prosperous age

The wedding of Emperor Wanli can be said to be the most important event of the cabinet this year.

Now that the important matters are done, the court will naturally return to normal and it is time to deal with the state affairs that have been delayed these days.

Zhang Juzheng brought Shen Shixing with him, mainly to deal with matters related to land survey in various provinces. The administrative affairs of the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of War, as well as the Ministry of Rites' matters involving foreign vassal states were all handed over to Wei Guangde for drafting, and the rest of the routine work was arranged by Zhang Siwei. The division of labor was clear.

Meanwhile, in Ciqing Palace, Empress Dowager Chen and Empress Dowager Li were also discussing the matter of granting additional favors.

The emperor's wedding was arranged by the court in a grand and splendid manner, but also in an orderly manner. The two empress dowagers were very satisfied.

As for the financial expenditure, the two palaces had already known it from Feng Bao. The total expenditure was about 1.5 million taels, which was commendable considering the current situation where the court was complaining about poverty every year.

"I think we should give them the title of Pillar of the State. Let's give Taifu Zhang the title of Left Pillar of the State and Junior Instructor Wei the title of Pillar of the State to show their hard work and great contributions."

The two Empress Dowagers discussed the rewards to the court. In addition to rewards of money and goods, some people were also to be promoted to higher positions.

It is easy to deal with the officials below, but it is difficult to give the two ministers of state higher positions.

At first, Empress Dowager Chen said that Wei Guangde should be promoted to Grand Tutor, but Zhang Juzheng is now Grand Tutor. No matter what, there is still some difference between the first and second assistants in the cabinet.

As for the San rank, both of them are now specially promoted to Guanglu Dafu, which is the first rank of Wensan.

However, in terms of honorary ranks, Zhang Juzheng was a first-rank pillar of the country, and Wei Guangde was a second-rank minister, so there was still room for improvement.

Just now, Empress Dowager Li proposed to give Zhang Juzheng the title of Zuo Zhuguo, which is the first level of honor, and to give Wei Guangde the title of Zhuguo, which is the second level.

In the honorary ranks, Zuo Zhuguo is the first rank, and Zhuguo is the second rank.

With this method of promotion, Zhang Juzheng has almost reached the top, while Wei Guangde still has room for improvement.

"This is a good way to seal it, but the position of the Prime Minister is almost at the top."

Queen Mother Chen hesitated.

"The Prime Minister is already the head of all officials, so it's OK to give him a title in the future."

Empress Dowager Li said, "As for Wei Cifu, he will be promoted to the chief minister in the future, and there are still opportunities for him to be promoted."

Except for the first rank in the scattered ranks, all other ranks of Wei Guangde are only first rank, so he still has room for improvement.

However, if you become a secondary support, there is actually not much room for improvement.

As for giving titles to civil officials, it is actually a posthumous title, which can be considered special treatment.

It was not easy for civil officials in the Ming Dynasty to obtain titles. The system of granting titles only for military merit continued until the end of the Ming Dynasty. In more than 200 years, only three civil officials were awarded titles for military merit.

The first one was Jingyuan Earl Wang Ji. In the third year of Zhengtong, Wang Ji and Jiang Gui attacked from different directions and fought for more than 2,000 miles, defeating the army of Adai Khan that was disturbing the border and forcing Adai Khan and Dorji Bo to flee far away.

From the sixth year to the thirteenth year of Zhengtong, Wang Ji led the war against the Si clan of Luchuan and led his army in three campaigns to conquer Luchuan.

Therefore, after making military achievements, Wang Ji was granted the title of Jingyuan Earl, becoming the first civil official in the Ming Dynasty to be granted a title for military merit.

However, Wang Ji was later impeached for wasting manpower and money, and was acquitted thanks to the protection of the powerful eunuch Wang Zhen. He later led his army to quell the Miao rebellion in Huguang and other places, and was granted a hereditary certificate.

It can be seen that he was a staunch supporter of Emperor Yingzong, so he participated in the "Dou Men Incident" in the eighth year of Jingtai, and was awarded the title of Minister of War, and was also given the title of Fengtian Yiwei Tuicheng Xuanli Shouzheng Wenchen and Guanglu Dafu.

A few months later, Wang Ji retired and had a good end. After his death, he was posthumously named Marquis of Jingyuan by Emperor Yingzong of the Ming Dynasty and was given the posthumous title of "Zhongyi".

The second was Weining Earl Wang Yue, who went out of the border three times to take over the Hetao area and attacked the Tatars twice in the Battle of Hongyanchi and the Battle of Weininghai.

Because of his military achievements, Wang Yue was awarded the title of Earl of Weining, becoming one of the three civil officials in the Ming Dynasty who were awarded titles for military merit. He was known as "Wang Weining".

In addition, Wang Yue was also the first Three Border General of the Ming Dynasty, an office mainly responsible for coordinating and managing military defense affairs in the northwest region.

In the 19th year of Chenghua, after the powerful eunuch Wang Zhi was demoted, Wang Yue was stripped of his title and exiled to Anlu.

