Go back to the Ming Dynasty to be a thousand households

Chapter 146 The Mongols Are Coming

Early morning on July 1591, 10.

According to the lunar calendar, this day is September 19th in the [-]th year of Wanli.In this season of Beijing, the weather has turned cold.Especially in the empty square in front of Huangji Gate, when a gust of north wind blows, the cold air seems to penetrate into the bone marrow.

Outside the Huangji Hall, the former chief minister of the cabinet, Shen Shixing, knelt on the cold and hard stone slabs, his hair and beard were messed up by the cold wind, but Shen Shixing didn't care about these things, he just knelt on the ground, crying, and couldn't stop crying. Sobbing, let the tears flow on his face: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty..."

On the square, all the civil and military officials who came and went looked at the former cabinet minister with complicated expressions, and many of them talked in low voices.

During these days, a series of major events took place in Beijing. First, Xu Guo, Minister of the Ministry of Rites, was reprimanded by Emperor Wanli for agreeing to invite the establishment of the East Palace.A few days later, Shen Shixing, the chief assistant of the cabinet, was impeached, and he also took the blame and resigned from office. There was an uproar in the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty.

Falling suddenly from the peak of power, Shen Shixing's heartache can be imagined. Today, he came to bid farewell to Emperor Wanli.After bidding farewell to Emperor Wanli in Dongnuan Pavilion, Shen Shixing could no longer control his emotions, fell to his knees, and cried bitterly.

Wang Lin, Minister of the Household Department next to him, stepped forward to help Shen Shixing up, hesitated to speak, and finally let out a long sigh.With Wang Lin's support, Shen Shixing took a last look at the red walls and green tiles of the palace, his eyes were slightly red, and finally he was speechless, and staggered away alone.

The cabinet era of Shen Shixing is over. At the age of 57, he has been prime minister for nine years. He is lenient in government affairs and can accommodate people. He is known as the elder in the world.Wanli died in 42 years, eighty years old.Presented as a gift to the grand master, posthumously named Wending, there are "Ci Xian Tang Ji", "Da Ming Hui Dian", "Shen Wending Gong Ji" and so on.

After Shen Shixing became an official, Wang Jiaping, Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of Officials and a scholar of Dongge University, served as the chief assistant of the cabinet and joined the maintenance department.

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Within a few days, two cabinet ministers resigned successively, and one of them was the chief assistant. This was undoubtedly a major earthquake for the official circles of Ming Dynasty, especially the officials in Beijing.But these things didn't affect Huang Laifu of Wuzhaibao at all. Right now he is very busy.

The Wuzhai Fort University Hall not far from the Wuzhai Fort Vegetable Garden has been built, with a total of more than 132 students, employing professors, Xuezheng, Jiaoyu, Disciplinary, Secretary, Zhaifu, Shanfu, Mr. Waiting for more than [-] people, Huang Laifu was appointed as the honorary principal.This scale was considered astonishingly large in the Ming Dynasty.Just in Kelan Prefecture Health School, there are only [-] students.After the news came out, it caused a lot of discussion among scholars from all over the world.Overall, positive appreciation.

The buildings in the Wuzhaibao University Hall are elegant, with blue bricks, blue tiles, and large wood. It is composed of multiple buildings. , can also be sent to Wuzhaibao University to study.

The school opened on November 11st. The school implemented a school building system, uniform uniforms, and semi-military management. It was divided into dozens of classes for low, middle, and high ages.Since the current Wuzhai Fort is full of financial resources, Huang Laifu does not charge any tuition fees, and he can still afford the school's annual expenses of several thousand taels.Of course, this kind of free education can only be implemented in Wuzhaibao.

In the university hall, in addition to teaching some traditional rites, archery, books, and mathematics of the Ming Dynasty, there are also knowledge about agricultural technology, commerce, and military affairs.And this kind of teaching is not just teaching in books.Each class has its own vegetable field, farmland, orchard, etc. The children often have some labor practice classes.

