My father is Chongzhen? Then I have no choice but to rebel.

Chapter 149 The Divine Machine Battalion and the Flintlock Rifles!
In this way, the commercial tax reform was finally finalized.

When the court was dismissed, the imperial edict that had been written long ago had already been sent to the two capitals and thirteen provinces.

Other places may have to wait for some time to receive the imperial edict, but it is not so troublesome in the capital.

That morning, one imperial edict after another was posted on the walls of government offices across the capital.

This eight-character wall was a place specially used for posting notices and imperial edicts in the Ming Dynasty. Every time notices and imperial edicts were posted, yamen runners would be arranged to stand guard nearby.

On the one hand, it was to prevent someone with ill intentions from maliciously destroying the imperial edict, and on the other hand, it was to read and explain the specific content of the imperial edict to the onlookers.

At the gate of a government office in the capital, as soon as the imperial edict was posted, many common people quickly gathered around.

The yamen runner shouted at the top of his voice:

"The imperial court has issued an order to formally implement the commercial tax reform from today onwards."

At the beginning, ordinary people did not think there was anything special about it. After all, the news about commercial tax reform had been circulating among the people for quite some time.

Taxes have even been collected for several days, so it's hard for them not to know.

However, when they heard about the salt tax reform, the crowd burst into exclamations and everyone was so surprised that they couldn't close their mouths.

It turned out that the imperial court had stipulated that as long as an individual had money and obtained official approval from the imperial court, he could engage in the salt selling business.

This was something that people could not even imagine in the past. After all, the salt business had always been firmly controlled by the big salt merchants, and ordinary people had no chance to get involved.

Now that it has suddenly become like this, the people are very surprised.

"Wasn't salt monopolized by the big salt merchants in the past? How did it become like this now?"

"I don't know! But according to what it says here, we also have the opportunity to go into the salt business?"

"This is really great! Compared to other businesses, the salt business is extremely profitable!"

For a moment, the people were whispering and talking to each other.

When some small vendors around heard the news, they were even more excited and eager to try it out.

Even some big businessmen have shown great interest.

After all, the salt business has always been lucrative and a good way to make money. In the past, they were unable to get involved due to various restrictions and could only sigh in despair.

Now that the court's policy has been relaxed, as long as they can obtain the court's approval and pay a certain amount of deposit, they can legitimately participate in the salt business. This is undoubtedly a once-in-a-lifetime good news for them.

As a result, many businessmen immediately decided to form a team and go to the Salt Transport Bureau under the Ministry of Revenue to inquire about how to run the salt business.

Of course, Zhu Cilang doesn’t need to worry about these things for the time being.

After all, if you have to do everything yourself, then wouldn’t all the civil and military officials in the court become mere decorations?

He believed that the ministers had sufficient ability to handle these matters properly.

Now, the war is about to begin, and Zhu Cilang is most worried about the issue of military strength.

After nearly two months of intense recruitment, the number of Tengxiang's Five Guards has successfully reached 15,000.

Most of these soldiers were carefully selected and recruited from the capital area and local garrisons, and their physical fitness was generally good.

In addition, a group of people were selected from the disaster victims to make up the troops. These people originally came to the capital just to survive, but they did not expect to eat the emperor's food, so they worked harder than other soldiers.

In addition, there is the Guanning Iron Cavalry. After a period of rest, the Guanning Iron Cavalry is more energetic than before.

After all, when they were in Liaodong before, their monthly salary was only three taels of silver, and they might not really get that much, and it might have been deducted at some point.

But now he was kept in the capital, and his monthly salary was five taels of silver, and it was paid in full.

In addition, there is meat for every meal of the three days, which is a significant improvement compared to the days in Liaodong.

The only thing they fear now is probably being driven back to Liaodong. After all, the Guanning Iron Cavalry is not just composed of them.

Therefore, they are now trying their best to prove that they are indeed worthy of this treatment.

In general, Zhu Cilang was not worried about the combat effectiveness of the Tengxiang Five Guards and the Guanning Iron Cavalry. What he was most worried about was the combat effectiveness of the Beijing Camp.

