an assassin's mace for all forces to restrain themselves.

Like modern oil, a poor country is very sad. If oil is blocked, its economy will collapse soon.

"What's the matter, your highness?" Qian Dafu was puzzled.

Xiao Ming then said something about nitre, and Qian Dafu's face suddenly became dignified.

"This saltpeter is related to the life of the king. Well, I'll allocate another 5000 young slaves to you. In the area of the saltpeter mine, even if you dig with a net, you'll find out the saltpeter." Xiao Ming has a loud voice.

Realizing the seriousness of the problem, Qian Dafu bowed down and said, "I'm going to withdraw all the prospecting teams and try my best to find nitre."

Having said that, Qian Dafu turned and left the palace. As soon as he got to the door, he met Pang Yukun who was coming.

"Steward Qian looks anxious. What's the matter?" Pang Yukun has always been good at observing words and expressions. He can't help asking.

"Ah, there's something wrong with the saltpeter. Your highness is angry. You should be careful when you go in." Qian Dafu said.

Pang Yu Kun frowned and said, "it's a double blessing and a double disaster. I'm afraid your highness will be angry again."

Qian Dafu was in a hurry to find the mine. He didn't have time to inquire about other things. He just arched his hand and turned over and rode away.

Looking at Qian Dafu's back, Pang Yukun gave a bitter smile, hesitated for a moment, and went into the palace.

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