Late Yuan Dynasty: I am the true emperor

Chapter 535 New Military Uniforms? Loyalty Uniforms!
In mid-July, while Chang Yuchun's Fifth Army was pacifying Guangdong and Guangxi, Miao Daheng's Fourth Army Group did not disappoint, advancing into the Chengdu Plain from both Yichang and Hanzhong directions together with Fu Youde's detachment.

The main force of the Yuan army in Sichuan had already been annihilated in the Jingmen area during the Henan-Hunan-Jiangxi campaign. In addition, Sichuan had a small population at the end of the Yuan Dynasty. After the annihilation of these tens of thousands of Yuan soldiers in Sichuan, the region could no longer muster any decent troops to resist the Ming army's attack.

Miao Daheng's Fourth Army Group was similar to Zhu Liangzu and Chang Yuchun's; they encountered almost no significant resistance, and the prefectures and counties of Sichuan surrendered without resistance wherever they went, quickly pacifying the entire Sichuan-Gansu-Ningxia region.

Soon after, Miao Daheng's report of victory also arrived in Jiankang, the capital. Instead of expressing any joy at the victory, he reported to Lu Jin the current dire situation in Sichuan.

Sichuan, once known as the Land of Abundance, is now a land of desolation, with some places stretching for miles without a single person in sight. The capital city of Chengdu has a total population of less than 50,000, which is less than the population of Luzhou when Lu Jin first took over. Many so-called county towns now have only a few thousand or even tens of thousands of people, and some villages have fewer than a hundred households.

Moreover, the Dujiangyan irrigation system is in dire need of repair. According to local elders, because no one has organized the repair of the Feisha Weir, the Minjiang River has begun to flood occasionally in recent years.

Upon receiving the news, Lu Jin immediately sent it to the cabinet for handling, instructing them to urge the Ministry of Personnel to select officials to take up their posts in Sichuan as soon as possible. At the same time, Lu Jin also personally appointed Wei Ziming, the prefect of Nanchang, and promoted him to the position of Right Provincial Governor of Sichuan Province. He instructed Wei to return to Beijing as soon as possible to report on his duties, and then join the newly appointed prefects from various parts of Sichuan to go to Sichuan ahead of time to assess the situation.

The county magistrates of Sichuan were in the second batch. Each magistrate first went to Jiangxi and the two lakes (Hubei and Hunan) to begin recruiting landless people from Jiangxi, Hunan and Hubei. They first registered, counted, and organized them into groups. During the slack season after the autumn harvest, the migration to Sichuan officially began. The first batch of at least 50,000 people were migrated, and the county magistrates, assistant magistrates, and registrars personally led the teams to Sichuan.

There is also a new immigration policy. In order to solve the problem of finding wives for immigrants and help them get married as soon as possible, single young men who immigrate to Sichuan can be allocated 40 mu of land each, and single young women can be allocated 20 mu of land. If a couple immigrates together, they are counted as one household and can be allocated a total of 70 mu of land.

Hurry up and find a wife so you can immigrate there together and get an extra ten acres of land! If you're a single young man, finding a wife before you go will get you an extra thirty acres!
All newly reclaimed land by immigrants is exempt from tax for four years. After five years, taxes will be levied based on the land area registered in the household registration system, according to a tiered tax system.

When receiving immigrants, the provincial governor, the prefects of various parts of Sichuan, and Miao Daheng's Fourth Army should cooperate to make preparations for receiving them along the way, protect their safety, and provide them with food and water.

At the same time, Wei Ziming was instructed to recruit skilled water management personnel in Sichuan, and Miao Daheng was to send troops to repair the Dujiangyan Irrigation System as soon as possible. If there were any difficulties that Sichuan could not resolve, they were to be reported to the capital immediately.

In addition to Sichuan Province, Lu Jin also appointed Min Zishun, the former prefect of Gaoyou, to be promoted to right provincial governor of Guangdong Province, and He Jingchuan, the former prefect of Huizhou, to be promoted to right provincial governor of Guangxi Province.

Of the hundreds of newly appointed scholars who passed the imperial examinations this year, except for a few who remained in the central government, the rest were all sent down to local areas to serve as deputy positions such as registrar and county magistrate. The original county magistrates, registrars, and county magistrates who had performed well were all transferred to the newly attached areas to serve as officials, so as to establish a stable regime in Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, and Sichuan as soon as possible.

These official appointments and immigration matters alone kept Lu Jin busy for more than half a month, and before he knew it, it was August.

That day, Crown Prince Gongshu Tan came over with Lu Jin's razor and asked Lu Jin to shave his head. Only then did Lu Jin suddenly realize that he had forgotten his eldest son's birthday. The boy had unknowingly turned three years old.

In the Jiankang Imperial Palace, in the Yunxiang Hall, where Lu Jin usually worked, Gongshu Tan sat on a stool, his two little legs swinging back and forth, a cloth wrapped around his neck, while Lu Jin, his own father, was shaving his hair with a razor.

