Zhu Hao also used machine tools to create the first batch of standard weapons in the city's weapons workshop. They were no longer the firecrackers or matchlock guns of the past. They were even more advanced than the original version of the flintlock gun, using percussion powder.
The safety performance is very high.
A total of 4,000 guns were produced in the first batch. Zhu Hao was going to go back to the new city to take this batch of firearms with him. At the same time, he was going to conduct a raid around Chang'an City in Central America.
This time he was not going to take a boat, but planned to take the land route, heading north from Shunfeng City, through the mountains of northern South America, to Panama City in later generations, and then continue northward.
He planned to leave 500 officers and soldiers, 1,000 militiamen and 2,000 Aztec indigenous troops to guard, and take away all other troops. The entire army would be equipped with new firearms, and would carry 60 portable artillery pieces. At the same time, he would bring 20,000 Inca troops with him.
Allied with the Aztecs, the main task this time was to practice in battle and test the indigenous soldiers and horses he had personally trained.
Zhu Hao also had another purpose in going north, which was to snatch a group of horses back from the European colonists. Based on the current information, Central America is close to Panama City and leans towards the Atlantic Ocean. The European colonists built some cities, which are among them.
It is a trade transit station in America. It is said that there are cavalry there.
Zhu Hao just planned to meet them.
Zhu Hao left Guan Dezhao as the military commander of the new city and Lou Suzhen as the highest administrator. If major events happened, Guan Dezhao would follow Lou Suzhen's orders.
Zhu Hao then led his troops on the way north.
Going north from SF City, you have to pass through many primitive jungles. After all, not all areas have roads these days. The purpose of Zhu Hao's expedition with more than 20,000 people is to build a road from scratch and build it for the future of America.
Prepare for the north-south railway.
Of course, Zhu Hao also knew that going north would involve climbing over lofty mountains. It would not be easy to build railways in these places. Zhu Hao also had the intention of exploring mineral deposits along the way.
There are many minerals that require on-the-spot investigation, and Zhu Hao knows that no one else except himself has this ability.
…
…
Zhu Hao was preparing to compete head-on with the European colonists on land.
At the same time, everything was calm in the Ming Dynasty, and the focus of the court's attention was no longer on Zhu Hao, who had been at sea for many years. Even now, no one is willing to talk about Zhu Hao.
It's like this person is a short-lived flower, blooming quickly and withering faster. Recently, they can no longer see the emperor. If anything happens in the court, basically each yamen can handle it. However, the emperor has no control over the power of Piao Xiang and Zhu Pi.
He was so controlled that although the emperor was absent from the court for a long time, he seemed to be everywhere.
On this day, Zhu Si took a train to Xishan to relax.
When he arrived at the place, he expected to see a large-scale production scene in full swing just like the last time he came. However, when he left the station, he saw that all the industries were withered and it was a desolate scene.
"What's going on? There used to be a lot of people here, and the coal station was filled with coal. Why can't you see even a single person on the street now?"
Zhu Si felt very curious.
Wang Zuo, the commander of the Jinyi Guards next to him, came out of the queue to report back: "Your Majesty, the Holy Emperor is coming today. To ensure safety, the place has been cleared in advance."
"oh."
Zhu Si was doubtful and looked ahead. There was no smoke from the more than ten large chimneys standing there, and there was no "dinging, clanging" machine knocking sound coming from the workshop in the distance. His face suddenly sank...
His senses have always been keen, and the scene of decay in front of him cannot be explained by simply using the excuse of clearing the place.
After he moved into the palace prepared by Zhu Hao for him, this feeling became even stronger. The hot water that was originally supplied for twelve hours was no longer available. Even the flush toilets required a dedicated person to carry the water to the water tank on the roof, so that it could be used below.
After using it, he immediately called Huang Jin and others over.
"I feel something is wrong. Could it be that after Jingdao left, the development of Xishan has not been as good as before?"
Zhu Si's face was full of anger.
Huang Jin and others didn't know how to answer. They found that the emperor was really angry this time.
Zhang Zuodao: "Your Majesty, Xishan was built by Mr. Zhu alone. Without Mr. Zhu to take care of it, it is naturally very different from the past. In the past six months, you have extended your hands here, and the taxes in the city have become heavier than before.
A lot, the number of residents here... plummeted."
When Zhu Hao was in Xishan, he formulated comprehensive policies to ensure that this emerging city could complete the basic accumulation of industrialization.
But when Zhu Hao left, this guarantee disappeared instantly. When others saw that there was a lot of money to be made here, and no one was willing to provide shelter, who wouldn't want to get a piece of the pie?
What's more, even the emperor himself extended his hand!
The people were not fools. They originally moved to Xishan because they respected everyone's right to live. However, what followed was that the court and nobles did not regard them as human beings and always wanted to gain from them. After feeling the heavy pressure,
Naturally, they choose to leave this place and develop elsewhere.
This is also related to the fact that when Zhu Hao left, he took away a large number of skilled craftsmen. These people were originally the major contributors to promoting the industrialization process of Xishan. Without their leadership, relying solely on existing manpower, technology would stagnate, and the market would eventually be
will be saturated, and the coal produced will have limited demand in the absence of support from large industries.
Many dignitaries burned charcoal in their homes, and only common people used coal. In the past, most of the coal produced in Xishan was used by Zhu Hao for steel smelting.
Now that the imperial court has stopped Zhu Hao's railway construction, the railway from Xishan to Xuanfu has been abandoned. How can anyone still buy the mountains of coal?
Not only Xishan, but also the iron ore and coal mines in Yongping Prefecture are not as prosperous as before.
"People's livelihood is in such decline, how can I make money in the future? I originally wanted to rely on this city to support the soldiers of the three armies in the northwest, but after Jingdao left, I couldn't even maintain the most basic operations?"
