In the cabinet office inside the north gate of the Chu Palace, Zhang Ning and five ministers were sitting together. Zhou Mengxiong and Yao Fang would leave Wuchang to take office soon, so Zhang Ning was present in person for today's discussion and had some things to discuss.
In addition to the six people sitting on both sides of the hall, there was also a subordinate serving tea, and another young official held a stack of paper and distributed it to the ministers present. There was some information written on the paper, so that everyone could understand the situation first.
In this way, Zhang Ning felt as if he had a meeting in a company in his previous life, and there was also a secretary distributing information.
"We are preparing to prepare a new navy in Jiujiang. We originally planned to build twenty main ships of the navy, 'Ping An Ship', but it seems there are still some difficulties. Let's see if there is a way to solve it." Zhang Ning got straight to the point.
He said, "The main reason is the lack of copper. A safe ship is expected to displace 800 to 1,000 materials, carry 200 people, and be equipped with 32 main naval guns, 30 broadsides, one at the bow and stern; each gun
It requires 200 jins of copper, and one ship requires 6,400 jins of copper; twenty ships require about 128,000 jins of copper."
Several people suddenly looked at each other, speechless for a moment. In the silence, Yang Shiqi made some calculations in his heart. If these copper coins were cast into copper coins, at least 26 million coins could be made. If the copper coins were mixed with lead, there could be more.
During the Ming Dynasty, the whole country was short of copper, and the mainland was even more lacking. Even coinage could not satisfy the demand, so the commercial market could only be filled with silver and banknotes. What's more, the few copper mines in the Yangtze River basin that were easy to mine had low output and poor quality. Last year, for
Casting the long-barreled cannon cost a lot of money and manpower, but it was scrapped and recast because the copper material was of poor quality and had trachoma. This time, hundreds of thousands of kilograms of copper were needed. Where to get it?
As a cabinet minister, no one could come up with a sentence, so Yang Shiqi had no choice but to say: "Suddenly we have to cast hundreds of bronze cannons. I am afraid that even the poor provinces of Hunan, Guangxi and Jiangxi will not be able to prepare them. Can we use iron cannons instead?"
"Iron cannons can only be cast into mortars..." Zhang Ning had to explain patiently, "The so-called mortars are those with thick and short barrels and heavy shells?
?The muzzle speed is small, and it can only be launched at a high altitude, using the weight of the shell itself to land to cause damage. To achieve accurate projection, high ballistic requirements are required, and the hull is unstable on the water, making it extremely difficult to hit the enemy ship... In this way, the artillery
We cannot become the main force in water warfare, and in the end we have to rely on angles of attack and close combat to decide the outcome. Our gunboats equipped with dozens of cannons are superfluous."
Zhang Ning felt a little disappointed for a moment, and sighed inadvertently: "We have to compete for water control. The number of ships, manpower and material resources are far inferior to that of the Northern Army. This is an asymmetrical competition in itself; so we also have to compete elsewhere.
An asymmetric gap is formed in aspects such as tactics and weapons, rather than fighting against them. With the power of our country, how can we defeat the navy with more people and more ships by using warships to join the side?
In the past few years, although our army has been victorious, it has been passively dealing with the invading officers and soldiers, fighting on the inside, and can actively choose favorable battlefields. Now the time is gradually ripe, and attacking the lower reaches of the Yangtze River will require us to turn from defense to offense.
The first step is also the easiest and most favorable direction, and the Navy will play a vital role."
Everyone has no objection to what Zhang Ning said, and they have already reached a consensus. The benefits that can be obtained by attacking Nanjing are huge. The rich people in Jiangsu and Zhejiang can gain a large number of people and financial resources, and Nanjing is also the first capital of the Ming Dynasty.
The political impact is not inferior to that of capturing the capital; it is also the least difficult. As long as you can control the river, there will be little logistical pressure. At the same time, the Ming Dynasty's armaments have always focused on the north, and almost all the force in Nanjing relies on long-distance deployment.
