prosperous age

Wei Guangde and Jiang Zhi discussed having the Ministry of Works increase the caliber of muskets and abandon the Ming system, which involved reducing the barrel caliber and length, in order to find a system more suitable for the Ming army.

As for the purpose, it was naturally for export.

At this time, plate armor was prevalent in the West, and the main requirement for firearms was close-range armor penetration.

Yes, the range of firearms in Europe at that time, such as matchlock muskets, was actually limited; they were only required to penetrate armor at close range.

At long range, they used a different type of heavy matchlock gun to kill high-value targets.

These types of matchlock guns all have a special support at the front to support the gun body.

It's impossible to hit the target accurately if the soldiers are holding it up by themselves.

Moreover, this heavy matchlock gun already had rifling inside the barrel.

The bullets were also driven in with a small hammer. The muzzle velocity of this matchlock gun bullets was very high, and they also had a spin, so they could be said to be able to shoot far and accurately, and they already had the prototype of a sniper rifle.

The arquebuses used by the Ming army did not have rifling grooves, so their accuracy was much worse than that of Western firearms.

However, when the Ming army acquired the Spanish heavy matchlock guns in Luzon and copied them, they also noticed the practice of rifling inside the barrel.

They also attempted to engrave rifling on the heavy arquebuses used by the Ming army itself.

Of course, ordinary bird guns do not have rifling.

Because if the bullet is still manufactured according to the barrel caliber after rifling, the loading speed can remain unchanged. However, the gas leakage caused by the rifling will also affect the range and power of the shotgun.

A shotgun with rifling must be slightly larger than the barrel caliber, and the bullet is hammered directly into the barrel with a hammer.

This type of rifled musket actually has another well-known name in later generations: "rifle".

The main difference between smoothbore guns and rifles is whether or not there are rifling grooves in the barrel.

The Ministry of War, naturally following Wei Guangde's instructions and referencing the Lu Mi Cannon, produced one thousand of these matchlock guns.

Actually, it was mainly based on the template of the Spanish matchlock gun, with some references to the Rumi gun.

Once firearms are produced, it's natural to look for buyers.

North Korea and Ryukyu had been interested in buying it, but Wei Guangde refused.

In fact, these two countries have always been the dumping grounds for the Ming Dynasty's phased-out firearms.

If they give you really good stuff, it'll be harder to sell your existing stock later.

When Wei Guangde was reviewing the documents from his westward journey, he naturally noticed the ongoing war between the Ottoman Empire and the Persian Empire.

As the Embroidered Uniform Guard continued its westward advance, intelligence from the Middle East was constantly gathered and sent back to the Ming Dynasty.

With this intelligence support, Wei Guangde had roughly outlined what was happening in the Middle East, which was actually called "Tianfang" in the Ming Dynasty.

The war between the Ottomans and Persians, also known as the Ottoman-Persian Wars or the Iraqi-Ottoman Wars, was a century-long struggle between the Ottoman Empire and the Safavid Empire of Persia in the Middle East from the 16th to the 18th centuries.

The two sides fought for a long time due to religious sectarianism, territorial disputes, and control of strategic Eurasian locations, and ultimately the two sides did not achieve a decisive victory.

The war was caused by the Sunni Ottoman Empire and the Shia Safavid Persians vying for control of Mesopotamia, religious leadership, and the Eurasian trade route.

In the Battle of Chaldiran in 1514, the Ottomans captured Tabriz with their superior artillery, and in 1555, the Treaty of Amasia was signed, dividing the Caucasus equally.

In 1578, the sixth year of the Wanli Emperor's reign, the Ottoman Empire broke the treaty and sent troops to occupy the South Caucasus.

The fierce battle lasted only a little over a year, during which the Persian army was driven back in defeat and offered no resistance.

According to the latest intelligence, although the war between the two countries has ended, friction continues in the areas under their actual control, with small-scale conflicts breaking out from time to time.

What worried Wei Guangde even more was the news coming from the Red Sea that, while suppressing the Persian Empire, the Ottoman Empire's influence was penetrating into the African region on the southern coast of the Mediterranean through the Sinai Peninsula.

At this time, the Ottoman navy in the Mediterranean was also a force to be reckoned with, capable of confronting the navies of Italy and France.

Of course, the intelligence Wei Guangde received was mostly from retired sailors on shore, and it certainly differed from the actual situation at the time.

In fact, by the eleventh year of the Wanli Emperor's reign, the Ottoman navy's power had already declined significantly, especially after the Battle of Lepanto ten years earlier.

The Ottomans lost approximately 200 warships and over 3 men, including the death of their naval commander, Ali Pasha.

Although the fleet was rebuilt within a few years, this battle completely ended the Ottoman expansion in the Mediterranean.

