Ming Dynasty: A mere unruly commoner is rebelling against the heaven?

Chapter 254: The flintlock rifle was successfully manufactured, the first step in the global strategy!
The civil servants in Jiangnan are flexible in their actions.

They will do their utmost to protect any ancestral system that safeguards their interests.

They tried their best to suppress any ancestral system that harmed their interests until this policy was completely forgotten.

They act flexibly, but Zhu Youtang acts even more flexibly than them.

It was clear that Zhu Youtang had repeatedly claimed that he would follow the ancestral system and restored the "Imperial Edict", and the punishment of officials once again reached a level that could be described as cruel.

But now, he no longer follows his ancestral customs and insists on going to the West again.

All these civil servants who followed the ancestral system were sent to serve Emperor Taizu.

What Zhu Youtang is doing now should be what they do often!

Zhu Youtang granted the wish of all those Jiangnan officials who risked their lives to make suggestions to the emperor, and executed them all.

The Fengtian Temple Square fell into deathly silence again.

Those Jiangnan officials who kept silent and protected themselves escaped the disaster, but they felt despair in their hearts.

Zhu Youtang really wants to force all the civil servants in Jiangnan to death!

"Li Qian, in supervising the construction of the treasure ship, you should work with the eunuch Ji Sheng, who is in charge of the internal affairs department. He will assist you."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Li Qian cupped his hands and bowed his head deeply.

"Retreat!"

After instructing Li Qian, Zhu Youtang announced the adjournment of the court and left Fengtianmen Square early.

Only after Zhu Youtang left completely did the officials in the Fengtian Palace Square breathe a sigh of relief and wipe the cold sweat from their foreheads.

The Minister of Justice He Qiaoxin wiped the sweat off his face, sighed, and looked at the empty dragon throne in front of him with a complicated expression.

Zhu Youtang's action against the smuggling case in Jiangnan was swift and resolute. These officials had no time to prepare in advance, and Zhu Youtang had already decided to go out to sea.

Things developed so suddenly that everyone was caught off guard and there were no effective countermeasures at all.

But this does not mean that they will sit idly by.

The counterattack of the Jiangnan civil servants is still to come.

……

Soon after Zhu Youtang returned to the Yangxin Palace, a young eunuch suddenly came to report: "Your Majesty, the Minister of Works Jia Jun wants to see Your Majesty."

Zhu Youtang raised his eyebrows, and said, "Let him in."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Soon, Jia Jun walked into the Yangxin Palace.

After paying his respects to Zhu Youtang, he indeed reported to him an exciting news.

"Your Majesty, the Ministry of Works has lived up to your expectations and worked day and night to finally succeed in improving the fire gun into a flintlock rifle!"

Jia Jun looked excited and quite proud.

Those officials in the south will only make Your Majesty angry, unlike him, who will bring good news to Your Majesty.

Even though Zhu Youtang had a premonition in his heart, he couldn't help but show a hint of joy on his face at this moment.

"Such rapid progress? Lord Jia, you really gave me a surprise."

The flintlock rifle is a product that is half a century ahead of this world and is currently the most advanced weapon in the world.

It not only greatly simplifies the shooting process, improves the firing rate and shooting accuracy, and is easy to use, but also has low cost and is convenient for mass production.

Once it is put into the battlefield in large quantities, it will immediately have an immeasurable impact.

This was a very critical step in Zhu Youtang's subsequent global strategy.

This is a starting point, a starting point for Zhu Youtang to move from the Ming Dynasty to the world.

Jia Jun took the opportunity to take credit for himself: "Your Majesty, since I got these drawings, I have been studying them day and night with the skilled craftsmen in the Ministry of Works."

"The purpose is to manufacture these things as soon as possible, so as not to let down your majesty's grace."

"Fortunately, it's all worth it. The first batch of 500 flintlock rifles have been completed."

"In addition, we also produced 300 kilograms of new gunpowder and 5,000 rounds of flintlock ammunition."

The fact that Jia Jun was able to make weapons and ammunition so quickly was partly due to the efforts of the craftsmen in the Ministry of Industry, but more importantly, it was due to Zhu Youtang’s adequate financial support.

After spending five million taels of silver, the craftsmen in the Ministry of Industry were like chickens with their blood pumped up, working tirelessly on the development of the flintlock rifle.

It finally took only a few days to develop the flintlock rifle.

Zhu Youtang was very pleased and said "good" three times in a row: "Good! Good! Good!"

"Then, Lord Jia, where is the flintlock rifle that has been made?"

"Your Majesty, these 500 flintlock rifles have been sent to the Xishan military camp and handed over to the Shenji camp for testing and training."

"The actual performance of the flintlock rifle will still depend on the specific data provided by the soldiers of the Shenji Battalion."

Zhu Youtang nodded and said, "In that case, come here, pass the order to march to the Xishan military camp!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

After receiving the order, the young eunuchs in the Imperial Household Department immediately passed on Zhu Youtang's order.

Suddenly, the entire palace became busy because of Zhu Youtang's order.

Just like when Zhu Youtang left the palace before, the emperor's ceremonial procession led the way, and the four Tengxiang guards under the Imperial Stables followed him.

The Jinyiwei blocked the streets along the capital and sent a large number of Jinyiwei to secretly protect Zhu Youtang. Wang Zhi, the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Horse Administration, and Mou Bin, the commander of the Jinyiwei, rushed to the Forbidden City as soon as they received the order and served Zhu Youtang.

