eldest son of Ming dynasty

Chapter 324 New Divine Machine Battalion
"... I have read the records of the previous dynasty. It is recorded that Emperor Taizong established the Shenji Battalion. The firearms are powerful. The so-called Shenji muskets use iron as arrowheads and fire them. They can reach hundreds of steps away. They are as clever as In Yongle, Pingnanjiao, the person who made it, Youqiao, ordered his ministers to supervise the construction according to the law, and ordered the general to be the head of the Shenji battalion, and ordered the internal officials to supervise the Shenji machine gun at the border. Gai Shenzhi also."

"However, as I see it today, the garrison officers everywhere are using miscellaneous wooden guns and arrows. The national power of the Ming Dynasty is not as good as it was a hundred years ago. This shows that it is normal. I also know that it is necessary to get off the horse to rule the world. Does ruling the world include ruling the army?" ? Armaments are slack, we are weak, and if we encounter the police, what will our Ming Dynasty rely on to defend the territory?"

During the Yongle period, the emperor established the Three Thousand Battalion, the Five Army Battalion and the Shenji Battalion.

The so-called Three Thousand Battalion is the army composed of the Mongols who were beaten and surrendered at that time. At first it was 3000 people, so it was called the Three Thousand Battalion, but later it was far more than 3000 people.

The Fifth Army Battalion is an army composed of elite soldiers drawn from various provinces.

The Shenji Battalion is a unit equipped with firecrackers and artillery.

Various history books have their own explanations for what kind of firecracker was used at that time, but generally speaking, it was a weapon that could be fired by hand.It's just not as convenient as it is now.And not one firecracker per person, because it is inconvenient to load, so the Shenji Camp is actually a team of 57 people, of which 33 people are divided into three teams, 11 people load, 11 pass the firecrackers, and 11 aim and shoot.The rest of the staff defended with shields.

The trouble is that it is a bit troublesome, but this kind of setting achieves "the guns will not stop, and there will be no solid battle".In the era of cold weapons, the Shenji Battalion certainly showed their prowess.

Plus three thousand battalions and five military battalions.

Zhu Di relied on these armed forces to sweep across the desert, and Daming was also a guest of the barbarians.At that time, don't say that they invaded and plundered the frontiers like today. The ministers on the frontier reported that the Mongols might invade the Central Plains.is possible.Zhu Di will order the Ming army to sweep around.

Of course it did cost a lot of money.

However, despite the significant gap over the past century, the topic of armaments will still cause huge controversy if it is brought up today.

Because the money was spent, the common people were not in good hands, and neither were the officials, and then they characterized this behavior as the emperor's grandiose feat and militarism.

Once a war is really going to be launched, it is indeed true that hundreds of thousands of civilians will be recruited from all over the world, and it will be a waste of money and money.

"Your Majesty, it has become a national policy, and it costs millions of dollars. A small half of the country's wealth is spent on it. In order to fight against the Tatars, the imperial court spared no effort to rectify the horse administration and train the cavalry. There are also reasons for this. Listen Your Majesty seems to want to rebuild the Shenji Battalion, but I don't know where the enemy is going to deal with?"

It was not someone else who said this, but Zhang Mao, the censor of the left deputy capital.

Later, Lin Han, Minister of the Ministry of Rites, also added, "Qizuo Your Majesty. At the beginning, the wood used for the magic machine gun was called iron pear wood. Its wood is dense and heavy, red in color and heavy, and it can shoot three hundred paces. It was originally a tribute to Beijing at the age of Jiaozhi. , used in sharp guns. After Xuande, Daming withdrew from Jiaozhi, and the imperial court could no longer obtain a large amount of Tie Limu, unless it was purchased at a high price, but the treasury of the Ming Dynasty was empty, and a large amount of Tie Limu could only be aged and not used, so it could not restore the original splendor. The courage of the machine camp."

Zhu Houzhao said: "According to your opinions, the imperial court should give up firearms and leave him alone. In this case, why did Emperor Taizong set up the Shenji Camp? Emperor Taizong's martial arts and martial arts are rare in ancient times. Isn't he the Mingjun I want to emulate? If you say I spent a lot of money on this Forbidden City, you might as well dismantle it and sell it!"

"Your Majesty, calm down." Zhang Mao said: "The ministers are just worried that the court will spend too much. Your Majesty is not a fatuous master. The idea of ​​strengthening the power of the officers and soldiers is also the meaning of the title. It's just the second day of the Great Court Meeting. Zhejiang, Zhejiang have been fighting for 40 yuan to build the river bank for a whole day, and all they ask for are the hope of the people. The military equipment of the imperial court has been greatly improved, so why spend more money?"

Zhang Fuhua, the censor of Zuodu, also advised, "I heard that your majesty allocated a million dollars in the northern border to ward off the Tatars, and another 35 in silver to calm the sea. It is wrong to bring up firearms now! Your majesty is the first great treasure, You should rest with the people, and you must not become warlike and exhaust the power of the people in the world!"

Zhu Houzhao frowned a little, "I allocated millions of dollars in the northwest, and I used the money from Kaihai; in the southeast, I used the money from Haimao! You said that I don't rest with the people, which one of these money came from? Why do you pay more taxes?! I work tirelessly every day to revive the prestige of the Ming Dynasty, why do you think that this is a waste of people's power?!"

