Ming Dynasty: Domination of the World from the Imperial Examination

Chapter 145 The Age of Hot Weapons! (First Update)
"I hope so." Zhu Di did not comment.

Zhu Di looked at Xia Zhibai, as if thinking of something, and asked: "Zunhua's iron smelting was mined during the Yuan Dynasty, but the scale of mining was not large. According to what you said, I'm afraid the demand for iron production is very high. Can you really provide so much iron? Or the kind that is made of steel?"

He didn't believe it.

Producing iron is not that easy.

The process is complicated, there are many steps, and the output is average.

Even if he lends a helping hand, at most the industry can be restored to the scale of the Yuan Dynasty within a month or two, with an annual output of 200,000 to 300,000 kilograms. I'm afraid this amount of iron is not enough for Xia Zhibai alone, let alone meeting the needs of other places.

Xia Zhibai nodded.

Iron ore mining cannot be rushed.

But what Zhu Di didn't know was that the iron mine that the court had granted permission to mine was in Peking, and there was a lot of coal around Peking, much of which was easy to mine.

It’s just that the utilization of coal was not that high in the past.

If he could increase the utilization rate of coal in iron and steel making, and use an improved version of the steam engine for mining, the speed and efficiency of iron and steel making would be greatly improved. His goal was not to restore the scale of Zunhua Iron Smelting in the Yuan Dynasty, but to exceed it, far exceed it.

His goal is to achieve an annual output of four to five million kilograms.

even more.

Although the start will be a lot slower, once you get started, things will get faster and faster.

Xia Zhibai smiled and said, "Your Highness, don't worry. Since I dare to make such a promise, I will naturally find a way to do it."

"But this does require your help."

"Your Highness will be needed to help with the initial recovery of the iron mine and its expansion."

"What I lack most now are actually workers related to iron smelting, and engineers related to iron smelting technology. Although the court will arrange some later, I still hope that Your Highness can provide some manpower support."

Zhu Di's eyes were gloomy and he looked a little unhappy.

All in all, it seemed like he was the one working hard while Xia Zhibai was just watching.

But since I have already agreed.

Forget it.

Zhu Di did not take the iron mine issue too seriously. Since his father had made the decision, he dared not disobey even if he was dissatisfied. As for the iron mine and what Xia Zhibai said, the final initiative was in his hands. If Xia Zhibai failed to meet his expectations, he would turn against him.

He has this ability.

Compared to Shangxin Iron Mine, he was more interested in the military affairs mentioned by Xia Zhibai.

Zhu Di lowered his head and turned the iron ring on his thumb. "I will hand over the iron mines under my jurisdiction to you, but I also want to listen to what you said in the camp before, especially those related to some strategies and tactics. I, Zhu Di, am stationed in Beiping to pacify the north, and I must take on this responsibility."

Zhu Di raised his head slightly, with pride and indomitable spirit in his eyes.

He was still somewhat resentful of what Xia Zhibai had said yesterday.

Xia Zhibai chuckled.

He also didn't expect that Zhu Di had such deep resentment.

He smiled and said, "My words yesterday were indeed a bit extreme."

"Your Highness is far from being that bad."

Hear the words.

Zhu Di's face darkened.

It's better not to explain.

It’s not that bad, but isn’t it still bad?
But he was obsessed with military affairs, so he didn't get angry.

Xia Zhibai asked, "Does Your Highness value firearms?"

Zhu Di nodded seriously and said, "Nowadays, apart from my father, I am the one who values ​​firearms the most. My camp is equipped with the most and the best firearms."

Zhu Di did not lie.

He really attached great importance to firearms.

Because his fiefdom was in Peking, he almost faced direct impact from Mongolia.

Behind the Guanzhong where the King of Jin and the King of Qin were located was Longxi, a natural strategic buffer zone, and its defense line was much stronger than that of Beijing and Liaodong. On the Hebei side, there was no buffer zone as strong as Longxi, and the national defense line was extremely thin. There was only the Great Wall of Ming and the garrisons in various places.

Once the Mongolian army broke through the garrison defense line, they would almost have to face the Mongolian army head-on.

The nomadic tribes on the grassland are good at riding.

The Ming Dynasty was short of horses, and it was difficult for it to gain the upper hand in cavalry confrontations.

The Mongols are a nation of horsemen, and they are proud of their curved swords and fast horses. Faced with this situation, from Zhu Yuanzhang to the grassroots soldiers, everyone has a very clear solution: the best way to defeat a swordsman is to be faster than his sword.

The only thing in the world that is faster than the Mongolian scimitar is firearms.

With the King of Jin and the King of Qin sitting in Guanzhong and backed by Longxi, which covered a large area in the northern part of the country, Zhu Di became the oldest vassal king at the northern gate. Naturally, he had to shoulder the greatest responsibility for defending the territory. Therefore, he attached great importance to firearms, and the equipment ratio of firearms in his army was far higher than the stipulated 10%.

Because of this.

The Beijing Garrisons were allowed to manufacture firearms.

He also has the government offices responsible for the research, development and manufacture of firearms.

Xia Zhibai said: "The Ming Dynasty does attach great importance to firearms, but not enough."

