Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Zheng Hongkui's explanation made Yu Risheng think deeply.

Others who heard it also started to pay attention.

These hereditary officials who were determined to establish their own fiefdoms all bought shares of the Ming Shipping Group to a greater or lesser extent.

The war between the Zheng family and the Netherlands was obviously a major event that affected the stock price.

Li Shunzu asked him:
"Are you sure you can win?"

"Our Li family's fleet is spending the winter in Jingcheng. If you need it, Brother Zheng can ask the Navy Department to issue a transfer order and lend you the warships."

Zheng Hongkui shook his head repeatedly, saying that he did not need to borrow warships. Instead, he needed their assistance in other areas:
"Brother has already made a plan. We will definitely win this naval battle."

"But the southern merchants have many complaints about this."

"If anyone mentions this matter in the court, please explain it to me."

Yu Risheng and others said it was a good idea, as they all knew the benefits that would be brought if the Zheng family won.

The current overlord of Nanyang is the Netherlands. If the Zheng family fleet defeats it, it can at least achieve the same status. The road to Nanyang to open a vassal state will naturally be smooth.

But if they lose, then we have to talk it out. The Zheng family now controls the southeastern route, and many people are coveting it.

Even other leaders of the Shibazhi pirate gang were eyeing Zheng Zhilong's position. Li Guozhu, Liu Xiang and others were all eyeing it covetously.

Therefore, the Zheng family could only win this naval battle and could not lose. If they lost, they would not die or their clan would be destroyed, but they might lose their dominance over the southeast coast.

Yu Risheng had no fleet and did not care who controlled the southeast route. He hoped that Zheng Zhilong would win so that he could take a ride on a favorable ship to establish a fiefdom in Borneo.

So he promised:
"I will say hello to the maritime merchants in Zhejiang. I believe they will give me some face."

"Please relax the restrictions on the routes to Ryukyu and Japan."

"As for Dongjiang Territory, we also need Brother Zheng to introduce us to something."

Obviously, he had done a lot of homework on the Zheng family and knew the relationship between the Zheng family and the Dongjiang Territory.

In the past few days, quite a few people from Zhejiang have come to him and asked him to help connect with Mao Wenlong.

After being conferred the title of Earl of Dongjiang, Mao Wenlong's weight in the court and the country was no longer comparable to before.

These Zhejiang businessmen also smelled the scent and came over.

Yu Risheng was planning to establish a fiefdom in Southeast Asia, and he would need these merchants.

So he agreed to their request and asked Mao Wenlong, who was also from Qiantang County, to act as a matchmaker.

Zheng Hongkui, a young man, was frightened by Yu Risheng's words. He hastily agreed to open the routes to Ryukyu and Japan and introduced the Zhejiang merchants introduced by Yu Risheng to Mao Chenglu.

Under the influence of common interests and complex network of relationships, these feudal nobles or hereditary officials who intended to establish their own fiefdoms quickly connected with each other.

The aristocratic power in the Ming Dynasty has begun to reshuffle.
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Zhu Youjian was pleased to see this scene, because the original nobles of the Ming Dynasty had become completely corrupt, and he could not help them up even if he wanted to.

It's not that he had not supported nobles before, but no matter how he encouraged them, few people dared to jump out and compete for power with the civil servants.

Even if they were given fiefs, these people despised the desolate overseas lands and were unwilling to go overseas to be fiefs.

They just wanted to stay in the capital and enjoy the wealth passed down from their ancestors.

Zhu Youjian really disliked those people who only wanted to be parasites.

So he chose to support the new nobles and enthrone the descendants of meritorious officials and new meritorious officials.

Now, after two years, the results have begun to show. The new nobility has become a force that is rising.

However, he felt that this scale was not enough, and he planned to add fuel to the fire and expand the group of fiefdom nobles.

"Ding! Ding!"

At Zhu Youjian's signal, a eunuch struck the jade chime.

