Chapter 293 Krupp

Bazhuo believed in Ashina Helu, and Ashina Helu naturally did not let him down.

In fact, this time he came to Xueyantuo, he really came to help in the battle.

After all, a real man lives between heaven and earth, how can he be depressed and under someone else's control for long? No matter what, Ashina Helu was unwilling to be controlled by the Tang Dynasty.

Now is the best time. Xueyantuo, Goguryeo and Japan are all holding the Tang Dynasty hostage. If we don't seize this opportunity, we may never find such a godsend opportunity in our lifetime.

Rather than letting hope fade away, it is better to seize this opportunity.

Give it a try and turn your bicycle into a motorcycle.

As for the gambler's mentality, people in later generations understand this best.

Li Shiji was not aware of the changes in the Xueyantuo. He just made an alliance with the various tribes in Mobei as agreed. In addition to his own 20,000 troops and Li Daozon's 10,000 troops, the Uighur, Khitan, Pugu, Tongluo and other tribes also gathered 50,000 troops to cooperate with the Tang Dynasty in attacking the Xueyantuo's headquarters.

The Tang Dynasty has always been like this. Either the opponent is forced to fight against a group of younger brothers led by the Tang Dynasty, or the opponent is beaten up by a group of younger brothers led by the Tang Dynasty.

While war clouds were gathering in the north, Youzhou's development was also in full swing.

After all, there is a precedent of Dengzhou, so it is not like crossing the river by feeling the stones.

Still following the Dengzhou model, Li Xiang asked Li Jingren to lead a caravan to purchase seafood in Youzhou.

The people of Youzhou are naturally no worse than those of Dengzhou. Since ancient times, Yan and Zhao have been full of tragic and generous people, and they are naturally unwilling to lag behind others when going out to sea to fish.

The saline-alkali land in Youzhou can not only be used for drying salt, but also for growing cotton.

Cotton is not picky about the land, and there is no loss in growing it in saline-alkali land.

At the end of July, good news came from Liaodong.

Of course, there is good news and bad news.

The good news is that iron ore and coal mines have been discovered.

The bad news is that there aren’t many open pit mines that require excavation.

To open up the mountains, you naturally need gunpowder.

But the problem is that Li Xiang had asked people to study gunpowder before, but the initial version of gunpowder made a loud noise, but unfortunately it was not very powerful.

If you want to make powerful gunpowder, you need to granulate the gunpowder.

Li Xiang only knew about granulation, but didn't know how to granulate gunpowder.

So he offered the Academy of Science and Technology a reward of 10,000 strings of cash, plus a reward of the title of earl. Whoever could granulate the gunpowder would get the 10,000 strings of cash.

The condition is naturally small granulation.

After Li Xiang offered this reward, the entire Academy of Science and Technology was in an uproar.

There was no other reason. Although ten thousand strings of Kaiyuan Tongbao coins were a lot, they seemed so insignificant under the temptation of the earldom.

After all, the title of earl cannot be bought with money.

Everyone was extremely focused and concentrated on studying how to granulate the gunpowder.

Who doesn't want to be a baron?

Even in the Tang Dynasty, where the status of craftsmen was not as low as in the later Ming Dynasty, it was not easy for craftsmen to be granted titles.

As for Li Xiang, he had already thought of what the earl should be called.

Yes, it’s called Krupp.

You see, this characteristic of gunpowder is destined to make it a powerful weapon.

What is the big killer used for? Of course, it is used to defeat the enemy!

Po Lu, also known as Krupp, so this Krupp is in line with the national conditions of the Tang Dynasty and Li Xiang's bad taste.

He didn't take it randomly, he came prepared.

Li Xiang not only offered a reward for the granulation of gunpowder, but also put three acids and two alkalis on the reward column.

As with the granulation of gunpowder, the reward for these five items was 10,000 strings of cash, plus the title of earl.

Don't underestimate these three acids and two alkalis. They are the foundation of industry. Even many countries today do not have the ability to independently produce the three acids and two alkalis on a large scale.

The three acids are sulfuric acid, nitric acid and hydrochloric acid; and the two bases are caustic soda (sodium hydroxide) and soda ash (sodium carbonate).

These substances are used as raw materials in many chemical processes, including the synthesis of many organic compounds.

Li Xiang didn't expect that the production process of these three acids and two alkalis could be discovered, but he might as well give it a try.

What if there is such a talented person?
In fact, Li Xiang felt that the title of Earl was a bit too low for such a talent, but if it was too high, the court officials would object.