There are many problems when troops from other provinces enter the interior. The enemy's shortcomings are our strengths.
Therefore, Wuchang decided to expand its navy early. Before that, construction of the artificial canals and docks in Jiujiang started.
At this moment, Zheng Qia said softly: "There are copper mines in Yunnan, and the quality is good."
Zhang Ning felt confused after hearing this. Yunnan is thousands of miles away from Huguang and is completely outside the control of the Suzaku Army. What is the use of the copper mines there? Although the Suzaku Army claims to want to rule across the river, its actual strength is very limited. It is only a small
He is capable but not powerful, and most of the provinces in the south are unable to control... Tired... But Zheng Qia is a cabinet minister, and he is discussing matters in the lobby. Since he opens his mouth, he can't say anything casually, right?
What's the mystery in this? Zhang Ning was thinking about it, and Zheng Qia said calmly: "Why don't you meet with the emperor and talk about the matter of the Duke of Guizhou? The copper matter may take some trouble, but it is not necessarily impossible."
The so-called Duke of Guizhou should be the Mu family of Yunnan, and Guizhou is Yunnan. Apart from the Mu family, who else is more powerful than the Mu family? When Zhang Ning heard this, he suddenly became confused: Could it be that Emperor Jianwen and the Mu family also had
Relationship? It is true that Zhang Ning does not understand the situation in Yunnan, and few people usually mention it. However, Wang Muying of Yunnan is really famous. I remember that there are people from this family in the martial arts novels I read in my previous life... But Zheng Qia mentioned the Duke of Guizhou.
It seems that Mu Ying was not granted the title of King of Yunnan, perhaps he was granted the title posthumously.
For a time, Zhang Ning had to re-examine his "father" Emperor Jianwen. This emperor who once lost the country with his own hands now basically has no real power and has been ignored. But suddenly Zhang Ning woke up and Jianwen
In the end, Emperor Wen was the grandson of the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty. Even if he failed completely, his background was not that simple; but Jianwen was very forbearing after arriving in Wuchang. He was bullied to the point where the queen was arrested, and his eldest son was also suspected of being a victim of Zhang Ning's party.
, but he has never resisted and created conflicts. It is really not easy to think about it... People who have experienced great failures are indeed very calm.
Zhang Ning looked at Zheng Qia, but Zheng Qia seemed unwilling to talk more after mentioning it, and he didn't force it. Several important people here can usually get along well with each other and work together, but I'm afraid there is some seriousness between them.
It's hard to get along... There are people from the lineage of the King of Yan, and there are people who were rebels from the King of Han. They all come from different backgrounds and are so different from each other. Can they really trust each other?
"The navy must be formed." Zhang Ning put aside the matter for the time being and turned to Yang Shiqi and said, "I have something to hand over to Mr. Yang. I ordered the chiefs of all prefectures and counties to report the information on the copper mines in various places, and the cabinet will make statistics.
Then send people to inspect and evaluate the output. You can also ask people to contact those big businessmen to find out how much copper can be smuggled in from other places. In the future, the court will make a comprehensive calculation based on this information to see how many naval cannons can be built."
Yang Shiqi said: "Old minister, I will do as I am told."
After discussing the matter in the lobby, Zhang Ning weighed the matter and did not rush to summon Zheng Qia privately for detailed questioning. He thought it would be better to ask Yao Ji first. Yao Ji has been in the palace since she was a child, and has been a member of the Jianwen Yu Party for more than 20 years. She should know better.
Quite a few; and Yao Ji is more trustworthy and will try her best to help her as long as she knows.
Zhang Ning then left the cabinet yamen and entered the palace. When he arrived at Fengyi Tower, he learned that Yao Ji was not at her residence, but on the viewing platform in the south. One maid went up to inform her, and the other took Zhang Ning directly upstairs, because the maids had not been there yet.
I have never seen Mrs. Yao refuse to see the King of Xiang when he comes here.