In Wuzhaibao University Hall, in addition to literati who have read poetry and books, there are also some old farmers, merchants, and military officers.Huang Laifu thought very clearly that among these students, only a small number would be able to pass the imperial examination in the future, and most of them still had to be digested in Wuzhai Fort by themselves. Therefore, in normal teaching, some practical and useful things should be taught.

However, this approach in the university hall inevitably aroused some literati's discussion. You said that it is fine to hire some old farmers in the school. In ancient society, the status of farmers was still high. Field planting is also a kind of elegance.But isn't it a good thing to get some merchants and soldiers to come to the school?

But discussion is discussion, in Wuzhai Fort, Huang Laifu is extremely authoritative, although there are some literati secretly discussing it behind the scenes, but the teaching in the school is still done according to Huang Laifu's wishes.

March 1591, 11 AD.

On Dadong Street not far from the guerrilla mansion, the sound of firecrackers blared non-stop, and a bank on the street, which Huang Laifu called the Wuzhaibao Big Bank, was established.

In the current Ming Dynasty, Baoyuan Bureau and Baoquan Bureau have been established in Beijing and the provinces of Ming Dynasty, which are specialized in minting coins and issuing banknotes.In big cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, and Guangzhou, major merchants have established a large number of money houses and ticket shops, which are engaged in deposits, issuing bank notes, developing bank notes, and exchanging business.

With the prosperity of business in Wuzhai Fort, a large amount of capital and silver transactions, it is inevitable to build a bank in the fort.

Regarding Huang Laifu's use of the word bank, it is not a product of later generations, but was used as early as the Tang Dynasty.During the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, there was a "gold bank" in Suzhou.In the second year of Huiyou in the Northern Song Dynasty, when Cai Xiang learned about Fuzhou, he wrote "Sixteen Things about Teaching the People", the sixth of which is "A lot of complaints about the bank's rolling, blowing and selling of silver".This is the earliest time the word "bank" appears alone.In the first year of Jingding in the Southern Song Dynasty, there was already a bank street in Nanjing, and the street was very prosperous.

Huang Laifu named this bank Wuzhaibao Big Bank, also referring to the sages.

Huang Laifu has always attached great importance to money bags. The fundamental reason for him to establish himself in Wuzhai Fort is to have field money bags in one hand and the army in the other hand.Therefore, after the establishment of this bank, Huang Laifu was naturally the only owner, with Zhou Wendong, the financial team leader, as the big shopkeeper, and Qu Yuanrui and other merchants invested funds, acted as shareholders, and jointly managed it.After all, the connections, financial resources, and channel relationships of these merchants are what Huang Laifu will need in the future.

Huang Laifu's ambition is that Wuzhaibao Bank will appear as the head office on Wuzhaibao Dadong Street. In the future, he will open a large number of branch offices to various cities in Ming Dynasty.

Walking into the big bank of Wuzhaibao, it occupies a large area, and the first entrance of the yard is the counter and account room.The second entrance is the employee's residence and guest room.The third entrance is a two-story building, the downstairs is the flower hall, the upper floor is the storage and staff's residence, and the last entrance is the residence of VIPs and senior staff.On the west side, there are corridors leading to carriages, stables and stables.On the wall of the account room, there is a template of "anti-counterfeiting security deposit", which is used for the use of passwords and anti-counterfeiting of bank notes.The secret key is changed irregularly, usually every three months for a set.

For the management of Qianzhuang Bank, Daming at this time had a set of mature and rigorous methods. The bankers entered the bank at the age of 15 and were apprenticed for three years without taking any money. Generous annual salary.If you are the accountant of the bank, the treatment will be more generous. If you reach a certain level of accountant, you can also get dividends every year.