There is a long way to go...

Fortunately, there are still some open-pit mines that can be mined temporarily.

After some consideration, Li Xiang decided to send someone with two hundred inspectors to the place where the coal and iron mines were discovered.

This kind of position must be watched carefully.

The locations of coal mines and iron mines are relatively close to the sea, so the mined iron ore and coal can be transported to Wuqing by water, and then transported to various parts of the country, especially Chang'an City, through the canal.

Nowadays, the trees around Chang'an City have been cut down quite severely, but it is not yet to the point of exhaustion. At least after closing the mountains and reforesting, they can be gradually restored.

The tragedy of soil erosion must never happen again.

Environmental protection is still very important, especially protecting our own land.

Green waters and green mountains are as valuable as gold and silver, Li Xiang said.

In fact, the ancients had this awareness. For example, Mencius said that if axes and saws are used in the mountains and forests at the right time, the wood will be inexhaustible. However, it was not that people in the Sui and Tang dynasties did not want to pay attention to the importance of using the mountains and forests at the right time, but it was caused by the rapid increase in population and the serious shortage of energy.

This is also the reason why Li Xiang is anxious to mine coal. If the coal mine can be utilized, it will reduce a considerable amount of pressure on the forest.

The Song Dynasty made use of coal to ensure the normal operation of Bianliang, a metropolis with a population of one million.

The only price to pay is that Bianliang becomes a foggy city in winter.

But there is nothing that can be done about it. It's the growing pains that Li Xiang cannot accept.

He just couldn't accept that kind of destruction that drained the pond to catch all the fish.

If you want to develop industry, how can you avoid polluting the environment?

In the Youzhou government office, Di Renjie was still a little hesitant as he held the reward list drawn up by Li Xiang.

"Your Highness, isn't this reward too generous?" Di Renjie put down the list. "If you want to reward meritorious craftsmen, a baron or viscount will be enough. If it's an earl, I'm afraid people will not accept it..."

"I would like to reward them with the rank of marquis or above, but considering that people are dissatisfied, I downgraded it to earl." Li Xiang said helplessly: "Sometimes you can only compromise. In fact, Huaiying, you don’t know that the six inventions I rewarded are the lifeblood of a country." "Really?" Di Renjie was a little unconvinced.

"Even if I tell you, you won't accept it." Li Xiang laughed and pointed at Di Renjie: "I guess you have seen the power of gunpowder?"

"Yes, Your Highness." Di Renjie recalled the power of the black powder and said to Li Xiang, "It makes a good noise, but unfortunately the power is not as good as expected."

"Yes, yes." Li Xiang nodded: "If we can complete the granulation of gunpowder, its power can be increased several times. It can not only be used for military purposes, but also... for example, it can be used for opening mountains when mining coal. These are all its uses."

"If that's the case, then I think the Earl is right." Di Renjie nodded in agreement: "If the power can be increased several times and used in military affairs, many soldiers of the Tang Dynasty will save their lives because of this gunpowder, which is really a great merit."

Li Xiang opened his mouth and asked, “Is this a great merit?”
Hmm...that's true.

According to the current Tang people's view, the highest instruction of the Tang Khan is that barbarians are beasts, with human faces but beastly hearts, and are certainly not human beings.

Being able to kill more animals and reduce casualties among the Tang army is certainly a merit, a great merit!

"As for sulfuric acid, hydrochloric acid, and nitric acid..." Di Renjie pondered and did not continue.

"You don't know this, right? These things can be used for iron smelting, used in various crafts, and even made into fertilizers to increase crop yields." Li Xiang said.

Don't say anything else, if you say something else grand and profound, others may find it difficult to understand, but if you say that it can be used as a fertilizer to increase crop yields, not only Di Renjie, but people in the entire Tang Dynasty can understand it.

Planting is an instinct engraved in the DNA of the Han people. As long as you say it can increase crop yields, then it is a good thing without any dispute.

Not to mention Di Renjie, even an old farmer in the fields knows the importance of fertilizer to crops!
"Huaiying, do you still have any questions now?" Li Xiang asked with a smile.

Di Renjie smiled and replied: "Even if Your Highness does not explain, I will still support Your Highness, but Your Highness must have a reason to convince others."

"Hahahaha, you Di Huaiying..." Li Xiang couldn't help but laugh.

After a while, he sighed again: "If the people of the Tang Dynasty Royal Academy of Sciences can produce these things within ten years, I..."

"Don't worry, Your Highness. They will." Di Renjie comforted.

