East Factory Governor

Chapter 731
After Chongzhen heard this, his eyelids suddenly lifted.

He asked tentatively, "What does Brother Qin mean?"

Qin Shuhuai put down his wine glass, and said meaningfully, "Your Majesty, there is a saying in the book of war. For war fighters, the right time, the right place, and the right people can't get along. Even if we win, there will be disasters. By next year, we will not lack these three. , not one of the three. So, it's time."

There was a gleam in Chongzhen's eyes, and he couldn't wait to ask, "Brother Qin, are you sure?"

Originally, he just wanted to fight a few local wars in Liaodong next year. On the one hand, he could recover part of the country, and on the other hand, he could further hit the economy and morale of the Jiannu, but he never thought about pacifying the Jiannu in one fell swoop.

In his eyes, Jiannu is too strong, and Huang Taiji is too strong!Moreover, once the Ming Dynasty attacked Jiannu, Duoyan of Mongolia and other powerful tribes would definitely not sit idly by, and they would be stronger if they united!

It can't be blamed that he can't see the situation clearly. It can only be said that in recent decades, the Mongols and Jiannu people have left a shadow in the hearts of everyone in Daming.

Qin Shuhuai poured a glass of wine for Chongzhen and said, "Your Majesty, today's new policy in the world, whether it is military officers, local officials, or traffickers, is mostly the beneficiaries. The chaos is peaceful and the court is benevolent. For them, it has just passed A few days of good days are even more precious. If anyone wants to deprive them of it, they will definitely fight with their lives! Therefore, the determination of people in the world to defend their families and the country and the court is stronger than at any time in history. The so-called popular support can be encouraged, as long as we Tell them that if the slaves want to attack the Central Plains again, no matter whether they are soldiers or common people, they must have the same hatred, this is the so-called harmony between people."

After Chongzhen listened, he nodded slowly, "Brother Qin is right. To put it bluntly, looking at ancient and modern times, there is no other dynasty that can be as benevolent as my Ming Dynasty! Moreover, as long as the treasury is full in the future, I will reduce it." The businessman's gift, I want to implement more benevolent government! The people should support the court."

Chongzhen believed that there would be no more wars in the future, and there was no need for the court to collect [-] million taels of tax a year.It would be better to charge less and return wealth to the people, so that the people can live a better life, and then it would be better to support his Zhu family for generations to come.

Qin Shuhuai wants to say that if Daming wants to be stronger, it has to pool money to build infrastructure, such as road construction, bridge construction, city construction, medical care, technology, education, and national defense. Taxes may not be enough.

But now is not the time to talk about this with Chongzhen, so he continued his original train of thought and said, "The emperor is right. In short, the people of Ming Dynasty are united as one. On the other hand, Jiannu, since the last time they failed to enter the customs and plunder, they have lost their food. There is a growing shortage, especially salt and ironware, which is extremely tense. In addition, successive setbacks have also lowered their morale, and internal conflicts are also numerous. The conflicts between the four major Baylor groups have become more intense, and the monarch and ministers are alienated. Why should such opponents be afraid? "

After a pause, he continued, "In addition, we have money and food, so we can naturally equip a better army. It is true that the Eight Banners soldiers are strong, but our Ming Dynasty has also trained a lot after fighting the battles in the past few years. There are a lot of good soldiers and good generals. As long as we prepare for the battle, we can defeat Jiannu Shengjing in one fell swoop and capture Huang Taiji alive, it may not be impossible."

Hearing this, Chongzhen couldn't help saying loudly, "Okay! Well said! Since Brother Qin is sure, then I have no doubts! Brother Qin, you continue to talk about how we should prepare for the next battle."

Qin Shuhuai said without hesitation, "The first is to intensify the training of the army, and the second is to purchase equipment on a large scale. The whole army can be done by Governor Yuan, and one of the main forces to attack Jiannu in the future must be his Guan Ning army. As for the procurement Equipment, this matter is covered by the minister."

Chongzhen nodded, "I heard that the Jianghe Gang's equipment is better than that of the imperial court. The shields in your gang are light and hard, and the armor is also double-layered, and the weight is only a little heavier than a single layer. In addition, last time you I have transferred a lot of gunpowder talents here. It is said that a large number of powerful thunderbolts have been produced, right? I have also heard about green oil and kerosene. These things are extremely powerful in battle. .I will allocate money to you when the time comes, and you can produce more and equip as much as you can.”

"The emperor's lesson. However, although these things are useful, they are still not as good as one thing."

"Oh? Then I want to listen, Brother Qin, tell me quickly."

"The emperor knows this too."

Chongzhen frowned, and said, "I also know? Hehe, this is really strange. Brother Qin, please tell me quickly, don't be fooled."

Qin Shuhuai smiled slightly and said, "It's the red cannon equipped in Ningyuan City!"

Chongzhen was stunned for a moment, and then immediately patted his thigh.

"Brother Qin was right about it! The red cannon is really powerful. It can shoot far and accurately. Nurhachi, the bandit chieftain, died under this cannon. However, as far as I know, the cannon is too heavy and the cost It's expensive, and it doesn't fire very fast."

The Red Clothes Cannon, also known as the Hongyi Cannon, is a giant cannon imported from Portugal in the Ming Dynasty. Although it is powerful, it weighs about 2 tons, which makes it move slowly.In addition, it also has a big limitation, that is, the rate of fire is low, basically it can only fire once every 2 minutes.

However, Qin Shuhuai believes that under the current environment, large-scale equipment manufacturing of red cannons is an inevitable choice.

