Although the ambassador and deputy envoy of the Arms Bureau are low-level officials of the ninth rank, they have heard all kinds of wonderful rumors about the princess, and know that the princess will have the final say in Sichuan and Shu for quite some time in the future.

The Arms Bureau was originally subordinate to the Chief Secretary, but now it is under the Military Industry Department of the Princess' Supervisory Office. Isn't it just that the local Arms Bureau has become the central Arms Bureau?

Then they are equivalent to becoming the princess's direct officials.

They thought they would be punished, but now they not only have the opportunity to make meritorious deeds, but also become direct descendants of the princess. Is this a blessing in disguise?

Just when the ambassador and deputy envoy were secretly happy, they saw Zhu Yuyao looking at them with a smile and saying: "Don't forget, you promised before that you would recruit at least a thousand craftsmen for the Ordnance Bureau within three days.

I will come back for inspection in three days. The number of craftsmen from the Ordnance Bureau can only be more than this number, not less. Can it be done?"

The Ambassador of the Ordnance Bureau wanted to say no.

After all, in the past, craftsmen could be recruited to serve in the name of the imperial court. At most, he would need to supplement a small sum of money for food. With kindness and influence, he might be able to recruit a thousand people.

But now, according to the decree just issued by Zhu Yuluo, the craftsmanship certificate has been abolished, and the government is no longer allowed to recruit craftsmen for service, and can only hire them at market prices...

Thinking of this, the ambassador's heart moved, and he thought to himself: The princess asked us to work with the officers of the Military Industry Department to designate the salary of the craftsmen of the Ordnance Bureau. Maybe she wants us to attract the craftsmen with our salary.

It is indeed wiser to lure them with benefits than to force them.

The princess is awesome.

After realizing this, the ambassador no longer hesitated and immediately responded: "I will definitely do my humble job!"

On the other hand, Hao Guangming saw what Zhu Aasu did when he arrived at the Ordnance Bureau.

According to the conventions of most time-travel novels he read in later generations, Zhu Yusao should have personally announced how high the salary would be to the craftsmen on the spot after understanding the plight of the craftsmen, as a gesture of kindness.

But the fact is that some things really cannot be decided on your head, especially when you are a leader and a monarch.

Otherwise, today I will be happy and set an unreasonable salary for the craftsmen, and I will either have to bear the consequences later, or I will change the order overnight.

No matter how you handle it, it's not good.

Therefore, Hao Guangming suggested that Zhu Yurao first ask Li Zuo to talk to the ambassador and deputy envoys of the Ordnance Bureau about their thoughts on salary from the craftsmen, and then make a decision based on the actual situation.

Zhu Yusao added: "Also, today we will immediately double the money and food owed to the craftsmen, and then select the 100 craftsmen who have completed the tasks assigned by the government the most in the past two months.

The top ten will be rewarded with 10 taels of silver, the 11th to 30th will be rewarded with 5 taels of silver, and the 31st to 100th will be rewarded with 1 tael of silver.

We must let the craftsmen know that under my rule, I will not treat them badly if they work hard for the Ming Dynasty. Do you understand?"

The ambassador's eyes flashed slightly and he replied: "If you understand this in a humble position, you must also let the craftsmen understand it."

He understood that the "under my rule" and the last "this palace" in this concubine's words were the key points.

So he must let the craftsmen understand that it is because of the princess that they will live a good life.

Zhu Yasuo was actually just repeating Hao Guangming's words. She didn't know that the ambassador understood so many meanings from her words.

Even Hao Guangming just wanted to use the method of immediately paying back wages and rewarding those who worked extra hard to quickly establish the credibility of Zhu Aona and the New Ordnance Bureau among the craftsmen. The purpose was not as complicated as the ambassador thought.

Zhu Yusao looked around. After seeing such a long time of kung fu, the craftsmen smiled bitterly and vented their emotions. Their emotions gradually stabilized and she said: "Okay, let the craftsmen return to their respective workstations to work. You can show me around."

"yes."

Later, Zhu Yuyao took Long Wenguang and three other officials from the Chief Secretary to visit the Ordnance Bureau.

The Ambassador and Deputy Ambassador of the Ordnance Bureau accompanied and guided the entire process, and introduced and explained the factories, workshops, production projects of the Ordnance Bureau, and various weapons and equipment.

In the late Ming Dynasty, not only did the local armies rely on the local arms bureaus to supply weapons and equipment, the central government even recruited them from the local areas and then allocated them to the various armies.

Therefore, although some local arms bureaus have many shortcomings, they are quite large in scale and have a sound system.

Hao Guangming learned from Zhu Yulao's visit that the Chengdu Ordnance Bureau has four factories for armor, swords and bows, firearms, and gunpowder.

Each factory also has various workshops that specialize in producing certain weapons and equipment, so.

When Zhu Yulao visited the armor factory and the sword and bow factory, Hao Guangming just looked at it curiously and was not surprised by anything.

