Wang Chengen knew about Emperor Chongzhen's anxiety, and without waiting for Chongzhen's order, he took the emergency report and hurriedly took it up.

Chongzhen's hands that had received the urgent report were trembling slightly. When he saw the signature on the envelope, he couldn't help but be stunned, Zhu Cixuan?

That's right, this urgent report was sent by Zhu Cilang. Hong Chengchou rushed to the capital for 800 miles, and Zhu Cilang sent his letters over.

Emperor Chongzhen hurriedly tore open the envelope and took out the letter. The letter was indeed written by Zhu Cixuan:

The father and son had arrived in Liaodong. According to reports, Huangtai wanted to send troops to Yizhou in March. Jiannu tried to use Yizhou as a cornerstone to siege the Ming army in Jinzhou. Yizhou City was the place that must be fought for in this war.

However, all the soldiers in Liaodong have their own defense lines, and it is easy to make mistakes if they are transferred at will. As the crown prince, I should lead the way. Now I brought 10,000 soldiers to guard Yizhou, hoping to block Jiannu and outside the city gate.

The city of Yizhou is in ruins, and the sons have their own way to build the city walls, so don’t worry about it.

He followed Taizu eight northern expeditions and Chengzu five northern expeditions, resisted barbarians and border borders. He made barbarians dare not spy on our Ming Dynasty. How heroic is Taizu Chengzu? Barbarians are scared by it. My son is unfilial and wishes to take the second ancestor as an example.

The ancestors and the clans are above, and they will bless the sons and ministers to victory and triumph. The sons and ministers, Zhu Cilang kowtowed to the south.

Emperor Chongzhen looked at it and suddenly burst into tears. Looking at this bold and determined letter, how could Chongzhen get angry?

Zhu Cixuan is still a child, and a child has such courage. Can you say he is wrong? Can you blame him?

Zhu Cilang was young and ignored his personal safety. He was mainly responsible for defending the enemy outside the city gate. In the Ming Dynasty, the emperor guarded the country gate, and the king died.

If Jiannu wants to go south to invade, he will first step over my body, Zhu Cilang. The Ming Dynasty will never surrender!

Even if his son had such ambition, how could Chongzhen beg for his reproaches? What he was thinking about now was just begging for the blessings of his ancestors and the emperor to return safely.

...

The speed of repair of Yizhou City can be described as rapid changes. The city walls that originally collapsed everywhere have been repaired bit by bit. The wooden tower cranes played a huge role. The city walls made of iron cages are indestructible.

The soldiers of the Eastern Palace Guard transported almost all the stones outside the Yizhou City. The South City Wall had been completed, and the East City Wall was nearing its end. Next, it was the West City and the North City.

Zhu Cilang was very tragic. He said to Li Hao, the Jinyiwei Qianhu, who was beside him, "Li Hao, go and collect all the big pots in the city. The bigger the iron pot, the better. Put all these iron pots onto the city wall. In addition, there is also a lot of firewood in the city gate."

Li Hao was confused and didn't know why: "Your Highness, what do we want to do with iron pot?"

Zhu Cilang smiled slightly: "When Jiannu came, if they could not attack the city wall, they would definitely attack the city gates of the four cities. Xichun Gate in Dongcheng, Yongqing Gate in Nancheng, Qingfeng Gate in Xicheng, Antai Gate in Beicheng. Press a few large iron pots on the four cities, and boil the pots with hot water. If Jiannu came to attack, you will pour down the hot water that had been rolled out and burn these bastards to death."

"This..." Li Hao was a little dazed. Can you think of such a trick?

"What, can't it be?" Zhu Cixuan looked at him.

Li Hao smiled happily and said excitedly: "No, no, no, the lower official thinks this plan is wonderful and wonderful! Haha, the lower official will prepare. If there is no big pot in the city, it will be too late to turn on the furnace and forge it again. Your Highness, the lower official thought that there are two large copper tripods in Guangsheng Temple and Fengguo Temple. It is very suitable to transport the copper tripods to the city wall for boiling water."

Zhu Cilang nodded: "Okay, go and prepare. Meng Fanchao, go and call him."

Five hundred people under the command of the bandit Zunshan Diao were transferred to Commander Meng Fanchao. After hearing the summoned by the crown prince, he hurriedly led his subordinates to find Zhu Cixuan: "Your Highness, what are you going to give?"

"Meng Fanchao, go and put some ground frost in the corners of the old house in the city. Remember, the more the better. Also, collect all the sulfur in all the shops in the city and get it for this prince. This prince will be of great use."

Earth frost is sap. Although the gunpowder technology of the Ming Dynasty had developed to a certain extent, the golden ratio of black gunpowder was not mature. What Zhu Cilang wanted to do was to improve the formula of black gunpowder and turn these black gunpowder into powerful explosives.

In the military books of the Ming and Qing dynasties, the ratio of nitr, sulfur and charcoal is 8:1:1. Once the ratio is incorrect, the power will be greatly reduced.

Sulfur accounts for about 1*%, charcoal accounts for about 1*%, and saltpeter accounts for about 7*%, which is the best formula for black gunpowder.

The white crystals in the corners of those old houses, especially toilets, were made of nitrogen. In ancient times, it was used for gunpowder. The principle was that the potassium nitrate in cement or paint was dissolved and then dissolved, and then the water evaporated and crystallized.

Unexpectedly, Zhu Cilang still greatly underestimated the manufacturing ability of this era. After he said this, Meng Fanchao immediately understood: "Your Highness, are you looking for some saltpeter for gunpowder? We have it in our army."

"Where is the army?" Zhu Cixuan asked slightly curiously.

"Your Highness forgot that the eight cannons we brought from Jinzhou. Governor Hong sent more than a dozen barrels of gunpowder, saying that we were going to use for defense."

Hong Chengchou was worried about Zhu Cilang's safety. In addition to giving enough weapons to the soldiers, there were eight cannons. With cannons, there were naturally gunpowder. However, there were too many gunpowder impurities in these wooden barrels and needed purification.

In his book "The Battle of the British Army in China" Bingham, a British officer who fought with the Qing army during the First Opium War, mentioned that in the Battle of Great Kowloon and Sand Kowloon, China "had thousands of pounds of thick gunpowder stored in the gunpowder depot, which were placed in wooden barrels and clay pots. We threw them all into the sea, because although the composition of Chinese gunpowder is almost the same as ours, it is a crude thing."

Another British officer, Bernard, also said, "The Navigation of the Nimsis Steamer" "The War Record of the Navigation of the Nimsis Steamer" said, "China's gunpowder is not effective. Compared with the British army, although the raw materials and proportions are similar, the production is rough, which increases the difficulty of completing a certain task."

Due to the poor quality of the gunpowder and even mixed with mud and sand, the range and power of the artillery gun were greatly affected, and the shells "sometimes only rolled down the muzzle and turned over some tendons."

The disadvantages of inadequate gunpowder production are also clearly recorded in ancient books. "A Brief Description of Firearms" mentions that "the number of Chinese official medicines, nitrate, sulfonate, and charcoal used is the same as that of British official medicines. What is unknown is that the quality is not pure, the craftsmanship secretly reduces the situation, and the bureau conducts sloppy work, which leads to the same material but the difference in the efficacy."
Chapter completed!