I opened the coastal military map. First, I pointed at the Taiwan area and said: "Li Aiqing, come and see. Next, your navy has two main tasks. The first is to let some officers of the South China Sea Fleet enter the southern Taiwan Island. The Taiwan-Penghu area is in our During the Taizong period, it was officially included in the territory of the Song Dynasty. However, it has always been under the rule of Fujian. Due to the distance, it has been neglected. I plan to make it independent and establish the province of Taiwan."
Li Beiyang and Lu Xiufu both knew that I attached great importance to overseas affairs, and they did not raise any objections.
"Yes, Your Majesty. I obey your order."
"Second, Li Zengbo has led his army to explore the sea route to Goryeo. Another task of your navy is to prepare for the invasion of Goryeo. I plan to send troops to attack Goryeo early or in the middle of next year."
"Goryeo." Li Beiyang thought for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, hasn't Goryeo been wiped out by the Mongols?"
"Yes. Goryeo is now the territory of the Mongols. Li Aiqing. Goryeo has been dependent on us during the Tang Dynasty. Although it was defeated by the Mongols decades ago, there are still many internal contradictions. I plan to gain a foothold before the Mongols. Before, I captured Goryeo. Like Ryukyu, I wanted to make it a province of our Song Dynasty and use it as a stronghold to attack the Mongolian mainland. Just like the Dali Kingdom in the southwest. I not only wanted to include it in our dynasty In the Northern Expedition a few years later, Goryeo will become one of the armies attacking Mongolia. At that time, several armies will advance together. I will make Kublai Khan exhausted and unable to take care of both the beginning and the end."
"Your Majesty, I agree with you. I obey your Majesty's will and be prepared to go north to Goryeo."
"Okay, Li Aiqing, you can rest for a few days first. Then go to the Military Academy to discuss the specific tasks of the navy."
"Yes. I obey your order. Your Majesty, has Song Wuxin made any progress in the past few months?"
"After careful discussion between Li Aiqing, Song Wuxin and others, in order to ensure the performance of the warship, the length of the Shenzhou giant ship was finally set at 61 meters. At present, the keel part has been completed. It is estimated that it will be ready early next year. It’s been launched into the water for sea trials.”
Although the Shenzhou giant ship in the Northern Song Dynasty was 100 meters long, its practicality was poor. Its sturdiness and speed could not meet the requirements of a warship. If it was used solely as a transport ship, the cost would be too high. During the Ming Dynasty, there was a There is a giant ship called a treasure ship. Its hull length is more than 70 meters, but it is also not practical enough. Although no warship dares to attack such a large ship, the cost is too high. So I finally determined the length of the giant ship. At sixty-one meters. Only when the steam engine is used as the power of the ship can a larger warship be built at a guaranteed speed. Otherwise, it is just a decoration.
Li Beiyang said excitedly: "It's great. With such a warship, my navy will be even more powerful."
"Well, by the way, the Gunpowder Supervisor has successfully made twenty cannons. Ten of them have been allocated to the Royal Guards. The other ten will be allocated to your Navy."
"What? Ten artillery pieces?" Li Beiyang said excitedly again. "That's great."
"Li Aiqing. It's just how to use the artillery on the ship. How to adapt to the rough sea. You still need to think carefully."
"Yes, Your Majesty. I will immediately organize people to test the cannon on the ship."
Since the beginning of July, despite the hot weather, Wen Zhang and Zhang Shijie, the two division commanders of the Royal Forest Army, have spent almost every day at the former Youth Guard station, sweating profusely, familiarizing themselves with the performance of the artillery with the soldiers.
Two hundred soldiers carefully selected from the Imperial Guard Army formed the First and Second Artillery Batteries of the Imperial Guard Army. This was the first artillery unit of the Song Dynasty army. It was also the first true artillery unit in human history.
When they got ten artillery pieces, Wen Zhang and Zhang Shijie, who were the first to come into contact with firearms, were extremely excited. Even Xie Daolin came to inspect them every now and then. The God of Artifacts was not just blown away. During the test firing, the artillery company conducted one Ten cannons were fired in unison. The shocking force could not be overstated by describing it as the earth was shattering. Even people with strong martial arts skills like Xie Daolin and Wen Zhang found it difficult to cope with it.
However, the number of artillery shells is limited. Xie Daolin and others do not dare to test-fire casually. The soldiers of the artillery company are mainly familiar with the structure and use of artillery. Wen Zhang, who is very familiar with Yun Bofei, once asked Yun Bofei .How much is the approximate cost of a cannonball? According to Yun Bofei's estimate, not counting labor, the cost of a cannonball is about thirty taels of silver. If this were in a war, I don't know how much money it would cost. Look. Armed with ten artillery pieces. Wen Zhang sighed: "Commander Xie. No wonder His Majesty said that day. The end of the war will be to see who has more money."
"That's right. Not to mention these artillery pieces and cannonballs, just the thousands of muskets in my imperial army would cost how much silver."
Zhang Shijie also said: "The imperial court has invested so much money. We must use our firearms to the extreme. Otherwise, we will really be sorry for the emperor."
"Yes." Xie Daolin nodded and said, "Master Zhang is right. Only by building the soldiers into an invincible iron army can we repay His Majesty's kindness."
