Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Yuan Chonghuan's western route army was blocked, which led to a temporary halt in the Annam campaign.

But for the Ming Dynasty as a whole, this was not a big problem.

The imperial court's determination to conquer Annam is unwavering.

Both the imperial court and the common people supported this war.

This factor also contributed to the lenient treatment of Yuan Chonghuan.

Zhu Youjian did not want to send the wrong message to the court and the public by punishing Yuan Chonghuan.

He chose to follow Han Kuang's suggestion and continue to employ Yuan Chonghuan.

However, many court officials were furious about Yuan Chonghuan's actions. Officials in the Privy Council, in particular, were extremely angry.
"If everyone were like Yuan Chonghuan, what would be the point of having the Privy Council?"

"Not satisfied with having frontline command, they also want to interfere in strategy?"

Yang Sichang spoke bitterly, harboring a deep resentment towards Yuan Chonghuan.

He was never a magnanimous person to begin with, and in recent years, having been favored by the emperor and enjoying great success, he has become even more disregardful of others.

The strategy of "four main points and six secondary points, forming a ten-sided net" adopted by the court in the war to recover Liaodong was proposed by him. He was always proud of this and coveted the position of Grand Councilor based on this achievement.

Yuan Chonghuan now disregards the strategy toward Annam, completely ignoring the plans of the Privy Council, especially the General Staff.

This infuriated Yang Sichang, who openly criticized Yuan Chonghuan at a Privy Council meeting.

Logistics Minister Min Mengde was equally furious, as he viewed the Annam campaign as the end of his political career.

After the Liaodong campaign ended last November, he requested to retire due to poor health. However, the emperor needed to maintain stability in the court to wrap things up, so he used the promise of a noble title to encourage him to hold on until the leadership transition in August of this year.

He did not want any mishaps to occur before the end of his term, which would affect his retirement and the bestowal of a noble title.

He devoted himself wholeheartedly to the war in Annam, expending a great deal of effort.

Today, Yuan Chonghuan is facing obstacles and setbacks due to harassment from local forces, and his most criticized aspect is his logistics.

After being equipped with new firearms, the Annamite armies were simply no match for the Ming army and were undoubtedly defeated in direct combat.

All they could do was take advantage of the terrain and harass the Ming army's logistics.

Yuan Chonghuan's advance was delayed because he was worried about his supply lines being cut off.

When news of this reached the capital, it was undoubtedly the responsibility of the logistics department. They needed to devise more reliable methods to ensure logistical stability.

Min Mengde, despite his illness, said:

"Logistics personnel need stronger protection."

"Otherwise, if every battle turns out like this one, the enemy will know where the weaknesses of the Ming Dynasty's new army lie."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

After being enlightened by the emperor, they realized that the main means for the court to control the army in the future would be logistics.

Therefore, they are not afraid of the front line consuming logistical supplies; in fact, they would love for the front line to consume a lot of logistical supplies so that the front line can develop the habit of not being able to fight without logistical support.

As long as it's not for personal gain or waste, the imperial court will not blame the front lines for using any amount of logistical supplies.

This has led to a sharp increase in the importance of logistics, and now more professional guards are indeed needed.

Equipment Minister Bi Maokang said:

"Logistics personnel need protection, and they also need to improve their combat capabilities."

"The use of firearms is still somewhat cumbersome. His Majesty has ordered the Ministry of Equipment to research simpler weapons."

"One of them is a personal defense weapon specifically designed for non-frontline soldiers such as logistics and artillery personnel."

"The current choice is the revolver musket. Based on this, the cost will be reduced and it will be widely issued to non-frontline soldiers."

This was a concept proposed by Zhu Youjian, modeled after PDW, to provide the army with more options.

The necessity has now become apparent: logistics forces need to have the ability to defend themselves and even operate independently.

The Privy Councilors unanimously agreed that it was necessary to strengthen the equipment of the logistics troops.
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This clearly necessitates increased military spending, which makes the officials of the Ministry of Revenue equally resentful of Yuan Chonghuan.

Bi Ziyan, the Minister of Revenue and Han Kuang's deputy in finance and economics, advised him:

"Lord Han, we know that Yuan Chonghuan was your student. It was not easy for him to rise to the position of a high-ranking official."

"But he really messed up this time; he offended more than just one person."

Han Kuang was well aware of these things, as many officials had recently expressed their dissatisfaction with Yuan Chonghuan to him.

Even nobles mocked Yuan Chonghuan, blaming him for acting on his own and missing a crucial opportunity in the battle.

It can be said that because of this incident, his prestige in the court, which had just been stabilized, became somewhat shaky again.