"From the Qin and Han Dynasties to the Sui, Tang, Song and Yuan Dynasties, all of them were strong in the early years of the founding of the country, but in the middle and late stages, the officials were corrupt and the army was abolished. Open your eyes and see, is it the same in the Ming Dynasty? If it continues like this Drowsy, is it possible that the Ming Dynasty will perish! And you Lin Shangshu, without Tie Limu, came to tell me that the court should just give up. It’s too easy for you to be a Shangshu. No, there is no one saying how to do it, if you want me to chop wood for you, then what use do I need you?!"

The emperor used to lose his temper.

But after so many years, it is actually less and less.

But today I couldn't hold back my temper.

The main reason is that Zhu Houzhao suddenly felt that it was very difficult to do one thing. He didn't bother with the treasury, but he still had to face a lot of resistance. It seemed that even if the emperor got some money, he should leave it to them to decide how to spend it.

Seeing that the emperor was angry, most of the courtiers did not dare to say more, and knelt down silently, all bowing their heads.

Zhu Houzhao flicked his sleeves, "Great scholars Li Dongyang and Xie Qian, ministers of the Ministry of War Wang Bing, ministers of the Ministry of Industry Zeng Jian listen to the order,"

The four elders stepped forward and knelt together, "The minister is here."

"I want to transfer a guard group from the top personal guards to the Shenji Battalion, and allocate 30 taels of money for the purchase of firearms!"

purchase?

When everyone heard this word, they were a little surprised.

"The imperial court asks the world to buy firecrackers. All skilled craftsmen, who can make firecrackers and cannons, can recommend themselves to the imperial court. The cabinet, the Ministry of War, and the Ministry of Industry work together to prepare for the test shooting ceremony. Those with high quality and low price will win the prize." , after winning, the imperial court will increase the price to purchase equipment for a guard! It is for the new Shenji Battalion!!"

After the announcement, Zhu Houzhao didn't want to say anything, "Retire!"

He hadn't been able to do that before.

But now the court is completely under his control, what about this and that, it's just a play when it's discussed as an issue, and I said earlier that the matter on the issue is not whether it should be done, but how to do it.

Since you want to do it like this, then don't act in this drama, just give an imperial decree, and do what you say.Anyone else dare to resist the decree?
In fact, when I put it on the last day, I vaguely thought of this possibility.

That's fine, it's over tomorrow anyway.

After the court meeting, the emperor was further exempted from the imperial court for three days, but the avoidance of the imperial court was inevitable, and the attendants would watch anyway to see if the imperial decree had been drawn up.

In fact, Zhu Houzhao had been thinking about the procurement method for a while.

For things like weapons, it is true that the court does not need to set up a research institute and invest by itself.Originally, it could also be purchased from the people. Once a weapon is decided, a relatively large factory can be supported soon.

The methods adopted in later generations are still scientific to a certain extent.

In this way, not all the money spent by the court was exchanged for a few houses, at least something could be built.

In the same way, war horses are also a kind of 'weapon' in this era.

Therefore, the imperial court allocates money for the officers and soldiers to purchase from the Taipusi, and the silver obtained from the purchase is used to maintain and expand the official horse ranch.Now the number of war horses is insufficient, so they are only used for the army, and they can also be sold to the people for transportation in the future.

Only when all the horses sold are profitable, this is a healthy model.

Of course, even if there is a profit, it is estimated that it is not enough to continue to expand the racecourse, so the imperial court has to allocate money to Taipu Temple, which is another matter.

What Zhu Houzhao is doing is to gradually straighten out these relationships and logic.These groups can tentatively be called quasi-state-owned enterprises. They need to grow step by step and become new groups with vested interests before they can fight against the old, conservative groups with vested interests.

The most important thing in reform is to cultivate new interest groups, otherwise it will definitely be death.

To put it simply... when there are several large arms factories that always need "orders" from the imperial court every year, they will naturally have the urge to gain political weight in order to maintain or even expand the firearms that Zhu Houzhao is currently proposing This line of thinking.

If someone says that there is no war, there is no need for these things.Simple, just create a war.

At that time, the farming culture will also like to wage war.Because one of the reasons for loving peace is that war does not make money.

If there are also a group of people in Mazheng, and they rely on this to gain benefits, then if the imperial court wants to abandon Mazheng, there will naturally be people who oppose it.

Now there are only a group of landlords in the court, of course they do nothing, and they take agriculture as the foundation every day, and let the common people become tenants and farm the land honestly.

It's just a coincidence,

As soon as the Great Court Meeting ended, it began to rain lightly.

Spring rain, the light rain on Tianjie is as moist as crisp, and the grass looks far away but there is nothing near it.

Cars and horses going back from various places were blocked by the rain, but it did not prevent people from taking pictures in the capital to have fun, listening to the rain and drinking tea.Several eunuchs held paper umbrellas, folded the alley and knocked on the gate of Mei Mansion.

There is a decree of kindness in the palace, and the Gu family of Meifu is allowed to enter the palace to visit the two nobles of Yongshou Palace.

(End of this chapter)