At the beginning of the new year, after the baptism of war last year, the solemn atmosphere in Xi'an Fucheng was finally dissipated by the sound of firecrackers bidding farewell to the old year and welcoming the new.
The people of Fucheng finally showed their faces with joy during the New Year's visit.
Of course, this is not a surprise for people who suddenly realize that they are about to become the people of Xijing when they discover that the Marshal's Mansion is repairing the Temple of Heaven and Earth and plan to hold a ceremony.
The main reason is that Liu Chengzong announced a year ago that the government will continue the tradition of sealing the seal from New Year's Eve to the third day of the Lunar New Year, while the officials and the people will have a total of fifteen days of holiday in conjunction with the Lantern Festival.
The original meaning of the word "seal" refers to the official seal, security and seal being locked up during the official holiday.
On New Year's Eve last year, the generals of the Marshal's Mansion still followed the tradition of six years and gathered around Liu Chengzong to celebrate the New Year.
But there have been good changes this year. Most of them can spend the New Year with their families.
In the past, because of the wars, there were always front lines and rear areas, so the generals were always with Liu Chengzong, while the family members always celebrated the New Year with the old man and the old lady.
This year we finally gathered together to celebrate and have a banquet in the Qin Palace in Xi'an City.
However, the latest news that came out a few years ago was that the Generalissimo planned to march north to Yansui, Ningxia, which made all the generals have a murderous look on their faces and geared up one by one.
Although Liu Chengzong repeatedly said that the Chinese New Year was finally over, everyone gathered together to drink, dine, and watch fireworks. In the end, the conversation inevitably turned to armor, soldiers, horses and pack mules.
Some people even say that since the Tatars of the Eastern Han Dynasty have proclaimed themselves emperor, the generalissimo should also be proclaimed emperor.
The fool who said this was none other than Chu Huer, who came all the way from Tianshan North Road.
Zhou Zhouqiang and Chu Hu'er fought a good battle north of the Tianshan Mountains and captured the Taimeng Guard. They had passed the news over earlier, but as soon as the news from Liu Chengzong was sent over, Chu Hu'er set off.
He didn't have anything else on his mind, he just had nowhere to go.
Chu Huer's territory was in Altai, and Sunday Qiang repaired half of it for him there, and then went to Tomsk to fight.
After the battle, he was renamed Taimengwei. Zhou Qiang worked very hard there, building a fort, building a house and growing rye.
It even established a military science and weapons bureau to teach children to read and build three-eyed muskets for newly recruited Kyrgyz banner soldiers.
In full swing.
But Chu Hu'er couldn't stand it. It was too cold in that damn place and there would be no battles after autumn.
Sunday Qiang had something to do while staying there, so he could only hang an Eastern European bun on the wall to play with ice cubes today, and tomorrow he would pull another one and throw it into the river to freeze to death and watch the ice sculptures.
During the crucial war, he didn't keep enough prisoners of war to play with for a whole winter, so there was no point in staying there.
Over there in Tianshan, everyone hated him, even Liu Chengzu didn't like him.
There is no way, Liu Chengzu really regards Oirat as his own territory, and this guy Chu Huer is the biggest unrest factor in Oirat.
Batur Hutaiji hated this younger brother so much. When he heard that Chu Hu'er had finished fighting in the north, he thought about coming to Tianshan and thought that you bastard would come over and I wouldn't even think about having a good New Year.
He quickly asked Liu Chengzu for advice. Liu Chengzu thought, what's so difficult about this? Let Chu Hu'er go to Gansu to find Cao Yao. If the bastard and the bastard get together, they will definitely be able to talk.
Chu Hu'er thought to herself, why am I looking for Cao Yao? I don't know him.
But Liu Chengzu's idea really gave Chu Hu'er a good idea.
The devil incarnate in Oirat remembered that there were still people in the world who loved him.
Chu Huer thought to himself, I will randomly select a lucky Khan from Yarkand, steal, oh no, blackmail some horses, cattle and sheep, and go to Lanzhou to find the Generalissimo to celebrate the New Year!
Then Chu Hu'er came, bringing 1,500 cavalry, and rushed into Turpan to plunder them. They occupied two towns and played for more than ten days. They blackmailed Burke for 200 cattle and 300 sheep.
, and also captured more than 300 horses before having the town redeemed.
