My life skills in Daming Liver.

Chapter 289
Seeing Eunuch Tao, Su Ze also smiled, and the two walked into the Shibo Department side by side.

As soon as he entered the Shibo Department, Mr. Tao began to pour out his bitterness.

"Su Xianggong, you are finally back! This year, when Japanese pirates invaded, a merchant ship from the Ryukyu Mission came once. The imperial court has ordered the money to be sent to the capital again and again. It's the end!"

Of course Su Ze knew that it wasn't such an exaggeration. Now the eunuch guarding Shibosi is a hot ass position, and only Eunuch Tao can manage to maintain it.

After entering the main hall, Su Ze said without hesitation, "I heard that Mr. Tao built a batch of warships?"

Eunuch Tao sighed and said, "In order to open up the Ryukyu trade, I used the remaining silver from the Shipbuilding Department and the new money from the Mint Department to build twenty warships with thousands of materials, but I couldn't drive them!"

Eunuch Tao concealed the fact that the trial ship was snatched by Japanese pirates, which is really shameful.

Su Ze said: "Normally, this naval battle is different from a land battle. It is difficult to form an army in a hurry."

"Manipulating the sails and steering the rudder are all technical tasks, and even combat at sea is different from combat on land."

Eunuch Tao frowned. Now he also knows the difficulty of training a naval army, but time is running out.

The inner court has urged it several times. If the backlog of silk in the Shibo Division is not sold, Eunuch Tao may lose his royal family.

Su Ze said: "Lin Baihu of my Changning Guard is good at naval battles, but Changning Guard is full of money, and the sailors who can board the ship can only gather five ships. If you want more escort ships, you can only rely on Changning Guard No way."

When Eunuch Tao saw that Su Ze didn't directly say no, he knew that there was still hope for the matter. He had always trusted Su Ze and asked quickly:

"What can Mr. Su do?"

Su Ze said: "During the Yongle period, the Daming Navy was able to conquer the oceans and pay tribute from all countries, not to mention the small Japanese pirates, even the Japanese kingdom was destroyed."

"But now that there has been peace for a long time, the guards in various places have been neglected in training, and many methods of naval warfare have been lost. Many sea guards don't even have sailors who can drive large ships."

Eunuch Tao nodded again and again, Su Ze was right, this is the situation in all health centers in Fujian today.

One of the reasons why Qi Jiguang has been passive since he entered Fujian is that the coastal guards in Fujian are too weak to fight, allowing Japanese pirates to come and go like the wind. It is difficult to achieve decisive results with an elite army alone. The transfer, generals and soldiers are exhausted.

Fuzhou Port was originally an important coastal town. When Zheng He sailed to the West, part of the fleet set sail from here.

Some of the ships that Zheng He sailed to the West were also built here.

This is also how Eunuch Tao was able to find the manufacturing manual of the thousand-material ship from Zhuwei's dock.

But there is only a ship, without the captain and sailors who can drive the ship, and without the sailors who can fight at sea, it is still impossible to open the route with Ryukyu.

Su Ze said: "Another reason for the succession of the guards is the disadvantages of the traditional father-son succession and family inheritance."

"This sea warfare method, in fact, in the early days of the Republic of China, all coastal guards were very good at it. In the Yongle period, there were also many generals who were good at commanding naval battles."

"However, with the passage of time, many methods of maritime warfare have been passed down from father to son. There are fewer and fewer guardsmen who can fight on the water, and those who can sail and sail are also passed down as family secrets. However, the gentry in many guards along the coast have never been to the sea."

Eunuch Tao nodded. In order to move the twenty warships, he had indeed been to many coastal guards, as he had told Su Ze.

Su Ze said: "Battle at sea is different from fighting on land. Land soldiers only need to have enough soldiers and food to join the army. They can form an army in a few months, and after a few victories, they can be called elites."

"But the navy is different. Combat at sea requires soldiers to learn the combat maneuvers first, and also cooperate with on-board training. It can't be done in a few months."

Eunuch Tao was completely miserable now. If he followed Su Ze's method and waited for a year to train the navy, he might have been sent to Nanjing to guard the mausoleum because of his inability to handle affairs.

No, going to Nanjing to guard the mausoleum is considered a good job, and there is a high probability that you will go to Fengyang to guard the ancestral mausoleum.

Su Ze changed the subject and said, "But there is also a quick way."

Eunuch Tao was like a drowning man, grasping at hope, he immediately asked, "What is the solution?"

Su Ze said: "Since the sea trade was cut off, there have been many unemployed sailors in the ports of Zhangzhou, Fuzhou, and Quanzhou."

Eunuch Tao's eyes lit up. Of course he knew where these sailors came from. These sailors were trained by maritime merchant families who had been engaged in smuggling for a long time.