"Firearms require iron, but the court used most of the good iron to forge precious swords and sabers, and not much to make firearms. This also led to the fact that Ming Dynasty firearms have not been improved much in recent years." "The lack of power of firearms also made the court underestimate the strategic importance of firearms."

"In my opinion, the emergence of firearms will have epoch-making significance for wars. With the development of firearms, future wars will be significantly different from past wars. Past wars were dominated by cold weapons such as swords, spears, etc., and the emergence of firearms will usher in the era of hot weapons in world wars."

"Many strategies and tactics believed in by generals will become obsolete."

“You may even be eliminated.”

"At the same time, many things that have been lost in the long river of history will be refurbished and put into use again."

"For example, a chariot!"

"That's just one aspect."

"The main thing is to maximize the threat of firearms."

"Make the most of the speed, ferocity, and lethality of firearms to inflict heavy damage to the enemy before a close combat. You can even use artillery to directly bombard the ground. As long as your range is far enough, farther than the enemy knows, you can catch them by surprise and inflict unprecedented damage on them."

"As for the strategies and tactics derived from firearms, the Ming Dynasty currently does not have them."

"Mostly they use firearms as a supplement, with cavalry and infantry as the main force."

"If you still cling to old ideas and viewpoints and don't keep up with the times and make improvements, you will suffer a great loss sooner or later, because your firearms have not improved, but other people's firearms may not be. When others use firearms that are more accurate, farther, and more lethal to attack the Ming Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty will not even be able to fight back."

“Because you can’t hit it.”

"When your cavalry charges forward, they will suffer heavy losses."

"If other cavalry is equally skilled, they will retreat before your cavalry charges forward, and you will suffer the consequences time and time again."

"If you fall behind, you will be beaten. Why were the Mongolian cavalry able to sweep across the world in the past?"

"It's because their firearms were more advanced than those of the Song Dynasty."

"We just blasted the city wall with cannons."

"In future wars, firearms will be the main battlefield. If we do not attach importance to firearms and do not take firearms as our main development goal, we are doomed to suffer great losses. By the time the imperial court is hurt and frightened and starts to research firearms, it will be too late and we will pay a bloody price."

Xia Zhibai looked solemn.

He learned about the history of how foreign guns and cannons blasted open the country's borders.

Knowing how much damage backwardness will cause to this ancient country.

The Ming Dynasty valued firearms, but also did not value firearms.

The reason why Zhu Yuanzhang attached great importance to firearms was that he had tasted success with them. In the naval battle with Chen Youliang at Poyang Lake, firearms were used to achieve success, destroying dozens of Chen Youliang's warships and killing countless enemies. Firearms also played a role in the subsequent sieges and northern expeditions.

However, due to the Ming Dynasty's deformed financial system, the improvement of Ming Dynasty's firearms was very slow. Unless they were forced to do so, they would not think of changing.

This further leads to backward combat tactics.

One step at a time, one step at a time.

Eventually, we completely widened the gap with the world.

"Will future wars be fought mainly with firearms?" Zhu Di murmured softly.

There was still some disbelief in his eyes.

He values ​​firearms.

They only saw the disturbing effect of firearms. The huge roar caused by firearms would disturb the enemy's horses, giving the Ming cavalry the opportunity to charge. In this situation where the enemy was in chaos, one round of charge could basically achieve great results.

He found this tactic very useful.

But according to Xia Zhibai, future wars will become more and more bizarre. There may not even be hand-to-hand combat, but instead they will start shooting with firearms from a distance of dozens of steps, or use artillery to clear the ground in advance, and when the bombardment is almost over, they will send people to clean up the battlefield. In this case, many tactics will have to change.

This change is a series.

Qiu Fu frowned and said, "You are worrying too much."

"Do you know how expensive firearms are? How expensive gunpowder is?"

"If we really do what you said, wouldn't it cost hundreds of thousands or even millions of silver to fight this war?"

"This is a war, this is a waste of money?!"

"The Northern Yuan had firearms, but they were not as good as ours."

"How can such a poor place like the Northern Yuan Dynasty produce so much money? Even if they were given ten years, they still wouldn't be able to collect so many firearms and gunpowder."

Qiu Fu looked disdainful.

He felt that Xia Zhibai was exaggerating.

That's not how you fight a war.

He has been fighting for decades and has never seen a situation like this.

Xia Zhibai glanced at Qiu Fu for a few times, shook his head in disappointment, and said, "Just because you haven't seen it doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Just because it doesn't exist now doesn't mean it won't exist in the future."

"It is true that firearms and gunpowder are very expensive nowadays, but in the final analysis, this is not a problem with firearms, but a problem with the court."

"Today, there is a serious shortage of military craftsmen in the world, their skills are not sophisticated, the quality of raw materials is uneven, and the scrap rate is high, which leads to high costs."

"The court did not pay enough attention to firearms, which further created a vicious cycle. Military craftsmen were short of funds, and the quality of the firearms they developed continued to decline. Production capacity continued to decrease, and the scale of production continued to shrink."

"Under such conditions, how can we produce high-quality and low-cost firearms?"

(End of this chapter)