After Emperor Xiaozong of the Ming Dynasty ascended the throne, Wang Yue was pardoned and returned home. In the tenth year of Hongzhi, Wang Yue was restored to his original position and was appointed as the Prince's Grand Tutor, the General Manager of Gansu and Liang border affairs and the Governor-General. Later, he was also in charge of Yan and Ning towns. The following year, Wang Yue defeated the Tatars in Helan Mountain, and was promoted to the position of Junior Tutor and Prince's Grand Tutor for his merits, and was ordered to manage the affairs of Hami.

In the eleventh year of Hongzhi, Wang Yue died in Ganzhou. He was posthumously awarded the title of Taifu by the court and the posthumous name "Xiangmin". Later generations called him "Wang Xiangmin".

The last one is naturally Wang Shouren, the Earl of Xinjian, also known as Wang Yangming in later generations.

In fact, the title of nobility does not seem to be a good thing for civil servants, and the first two had some relationship with the powerful people at that time, so they were often punished when the powerful people fell.

However, the two empresses dowagers did not know much about these things. They only knew that the title was an excellent reward.

Fortunately, they did not discuss this matter in front of Feng Bao, otherwise Zhang Juzheng would have submitted his resignation tomorrow.

You have already reached the highest position in the country, how dare you think about anything else?

"Then call the emperor. He has to issue the order."

Empress Dowager Li said immediately.

Afterwards, the young emperor Zhu Yijun was called from the Qianqing Palace to the Ciqing Palace, and the news spread quietly in the palace.

Because of his wedding, Zhu Yijun's previous habit of going to Wenhua Hall to study every day was broken. Although he still had to go to Wenhua Hall for classes every three days, the emperor was considered an adult after his wedding and had to start preparing to take over the government.

At this time, he was either in the Kunning Palace with the Queen, or in the Qianqing Palace reading memorials sent by the Cabinet.

Although the imperial decrees were approved by the Silijian, that was when the emperor was not in charge of affairs and the decrees only came from the Silijian.

If the emperor wants to be in charge of things, then he can handle government affairs anywhere and have the power to approve things.

For example, during the Jiajing reign, all the approvals were done in the Western Garden, and definitely not in the Imperial Household Department.

Emperor Jiajing would never let power fall into the hands of others and allow eunuchs to govern the country for him.

As for the appointment of Yan Song, it was because of his outstanding abilities. At least during Yan Song's period, the government could still function and could be maintained no matter how poor the country was.

In fact, when it comes to the ability to handle official affairs, the cabinet ministers of the Ming Dynasty are all very capable, and Zhang Juzheng is not necessarily better than Yan Song.

In fact, Yan Song did his best to ensure that Emperor Jiajing had everything he needed for his cultivation, while Zhang Juzheng completely met the palace's demands, and they both had similar attitudes.

The only difference is that Yan Song was relying on juggling financial manipulation to keep the court running, using three or five bottle caps to cover six or seven bottles.

Zhang Juzheng, on the other hand, faced up to the reality of the court's financial difficulties and tried every means to carry out reforms in order to increase fiscal revenue and improve the financial difficulties.

This responsibility indeed made him a rare courageous person among the prime ministers of the Ming Dynasty.

As for Wei Guangde, he was currently concentrating on the Ministry of Works, studying the flintlock rifle sent by An Elijah.

"The craftsmen in the Ministry of Works have disassembled and assembled this flintlock rifle many times and are already very familiar with it."

The official business of the Ministry of Works was assigned to the left and right vice ministers, and he only needed to take a look at their suggestions, so he had some free time.

Today, Wei Guangde went to the workshop with him to check out the research on the muskets presented as tribute by the British.

This was also the first time that Wei Guangde saw a British musket, but his expression changed slightly as soon as he saw it.

One of the two muskets presented by the British as a tribute was a flintlock rifle, which was being studied by a group of craftsmen, mainly disassembling and assembling it to familiarize themselves with its structure.

Only when you are familiar with the structure can you produce and assemble it yourself. This is a normal procedure.

There was also a musket placed next to it, which was also a gift from the British. It was a matchlock gun. Perhaps because the Ming Dynasty also had one, no one paid much attention to it. The reason why Wei Guangde changed his color was that there were several cartridges next to the gun.

Yes, it is a cartridge case, a breech-loading matchlock rifle, similar to the Baichu Portuguese rifle equipped by the Xuanfu cavalry, but smaller and more exquisite.

No matter how many Portuguese rifles were used, they could not get rid of the characteristic of the Portuguese rifle, that is, the caliber was much larger than that of the blunderbuss, and it could be aimed by holding it with both hands. However, when cavalry used it, firing with one hand would affect the aiming.

Therefore, although the Portuguese rifle is powerful to use, its accuracy is not very high.

That is to say, when a cavalry group fires, they can achieve a higher hit rate by relying on dense rain of bullets, which is the same principle as the line shooting in the West.

However, this breech-loading rifle, which was not favored by the Ming Dynasty craftsmen, made Wei Guangde change color.

At this point, Wei Guangde finally guessed why Europeans were not very concerned about the Ming Dynasty's firearms.

Of course, I won’t pay attention to things that others have already played with.

After they entered the house, the craftsmen bowed and stepped aside with their hands lowered.