Eunuch Tao originally wanted to recruit these people, but on the one hand, these people are all veterans at sea, and he has no one who understands military affairs to manage them.

Su Ze said: "But these sailors can only be used to drive ships, not to fight."

Eunuch Tao nodded again and again, and he asked, "Where do we recruit the soldiers for the battle?"

Su Ze said directly: "The best soldier is under the hands of my father-in-law."

"Under the miscellaneous family?"

Eunuch Tao pointed at himself suspiciously.

Su Ze nodded and said, "Dare to ask my father-in-law, how many craftsmen are there in the workshop responsible for minting coins in Fujian?"

Mr. Tao was still minting coins in Fujian. He blurted out: "Now there are ten mints in Fujian, with 2000 minters."

Su Ze asked again: "How many miners are there in the Dajian furnace and the mine managed by the Fujian Mining Division?"

Eunuch Tao thought for a while and said, "There are probably more than 8000 to [-] people."

Fujian produces high-quality Fujian iron. There are three Dajian furnaces, and each iron factory has thousands of craftsmen.

In addition, there are various mines in Fujian, and there are also a large number of miners in government-run workshops working in these places.

Eunuch Tao is in charge of the entire Fujian Mint, and he has investigated some places before, and he also has the right to manage these government-run workshops and pits.

Su Ze asked about this, and Eunuch Tao finally realized it. He asked, "Mr. Su is talking about recruiting these craftsmen and miners?"

Su Ze nodded.

Eunuch Tao paced back and forth and said, "As for the soldiers, these miners and craftsmen are really good."

The Qi family army was the miners Qi Jiguang recruited from Zhejiang. These miners often fought with weapons. Qi Jiguang, who was training in Zhejiang, noticed that these miners were strong and organized.

Eunuch Tao said, "But is it really okay for these craftsmen to board the boat?"

Eunuch Tao has also put in a lot of work. Fighting at sea is completely different from fighting on land. It is a problem for ordinary people to stand firm on the ship after going to sea, let alone fighting with weapons.

Su Ze said confidently: "If you practice swordsmanship and archery now, you may not be able to catch up with the Japanese pirates after another year of practice. To quickly form an army, you need to find another way."

"This is another way, it is the bird gun!"

Eunuch Tao naturally knew about bird guns.

In the words of the guards in Fujian and the Qi family army: "The bird guns issued by the imperial court are not even used by dogs!"

The matchlocks of the imperial court often went out and the gunpowder could not be ignited. These are minor problems, if only this is the case.

Bomb blasts and lead bullets jammed. These major problems continued. Many soldiers did not dare to aim and shoot with the blunderbuss issued by the court, because they were afraid of being blinded by the blunderbusses issued by the court.

Tao Gonggong said: "The soldiers are not willing to use the bird guns issued by the court, and they are not as powerful as the bird guns of Frangji."

Su Ze said: "The bird guns issued by the imperial court are really not good, but the quality of the iron in Fujian is good, and there is no shortage of blacksmiths. The medicine and fire workshops in the guards can also produce gunpowder. Why not make the bird guns yourself?"

Eunuch Tao's eyes became brighter: "Mr. Su can also make bird guns?"

Su Ze said confidently: "What's so difficult about mere blunderbusses? If the Frang machine can be made, we can't make them in Ming Dynasty? Eunuch Tao also knows why the workshop of the Ministry of War can't make blunderbusses, right?" ?”

Eunuch Tao nodded repeatedly. He was a eunuch in charge of weaving and dyeing in the palace, so he naturally knew the situation of these government-run workshops.

Although the system of craftsmen in the Ming Dynasty was not as strict as the military household system, craftsmen near Gyeonggi still went to serve in the capital.

Some of the craftsmen in the government-run workshops are craftsmen who have worked in this workshop for generations, and they are called Zuojiang.

Some of the nearby craftsmen took turns to serve, and they were called craftsmen.

Since the Kingdom of China, no matter whether they are sitters or craftsmen, they are unwilling to serve in government-run workshops, and they often try their best to escape the service.

And the managers of these workshops are also aimed at making money, and they don't care about the quality of production at all.

If the industry in the palace is fine, even if it is to make money, the quality must be ensured.

If it is a weapon-making workshop like the Ministry of War, then you don't even want to face it. Not only the quality of the weapons delivered is poor, but the quantity is also very watery.

Now that the imperial court ordered imitation bird guns, there are still so many poor quality bird guns issued.

By the end of the Ming Dynasty, the government-run workshops had almost lost their manufacturing capacity, and there was no way to manufacture high-end weapons such as cannons. Xu Guangqi could only buy them from the Portuguese in Macau, or salvage the sunken Dutch ships from the coastal areas.