In the Mediterranean today, although the Ottoman navy is still powerful, it does not dare to continue to expand westward. Instead, it focuses more on land, gradually infiltrating and influencing along the southern coast of the Mediterranean.

The powerful Ottoman Empire was deemed worthy of attention after Wei Guangde convened discussions with Zhang Ke, Zhang Xueyan, and others.

Regardless, the political leadership of the Ming Dynasty regarded the Ming Dynasty as a superior nation.

Although the Ottoman Empire was far from the Ming Dynasty, it was unwilling to see an empire comparable to the Ming Dynasty existing in the West.

One can imagine what would have happened if they had actually ruled the West and conquered Persia.
With the distance between the two countries closing, it's hard to guarantee that war won't break out.

The Ming Dynasty delegation was visiting European countries, and at that time, the Ottoman Empire was attacking Cyprus, which was controlled by Venice, which alerted the Catholic countries in Europe.

Under the impetus of Pope Pius V, Spain, Venice, and the Papal States formed the "Holy Alliance" to unite against the Ottomans.

It's fair to say that in Europe, no country would speak up for the Ottoman Empire.

Aside from themselves.

Therefore, the impression given to the Ming delegation was that the Ottoman Empire was an extremely ambitious empire that was constantly expanding westward.

This impression was naturally conveyed to the Ming Dynasty's high-ranking officials through the mission's documents.

At least, Wei Guangde, Zhang Ke, and others thought so.

Once the Ming Dynasty's sphere of influence bordered the Ottoman Empire, war between the two countries would be almost inevitable.

In fact, this point seems to reveal the reasons for China's decline in modern times.

That is peace. Prolonged peace has made the Chinese complacent and caused them to lose their vigilance.

Meanwhile, in Europe at the same time, war was a constant occurrence.

This seems to confirm the idea that war is a driving force for a country's development.

Consider America, which has never ceased its military operations abroad, yet its national strength has remained completely unaffected.

There seems to be no talk of militarism or aggression.

The decline of the Ming and Qing dynasties was largely due to the fact that the Chinese people were not threatened by war and lacked a sense of urgency.

Even during the war between the Qing Dynasty and Russia, domestic propaganda portrayed the defeat as a victory, which was entirely false propaganda.

In fact, from the Kangxi to the Qianlong reigns, the Qing Dynasty suffered heavy losses in the wars in the north, and thus had to repeatedly recognize the legitimacy of the Russian-occupied territories after their "victories".

After all, the two countries signed an agreement.

Before the Ming Dynasty, China's strength came more from internal dynastic changes and external military conflicts.

Behind the splendid culture, war was actually the driving force.

However, in pursuit of "Qin Lu", everyone's attention has unanimously turned to China.

The Ming Dynasty's early abandonment of maritime power is a clear example, as civil officials calculated it was not worthwhile. Simply put, it was a result of unequal distribution of spoils between the previous and subsequent dynasties.

They would rather give up foreign trade and give the profits to maritime merchants than let the imperial court continue to bear the costs of maritime trade.

It is worth mentioning that maritime trade since the Tang and Song dynasties has actually been dominated by the government, or rather, it was mainly official trade activities.

Whether they were Chinese or foreign merchants, they all purchased "foreign trade goods" from the Maritime Trade Office to conduct business overseas, and it was absolutely not the case that Chinese merchants purchased domestic goods for export.

The government obtained huge trade profits through the maritime trade, a tradition that began in the Tang Dynasty and remained unchanged in the Song Dynasty.

Smuggling existed during the Tang and Song dynasties, but it wasn't on such a large scale.

It was only after the government abandoned the interests of maritime trade during the Ming Dynasty that the scale of smuggling merchants expanded rapidly, which in turn triggered the Japanese pirate raids.

Currently, the Ming Dynasty still separates Ming merchants from foreign maritime merchants by establishing port areas, requiring both sides to conduct trade in designated areas.

Correspondingly, the government also received the full amount of customs duties.

In fact, the maritime trade of the Ming Dynasty was not much different from that of the Tang and Song Dynasties, and foreign trade activities were still strictly controlled by the government.

"Siyun, since there has been no news from that merchant group, the Embroidered Uniform Guard should organize another team to go there as soon as possible."

The first priority is to find them, and the second is, if possible, to encourage them to continue seeking opportunities to make contact with the Persian Empire.

"You understand the court's purpose: to provide them with firearms so they can resist the Ottoman invasion."

Wei Guangde looked at Liu Shouyou and instructed him to continue sending people westward to seek opportunities to conduct arms trade with the Ottoman Empire.

Although the initial target was European countries, now that a nearby country has this need, it's only natural to try it out and make some money first.

"Yes, Your Excellency, I will make the arrangements as soon as I return."

Although Liu Shouyou did not believe that the people he sent out would encounter danger, some things are hard to say, especially when it comes to going to sea.