If not handled properly, he may not be able to win re-election this August.

With a sigh, Han Kuang said:

"How could I not know that?"

"But how many capable generals can we count on among the Donglin scholars now?"

"Although Yuan Chonghuan was lacking in strategic vision, as long as he could fight, we had no choice but to protect him."

This was his true feeling, which he revealed to Bi Ziyan, who was inclined towards the Donglin Party.

Bi Ziyan was stunned when he heard these words.

Because he never expected that the seemingly upright Donglin Party members would have so many ulterior motives.

Only now did he understand why the emperor insisted on suppressing factional strife, because once any faction gained power, it would be impossible to escape factionalism and the suppression of dissent.

Han Kuang knew Yuan Chonghuan had made a mistake, yet he still tried to protect him because Yuan Chonghuan was his student and a capable general he relied on.

Having figured this out, Bi Ziyan immediately lost the will to persuade Han Kuang. However, he still reminded him:
"The current emperor is not easily fooled. Even if Lord Han has his own selfish motives, he must not let them affect the overall situation."

"We must fight well next, otherwise Yuan Chonghuan will not be able to bear the consequences of his previous crimes."

This gave Han Kuang a jolt of fear, making him realize that his political life was now intertwined with the war in Annam.

If the war in Annam goes smoothly, it's fine. But if there are any setbacks, this matter will be magnified and used by others to attack us.

He now vaguely understood why the emperor had agreed to his proposal and treated Yuan Chonghuan leniently:

"Rights and responsibilities are aligned; if I offer an opinion, I must bear the responsibility."

"I've willingly gotten myself involved; I must fully support the war in Annam."

The Annam War, as a war, was led by the Privy Council and was partially conducted under a state of war.

While Han Kuang, as the Grand Secretary, wasn't entirely uninvolved in the matter, he also bore little responsibility. Unless internal strife or insufficient military funding hampered the war effort, the outcome of the Annam war wouldn't affect his position.

Now, in order to protect Yuan Chonghuan, he took the initiative to intervene in the front-line battle, and things suddenly changed.

If the war in Annam takes a turn for the worse, someone will seize the opportunity to attack him.

He was thus tied to this matter and had to devote all his energy to it. "Regret! Regret! Regret!"

After Bi Ziyan left, Han Kuang uttered the word "regret" several times, truly unable to conceal his remorse.

He had thought that protecting Yuan Chonghuan was just a side effect for him as the Grand Secretary, but now he realized that the two were now inextricably linked.

This caused him to slump into his armchair, filled with deep regret.

In particular, the emperor had already said that Yuan Chonghuan, as the commander-in-chief of one of the armies, violated the court's strategy. Even if he won, he would have no merit, and if he lost, he would be held strictly accountable.

This means that even if he fully supports the war in Annam, the credit for the victory will have little to do with him.

Needless to say, if he wanted to cause trouble, Yang Jingchen, who was watching him closely, would seize the opportunity to drive him away.

So Han Kuang now truly regrets it; he shouldn't have protected Yuan Chonghuan.

This unruly student, who disregarded the imperial court, brought him great trouble.

If Han Kuang had understood this beforehand, he would have abandoned the relationship without hesitation.

However, things had come to this point, and he had no way out.

We had no choice but to pull ourselves together and try to avoid the worst-case scenario.

"What can I do?"

"What contributions can you make to the war in Annam?"

While pondering this question, Han Kuang hoped to do something that would attract attention from both the court and the public, and make contributions to the war in Annam.

However, having previously paid little attention to this matter, he really had few clues.

After careful consideration, they finally invited Zhang Pu to come over for a meeting.
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Zhang Pu was extremely surprised to receive Han Kuang's invitation.

Because he never expected that this chief minister, who believed in Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism, would actually invite him.

It's important to understand that the Donglin Party had already broken with Qian Qianyi, who advocated practical learning, in order to uphold Neo-Confucianism. They considered him, a proponent of science, even more of a heretic; why would they invite him?
Unsure about the matter, Zhang Pu went to consult Chen Jiru. Chen Jiru laughed and said:

"Prime Minister Han is in a hurry!"

"He was worried that the fighting in Annan would affect the leadership transition in August."

Zhang Pu was a smart man, and after being reminded by Chen Jiru, he immediately understood the reason.

He also laughed out loud and said:
"Chief Minister Han is always cunning and slippery; he won't do anything unless the Emperor forces him to."

"This time they've fallen into the trap again, getting implicated by Yuan Chonghuan."

"It seems the war in Annam is a sure thing; the imperial court will definitely continue the fight."

Chen Jiru stroked his beard and nodded, then continued:
"Your Majesty, you truly have excellent methods."

