I was anxiously waiting for the news of the test firing of the musket in the royal study. This was the first matchlock gun in the world, and my eagerness was natural.
As soon as Wen Tianxiang entered the door, he said: "Your Majesty, the musket test was successful yesterday evening, but..."
I said nervously: "It's just something, tell me quickly."
Wen Tianxiang took a breath: "Back to Your Majesty, the furthest range of this musket can reach 120 meters, but the actual effective range is only a little over 30 meters. If it exceeds 30 meters, the projectile will deflect, and the speed of one launch will be
It’s also very slow.”
I breathed a sigh of relief and found that Wen Tianxiang was sweating. He seemed to be working non-stop. I didn't bother to ask him to rest and said happily: "The effective range of more than thirty meters is pretty good. I want to reward him well."
Lu Xiufu, who arrived earlier than Wen Tianxiang, said: "Your Majesty, I apologize for my stupidity. When I was in Yangzhou, I saw that the Mongolian soldiers' bows and arrows had a range of at least a hundred meters. The range of more than thirty meters is not enough to compete with the archers."
Wen Zhang also said: "Yes, why is Your Majesty so happy? From what I can see, the bomb is still powerful enough."
I knew that everyone still didn't pay attention to the musket, so I said: "My dear friends, this is just the first test firing. I believe that the range and speed will gradually improve. Secondly, it takes two or three days to train a qualified archer.
Years, and the musketeers only need one or two months of training to fire projectiles. As for the other advantages, you will naturally know them by then. Wen Zhang, the power of the bomb is certainly strong, but it is limited by manpower. Very few people can
It can be thrown fifty meters away, but the range of future muskets will be hundreds of meters away."
"Your Majesty, shall we start mass production?"
"Song Rui, just ask Yun Bofei to make a hundred muskets first. Firstly, the craftsmen will have experience, and secondly, the new army will be aware of it. A large number of muskets will be made after improvement. Also, Song Rui informed Yun
Bo Fei, in addition to improving the musket, its projectiles also need to be improved. Too light a projectile will also affect the range and accuracy." I then said to Wen Zhang, "Wen Zhang, the barracks at the foot of Luoshi Mountain have been basically built.
You will move there tomorrow and take over the outer defense of the Gunpowder Department, remember that."
"Wen Zhang obeys the order."
"Well, how is the training of the young guards going?"
"Your Majesty, everything goes well."
"Start throwing and aiming training as soon as you move here."
"Yes, Your Majesty." Wen Zhang said eagerly, "That bomb is very powerful, so equip it with our young guards first."
"That's not enough. Bombs are my secret weapons. The young guards are too talkative right now, so we can't equip them yet. You just need to practice throwing them well."
Wen Zhang said helplessly: "I respect your decree."
I smiled and said to Lu Xiufu: "Jun Shi, Xiao Tian has driven Tongle Building outside Lin'an, and your intelligence department has also infiltrated."
"Your Majesty, I have made arrangements. At present, the Intelligence Department has established eight strongholds outside Lin'an, and there are also three in the capital. However, Mongolia has not yet been able to enter."
"Well, it's already very good. On the Mongolian side, you can ask Zhang Shijie, who is from Mongolia, to see if there is any opportunity to break in."
"Yes, Your Majesty, Mr. Li of Yangzhou has expanded the military tax army to more than 30,000 people in accordance with His Majesty's decree. It is commanded by your general Jiang Cai. It is divided into 25,000 land troops and 6,000 naval troops. They are currently practicing day and night."
I nodded in approval and said, "Jun Shi, please write a letter and tell Li Tingzhi that Long Ya members were secretly developed in the original Yangzhou Army and the Military Tax Army. As one of the components of my new army, Wen Zhang is also secretly developing team members."
"Yes, Your Majesty." they both replied.
When Yuan Ji saw that we had finished speaking, he stood up and said, "Your Majesty, I have recently discovered that strangers often come and go near Shifeng Trading Company. They may be keeping tabs on them."
When Wen Zhang heard this, he said anxiously: "Stalking? Sir, who are they? Let Wen Zhang deal with them."
Yuan Ji said: "It's still unknown. The situation is unclear, so I don't dare to alert the enemy."