At present, among the many Shanxi merchants in Wuzhaibao, many families have experience in running a bank. With their joining, the business can be put on track soon, and Huang Laifu does not need to worry about it.
In Huang Laifu's plan, the current Wuzhaibao Bank only operates deposits and withdrawals for the time being, but in the future it will also operate remittance business in different places, similar to the Shanxi bank of later generations, and it has created a world in the financial circle of Ming Dynasty.

After the opening of the Wuzhaibao Big Bank, Huang Laifu, a reputable and financially strong owner, was in front of him. Whether it was a big businessman or a small vendor in Wuzhaibao, everyone was very at ease. Entered the Wuzhaibao Bank.In just a few days, the amount of deposits reached a level that was envied by colleagues in Taiyuan and other places.

At the same time, concrete roads connecting Wuzhaibao City and 30 farms in Wuzhaibao, as well as major livestock farms, vegetable gardens, and orchards have also begun to be paved.In the current Wuzhai Fort, cement has been widely used, and due to the frequent contact between major farms and the fort city, the dusty loess road can no longer keep up with the needs of Wuzhai Fort's development. imminent.

If possible, concrete roads connecting Wuzhai Fort to Kelan Prefecture, and Wuzhai Fort to Shenchi Fort and Bajiao Fort will also be built, but this is too expensive and can only be discussed later.

According to the standard of running three horses and carriages side by side, in Daming at present, the average construction cost per kilometer of cement roads is about 200 taels of silver. In Wuzhai Fort, there are a total of dozens of kilometers of roads to be repaired, plus various A total of tens of thousands of taels of silver are needed for such labor.Although the imperial court appreciated Huang Laifu's actions of repairing bridges and roads, they didn't have any money to ask them to pay.Huang Laifu could only figure out a way by himself.

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March 1591, 11 AD.

A workshop outside Wuzhai Fort opened to make soap.This workshop is still the old rule, with Huang Laifu holding the majority stake and some businessmen as joint ventures.

In the current Ming Dynasty, saponins or pig lings are generally used for cleaning.The making of soap locust is to use soap locust tree.Polyporus is used by richer people. It uses pancreas and fat from cattle, pigs, and sheep to mash, add saponin, stone alkali, sugar, etc., and grind it finely, and then boil it with flour and water.If some spices are added, there will be a richer aroma after use.Of course, ordinary Daming people use saponins to wash their hair and take a bath.

The reason why pig ling is only used by those who are rich is because in Daming, there is less fat.However, Wuzhaibao kills a large number of livestock every day. Naturally, there is no shortage of animal fat, and soap can be produced in large quantities.

On the 12th, Wuzhai Fort, Wuzhai Fort Arms Workshop.

"Boom!" There was a loud noise, white smoke rose, and after the pungent smell of gunpowder, the thick wooden target placed eighty steps away was smashed to pieces.

"it is good!"

Huang Laifu yelled, and the officers beside him also applauded loudly.

At this time, what was tested on the shooting range outside the Military Workshop was a large-scale firecracker made by military craftsmen. A lead bullet as thick as a thumb hit a man or horse, and if he didn't die, a huge hole in the blood plate would appear immediately.

This kind of carrying gun is all made of fine iron, it is 3 meters long and weighs 24 catties, which is nearly five times heavier than the [-] catties bird guns used by Wuzhaibao bird gunners.Because it is too heavy, a tripod and a rotating device are required when shooting.

This kind of gun is so powerful that even the chariots at this time can't resist it. The current Ming army used to have some equipment, but because it was too heavy, it was inconvenient for the soldiers to carry it. There were no bird guns and three-eyed guns to use. Flexible, so the sergeants didn't like to use it, and it has been developing very slowly.

That's right, right now in the Nine Frontiers Town of Ming Dynasty, all they are dealing with are Mongolian troops wearing leather armor or leather robes. For these people, a [-]-jin blunderbuss is more than enough power, and there is no need to use any inconvenient lifting weapons. shot.Perhaps, only when facing the heavy cavalry and heavy infantry of the Manchurians in the future, this kind of gun will be useful.