Because Chinese cold weapons had reached their peak in the Tang and Song Dynasties, although there were many types of cold weapons in the Ming Dynasty, due to the emergence of firearms, various cold weapons tended to be more practical and economical than the exquisite craftsmanship of the cold weapons of the Tang and Song Dynasties.

It can amaze people.

However, when Zhu Yurao visited the firearms factory and the gunpowder factory, it was an eye-opener and a shock to Hao Guangming, a later generation.

To sum up, Hao Guangming feels that the development of firearms and gunpowder can be divided into three time points.

Both ancient, modern and modern.

After "visiting" the Chengdu Ordnance Bureau and listening to the ambassador's introduction, Hao Guangming could say that the firearms and gunpowder of the Ming Dynasty had reached their peak in ancient times!

Firearms in the Ming Dynasty can be mainly divided into two categories, namely cannons and blunderbuss.

Although the cannons came from overseas, the Ming Dynasty was able to imitate them and even make better Hongyi cannons and French cannons.

Hongyi cannon generally uses solid iron bullets and has a range of one mile to three or four miles.

The Fran cannon is a breech-loaded cannon that can use explosive ammunition, live ammunition, and shotgun shells, and is equipped with a front sight and a rear sight. It can shoot at close range, covering a 60-meter-wide front, and can also fire live ammunition up to one or two miles away.

Far.

In addition, there are Tiger Crouching Cannons similar to modern mortars, and various single-shot rockets similar to bazookas, continuous rockets, cluster rockets, Shenhuo Flying Crow, etc.

As for the second major category, guns, there are even more types.

There are mainly single-shot fire blunderbuss, continuous-fire three-eye blunderbuss, four-eye blunderbuss, automatic continuous-fire blunderbuss, kidnapper blunderbuss that can be loaded with "bullets (sub-guns)", and thunder blunderbuss with as many as eighteen shooting tubes.

, and the Five Thunder God Machine, which has multiple rotating barrels and shoots into a prototype of a 180-meter machine gun!

In addition, there are bird guns that are very close to modern matchlock guns. Among bird guns, the Rumi gun has been developed with a long range, high power, and a targeting design similar to that of a sniper rifle!

As for flintlock muskets, handguns have also been imitated, but they were only circulated among a few literati or generals who loved firearms and were not used by the army.

For example, Zhu Ainao had a gun that she brought to Hao Guangming from the palace.

In addition to these two major types of firearms, the Ming Dynasty also had landmines and water mines.

There are dozens of types of landmines, including stone mines, ceramic mines, and cast iron mines.

Mines also include underwater mines, underwater dragon king guns (the effect is somewhat similar to torpedoes), river dragons, etc.

As for combustion, petroleum began to be used in the military during the Tang and Song Dynasties. In the Ming Dynasty, the large-scale explosive and combustion weapon "Ten Thousand Enemies" was invented.

After the explosion, the fragments will instantly kill surrounding enemies, and can also throw out fierce fire oil inside, causing a large area of ​​continuous burning.

Finally, the development and use of black gunpowder in the Ming Dynasty actually reached its peak in ancient times.

For example, the use of gunpowder has been divided into three categories: ignition powder, propellant, and propellant (solid propellant).

According to the needs of various cannons, muskets and other weapons, dozens or hundreds of usable gunpowder formulas have been developed.

As for granulating gunpowder, it has been around for a long time.

It's just that not all gunpowder in military use needs to be granulated. Some need to be made into powder form, while others need to be made into solid block.

After Hao Guangming learned about the firearms and gunpowder of the Ming Dynasty, he couldn't help but think of some of the thoughts that flashed through his mind when he first learned about Li Zicheng's army besieging the capital.

For example, use alcohol to make incendiary bombs, or buy smaller gas bottles for Zhu Aona to take with her.

Will the alcohol used to make Molotov cocktails soon be the same as fire oil (petroleum)?

As for the gas bottle, how much more powerful could it be than the weapons of the Ming Dynasty that could defeat thousands of people?

Not to mention a wide variety of firearms, including cannons and blunderbuss.

Some people may say that Li Zicheng's attack on Beijing and Zhang Xianzhong's attack on Chengdu were both wars in which the use of firearms was not high.

But these were also two large-scale wars involving hundreds of thousands of people.

Even if Zhu Yurao transports hundreds of Molotov cocktails and dozens of gas tanks, will it definitely change the outcome of the war?

If in a battle involving hundreds or thousands of people, and there is a lack of powerful weapons, Zhu Aao might be able to change the outcome of the battle by transporting a few gas tanks.

Once a war involves tens of thousands of people and involves a large city, it cannot be solved by a small amount of explosives.

If we really want to use things from later generations to influence wars, it would be better to use some originally non-military items, such as using drones for reconnaissance, using paragliders for sneak attacks, using large searchlights to intimidate enemy troops, etc.

Of course, what Zhu Yuluo really should do is what she is doing now and what she will do.

Such as rectifying the Ordnance Bureau to stimulate the enthusiasm of craftsmen for production; rectifying the armies so that soldiers have the courage to fight and die; rectifying the yamen to make officials work together; communicating with the people so that the army and the people work together.
Chapter completed!