prosperous age

Guangcai Hutong was formerly called Coffin Hutong, but was changed to its current name because its name was not elegant. The former Wanggongchang Hutong and the latter Wanggongchang Hutong here refer to the Wanggongchang of the Ming Dynasty.

Wanggongchang is located in the southwest corner of Beijing’s inner city. It originally belonged to the Gunpowder Bureau of the Ministry of Industry, and was later assigned to the Armory Bureau. It became the royal arsenal and a place specializing in making gunpowder.

Precisely because it was an arsenal and a gunpowder factory, the Ming Dynasty located it inside the city instead of outside it.

After all, it is a confidential place and must not be lost.

But they were afraid that its explosion would affect the safety of the imperial palace, so they placed it in a corner of the city, about three kilometers away from the palace.

This was probably what the royal family and the court considered a safe distance at the time.

The establishment of Wanggongchang can be roughly equated with the establishment of Beijing city, that is, in the 18th year of Yongle in the Ming Dynasty. It was initially affiliated to the Ministry of Works. Later, the Armory Bureau sent a eunuch to supervise the factory, as well as more than 30 craftsmen and some temporarily recruited helpers.

Wei Guangde did not talk about this right away. Instead, he arranged other things before signaling to Tan Lun and Jiang Zhi. After everyone else said goodbye and left, Wei Guangde asked about the situation in Wang Gongchang in detail.

Although it was no longer under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Works, the craftsmen in the factory were actually recorded in the Ministry of Works' list, so the Ministry of Works still had some understanding of the situation in Wanggong Factory.

When Jiang Zhi heard Wei Guangde ask about Wang Gongchang, he recalled for a moment and said, "Wang Gongchang has been assigned to the inner court, but as far as I know, Wang Gongchang now produces about 2,000 kilograms of gunpowder a day, and it is unclear how much gunpowder is in reserve. It depends on how much the Ministry of War requests to take away.

However, it is estimated that there are at least 200,000 or 300,000 kilograms there, or maybe even more.

However, you have to ask the inner court to find out.

After all, the gunpowder used in the Burmese war was transferred from Nanjing, and the gunpowder consumption in the north has also decreased in recent years.”

After saying that, Jiang Zhi looked at Wei Guangde and asked suspiciously, "Shandai, why are you asking this?"

Thinking of what Tan Lun said just now, Jiang Zhi thought he had guessed the reason and smiled: "If you are worried about the shortage of gunpowder, just let me know that Wanggong Factory is not producing enough at the moment.

As far as I know, the Ministry of Industry also purchased a large amount of saltpeter and sulfur and other materials there in the middle of the year. I remember that the maximum output of Wanggong Factory should be about 6,000 to 7,000 kilograms per day.

So as long as it is needed, it can be produced in large quantities.

Every year, the Ministry of Industry purchases a large amount of materials for them as backup."

"Don't worry about the gunpowder. As far as I know, the Ministry of War still has more than 100,000 kilograms of gunpowder that has not been issued. Most of this batch of gunpowder is going to be sent to Shandong for the training of the East China Sea Navy."

Tan Lun also said: "If you need it, you can slowly transfer it out."

"The Ministry of War's gunpowder is also stored in the city?"

Upon hearing this, Wei Guangde looked at Tan Lun and asked.

“Yes, to ensure safety, gunpowder must be stored in the inner city.

This batch of gunpowder had just been delivered and was required to be shipped within half a month. However, there was very little gunpowder stored in the warehouse of the Ministry of War.

After all, every time you extract gunpowder, you have to report and get approval before you can pick it up, which is very troublesome. "

Tan Lun said.

"Why does the Ministry of War need to store a small amount of gunpowder? Is it needed by the Beijing Army?"

Wei Guangde asked again.

“No, it’s used by the military and city defense.

The gunpowder of the Beijing camp is reported and directly taken from the factory and transported to the camp outside the city for storage, but the quantity is generally not large, usually only 10,000 to 20,000 kilograms are stored. "

Tan Lun explained.

"Shan Dai, why are you asking about Wang Gongchang today? That is the business of the inner court. We should not interfere if we can. If necessary, we can just report it and follow the procedures."

Jiang Zhi reminded.

"Hundreds of thousands of kilograms of gunpowder are stored in the city. Don't you think it's dangerous?
It's not like a few firecrackers go off with a bang, but once something happens, it goes off with a bang."

Wei Guangde looked at the two men and did not hide his concern about the large amount of gunpowder stored in the city.

“Not really. Everyone who works there knows the power of gunpowder, and they usually treat it with caution.

It has been over a hundred years and nothing unexpected has happened. Shandai is worrying too much."

When Jiang Zhi heard that Wei Guangde was worried about this, he immediately smiled.

Tan Lun did not speak immediately. He thought for a moment before saying, "In the past, the army has made mistakes due to poor storage. However, those were extremely accidental incidents. Who doesn't know that the responsibility is heavy when guarding?

What's more, as Shunqing said, Wang Gongchang has been established for more than a hundred years and has never had any mistakes.

