The Shuangjing Testing Site was opened on the first day and received more than a dozen requests for use. Many people have completed the prototype of metal firearms, most of which were cast with cooked iron, and only two or three were cast with bronze. The price of copper in the Song Dynasty was much higher than that of cooked iron. The area with the richest copper reserves south of the Yangtze River was in the territory of Dali. The originally small copper reserves in the Song Dynasty had to bear the pressure of continuous outflow. Because in China and the barbarian countries where trade can be transported, the only standard currency used in large quantities was copper coins minted by the Song Dynasty. Smuggling copper coins has become a very profitable transaction. Chinese and foreign merchants tried their best to transport copper coins abroad, which made the domestic copper price even more unattainable.

Zheng Yunming spent a lot of effort to allocate a portion of the copper blocks stored by the government to sell them to the trial craftsmen at a relatively cheap price. Except for a few masters who are very experienced in casting, most craftsmen did not dare to take risks with this little precious material.

The first batch of five metal firearms tested were marked as the titles of General Iron, the first trial production to the fifth trial production. They were performed in the Shuangjing Testing Site in turn.

Unexpectedly, General Iron No. 1 had an accident. In order to seek the effect of General Iron's performance, the craftsman dared to fill the gun barrel with nearly ten kilograms of gunpowder. The craftsman's casting skills were not sophisticated, and there was a trachoma as big as a wine cup in the body of the iron cannon, but he didn't know it at all. The only result was a blow-up.

When the sky was just brightening in the early morning, a shocking sound rang out in Xiangyang City, and huge smoke and dust rose several times. The residents of the entire Xiangyang City felt the ground trembling.

The first to arrive at the scene were the right army officers and soldiers of Zhenwu Army stationed near the Ximen. They moved the casualties one by one from the fire site, and then the water soldiers (who performed the tasks of the fire brigade) also rushed to extinguish the fire that had already burned to nearby houses. Later, Zheng Yunming personally led the personal soldiers of the Deputy Chief of the Ministry of Justice to organize rescue. The Zhongshun Army, Chizhou Army and the local soldiers in the city also sent people to put out the fire. The Command and Supervisor Office also sent people to inquire about the progress of the disaster relief.

Fortunately, some safety measures were taken in advance, such as keeping the gunpowder depot away from the test site and building a cover wall with sandbags. A bucket for firefighting was also prepared, because the fire caused by the explosion was extinguished soon. However, the heavy casualties had already been caused.

In addition to the five craftsmen who cast General Iron to pieces, nine test sites were doing office work and watching the sergeants died, and six civilians who watched the fun died. More than 30 people were injured to varying degrees. The entire test site was swept away by a huge blast. The entire test site was covered with corpses, injured people were everywhere, and there were endless groans and screams.

Faced with such a tragic scene, even Ge Huai, who was used to seeing the battlefield, was secretly shocked. He said to Zheng Yunming with a deep face: "If such a thing happens on the battlefield in the future, you only need to explode the morale of the entire army and you will collapse."

Zheng Yunming shook his head slowly, without saying a word. Ge Huai also closed his mouth as he looked at his painful expression.

It was really unfavorable to go out. The first casualty caused by the metal fire launcher was actually his own side, which invisibly added a shadow to the use of the future firearm of the Song Dynasty.

Zheng Yunming slowly came to the bombed general, and the two blacksmiths' bloody corpses were nearby. They were also ordinary people with parents, wives and children. If Zheng Yunming had not had the reward for this piece of money, they might have been living a peaceful life.

But Zheng Yunming knew that no matter how many people he lost, it would not stop him from continuing to advance the research of firearms. Compared with the people the Mongols were about to kill, every sacrifice he paid to study firearms was worth it.

But Zhao Kui obviously didn't think so. After recruiting Zheng Yunming to the side hall of the commander's commander's commander, he ordered: "Let's postpone the reward for a while. Such an accident will not only cause panic among the craftsmen, but also damage the commander's commander's commander's commander's commander's commander's commander's commander's commander's commander's commander's commander's commander's commander's commander's commander's commander's commander's commander's commander's commander's commander's commander's commander's commander's commander's commander's commander's commander's commander's commander's commander's commander's commander's commander's commander's commander's commander's commander's commander's commander's commander's commander's commander's commander's commander's

Wei Leweng, who was sitting on the sickbed beside him, said: "General Zhu's power is enough to deal with the Mongols. Now Jinghu needs enough general Zhu. It is really unnecessary to develop iron artillery in a hurry."

Prince Wei recuperated in Xiangyang for a while and his health was much better. In view of the stable situation in Xiangyang, the court had officially issued an edict to disband the Governor's Office, and summoned Wei Weng to return to Lin'an to report in detail to the emperor about the war in Jinghu.

But before the official disbandment of the Supervisory Office, Wei Leweng still insisted on taking the pathological director.