Zhu Si was furious.
All the people present felt again the tremendous pressure Zhu Hao brought to them. It was an invisible but real feeling.
The trouble can be solved only by bringing Zhu Hao back, but the question is where is Zhu Hao?
Zhu Sidao: "Did anyone send people out to sea before? Hasn't someone already been to Penglai's land? Now send a ship immediately to retrieve Zhu Hao for me!"
Zhu Si was anxious. Before, he thought Zhu Hao was dispensable. The legacy left by Zhu Hao before going to sea was enough for Ming Dynasty to enjoy various conveniences. Now Zhu Si knew one thing clearly. With Zhu Hao and without Zhu Hao
, the effect was completely different, he had to "catch" Zhu Hao back.
"yes."
Huang Jin obeyed his leader's orders.
In fact, he has no solution at all now. He has tried various methods before, but even if he goes to sea, there are not so many ocean-going ships. At most, he can only find one or two that are worthy of use.
Because basically all the large ships that could move in the Ming Dynasty were taken away by Zhu Hao. At that time, Zhu Hao went to sea under the emperor's order, and no one stopped him.
Originally, there should be several ships in Tianjin Port, the same ones that brought back tributes last time, but officials at all levels did not pay attention to them. Zhu Hao placed his own people in the fleet. One ship disappeared today and another one disappeared tomorrow.
Including the large ship that took Zhu Niang and the others to Ryukyu.
Zhang Zuodao: "Your Majesty, are you going to send troops out to sea to search for Lu Wan, the right deputy censor of the capital? This person was recommended by Mr. Zhu and has been conducting Jinghai affairs in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian and Guangdong. There may be a secret connection between them.
.”
"Is there a secret connection?"
Zhu Si was very angry.
Zhang Zuo quickly changed his words: "Maybe he knows the whereabouts of Mr. Zhu."
Zhu Sidao: "Then let him find it and send ships out to sea."
"Your Majesty, there are not many ships suitable for ocean navigation along the coast. The previous shipbuilding work has been stopped by the imperial court." Zhang Zuo reminded.
Zhu Si frowned: "Then reopen the shipyard. Jingdao won't take away all the craftsmen who can build ships, right? Isn't cannon casting going on all the time?"
Zhang Zuowei said: "Your Majesty, to build a decent ship, you need to invest at least thousands of taels of silver. If you want to build one that can travel far across the ocean, the cost will only be higher..."
The implication is that if you want to build a ship without giving money, how can it be so easy?
Zhu Si fell silent with a dark face.
Huang Jindao: "Perhaps we can let Lu Zhongcheng raise funds for shipbuilding on the southeast coast."
Zhu Si sneered: "You mean, Jingdao went to sea, took away all the Ming Dynasty's ocean-going ships, and left Ming Dynasty unable to build ships for a while to chase him? It means that wherever he went, Ming Dynasty had no strategy to deal with it, so it could only
Wait patiently for his conscience to find out and come back to me, right?"
Several people present did not dare to say anything.
This resentment...
It's a bit big.
Zhu Si said coldly: "Is it possible that the people he took away could threaten the safety of Ming Dynasty?"
Zhang Zuodao: "Back to Your Majesty, that's not the case. Mr. Zhu didn't take many soldiers and horses with him. As I said before, in addition to looking for fairy grass for Your Majesty, he also wants to go overseas to mine. If everything goes well, in the past two years, we should
News will come back one after another.”
"Mining... yes, go mining overseas, in the land where the hairs drink blood, he wants so much gold, what's the use of silver? Why don't you bring it back to the Ming Dynasty? The world is so big, how can there be such rich products as the Ming Dynasty? He will eventually
Will still come back!”
Zhu Si's face calmed down again.
This is because he felt that Zhu Hao would not be able to survive for a long time in that inhospitable place overseas, so he would have to go back to Ming Dynasty to spend money, or even confess his mistakes in front of him.
"Then Your Majesty, are you still going to sea?"
Zhang Zuo asked for instructions.
"out!"
Zhu Si spoke firmly, "Even if there are not enough ships, we still need to send people out. One ship can't bring people back? Now I just want to know whether Jingdao is dead or alive, and if he is alive, what is he doing now?"
?Why have you never returned to Ming Dynasty?"
…
…
Zhu Hao led his troops all the way north.
All the routes we traveled were along the coast, especially when we passed the boundaries of Ecuador in later times. The lower-lying areas could only follow the coastal line. Going further inland was blocked by high mountains, making it impossible to travel through. We often had to pass through some areas with very undulating terrain.
Wherever the army went, only scattered indigenous residents could be seen.
They are extremely afraid of the arrival of the Ming army, and they often avoid it early, but there are also some who want to cause trouble regardless of life and death, but the result is...
Death without a burial place!
On the west coast of South America, there are obviously no European colonists. After passing the narrow coastal area of Ecuador, the terrain becomes relatively flat, and some tribal villages can be seen one after another, but the situation here does not seem to be stable.
The European colonists have brought the flames of war here. It is not the Western gunmen who come in person, but the agents they support in Central America, and some indigenous Indians. Later, the Colombian area became Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, England, etc.
The focus of competition between several forces.
When Zhu Hao arrived with his troops, it seemed that the indigenous people from the south wanted to expand their territory to the north.
This place is no longer under the control of the Inca Empire.
As soon as Zhu Hao walked out of the mountainous area, no less than five groups of people wanted to put Zhu Hao and the army under his command to death. However, every time, Zhu Hao's Ming army was not needed to come forward. The soldiers of the Inca Empire equipped with iron weapons were able to defeat him in one fell swoop.
enemy.
When passing by a decent-looking city, Zhu Hao finally met the European colonists. Twenty days had passed since he set out from Shunfeng City.