Daming: If I find a great-grandson, I will teach an emperor through the ages

Chapter 123 Develop a repeating musket and become bigger and stronger!
The next day,

Zhu Yuanzhang issued an imperial decree above the main hall, ordering the Ministry of Household Affairs to recruit [-] craftsmen of various types, and the Ministry of War to mobilize [-] troops.

As soon as the recruitment of craftsmen was completed, he followed the army to the Naval Governor's Mansion in Hangzhou, and then took a boat to sea to the Japanese country.

It is very simple for the Ministry of War to mobilize troops, and this time Zhu Yuanzhang ordered the army to be transferred instead of the navy. These [-] army troops were the "helping hand" that Ming Dynasty was about to extend to Houguishan.

But recruiting a total of [-] craftsmen of all types at once was not something that could be done at once.

Even though the Ministry of Household's Yellow Book contains employment information of people from various places, the number of five thousand craftsmen of various types is still too many.

At this time, the Ming Dynasty was dominated by agriculture. Although the people in the world belonged to industry, commerce, and agriculture, farmers accounted for [-]% or even [-]% of the land.

Craftsmen are different from businessmen. They are only approached by ordinary people when they are in need. The market demand is not that large, so the number of private craftsmen is actually very small. There are usually only one or two households of craftsmen in a village or town.

Cao Wei set up a manufacturing bureau and recruited several times, almost [-]% of the craftsmen in the entire Yingtian Mansion. In other words, the entire Yingtian Mansion, eight counties and districts, plus the foot of the imperial city, the total number of workers was less than [-]%. Two thousand craftsmen.

Now Zhu Yuanzhang has issued an order to ask Zhao Mian, the Minister of Household Affairs, to recruit five thousand craftsmen. He can only find them one by one according to the yellow books in various places. This is a tiring job.

Fortunately, Zhu Yuanzhang also knew that this matter could not be urgent, so he gave Zhao Mian enough time to handle it.

After the court, Cao Weishi came to the field department to observe his high-yield wheat.

He wanted to see if the high-yielding grain he had spent 12 years cultivating was ruined by the carelessness of the Ministry of Industry.

When they arrived at the entrance of the Tuntian Department, the head of the Tuntian Department saw Cao Wei arriving and hurriedly got up and came out to greet him, and even almost fell down.

Who is Cao Wei?

The former adoptive father of the great grandson of the Ming Emperor!

In just one year, with all kinds of achievements, he transformed from a farmer into the Marquis of Zhongtian in the Ming Dynasty!
Moreover, Cao Wei traveled thousands of miles to the Japanese country and found the Iwami Silver Mine for the Ming Dynasty!
In addition, Cao Wei proposed to increase the salaries of all officials in court two days ago...

It can be said that in the Ming Dynasty, you can provoke anyone, but you cannot provoke Zhong Tianhou Cao Wei!
Because behind Cao Wei is not only the emperor and the emperor's grandson, but also a large number of leaders and courtiers who are grateful to him.

Even the head of the Farming Department was filled with gratitude towards Cao Wei. Meeting Cao Wei was as enthusiastic as meeting his own father.

"Master Cao has come to visit me. I am sorry to hear you come from afar, but I hope Master Cao will not be offended."

The boss bent over and put on a smile.

Cao Wei knew why he was so eager and didn't care. He just waved his hand.
"Can you please take me to see the experimental field?"

"I dare not call you troublesome. It is an honor for me to lead the way for Mr. Cao. Mr. Cao is coming with me."

After saying that, the chief made a gesture and walked forward first, with Cao Wei following behind.

In a short time, the two of them arrived at the large fields of the Tuntian Department.

Obviously, Cao Wei could see the high-yield wheat grown in the central area, because the wheat ears there were plumper than those in other places.

The supervisor took Cao Wei all the way to the experimental field.

"Sir, please look at this batch of high-yield wheat. I ordered people to guard this batch of high-yielding wheat day and night, fertilize and water it, and dare not neglect it at all. In order to allow the wheat to better absorb nutrients, even the intervals between the wheat ridges must be wider."

Cao Wei looked at the experimental field carefully for a moment and nodded.

Indeed, as the chief executive said, the high-yielding wheat is growing very well, perhaps because enough fertilizer has been applied, and it is even stronger than when Cao Wei planted it. It can be seen that they are paying great attention to these high-yielding wheat.

But think about it, Zhu Yuanzhang personally decided on the planting of these high-yielding grains and paid enough attention to it.