Shandai may be worrying too much, but during the wedding of His Majesty, it is necessary to remind you to strictly guard all gunpowder storage points."

"Is it possible to store gunpowder outside the city, such as building an acropolis near the capital?"

Wei Guangde suddenly asked.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Zhi quickly shook his head and said, "In the early years, that place was supervised by my Ministry of Works, and later it was directly incorporated into the inner court. Can't Shandai see the meaning?

Your Majesty must directly control the production and allocation of gunpowder, as it is a powerful military weapon and must not be lost.

If it was outside the city, it would be out of reach. Even if it was inside the city, I was still worried and asked the Ministry of Industry for it.'

"What if we build an Acropolis and let the Royal Stables guard it?"

Wei Guangde continued to propose.

"If the court gives money, the Ministry of Works will naturally be obliged to do so. What a pity..."

Jiang Zhi didn't finish his words, but his meaning was very clear: if you don't have money, you can do it.

This is the capital city. Instead of using the money to build the Acropolis, it would be better to use the money to repair the outer cities in the east, west and north directions.

During the Jiajing reign, the outer city was being expanded, but halfway through it was discovered that there was not enough silver.

Of course, the main reason was that Yan Shifan and others took advantage of the situation, reaped a lot of benefits and wasted a lot of financial resources.

But in the end, the court ran out of money, and the result is what we are seeing now.

"There is no rush for this matter. I will talk to the Prime Minister and the Minister of Internal Affairs and we will make a decision after discussing this matter."

When it comes to money, Wei Guangde knew it wouldn't be easy to decide, so he just gave a perfunctory answer.

"Shan Dai, are you really planning to bring the navy into the review?"

However, Tan Lun also took this opportunity to express his hesitation.

"It is natural that both the army and the navy should participate in the military review."

Upon hearing this, Wei Guangde laughed.

He felt it was very natural. After all, in every military parade in later generations, the army, navy and air force were all present. How could only one part be performed?

It seems that there really was. The North China Military Parade seemed to be held after the end of a large-scale military exercise, which seemed to be mainly for the army and navy.

Later, it seemed that the large-scale military exercise in Zhurihe was also like this, with the army taking the main responsibility and the navy having nothing to do.

Correspondingly, the Army and Air Force have nothing to do with the Navy's naval review. It is said that the Army has its own fleet and cannot participate.

"If that's the case, then it would be best to move the review to Tianjin, which is close to the sea and the navy can be deployed more easily."

Tan Lun said immediately.

Wei Guangde had already made up his mind at this time, and said with a smile: "Let's hold a fleet review off the coast of Tianjin. The court has invested a lot in the navy in recent years, and the coastal provinces have also spent a lot. We should let all officials see the results of the navy's construction.

The Army's Grand Review should be held outside Beijing. It would be troublesome to send tens of thousands of troops to Tianjin. The Beijing camp can still accommodate tens of thousands of people."

The Jingying Camp outside the city of Beijing is an extremely large area, and in the past it was home to a troop of 200,000 to 300,000 soldiers.

There are only tens of thousands of people living here now, and with the troops transferred in for military review, there are at most hundreds of thousands of people, so the territory is definitely large enough.

"The Ministry of War sent a document to Guangzhou regarding this matter, and when the navy returned, it was handed over to Yu Dayou, asking him to plan the fleet review.

Let Qi Jiguang be the advisor for the grand review outside the capital, and make sure it shocks the foreign envoys enough. "

Wei Guangde said.

I heard that when wars broke out among European countries, it was rare for wars involving more than 100,000 people.

In fact, Europe at this time also benefited from the opening of the Age of Exploration to obtain huge capital. At this time, there were many kingdoms in Europe, the largest of which had only tens of millions of people, and the smallest of which had millions of people, with a total population of only 100 million.

In other words, the total population of Europe at that time was roughly equivalent to the actual population of the Ming Dynasty.

On paper, the Ming Dynasty had a population of 60 million, but based on estimates of salt consumption, the population had already exceeded 100 million.

In most wars between European countries, the total number of troops on both sides would not exceed 100,000.

There were also wars involving hundreds of thousands of people, but that was in Ottoman Türkiye, and it is unclear whether it was actually considered Europe.

After all, it was an empire spanning the Eurasian continent, with most of the country's territory and population on the Asian plate.

Just as he finished speaking, Lu Bu suddenly came in from outside the door, walked up to Wei Guangde and whispered something in his ear.

"Oh, I see. Let him wait."

After hearing this, Wei Guangde said to Lu Bu.

"The cabinet has something to do, so we won't delay you. Shandai, do you have anything else to tell us?"

Tan Lun asked.

"I've said everything I need to say. If you think of anything else, we can communicate again."

Wei Guangde immediately laughed.

So, Tan Lun and Jiang Zhi both stood up and said goodbye.

After seeing the two men off, they saw Jinyiwei commander Liu Shouyou standing at the door.

When Liu Shouyou saw the two ministers coming out, he hurriedly saluted.

"No need, go in, Elder Wei is waiting for you inside."