The nobles who came to the West Garden for the gathering suddenly became quiet.

Zhu Youjian said slowly and methodically:

"I have called you all together today to celebrate the New Year."

"Second, there is one thing I need to inform you of."

Waving his hand to the side, Li Fengxiang, the seal holder of the Imperial Stables, said:
"The soldiers of the Imperial Camp are performing martial arts in the inner training ground. Please come and watch."

A group of strong soldiers, wearing vests full of ammunition and carrying muskets on their backs, came out.

They are all carefully selected soldiers from the imperial camp, and their absolute loyalty is guaranteed.

Today we will demonstrate to these nobles the power of the new firearms.

Some people have heard the news, but many more people still don't know why.

But after the emperor invited the nobles who were good at archery to compete, their expressions suddenly changed:

Because they have never thought about going to the battlefield, how could there be any nobles who are good at archery!

Duke Chengguo Zhu Chunchen was just trying to find a reason to defend the nobles when Gong Yonggu, the son-in-law of the emperor, stood up:
"I am studying martial arts. Although I cannot say that I am good at archery, I do know a thing or two."

"Your Majesty, please grant me permission to compete with the soldiers of the Imperial Camp."

Zhu Youjian nodded in agreement and was quite happy that Gong Yonggu stood up at this time.

Then Liu Wenbing, the son of Xinle Earl Liu Xiaozu and Zhu Youjian's uncle and cousin, also stood up.

Before becoming the new Earl of Le, his family inherited the title of Yanghe Guardian. In order to inherit this position, they would learn some martial arts.

After Liu Wenbing came to Beijing, he studied martial arts with Gong Yonggu, and this time they stood up together.

Although Zhu Youjian did not think that their martial arts skills were very strong, he admired their courage.

Just as he was about to start the competition, the Queen's father Zhou Kui, pushed his nephew Zhou Jing out and said:

"Your Majesty, my nephew also knows some martial arts, we can compete with each other."

This made Zhu Youjian look at him in surprise and agreed:
"Can!"

Then he pointed at Mao Chenglu and said:

"Commander Mao has made many military achievements in Dongjiang, so I think he is also skilled in archery and horse riding."

"Let's go with my relatives and compete with the soldiers of the Imperial Camp."

Mao Chenglu happily obeyed the order and stood with these nobles.

This made all the nobles change their expressions, because those who stood up were either new nobles or relatives of the emperor.

Doesn't this just show that they are incompetent and unable to serve the country?
Some people even thought bitterly in their hearts, hoping that they would make a fool of themselves.

These people really made a fool of themselves because the speed at which they shot arrows with bows and arrows was not as fast as that of the soldiers in the imperial camp who shot with muskets.

When they were drawing their bows and arrows, several soldiers in the imperial camp took out the bullets from their vests, opened the valve on the musket and stuffed the bullets inside. Then, they pressed the valve with a "click" and aimed at the target and fired.

They were well-trained and the time they took to fire bullets was no less than that of Gong Yonggu and others in archery.

Even Mao Chenglu, after shooting more than a dozen arrows in a row, had sore arms that he could no longer keep up with them.

This made everyone's face change, because they all knew that the power of the fire gun had long surpassed the bow and arrow. The reason why the bow and arrow were still useful was just that the speed of fire was faster.

Nowadays, even the firing rate has been surpassed by muskets. Won't bows and arrows be completely eliminated in the army?
Some more perceptive people even thought of the military changes implied in this and realized that a new era was about to come.

However, some people were confused and did not know the emperor's intention in letting them watch this.

Was it just to showcase new weapons and show off his martial arts skills?

Zhu Youjian was too lazy to explain to these ignorant people. He said to them:
"Commander Mao asked me before, saying that the leader of Dongjiang wanted to buy muskets to form a sniper team."

"After careful consideration, I agreed to allow them to purchase."

"But the production capacity of the Equipment Department is insufficient."

