"King Shu?"

Xiao Ming read softly. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

What followed was the memory of the predecessor Xiao Ming about this Shu king, and among the princes, he had the worst relationship with the five princes.

The two who were both unruly and had constant conflicts when they were in Chang'an.

Xiao Ming and this King of Shu have fought many times because of jealousy, so they have been scolded by Xiao Wenxuan.

This fifth prince is now in the land of Shu, and he hasn't thought of him for a long time.

In Xiao Ming's memory, Shu is remote and mountainous, and the location is equally remote, but since ancient times, Shu has been known as the country of abundance, and there is never a shortage of food.

The only drawback is that the Nanban in the south of Shu and the Tibetan in the west often disturb the border.

However, on the whole, the situation of this king of Shu is slightly better than him, but it is not much better.

In addition, Shu is located in an inland area and the mountain roads are rugged, which seems to make the fifth prince even more uncomfortable.

"That's right, Your Highness, think about it, Qingzhou originally purchased a large amount of saltpeter, and the merchants from Shu were very happy, and they all wanted to earn this silver, but suddenly the merchants couldn't get saltpeter, except for the king of Shu who could have this ability, who else could do it?" Lu Tong complained: "If this is the case, this King of Shu is simply harming His Highness, this barbarian is pressing for time to go south, and he is also stumbling on His Highness, isn't this a joke that he wants to see His Highness." ”

If it were someone else, Xiao Ming might still think about it, but if it was this King of Shu, he really believed that this King of Shu had this thought.

It is difficult to go to Shu and it is difficult to go to the sky.

It is precisely because of this that Shu is easy to defend and difficult to attack, and now the vassal kings in the south and the vassal kings in the north are two minds.

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

And this king of Shu also knows that the throne of Dayu has nothing to do with him, but when the chaos is together, it will not be the same.

After a deep sigh, Xiao Ming said: "Did the King of Shu do it, it is not yet known, how much gunpowder can be produced from this remaining material?" ”

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

Xiao Ming felt irritable for a while, five hundred catties of gunpowder was not enough to stuff the barbarians' teeth.

Today's artillery shoots solid shells, the power is equivalent to a catapult that can shoot directly, but the range is longer, the damage caused is not very large, if the shell does not directly hit the body, it cannot kill people, unlike the flowering shell can also kill the enemy with shrapnel and shock waves.

This gunpowder is sufficient, and it is still difficult to fight, if this gunpowder is not enough, I am afraid that Cangzhou City can only be reduced to a battlefield with hand-to-hand combat.

"I'll figure out the material thing, you better produce it as soon as possible." Xiao Ming said, his expression a little gloomy.

In front of him was iron and coal, because this matter was discussed in the court, and the other vassal kings did not deliberately make things difficult for him.

Moreover, the coal mine and iron ore were flooded, but the local area could barely provide some, not nothing, and the king of Wei was willing to contribute in order to let Xiao Ming serve as a meat shield for himself.

Therefore, coal and iron have not been a problem.

But now this saltpeter really killed him, and the Great Yu Kingdom is already using gunpowder, but the use of gunpowder has not yet reached a large-scale level, so the demand for gunpowder is not very large.

These saltpeters for the production of gunpowder also come from Shu, but because they are used by the Chang'an Instrument Division, the king of Shu naturally does not dare to make a fuss in it.

Out of the workshop area, Xiao Ming returned directly to the palace, and now he can only send a letter to Chang'an and ask Xiao Wenxuan to solve the matter.

At the same time, he was going to ask the King of Wei for some saltpeter and gunpowder, but it was estimated that there would not be much gunpowder and saltpeter that could be obtained from the King of Wei.

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

wrote a letter, Xiao Ming asked Aster to go to the post station, and let people send it to Chang'an quickly.

This Dayu country is not modern, if there is a problem, a phone call can solve the problem, and the fastest way to send a letter between the cities is the post station, but the journey of eight hundred miles, it takes at least nine days to go back and forth.

And after that, if there is any fork, you have to send letters back and forth to deliver information.

Thinking of this, Xiao Ming became more and more annoyed, what he was most afraid of at the moment was that the King of Shu did it deliberately, if so, the King of Shu only needed a procrastination trick to make him unbearable.

When Cangzhou City is finished, saltpeter is late, there is no use at that time, if Cangzhou City is breached, he doesn't need to send saltpeter, but Xiao Wenxuan will rely on him in the future.

"King Shu, if you do it intentionally, this king will peel your skin sooner or later." Xiao Ming's hateful teeth itched, but there was nothing he could do.

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

While asking for help from Chang'an, Xiao Ming felt that he couldn't sit still, so he sent a letter to King Wei.

At the same time, he sent someone to inform Qian Dafu to come back.

In the evening of the next day, Qian Dafu, who got the news, arrived at the palace.

"Your Highness, when were you so anxious?"

Qian Dafu is still tired of sleeping in the open air, and he has suffered a lot from prospecting for minerals these days, and he has lost a lot of weight.

"Don't look for other minerals for the time being, from now on you have to look for saltpeter, sulfur, and other things for the time being." Xiao Ming said.

Industrial upgrading can be postponed, but dealing with the barbarians is urgent.

And once he uses artillery to defeat the barbarians, the Great Yu Kingdom will inevitably attach importance to gunpowder, and at that time, saltpeter may become a killer weapon for all forces to clamp down on themselves.

It's the same as modern oil, and it's sad for an oil-poor country, and if the oil is blocked, the economy will soon collapse.

"Your Highness, what's wrong?" Qian Dafu was puzzled.

Xiao Ming then told him about the saltpeter, and Qian Dafu's expression suddenly became solemn.

"This saltpeter is related to the life of this king, so let's allocate another 5,000 young slaves to you, and even if you dig in the area of the saltpeter mine, you must find out the saltpeter." Xiao Ming's voice was loud.

Qian Dafu realized the seriousness of this problem, bowed down and said: "The old slave will withdraw the mining teams from all over the place and go all out to find saltpeter. ”

After that, Qian Dafu turned around and left the palace, and as soon as he arrived at the door, he met Pang Yukun who was walking over.

"Steward Qian looked anxious, what's going on?" Pang Yukun has always been good at observing words and feelings, and he couldn't help asking.

"Hey, there's something wrong with saltpeter, Your Highness is angry, you have to be careful when you go in." Qian Dafu said.

Pang Yukun frowned, "It's really a blessing and a curse, I'm afraid Your Highness will be angry again." ”

Qian Dafu was in a hurry to find minerals, and he didn't have time to inquire about other things, so he just arched his hand and turned over his horse and galloped away.

Glancing at the back of Qian Dafu's departure, Pang Yukun smiled bitterly, hesitated for a moment and entered the palace.

(To be continued.) )