The ruthless emperor in the late Ming Dynasty forced Chongzhen to abdicate at the beginning

Chapter 159
"Your Majesty, the concubine was a little presumptuous just now, and I beg your majesty to come down."

As soon as she returned to the palace, Hong Niangzi also calmed down, feeling that what she said in the hall just now was a bit rebellious, afraid that the little emperor would be angry, so she hurriedly knelt down to apologize.

"My concubine, get up quickly. The words that my concubine scolded Shi Kefa just now are actually what I want to say, but as the emperor, I am inconvenient to say some things."

Zhu Cihong hurriedly helped her up with a smile, he also wanted to point at Shi Kefa and those civil servants and scold them.

But after being the emperor for more than a year, he also understood a lot, knowing that the emperor should try his best not to show his face, so that everyone can't guess his thoughts is the best.

"My concubine, after I leave, the hundreds of thousands of troops in the north will be handed over to you. The towns only need to complete the reorganization, and there is no rush for training.

The 30 troops of the Fifth Army have been reorganized according to the new establishment. The next step is to send the trainees to be responsible for training, and to confer ranks on the middle and low-level generals and ordinary soldiers. Aifei must personally supervise these matters. "

Zhu Cihong asked her to sit beside him, and began to order her again.

"Don't worry, Your Majesty, the concubine will definitely supervise the conferring and training, but I don't know how the equipment of each army is now?" Hong Niangzi nodded, and then asked again.

"The new army needs to have a new look. Most of the new military uniforms and armor have been made, and the weapons, bows and crossbows should be almost made. That is, the firearms may have to wait another two or three months."

Zhu Cilang explained that the new swords, shields, spears, short spears and bows and crossbows have been built and can be replaced immediately. These weapons have been strictly inspected, and the swords and guns are all made of fine steel.

The new military uniform is mainly red. There are five pieces of trousers and cotton-padded jackets, including the inner jacket, outerwear and underwear. Many modern elements have been added, so it is very convenient to wear.

There are six types of armor.

One is worn by logistics units, pikemen, archers, and firearms soldiers. It only has an iron helmet, a cotton armor vest, a breastplate inlaid on the front and back, two leather wrist guards, and two leg guards. There are six parts in total.

Although it is simple and flexible to wear, its protection is the lowest.

One is worn by sword and shield soldiers. In addition to the above six parts, there is an additional armor skirt and a shoulder guard. The vest and armor skirt are also studded with copper nails. The protection is much stronger. Compared with the armor of the Eight Banners, it is also Not much difference.

One is worn by the cavalry, except for the helmet, vest, skirt, leg guards and wrists are all made of leather, but the vest is made of two layers of cowhide, with a layer of compacted cotton sandwiched in the middle, a heart guard at the front and back, plus Copper nails, big and small, can stop the bows and arrows of the Tartars within fifty steps. The arrows can only penetrate an inch of flesh, and cannot hurt the internal organs.

And this kind of leather armor for the cavalry is also the most expensive. If it weren't for the mutual market with Tumed's department, it would be really unaffordable.

The other two are mainly iron armor, one is black three-letter armor, which is strong in defense but cumbersome to wear, and is worn by lieutenant-level officers.

One is high-grade fish-scale armor, mainly silver-white, with the strongest protection, but also the most cumbersome to wear. It is also very troublesome to manufacture, and it is mainly worn by general-level officers.

The last one is made of pure gold, the style is mighty and domineering, and the front and rear shoulder helmets are engraved with golden dragons, which is the exclusive armor of the emperor generalissimo.

At present, the three-textured armor and fish-scale armor of the school lieutenants and generals have been finished, and the leather armor of the cavalry has also been finished. There are only two kinds of cotton armor for ordinary soldiers, and there is still a big gap.

In order to dress up the whole army, Zhu Cihong recruited nearly 25 artisans from Xuanfu Datong and Shandong, and incorporated them into the Ordnance Supervision. So now the entire Ordnance Supervision has [-] craftsmen of various kinds, half of them are in the imperial city. Half of them are in the industrial area west of the city.

"Your Majesty, is it possible that the horses of the cavalry are also ready?" The red lady looked surprised, she did not expect that His Majesty was so fully prepared, and the equipment was almost complete.

"Hehe, over the past year or so, we have traded a total of [-] war horses with the Tumed Department, so we only need a lot more war horses."

Zhu Cilang said with a smile.

The red lady also smiled slightly: "It's no wonder Your Majesty is so accommodating to Sister Duo'er." After speaking, she straightened her face and asked: "Your Majesty, the other concubines are sure, but the concubines with firearms are a bit unclear!"

"Let's go, first take Aifei to see the new-style firecrackers and cannons."

Immediately, Zhu Cihong took him to the firearms manufacturing bureau in the imperial city.

on the school field.