Tan Lun said calmly, and then left the cabinet with Jiang Zhi.

Liu Shouyou watched the two men walk out of the yard before turning around and walking into the duty room.

"Sit, but what's the gain."

Without waiting for him to salute, Wei Guangde pointed to the seat next to him and motioned for him to sit down and talk.

Liu Shouyou sat down as he was told, but he only sat halfway before he took out a scroll of documents from his sleeve and handed it to Wei Guangde with both hands.

"Lord Wei, this is the distribution and approximate output of the Japanese silver mines that the Jinyiwei has determined."

Wei Guangde reached out to take it, unfolded it and began to read it.

The news that Japan had mountains of gold and silver naturally came from Wei Guangde.

However, he did not just release this news, he also ordered the Jinyiwei to investigate the national conditions of Japan on the one hand, and look for minerals on the other, especially the legendary Iwami Silver Mine and Sado Gold Mine.

Of course, he couldn't be so direct and point out the name of the mine he wanted, so he could only trouble the Jinyiwei to check all the gold and silver mines in Japan.

In addition to the text, he also had a simple map of Japan in his hand, which marked the locations of the gold and silver mines he had found.

It can be said that the entire map is already densely packed because Japan has so many gold and silver mines.

It can be said that almost the entire southwest coast of Japan is densely covered with gold and silver mines, and there are also many gold and silver mines distributed in the northeast towards the Pacific Ocean.

After some searching, Wei Guangde quickly locked on the names of Iwami Silver Mine, Sama Silver Mine and Besshi Silver Mine, but also Yunoo Gold Mine and Kurokawa Gold Mine.

Iwami Ginzan had already been developed on a large scale at this time, but the Sado Gold Mine did not appear on this list, apparently it had not yet been discovered or mined on a large scale.

"Mr. Wei, the output of gold and silver mines in Japan is really terrifying. At the beginning of the year, there were millions of taels of silver. It is simply unbelievable."

Liu Shouyou had seen this information before, so he was naturally very familiar with the content.

Earlier, he already knew that Japan had a lot of gold and silver. After all, spies did not send back intelligence all at once, but passed the information they learned back again and again.

So, Liu Shouyou naturally knew about this a long time ago.

The information sent back this time contained more information on the production of major gold and silver mines, which was an eye-opener.

Apart from anything else, the output of Iwami Silver Mine alone is extremely terrifying, with annual output of silver being stable at over one million taels.

"The Ouchi family? The Mori family?"

Wei Guangde looked at the record and couldn't help but read it out loud.

"Yes, Lord Wei, the Iwami Silver Mine originally belonged to the Ouchi clan, but the Mori clan was jealous of the silver mine's output, so they sent troops and eventually defeated the Ouchi clan.

Now the owner of Iwami Silver Mine is the Mori family, and they obtain a large amount of silver from the silver mine every year.

Right now, Japan and Japan are fighting over land and gold and silver mines, so this intelligence can only be said to be the situation at the beginning of the year. Now at the end of the year, it is unclear whether there have been any changes."

"The normal annual output is nearly 2 million taels, and the peak output was nearly 4 million taels. Haha, it is equivalent to the annual fiscal revenue of our Ming Dynasty."

Wei Guangde couldn't help laughing.

"Lord Wei, there is another piece of news."

Liu Shouyou said hesitantly at this time.

"You said."

Wei Guangde disagreed and spoke.

"The people sent by the Jinyiwei discovered that not only a large number of our Ming coins were circulating in Japan, but also Tongbao coins appeared."

Liu Shouyou's words were very subtle. As for the making of coins, ancient Chinese coins have been in circulation for a long time.

But the Tongbao he mentioned is certainly not the copper coin that was minted in the past, but the main Ming silver coin that has only been used in the last two or three years.

Wei Guangde's expression did not change at all, he just asked calmly: "Are you saying that silver treasure appeared in Japan?"

"Yes, it should have been circulated in the last two years."

The rest of the words were not spoken, but the meaning was very clear: there were Ming Dynasty merchants secretly smuggling into Japan.

"Does Japan and Korea have trade?"

Wei Guangde suddenly asked.

"Have."

After hearing Wei Guangde's words, Liu Shouyou immediately knew what to say, but this was also the fact.

"North Korea does buy goods produced in our Ming Dynasty into Japan. Such transactions occur every year."

Liu Shouyou continued.

The Ming Dynasty prohibited trade with Japan, but did not require its vassal states to do the same.

In fact, not only Korea traded with Japan, but Ryukyu also did such business.

"Is Japan still in chaos?"

Wei Guangde suddenly asked again.

"Indeed, but intelligence shows that the most powerful daimyo in Japan today is Oda Nobunaga, who has conquered almost all of the daimyo."

Liu Shouyou said immediately.

"Besides him, is there anyone else?"

Wei Guangde frowned and asked again.

"The Tokugawa family and the Shimazu clan in Kyushu are also quite powerful."

Liu Shouyou reported.

At this time, Oda Nobunaga was actually just one step away from unifying Japan.

However, the kick was not delivered in the end. (End of this chapter)