Every year, shipwrecks and loss of life occur due to the rough seas.

There has been no reply for a long time; perhaps something bad has happened to that group, it's hard to say.

However, what Wei Guangde and Liu Shouyou did not expect was that this group of Imperial Guards did not encounter any misfortune, but rather encountered problems in their communication with the Persians.

After landing at the Persian port, they were suspected of being spies by the Persian soldiers because they inquired about the location of the Persian capital.

The Persian Empire was now threatened by the Ottoman Empire to the west and was at odds with the Khanate of Bharat in the north, making the situation extremely tense.

In the early Persian Empire, it helped the Mughal Empire in the east to rise to power, and the relationship between the two sides was relatively amicable.

However, the Persian Empire is now showing signs of decline under the increasing pressure from the Ottoman Empire and the Khanate of Bharatiya Janata, and is in a state of panic.

Fortunately, this group of Imperial Guards was not stupid. They did not just bring firearms with them. They also brought a lot of Ming Dynasty goods with them.

They were only allowed to pass after they revealed that they were merchants from the Ming Dynasty and wanted to go to the capital of the Persian Empire to sell the goods they had brought.

However, it wasn't that simple. The Persian authorities had been keeping an eye on them, ostensibly to act as guides and lead them to Qazvin.

Qazvin is the current capital of the Persian Empire. The original kingdom of Tabriz had been occupied by the Ottoman Empire, forcing them to move the capital to Qazvin.

Gazvin, however, is not located on the coast but inland, an inland city near the Caspian Sea.

Although the Caspian Sea is called a sea, it is actually a saltwater lake.

In later generations, the Caspian Sea bordered many countries, so its shipping industry remained highly developed.

Access to the sea can also be achieved through canals such as the Volga River.

Of course, the journey is quite long.

Therefore, this group of Imperial Guards suffered quite a bit on their way to Gazvin with the goods.

These goods were not prepared by the Embroidered Uniform Guard, but were purchased by the guards themselves and some of their colleagues through joint investment.

Everyone knows that shipping is risky, so who would actually invest their entire fortune?

Moreover, this order itself carries risks.

However, because he was a merchant from the Ming Dynasty, he still received some preferential treatment.

Persian merchants frequently traveled the sea routes of the Ming Dynasty and should be very familiar with them.

That was a long time ago.

The expansion of the Ottoman Empire, especially on the Arabian Peninsula, was largely achieved by advancing along the coastline.

They had no interest in the sandy Arabian Peninsula.

Now you know, the Ottomans weren't stupid. Their expansion in the Arab region was aimed at severing the connection between that region and Europe.

In fact, controlling the flow of goods between the East and the West and reaping huge profits from it has always been the most important source of revenue for the Ottoman Empire.

As for bypassing Africa, the journey is so long and dangerous, they don't care at all.

In fact, if the Ottoman Empire had not existed, the most economical trade route for Ming Dynasty goods would have been to unload them in the Red Sea, transport them overland to the Mediterranean, and then resell them to Western countries.

However, the Ottoman Empire intervened and imposed heavy taxes on these goods.

Weak Portugal was powerless to resist, so it could only obediently continue its business.

Therefore, don't think that Spain and Portugal were very powerful during the Age of Exploration; they hadn't encountered any real rivals.

When faced with a tough opponent, they remain just as obedient.

Just as Portugal faced the Ottomans, Spain encountered the Ming Dynasty in Luzon.

This was also because the Ottomans controlled the corridors connecting the east and west; the trade routes that the Persians had previously maintained were now largely under Ottoman control.

The Ottomans didn't just impose heavy taxes on Persian merchants; they confiscated all their goods and even threatened their lives.

The merchants who were able to leave their control were either Arab merchants, Portuguese merchants, or their own merchants.

Therefore, in recent years, Persia's dependence on Ming Dynasty goods has become very low.

They were even more disappointed when they met Muhammad Hudabanda, the Persian king.

He was weak-willed, indifferent, and lacked political ability, making it difficult for him to effectively control the government. He also suffered from a serious eye disease that left him almost blind.

Communicating with him was naturally not very effective.

Besides selling the Ming Dynasty goods they brought, which earned them some extra money, the Ming Dynasty-made firearms they brought out did not receive much attention from the king.

In reality, during this period, the Persian army was still in the era of cold weapons, and the few firearms they possessed were captured from the Ottomans and purchased from Portuguese merchants.

They were still accustomed to fighting on camels.

They didn't believe they had the capability to provide equipment to the Ming Dynasty, which was only provided by a caravan.

The Persians did consider buying arms, but the Portuguese were unable to secure the deal, and the prices were too high.

Therefore, they were naturally uninterested in the proposal from the Ming Dynasty merchants. (End of Chapter)