On the way, he first caused trouble in Hami. Because Babai Khan did not entertain him well, he beat Babai Khan, but there was really nothing good left there. In the end, he took away a fifth mate and ten horses. He was very angry.
Dechuhuer beat Babai Khan again.
Later, outside Jiayuguan, they had another conflict with Kang Liangfu, the commander of the Chijin Guard. This time they did not beat the commander violently, but they robbed 112 kilograms of gold and 32 boxes of kerosene, and set Kang Liangfu on fire in Dunhuang.
The newly built home burned down.
Then he took the blackmail proceeds along the way and knocked at Jiayuguan, saying that he was coming to pay tribute to Marshal Liu.
It was not until the news reached Xi'an and Liu Chengzong replied to the letter that Chu Hu'er became honest and did not cause trouble in the customs. He patiently arrived at Xi'an all the way.
He presented a gift list to Liu Chengzong: one hundred flintlock pistols, five Eastern European pigtails, one hundred and fifty cattle, two hundred and twenty sheep, three hundred and sixty horses, one pair of armor, and one hundred catties of gold.
, thirty boxes of kerosene.
Liu Chengzong couldn't laugh or cry at this gift list, thinking that you had to bring me the little gold that my mother, Chi Jinwei, had worked so hard to find.
If you have this ability, why do you want to be a general? You can just work as a courier!
As for the loss of twelve kilograms, Liu Chengzong also knew that Chu Hu'er had rewarded it to the Gansu soldiers who escorted him all the way, so he cut a little if he was happy.
This guy is just a savage who follows his heart and has no law to control.
The key thing is that this thing is quite useful in the northwest, and Liu Shizi can't deal with him.
On the day Chu Hu'er entered Xi'an City, Liu Chengzong deliberately played with weapons in the palace. As soon as Chu Hu'er was brought over by the guards, he threw a stick to him and asked him to go on the field to practice.
After beating him for three consecutive rounds, Liu Shizi's anger subsided, and he pulled Chu Hu'er up from the ground, who was so tired that his forehead was smoking, patted him and said, "I will leave you a house in Xi'an. From now on, in the winter
Just come here and get warm."
However, although Chu Huer was beaten up when he arrived in Xi'an, he felt very good.
Not only did Liu Chengzong like him in the Marshal's Mansion, but Cao Yao, the Governor of Gansu, Zhang Xianzhong, the Secretary of Li Yamen, Zhang Tianlin, the Marshal of Guannai Road, Xie Erhu, the Marshal of Haixi Road, and General Luo Rucai, all of them were very imaginative figures. Not only could they chat with each other, but they also
They are fascinated by each other's experiences.
The six brothers sat there.
Cao Yao listened attentively, Zhang Xianzhong, Zhang Tianlin, and Luo Rucai talked happily and endlessly, Chu Huer's eyebrows were dancing but he was stumbling, and Xie Erhu said a few sentences and translated them quickly.
Just bragging, we can talk about everything, mountains and rivers, geography, tactics of leading troops, methods of plundering, methods of siege, the appearance of horses, and taste in clothing.
Of course, there is also the main topic, which is how I tormented the world before I met Liu Chengzong.
Let Chu Huer find the feeling of home that she had not seen for a long time.
While we were chatting, when they heard that Taiji was proclaimed emperor, Chu Huer stood up and shouted in the Weilat dialect of Chinese taught by Teacher Zhou of Tianshan: "If Taiji can become emperor, why can't the Great Khan?"
Call yourself an emperor!"
Xie Erhu and Luo Rucai were so frightened that they grabbed Chu Huer's arm and pushed him back to his seat.
Let’s talk about this, are you still going to eat the New Year’s Eve dinner?
Fortunately, Chu Hu'er's Chinese was such a serious dialect that Liu Chengzong had to ask him to speak slowly without the need for an interpreter.
This guy started snapping the case and spoke so fast that no one could understand him. They all thought he was fighting against someone.
Liu Shizi picked up the sleeves of Pi Yisagon's uniform and planned to beat him again.
Later, when Xie Erhu ran up to him and whispered a translation, he put down his sleeves, smiled and pretended not to have heard.
He is not Huang Taiji, who came from a feudal noble family. His father, Nurhachi, has already done everything that the feudal tribe can do to the extreme.
All the wars after he succeeded to the throne, such as conquering the Ming Dynasty, conquering the Mongols, and conquering the dynasty, were all invasions and plunders. The nobles who owned the Eight Banners were the vested interests of Houjin.