Su Ze said: "Elder-in-law, as long as we set up a firearms workshop outside Fuzhou City, and recruit [-] soldiers from miners and minters, within two months, the Ryukyu route will be cleared and the Ryukyu tribute trade will resume!"

"Okay!" In order to keep his current position, Eunuch Tao gritted his teeth and gave out all his wealth to support Su Ze in training the navy.

The next day, the new Fujian Anti-Japanese Army was established, and Su Ze served as the training envoy of the headquarter, using the [-] newly built lucky boats of the Shi Ship Division as a team to train new sailors to fight against the Japanese.

For this team training, Fujian has expressed strong support from top to bottom.

The situation in Fujian is chaotic, and group training is emerging in an endless stream. Many counties rely on the group training run by local gentry to protect themselves.

Su Ze is from Jieyuan, Fujian Province, and has the experience of running a regiment in the south of the Yangtze River. It is not surprising that Eunuch Tao entrusted him with the ship to run a regiment.

Even the entire Fujian officialdom gave Su Ze a lot of support.

On the edge of Fuzhou port, Fuzhou officials also allocated land for Su Ze to build a "New Army Lecture Hall for the Navy".

However, Su Ze was unwilling to build a lecture hall on land. Instead, he chose to find a small island called Chuanshi Island outside Fujian Port, and set up the Navy lecture hall on the island.

According to Su Ze, the training hall is located on the island, which allows the students to concentrate on their studies. At the same time, the island is also closer to the sea, so some sea simulation training can be carried out.

In fact, Su Ze set up the lecture hall on the island in order to better control these students and avoid the government from infiltrating and interfering with the lecture hall.

The Fujian government naturally did not suspect him, and strongly supported Su Ze to build a school and dormitory on the island.

Eunuch Tao's work efficiency is also very high. In less than half a month, 300 sea merchants and sailors were recruited, plus [-] miners and coin minters, all of which were sent to the Chuanshidao Navy Lecture Hall.

In addition, Fuzhou Shipping Department came forward to set up a medicine and fire workshop outside Fuzhou Fucheng, and also set up a hydraulic hammer weapon workshop, specializing in making bird guns.

Su Ze asked Eunuch Hu for the little Eunuch You again, and asked him to be responsible for solving the problems of the gun barrel and powder.

It took Su Ze half a month to settle the food, clothing, housing and transportation problems of the students on Chuanshi Island. He also transferred several grassroots officers from Changning Guard to serve as instructors, and first conducted discipline and formation training on Chuanshi Island.

After he finished his work in the new army lecture hall, Su Ze had time to come to the Bird Gun Weaponry Workshop outside Fuzhou City.

Little Eunuch You is very talented in making weapons. In the past half a month, he has already figured out the reason why the court bird's gun exploded.

"Mr. Su, the chamber of the imperial blunderbuss exploded. The proportion of powder issued by the imperial court was uneven, and the soldiers' operations were not standardized. They often overfilled the chamber with powder, causing the chamber to explode."

Su Ze nodded. He had trained blunderbuss players, and he also knew the level of officers in the Daming Guards. They didn't even know how to fight blunderbusses, let alone their soldiers.

Some generals believed that the more gunpowder, the more powerful it was, and asked their subordinates to load more gunpowder on their own initiative, resulting in frequent bombings.

Eunuch You said: "Another reason is that the quality of the iron used by the imperial court is uneven. According to Mr. Su, these irons contain more impurities, the number of times of forging is insufficient, and the force bearing force is insufficient when the powder explodes, resulting in There was an explosion."

"Then what's the solution?"

Little Eunuch You took out a gun barrel and said:
"This is a barrel made of Fujian Mintie. Mr. Su, do you think it is no different from the barrel of a Frang machine?"

After Su Ze took it, the barrel of this gun was very flat, and it was indeed no different from the purchased Frang machine gun.

Little Eunuch You said: "You only need to beat repeatedly to get a qualified gun barrel. In fact, the imperial court is not without this technology, but the management of the military workshop of the Ministry of War is not good, and the number of forging is far from enough, so the quality is so poor."

Su Ze sighed. He also knew that the technology gap between the East and the West hadn't widened at this time, and even some technologies of Daming were still advanced.

However, the low level of management and the serf-like government-run workshops are the important issues restricting the yield of weapons.

Su Ze patted Young Eunuch You on the shoulder and said: "Call the craftsmen, I want to talk to them about the monthly salary, and there will be rewards for this batch of bird guns after they are built."

"Little Eunuch You, you should also make a regulation. All bird guns must be engraved with the name of the craftsman, and those with a low yield rate will be held accountable. There must be clear rewards and punishments!"

(End of this chapter)