Li Xiang smiled and shook his head. How is this possible?

Ten years? Even if we were given another hundred years, we might not be able to find the right path.

Forget it, just give them a way out and let them think about it slowly.

If you still can’t figure it out, wait for the next group of people to continue thinking about it.

The textbooks compiled by Li Xiang now reach the sixth grade of primary school.

His memory is pretty good, perhaps because of the time travel.

After finishing the affairs in Youzhou, Li Xiang decided to stay in Chang'an for a while and not come out no matter what.

There are still a lot of things waiting for him to do in Chang'an.

It's not just the affairs of Jingzhao Prefecture, there's also the Tang Royal Military Academy and the Tang Royal Academy of Literature, all waiting for him to build.

This job is simply impossible without him.

Thinking of this, Li Xiang became anxious again.

Don't say it, you really don't say it.

He can't be asked to teach students.

There's no other reason, he's just too busy.

After much deliberation, Li Xiang posted a notice in Youzhou Prefecture to recruit scholars.

His idea was very simple. He wanted him to teach these teachers first-grade courses, or let this group of teachers study on their own, and then let this group of teachers teach first-grade students.

As for the second-year courses, we will wait until we teach the first year.

Youzhou belongs to the Hehuai examination area. If you want to take the imperial examination, it would be like a huge crowd crossing a single-plank bridge.

After all, the status of Youzhou today is not as high as in later generations. The master of Youzhou is not the master yet, and there is nothing authentic in it.

Some scholars heard that the Youzhou government was recruiting scholars, so they decided to try their luck.

Li Xiang selected thirty teachers after careful selection.

The Youzhou government office was quite large, and Li Xiang found an empty room in it and temporarily used it as a place for the scholars to copy textbooks.

"You have all seen these textbooks." Li Xiang distributed the first-grade Chinese, mathematics, and science textbooks. After 30 scholars had read them, he smiled and said, "I plan to establish a 'Tang Imperial Academy of Literature' in Chang'an. These are the first-grade courses."

"The purpose of circulating it to you is, first, to give you a general idea, and second, to recruit you to be teachers at the Tang Dynasty Royal Academy of Literature."

At this point, seeing that everyone understood, Li Xiang continued, "Don't worry, I will not be stingy with money for you, the teachers of the School of Arts. Each of you will receive a monthly salary of 10 strings of cash, and there will be additional bonuses based on your teaching performance. In addition, the school will build a teacher dormitory for you to live in at the School of Arts."

Hearing this treatment, everyone looked at each other in surprise.

No one expected that the treatment offered by Li Xiang would be so generous.

This... this is simply doing charity!
"Of course, I won't force you." Li Xiang looked around at them and said, "If you don't want to leave your hometown and go to Chang'an to be a teacher, you can ask now. I will definitely not force you. If you want to go to Chang'an to be a teacher, I welcome you."

"Your Highness, we did it!" the scholars below shouted.

"Yes, Your Highness, we will be the teachers!" Others also responded.

Li Xiang stretched out his hand and pressed it downwards, then said with a smile: "Also, I have something to tell you in advance. You must teach in a school for at least twelve years before you can take the imperial examination."

After hearing Li Xiang's words, everyone fell silent.

No?

As a teacher, can I still take part in the imperial examination?

"Your Highness, do you mean that... if we become teachers, can we still take the imperial examination?" a scholar below asked in disbelief.

"Yes." Li Xiang said with a smile: "The content of the imperial examination is the content of your teaching, and after you have been a teacher for twelve years, you can participate in the examination as a Guannei Dao, instead of the Hehuai examination area."

When these words were spoken, everyone was shocked again.

If you say that we can take the exam in a different area from the Hehuai exam area, then we won’t be so sleepy!

Everyone bowed down and said, "Your Highness, the Crown Prince's kindness will never be forgotten!"

"Get up." Li Xiang's voice was gentle. "But I have to say this in advance. When you go to the Tang Dynasty Academy of Literature, you must fulfill your responsibilities as a teacher. If you are not competent, don't blame me for being ruthless."

"Don't worry, Your Highness. With such generous treatment, how dare we not do our best?" everyone said.

Li Xiang nodded and said, "In that case, you can copy down these three books for now... Well, I have cleaned up some rooms in the Youzhou government office. You can live in them for now. It will also be convenient for you to circulate and copy textbooks. After a while, I will teach you the first grade courses first."

"Yes, Your Highness!" the scholars responded one after another.

(End of this chapter)