prosperous age

"We'll think about this later, but we have to hurry up and get the firearms back."

When Wei Guangde heard Tan Lun say that the production of bird guns was not enough to equip the government troops, he nodded slightly and said, "In addition, I have an idea. I invited you here today just to hear your opinion."

"what idea?"

Tan Lun asked curiously.

“I heard that there are many defective products in the manufacture of firearms, and the border town guards are unwilling to accept them.

They needed high-quality firearms, and they had to bribe the officials of the Armory and Arsenal to get them.

As soon as Wei Guangde said this, Tan Lun's expression changed slightly.

He knew this drawback very well. Whether he was an official in Fujian and Zhejiang or in Jizhen, he had to deal with these people from Nanjing and the capital.

Wei Guangde poked this, and Tan Lun did not want to hide it. He was also a military household, so it was impossible for him not to know this, so he smiled bitterly and said, "Shandai, these are old problems. Even if I was in charge of the Ministry of War, I would not be able to get rid of these bad policies."

Don’t think that being the Minister of War means you are the boss of the Ministry of War and can do whatever you want. It is not that simple.

Not to mention anything else, how did Ge Shouli leave the Ministry of Revenue in the first place? Wasn't it because he was sidelined and forced to leave by the people in the Ministry of Revenue?

It was only after Gao Gong turned the tables that Ge Shouli had the opportunity to return to the court.

Otherwise, his career would have ended here. If Tan Lun had abolished the malpractices of the Ministry of War, perhaps the assistant ministers and doctors would not have said anything, after all, they still had a brilliant career to look forward to, but the lower-level officials and directors might not have said so.

In fact, many problems in the Ming Dynasty were not unknown to the people in power, but they did not dare to take action.

There are unspoken rules among the upper-level officials, and so do the people below them. Even Hai Rui has to accept the benefits from the yamen. To be honest, these benefits are all money obtained by exploitation.

However, the money was not put into the pockets of the parties involved as people in later generations believed, but instead went into the government's small treasury and was divided equally among everyone.

Then, naturally, the law cannot hold everyone responsible.

There is another advantage of taking this kind of money. You can't accuse it of corruption because the money goes into a hidden public account and everyone gets a share of the money.

Upon investigation, it was found that a government office had been offended.

When Hai Rui was a county magistrate, he was not like other people who made up all kinds of excuses to increase taxes. He levied miscellaneous taxes on people below according to the actual needs of the county government.

However, he still had to collect miscellaneous taxes because they were necessary to maintain the operation of the government.

He couldn't change this rule.

"I'm not saying it's a bad policy, I just have an idea."

Wei Guangde looked at Tan Lun and whispered, "As you just said, the vassal states are not without insight, and they are likely to be interested in the firearms equipped by our Ming Dynasty.

Do you think it’s better to sell the things or not?

If we sell it, it will definitely have some impact on our Ming Dynasty. But if we don’t sell it, it will seem that our great Celestial Empire is always on guard against them and is afraid of them.

So I thought, sell it.”

In the surprised eyes of Tan Lun, Wei Guangde continued: "Sell those defective products, the bird gun only needs to fire 10 to 20 times, and then it will explode.

If they want the falconet, the barbarians are very picky about that stuff and generally won't give it away easily. We can sell it to them, too. It's the kind that can only be fired ten times before it's scrapped. What do you think?"

"I'm afraid this is inappropriate."

Tan Lun said with a frown.

"They take those things back and just test-fire them a few times, and then they start offering them as tribute.

When it is really needed, it will definitely be on the battlefield, where there is chaos and confusion. Who knows if a little too much gunpowder was put in and the gun exploded. "

Wei Guangde continued, "It's this quality control issue, we have to ensure that the firearm can be used fifteen or twenty times.

If it was too weak and exploded after two shots, it would be hard to explain. "

Wei Guangde knew that the Ming army's firearms were defective and would be scrapped after two shots and would also cause injuries. This was the reason why the Ming army was so afraid of firearms in the early days.

The border troops had better firearms, but the inland garrisons did not dare to test their cannons or guns for fear of explosions and injuries.

"Are you really going to do business?"

When Tan Lun heard this, he knew that Wei Guangde seemed determined to make this money.

Of course, this silver did not belong to him personally, but to the court, and the relevant government offices also benefited from it.

The key point still lies in quality control and whether the quality can be maintained.

"I'm afraid Shunqing has more say in this."

Tan Lun could only throw the matter to Jiang Zhi. He was the Minister of Works. He might not know about the Armament Bureau, but he was sure about the situation of the Military Equipment Bureau. Only he could be sure whether the firearms that Wei Guangde wanted could be made.

However, he knew that the quality of firearms varied, but he was not sure how to control them accurately.

“I will naturally ask Shunqing, but today I mainly want to see from the perspective of the Ministry of War whether this is feasible.

This kind of thing cannot be discussed openly and can only be discussed in private."

