The journey to the heavens starts from the underground station

Chapter 227

He took Fan Zhong with him, took out the prince's mansion, and hurried to the military battle bureau.

The eunuch in charge of the Military War Bureau and the eunuch in charge of the Gunpowder Department have been waiting for a long time.

Li Yu picked up a firecracker and looked at it carefully.

"His Royal Highness, this is made of the two steel pipes you left behind, a total of four." The palm print eunuch quickly introduced: "A steel pipe is cut into three sections, and the one you are holding is made according to your According to the instructions, the rifling is engraved on the wall of the gun, and the breech is loaded with flint; there are also a few of these, there are breech-loaded flints without rifling, front-loaded flints with rifling, and front-loaded flints without rifling. Two more, used for charging tests, have been destroyed."

The craftsmen of the Bingzhan Bureau are exquisite in craftsmanship. These four firecrackers are very exquisite, and they are also carved with beautiful cloud pattern decorations, which look like a work of art.

These "firecrackers" look very different from the standard firecrackers used by Daming now, and they look like old-fashioned rifles.

"Have you tried all four?" Li Yu saw that there were traces of gunpowder burning in the medicine room.

"I have tried everything I said to His Highness." The eunuch with palm prints respectfully replied: "According to His Highness's instructions, the servant ordered people to use the old gunpowder and the new gunpowder designed by His Highness as propellant, and used the lead bullets newly designed by His Highness to make propellants respectively. The test is astonishingly powerful."

"Using old gunpowder, even the nearest breech-loaded gun without rifling can penetrate leather armor at a distance of eighty paces. The farthest is a rifled muzzle, and two hundred paces is enough Broken leather armor, and the accuracy is enough, no slaves have tested it any farther away."

Two hundred steps?That's 300 meters!The "step" in the palm print eunuch's mouth is not the width of a person's steps, but a unit of length. Five feet is a step, about 1.6 meters.

Li Yu thought about it in his mind. The firecrackers used by Shenjiying can hit thirty steps, and they can't break the armor any farther.

But the newly produced firecrackers, even the breech-loading muskets with the shortest shooting distance, are much better than the ones in Shenjiying's hands.

It's all thanks to Minnie's bombs!

The lead projectile has a conical cavity behind the projectile, with a base made of oak wood. The gunpowder ignites in the chamber to produce a large amount of gas, which pushes the projectile. The oak tree is a cork, which expands simultaneously with the lead projectile, sealing it The gap between the bullet and the barrel prevents the gas from leaking out, which naturally increases the range.If there is rifling, it can make the bullet rotate at a high speed under the pressure of the rifling, making it farther and more accurate.

"How far can I hit this one in my hand?" Li Yu raised the breech-loading flintlock in his hand.

"Put leather armor within 180 steps, and iron armor within [-] steps."

enough!The lead bullets are soft and have weak penetrating power, but what Li Yu has to deal with is the grassland tribes, how can they have any armor!Get a piece of cowhide, dig a hole and put it on your body, it's armor!

With this thing, Alutai and Mahamu are blessed!Presumably, he will be able to sing and dance soon!
boom! boom! boom!
There is a test field in the Bingjue Bureau. Fan Zhong personally started it and fired several shots in a row. He tried all four kinds of firecrackers one by one, and returned with bright eyes.

"Full production, how much is the monthly output?"

Fan Zhong knew about military affairs, and he was very itchy when he saw several new types of firecrackers. He couldn't get in the way with his grandson, so he finally got the chance, so he hurriedly asked.

"This..." the palm print eunuch looked distressed: "The most difficult thing is the barrel and the spring. Fortunately, the barrel is a little troublesome, but it can be manufactured, but the output is a bit low; Several old craftsmen have tried it, but it can’t be made. However, it can be replaced by a reed, but sometimes the gunpowder cannot be ignited, but it can be done by pulling the trigger a few times.”

"Lead bullets are much more complicated. They need to be polished one by one by hand. It is estimated that they can produce [-] pieces per month. However, the craftsmanship of this thing is simple, and a group of apprentices can be recruited, so the output can keep up."

"You don't have to worry about this. I have a batch of steel pipes and springs in my hand, which are imported from the West. I will arrange for people to send them to the military battle bureau when I turn back." Li Yu ordered: "Full production, how many can you make in a month?"

"If the gun barrels and springs are sufficient, then the servant can guarantee that at least [-] guns will be produced in a month!"

Li Yu took out the gold token and lit it up: "Full production, the two types with rifling in the front and rifling in the rear, after one month, each will produce a thousand pieces!"

The front load has a long range, but takes a long time to reload, so it can be used to play line infantry; the rear load is slightly less powerful, but it is easy to reload, and can be used to equip a group of cavalry, even if it is like the Mongols to play Mangudai Tactics can crush the enemy.

The cultivation of a musketeer is much easier than that of an archer!
Such a big matter, of course, must be reported to the old man.

Holding four firecrackers, a small bag of granulated gunpowder, and lead bullets, they went out of the battle. It was already Shenshi in the afternoon, and it was too late to go to Zhongshan.