"Yes." I said, "Among them, Jia Sidao is the most likely Mongolian. When I was still the prince, Jia Sidao knew about this teahouse, and the Mongolians must also have done something good in the court, Xiao Qi."
"The official family, the younger one is here."
"Ask Xiao Tian to buy all the houses between the palace and the trading house in batches."
"Yes, little one, go and do it immediately."
"Jun Shi, the intelligence department is focusing on monitoring the movements of the Jia family, and also investigating Wei Quanzhong's villa at the foot of Lingyin Mountain."
"I obey the decree."
Yuan Ji said: "I also feel that it is most likely Jia Sidao. Maybe it was your majesty's prediction of celestial phenomena that attracted Jia Sidao's attention."
My views are the same as Yuan Ji's, but I am no longer as afraid of Jia Sidao as I was before.
After three or four months of getting to know each other, I basically saw Jia Sidao clearly.
Jia Sidao's greatest strength is that he is good at capturing the emperor's thoughts, and he can be called a master of psychology. His success is to create an illusion for Emperor Lizong of the Song Dynasty.
, Wu was able to compete with Mongolia. He was the only capable person in the Song Dynasty. Song Lizong could no longer play without him, and Song Lizong gradually believed it. After getting the power given to him by Song Lizong, Jia Sidao started to form cliques inside and outside the court for personal gain.
, eliminated dissidents, and blocked the real news from the border areas between Sichuan and Hubei with Mongolia. From time to time, he told Emperor Lizong that the Mongols were coming. Lizong was stupid and ordered Jia Sidao to deal with it. Jia Sidao made up stories to make Lizong
He believes that as long as Jia Sidao is allowed to take action, there is nothing he can't do.
Jia Sidao's power and strategizing skills were at their peak, but he was not able to bring peace to the country with his literary skills or to rule the country with force. Moreover, many of the important ministers in the court belonged to the Queen Mother's party or were neutral, so Jia Sidao could not completely cover up the sky.
Of course, it is not that simple to deprive Jia Sidao of his power. After all, he has been operating in the court for more than 20 years and has already been deeply entrenched. A dog will jump over the wall when he is anxious, not to mention that Jia Sidao also controls the imperial army.
However, the final enemy is Mongolia, and the Mongolian cavalry who have conquered the world are not vegetarians.
Thinking of this, I said: "When I travel in the future, more factions will be deployed in the surrounding areas. I expect that Jia Sidao will not dare to openly rebel. The only person to be wary of is Wu Tieshan's fellow sect, the Changsha Wu family. However, the Mongols cannot be completely ruled out.
Maybe, those men in black must have accomplices lurking in the capital last time."
Yuan Ji said: "I will arrange for the Longya Security Department to work carefully."
"Well, don't be anxious about this matter. Let's slowly understand the situation before making a decision. Tomorrow is the day of the mid-day court meeting. I want to discuss the current economic matters with the ministers. As you all know, the national treasury is empty now. Song Ruijun is really.
Any good ideas?"
Wen Tianxiang said: "I don't have much research on the economy, but since ancient times there has been a saying of increasing revenue and reducing expenditure, so I think we need to start from these two aspects at the same time."
Lu Xiufu said: "Song Rui's words are reasonable. From the imperial court to the government at all levels, it is very expensive. Compared with this, it can save a lot of money, but more importantly, it is open source, similar to the Department of Commerce in Dragon Teeth."
.Your Majesty should encourage agriculture, industry, commerce and other industries. Only when the people are rich can the tax revenue of the state treasury be increased."
"Well, my dear friends, what you said makes sense. Song Rui, I heard that you established a convenience store when you were in Ruizhou that day. Is this true?"
"Back to Your Majesty, Ruizhou was ravaged by the Mongols at that time. The walls and houses were destroyed, the people were brutally massacred, and the cultural relics and historic sites were looted. After Tianxiang took office, he implemented a lenient policy, tried his best to appease the people, and raised funds to establish a "convenience bank."
For the purpose of loans and relief, to restore local order."
"This convenience bank can be promoted. I plan to establish a Ministry of Economic Affairs, which is independent of the six ministries. I will consider it carefully tonight and discuss it at the meeting tomorrow. In recent days, I have been able to control the economy of our country, otherwise I will have no money.
Even if we make guns and cannons, we don’t have enough money to pay you salaries.”