Wei Guangde spoke up, he knew the impact on the reputation of the court if the matter was exposed.

Therefore, this matter can only be discussed with someone face to face, and it is enough to know how to operate.

"If it is a defective firearm, it will certainly not be harmful to the court."

If a firearm can only be used ten times, then it is no different from a fire stick, and Tan Lun does not think it will have any impact on the Ming Dynasty.

"It's just a good loan, is it really necessary to do this?"

Tan Lun was not worried that the firearms could not be sold, but he felt that it would damage the reputation of the court and was a little hesitant.

Wei Guangde chuckled and said, “Brother Zili probably doesn’t know the huge profits of the firearms trade, so he would naturally say that.

Let’s talk about other things, but let’s talk about the Portuguese cannon. If we sell it to Korea or Ryukyu, I think it’s feasible to sell it at ten times the cost.”

However, Wei Guangde still underestimated the Japanese daimyo's enthusiasm for firearms during this period. Decades ago, the great pirate Wang Zhi was once the largest arms dealer in East Asia.

He sold Ming Dynasty goods to foreign merchants, and specifically requested matchlock rifles among the goods traded.

Because he told the barbarians that he would use these things himself, but in fact, many of them were sold to Japanese daimyo, and the price was simply ten times his purchase price.

Even though Japan's own blacksmiths can make cannons, they are consumables and will be scrapped if used too many times.

In fact, the largest workshop established in Japan ten years later could only produce 160 cannons per month, while most of the medium and small workshops could only produce one or two cannons per month.

Wei Guangde was not worried about the Japanese cannons because he knew that as long as he controlled the saltpeter, he could turn the Japanese cannons into firewood sticks.

To achieve this goal, the natural thing is to let the East China Sea Navy blockade the sea surface.

No matter whose ship it is, once we board and inspect it, it is forbidden to carry saltpeter to Japan.

As for the protests from the barbarians, just let them do as they please.

Tan Lun also knew the cost of making a bird gun in the Ming Dynasty. The cost of the labor plus the iron material would probably be just over one or two taels of silver, definitely less than two taels.

Because the industry was not yet developed at that time and iron was used in few places, the limited iron materials in the Ming Dynasty were completely sufficient.

The Ming Dynasty had a large population base, and the household registration system also provided it with a sufficient team of craftsmen to quickly and massively manufacture firearms, which resulted in extremely low costs for manufacturing bird guns.

Tan Lun was also a little surprised when he heard that the exported bird guns could be sold for more than ten taels of silver each.

The huge profits were so terrifying that he couldn't even imagine it.

What he didn't know was that the cost of making a cannon in Japan was enough to match the total cost of a cavalryman, from the war horse to the armor to the weapons.

In other words, the Japanese iron cannon is more expensive, which is equivalent to the value of all the equipment of a cavalry. "I can appease the Ministry of War, so it should be possible.

I will go back and instruct all the commanders to take back those unusable firearms.

But Shandai, you should also inform Shunqing as soon as possible, and you may even have to discuss this matter with the inner court."

Tan Lun agreed to sell some defective products, as long as 20% to 30% of the silver could be allocated to the Ministry of War, the Ministry of War could use the money to do many great things.

"Well, I'll keep an eye on this matter and there will be results soon."

Not long after, Wei Guangde stood up and sent Tan Lun out. He was eager to find out how many such firearms were in the armory treasury.

In fact, in the past two years, the quality of firearms manufactured by both the Armament Bureau and the Military Equipment Bureau has improved. Wei Guangde would not let the court spend a large amount of money in exchange for a bunch of unusable firearms.

But before this, the defective products manufactured by various government offices were still there, and the records showed that they were all good quality firearms, but they were just temporarily stored in the warehouse.

At the very least, the firearms received by Jizhen, Liaodong and Xuanfu were of excellent quality, and the same was naturally true for the firearms that Li Chengliang brought to the southwest.

No one would dare to joke with human lives by giving defective products to troops destined to fight.

After helping the South China Sea Navy clean up the warships, Wei Guangde found a channel to dispose of these defective firearms. Wei Guangde himself felt that it would be a waste not to do business.

In the following days, Wei Guangde continued to summon people from the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of War to learn about the situation of the firearms in stock.

However, Wei Guangde has not yet had any contact with the inner court.

In fact, the only people who knew that Wei Guangde was planning to clean up these firearms were Tan Lun and Jiang Zhi.

Forbidden City, Wenhua Palace.

"Master Wei, my friend said you plan to take me to Tianjin to watch the naval review?"

Today, it was Wei Guangde's turn to teach the little emperor, but before the lecture began, the little emperor Zhu Yijun had already asked questions out of curiosity.

"Then Your Majesty, do you want to go and see the navy?"

Wei Guangde asked with a smile.

"Of course I want to go and see. I have never been out of the capital even though I am so old."

