prosperous age

"Major, how is it?"

After the military officer returned, Earl Robert asked in a low voice.

"Your Excellency, the muskets that the Ming Dynasty has brought out appear to be sufficient for the use of the Royal Army."

It seems to be about the same as the French muskets used by the palace guards.

However, the musket still needs to be tested, including its range and power.

It's difficult to judge performance by appearance alone.

The military officer answered in a low voice.

"I see."

After a moment's thought, Earl Robert said to Wei Guangde, "Your Excellency Prime Minister, the firearms provided by your country do look quite good."

But Major Grint said that further testing is needed to determine the effective range and power before the country can consider purchasing it.

"Of course, our muskets have been tested many times before production, and their performance is no less than that of the Ottoman Empire's muskets."

Regarding the testing you mentioned, I think we can arrange it immediately.

Upon hearing Earl Robert's reply, Wei Guangde immediately smiled.

If the British were willing to look and test, and if the performance of these muskets truly met the standards described by the Ministry of Works, securing orders from the British would not be difficult.

After Wei Guangde finished speaking, while the interpreter was still translating for Robert, he looked at Jiang Zhi and said, "Lord Jiang, is it alright to arrange for our guest to try out the musket?"

"Grand Secretary Wei, of course there is no problem."

Both the Ministry of Works and the workshops have places where you can test your guns, but I think it would be best to arrange it in the outer city workshops.

There, not only can we test firearms, but we can also display the arquebuses we produce.

Jiang Zhi said in a low voice.

Clearly, simply providing arquebuses would not satisfy Minister Jiang's appetite.

Since there might be war in Europe, let's sell more firearms there and make the fighting even more intense.

For the Ming Dynasty, no matter how far the fighting in Europe went, it had nothing to do with the Ming Dynasty.

Wei Guangde nodded knowingly.

How powerful is a musket? One shot might not even kill a person.

With artillery, if you're lucky, a single shot can pierce through several people like a string of candied hawthorns.

"Of course, we also hope to witness the power of your country's firearms firsthand."

After listening to the interpreter's translation, Earl Robert immediately replied.

First determine the performance of the firearm, then inquire about its price.

Among his entourage were diplomats who had participated in Britain's foreign arms trade, so he was confident that there would be no problem.

Perhaps, with a little delay, their ships could return to Europe with these firearms.

Britain's firearms stockpile is now very low, and much of the firearms it had previously stockpiled have been smuggled to the Netherlands to support local armed uprisings against Spanish rule.

The British currently have enough firearms to arm only a few army regiments, which is very dangerous.

At this time, England was still in the Dodor dynasty and had not yet established a standing army.

The only standing army was the palace guard, which numbered only a few hundred.

These people were actually British army officers reserved for war.

During this period, England typically employed the medieval model for warfare, namely the system of temporary conscription.

They established a "county commandant" system in local governments, which consisted of experienced military officers who were responsible for organizing the training of the militia.

In times of war, large numbers of militia are conscripted.

Fortunately, the weapons of that era were simple, mainly longbows, shields, and spears. Even with advanced firearms, it was not difficult to master them.

They were all very simple to operate; even when Wei Guangde was still a child, he was already proficient in using the musket.

The title "郡尉" (junwei) is actually the origin of the modern military lieutenant-level officer. In the various units established in Britain, most of them were companies.

Upon arriving in London, the officers who emerged there were mostly field-grade officers, serving as regimental commanders in various units.

Of course, these officers were nothing more than soldiers around the king when they were in the palace guard.

This system required that Britain's warehouses be ready to deploy large quantities of weapons for combat at any time.

Therefore, Britain's arsenal has always been kept full.

However, the 15th and 16th centuries were the period of transition from cold weapons to firearms. While England was able to mass-produce cold weapons, the production of firearms was far from sufficient to meet the demand.

Moreover, they also had to help other forces resist Spanish rule.

Fortunately, through privateering, Britain had accumulated enough wealth to expand its military and was truly able to purchase firearms and build warships.

Privateering revenue came from the Queen's money, so the British Navy has relied on the King's funds for development since its inception.

Whether it was building warships or recruiting sailors, it was all paid for by the Queen, which is why the Royal Navy exists.

Of course, the same was true for the army, except that the British army was later removed from the Royal Army.

The British Army originated from the New Model Army formed by Cromwell during the English Civil War. Most of them were disbanded after Charles II's Restoration, with only the Coldstream Guards remaining as the Kingsguard.

