prosperous age

"bang bang bang"

"clap clap"

In the Beijing Camp training ground in the city, the sound of gunfire continued.

It was also here that the Longqing Military Review was held ten years ago.

And what is going on today is naturally the Wanli Grand Review.

The process is almost entirely based on the steps originally designed by Qi Jiguang, combining the parade and artillery drills.

Of course, this time the process was not completely copied from the Longqing Grand Review. After the Xuanfu Cavalry Battalion, led by Ma Gui, completed the cavalry drill, the remaining 800-plus Portuguese guns in the team were also demonstrated.

More than 800 small-sized falconets, operated by gunners, fired five consecutive times, firing more than 4,000 bullets.

This was not displayed in the last Longqing Review. After all, the Governor of Shaanxi Zeng Xin only built a thousand such firearms at that time.

Although the Baichu falconet is much smaller than the Western falconet and uses less materials, it still needs to be equipped with cartridges, so its manufacturing requires fine craftsmanship, and its manufacturing cost is even close to that of a medium-sized falconet.

With the resources of Shanxi Province and the allocation from the Ministry of War, this much can be built.

If there is more, there will be no money left.

After all, the army needs a lot of firearms, and we can't replace all the cannons with small guns.

The cavalry demonstration was far away from the viewing stand. Except for people from the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Works, and Wei Guangde, most people did not realize what kind of firearms the cavalry were holding.

However, this type of automatic musket still shocked the envoys from the three European countries.

This is the era when firearms are prevalent in Europe. As firearms technology continues to advance, the role of firearms in wars is becoming more and more prominent.

The use of firearms made wars more intense and cruel, and also triggered huge changes in the methods and tactics of warfare.

By the second half of the 16th century, the armies of Western European countries were equipped with firearms in large quantities, and the proportion of firearms in the army continued to rise.

Therefore, the European delegation was shocked to see that the Ming army had muskets that could fire continuously.

Nowadays, skilled shooters in Europe can fire three shots in two minutes.

But the Ming army's firearms could fire five bullets in two minutes, it was impossible not to be surprised.

Especially Robert and Drake. At that time, the productivity level in Britain was low, the lobster army had not yet been formed, and the British's own production of muskets was very low and could not meet domestic needs.

In fact, during this period, the British often secretly imported matchlock guns from the Netherlands through merchants and smuggling.

The Netherlands under Spanish control was the most industrialized region in Europe during this period. Whether it was shipbuilding, textiles, or other industries, it was among the best in Europe.

So, after the Netherlands became independent, after several wars, the Netherlands, or the Holland, gradually replaced Spain's position and became the new maritime overlord, winning the title of the Coachman of the Sea. This did not come out of thin air, but they did have the foundation at the time.

Drake's eyes lit up as he looked at the firearms in the hands of the Xuanfu cavalry, and he was thinking whether he should take two back with him.

Of course, he didn't get this kind of firearm to use it himself, but to copy it.

In fact, let alone technological property rights, that is fabricated by big capital in order to gain monopoly profits.

At this point, of course, there is no such thing as a patent. As long as you can make it, don’t worry about how others learned it.

Afterwards, a centurion team from the Jinyiwei personal guard entered the venue carrying ten multi-barreled muskets and practiced the firing of these firearms.

Although its power was astonishing, it did not bring much shock to the delegations from the three European countries.

They were naturally not surprised by something that could be understood at a glance, but the envoys from Korea, Ryukyu and other countries were greatly shocked.

Under the dense rain of bullets, it seemed to them that it was impossible for the enemy to rush up.

"Sunqing."

As the review was coming to an end, Wei Guangde took the time to quietly move behind Jiang Zhi and pull at the corner of his clothes.

This was certainly not some kind of homosexuality, but just to let him talk aside.

Stepping back, Wei Guangde whispered to Jiang Zhi, "Shunqing, go back and ask those veterans who make bird guns to see if you can combine the Portuguese machine with the bird gun and use cartridges to feed the bird gun."

Wei Guangde hadn't thought of it before, but the bird guns and the continuous shooting of hundreds of Portuguese cannons just now gave Wei Guangde some inspiration.

However, he also knew that the falconet was larger than the musket, so it was easier to make a suitable cartridge case.

The barrel of a bird gun is thinner, so it is somewhat difficult to make a reliable cartridge case.

Wei Guangde was not sure whether the craftsmen of the Ming Dynasty at that time could make such a bird gun, so he could only mention it to Jiang Zhi and give it a try.

"You mean to hollow out the chamber and put in the cartridges?"

Jiang Zhi was in charge of the Ministry of Industry and was familiar with the structure of firearms. He quickly understood Wei Guangde's intention and transplanted the Portuguese gun's cartridge technology to the bird gun.

"But if we do this, the range and armor-piercing power will be reduced."

Jiang Zhi immediately thought of the dangers of doing so. In fact, the difference in range between the long-barreled cannon and the falconet cannon is quite large, and the Ming Dynasty craftsmen have also realized that this is due to the sealing effect.