Although he saw that the teacher was sick, Zheng Yunming did not give in to his business: "Both are Yunming's bosses, but Dashuai and Mr. Heshan took this matter a little. In this matter, the government did not mean to urge the craftsmen. The one who should examine their working methods was the craftsmen rather than the government. We interfered too much on technical issues. In fact, we should try our best to play the role of the behind-the-scenes pusher, and hand over the specific research to the craftsmen on the front line to judge, remind the craftsmen to pay attention to safety and improve the research process. However, the reward cannot be cancelled. Only by maintaining effective incentives can the researchers generate continuous motivation."

Zhao Kui has gradually become accustomed to the style of this little official sticking to his own independent view in everything. He thought for a while and said, "Since that's the case, continue to offer rewards, give good pensions to the casualties, and then advise the craftsmen to enhance their safety awareness."

Since ancient times, the status of craftsmen has been low, and the craftsmen does not care about the casualties of craftsmen. As long as the craftsmen are in a stable mood, there is no need to do unnecessary things.

Zheng Yunming stepped forward and said, "That's right, my opinion is not only to give generous pensions to the surviving tribes, but also to publicly promote these craftsmen's spirit of sacrificing their lives to study new weapons in Xiangyang City. Only by inspiring the sense of honor of craftsmen can they maximize their enthusiasm. If possible, I also want to post a low-ranking official position for their children so that their clans can also feel the power of the country's attention to craftsmen..."

Wei Leweng shouted: "This matter is absolutely impossible!"

"How can the state official positions be easily granted to ordinary people!" He paused and slowed down his tone: "Scholars learn to stabilize the country, and those who practice martial arts learn to kill enemies and protect their families. Those who do business value making money, while craftsmen value craftsmen. The so-called scholars, farmers, industry and commerce, each one has their own share, and the world can be safe. Scholars have the nobleness of scholars, and craftsmen have the glory of craftsmen. Scholars have lost their ambitions in studying things and learning, and letting craftsmen enter the officialdom with their skills is also a stubborn act to ruin the officialdom. It may not be a blessing for craftsmen themselves..."

He said so endlessly that Zheng Yunming already understood that in this era, people should understand the concept of "equality of the four peoples" seemed too impatient. Not only too impatient, the system of monarch and ministers in the agricultural country was based on strict hierarchy. To shout out equality of the four peoples, it would be a rebellion for the emperor and the world, which would be a more serious event than rebellion.

He could only seek other ways to increase honor to the craftsmen.

He reported this method to Zhao Kui and Wei Leweng, which was actually very simple.

"In the future, all the weapons manufactured will be engraved with the names of the craftsmen." This method is not original by Zheng Yunming. Many countries have used the signatures of craftsmen in their works as a common example before the Song Dynasty. For example, the Jin Dynasty, which was just flattened by the Mongols, while drawing on the craftsmen's system of the Song Dynasty, they also asked craftsmen to sign their own military weapons. But this is not a glory, but to facilitate accountability when problems occur in military weapons.

However, Zheng Yunming had to find a way to turn this system into an honor that inspires people to make progress.

"We will use all the well-made weapons to enjoy the Martial Temple after they retire. For example, shooting more than 300 good bows from the enemy, assassinating more than 100 long spears from the enemy, and firing the iron generals who have no problems for one hundred times. In short, as long as the weapons that have accumulated more than ordinary weapons and achieved success on the battlefield, the country will be given sacrifices like the warriors who have accumulated outstanding military achievements. In this way, the enthusiasm of the craftsmen can also be improved."

Zhao Kui first expressed his agreement. People in the army like the most. There are often generals who order their weapons to be buried with them, and those who have the horses buried beside him after they die. They can show the good weapons in the Wu Temple after they are decommissioned. In the eyes of the Zhao General, there is nothing wrong with the Zhao General.

Wei Leweng also agreed: "This is the right way. Craftsmen entrust their value to the utensils they make. The more we respect these utensils, the best praise they will be for them."

He paused and asked again: "Where has Bai Yijie, the newcomer to your shogunate, gone? The "Three Proposals of the Southwest Yi" he wrote to me recently is quite desirable. If you invite him over, I have to ask him in person."

Zheng Yunming blushed and said, "I'm not afraid of my husband's jokes. Military Advisor Bai is not in Xiangyang City now." After that, he briefly explained the story of Bai Yijie being hijacked in Yuanzhou.

Zhao Kui was furious and shouted: "The thieves in Yuanzhou are so arrogant that they openly kidnapped officials of the court in the daytime. Is there no law of the king? I will send someone to Yuanzhou for negotiations. It is necessary for the local government to rescue Mr. Bai back!"

Wei Liweng said slowly: "Bandits on Jiangxi Road have always been rampant, so it is not a good idea to send officers and soldiers to encircle and suppress them. Shumou, tell me how you handled this matter."

Zheng Yunming then talked about how he sent someone to negotiate with Yuanzhou and how he sent Shi Wenhu to secretly save people.

"It's best to send someone to rescue privately." Wei Leweng was a little worried: "But how good is this martial arts of Shi Wenhu? Is it enough to rescue Bai Yijie from the thief's nest smoothly?"

"Shi Zhuangshi is very skilled in martial arts, and there is no problem with saving people." Although Zheng Yunming answered this, he was not sure how strong the thief in Yuanzhou was, and whether Shi Wenhu could deal with it.
Chapter completed!