"Don't move. Did your mother cook you anything delicious for your birthday a few days ago?" Lu Jin asked her son casually while shaving her hair.

"My mother boiled red eggs for me, and also made soup noodles, but I don't like soup noodles. Ma Niangniang and Aunt Fan made me some snacks, and I ate several of them. Aunt Xiong bought me a lot of fruit and even made me new clothes." Gongshu Tan immediately started counting the gifts he received on his fingers.

Lu Jin then asked, "Did you share some with your younger siblings?"

“I divided them up. I gave the pears and peaches to my younger brother and also gave my younger sister an egg. But, but Mom said she couldn’t finish it all, so I ate it all myself.”

"Okay, that's more like it. Next time, don't just focus on eating yourself, you hear me?"

"I know!"

"What are you yelling for? Come here and wash your hair."

"Oh."

A maidservant quickly brought over a copper basin and poured in warm water. Lu Jin tested the water temperature before lifting her son and pressing him against the edge of the basin. The little guy stuck his bottom out and stretched his head over the basin, chattering away.

"Dad, Mom said you're going to send me to school, but I don't want to go."

"How can you not go to school? You're already three years old, it's time for you to go to kindergarten. If you don't learn anything, you won't even be able to read in the future, and people will laugh at you."

"But, but I won't be able to see my mother and sister when I go to school, I don't want to go."

"Who told you that you wouldn't see your mother and sister when you go to school? Why don't you eat breakfast at home in the morning and then go to school? Your mother will pick you up before dark and you can stay at home. What are you afraid of?"

"Can I still live with my mother while I'm at school?"

"Of course."

"But, but"

"No buts. You go to kindergarten obediently. If you behave well and study hard at school, Dad will give you a reward."

"Really? Can I have a puppy?"

"That won't do. Dogs carry fleas. You and your sister are so small. You'll catch diseases if you play with puppies. And what if the puppies bite you when they grow up? Aren't you afraid of the pain? Okay, get up and dry your hair."

Lu Jin picked up Gongshu Tan, dried his head with a towel, and put a black gauze hat on his head before asking the boy a question.

"When can I get a puppy?"

"When you can't even feed yourself, how can you raise a dog? The dog will starve to death."

"Then I can give my food to the puppy."

"You dare? I think you deserve a beating. Don't waste food, you hear me? Otherwise, I'll spank you until your butt is raw."

"Come here, let Dad check. How many words can you write? Write them down and let Dad see."

"Oh."

Gongshu Tan immediately climbed onto the chair, stood on it, leaned over Lu Jin's desk, and began to write crookedly with a pencil in hand.

Just then, Li Dingbang suddenly entered from outside and reported, "Your Majesty, Minister Tao of the Privy Council requests an audience and has brought several muskets, saying it is for the testing and finalization of a new type of musket."

"Let him in."

"Yes!"

A moment later, Tao Guangyi and Mao Xin, a student from the science class, entered. The guards beside them carried several new-style muskets, Tao Guangyi held a box, and Mao Xin carried several stacks of documents. "Your subject Tao Guangyi and student Mao Xin pay their respects to Your Majesty."

"No need for formalities. Has the experiment made progress?" Lu Jin asked immediately upon seeing the two people's happy expressions.

"Indeed, Your Majesty, the latest batch of percussion caps based on the process and formula in the laboratory has finally passed the test. It fired 500 shots without misfiring, and there was one malfunction out of 1,000 shots, but it was not a malfunction of the percussion cap. The ignition hole and anvil were cleaned every 100 shots, and the firing system did not malfunction. These are the samples, the experimental report, and the paper," Tao Guangyi explained immediately.

Lu Jin immediately got up and walked to the front. He took a brass cap from the box in Tao Guangyi's hand and looked at it. It was filled with grayish-white mercury fulminate. Then he took the experimental report from the side and looked at the specific steps of their experiment.

With a foundation in chemistry, producing mercury fulminate is not difficult. All you need is concentrated nitric acid, alcohol, and mercury. The key is the concentration of nitric acid and alcohol. What are the differences in the properties of mercury fulminate produced at different concentrations? The students in the lab put in a lot of effort and spent a lot of experimental funds to find a suitable formula. But as long as a suitable formula can be found, it's all worth it.

After reading the experimental report, Lu Jin nodded in satisfaction and then asked, "Have all the other accessories been prepared? Are you planning to have me visit the finalization experiment?"

“Indeed, the three newly forged bayonets, as well as different sights, bullets, gunpowder of different diameters, the range and armor-piercing performance of various bullets, etc., once all these experiments are completed, they can be finalized. I have already instructed the firing range of the Beijing garrison to make preparations. Would Your Majesty like to take a look?” Tao Guangyi immediately asked for instructions.

“Then let’s go and see. Dingbang, go and gather the guards, prepare the carriages, and set up camp at the Jingying camp outside the city.”

"Yes!"

Just then, the Crown Prince, who was writing at the imperial desk behind him, also called out, "Father, I want to go too! I want to go too!"

"Have you finished writing?"

"It's finished."