James II expanded the army to 2 men, but the Royal Army commander John Churchill surrendered without a fight during the Glorious Revolution.

According to the English Bill of Rights signed in 1689, the British Army is subordinate to the British Parliament, not the British Crown, and this remains unchanged to this day.

Therefore, the army cannot be called the Royal Army; however, many units within the ground forces have long used the title "Royal".

In fact, if England had retained enough longbowmen, their power would have been no less than that of firearms of the time, especially arquebuses.

However, due to the general lack of training among farmers, the poor quality of timber which was unsuitable for making longbows, and the rise of plate armor, England had to abandon its longbow troops, which had made great contributions in the Hundred Years' War between England and France, and adopt firearms as the main weapon of its archer troops.

Next, Wei Guangde arranged for Jiang Zhi to take Robert and other members of the delegation to the outer city training ground for weapons testing.

They were not taken to the more convenient Beijing garrison shooting range. After all, apart from the more than 20,000 elite troops, the rest of the Beijing garrison of the Ming Dynasty were utterly useless.

If the British saw this, it would only have a negative impact.

Wei Guangde, of course, would not go along, as the cabinet still had a lot of official documents to process.

Only in the afternoon, when I've finished processing most of the official documents, can I have some free time.

After seeing off Jiang Zhi, Robert, and others, Wei Guangde quickly finished the memorials in his hand, then got up and went to the palace to request an audience with the Wanli Emperor.

It is necessary to inform you in advance of the previous discussions with the British mission.

Inside the Qianqing Palace, a huge map was being unfolded by two eunuchs.

Wei Guangde explained to the Wanli Emperor, point by point, what he had learned from Robert the previous day, on the map.

The focus, naturally, is the Netherlands.

"A fight has already broken out here?"

The Wanli Emperor did not sit on his high throne, but stood with Wei Guangde in front of the map and asked questions.

"Yes, Anelia supported the local people in their resistance against Spanish rule, providing them with financial and weapons support."

Furthermore, this is France, and they are also providing weapons support there.

Wei Guangde pointed to the European region with his finger, allowing the Wanli Emperor to perceive it more directly. "And around here, this is where Spain is, this is the Holy Roman Empire, which almost completely surrounds France and the Netherlands."

They are all forces supporting the European Church.

Furthermore, Robert also said yesterday that in some parts of the Holy Roman Empire, wars were breaking out due to Protestantism and conflict with the court.

With a map, it became much easier to explain, and the Wanli Emperor quickly understood the current situation in Europe.

"They came here wanting to form an alliance with my Great Ming."

However, I already refused this offer yesterday.

Our Great Ming only accepts the submission of foreign states; there is no precedent for forming alliances with them.

Wei Guangde continued.

"Yes, I also think it should be so."

If you want the support of the Great Ming Dynasty, you have no choice but to submit to the Great Ming Dynasty and become its vassal state.

Emperor Wanli nodded slightly, not believing that Wei Guangde was wrong to directly reject the proposal to form an alliance with Britain.

In short, neither Britain nor Spain is worthy of being on equal footing with the Ming Dynasty.

"They want us to take action against the Westerners of Luzon, so that the Spanish troops in the New World can be moved to Luzon."

Thus, if Spain were determined to attack Angleria, it would face a shortage of troops.

Wei Guangde then shared his analysis.

Although Spain was the only empire in Europe that could rival France at this time, its foundation was not strong.

The Holy War was more of a war that emptied Spain's national treasury by hiring mercenaries from various European countries.

Well, at this time, mercenaries were very popular in Europe, and many countries were willing to pay money to hire them.

After all, apart from a few countries like France and Spain, most countries don't have the concept of a standing army.

Therefore, the modern military rank system originated in France and quickly spread throughout Europe.

"Master Wei, do you think the imperial court needs to take over Luzon?"

The Wanli Emperor asked very seriously.

Wei Guangde shook his head slightly and said, "Actually, it is very simple to expel the Westerners there, but once we do that, it will be difficult for the silver and gold mined by the Westerners from the New World to flow to our Great Ming."

Wei Guangde still had no intention of taking action against Luzon and planned to continue maintaining the Pacific shipping route.

At least, it was not appropriate for the Ming Dynasty to turn against Spain before it had established a foothold in the Americas and acquired the gold and silver mines there.

