I, the Ming Dynasty, can still save me

Chapter 6
In the Ming Dynasty, morning dynasties were not held every day. During the Wanli period, Zhang Juzheng stipulated that within a ten-day period, morning dynasties should be held on three or nine days, and no dynasties should be held on other days.

Zhu Youxiao also followed this system, otherwise no one would be able to bear it if he got up so early every day.

After these few days of training, Zhu Youxiao is basically more proficient in the procedures of government affairs.

After a brief breakfast, he looked at the table of contents that Wang An had drafted to see which of the more important memorials needed to be addressed.

After briefly reading a few memorials, Wang An came to report that Xu Guangqi had arrived. Zhu Youxiao couldn't help but be surprised how he was so fast.

It turns out that Xu Guangqi is training troops in Tongzhou and has been living in Beijing these days. After receiving the order yesterday, he was also panicking. I don't know what it meant. Did the new emperor pay attention to the military training?But he also prepared overnight and waited outside the palace for an interview.

Zhu Youxiao greeted him and asked him to come in. A thin-faced official in his sixties walked in under the leadership of the eunuch. After kneeling down and bowing, Zhu Youxiao immediately offered him a seat.
He looked around for a while and was full of curiosity about China's No. 1 person who truly opened his eyes to the world.
"Have Xu Qing had your meal? Companion, please go to the imperial kitchen to see if there is anything to eat and bring some over."

Zhu Youxiao gave Wang An instructions,
"Thank you, Your Majesty. I also ate something to satisfy my hunger before coming here, so I don't need to bother you anymore."

"It's okay. I'm afraid of a lot of things today. It's okay to eat more."

Then he turned his head and motioned for Xu Guangqi to sit down and said

"Yesterday I saw Aiqing's memorial. In the 46th year of Wanli, the imperial court suffered a defeat in Liaodong, so you proposed to train troops to prepare for war. The emperor agreed and allowed troops to be trained in Tongzhou.

I think the results were remarkable at first, but officials from the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Household Affairs blocked it, causing the troop training to progress slowly. Is this possible? "

After Xu Guangqi heard this, he really thought about it.

"Your Majesty, this is true. When it comes to military training, food, wages and weapons are the most important. Without military wages, it is like a tree without roots or water without a source, and it cannot be accomplished.

I originally trained [-] troops in Tongzhou. Not only did I have no food, pay and weapons, but my troops and horses were continuously mobilized, but now there are only a few thousand weak and weak, and I don't know what to do. "

Zhu Youxiao was really annoyed after hearing this, but he also understood that this was the current situation of officialdom in the late Ming Dynasty. Officials fought with each other and did not cooperate with each other, resulting in extremely low efficiency.He turned around and told Wang An:

"Big companion, go and call the Chief Assistant Fang Congzhe and the Minister of War Huang Jiashan."

Wang An hurried out and asked the young eunuch to find Fang Congzhe and others.

After finishing his instructions, Zhu Youxiao immediately said to Xu Guangqi:
"I just learned about this and don't know the whole story. When Huang Jiashan and others come over later, I want to ask them what the reason is? Your Majesty approves of your military training. If you succeed, it will The war in Liaodong was also very beneficial, but now the Ministry of War is obstructing it wantonly, what is its motive?"

Xu Guangqi stood up quickly and said:

"Your Majesty, the training of troops in Tongzhou is approved by the cabinet, and the chief minister Fang also approves it. There may be other hidden reasons because there are no weapons. If this matter leads to a quarrel between your majesty and the ministers, I will never give up. "

"Since the cabinet approves it, the Ministry of War should support it. Why are they pushing the blame? They will know the specific reason when they come here."

What Zhu Youxiao said made Xu Guangqi helpless.

I saw Zhu Youxiao say again: "I called you here today. One is about your memorial, and the other is. Yesterday, I looked through your previous memorial and found that you had written ten strategies for military training to the emperor. One of the suggestions is to purchase Fran machine guns and cannons, but I don’t know if this is the case.”

After Xu Guangqi heard this, he instantly became energetic. At this time, he had converted to Catholicism, had contact with many missionaries, and understood that Western technology and firearms were advanced.