First, the navy needs red cannons.Even though he is not an expert in naval warfare, he also knows that the requirements for artillery in naval warfare are far enough range, powerful enough, and high enough accuracy, and the red cannon can fully meet these requirements.Judging from the current warship equipment of the Netherlands, Portugal and other naval powers, red cannons or cannons of the same series are also their main gun types.

Secondly, the army also needs this kind of cannon.In a land battle, if the encounter is in the wild, then all the current cannons are not very useful. You must know that the contact between the two sides in the encounter is extremely fast, and there is no time to fire a few shots.But it is different in siege battles. The red cannons with great power and extremely long range can vent freely in places where the enemy cannot reach, can perfectly suppress the enemy's firepower at the top of the city, and even smash the city gate directly, allowing The army invaded the city.

After all, Qin Shuhuai is not an expert in firearms or mechanical engineering. He only knows what guns are easy to use, but he doesn't know how to modify them.He knew that the breech-loading cannon was better than the front-loading cannon like the red cannon, but the key point was that he didn't know the specific structure at all, and even if he drew a blueprint, it might not be possible to make it under the industrial conditions at that time.

Therefore, he can only choose the red cannon.

Qin Shuhuai explained the reasons one by one, and Chongzhen immediately made a decision after listening, "Since brother Qin thinks this cannon is very good, then let's build this cannon! Then, you can make a list later, how much these armaments need to be built, and how much they will cost. , as long as I can afford it, I will allocate all the funds!"

"Your majesty is wise! However, to manufacture this cannon in batches, I am afraid that one more person is needed."

"Who?"

Qin Shuhuai chuckled, "It's Xu Guangqi, the former Shangshu of the Ministry of Rites. By the way, after the old man was locked up last time, how is he doing now? Is he still in prison?"

Xu Guangqi was the minister of the Ministry of Rites who cried and admonished Qin Shuhuai outside the Qianqing Palace because Qin Shuhuai was appointed as the governor of the East Factory.This guy was not a member of the Donglin Party, but he was too old-fashioned, so he was used by the Donglin Party at the time, and was finally taken down by Chongzhen and sent to prison.

When Chongzhen heard this person, he immediately laughed and said, "You are talking about old Xu Ge? Hehe, if this guy was still in prison, he would have died long ago. Back then when I ordered him to be arrested, he went on a hunger strike in prison. He is better than those The members of the Donglin Party have more backbone. If you want to go on a hunger strike, you will go on a hunger strike. You will not eat a bite even if you smash your teeth. Later, seeing that you were about to starve to death, the people from the Zhenfu Division came to ask me what to do. What else can I do? He was reprimanded by the Taoist decree, and after he was dismissed as an official, he was invited to Donglin Academy."

"Hehe, Your Majesty is merciful!"

"I know he is not the Donglin Party. When the Donglin Party impeached you, he still spoke up for you. At that time, it was a last resort to take him down. By the way, what Brother Qin meant was to let him come out to supervise the cannon-making? "

Qin Shuhuai nodded and said, "That's right, didn't he get the first batch of red cannons? Later, when it was improved, he was also the one who took the lead. I don't think there is anyone more suitable than him in the world."

Although Xu Guangqi was a bit conservative in the appointment of the governor of Dongchang, he was indeed a rare talent in the Ming Dynasty in the fields of mathematics, astronomy, calendar, water conservancy, and farming at that time.He translated documents from many countries, such as "The Original Geometry", "Taixi Water Conservancy", "Nongzheng Quanshu", etc. He was the first group of people in China to look at the world.He also sorted out the "Measurement Method", wrote "Pythagorean Justice" and other mathematical works, and also wrote a large number of agricultural books such as "Yiken Order" and "Draft of Agricultural Book". allow.

Similarly, he also introduced the first batch of red cannons, and he also made improvements as a leading craftsman to make them have a longer range and higher accuracy.

Chongzhen said, "That's true. But this old guy is very depressed now, and he doesn't give lectures if he is asked to do so. He just stays behind closed doors in the academy to thank guests all day long. I have nothing to do with him. I'm afraid that if I force him again, he will throw himself into the river again." Well, let him go. If Brother Qin wants to persuade him, I'm afraid it will take some talking."

Qin Shuhuai shook his head and said, "In his eyes, I'm just a traitor, so he doesn't bother to talk to me. Well, I think the emperor needs to persuade him personally, so that he can regain his mind."

Chongzhen smiled wryly, "After all, Brother Qin wants to throw the problem to me. Well, then I have to run this trip with a shy face, and I will have to be reprimanded by him if I fail to do so."

Chongzhen was naturally able to persuade Xu Guangqi, after all, Xu Guangqi was a traditional bureaucrat with deep thoughts of loyalty to the emperor.It's just that Xu Guangqi's personality is really twisted. When Wei Zhongxian asked him to be an official when he was in power, he would beat him to death and refuse to go, no matter how terrifying the Dongchang under Wei Zhongxian is.

The two chatted about national affairs while drinking skewers in the Imperial Study Room, laughing and making important decisions for this huge empire one after another.

Really happy!
As usual, Chongzhen was drunk again after drinking halfway.

Wang Dehua hurriedly helped Chongzhen go to the harem, and Chongzhen pulled Qin Shuhuai's sleeve to ask him to go to the bedroom to sleep together, saying that there were still many things to talk about.

How could Qin Shuhuai dare to go, it would be worth it if it got out?He, Qin Shuhuai, has occupied Chongzhen's harem now?Nima, can Chongzhen's face hold up or does he look good?

So he said a few words of comfort, and then ran out quickly.

(End of this chapter)