It’s Hard to Be Evil
When Zhu Yuanzhang unified the world, he attached great importance to the development of firearms. However, the proportion of firearms in the Ming army was still relatively low at that time. Among one hundred people, there were ten gunmen, twenty swordsmen, thirty archers and long swordsmen.
There were forty gunners, and the ratio of hot and cold weapons at that time was one to nine.
Of course, the firearms at that time were less powerful than they are now, and in many cases were no more advantageous than cold weapons. This was the main reason that limited the general availability of cold weapons in the Ming army, and was different from the Manchu and Qing Dynasty’s consciousness that was purely based on ignorance.
Forms deliberately resist being different.
Zhu Di was a man who was familiar with military affairs. During the Battle of Jingnan, he suffered many losses from firearms such as muskets and landmines. Especially when facing his three Duoyan guards, the deterrent effect of firearms was much stronger than that of crossbows.
This bloody lesson made him realize that if this weapon was developed well and used properly, it would be a rare weapon. Therefore, when he came to the throne, he was determined to establish a specialized firearms unit: the Shenji Battalion.
Different from other armies, the crossbows, spears, shields and swords used by other armies are all traditional cold weapons. The Shenji Battalion will mainly use firearms. The technological content of firearms is naturally much higher than traditional cold weapons. This
The requirements for firearms craftsmen are even higher. Without a team of craftsmen who can make sophisticated firearms and can mass-produce sophisticated firearms, building a firearms camp will become an empty talk.
According to Zhu Di's plan for the Shenji Battalion, the Shenji Battalion specializes in firearms and needs to be equipped with various long and short-range firearms such as small-mouth cannons, bowl-mouth cannons, general cannons, handguns, magic guns, quick guns, solo rockets, etc.
, individual firearms and siege firearms must adapt to the combat needs of various terrains.
Of course, firearms troops generally do not undertake combat tasks independently. They need to cooperate with cavalry and cold-weapon infantry. However, with the sharpness and ferocity of firearms, they can achieve a head start in battle, allowing one's own side to win at the minimum cost.
After the firearms craftsmanship was handed over to the management of Jinyiweinan Town Fusi, various firearms have been selected, and the most suitable firearms for equipping specialized firearms troops have been selected according to their performance. At the same time, their quality has been improved to a certain extent, and the number of firearms has increased.
Their power.
The Shenji Battalion is gradually equipping firearms and engaging in drills. During the actual combat drills, they also reported many problems that need to be solved by firearms craftsmen. The manufacturing of firearms involves many industries. Although firearms craftsmen are all under the jurisdiction of Jinyiwei, many things they
The cooperation of the Ordnance Bureau, the Craftsmanship Bureau and the Ministry of Works was still needed. This time, Liu Yujue came to discuss with Huang Shilang something that needed help from the Ministry of Works.
While drinking tea, Xia Xun listened carefully and discovered from the conversation between Liu Yujue and Huang Shilang that the craftsmen at that time also knew how to invent new weapons and how to improve the accuracy, range and power of firearms, and they were based on existing
To improve the basic conditions, he could not provide any useful suggestions in this regard.
He went to a police academy, not a terrorist training school. When it comes to firearms, he just uses them and is able to use and maintain them. He does not understand how to make firearms and gunpowder. Just like we can use computers, but we may not be able to build computers.
In terms of black powder ratio, craftsmen have tried various ratios of formulas and know which gunpowder ratio can produce greater effectiveness. However, due to the weapon materials at the time, the most powerful may not necessarily be the most suitable. If gunpowder
If it is so powerful that it explodes as soon as it is used, then it is useless.
Xia Xun didn't understand the smelting and casting process. Of course, if the craftsmen really wanted to make it, it was not impossible to make weapons that were more powerful and had a longer range than the ordinary firearms at that time. The problem was that there were too few weapons made in this way.
Well, this is like a sword, the biggest problem is the quality of the steel.
With the level of technology at that time, it was not easy to extract a piece of hundred-refined steel. It was impossible to mass-produce it, so in comparison, it was just a sword. For the same reason, a large amount of manpower and material resources were concentrated to produce one or two pieces of impossible steel over a long period of time.
Sophisticated weapons that are popularized are meaningless.
However, when Liu Yujue and Huang Shilang raised the issue of the rate of fire of weapons, Xia Xun suddenly thought of the flintlock gun. Of course, this thing also needs various improvements in craftsmanship, but it mainly depends on creativity, and the technical content is not very high. With the current
The technological level is achievable if research and development is done, so he put forward this idea.