"It is not important whether Yuan Chonghuan lives or dies. Annam can win no matter who is in charge."

"But the fact that Prime Minister Han was forced to support the war in Annam has a huge impact."

“You can suggest to him that he exercise the powers of the chief minister.”

He suggested that Zhang Pu could take this opportunity to utilize the power of the Grand Secretary.

This was extremely important for the newly emerging scientific movement, as the Prime Minister's support enabled the large-scale development of science.

Sensing this opportunity, Zhang Pu took the initiative to consult Xu Guangqi, and together with his teacher, offered suggestions to Han Kuang.
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When Han Kuang asked how to support the frontline fighting, Zhang Pu, who had been sent to the Tongzhou Arsenal for research the previous year, suggested:
"The most important thing at the front is equipment. Han Gong should make it clear that wartime industrial production should focus on equipment."

"Whether they are government-owned enterprises or private enterprises, they should all cooperate in the production of military supplies."

Han Kuang felt the idea made sense, but he had no clue how to cooperate.
"Equipment production mainly relied on the imperial arsenal, as well as some private equipment enterprises."

"Should we issue more equipment production licenses to encourage more business owners to join in?"

Zhang Pu said with a smile:

"That's one aspect, but there are rules for issuing equipment production licenses, and they can't be issued arbitrarily, because substandard weapons cause complaints on the front lines."

"Most importantly, just like in military service, we need to require relevant factories to cooperate in production. We must allocate at least 10% of our resources to support equipment production."

"Many woodworking workshops have the capability to process things like the stock of a musket, and they can be incorporated into the equipment production system for wartime procurement, rather than wasting the manpower of the arsenal."

This was inspired by the Tongzhou Arsenal. The first thing he encountered was that Wang, a senior carpenter at the Tongzhou Arsenal, led his apprentices to become self-reliant and earned high profits from the arsenal's orders.

This incident sparked discontent among many skilled craftsmen and engineers, and the Tongzhou Arsenal nearly collapsed as a result.

Later, Zhang Pu addressed this sentiment by adjusting the status and treatment of senior craftsmen and engineers.

However, it is an indisputable fact that Wang the carpenter earned more.

Especially given the backdrop of the imperial court's large-scale expansion of military equipment, the Tongzhou Arsenal was in short supply of firearms, and carpenter Wang had no shortage of orders.

The unstable nature of individual producers is not immediately apparent. According to Zhang Pu, after the start of the Annam War, some technicians wanted to emulate Wang the carpenter and work independently.

This was something he didn't want to see, but he had no way to solve it. He couldn't keep raising the salaries of technical staff until they could earn as much as carpenter Wang.

After discussing with the emperor, Zhang Pu realized that this phenomenon was mainly due to supply falling short of demand. Wang the carpenter had no shortage of orders and could earn a living through his craftsmanship.

The best way to suppress this phenomenon is to expand production. Rely on machines and workers for stable, large-scale production, using machine industry to suppress handicrafts.

Water-powered saws, foot-operated lathes, wood dryers... can greatly improve wood processing efficiency.

The skills of carpenter Wang and his apprentice will be greatly diminished in the face of such large-scale production.

Therefore, Zhang Pu proposed to develop timber processing and related industries, using the construction of industrial parks and tax exemptions as incentives to encourage business owners to invest and support equipment production.

Xu Guangqi further added:

"Water-powered saws were already well-developed in the West and had been introduced to the Ming Dynasty."

"The treadle lathe was proposed by the Emperor for processing bullets, and its application in wood processing is no problem."

"We are currently exploring methods for drying wood, such as steam drying and hot air drying, and both have yielded some results."

"The birch wood from Northeast China has been confirmed to be suitable for use as gunstocks, and we are organizing its felling and transportation."

"The Institute of Wood Science of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences has been researching these, and with more investment, they can mature faster."

This technology has been explored for several years and is now in its final stages. Xu Guangqi believes it will mature soon and be used in the production of gunstocks.

The remaining task is promotion, which is something Han Kuang can control.

Therefore, Han Kuang was quite interested in this after hearing it, because he realized that he could develop the equipment industry from a higher level.

Similarly, other industries related to logistics could also be planned in this way, which were all areas that the Planning and Development Commission under his supervision could lead.

Thanks to the efforts of Xu Guangqi, Zhang Pu, and others, the Planning Commission put forward a series of plans, all of which were related to the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Science took this opportunity to spread further and became a prominent field of study in the world.

Zhu Youjian was delighted with this and began to value Han Kuang more, believing that although the Grand Secretary lacked some ability, he was not a blockhead. (End of Chapter)