Therefore, over the years, the craftsmen of the Ming Dynasty have not considered improving the falconet cannon, as they have already exhausted all their potential.

However, the cannon-making technology learned from the trench mirror in the past few years still has a lot of room for improvement in the cast cannons.

We have to mention the meticulousness of the Ming Dynasty craftsmen. In fact, during this period they had already realized that the diameter ratio would affect the range of the artillery.

Now, their attention has turned to casting cannons with longer range, as well as improving shells and gunpowder.

In the past, Ming Dynasty craftsmen did not consider changes in the distribution of gunpowder, but Westerners noticed it.

Naturally, improved gunpowder became well known to Ming Dynasty craftsmen and became their goal of improvement.

At the same time, the knowledge about Western shrapnel bomb technology from the trench mirror also promoted the development of China's shrapnel bomb technology.

From the 14th to the 16th century, cannonballs were mainly solid stone balls, which were widely used in both the Ming Dynasty and Europe.

The Urban Cannon used by the Ottoman Empire during the siege of Constantinople was hailed as the best stone-bullet artillery of that era.

In the 15th century, artillery shells filled with black powder and equipped with detonating cords began to appear, and in the 16th century, more advanced howitzers and explosive shells equipped with fuses came into being.

The Ming Dynasty also invented shrapnel shells at almost the same time, a type of warhead known as a pomegranate cannon.

However, this type of artillery shell was very primitive and dangerous, so it was directly rejected by the Ministry of War during the grand review.

It cannot be used in this situation, fearing that the shrapnel shells will explode prematurely and cause a major accident. The summary of the firearms by the subordinates will naturally be reported to the chief officer Jiang Zhi, so he is also very familiar with the development of firearms, and his common sense far exceeds Wei Guangde.

"Try it first, make some and compare the pros and cons before making a decision."

Wei Guangde whispered.

After talking to Jiang Zhi, Wei Guangde went to find Liu Shouyou.

Today the little emperor went out of the palace to watch a ceremony, and Liu Shouyou, as the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, must be his personal bodyguard.

When Wei Guangde called him aside, he whispered, "Yes, Lord Wei, I'll arrange it right away."

Soon, Liu Shouyou called a few guards and secretly arranged for them to keep an eye on the delegations from the three European countries to see what they did and what they said.

Wei Guangde was also somewhat unconfident, so he planned to eavesdrop on the conversations between Europeans to determine the latest information on the development of firearms in Europe at that time.

He believed that even if these people were not familiar with him, they should know a lot of information that the Ming Dynasty could not find out.

As the grand review drew to a close, the Beijing Camp and the elite troops from various units conducted their final joint training. The Ming army's infantry and cavalry formations were constantly changing, and they practiced offensive and defensive formations, which also opened the eyes of the Europeans.

Well, Europeans didn’t have any military formations when they fought wars in the past, but because of the use of firearms and the limitations of firearms technology, they really began to study the role of military formations and make up for the shortcomings of firearms technology.

Although there were so-called ancient Greek military formations and Roman formations in Europe during the cold weapon era, most of them were formations arranged according to different weapons and could not really be considered military formations.

The truly advanced one was the Spanish phalanx, with spearmen forming dense phalanxes to defend against cavalry, and musketeers surrounding the periphery to deliver long-range attacks.

Relying on this multi-service coordinated formation, the Spanish infantry dominated the European battlefield for nearly a hundred years.

After the grand review, Emperor Wanli distributed the rewards that had been prepared long ago, and then returned to the palace accompanied by Feng Bao, Zhang Juzheng and others.

After sending the emperor back to the Qianqing Palace to rest, Wei Guangde received news from Liu Shouyou as soon as he arrived at the cabinet that the envoys from the three European countries had indeed visited the Ming army.

Of course, it was not only the three countries’ delegations that went there, most of the delegations went there to take a close look.

For vassal states such as Korea and Ryukyu that were relatively close to the Ming Dynasty, they naturally wanted to purchase arms from the Ming Dynasty. From Ming army armor to firearms, they wanted everything.

However, the three European delegations that Wei Guangde was paying attention to did not bring him such good news.

"You mean they were very interested in the Portuguese game at first, but they quickly gave it up after getting the hang of it?"

Wei Guangde asked anxiously.

"Yes, Lord Wei, I overheard their conversation and they said that the thing was not as fine as their domestic muskets, that is, it was roughly cast and low in cost.

But it’s too bad they won’t be equipped with this kind of firearms.”

Liu Shouyou told Wei Guangde what his men had heard, that not only were the Portuguese muskets not favored by the Europeans, but the multi-barreled muskets also did not attract their attention.

"They looked at the bird guns equipped by the army and actually said that this type of firearm was only used by them decades ago."

Liu Shouyou was still talking, but Wei Guangde fell into deep thought.

