Who killed the Ming Dynasty?

Almost simultaneously!

"Wonderful!!"

A look of wild joy flashed in Zuo Maodi's eyes, and he blurted out,

"This method of yin and yang joining together, supplemented by a slipknot leather strap, is extremely simple yet hits the nail on the head!"

"This 'replace as needed' feature is especially ingenious!"

He excitedly took a step forward.

"With this, our soldiers will be replaced instantly, and our fighting strength will more than double! This is a savior in field battles!"

Zuo Maodi was a man of practical military knowledge, and he recognized the value of this method at a glance.

Gao Zhuo, standing to the side, suddenly frowned, his face full of displeasure:

"Your Majesty! This...this method is unheard of! They actually...they're using fur in weapons?"

"Crude! Uncivilized! Non-compliant! This is unprecedented in traditional firearms..."

Here we go again! It's the same old cliché!

Whenever there is a reform, the old system is used as a shield, ignoring the decay of the country and the bloodshed of soldiers.

Zhu Cilang's patience was wearing thin with these pedantic scholars. He raised his eyebrows slightly, suppressing his anger:

"Gao Qing, you've fallen into your old habit again?"

"The battlefield is where the true test! A good gun is one that can kill the enemy! The Ministry of Works shall immediately reform the system accordingly."

Gao Zhuo remained stubborn; he almost knelt down on the ground.

"Your Majesty! Such reforms are of great importance. If we rashly change the ancestral gun design, the military equipment regulations may become chaotic!"

Seeing this, Chief Clerk Wang also knelt down and stammered:

"What the Junior Minister of Works (a respectful title for the Vice Minister of Works) said...is not without merit..."

Stubborn to the end!

Before he could finish speaking, Zhu Cilang abruptly stood up from his throne.

"Lin Qing is a master craftsman, while you are all bound by old methods and have failed to comprehend this exquisite art of mortise and tenon joints."

He looked at the two crawling figures.

"Minister Gao, Minister Wang! Raise your heads and look at the sky outside the palace!"

He pointed north outside the hall.

"Are the ancestral rules you keep talking about more important than the fate of this Ming Dynasty?"

"More important than the lives of millions of soldiers? More important than the safety of countless ordinary people?"

His voice suddenly rose, filled with long-suppressed resentment:

"The iron hooves of the Jurchens have trampled Youyan and reached the Yellow River!"

"The firearms they possess are imitations of our old guns, which they obtained by kidnapping our craftsmen!"

"They don't care about rules, they only care about practicality, only about killing and breaching cities!"

He pointed to the plaque in the Wenhua Hall.

"And yet, the officials are still arguing endlessly about the word 'regulations,' about whether such a slight difference constitutes a 'suitable regulation'!"

"Do you expect to wake up only when the Jurchens' cannons are pointed at the plaque of this Wenhua Hall?"

He was furious, and each word he uttered was deliberate and forceful.

"If we ruin the country by clinging to outdated ideas, then we, as ruler and subject, will be sinners for all time!"

The last four words caused the air inside the hall to freeze in shock.

The two men lying on the ground remained stubbornly still, as if determined to defy ancestral rules to the very end.

Zhu Cilang was furious and didn't want to deal with them anymore.

Enough! Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures!

His mind raced, and he turned to look at Lin Yuan beside him:

"Since Minister Gao is unfit for this post and clings to old ways out of fear of difficulties, I think Lin Yuan of Quanzhou—who possesses both talent and virtue and is determined to reform—is worthy of the position of Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works!"

Boom—!

Lin Yuan's mind was buzzing, as if struck by lightning.

He felt a surge of heat rush to his head, then instantly vanish, leaving his limbs ice-cold.

He knelt down with a thud, his face changed drastically, and his voice was filled with panic:

"Your Majesty's grace is boundless! This humble subject is filled with trepidation!"

"I am but a humble craftsman, skilled only in blacksmithing and gun making. I have studied diligently for ten years but failed the county examination. How dare I aspire to a position in the imperial court..."

Before Lin Yuan could even finish his refusal—

"Your Majesty...Your Majesty! Wait! Your Majesty, please calm down! Your Majesty, please calm down!"

A mournful roar rang out.

Suddenly, Gao Zhuo, who had been lying prostrate on the ground, struggled and pulled himself up from the ground.

The movement was so violent and abrupt that even his official hat slipped off his head and fell to the ground.