So, taking advantage of the fact that he had nothing to do today, Zhu Cilang decided to go to the Beijing camp to check it out.

He took Zheng Chenggong, Li Hu, Li Ruolian and others with him, and headed towards the Beijing camp with a light load.

The Beijing Camp, also known as the three major camps of the Ming army, played a vital role throughout the history of the Ming Dynasty.

During normal training, the Fifth Army Battalion practiced camp formations, the Three Thousand Battalion practiced patrolling, and the Shenji Battalion practiced firearms.

When the emperor personally led an army, the three camps would surround the emperor's main camp, with the Shenji Camp usually on the outside, the cavalry in the middle, and the infantry on the inside.

This way, the emperor can be protected at all times and responses to various threats can be made at any time!
Although the main force of the Beijing Camp was almost completely destroyed in the Battle of Tumu, it was reorganized soon after and returned to the historical stage.

It played a key role in the subsequent Chenghua Liting and Wanli three major expeditions.

But of course, by the end of the Ming Dynasty, the Beijing Army had completely lost its combat effectiveness.

According to historical records, in the 17th year of Chongzhen, the peasant army led by Li Zicheng entered Juyongguan. When they arrived in the Shahe area, the Beijing camp was ordered to fight.

The result hasn’t been played yet?

Li Zicheng just fired a few shots, and the Beijing camp was immediately defeated and fled. Then Li Zicheng successfully broke through the capital and destroyed the Ming Dynasty.

It is also because of this that Zhu Cilang has no confidence in the Beijing Army.

Although he had ordered Li Guozhen to reorganize the Beijing camp and sent Li Banghua to train the new army, he was still worried.

Therefore, whenever Li Guozhen and Li Banghua sent him the training results of the Beijing Camp, he mostly viewed them with a skeptical attitude.

There is no way, who made the combat effectiveness of the Beijing Army so poor in the late Ming Dynasty?

After arriving at the Beijing camp, the guards at the gate immediately stopped them vigilantly.

"Stop! This is a military stronghold. No unauthorized personnel are allowed to enter!"

Zhu Cilang was not angry about this, but calmly asked Zheng Chenggong to take out the badge of the Eastern Palace.

The guards looked closely and saw the words "Eastern Palace" instantly. They were so scared that their faces turned pale and they knelt down and kowtowed in panic.

Zhu Cilang stopped them before they knelt and asked:
"Where is the Marquis of Xiangcheng? Take me to see him!"

The guards dared not slack off at all, and hurriedly led the way, taking Zhu Cilang to Li Guozhen's tent.

At this time, Li Guozhen was concentrating on handling military affairs in the tent. He noticed that someone had entered the tent without notification and could not help but scolded angrily:
"What's going on? Didn't I tell you not to disturb me?"

However, just as he finished speaking, a familiar voice rang out the next second.

"Why? I can't come too?"

When Li Guozhen heard this, his face changed instantly. He raised his head suddenly and saw Zhu Cilang standing steadily in front of him.

The next second, Li Guozhen immediately stood up, took two steps at a time and walked quickly to Zhu Cilang, then knelt down with a plop.

"I was unaware of His Royal Highness's arrival and apologized for not welcoming him. I hope Your Highness will forgive me."

Zhu Cilang helped Li Guozhen up with a smile, and then said:
"There's no need for this, Lord Xiangcheng. I just had the sudden urge to come to the Beijing Camp, so I didn't inform you in advance."

"I was just joking with you just now, don't take it seriously."

Li Guozhen said hurriedly with great fear:

"Your Highness, what are you talking about? How dare I complain?"

Afterwards, he hurriedly and respectfully invited Zhu Cilang to take a seat, while he stood by and served him in an orderly manner.

Zhu Cilang glanced through the documents on the table and found that they were all about the military camp. Some of them still had wet ink on them. It was obvious that Li Guozhen was indeed busy handling official business.

