Ming Empire

Chapter 169
During this time, Cao Yue was very busy, but also lived a fulfilling life.

Everything in Nanjing basically developed as he thought, including the progress of recruiting and training, as well as the trends in Nanjing's officialdom.

Jin Yiwei is really a big killer. His elder brother Cao Chao and several buddies are there, mastering the main force of Jin Yiwei. After those officials with bad deeds in Nanjing officialdom are mastered, no one dares to stand up to him. do it.Although Cao Yue knew that it was immoral to intimidate others like this, he was not ashamed to use such means to deal with people who were even more immoral than him.

In addition, in the training of the special guard camp, inquiring into the privacy of officials is also one of their important subjects. These elusive people almost made the officials in Nanjing panic. They couldn't figure out why they did so much by themselves. Cao Yue knew about private matters.They were full of fear and anger towards Cao Yue, but there was nothing they could do.Seeing that the officials in Nanjing were very afraid of him, and they dared not speak out, Cao Yue felt a sense of accomplishment.Thinking about his lofty goals, he has no psychological burden.

There is a saying, whoever achieves great things, why bother to stick to small details?
He is not afraid of reprisals and impeachment by officials, and if he controls the army, who else should he be afraid of?

What's more, he still has Emperor Chongzhen's Shangfang sword in his hand, which can be cut first and played later. This is also a big killer, and no official is not afraid.

Recruitment and training are progressing very smoothly. More than [-] sergeants from [-] battalions have been incorporated into the Nanjing Town Army and are undergoing orderly training. The follow-up recruitment work is continuing.

Tens of thousands of troops have been recruited from Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and they are on their way to Nanjing.According to Cao Yue's statistics, Emperor Chongzhen gave 10 personnel, but now he plans to recruit more troops. He can send one or two battalions to reinforce when the battles in Shaanxi and Henan are in full swing, and then he can borrow Ji asked the court for more troops, and I believe Emperor Chongzhen would not refuse.

There is a serious shortage of generals under his command, and Cao Yue also tries to poach from other armies.

Yan Yingyuan, Zhang Huangyan, Huang Daozhou, Qian Sule, Wang Yi and other talents who Cao Yue knew or didn't know about their reputations were all dug into the Nanjing town army by him.Yan Yingyuan is still a small official now, but Cao Yue, who knew his historical name, specially sent someone to dig him out of Jiangyin, where he worked.Zhang Huangyan was Zhang Cangshui, and Cao Yue also knew his name, so he specially sent someone to invite him to serve in the Nanjing Army.And Huang Daozhou, Qian Sule, and Wang Yiju were recommended by Zhang Cangshui. After knowing the talents of these people, Cao Yue gave them important positions in the army.

The preparations for the establishment of the Nanjing Firearms Factory were also progressing smoothly. The location of this new arsenal was chosen in the Mufu Mountain area, which was very close to the Yanziji Camp.The original weapons workshops in Nanjing were also preserved and continued to produce gunpowder and other firearms.The newly built arsenal will use the newly purchased machines to mass-produce muskets, grenades, and artillery, and use Western craftsmen to start producing flintlock muskets.

Cao Yue, such as Wang Yuyou, Song Yingxing, Wang Zheng, Sun Yunqiu, Fang Yizhi, Gu Yanwu, etc., knew about his reputation or learned about his talents in science and technology from other sources, so he also tried to find a way to recruit them.

Song Yingxing, the author of "Tiangong Kaiwu", is definitely a super genius in this era, but his talent has not been valued in the Ming Dynasty when technology was not valued.In the 15th year of Chongzhen, Song Yingxing resigned angrily for some well-known reasons and returned home. Cao Yue sent someone to invite him to Nanjing and entrust him with the important task of in charge of the newly built Nanjing Arsenal.Song Yingxing, who had admired Cao Yue's reputation for a long time and wanted to do something, agreed to Cao Yue's request to take charge of the arsenal affairs for Cao Yue.

Wang Zheng was another very famous scientist in the late Ming Dynasty. He loved ancient implements and machinery in his early years. Before he became an official, he developed water power, wind power, and heavy-duty machinery, and wrote "Illustrations of Newly Made Various Artifacts".Later, together with the Swiss missionary Deng Yuhan, he compiled "Illustrations of the Far West Qiqi", which mainly described the knowledge of statics in ancient Western and Renaissance periods, including the theory of the center of the earth, the center of gravity and its solution, the volume of water, the volume of floating bodies, specific gravity, and simple machinery. and their combined use. "Far West Qiqi Tushuo" is China's first compiled work on Western mechanics.

Cao Yue had seen Wang Zheng's information in the history books, so after digging him to Nanjing, he also asked him to be the head of the arsenal, and together with Song Yingxing, he was in charge of the development of new equipment and firearms.

Sun Yunqiu was a famous optics master in the Ming Dynasty, Fang Yizhi was also a famous physicist, and Cao Yue admired their reputation in history and worked hard to recruit them.

These few people and some Western craftsmen hired by Cao Yue formed the technical team of the newly formed Nanjing Arsenal.

Cao Yue hopes that with his strong support and the talents of these people, he can design and manufacture more weapons and other equipment full of advanced technology, so as to raise the science and technology of Ming Dynasty to a new level.

These people can be said to admire Cao Yue's military exploits very much, and Cao Yue sent people to invite them with many favorable conditions. The status is much higher than their original level, which makes them very satisfied.In the Western craftsmen, they can get in touch with more advanced knowledge and technology.

It can be said that Cao Yue spent a lot of energy and financial resources to recruit these people. After arriving in Nanjing, they all felt like ducks in water.

No one dared to be lazy, and no one would be lazy. They all devoted themselves to their work with a hundredfold enthusiasm, hoping to develop more and more advanced things through their own efforts, and give Cao Yue more surprises.In particular, Song Yingxing, who was appointed by Cao Yue as the head of the Nanjing Arsenal, was invited by Cao Yue to take up an important position after he resigned and returned home. In the development of equipment and weapons, it has really reached the point of forgetting to eat and sleep.

Although the current situation in Ming Dynasty is very strong, Cao Yue still sees hope from the efforts of these people and the rapid growth of the Nanjing Town Army.He believed that as long as he was given four or five years, he would be able to build the Nanjing town army into an invincible army, and no enemy could be an elite army of the opponent.It's just that Cao Yue knew that the development of the situation could not give him four to five years of development opportunities, and Emperor Chongzhen would not let him stay in Nanjing for so many years and lead so many troops.He must seize the opportunity and strive to build the Nanjing Town Army into an elite army in the shortest possible time, develop and build the Nanjing Arsenal well, and design and produce more and better firearms.

For this reason, Cao Yue also devoted all his energy to training troops and supervising the construction of arsenals, and he often had no time to return home.

(End of this chapter)