Therefore, Huang Taiji proclaimed himself emperor instead of emperor, and those at the top who were in charge and in charge were all the leaders of the Eight Banners. Even after conquering Mongolia, conquering Korea, and conquering the Ming Dynasty, these people were still the ones extracting profits.
Liu Chengzong was different.
Founding a country, proclaiming oneself king, proclaiming oneself emperor is for the purpose of distributing benefits, and is not just a matter of whim or fun.
As for Chu Hu'er's behavior in the Marshal's Mansion, Liu Chengzong felt there was no need to care about him as long as there were no major problems.
It doesn't matter if this person is stupid, as long as he has his own talents and enough room to put them to use.
In Liu Shizi's heart, Chu Hu'er was the feudal lord who was specially used for the Taimeng Guard's westward attack. His virtues were not important.
As long as he can fight, he will not be in the traditional Han region and suffer disasters, and it doesn't matter how bad he is north of the Tianshan Mountains. Even to the enemy, the more badass the better.
It won't work if a bunch of good men and women go to a bitter and cold land to open up territory, right?
Although Liu Chengzong gave the soldiers and civilians under the Marshal's Mansion a fifteen-day holiday, he became busy on the second day.
On the first day of the ninth year of Chongzhen, Liu Chengzong first accepted the congratulations from his generals at the Prince of Qin's Mansion, and then took the generals and officials to twelve camps to distribute silver rewards to the soldiers and wish them a happy new year.
On the second day of junior high school, I took Shicheng and I to the Shaanxi Ordnance General Administration in the city.
This name was changed by Liu Chengzong. It was previously called the Ordnance Bureau, but the responsibilities and powers were the same.
This Ordnance Bureau was established in the third year of Jiajing's reign. It was established and built at the suggestion of Yang Qin, the imperial envoy of the Qing army, Yan Hong, the guarding eunuch, and Wang Jue, the governor of Shaanxi.
The specifications are very high.
Liu Chengzong knew this because a monument was erected outside the Arms Bureau, which explained the background and reasons for the establishment of the Arms Bureau.
In the early Ming Dynasty, the Ordnance and Miscellaneous Manufacturing Bureau of the local guard station was responsible for repairing weapons and armor. Traditional cold weapons would only be manufactured when superiors assigned tasks.
Normal swords, bows, spears, crossbows, armors, and coats contain soldiers, weapons, needlework, saddles and bridles, etc., all of which belong to the inner treasury and are managed by the middle officer.
Outside, there is an armor factory belonging to the Ministry of War, which is managed by Lang Guan.
For the production of firearms, there are only weapons in the inner treasury. The second bureau of weapons is cast in the inner bureau. It is as important as the talisman. This is the so-called sharp weapon that cannot be shown to others.
It was not until the Zhengtong period that the military pressure on the frontiers increased and the weapons made by the internal government could no longer meet daily needs. The imperial court authorized the border guards to make their own bronze cannons, handguns and other firearms.
By the early years of Jiajing, Shaanxi's local garrison weapons had begun to manufacture rockets, blunderbuss, artillery and other firearms in addition to conventional cold weapons. However, they were still in the stage of barbaric growth, with each making their own weapons and without unified management.
, and there is no supervision from above or below.
In order to change this situation, unify Shaanxi's firearms manufacturing technology, and ensure the quality of the weapons produced, Shaanxi's Qing military censors, garrison eunuchs and governors proposed to the imperial court to establish this arms bureau.
It was not until the sixth year of Jiajing that the Ordnance Bureau located in Xi'an City was completed.
The core idea behind its establishment is that the government of the world depends on law, and the law of the world depends on people.
Therefore, we pay special attention to the division of responsibilities and powers and the supervision process.
The main officials of the Ordnance Bureau are the ambassador, deputy envoy, city secretary, and engineering secretary.
Among them, the ambassador is from the ninth rank, and the remaining three are not of the highest rank.
However, it has jurisdiction over the Ordnance Bureau of the Four Guards Stations in Xi'an, and each station has one guard, serving as a guard for thousands of households.
At the same time, there is also an overseer who is responsible for patrolling the road or preparing troops for the road.
These officials formed a pattern of checking and supervising each other.