Also attending him was the Minister of Works Jia Jun.

From the issuance of the order to Zhu Youtang's departure for inspection, it took only half an hour, and as many as thousands of people took action because of Zhu Youtang's order.

Zhu Youtang sat on the dragon chariot, left the Forbidden City, passed through the capital, and went to the Xishan military camp on the outskirts of Beijing.

At this moment, everyone in the Xishan military camp had received the news that Zhu Youtang was about to inspect the camp.

All the soldiers in the camp were immersed in joy and excitement.

This was the first time they met Zhu Youtang after receiving huge military pay from the imperial treasury.

They were eager to show their loyalty to Zhu Youtang and to demonstrate the best qualities of the Ming army in front of him.

Let Zhu Youtang know that the money he spent on the army was not wasted!
In the Xishan military camp, several branches of the military, hundreds of thousands of troops, all dressed in armor and assembled in the camp as quickly as possible, waiting for Zhu Youtang's arrival.

On the way to the Xishan military camp, Zhu Youtang looked at Mou Bin beside him with a calm expression: "Mou Bin."

After hearing Zhu Youtang's call, Mou Bin walked quickly into the dragon chariot, keeping the same speed as the chariot, and bowed to say, "I am here."

"Is Zhuque still in Jiangnan now?"

"Your Majesty, Zhuque is still waiting for news in Ganzhou. Is there anything you want to tell me?"

Zhu Youtang said casually: "In the Jiangnan smuggling case, the person you dug out from Yu Yunzhong's mouth should be handed over to Zhuque to investigate."

"Once verified, no matter if they are officials, nobles, or wealthy merchants, there is no need to report it, their property will be confiscated and their clan will be exterminated."

"Any official who is in office will be skinned and stuffed with straw, and then placed outside the city of Nanjing as a warning to others."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Mou Bin nodded and took Zhu Youtang's order to heart.

As they were talking, Zhu Youtang and his entourage soon arrived at the Xishan military camp.

When Zhu Youtang's imperial procession appeared in the distance outside the Xishan military camp, the soldiers in the camp were already extremely excited.

When Zhu Youtang's dragon chariot slowly landed on the parade ground in the Xishan military camp, the soldiers even started to riot uncontrollably.

"Everyone stand up! Salute your Majesty!"

Gao Shun, the actual highest controller of the Xishan military camp, let out an angry shout.

The next moment, hundreds of thousands of soldiers on the entire parade ground knelt on one knee and clasped their hands together: "Greetings, Your Majesty!"

"Long live my emperor! Long live!"

Zhu Youtang stood up from the dragon chariot and felt very satisfied when he saw the army with neat equipment and strict military discipline.

At this moment, it is no longer just the soldiers in the Xianzhen Camp who possess unmatched combat power.

After nearly a year of fighting, the more than 100,000 soldiers in the three camps in the capital have become battle-hardened and have acquired large-scale combat capabilities.

Now, the soldiers in the three major camps in the capital are all elite and are not inferior to those border troops stationed in border towns all year round.

Zhu Youtang glanced at the soldiers on Xishan Mountain and waved his hand: "Stand up."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

After everyone stood up, Gao Shun came forward and greeted them individually.

"General Gao Shun pays respect to Your Majesty."

Zhu Youtang nodded to Gao Shun and said, "Get up. I came here to see the actual performance of the flintlock rifle."

As Zhu Youtang spoke, he had already walked up to the stage to review his generals.

Soft tables and chairs have been arranged on the stage.

Zhu Youtang sat down calmly on the chair, looking at the soldiers in the field.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Gao Shun understood what was going on and immediately ordered a thousand soldiers from the Shenji Camp to line up and demonstrate.

Gao Shun divided the one thousand soldiers of the Shenji Camp into two groups, with five hundred people in each group. They used the newly manufactured flintlock rifles and traditional muskets to conduct actual combat target practice.

The one thousand soldiers of the Shenjiying selected by Gao Shun, holding flintlock rifles and muskets in their hands, appeared extremely excited and nervous in front of Zhu Youtang.

They put all their efforts into making a splash and showing themselves in front of Zhu Youtang.

"Prepare!"

"put!"

Following Gao Shun's order, the two teams of soldiers from the Shenji Camp began to fire the bullets in their guns at the straw target 500 meters away at the fastest speed.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

A series of gunshots rang out, and the straw target five hundred meters away was hit so hard that the straw flew everywhere.

Although the soldiers of the Shenji Camp were not yet proficient in the operation of the flintlock rifle, the simple firing procedures and relatively quick loading process of the flintlock rifle allowed the flintlock group to quickly fire each person's five bullets.

On the other side, although the soldiers of the Shenji Camp in the musket group were more familiar with muskets, their shooting speed was still much slower than that of the flintlock group.

Not only was it slow, but three soldiers' muskets even exploded, and they themselves suffered minor injuries.

In the end, the time it took the musket group to finish firing five bullets per person was twice as long as that of the flintlock group!
This made the soldiers of the Shenji Battalion of the Fire Gun Group feel very frustrated.

What made them despair the most was that when the final accuracy statistics were taken, the flintlock group had a far ahead hit rate!
(End of this chapter)