"So I plan to cooperate with you all to build an arsenal to produce muskets."

After explaining his purpose to these people, Zhu Youjian said to them:
"The new arsenal will be built in Tongzhou, and the Shenwu Central Guard stationed in Tongzhou will be responsible for guarding it. They will also provide the space and hold 10% of the shares."

"The Inner Court Weaponry Group and the Equipment Department provide technology and some craftsmen, each holding 10% of the shares." "The employees hold 10% of the shares, and another 10% is reserved for capable engineers."

"The remaining 50% of the shares will be raised from you all."

"The weapons produced will be sold first to those who invest."

This immediately brightened the eyes of many nobles.

Those of them who have fiefs or plan to develop fiefs are in great need of this kind of weapon.

Other nobles may not need it so much, but they have no doubts about the sales of this weapon.

Firearms that can replace bows and arrows will surely become popular in the world, just like firearms replaced crossbows in the past.

Some people even thought of the emperor's previous sale of shares in the Ming Shipping Group, and believed that the emperor might be spending money again.

British Duke Zhang Weixian took the lead and said:
"I am willing to pay 100,000 taels. How much of the shares can I get?"

Zhu Youjian looked at him approvingly and said:

"One hundred thousand taels accounts for 5 percent."

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"In addition to technology and personnel, I plan to invest one million silver dollars in the Tongzhou Arsenal."

"In the future, all weapons you will use can be purchased from here."

Zhang Weixian felt a pang of pain when he heard that the emperor would sell the technology and personnel for millions without paying a penny. But at this time, he could only smile and say:
"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your kindness!"

"I wonder when the Tongzhou Arsenal will be able to produce muskets, and how many I can buy?"

Zhu Youjian smiled and said to him:

"When the Tongzhou Arsenal's firearms will be produced depends on when the money from the nobles arrives and how many craftsmen can be recruited."

"The number of muskets you can purchase will naturally be calculated based on the number of soldiers under your command."

"Assuming that each guard has 5,000 soldiers, the Duke has three guards, so he can buy 15,000 new muskets."

The actual strength of a guard is about 5,600 men. However, it is impossible for all of them to be musketeers, so for the sake of simplicity, we will use 5,000 men.

In Zhu Youjian's opinion, the three guards equipped with new muskets could defeat most countries at that time.

However, Zhang Weixian was worried because when the Ming Dynasty conquered Annan, it had dispatched tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of troops.

So he thought about it and said in a roundabout way:

"I think the military and civilian guards proposed by your majesty are very good. They can allow the guards to reserve ten times the number of soldiers."

"Nowadays, each vassal state has established military and civilian guards. I think we should also stockpile some of the weapons they will use."

After hearing this, other feudal nobles came out to agree.

They all hope to buy more weapons to equip the soldiers in their fiefdoms.

Zhu Youjian listened to their request and fell into deep thought for a while, because he did not expect that so many feudal nobles would want to buy more muskets.

After thinking for a while, he realized that he had forgotten to mention the price. These nobles might think that the new musket was the same as the old one and only cost a few taels of silver.

This made him look at Zhang Weixian and others and ask:

"Do you really want to buy more?"

"The price of a new musket is not cheap. A smoothbore musket costs 10 to 20 taels of silver."

"A rifled musket with a long range would cost forty or fifty taels."

"Fifteen thousand muskets, does Zhang Qing have that much money?"

Zhang Weixian was stunned. He never expected that the price of the new musket would be so high.

Because in his impression, an ordinary bird gun only costs two taels of silver. Even a fine bird gun only costs four taels.

Now the price has increased tenfold, which is higher than many artillery pieces. Zhang Weixian couldn't believe it was so expensive.

He did not dare to question the emperor, and in his heart he suspected that the equipment department was too corrupt. Otherwise, what kind of musket would cost so much?

After hearing the price, other nobles also discussed it, and they all thought there was a fraud and the emperor was deceived.