When Zhu Yijun heard this, he immediately became excited.

"In fact, going to Tianjin doesn't count as leaving the capital."

Tianjin was established as a port during the Qing Dynasty. In the Ming Dynasty, it was just a garrison. Although the commercial prosperity reached a new level after the opening of the port, it was under the jurisdiction of the Bingbei Dao, which was considered to be semi-militarized management.

Most of Tianjin's jurisdiction in later generations is now under the jurisdiction of Shuntian Prefecture, and a small part is under the jurisdiction of Jizhou, Hejian Prefecture and Cangzhou.

"That's not bad. I've never been so far away."

The young emperor had apparently learned about the Tianjin review from Feng Bao, and it seemed that the palace had tacitly agreed to the matter.

"By the way, Master Wei, does it really take half a month to go to Tianjin and back?"

Zhu Yijun asked curiously.

“The capital is more than 200 miles away from Tianjin, and a fast horse can actually make the round trip in a day.

But your majesty will not be in such a hurry when traveling, and you can arrive there in five or six days."

Wei Guangde smiled.

"More than 200 miles. Five or six days. Oh, I see. It means 40 to 50 miles a day, which is the distance the troops can travel in a day, right?"

Zhu Yijun was well versed in arithmetic and quickly calculated the distance he had to walk every day.

“Your Majesty, I have told you that under normal circumstances, the maximum march distance is 40 miles per day. If it is more than that, the soldiers will get tired, which will not be conducive to quickly engaging in combat after arriving at the battlefield.

At the same time, forty miles would take most of the day, and the army would set up camp outside to guard against enemy surprise attacks, so the distance would generally not exceed forty miles. "

Wei Guangde reminded.

If the young emperor ordered the imperial carriage to march 50 miles a day, Wei Guangde was afraid that someone would fall behind, which would be very troublesome.

"Oh, forty miles is forty miles.

Master Wei, can you choose a few more routes to go back and forth? I want to see what the situation is like outside."

The little emperor asked another question.

"Of course it can."

Wei Guangde agreed after thinking about it. It would only take a detour of a few dozen miles, or one or two days.

The little emperor wanted to see the outside, probably because he had never camped before.

In fact, even in later generations, most people have no experience of camping, but they are still curious about it.

There's nothing wrong in letting the little emperor feel it.

"Great, then Master Wei, can you talk about the navy in today's lecture?"

Zhu Yijun has turned into a curious baby, constantly making his own requests.

"Okay, let's talk about geography today, and the next class will talk about the Battle of Poyang Lake."

Wei Guangde only took a moment to think about what to say in the last two classes. It would be a good idea to instill geographical knowledge about the Yellow Sea into the little emperor so that he could have an understanding of the sea.

In the traditional Chinese perception, the closest place to Japan in China may be Shandong, but in fact the closest place should be Shanghai.

Because the earth is an elliptical planet, and most of the maps people come into contact with are flat maps.

Due to the influence of mass and gravity, the earth continues to rotate and becomes irregular.

In the maps we commonly see, we are used to looking at the earth in two dimensions.

However, from a three-dimensional perspective, the arc formed by two points on the sphere and the vertical plane of the earth's center is the shortest distance, called the "great circle line".

This difference can easily lead to cognitive bias.

Wei Guangde learned all this from a program about civil aviation route planning in his early years.

Pilots use special aeronautical charts, not the maps we usually see.

So Wei Guangde spread out a piece of rice paper, and the eunuch next to him had already started grinding ink.

After the ink was ground, Wei Guangde picked up his pen and began to draw a simple picture.

In fact, there was a map in the Wenhua Hall, but if we don’t talk about the error of the map, Wei Guangde almost didn’t recognize it at first glance.

Yes, at that time the world map of the Ming Dynasty was not the "Kunyu Wanguo Tu" which was closer to the real geographical location, but the "Da Ming Hunyi Tu" drawn during the Hongwu period.

On this map, the Ming Dynasty has become a square shape. The Malay Peninsula and the Arabian Peninsula are gone. Instead, Japan almost dominates the eastern waters of the Ming Dynasty. It is a rather exaggerated map.

Therefore, Wei Guangde would certainly not take out this map, as that would only affect the little emperor.

Preconceived ideas are still very important, and Wei Guangde does not want the young emperor to be misled.

Picking up the pen and writing on the rice paper, Wei Guangde first determined the locations of Shandong, Songjiang Prefecture and Japan in the Ming Dynasty according to his memory, because in Wei Guangde's memory, these were almost three points forming a triangle.

Of course, there is Korea between Shandong and Japan, and Wei Guangde did not forget to draw it.

Then, Wei Guangde pointed to the map and said to the little emperor: "This is Songjiang Prefecture in Nanzhili, which is the port where the court decided to open the sea this time.

This is Shandong, the location of the East China Sea Navy that guards the imperial court." (End of this chapter)