Indeed, European firearms technology should have been far ahead of the Ming Dynasty during this period.

Don’t think that the Ming Dynasty’s firearms technology was advanced just because it was so successful in making the Portuguese gun.

In fact, even the hundreds of Portuguese guns and even the improved firearms by Zhao Shizhen, that is, the electric gun designed by combining the bird gun and the Portuguese gun, were actually developed in Europe a hundred years ago.

The miniaturization of the Portuguese machine was definitely not unique to the Ming Dynasty craftsmen. Europeans had already started it before the Portuguese machine was introduced to the Ming Dynasty.

However, this breech-loading metal cartridge matchlock rifle was soon replaced by the latest flintlock rifle, and then the revolver technology.

Of course, this type of firearm did not appear on the European battlefield on a large scale, because the manufacturing requirements were very sophisticated, so this type of rifle was exclusive to the nobility.

In fact, most of the earliest breech-loading muskets were hunting rifles used by European nobles, and only they could ask gunsmiths to carefully manufacture such complex and gorgeous firearms.

In the Ming Dynasty, perhaps except Wei Guangde who had a hobby of collecting fine firearms, other generals were more willing to collect fine armor.

“By the way, after seeing the bird gun, the Spanish delegation speculated that it might be a replica of the Ottoman matchlock gun.

They said that the bird guns used in the army were very similar in structure to the Ottoman matchlock guns. "

Finally, Liu Shouyou gave Wei Guangde another shocking piece of news, which shocked Wei Guangde greatly.

Wei Guangde would never have thought that the Spaniards guessed that the technology originated from the Rumi gun just by looking at the Ming Dynasty bird gun.

Influenced by later generations, Wei Guangde did not think that the Ming Dynasty's firearms technology lagged far behind Europe, but based on the intelligence collected today, the latest firearms in Europe seemed to be perhaps thirty years ahead of the Ming Dynasty.

However, what made Wei Guangde scratch his head was that Europe should not have had breech-loading muskets at that time.

It can only be said that for the next hundred years or so, muzzle-loading rifles and even muzzle-loading cannons have dominated firearms technology, which gave the Chinese people an illusion.

In pursuit of the range and power of firearms, the West did not further research breech-loading technology after developing the falconet.

It was not until the development of percussion cap and fulminate of mercury technology that the transition to breech-loading rifles began.

But in fact, the breech-loading rifle technology has been developing slowly since it appeared in the early 16th century. It’s just that this type of weapon is a toy for the nobility and does not have the conditions for mass production and equipping the troops.

"All the information should be recorded, and a copy should be sent to the Ministry of Works, and then delivered to Minister Jiang in person. Tell him that no one outside the Minister should leak the information."

Wei Guangde finally said only one sentence to Liu Shouyou and waved him away.

From the beginning of the grand review, all the work of the court revolved around preparations for the emperor's wedding.

In fact, the inner court had already prepared the empress's golden book, imperial seal, crown and robes, ritual vessels and other items. The Ministry of Rites' wedding ceremony had also been approved by the cabinet and the two Empress Dowagers, but the final formalities had not yet been carried out.

Therefore, in the next two days, the Ministry of Rites submitted the wedding ceremony, and then Emperor Wanli officially issued an edict, "The deputy maid of the Wensi Academy of the Ministry of Works is selected as the Empress, and I order you to hold the imperial seal and perform the ceremony of accepting the marriage proposal and asking for the name of the Empress."

Immediately afterwards, Emperor Wanli appointed Duke Dingguo Xu Wenbi as the chief envoy and Wei Guangde, Junior Tutor and Prince's Grand Tutor, Minister of Personnel and Grand Secretary of Wuying Palace, as deputy envoys, to represent the royal family in going to the palace to perform the ceremonies of accepting the bride price and asking for the name.

After that, Wei Guangde temporarily escaped from the complicated work of handling memorials in the cabinet, and began to work with Xu Wenbi on the Ministry of Rites all day long to prepare for the wedding of Emperor Wanli Zhu Yijun.

The Imperial Observatory divined good and bad luck and calculated an auspicious date for the future empress and the subsequent wedding. Of course, Xu Wenbi and Wei Guangde had to go to the Imperial Observatory in person to watch the director calculate the best fortune, saying it was a match made in heaven, and after a lot of compliments, he announced the auspicious date that had been set long ago.

After that came Xu Wenbi and Wei Guangde. This time, the Minister of Rites Xu Xuemo was added to represent the royal family and go to the palace to perform the ceremonies of accepting the good news, accepting the bride price, and announcing the date of marriage.

Wei Guangde felt that even if it was his son's wedding, he wouldn't be so busy.

It’s not necessarily true that I’ve done a lot, but I’ve been checking over and over again to see if there are any omissions, for fear of anything going wrong.

On May 18, Xu Wenbi, following the imperial order, reported the emperor's wedding to heaven, earth and ancestors. The court then held a regular court meeting on May 19. (End of this chapter)