Holding a brand-new flintlock, Zhu Cihong demonstrated it to the lady in person. First, he took out the fixed bullet wrapped in oil paper, bit it open with his mouth, first poured some gunpowder on the medicine pool, and then poured out all the remaining gunpowder and lead bullets. Put it into the gun barrel and stuff it in with the oil paper.

Then he pulled out the thin wire on the gun body, inserted it into the barrel and stabbed it a few times, finally reset the stabbing bar, raised the firearm horizontally, put the butt of the gun against his shoulder, aimed at the target fifty paces away and pulled the trigger.

There was a bang, and a puff of white smoke rose around Zhu Cihong, and the muzzle flashed for a moment.

"Your Majesty, this firecracker can be reloaded so quickly, without using a matchlock, it really is a sharp weapon." The red lady looked at Zhu Cihong's series of movements, and she was also amazed.

"My concubine doesn't know, this is fired using the principle of flint to strike fire. The gunpowder and lead pellets are sealed in oil paper shells in advance, so it is very convenient. If you are a skilled soldier, it will be twice as fast as I just did.

And as long as the flint doesn't get wet and the muzzle doesn't get water, even a little drizzle doesn't get in the way. "

Zhu Cihong explained to her while holding a gun.

With the craftsmanship and craftsmanship of the blacksmiths of the Ming Dynasty, it is really too simple to create a firecracker fired by a stone.

It's nothing more than the spring of the trigger is a bit difficult, but it can be solved by knocking out a thin steel wire and using a winch.

It's just that after all, the thin steel wires knocked out are not uniform and round, and they are easy to break after a long time, and the stretching force of the spring is also weaker.

However, it is enough to solve the reset of the trigger. If it is broken, it will be replaced. As for the structure of the entire firing device, that is not a problem.

More than 2000 years ago, during the Qin Dynasty, the trigger for the bow and crossbow was invented. This kind of mechanism was really very simple for ancient Chinese craftsmen.

In the past, it wasn't that the Ming Dynasty couldn't make advanced firecrackers, but that all the money was greedy, and the craftsmen lived like animals. If they could make qualified firecrackers, then there would be ghosts.

Zhu Cihong's only contribution to this Suifei gun is to increase the rear sight from one to two and the modern buttstock, which increases the stability of shooting and greatly improves the accuracy of shooting.

"Your Majesty Qizuo, you haven't ... hit the target!" A eunuch trotted over and reported cautiously.

Zhu Cilang didn't care either, and smiled wryly at Hong Niangzi: "The power and range of this firecracker are enough, but the accuracy is too poor, it can only depend on luck, but on the battlefield, this accuracy is enough."

"Your Majesty is right. If thousands of these firecrackers are fired at the same time, the lethality will definitely be much greater than the same number of bows and arrows."

The red lady nodded, she didn't care about the accuracy, and said eagerly after finishing speaking: "Your Majesty, let the concubine take a shot too."

"it is good!"

Zhu Cilang handed her the fire blunderbuss, and then guided, but the fifty steps also missed the target.

Zhu Cihong also knew that if he wanted to improve the accuracy, he could only rifle the barrel and change the round projectile into a tapered one.

With the current technology, it is really difficult to engrave rifling in a small barrel, probably even more difficult than making a steam engine out.

So for the time being, he only plans to figure out how to carve the rifling in the barrel.

Installing a bayonet on the firecracker is also not a simple matter. For the time being, Zhu Cihong only let the craftsmen think about it, and at the same time equip the firecracker soldier with a short sword for self-defense.

For the development of firearms, as a modern person, Zhu Cihong naturally attaches great importance to it, but he is not in a hurry.

Because as long as you practice hard, the Han army in this era of cold weapons can sweep the world.

Zhu Cihong firmly believed in this point.

After trying the firecrackers, the two went to a larger school to test the cannons. This time, neither of them went to the field in person, but just watched the craftsmen's operations.

In addition to being equipped with the new Suifa guns, the Firearms Battalion will also be equipped with two types of Frang machine guns, one weighing [-] jin and the other weighing [-] jin.

The former mainly fires solid ammunition, while the latter fires shot ammunition. Zhu Cihong really doesn't like the artillery of this era. Not only is it less powerful, but it also has a slow rate of fire and a short range. Its role in field battles is very limited.

Only this kind of Fran cannon loaded from the rear can barely catch his eyes. Regardless of the lethality and range, at least the rate of fire is not bad.

For these two cannons, he just asked craftsmen to make an iron frame, and changed the four wheels into two, and it was very large, a full meter high, covered with iron sheets to increase off-road capabilities.

Therefore, both types of artillery only need a mule and horse to pass, and the latter [-]-jin small artillery can be dragged by three or four people, no matter how small or large it is, it is unnecessary.

Zhu Cihong never even thought about the cannon in red, it's almost as good as being installed on a boat.

(End of this chapter)