Dream of the Red Chamber: I can upgrade my entries!

Chapter 22 Jia Yan's Disappointment: Where Does the Future of Daqian Lie?

A corner of Shenjing, the garden of the Prince of Beijing's mansion.

The cool moonlight shone on the small lake, making it ripple. A figure stood in the lakeside pavilion, wearing a white hat with silver wings and tassels, a white python robe with five-clawed dragons riding on the waves, and a jade belt. His face was as beautiful as jade and his eyes were as bright as stars.

"Not at all?"

A gentle voice followed, and Shui Rong's beautiful face resembled that of a refined gentleman.

"Your Majesty."

The man in black, sitting at the bottom, said in a hoarse voice, "The military governor of Ping'an Prefecture and all officials below him are dead."

"is it?"

Shui Rong gazed at the lake and said gently, "It just so happens that we were born at such a coincidence."

"The Mongols suffered a white disaster last year, and this spring they marched south to Ping'an Prefecture and killed so many people."

“Ping’an Prefecture has no fewer than 10,000 soldiers and has always maintained good relations with various tribes on the grasslands. The Borjigin mobilized 300,000 Mongol cavalry that day, but they did not receive a single word of it. It was only a month later that Shenjing learned of the dramatic changes in the north.”

'Thump!'

The man in black felt a chill run down his spine and lowered his head.

Although the young man before him was not yet twenty, he was not a soft-hearted person. He was the youngest prince of the dynasty, the Prince of Beijing.

There are only a handful of people in the world who have the ability to block news from Ping'an Prefecture.

"Hidden Dragon Guard, Blood Droplets, Chess Camp, Black Cloud Capital, are they the royal family or the Jia family?"

Shui Rong meticulously pieced together the clues from the limited information available, his eyes gradually sharpening, a murderous intent flashing within them.

The Prince of Beijing's mansion had been operating in Ping'an Prefecture for decades, but it was completely destroyed in one fell swoop, with no chance of recovery. Even those pawns had disappeared without a trace. How could he not hold this grudge in his heart?

"Your Majesty."

"But send someone."

The man in black looked up and asked cautiously.

"Do not."

Shui Rong waved his hand to interrupt him: "Since someone is trying to cover this up, it means that Ping'an Prefecture was discovered long ago."

"We must not act now, as that would only give others a handle to use against us. We should just observe and see how things develop."

"I want to see who will clean up this mess."

"Yes."

The man in black responded respectfully.

"The Jia family is willing to sacrifice themselves for this cause; there must be some unspeakable reason behind it."

"During this time, you should have someone monitor the Jia family, and you must not ignore any of their movements."

"The founding generation has been accumulating experience for decades, and this time they've mobilized their entire force. I want to know what they want."

Then, Shui Rong gave a few more instructions.

"Yes."

The man in black turned and disappeared into the night.

Watching him leave, Shui Rong's face turned cold, like a venomous snake lurking in the shadows, waiting for its chance to strike. She smiled coldly and said, "Ping'an Prefecture is gone, so I will hide in the shadows and see who the final victor is."

The following morning, at 5:45 AM, at the Ministry of Works, the warehouse of the Yuheng Division.

"Yan-ge'er".

"The weapons and armor recently manufactured by the Ministry of Works are all here."

Wearing a dark crimson official robe with white pheasant embroidered patches, Jia Zheng revealed a rare air of competence as he led Jia Yan straight into the storeroom.

In the Qing Dynasty, the production of military equipment was generally carried out by the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Works, and the Ministry of Revenue. The Ministry of War's Armory Department was in charge of the standardization, registration, and reimbursement of weapons. The Ministry of Works' Department of Material Control reviewed the funding for engineering materials. The Ministry of Revenue coordinated the income and expenditure of the bureaus and factories and the payment of salaries. Almost all military equipment was manufactured by the Ministry of Works and then sent to the Ministry of War for registration, storage, or distribution to the border troops and the capital troops.