Li Yu and Fan Zhong made an agreement to go out of the city to Zhongshan to see those young soldiers tomorrow morning. After saying goodbye to Fan Zhong, Li Yu went back to the Prince's Mansion first, found an empty courtyard, and took out the steel pipes and springs in the portable space Stack up.

Later, I arranged for people to send it to the military battle bureau, and it was good to say that it was imported from overseas. Anyway, the gang of eunuchs did not dare to question the grandson.

Before meeting the old man, the guns were handed over to the Jin Yiwei who was on duty in front of the hall.

Zhu Di was playing sand table deduction again, and after asking Li Yu's intentions, Zhu Di ordered someone to bring the new firecracker with great interest, and the grandfather and grandson went directly to the harem.

Back then, Taizu and Empress Gao opened up the farmland in the palace for personal farming, but it has long been converted into a martial arts arena by the old man, and eighteen kinds of weapons are available.

Regardless of Snotty's persuasion, Zhu Di started by himself, loaded gunpowder and bullets, and fired several shots at a target fifty paces away.

He changed firecrackers again, and didn't stop until he tried firing all four firecrackers and fired all the lead bullets brought by the Eighth Route Army.

"Good stuff! Good stuff!" Zhu Di stroked the gun body affectionately: "How about the output?"

"The monthly output is at least [-] pieces. My grandson got a batch of good steel from an overseas sea merchant, and the firecrackers have this quality." Li Yu didn't dare to say that the monthly output was [-] pieces, and he couldn't say too much. New weapons, keep some Good balance.

And the steel pipes in my hand are not infinite, if one is cut into three sections, it can only make [-] flintlock guns.

"Good! Good!" Zhu Di laughed heartily: "This thing is good! Firecrackers are good! Projectiles are good! This one, granules of gunpowder are also good! Monkey boy, Grandpa really loved you for nothing!"

"The rear-mounted ones launch fast, and the front-mounted ones hit farther. Just these two kinds. Let the military bureau produce more. If there are not enough manpower, recruit them. With this firecracker, next year, grandpa will attack Arutai in the north. We must hit the Onan River!"

"Grandpa, I want five thousand pieces to equip the young army. Grandpa, you promised." Li Yu hurriedly begged while the old man was happy.

After passing this village, there will be no such shop. Li Yu is sure that if you don't mention it at this time, the old man will have to pretend to be confused tomorrow!Of course, Li Yu didn't intend to let the old man really agree, only children who can cry will have milk!

"Uh... five thousand..." Sure enough, Zhu Di hesitated a little, and he had indeed promised to equip the young army with firecrackers, but at that time who knew that Dasun could tinker with this thing!

What is the firecracker of Shenji Camp?Shooting is no more than thirty paces, and there is basically no accuracy. It requires a large-scale formation, and it must be equipped with artillery, cavalry and other arms to be lethal.

But the firecracker in front of him has 180 steps!It takes less than three breaths to reload, and it can beat the cavalry!

To put it bluntly, [-] young troops equipped with rear-loading guns, facing the [-] Beijing battalion, can beat them!Enough to break into the palace and support the new emperor!
Zhu Di was born as a rebel!

What if the most beloved eldest grandson has thoughts that he shouldn't have?
Zhu Di didn't want to end up with Li Yuan!

But you are not joking, this is what I promised.

"This one……"

"Grandpa, my grandson thinks that the firecrackers should be equipped with the Shenji Battalion first. After all, Grandpa wants to go to the Northern Expedition next year, and the Shenji Battalion must be trained to adapt to the new firecrackers! If there are any leftovers, we will allocate one or two thousand to the young army." , just use it for training.”

Li Yu saw the embarrassment of the old man, and immediately "obediently" helped the old man out of the siege.

Five thousand firecrackers or one thousand firecrackers make no difference to Li Yu.Even if in the end Zhu Erhan took over the military power and made wedding dresses for others, so what?How many David Crows can an army of [-] equipped with breech-loading flintlocks resist?

The most important thing is to give the old man a good impression of being sensible, filial, and taking care of the overall situation!
"This... After all, I promised you, but what you said is indeed reasonable, the Northern Expedition is the most important thing! Good! Good! Sensible! Grandpa really didn't love you for nothing." Zhu Di pretended to decline, and responded immediately after changing the subject down.

An hour later, it was just getting dark.

The back hall of the Spring Harmony Palace.

The prince and princess who were enjoying the cool in the courtyard raised their heads at the same time.

Zhu Gaochi was complaining to the princess in the courtyard about his elder son's faults. The elder son was cheating. He happily took the medicine bottle and went to the backyard. After drinking tea, he was disappointed by the beauty's false praise.

Zhang Yan couldn't help but praise the eldest son, her husband likes Hu Meizi, and he emptied his body early, so he should be punished like this!
Li Yu kicked open the gate of the rear palace of Chunhe Palace with a bold kick.

"Father, mother, grandpa rewarded a lot of rare calligraphy and paintings, you can see if you like it, take it and play with it."