In the imperial study room of Lin'an Palace, I stretched out and said, "Jiu'er, I spent five nights and finally read all the files on the twenty-two official corruption cases mentioned by Chen Wenlong.
Quan Jiu said: "The official family. According to the law, the officials involved in these cases can be sentenced to death. However, five of the cases are from Lechang County on Guangnan East Road. If these five people were sentenced to death together, they would It will not affect the daily affairs of the local government."
"What about Yi Jiu'er's opinion? Doesn't the law punish everyone?"
"Guan Jiu'er doesn't mean this."
"There will definitely be an impact." I smiled and said. "Jiu'er, these five people are called the Lechang Five Poisons by the local people in Lechang. When arresting these five people, Chen Wenlong told the Government Affairs Council. Wen Tianxianghe After discussion with the Ministry of Civil Affairs, manpower has been dispatched from surrounding areas to Lechang County. Although there was a period of chaos, due to the strong support of local people and the rapid arrival of replacement officials, it did not cause much chaos. Basically, it was Have a safe transition."
"That's good. Jiu'er is also worried that there are too many corrupt officials in one area. And after they were taken down together, there will be no one left to handle government affairs."
"Well, that's what I thought at the beginning. There are corrupt officials everywhere in my government. If they are all caught, who will do the work for me? Even the government office will be empty. However, I thought about it carefully later. If I let it go, then... It’s like waiting to die.”
"Guan family. What does this mean?"
I explained: "Jiu'er, no matter how rich my dynasty is, even if there are no Mongolians watching, my dynasty will be destroyed sooner or later by these rats. This is like a terminally ill person who is waiting to die if he is not treated. There is no difference. So, I made up my mind to rectify the government and fight against corruption. Even if all the officials in a certain county, a certain state, or even a certain road are arrested, it will not be a big deal. At most, it will be for a period of time. We are in a state of anarchy. As the saying goes, long-term pain is better than short-term pain. Rather than waiting for death, it is better to burn everything and make complete changes. I thought at that time that if the most pessimistic situation occurs, my approach may be seeking death. But in the process of seeking death Maybe there will be a glimmer of hope."
Quan Jiu carefully understood what I said for a while: "Guan Jiu'er understands a little bit."
"After many days of thinking, I finally chose the one-size-fits-all approach of 'don't dwell on the past'. In fact, there are many things that I will find difficult before doing them. If I just stay in the idea, look forward and backward, and don't implement it, then it will be The more you think about it, the harder it becomes. But as long as you make up your mind, take the first step, and reflect on it as you do it, there will always be light."
"Well, the officials are right. If you don't try anything, there is no chance of success."
"That's right, Jiu'er. It's impossible to consider everything in this world perfectly before doing it. Even a god like me can't do it."
"Since officials want to do it, they should do it when the harm is not great. Otherwise, the longer this kind of thing is delayed, the greater the price will be."
I praised: "That's right, Jiu'er. If it took me one point of effort to rectify the official atmosphere at the end of last year, then it will probably take ten percent of effort to correct it in the future."
"The official sage." Quan Jiu took out my imperial seal and said, "Has the official decided?"
"Well, I have already signed this memorial. All the twenty-two people above will be sentenced to death. Jiu'er, please stamp it with the big seal."
To rectify the atmosphere in the officialdom cannot just be lip service, nor can we adopt a step-by-step approach. The drastic measures must be taken immediately. Otherwise, when the atmosphere is bad enough, there will really be no cure.
On the same night, Shi Tianze, the Prime Minister of Mongolia Zhongshu Zuo, hurriedly came to Kublai Khan's tent.
"Your Majesty Shi Tianze meets the Great Khan."
"Shi Aiqing. No courtesy."
"The Great Khan. Quanzi just sent back the news, saying that he accidentally learned a piece of news. The Southern Dynasty developed a firearm called a musket. This musket uses gunpowder as bait. It is quite powerful when fired. Its range is equivalent to that of a bow and arrow. But It takes a long time to reload ammunition and is not as fast as a well-trained archer. The muskets currently produced have been gradually equipped with the imperial guards of the Southern Dynasties. The specific situation is unknown. Quanzi felt that this matter was important, so it was sent back from the Southern Dynasties for the first time. Got the news.”
"Musket." Kublai Khan picked up a piece of letter paper on the table and handed it to Shi Tianze and said. "Shi Aiqing, this is intelligence from Tianya. It says that the Southern Dynasties developed an artifact called artillery. It is also extremely powerful. But the details I don’t know.”
After reading it, Shi Tianze said: "Great Khan, I thought that the emperor of the Southern Dynasty knew that his army could not compete with our cavalry, so he wanted to find a new way."
Kublai Khan agreed: "Well, Shi Aiqing, you and Ben Khan have the same idea. But I don't think the musket is very strong. After all, its dressing is slow. It is incomparable to my Mongolian archers. But that But I don’t know why the so-called artillery is so powerful. Isn’t it just a trebuchet? How much weight can it have? Yang Liazhenjia’s letter only claimed that the news came from Nanfeng. Although Nanfeng was just hearsay, Yang Liazhenjia thought it was credible. The probability is extremely high, but it cannot be confirmed. It is said that artillery is currently the highest secret in the Southern Dynasty army."
Shi Tianze didn't know who Nanfeng was. He thought for a moment and said, "Great Khan. Speaking of artillery, I remembered something."