When it comes to flints and anvils, it is not difficult for Huang Shilang, who is good at making, to understand. He felt that Xia Xun's proposal was very creative and hurriedly wrote it down. The specific development must be realized by craftsmen.
Okay, this is not urgent.
Then, Xia Xun mentioned the three-stage strike. Undoubtedly, this is the easiest and best way to solve the problem of long intervals between charging and reloading every time a firearm is fired. Moreover, there is no technical difficulty. It is just a method, a
Just a skill.
Don't talk about Huang Shilang, even Liu Yujue understood this immediately and couldn't help but said with joy: "Guo Gong is really a brilliant idea. The biggest problem raised by the Shenji Camp is that the rate of fire is too slow, which greatly affects the power of the firearm. Guo Gong's method
Excellent, if I report this method to the Holy One and implement it in Shenji Camp, this problem can be solved."
Xia Xun smiled and said: "This method is not my idea, but the idea of ​​General Mu Yingmu, King of Yunqianning. It is said that when General Mu conquered Yunnan, the local soldiers rode elephants to fight against our soldiers, and the war horses competed with each other.
Huge beasts like war elephants are no match for them. Firearms are originally weapons that war elephants are very afraid of. However, the interval between firing once is too long. Under the pressure of the soldiers, the war elephants can still rush in front of them, thus making the firearms lose their power.
, so General Mu came up with this method, and I just happened to have heard of it."
At this point, he pondered for a moment and then said: "Yu Jue, I think... when you report this to the emperor, you'd better mention that similar tactics and tactics, including various folk techniques, are sometimes used
Developed by people, they either keep it to themselves and refuse to show it to the public, or they are limited by their identity and are inconvenient to implement due to various concerns. For example, the method of using the three-stage fire weapon invented by Prince Mu is limited to Yunnan.
The officers and soldiers knew, why?
When people do things, they always like to think about where they stand. It is not their own business, so it is better to do less than to do more. As time goes by, many things have been thought up or created by others.
The good things that come out will be annihilated and ignored. The court should encourage more such things and make inventions and innovations. Even if they are only suitable for one time and one place, they can be reported to the court and the court will reward them. Once it is formed,
I think the established rules... will be of great use to the court."
Liu Yujue obeyed Xia Xun's words and nodded frequently after hearing these words: "I understand, I will definitely submit suggestions to the emperor when I see you."
Zheng Ci, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, heard from somewhere that Duke Fu Guo had arrived. He hurried to Huang Shilang and invited Xia Xun to sit with him.
He left with Zheng Shangshu.
After Liu Yujue and Huang Shilang finalized the various materials and techniques provided by the Ministry of Works for firearms craftsmanship, they left. At this time, Xia Xun was still chatting with Zheng Shangshu. Liu Yujue saw that Guo Zheng was socializing, so he had to leave on his own.
He obtained a solution to the fire rate of firearms from Xia Xun, which solved the biggest problem faced by the newly established Shenji Battalion. This matter needs to be reported to the emperor immediately, and the Emperor must order the Shenji Battalion to comply with it.
Jinyiwei Zhenfu envoy, it is impossible for him to go directly to the Shenji Camp to give instructions.
When Liu Yujue rushed to the palace, Qiu Fu was coming out of Jinshen Hall excitedly. Liu Yujue stepped aside and bowed to salute. Qiu Fu glanced at him and saw that he was a fourth-grade official. He didn't recognize him and didn't even take a second look.
He went out in a big way. He had submitted the action plan against the Japanese pirates to Zhu Di, and Zhu Di had agreed.
With Zhu Di's character, he could not tolerate the intrusions and insults of others. When he was guarding Beiping, he was just a vassal king, and he would never let the Japanese invade his power. When Xia Xun was in Qingzhou, King Qi
The Ministry of Household Affairs once took some silver to reward the soldiers of Peking, but was unable to allocate it to him in time to build the palace. Why did Zhu Di send troops that time?
Just because in his garrison camp, when the border troops were patrolling, they found a damaged carriage wheel. The wheel was obviously from the Japanese. Therefore, he suspected that the Japanese wanted to raid the border again. This was done in advance.
They sent people to conduct reconnaissance, so they sent their troops north to take a preemptive strike. After Cheche'er captured Bolin Timur, the leader of the Hu chieftain alive, he pursued the defeated soldiers for thousands of miles, all the way to the Uuliangha Tu City, and beat them hard.
