Zhao Ming turned over and led Sun Ke out of Yangzhou City.

At the end of the year, the Jiangbei area was covered with a layer of white snow, but the streets in the city were cleaned up.

Early in the morning, Yangzhou city was filled with people, crowds were filled with shouts, and all kinds of shouts were very hot.

A group of people rode horses and walked slowly through the streets. On both sides were steaming breakfast stalls, teahouses, and taverns filled with people, and tables were placed outside.

Sun Kewang has seen this scene many times along the way, but every time he sees it, he is still shocked.

A glimpse of the whole leopard is a sight to see the whole leopard. The ordinary urban atmosphere in Jiangnan can be seen by others, but Sun Kewang saw more, which is the difference between the Zhou State and the Ming Dynasty.

At this time, Zhao Ming and his party left the city and came to Guazhou Ferry. On both sides of the wharf, hundreds of cargo ships were docked, and thousands of sails sailed by the river.

After Zhao Ming completed the unification of the south, the copper, tea and food from Yunnan and Guizhou could be connected through the developed water system network in the south and transported goods and materials to Jiangnan, Jiangnan and overseas, and could also go up the river and enter the mainland.

The opening of the road brought extreme prosperity to the business of the Ming Dynasty.

At this time, Zhao Ming stood in Jiangbei, pointed at the Yangtze River with a horse whip and couldn't help but say to Sun Kewang: "Sun Guoxiang, do you look at the Yangtze River, does it look like the blood vessels in the Ming Dynasty's body?"

Sun Kewang was stunned for a moment and said, "The Regent's example is very vivid."

Zhao Ming said: "The Yangtze River is a blood vessel, and the merchant ships on the river are blood. The flow from Huguang to Jiangnan, from Jiangnan to Huguang was the current vitality of the Ming Dynasty!"

Sun Kewang was thinking, and at this time, Zhao Ming came to the dock with a horse's belly, and there were already soldiers waiting here.

At that moment, Zhao Ming and his group boarded a large ship and crossed the Yangtze River. When it was almost noon, they resisted Zhenjiang.

Along the way, Sun Kewang wanted to ask about the matter of Zhengfan several times, but Zhao Ming removed the topic.

Seeing that Zhao Ming didn't want to talk, Sun Kewang simply ignored it and followed Zhao Ming to see what Zhao Ming was going to do.

For Zhao Ming, he actually wanted to use peaceful means to force Wu Sangui to surrender, but Zhao Ming knew that this possibility was not great. Unless the Ming Dynasty had an absolute advantage, Wu Sangui would not be able to give up his current foundation.

Although it was unlikely that it would be possible to resolve the Zhou State peacefully, Zhao Ming still decided to take Sun Kewang to see the strength of the Ming Dynasty and hope that the Zhou State could make the right choice.

Zhao Ming did not take Sun Kewang to the Ming army camp in Jiangbei. When the army did not fight, it was actually similar, and there was no obvious gap.

What Zhao Ming wanted to show him was that the Ming Dynasty had but the Zhou State had no ability, that was to make equipment and strong economic strength.

We must let Sun Kewang see inferiority and autism, and realize that Zhou State cannot be an opponent of the Ming Dynasty.

The first place Zhao Ming wanted to take Sun Kewang to visit was the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau located in Zhenjiang.

Zhenjiang is opposite to Yangzhou, and is located at the intersection of the Yangtze River and the Grand Canal, and the location is very advantageous.

At this time, the main problem of restricting smelting and casting in the Ming Dynasty was the mining and transportation of ore and coal, among which transportation occupied the main factor.

Generally speaking, ore is transported entirely by manpower and animal power. When people transport ore down the mountain, only a few hundred kilograms a day. After rough practice and purification, there is not much left.

Smelting requires ore and coal. These two things are usually not in the same place, and once transported from a long distance, it will increase costs.

Since the imperial court established the coal industry in the Huaihe River, coal from Shou County, Huainan passed through the Huai River, entered the Grand Canal, and then arrived at Zhenjiang. The copper and iron located in the upper reaches of Zhenjiang were flown downstream from the Tongling area of ​​Chizhou and transported to outside Zhenjiang City.

The Ministry of Works has set up a workshop including smelting and cannon casting, which is the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau.

After Zhao Ming and his group got ashore, they rushed to Zhenjiang and looked at the workshop with thick smoke outside the city.

The entire General Administration of Manufacturing covers an area of ​​about 1,000 acres, surrounded by city walls, including the smelting and purification of rough iron and brass, artillery, musket casting, artillery shell manufacturing, and shooting range for test guns, covering a very wide area.

When Sun Kewang arrived in Yangzhou, he saw smoke columns rising from the river on the river. He was still a little confused at the beginning, but now he saw the huge workshop area and was immediately shocked.