So last year, he submitted a letter suggesting buying Portuguese cannons, but the government did not pay attention to it at all, so it was ignored. Now that the emperor was actually interested, he suddenly became more energetic and wanted to tell the emperor properly:
"Your Majesty, I do have this proposal, but the proposed purchase is not the Fo Lang machine cannon. The Fo Lang machine cannon had been introduced to the Ming Dynasty during the Jiajing period, and the imperial court also imitated it. There are many types, but its size is small and its range is limited. Short and poor accuracy.

As for the Hongyi cannon, this kind of cannon was sent to Macau from the Hongyi people. It is larger than the Folangji. The big one is one foot long. It can be eaten by three or four people. It has a caliber of three inches. According to Western priests, after firing, it can move within twenty or thirty miles. , broke the giant trees, and penetrated the fortified city "indestructible". "

After Zhu Youxiao heard this, he suddenly understood that the Hongyi people in Macao were the Portuguese, and the Hongyi cannon was the red cannon.This made Zhu Youxiao suddenly interested.This Hongyi cannon was also very powerful, and Yuan Chonghuan used it to seriously injure Nurhaci in the Battle of Ningyuan.

"It seems that this cannon is really good, but I don't know how much the Hongyi cannon is worth. Will Hongyi sell it?"

"Your Majesty, the red barbarians are seeking profit. During the Zhengde period, the red barbarians rented a land in Macao for 500 taels. It has been hundreds of years. Now the red barbarians gather in Macao, with many business travelers. They gather in Macao to trade with China, seek Chinese goods, and make a lot of profits.

The barbarians value profits.If you ask for artillery with a heavy reward, the technician will readily agree.

In June of this year, I also conspired with Guanglu Shaoqing Li Zhizao and others to send people to Macau to purchase Hongyi cannons.I received a letter a few days ago saying that I have purchased four doors and are preparing to send them to the capital. "

"Okay", Zhu Youxiao couldn't help but be overjoyed when he heard it.He really underestimated the wisdom of the ancients.

In fact, the Ming Dynasty paid much more attention to Western artillery than we imagined. During the Chongzhen period, a Portuguese mercenary was specially hired to train artillery troops in Leiden during the Ming Dynasty.

But this force finally rebelled, crossed the sea to Liaodong, and took refuge in Houjin. Their leaders were Kong Youde, Shang Kexi, and Geng Jingzhong, making the artillery of Houjin surpass the Ming Dynasty in one fell swoop.

Zhu Youxiao also knew the importance of the Hongyi cannon, which was one of the things he had planned for a long time, but he never expected that people of this era would see the importance of the cannon early and put it into practice.

However, the quantity purchased at present is also small. Now, not only do they need to buy, but they also need to be made, as far as he knows.The cannon-casting technology of the Ming Dynasty was not weak in the first place, and it was completely feasible to imitate it in large quantities. What's more, Xu Guangqi also had a famous student under his command, Sun Yuanhua, an expert on Ming Dynasty firearms.

"Xu Aiqing, after purchasing four artillery pieces, can order them to be sent to the capital as quickly as possible. At the same time, those in Macau will not have to return.

Let him continue to purchase artillery in Macau, hire technicians, and come to Beijing for further casting.I gave [-] yuan from internal funds and asked the cabinet to issue a document to the Chief Envoy of Guangdong to cooperate in the purchase of artillery. "

Xu Guangqi couldn't help but be overjoyed when he heard that. He had suggested buying it several times before, but none of them took it seriously. He had to buy it himself first and then show the effect to the court. Zhu Youxiao's approval undoubtedly gave him reassurance and allowed him to put his mind to it. Use your hands and feet to do it.He quickly knelt down and thanked him.

"Your Majesty is wise. Compared with the Jurchens, the advantage of the imperial court is that it is fully equipped and has many firearms. In firearms warfare, it is to defeat the few with more, and to defeat the smaller with the big. Nowadays, the imperial court purchases more and casts more firearms, so it must defeat the few with more. The big defeats the small. If it lasts for a long time, it will definitely win against the Jurchens."

After Zhu Youxiao heard this, he felt that what Xu Guangqi said made sense, but artillery must not only be made, but also refined. There were many firearms in the Ming Dynasty, and the manufacturing volume was huge, but many of them were crudely made, of extremely poor quality, and could not be used at all.

But just when he was about to ask Xu Guangqi again, Fang Congzhe and the others arrived.

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(End of this chapter)