“Then let’s go together. Send someone to tell your mother that you won’t be back for lunch. Let’s go.”

Lu Jin gave a brief explanation, then picked up Gongshu Tan and took the boy to the military camp shooting range outside the city.

Upon arrival, they found that many targets and various armor samples had been prepared for testing the power of the new firearms.

The overall design of the new musket is roughly the same as the flintlock muskets that were previously mass-produced. The only difference is that it was changed from flint firing to percussion firing. At the same time, the barrel caliber, length, and bayonet lug below the barrel were all improved.

The original flintlock musket was 145 centimeters long, while the new one was shortened to 140 centimeters. The original flintlock musket had a caliber of 16 millimeters, while the new one had a caliber of 10 millimeters. Most importantly, the new musket had six right-hand rifling grooves engraved inside.

There are also bayonets. The original flintlock rifle bayonet was a sleeve type, which was directly attached to the barrel. The new rifle bayonet has three types. One is an improvement on the original sleeve type bayonet, while the other two are directly replaced with a chuck type bayonet.

The bayonet with a mortise is also divided into two types: a single-edged blade bayonet and a double-edged sword bayonet. Both are 60 centimeters long, with a blade width of 2 centimeters, a blade length of 47 centimeters, and a handle length of 13 centimeters. When mounted on a rifle, the total length is 1.87 meters, which is about the same as Lu Jin's height. Such a long rifle and bayonet is practically a short spear.

Although the overall length is still similar to the original flintlock musket, the new bayonet is a sight to behold. Its gleaming, cold blade is awe-inspiring and is worlds apart from the original triangular iron plate.

Li Dingbang's eyes widened immediately, and he exclaimed in amazement, "These two new bayonets are beautiful. Even this new type of sheathed bayonet is more exquisite than the previous ones, and the workmanship looks better."

"How about it, do you want to try it yourself?" Lu Jin immediately asked Li Dingbang.

"Is that okay? Don't we still need to do experiments?"

"Then you can do the experiment. You can also call a few guards who know how to fire muskets to form an experimental team. But you all need to change your outfits first."

"Huh? I have to change clothes?"

"Yes, hurry up and select people, let's get started."

"Yes."

Li Dingbang immediately summoned several imperial guards of similar build, and Lu Jin also had the new military uniforms brought over. The new uniforms were yellowish-green, with a hint of green in the yellow, and later had a special name: pine branch green. They were made of pure cotton, with a herringbone weave, thick, tight, sturdy, durable, and breathable.

Cotton fabric also comes in many weaves, such as the most common plain weave, as well as twill denim canvas, herringbone cotton fabric, and so on.

The style is a direct copy of the Zhongshan suit-style stand-up collar military uniform by Lu Jin. It has four pockets in the front, no seams on the back, five brass buttons on the chest with five-pointed star patterns, a cotton shirt one shade lighter than the jacket inside, and matching trousers on the lower body. There are also cloth loops on the shoulders and collar for attaching military ranks.

Of course, in order to make the Zhongshan suit blend into this ancient environment, Lu Jin also specially designed a matching military cap based on the ancient Liang Guan and Bei Chi Fu Tou. The whole set of clothing is called Zhong Jing Fu, which makes it look much more harmonious.

Li Dingbang and the others were dumbfounded when they saw the clothes. "These clothes are so strange. Why are the new military uniforms like this?"

"You'll see once you put it on. Hurry up and change. These are all men, and there are no outsiders here."

"Yes."

The group immediately began changing their clothes. Because they couldn't figure out the zipper yet, the pants were still fastened with three buttons at the front. In addition, the pants were not as loose as those in ancient times, making it difficult for them to put them on. They spent a long time fastening the front buttons.

However, these button-down dress pants were worn for many years during the early days of the People's Republic of China. Lu Jin even saw his grandfather wear these pants when he was a child.

Then, under Lu Jin's guidance, the group put on shirts and jackets. It was then that Li Dingbang noticed that their clothes were somewhat different.

Because Lu Jin added brocade trim to the side seams of the trousers and the cuffs of the jackets of these Zhongshan suits to distinguish different branches of the military. For example, the Imperial Guards had bright yellow ribbons on their cuffs and side seams of their trousers, the Field Army had crimson ribbon trims, and the Inner Guards had indigo ribbon trims.

As for other branches of the military, such as the navy, they simply changed the color of their entire uniform, but the style was the same as theirs.

Lu Jin then had them put on the wide cowhide belts, with a large five-pointed star in the center of the belt buckle. By tightening their waists, they immediately looked much more energetic.

"Line up! Attention!"

The group immediately stood in a row, chests out, heads held high, stomachs in, buttocks lifted, eyes looking straight ahead. Upon seeing this, Lu Jin immediately clicked his tongue and said, "Tsk tsk, it would look even better if you added military ranks and collar insignia."

Lu Jin then asked Tao Guangyi, who was standing next to her, "Do you think we should add a five-pointed star badge to the front of this hat?"

"That's something we can give it a try."

(End of this chapter)