With a wave of Li Yu's hand, hundreds of eunuchs holding rare treasures, antique calligraphy and paintings filed in.

"Little bastard! How dare you go back... hey?

Zhu Gaochi, who was in an extremely unhappy mood, was about to reprimand his son when he was stunned by this scene.

"Good guy, are you emptying out your grandpa's Eight Treasure House? Eh? That's..."

"Wang Ximeng's painting of a thousand miles of rivers and mountains! What a guy! Your grandfather is willing to give you this painting! I've been begging him for a long time! Alas, here's Song Huizong's thousand-character prose..."

"Son, this painting and calligraphy belong to me!"

The next day, early in the morning.

Fan Zhong waited outside the East Palace before dawn, Li Yu also got up early, took another box of gold, brought his personal guards, went out of the palace to join Fan Zhong, and rode out of the city to Zhongshan.

Five miles south of Zhongshan Mountain, the Prince's Mansion has a piece of Huangzhuang here, and [-] young troops were arranged by Fan Zhong here.

Wang Zhong, the eunuch in charge of Huangzhuang, is an old man in the prince's mansion, and he has done the things ordered by the grandson very properly.

Greeting the tenant farmers on the farm, helping these eighteen or nineteen-year-old "children" build a house in the open space of the farm, and mobilizing food from the warehouse for the young army.

Five thousand and six hundred people stood loosely in front of Li Yu, whispering to each other.

Fan Zhong had rewarded the first box of gold a long time ago, and this group of young soldiers also knew that they were soldiers of His Royal Highness Taisun.But I have not received formal training, and there is basically no discipline.

Li Yu is not interested in saying anything to them. The current young army is just a group of farmers who have put down their hoes, which is far behind.

Li Yu handed over the long-prepared military training strategy to Fan Zhong.

"According to this practice, first practice the formation and physical fitness for two months, and then practice other things when you have the appearance of a soldier."

In terms of military training strategy, there are detailed queue steps and physical training methods, as well as military discipline written by Li Yu!
Military training, the first thing to do is to emphasize military discipline!The passing of a soldier is like a grate, this is not just talk.Li Yu can't look down on such an army.

"Ask a few more teachers to teach them how to read every night!"

"Take this box of gold too, to ensure that the soldiers are full and have meat every day."

"Is this...is it too strict? At the Beijing Camp, there is only one exercise every three days." Fan Zhong flipped through it a few times and asked a little bit later.

The young army requires daily exercises, training during the day, and reading at night. No wonder the grandson makes them eat meaty meals three times a day. Otherwise, they will be exhausted within a few days.

Li Yu stared at him coldly: "Anyone who can't stand it, get out! Including you Fan Zhong! If you can't do it, I will ask His Majesty to change! The rules cannot be changed! Even if there are only a few hundred people left in the end, I am willing! "

Strict military discipline, reading and literacy, these young soldiers, Li Yu intends to train them into officer seedlings, 600 people, even if only 1000 people are left in the end, it is enough!
Ten years later, this group of people will be the backbone of the Ming army!

After watching the training in Huangzhuang all morning, Li Yu pointed out all the deficiencies one by one, and had lunch with Wang Zhong. In the afternoon, Li Yu planned to inspect Huangzhuang and arrange for Wang Zhong to build several offenses and defenses. But as soon as he put down the chopsticks, someone came from the palace.

The old man urgently summoned the grandson of the emperor back to the palace!The eunuch Zheng He led the fleet to return!

As soon as Zheng He came back, the old man's internal funds were about to swell again, and the household department could also share a lot of profit!
Li Yu once also thought that Zheng He's voyage to the West was purely for the sake of face, costing money, and it was a loss-making business.

But in this era, I discovered that this is not the case at all!

It is nonsense to look for Emperor Jianwen!

Zheng He's voyages to the West were indeed aimed at promoting the prestige of the Ming Dynasty and rewarding the countries along the way, but under these titles, there was also a hidden purpose, to make money!

Sailing to the West is really profitable!

The porcelain bowls brought by the fleet cost only a few tens of renminbi in Daming, but outside, the price is more than a hundred times higher.

In Sumatra, 100 catties of pepper is only worth 1 tael of silver, and brought back to Daming, it can be sold for 10 taels to 20 taels per catty!
There are also various precious woods, spices, gemstones...

These are even petty profits. The real benefit is the establishment of a tributary system with Daming Treasure Banknotes as currency!So that all the countries in Nanyang recognize the Ming Dynasty banknotes!

Sailing to the West does not make money?

Xia Yuanji was in charge of the Ministry of Government and Household Affairs. During the Yongle period, Zheng He made six voyages to the West. During the Xuande period, he went there again. Each time he spent millions or even tens of millions of dollars. Lead the officials of the household department to line up and crash to death on the Panlong pillar of Fengtian Temple!

It's a pity that later the literati took power completely, and the treasured banknotes were printed as waste paper, the business of sailing to the West was completely abolished, and the profits of maritime trade were plundered by the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River.

Li Yu slowly calculated, and rode back to Yingtian.

(End of this chapter)