After a moment, Zhu Cilang asked directly:
"What is the current situation of the Beijing Camp? Please tell me about it."

Li Guozhen did not dare to hide anything and answered truthfully:

"Your Highness, after nearly two months of intensive recruitment and training, the number of soldiers in the Beijing Camp has now exceeded 100,000."

"Among them, the Fifth Army Battalion has 63,000 men, the Third Thousand Battalion has 25,000 men, and the Divine Machine Battalion has 15,000 men."

"Although there is still a certain gap in numbers compared to the times of Taizu and Taizong, I can guarantee with all my heart that these 100,000 soldiers are all elite troops! There are absolutely no old, weak, sick or disabled ones!"

What Li Guozhen said was the truth. After he joined Zhu Cilang in the rebellion, the first thing he did was to lay off the old, weak, sick and disabled soldiers in the Beijing camp and all the soldiers who were drawing salaries without working.

Then Li Banghua took up the position of Minister of War, in charge of the training of the Beijing camp.

This old man was famous for being unyielding. Even if Li Guozhen had some ulterior motives, he didn't dare to do anything. Therefore, he performed his duties conscientiously in the next few months and didn't dare to be careless at all.

Zhu Cilang nodded slightly, expressing his approval of Li Guozhen's words, and then asked:
"What is the specific situation of the Shenji Camp?"

Among the three major camps of the Ming army, the Fifth Camp was composed of elite cavalry and infantry selected from various provinces, and was divided into five parts: the Central Army, the Left Wing, the Right Wing, the Left Patrol and the Right Patrol.

This unit was known for its mixed infantry and cavalry combat, combining the mobility of cavalry with the steady and cautious capabilities of infantry, and performed outstandingly in many famous battles.

And the number of people can be replenished from various provinces at any time.

The Three Thousand Battalions are all cavalry. The combat effectiveness of the original Three Thousand Battalions was no weaker than the current Guanning Iron Cavalry, but now, its combat effectiveness is far inferior to that of the Guanning Iron Cavalry.

The Shenjiying was the earliest firearms unit formed in the Ming Dynasty. It was specifically in charge of firearms and used artillery and the recently added flintlock rifles. It was the most important firearms unit of the Ming army and also the unit that Zhu Cilang cared about the most!

After all, in Zhu Cilang's view, cavalry and the like are only important now, but the world will be ruled by firearms in the future.

When Li Guozhen heard Zhu Cilang asking about the Shenjiying, he immediately replied:

"Your Highness, the Divine Machine Battalion currently has a total of 15,000 troops, consisting of 10,000 infantry, 3,000 cavalry, and 2,000 artillery." "According to your Highness's previous instructions and requirements, these 10,000 infantry have been equipped with the latest flintlock rifles, and all previous firearms have been eliminated."

"And I can guarantee that these 10,000 infantrymen are proficient in using flintlock rifles."

"In addition, the artillery is equipped with Red Cannon, Luzon Copper Cannon, and Portuguese Cannon, totaling more than 200 pieces, and countless ammunition!"

When saying these words, Li Guozhen couldn't help but reveal a hint of pride on his face.

In the past, although the Shenjiying was equipped with many kinds of firearms, they all had many drawbacks, such as poor aiming accuracy, insufficient power, and even barrel explosion.

As a result, the soldiers were not very enthusiastic about using these firearms, and even had some resistance.

After all, if a firearm explodes, it is easy to cause injury.

But now, after replacing firearms with flintlock rifles, the situation has improved greatly, and the soldiers' enthusiasm and confidence in using firearms have greatly increased.

So far, there have been only one or two incidents of barrel explosion, and the injuries were not too serious. Compared with previous firearms, it is a world of difference.

However, when Zhu Cilang heard this, he felt somewhat disappointed.

Because according to his original plan, he actually intended to equip half of the Beijing camp with flintlock rifles.

Not only the infantry of the Shenji Battalion had to be equipped with flintlock rifles, but even the infantry of the Five Army Battalions had to be equipped with flintlock rifles.