As for why at that time, it was naturally because Spain had long regarded the Americas as its own territory and would never share them with others.

Portugal only managed to maintain its colonies in the Americas after it had occupied a few outposts earlier, and it was only through the Pope's mediation that Portugal was reluctantly allowed to continue its colonies there.

Later, Britain seized the American lands from the Spanish through war.

At that time, Spain was truly in its twilight years, utterly powerless to resist.

However, the world always turns around. When the American Revolutionary War began, France helped the American militia resist British rule.

Then, the United States used force to seize the Philippines from the Spanish.

Land changes hands constantly during wars.

"In addition, during yesterday's discussion, the British mentioned their amicable relations with the Ottoman Empire and the trade agreement signed between the two countries."

Therefore, they proposed that our merchants could transport the artifacts made in the Ming Dynasty to the coast of the Western Red Sea and trade with their merchants.

They sold Ming Dynasty goods directly to European countries via the Mediterranean.

Wei Guangde paused for a moment before continuing, "After discussing it with several other officials, I believe it is feasible."

Previously, the Embroidered Uniform Guard had secretly reported that the Ottoman Empire, taking advantage of its geographical location, had cut off the trade routes for goods from the Ming Dynasty to Europe.

They imposed heavy taxes on merchants who transported goods from our Great Ming Dynasty, causing a significant decrease in goods exported from our Great Ming Dynasty to places like Arabia in recent years, and almost a complete halt to exports to places like Persia.”

In the past, Persian and Arab merchants were the main buyers of Ming Dynasty goods exported to Europe.

However, with the outbreak of war between the Ottoman Empire and the Persian Empire, this trade route was cut off, and Persian merchants naturally stopped coming.

If the goods can't be sold, then business naturally stops.

"What are the Cabinet's considerations?"

The Wanli Emperor looked at the West Asian countries on the map and simply asked a question.

"After discussion, we believe that we can choose a site here to build a city as a base for our Great Ming in the West. This will not only ensure that merchants traveling to and from the West have a place to stay, but also serve as a central hub for gathering intelligence from Europe and other Western countries."

After several years of construction, a battalion of soldiers was stationed here.

The Western Navy regularly dispatches ships to patrol back and forth each year, ensuring absolute safety.

Wei Guangde explained their plan to build a city near the West Red Sea.

Wei Guangde couldn't say for sure whether the location on the map belonged to Egypt or Somalia.

However, he knew that once they built a city there, they would be very close to the sphere of influence of the Ottoman Empire.

The area across the Red Sea, as well as adjacent regions, were all under Ottoman control.

From this point on, the Ming Dynasty would have to confront the Ottoman Empire, a behemoth in the West.

Wei Guangde also gave a detailed account of this to Emperor Wanli.

"Was the Ottoman Empire really that powerful?"

Upon hearing Wei Guangde's words, Emperor Wanli was somewhat skeptical.

Having grown accustomed to the Ming Dynasty's superiority, he truly did not believe that any country in the world could surpass it.

"Judging from the few words sent back by the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the records of the European mission, the Ottoman Empire was indeed very powerful."

At least, the European countries were powerless against them.

They were even able to wage war on two fronts, one in the Mediterranean and one in Persia, demonstrating their considerable power.

Wei Guangde said.

Wei Guangde didn't know much about the Ottoman Empire, but he did know that at its peak, the Ottoman Empire was indeed the only Western power capable of suppressing the Papacy.

That Papacy was not simply a church, but a theocratic institution to which almost all European countries submitted.

Moreover, hundreds of years ago, they orchestrated the Crusades, a large-scale war involving almost the entire continent of Europe, demonstrating its immense influence.

The Crusades were a famous religious military campaign launched by Pope Urban II that lasted for nearly 200 years.

Nine wars were waged by Western European feudal lords and knights against the countries on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean in the name of reclaiming lands invaded and occupied by Muslims such as Arabs and Turks.

The cross is a symbol of Christianity, so every person who went on the expedition wore a cross on their chest and arm, hence the name "Crusaders".

At that time, Jerusalem, which originally belonged to the Roman Catholic Holy Land, fell into the hands of Islam. In order to reclaim the lost territory, the Roman Catholic Church launched several expeditions to the east.

"Then we should build a city right next to them?"

Emperor Wanli frowned slightly as he spoke.

"This will make it easier for our dynasty to understand its true strength."

Wei Guangde replied. (End of Chapter)