However, Huang Laifu knew that in the future, heavy-duty smoothbore guns would be the law of development, so he asked military craftsmen to manufacture a batch of such guns and firecrackers.

In addition, Huang Laifu also intends to let military craftsmen make some western-style plate armor. In the current Ming Dynasty, the technology in this area is not a problem, but after consulting the relevant information in the notebook, Huang Laifu is a little hesitant.

According to the information, these plate armors can easily deal with Western steel crossbows and arrows, but when facing Eastern strong crossbows and composite bows, those sawtooth arrows and triangular arrows will be shot through the plate armor as soon as they are shot.

Moreover, the plate armor is inconvenient to wear, and it is also inconvenient to fight, and it cannot cope with the heavy blows of heavy sticks and hammers.Nor can it protect the groin and thighs, as well as joints and necks, which are the most vulnerable and deadly parts in combat.Speaking of it, Chinese scale armor has many advantages, strong cushioning, and enough hardness, but it is more complicated to make.

Based on the idea that there is progress in comparison, Huang Laifu asked the military craftsmen of Wuzhaibao to try to make some plate armor and come out to have a look.

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March 1591, 12 AD.

It's the winter solstice, and even if it's winter, the weather is very cold, and the water of the Qinglian River is frozen solid by thick ice.However, Wuzhai Fort is still in full swing, entering the climax of construction. The paving of each workshop and cement road is full of people and a prosperous scene.

However, affairs always exist as a whole, and the extraordinary development of Wuzhai Fort will not fail to cause some changes in the outside world.Wuzhaibao, which is getting richer and richer, will not fail to arouse the covetousness of some people in the outside world.Among these coveted people, there are internal ones, and of course, there are also external ones...

……

The Guan River flows through the Xixie Yellow River in Piantou, and there is a pass at the entrance of the river.As the opposite of the pass is the Mongolian tribe in Hetao, in the winter of previous years, those Mongolian cavalry would cross the river on ice and enter Shanxi Town to plunder.

Therefore, in order to meet the needs of winter defense, the Kelan military preparation officers and generals stationed in Pianguan in Pianguan built a water pass at the pass of the river mouth, named Guanhekou, with [-] generals for defense.In previous years, every winter, the sergeants had to dig ice to prevent smuggling from Mongolia.

However, after the Longqing Peace Conference, Shanxi Town has not been under war for many years, and ice digging is too hard. Over the years, the soldiers stationed at the partial pass have long been lax about digging ice off the river in winter.

On the morning of the 20th, it was very cold in the mouth of the Guanhe River, and the sergeants all huddled in their rooms in the pass, drinking, gambling, and drinking non-stop.There were only three reluctant sergeants on duty, with their backs against the wind and their heads shrunk. No one wanted to take a look at the river mouth.

Suddenly, a sergeant seemed to hear a strange sound, like the sound of countless horses stepping on the ice. He cursed, and after looking over there, his whole body froze. Breaking through the sky: "Tartar..."

……

One after another, beacon fires ignited one after another from hundreds of fire piers, camp forts and enemy towers. The flames soared into the sky, rolling up and down on the defense line of Shanxi Town for thousands of miles.

Amidst the thunderous sound of horseshoes, a flood of Mongolian cavalry swept in. They had a clear goal and never stopped after passing through dozens of military forts, such as Pianguan, Yongxing Fort, and Lougou Fort.

Tens of thousands of horses gallop together, pointing directly at Wuzhai Fort!

On December 1591, 12 AD, more than 20 cavalrymen from the Mongolian Ji Nang tribe invaded Shanxi Town.After the Longqing peace talks, the Ming and Mongolian forces fought again.In the original history, there was no invasion this time. When Huang Laifu came to this world, the biggest butterfly flapped its wings.

(End of this chapter)