Wei Guangde did not look at the flintlock, but went straight to the matchlock.

Soon, a craftsman came over and explained to Wei Guangde how to use the breech-loading musket.

The matchlock gun that uses a cartridge case and a simple locking device is actually a lightning gun.

"Master Wei, this matchlock gun is actually the same as the Portuguese gun, but according to the introduction, in order to ensure the safety of the shooter, not too much gunpowder can be loaded, so the power and range are limited."

The craftsman was still explaining the flaws of the matchlock gun to Wei Guangde in detail.

In fact, this is true. When Wei Guangde looked at the luxurious decoration of the musket, he knew who it was for.

Blue-baked carved silver jewelry, embossed gold, pearls and gemstones, it’s as luxurious as it can be. How can you be considered a noble if you don’t have that little money?

The barrel of the flintlock rifle next to it is silver-plated, and other parts are extremely luxurious, even more so than the breech-loading matchlock rifle.

The development of firearms in the West is faster than that in the East. In fact, there is a very important but often overlooked reason, which is comparison.

At this time, Western nobles also liked to show off their wealth, and initially their eyes were on watches that were exquisitely made and beautifully decorated.

However, everything changed when the flintlock rifle appeared.

Yes, a flintlock.

The flintlock's bolt is a wheel-type flintlock device, which is no less difficult to manufacture than a clock.

Spring wheel + breech, these two structures were very difficult to process in those days, so not only were they complicated to make, but they were also extremely expensive.

If you take a gun like this out to pick up girls, I wonder how much higher your level is than those village guys with pocket watches.

In the 15th century, European aristocrats were still competing to see whose clothes were more exquisitely made and whose pocket watches were more accurate. But when watchmakers switched careers to become gunmakers, everything changed.

The nobles asked them to make various types of muskets that looked unique, high-end and classy, ​​in order to show their own uniqueness.

With the huge amount of money injected by the noble lords, these guys naturally were driven to research various complex and advanced weapons.

They do not serve the war, but only the nobles.

As a result, not only did flintlock rifles appear in large numbers in Europe, but breech-loading matchlock rifles and breech-loading flintlock rifles also emerged during this period.

In fact, the revolver rifle that Wei Guangde asked the Ministry of Industry to research also appeared in Europe at this time.

This revolver musket can achieve continuous firing by rotating the bullet, and its firing rate is no slower than the bolt-action rifle that appeared two hundred years later.

Of course, due to the complexity of the structure and for the safety of the nobles, these complexly designed firearms generally do not have much power.

In particular, the breech-loading rifle has a big flaw, which is that it is not airtight. If you are not careful, the flame may burn the nobleman's already scarce hair.

It can be said that the design of firearms in Europe made a major leap forward in the 16th century, but they were not used in wars but for the nobility, and were good-looking but useless.

In addition, since these things were not prepared for the battlefield from the beginning, their cost is extremely high.

So even if there were practical muskets, no one would mass-produce them because the cost was too high and maintenance was complicated.

Is the design advanced?
Of course it is advanced.

Is it practical?
It seems that there is no practical use.

So, modern firearms actually only appeared in the early nineteenth century, and there is a reason for this: technology limited the development of firearms.

At this moment, Wei Guangde was only slightly surprised for a moment. It was only when the delegation brought back the revolver rifle from Europe that Wei Guangde was truly shocked.

"Have you ever used either type of firearm?"

Wei Guangde calmed down and asked.

These craftsmen are all experts in firearms, and only from their mouths can we know the advantages and disadvantages of these two muskets.

"We have tried it, and it is indeed quite powerful, but its power is limited because these two firearms cannot hold too much gunpowder, and the barrels are also a bit thin."

"This musket has a very high shooting accuracy. We suspect it has something to do with the lines carved into the barrel, but we haven't had time to try it yet."

Several craftsmen spoke one after another and gave their opinions on the two Western muskets after using them.

"line?"

When Wei Guangde heard what the craftsman said, he immediately became interested. He picked up the musket and looked at the barrel carefully. Sure enough, he saw several lines inside.

Wei Guangde knew about this thing, the rifling.

However, what Wei Guangde didn't know was that the difference between a gun and a musket actually lies here.

A musket with rifling is a gun, and a musket without rifling is just a musket.

Of course, smoothbore rifles are not an exception.

"Can you carve lines into the barrel of a gun?"

Wei Guangde did not say rifling directly, but according to the craftsmen, he said that there were lines in the barrel.

"We still have to try, it looks a bit troublesome."

The craftsman spoke.

You can't know the impact of rifling on firearms without trying. In fact, rifling appeared very early, but it was not widely adopted until later.

Because at that time most Western firearms were muzzle-loading, and loading was more difficult with rifling.

The earliest rifled guns in the West were all equipped with small hammers, which hammered the bullet into the barrel. This method was definitely not suitable for the battlefield.

Therefore, for a long time, rifled guns were exclusive to the nobility in Europe and were hunting toys for the nobility.

The gifts sent by the British were prepared according to the living habits of European nobles, so these advanced gadgets were accidentally sent to Ming Dynasty. (End of this chapter)