Zawu fled away. Nowadays, the Japanese, who are even weaker than Bei Yuan, come to his territory from time to time to plunder. How can he bear it?
Qiu Fu was his general. When the Sixth Army was established in Xingzhou, Qiu Fu was the commander of the former military capital. He was accustomed to fighting hard and fierce battles. This general had spent his entire life in the military and experienced hundreds of battles. He was an extremely capable person.
A brave veteran, Zhu Di certainly trusted his commanding ability. Qiu Fu was more than capable of dealing with the regular and powerful armies of Beiyuan and the imperial court. Dealing with a group of pirates, Zhu Di thought it was a small test for him.
Therefore, he just took a quick look at the plan drawn up by Qiu Fu, and then readily agreed to it. He asked Qiu Fu to handle the matter with full authority, and he must severely punish the Japanese to let them know how powerful the Ming Dynasty was. He had full authority to handle the matter.
That means Zhu Neng was also excluded. Qiu Fu didn't pay attention to a group of Japanese pirates at all. Seeing that great success was at his fingertips, he was naturally filled with joy.
After Qiu Fu left, Zhu Di saw that it was almost time and the memorials sent from the cabinet had been approved, so he wanted to go to the harem to rest. Zhu Di suffered from severe rheumatism, which was caused by climbing on ice and lying in the snow when he was young.
It's better in the north, because the air is dry and rarely occurs except in winter. However, the humidity in the south of the Yangtze River is heavy, and it is especially unbearable in autumn and winter. The heart-breaking pain is really unbearable, even if you put it on your knees.
The charcoal stove can't alleviate it, a few points.
But just as he stood up, Mu En came in to report that Jinyiwei Nan Zhenfu had arrived. Bei Zhenfu was monitoring unruly courtiers for him, and Nan Zhenfu had the firearms he was most interested in. The two yamen's Zhenfu
However, Zhu Di never delayed his request, so he sat down again.
Liu Yujue met Zhu Di and immediately told him Zhenghui's plan to develop a flintlock gun with the Ministry of Industry. The Ministry of Industry could have developed something, so there was no need to tell the emperor in detail. However, if the emperor was also interested in this, there was no need to tell him.
When he spoke, the intensity of his words varied greatly from top to bottom. When Zhu Di heard this, he was indeed very interested.
He had never come into contact with flint and strike anvils, but it was common for him in the army that sparks would be emitted when weapons struck each other. When Liu Yujue said it, he thought it was a similar reason, and he couldn't help but smile: "Okay, this flint strike
If the anvil is researched, it will be much more convenient than holding a torch in battle. I will inform the Ministry of Industry about this matter and ask Zheng Ci to study this thing as soon as possible."
Seeing that Zhu Di was very interested, Liu Yujue struck again while the iron was hot and said: "Yes, but it will take some time to develop this flint weapon. Once it is successfully developed, the fire blunderbuss will also need to be modified accordingly. The fire blunderbuss currently in use will also need to be modified."
We can't just do this and give up. I also heard about a three-stage attack method. It is not only applicable to current fire guns, but will also be applicable even if flintlock fire guns are developed. This method does not cost a tael of silver and does not require modifying the weapon.
It can be used immediately.”
"Oh, tell me."
When Liu Yujue told about the shooting method invented by Yunnan Muying to deal with the local elephant soldiers, Zhu Di was overjoyed: "Wonderful, this is the method that King Qianning came up with? I have never heard of it in Peking. Who is it?"
With such a profound knowledge and strong memory, do you know such a good method?"
Liu Yujue said: "Back to the emperor, this is what Yang Xu, the Duke of Fu, told me. The idea of ​​the flintlock firearm just now was also reminded by Duke of Fu. Your Majesty, I thought that there are so many strange people and strangers in the world, maybe there is something wrong with it."
People, at any time, will come up with a very clever way, not only in the military, but also in various industries such as scholars, farmers, industry and commerce. Unfortunately, due to various scruples, these clever ideas cannot be spread. If the emperor can tell the world,
Just like the imperial government's policies are open to public opinion, encouraging people all over the world to offer suggestions and suggestions will definitely be of great benefit to the emperor's country."
Zhu Di glanced at him and asked, "Isn't this suggestion taught to you by Yang Xu?"
"No, I just made some suggestions to the emperor after hearing the reminder from Duke Fu."
Liu Yujue was very careful, fearing that his proposal would be displeasing to the emperor. The method of flintlock musket and three-stage strike just now was also praised by the emperor, so he said that it was Yang Xu who gave him the idea. Now the emperor asked
To be continued...