If the Ordnance Institute does not perform its duties conscientiously, the responsibility lies with the Municipal Department; if there is a problem with the materials, the responsibility lies with the Municipal Department; if there is a problem with the quality of the equipment, it lies with the Engineering Department.
If there is a problem in any part of the work, the supervisor will not be spared the blame.
It was the establishment of this arms bureau that enabled Liu Tianhe, the commander-in-chief of the Northwest Trilateral Party during the Jiajing period, to provide the three sides with 4,800 tanks and 9,300 wrought-iron Franco machine guns.
In a short period of time, the ordnance replacement of the northwest frontier army and the improvement of tactics were completed.
Liu Chengzong took advantage of the craftsmen's vacation to inspect the General Administration of Ordnance. This was actually the same as the original intention of Shaanxi officials when they proposed the establishment of this Ordnance Bureau.
It’s time to re-unify Shaanxi’s arms manufacturing industry.
The military industry of the Marshal's Mansion is very weak compared to half of the country today.
But this is not a problem with their military industry, otherwise it would be reflected in their military during the Eastern Expedition.
On the contrary, it was the military industry of the Marshal's Mansion that was extremely developed compared to Hehuang, which allowed them to successfully conquer Gansu and Shaanxi provinces.
However, after that, the rapid expansion of territory and army made the Marshal's Office in a hurry. Raw materials, production capacity, and supply could not keep up.
There is no way, the standard equipment of the Marshal's Army is different from that of the Ming Army.
Xining Mansion, which Liu Chengzong has been operating for the longest time, is capable of full-scale mass production.
The Kangning Mansion chaired by Liu Guoneng can produce parts in large quantities, but because transportation is too difficult, there is no plan to mass-produce finished products.
Gansu, where Huang Shengxiao was stationed, could produce muskets and artillery in small quantities.
At the same time, Lintao Prefecture, which I presided over, was very ambitious and surpassed Xining Prefecture in terms of resources and planning.
It's just that due to the lack of operating time, there are manufacturing methods for various equipment, but the production capacity in a short period of time is not as good as that of Xining.
Therefore, Liu Chengzong's armaments are now mainly made up of and fooled by seizures.
But fortunately, the quality of the improvised and deceived weapons was pretty good. They captured too much Ming army equipment. If they didn't have thousand-jin cannons, they would use generals. If they didn't have enough heavy guns, they would use small Franchise machines and bird blunderbuss to make up for it.
And you can also choose the right ones to use.
But even so, I was under a lot of pressure to become a teacher.
Therefore, just after the New Year, he couldn't wait to offer Liu Chengzong suggestions for unified management of the Ordnance Bureau of the Marshal's Mansion, and even specially brought Liu Chengzong to the Ordnance General Bureau to see the management method here.
"Commander, the commander-in-chief should also set up arms divisions in each government, each with an ambassador, deputy envoy, city secretary, and engineering division. Each division should have a chief officer, headed by Habayashi Langguan, and another overseer.
He was appointed as a military official to take charge of the post."
As he said that, I raised my hand and pointed at the ground beneath my feet: "The General Administration of Arms will take charge of the branch, and it will be under the supervision of the three parties."
"We are all granted the regulations and rules of the Xining Mansion Arms Bureau. In this way, in two years' time, the commander's arms will be enough to support the commander-in-chief in his fight for the world."
Tay Ning Prefecture Ordnance Bureau refers to the Tay Ninh Guard Ordnance Bureau and Juerwan Arsenal.
The full set of industrial and military craft workshops and factories over there have been developed to a very complete level, and have basically reached the ultimate level of development there.
But if the plan I mentioned can be implemented, Lintao, Gongchang, Xi'an, and Hanzhong will soon surpass the Xining Ordnance Bureau by virtue of their craftsman and resource advantages.
However, due to population limitations in some places, it may be difficult to achieve the scheduled production capacity as planned.
After all, the damage done to Shaanxi by these years of war is immeasurable.
Liu Chengzong looked around at the layout of the buildings of the Ordnance Bureau and the Miscellaneous Manufacturing Bureau, nodded and approved Shi Cheng's proposal, and said: "I will do what you said first. First, send people to go around the prefectures and counties to consider the location of the Ordnance Branch.
, then bring a set of budget to the household office.”
After he finished speaking, he looked up and saw that Shi Chengwo was hesitant to speak, so he asked, "What's wrong?"
"I also want to hire a commander-in-chief, so I'm going to recruit one for the government office."