Zhao Ming smiled and said, "This place covers an area of ​​more than 1,000 acres, and there are tens of thousands of craftsmen working at the same time. In the south of the Yangtze River, there are many large workshops like this, and there are several cotton-spinning workshops with more than 5,000 employees in each county. These workers can be brought to the battlefield by producing and training during wartime."

Zhao Ming intimidated Sun Kewang without any trace, which made Sun Kewang stunned.

He has always been very confident in himself and believes that the Zhou Kingdom under his rule was no worse than the Ming Dynasty, but he is now beginning to feel inferior.

At this time, officials from the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau were already waiting outside.

"I am humble in my position, Song Yingsheng, and I am waiting for Your Highness." An official in his forties led more than a dozen officials to bow and salute.

Zhao Ming nodded slightly, jumped off the horse, threw the whip to the guard, and smiled and said, "Gou came to see the workshop. What should you do and what else do, don't be nervous. Master Song accompanied Gu to watch, and the others were separated!"

Song Yingsheng was Song Yingxing's brother. Zhao Ming originally thought he had died long ago, but later he fell asleep with Song Yingxing. When he learned that Song Yingsheng was still there, he was transferred to the Ministry of Works as an official.

Song Yingsheng then turned around and gave a few instructions to his subordinates, and then said sideways: "Your Highness, please come with your subordinate!"

At this moment, Zhao Ming and his group, accompanied by Song Yingsheng, entered the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau.

Zhao Ming asked casually: "Have you made any progress in the things that I have developed in Chang Geng?"

Song Yingsheng shook his head, "Report to your highness, this minister doesn't know. He only knows that my younger brother has not returned home for half a year, and everyone in his family is very worried."

When Zhao Ming heard the words, he nodded slightly, thinking to himself whether it was too difficult for Song Yingxing.

At this time, the group had already arrived at the musket production workshop. When they saw that there were rows of connected long tables, craftsmen sitting on both sides, producing in an orderly manner.

Sun Kewang followed Zhao Ming and saw a musket, which was passed down from one end of the table and an iron pipe, waiting for the craftsman to pass it down. Every time a craftsman passed by, several parts were added on it. When it reached the end of the table, a brand new musket had appeared in front of him.

Sun Kewang was shocked. This speed made him stunned and asked, "Will you not make hundreds of shots a day for this kind of production?"

Song Yingsheng said: "Five lines are fully produced, and they can build 500 poles a day, but ~"

Zhao Ming interrupted Song Yingsheng's words and smiled: "It's good to build 500 shots in a day, and 15,000 shots in a month. Seeing this is true, Sun Guoxiang himself saw it."

Sun Kewang's muscles were pulled on his face, shocked by the ability of the Jiangnan Manufacturing General Administration to produce muskets.

Once this war begins, wouldn’t it be possible to add 15,000 musketeers in one month in the Ming Dynasty?

Thinking about it, it would take at least a year for him to build 10,000 muskets in Zhou State. Sun Kewang couldn't help but be discouraged. I'm afraid that this battle would not be won.

In fact, these lines are just semi-finished products for assembly. The really labor-intensive barrel drilling, forging and polishing are actually very slow, and are not much faster than the craftsmen of Zhou Guo.

Jiangnan Workshop produces all its strength, and can produce about 30,000 poles a year, and most of the time, it does not produce at full strength, so the output is about 20,000 poles.

Zhao Ming did not explain, but deliberately made Sun Kewang misunderstand, "Master Song, please take Gu to see the newly cast giant cannon!"

The group left the workshop where the musket assembly was assembled and entered the casting workshop. They saw the craftsmen inside were busy, pouring red iron into the mold and taking out the cannons.

Sun Kewang just took a rough look and saw at least three or four hundred cannons.

"Your Highness, this giant cannon is too big and has not been tested yet!" Song Yingsheng said as he walked.

Zhao Ming couldn't help but say: "Isn't it in the test booth field? Why not shoot!"

"Because the target has not been built yet! But it's time for the palace to come down. Two days ago, the doctor in the shooting range just reported to me that the target city has been built!" Song Yingsheng said.

Sun Kewang, who was standing by, listened to the conversation between the two, but disagreed. How huge the giant cannon can be, it still needs to be specially built for targets.

At this time, everyone came to the shooting range, and there was a city wall that was fifty feet long and more than three and six feet high. In front of the city wall, there was something covered with red cloth.

When Sun Kewang was confused, the red cloth had been pulled away by four or five envoys, revealing an unprecedented giant cannon.

Sun Kewang's eyes almost fell out of shock. He had never seen such a huge cannon. The cannon was two feet long and the cannon could accommodate two people. One cannonball piled up next to it was afraid that it would be five or six hundred kilograms.

"This is a cannon!" Sun Kewang was shocked and lost.

Zhao Ming smiled and said, "This is a giant cannon of siege, used to attack strong cities, such as Tongguan!"

After saying that, Zhao Ming said to Song Yingsheng: "Since the target city has been built, then just fire it!"
Chapter completed!