The Ministry of Works' warehouse served as a transit point, storing some newly made weapons and armor. Without an imperial edict, Jia Yan would not have been able to directly obtain the necessary weapons, armor, and other items from there.

The supplies from the Ministry of War have all been allocated to the Beijing Garrison and the Northern Expeditionary Army, enough to arm 200,000 men. There's no time to deal with him. "Uncle Zheng."

"I need three hundred short-handled horsebows, each weighing one dan, and nine hundred quivers of arrows."

"Five hundred spears, one thousand waist knives, and eight hundred sets of cloth armor, all of the newest and best."

Looking around, Jia Yan spoke calmly and methodically.

"it is good."

Jia Zheng gave a look to the clerk beside him, who hurriedly went to make the arrangements.

The quiver of the Great Qian Dynasty usually contained thirty arrows, of which 15 were heavy arrows (sharp arrows), 10 were light arrows (fast arrows), 3 were whistling arrows, and 2 were fire arrows. The total number of arrows in the quiver was about 27000, which was quite a lot.

"Uncle Zheng".

"I heard that the firearms manufacturing of our dynasty is also carried out by the Yuheng Division."

"I want to take a look."

At this point, Jia Yan made a request.

"Ok?"

Jia Zheng was stunned. Since the founding of the Great Qian Dynasty, the development of firearms has mainly focused on defense. Most of the heavy cannons mounted on the city walls were imitations of European long-barreled, spindle-shaped cannons, and were called the Hongyi cannons.

The Ministry of Works did not pay much attention to the research and development of firearms, even less so than during the Ming Dynasty, and few people were interested in firearms.

"Can't you?"

With a slight frown, Jia Yan asked again.

"It's not impossible. Well then, the arms depot is just ahead."

"You'll see when you see it."

Jia Zheng shook his head and led the way.

Seeing this, Jia Yan had some guesses in his mind, but he was not completely sure.

Before long, a lone warehouse appeared before them. Compared to the other warehouses, this one was much more dilapidated, with countless layers of cobwebs on the eaves, indicating that very few people usually came here.

"Clap!"

Jia Zheng pushed open the door, and a long-stale smell wafted into everyone's nostrils. Even Jia Yan couldn't help but cover his mouth and nose.

"Uh..."

What appeared before them was a relatively spacious warehouse, with some wooden shelves inside, on which were firearms of various shapes and sizes.

'Three-eyed gun, four-eyed gun, repeating gun, crutch gun, swift gun, five-thunder divine machine, Lumi gun, tiger crouching cannon'

After scanning the area, Jia Yan recognized that almost all of these firearms were from the Ming Dynasty, which made him somewhat disappointed.

The rate of change of firearms is not fast, but the firearms in front of us are at least a hundred years old. These things have some effect on the battlefield, but they are mostly useless. Technological innovation requires the successive efforts of one generation after another.

Judging from this situation, the level of firearms developed during the Qianlong reign was far inferior to that of the Ming dynasty, let alone comparable to the Western powers of today.

It takes at least a few years to train a qualified archer, while a musketeer only needs a few months or even less. As for artillery, it goes without saying that it is a powerful weapon for conquering cities and seizing territories.

Even a master of internal strength, how can flesh and blood withstand firearms? Firearms are a symbol of progress and a product of a nation's strength. If the Great Qian were allowed to continue developing unchecked, the outcome might be even more tragic than the Qing Dynasty in his previous life, and the giant ships and cannons of the Western powers would open the gates of the East much sooner.

Yizhou is currently under Dutch control, and they have a very detailed understanding of the Great Qian Dynasty.

"Uncle Zheng".

"Is this pile of scrap metal the only firearms the dynasty possesses?"

Jia Yan asked, looking dejected.

"This"

Jia Zheng was somewhat speechless. He was relegated to a lowly position in the Ministry of Works and didn't really know the specifics.

(End of this chapter)