However, due to the limited production of flintlock rifles and the need to prioritize the equipment needs of the Guanning Iron Cavalry and the Tengxiang Five Guards, currently only the infantry of the Shenji Camp in the Jingying are equipped with flintlock rifles.

But it doesn’t matter. In another year, we will be able to prepare the entire Beijing camp!
Thinking of this, Zhu Cilang suddenly became interested and wanted to go to the Shenjiying camp in person to inspect it and see how they trained.

So he said to Li Guozhen:
"I want to go to the camp of the Shenji Camp and take a look. Please lead the way."

As he said that, he stood up.

Li Guozhen quickly responded:
"The minister obeys the order."

Then he respectfully led Zhu Cilang and others towards the camp of Shenjiying.

When they arrived at a venue, Zhu Cilang suddenly stopped and looked towards the center of the venue.

This vast area was filled with soldiers training.

These soldiers are all in good shape and high spirits. Some of them have heavy sandbags tied tightly to their bodies and are jogging around the field. Every step forward seems quite strenuous, but they are still doing weight-bearing training.

Some soldiers supported themselves on the ground with their hands, moving their bodies up and down rhythmically, doing push-ups with all their might. Beads of sweat the size of beans rolled down their foreheads, dripping onto the dry ground and disappearing in an instant.

A little further away, there were several uniquely constructed equipment similar to horizontal bars. Some soldiers were exercising on them, doing flips and somersaults, or stretching and pull-ups.

Zhu Cilang witnessed all this and the corners of his mouth rose slightly.

These training methods were the suggestions he gave to Li Banghua. Now it seems that Li Banghua has put them into practice.

In addition, these methods have been cleverly improved based on actual conditions.

Zhu Cilang also understood that the era, living environment, physical fitness and many other aspects of ancient soldiers were significantly different from those of modern soldiers.

Of course, we cannot generalize it according to modern standards, so he still quite approves of Li Banghua's reforms.

Of course, the most important reason why such a training plan could be implemented so quickly was that the soldiers in the Beijing camp could now eat well.

In the past, soldiers in the Beijing camp only had staple food and some seasonal vegetables for each meal, and they rarely ate meat a few times a month.

In winter, there are no vegetables to eat and we can only eat pickles with rice.

But now, they have meat to eat every day, although it is not much, only half a pound per person per day, but it is a world of difference compared to before.

When you are full and well fed, with oil in your stomach, you will naturally have the energy to train.

Along the way, the soldiers saw Li Guozhen coming from afar, stopped what they were doing and saluted respectfully.

Li Guozhen looked calm, and just nodded slightly. He did not deliberately show off, nor did he reveal Zhu Cilang's identity.

Because he knew that Zhu Cilang came here just to take a low-key look and did not want to attract too much attention.

In this way, the group hurriedly arrived at the training camp of the Shenjiying.

Before they approached the core area of the camp, a series of deafening gunshots suddenly rang out, breaking the surrounding silence.

In the past, the Shenjiying often neglected training during non-combat periods. One reason was that the manufacturing technology of firearms at that time was limited and the quality was poor, which made it easy for various failures to occur during training, affecting the training effect.

Secondly, bullets and gunpowder are expensive to produce and extremely precious, and cannot withstand frequent consumption.

But now the situation is different from the past, because Zhu Cilang specially allocated a special fund for the daily training of the Shenji Camp. With sufficient material support, the frequency and intensity of the Shenji Camp's training have also greatly increased.

Soon, Zhu Cilang and his group arrived at the training ground.

The place was in good order, with soldiers performing their duties and conducting training.

Zhu Cilang was observing the training methods of the Shenjiying while Li Guozhen was explaining them.

Simply put, the Shenjiying is now using a method called three-stage shooting.

A combat team consists of three people, one of whom is responsible for aiming and shooting, and the other two are responsible for loading ammunition to ensure the continuity and stability of shooting.

This repetitive cycle and close coordination, like a precision-operated machine, greatly improved the shooting efficiency of the flintlock rifle, enabling it to exert more powerful lethality on the battlefield.