Zhu Youjian did not explain this, but waved his hand and started the next drill.

In this drill, Gong Yonggu and others were not asked to draw bows and shoot arrows. Instead, a soldier from the imperial camp, holding a strange-shaped musket that seemed to have two barrels, lay on the ground and shot at a target in the distance.

The targets were located at different distances, with the farthest being two miles away, making one wonder why they were placed so far away.

(The Whitworth rifle was one of the first rifles to be equipped with a scope. It was able to hit targets at a distance of 1800 meters and once sniped a Union general during the American Civil War at a distance of 900 meters)
They soon realized the purpose of these targets.

The soldier using this musket looked at the iron pipe on it, loaded the bullet, pulled the trigger, and hit the target accurately.

It was not until he was about a mile away that he occasionally missed. In the end, he still had a bullet and hit the target two miles away.

This is a new weapon developed by Bo Jue after he learned that the Gunpowder Research Institute had discovered fulminate of mercury and produced a prototype gun.

He was good at making scopes and was the first to install a telescope on a cannon. After learning about the sniper kill records on the Korean battlefield, he wanted to install a scope on the sniper gun so that he could shoot the enemy at a longer distance.

Initially, he developed a breech-loading rifle based on a spring wheel ignition, but because the spring wheel took a long time to ignite and caused vibrations, many problems arose after the installation of a scope, and the results were not satisfactory.

His research made progress only after the Gunpowder Research Institute discovered fulminate of mercury and produced a prototype of the Type 4 electric-fired gun.

For this reason, the gun mechanism of the Type 4 Electric Gun was completely changed. It was locked from top to bottom, but now it is locked from bottom to top, making it easier to put the scope on top.

It is even more similar to the schematic diagram of the Sharps rifle drawn by Zhu Youjian.

As for Lu Xiang's valve musket, he had no chance to use the sight because he had to flip the gun mechanism upwards.

As soon as the sniper rifle with a scope was displayed, everyone's eyes widened. They never expected that the range of this rifle would be so far, it could almost be said to be a magical weapon beyond their imagination.

Some people's eyes lit up, thinking of Choi Nam-yi who was canonized as an earl. If they had such a musket, wouldn't they be able to achieve the same feat?

Mao Chenglu immediately said:

"Your Majesty, the East River Commander wants to form a sniper team, and they need this kind of musket."

Without even asking the price, he immediately agreed to buy it.

But Zhu Youjian waved his hand and said:

"This is just a rod sample, there are still many problems."

"And the cost is too high, so it is not for sale to the public for the time being."

It was immediately stated that this sniper rifle was not for sale and would not be sold to the public for the time being.

But Mao Chenglu was still unwilling to give up and asked:
"No matter how high the price is, I am willing to buy it."

"I will take it to Liaodong and kill the enemy chieftain for Your Majesty."

Zhu Youjian laughed loudly and said to Mao Chenglu:

"It's a good idea of ​​yours. I will give you one when it's perfected."

"But it's really not suitable for sale. The cost is more than two hundred taels."

Mao Chenglu was so surprised that he exclaimed "Ah", obviously he didn't expect the cost of this kind of musket to be so high.

The other nobles were even more shocked. They didn't expect there was such an expensive musket.

The red cannon imitated in Shuozhou, Shanxi, consumed 5,600 kilograms of iron, and only cost more than 240 taels of silver.

Why is this small musket so expensive?

Bo Jue stood up and explained in detail how difficult it was to make a scope. After adding the scope, the cost of this musket was four or five times that of an ordinary musket.

This made some people realize that the expensive cost was in the scope. Apparently, Bo Jue had worn out countless lenses before he could make the scope.

But for people with good eyesight, they don't need a scope. Even if you can't see two miles away, can't you see one mile?

As long as you choose carefully, you can always find such soldiers.

So they fixed their eyes on the musket with the scope installed. They believed that this musket was the real weapon. (End of this chapter)