He didn't even bother to straighten his clothes, and hurriedly said:

"Your Majesty, I was wrong! I was foolish! I deserve to die!"

"Just now... just now I was momentarily confused, clinging to ancient methods and disregarding the urgency of matters of national importance!"

He abruptly turned to Lin Yuan, speaking at an astonishing speed, as if a second's delay would cause the Vice Minister of Works' official hat to fly off:

"Mr. Lin's method is ingenious and ingenious! It is my limited knowledge that has prevented me from fully understanding its profound principles!"

"This perfect yin-yang fit, combined with a leather sliplock, is truly a supreme and ingenious method for solving the problem of air leakage in gun barrels!"

As he spoke, he turned his head urgently to look at Lin Yuan:

"Sir, your talent is truly divine!"

"I was quite offensive with my words just now; I was truly ignorant and narrow-minded. Please forgive me, sir!"

He instinctively raised his hands, as if trying to grab something.

But seeing Lin Yuan retreat warily, his hand awkwardly froze in mid-air.

"Sir, your method has not only solved the Ministry of Works' urgent problem, but also relieved His Majesty's worries!"

"I, Gao, will do my utmost to urge everyone in the Ministry of Works to immediately supervise the construction according to your method! I will not dare to delay in the slightest!"

This sudden change of heart startled everyone in the hall.

Wang, the manager, stared dumbfounded at his superior, his mouth slightly agape, completely forgetting that he was still kneeling.

A hint of disdain flashed in Zuo Maodi's eyes, his lips curled down slightly, and he subconsciously took a half step back.

Lin Yuan was completely taken aback by this sudden "courtesy".

"Oh?"

Zhu Cilang interrupted Gao Zhuo's incessant chatter.

"Gao Qing... has he come to his senses? Is he no longer worried about 'disordered ancestral systems' and 'military equipment regulations'?"

Gao Zhuo's cloudy eyes suddenly lit up. He quickly picked up the official hat beside him and put it on his head, a smile on his face.

"Your humble servant is dull-witted and unable to immediately grasp Your Majesty's intentions."

"Your Majesty's words, 'a sinner for all time,' resonated like a great bell, clearing the mind of this old minister!"

He hurried half a step forward, cupping his hands to his forehead.

"Your Majesty's wisdom and insight have brought about a new era unprecedented in a century!"

"This old and foolish minister almost obstructed the work of Heaven with his pedantic and pedantic views!"

"Now, witnessing Your Majesty's profound and far-sighted wisdom, your subject...your subject prostrates himself in utter awe and reverence for Your Majesty's divine might!"

The smile on Zhu Cilang's lips deepened slightly as he said in a deep voice:

"Very well, weaponry is the lifeblood of the nation, and it must be checked to the finest degree and tested with metal and stone."

"Three months from now, I will personally visit the firing range to see if the gun barrels you have made can hit the bullseye ten times in a row, thus safeguarding the eternal foundation of the Ming Dynasty!"

"I humbly obey Your Majesty's decree! I guarantee with my entire family the forging of a powerful weapon to protect the nation!"

Gao Zhuo almost screamed it out.

Zhu Cilang had long heard of Gao Zhuo, the Vice Minister of Works.

This old minister is not incompetent; he is simply bound by old rules and customs, and only through such rigorous training can his true abilities be brought out.

The threat of the position of Vice Minister was intended to break the shackles in his heart.

As for Lin Yuan... he naturally wouldn't actually promote him to a higher position.

Reforms still require pragmatic implementation by experienced officials like Gao Zhuo;

Lin Yuanzhi's talent should not be wasted. He should be recognized as a leading folk craftsman and work together with the Ministry of Science and Technology to achieve great things.

The so-called new flintlock musket did not actually surpass the current technology; it was simply a combination of the strengths of skilled craftsmen, with optimized mechanisms and standardized specifications.

Its greatest advantage lies in its rapid ammunition loading.

Each soldier was equipped with a leather pouch containing a five-barreled musket, greatly increasing their effectiveness in combat.

As for the supply of muskets, it wasn't just the soldiers who brought their own.

Zhu Cilang had planned ahead and ordered the Ministry of Works to mass-produce cannons, pack them securely in wooden boxes, and send them to the battlefield in a continuous stream to ensure the supply of ammunition to the front lines.

The gun is inexpensive to manufacture and easy to make, making it ideal for widespread production and use.