Moreover, during actual combat, the tactical arrangements of the Shenji Camp were even more ingenious and reasonable.

Generally, the artillery units will first use the powerful power of artillery to bombard the enemy formation from a long distance, instantly disrupting the enemy's combat deployment and position.

Next, the soldiers would stand behind the horse traps dug in advance and shoot accurately.

When the enemy rushes to the front in the hail of bullets, the cavalry unit on the side will cooperate with the infantry to attack and deliver the final fatal blow to the enemy.

Instead of standing there shooting without any tactics and passively becoming a target for the enemy.

Zhu Cilang watched all this quietly, and couldn't help but sigh in his heart that the wisdom and creativity of the ancients really cannot be underestimated!
As far as the shooting and fighting methods currently demonstrated by the Shenjiying are concerned, both in terms of tactical rationality and actual combat effectiveness, they are impeccable.

However, Zhu Cilang still thought of some improvement measures.

That is, when the entire army is equipped with flintlock rifles, we can try to further improve and optimize the existing three-stage shooting method, such as trying to promote a six-stage or even nine-stage shooting method.

Let the flintlock rifle demonstrate greater power!

Imagine that when one hundred thousand or five hundred thousand people stand side by side and shoot at the same time, who in the world can stop them?

However, one must eat one bite at a time and walk one step at a time. It is a remarkable achievement that Shenjiying has reached such a level at this stage.

Zhu Cilang was very satisfied with everything that happened before his eyes.

After watching the training of the Shenji Camp, Zhu Cilang returned to the tent with Li Guozhen with satisfaction.

After having a simple lunch and a short rest in the tent, they set off on the journey back to the capital.

Soon, everyone returned to the capital.

As he walked, Zhu Cilang suddenly felt that the scene around him seemed familiar. He frowned slightly, thought about it carefully, and then he suddenly realized.

This seems to be near the British Duke's Palace!
After a brief thought, Zhu Cilang turned to Li Ruolian beside him and said:
"Don't rush back to the East Palace, go to the Duke of Ying's Mansion and take a look."

Li Ruolian quickly responded respectfully, then directed the team to change their direction, and the group headed straight for the Duke of Ying's Mansion.

At this time, the British Duke Zhang Zhiji had just finished his lunch and was lying comfortably on a lounge chair in the garden with his eyes closed to rest.

As the most famous nobleman in the Ming Dynasty, his life can be described as comfortable and contented.

Over the years, it has always maintained a distinguished status.

Even when powerful officials like Zhang Juzheng and Wei Zhongxian were at the peak of their powers, they did not dare to show any offense or disrespect to aristocratic families like the Duke of Ying.

This is the deep confidence and majesty accumulated over the years by the first nobleman of the Ming Dynasty.

The Duke of England is now at the age of knowing the destiny. He has experienced all the ups and downs of life and no longer has excessive desires and pursuits for fame, wealth and power.

The only thing he cared about was that after he passed away, his son would be able to smoothly inherit the title of Duke of England and continue to pass on the family's glory.

Moreover, in his opinion, this should not be a difficult task. After all, his family has already boarded the ship of the Crown Prince. As long as the Crown Prince successfully ascends the throne in the future, his family will be a well-deserved minister.

By then, you will naturally enjoy endless wealth and glory.

Thinking of this, the corners of the Duke of England's mouth rose unconsciously, as if he had already seen the glorious future of his family.

Suddenly, at this moment, a burst of hurried footsteps broke the silence here, and the housekeeper came running in a panic, shouting:
"Master, Master, something bad has happened!"

The Duke of England's originally comfortable expression disappeared in an instant, replaced by a look of displeasure.

He slowly opened his eyes and scolded:

"What are you yelling about?"

The housekeeper said breathlessly:

"Master, the Crown Prince has arrived and is waiting at the door."

When the Duke of England heard this, he was so shocked that he almost fell off the recliner. He stood up in a panic, his face full of disbelief.

What the hell!

Why is this man here?

(End of this chapter)