These people in the field department would not dare to be lazy and slippery even if they had a hundred courages.

"Well! You did a good job. I will put in a few nice words for you in front of His Majesty. You must keep up."

After hearing this, the principal was overjoyed!
"I thanked Master Cao! If anything happens to Master Cao in the future, just tell me!"

"Do it well."

Cao Wei left the field department after leaving a sentence, but he did not return directly to the manufacturing bureau, but went to the war department.

The Japanese party actually gave Cao Wei some insights.

The Adachi clan of the Northern Dynasty of Japan relied on its stronger military force to defeat Goguiyama until he could not breathe.

Go Kameyama's military strength was smaller than that of the Adachi clan, but did he really have no chance of victory?
not necessarily!
After thousands of years of cold weapon warfare, hot weapons such as blunderbuss and artillery have emerged as the times require.

If Houguishan had powerful firearms, even if its troops were weaker than those of the Northern Dynasty, there would still be a chance of victory.

But whether it was the Ming Dynasty or the Japanese country, the firearms at this time were single-shot muskets and artillery with not considerable lethality.

In the final analysis, the war system of this world has begun to change. Although this change seems very small at this time, it will one day turn the whole world upside down!
In the previous life, due to the Qing Dynasty's seclusion and reversal of history, China's civilization achievements of thousands of years were abandoned, which ultimately led to the invasion of the Central Plains by Western barbarians.

China didn't have a large population at that time?Not many troops?

At this time, the Southern Dynasty of Japan was still able to hold on under the fierce attack of the Northern Dynasty of Japan.

However, the Qing Dynasty was beaten by the guns and artillery of the small Western countries and was unable to fight back, and was forced to sign various treaties that were humiliating and humiliating the country.

Although the Qing Dynasty was corrupt and the Qing army was incompetent, it is really outrageous that such a huge country should be stepped on and humiliated by small Western countries!

Every time Cao Wei thinks about it, he can only sigh and feel helpless!

This also made Cao Wei realize more clearly that the dignity of the country only lies on the edge of the sword!The meaning of this sentence.

When war comes, only the country's strong military power can resist powerful enemies and protect the people of the country.

In the previous life of China, it was because of the lack of powerful firearms that China had a history of humiliation that lasted for hundreds of years.

In this life, Cao Wei will never let Ming Dynasty make the same mistakes again!
He wants to improve the Ming Dynasty's guns and artillery so that the Ming Dynasty has the strongest military power in the world!

In this life, Ming Dynasty will in turn put the infinite fear of artillery fire over the heads of Western countries!
Furthermore, the Ming Dynasty garrisoned troops in Japan. Since the two countries were thousands of sea miles apart, navigation was inconvenient. Even if the Ming Dynasty wanted to send a large-scale army to completely dominate the situation in Japan, it would be difficult to implement it due to the difficulty of sea navigation, so it could only send a small force. To interfere in the situation between Japan and Japan.

When the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty arrived in Japan and assisted Houguishan so that they could compete with the Northern Dynasty, there would always be casualties no matter how few.

As long as Cao Wei successfully develops repeating firecrackers and artillery of mass destruction.

Even with less than [-] troops, the Ming Dynasty could firmly occupy the dominant position, play with the Northern and Southern Dynasties of Japan at will, and sit firmly on the Diaoyutai!

"In order to reduce the casualties of Ming soldiers... I am such a good person..."

Cao Wei muttered to himself and arrived at the entrance of the military department.

The Minister of War was not there, and only one minister came up to him with a smile on his face.

"I wonder what happened when Mr. Cao arrived?"

Cao Wei said bluntly, "Can you borrow one of the guns from your Ministry of War..."

"Of course you can!" Before Cao Wei finished speaking, the Minister of War nodded directly and firmly.

Cao Wei was stunned. He didn't even say what he wanted the gun for, but the waiter agreed.

Is the Ministry of War so easy to talk to?
"My lord, please wait a moment. I will come back as soon as I can."

The Minister of War bowed and walked inside. After a moment, he came out with something similar to a fire stick in his hand.

"Sir, the firecracker you asked for."

Cao Wei took it and couldn't help but ask.

"Aren't you afraid of being blamed by the superiors when you hand the gun to me like this?"

The waiter smiled and said,
"Look at what you said, sir. If someone else comes, not to mention what they want the gun to do, even if they look at me, they won't let them take another look. But it's different, sir. I'll give the gun to you, no matter what. Neither my Lord Shangshu nor Your Majesty will blame me, and I know this clearly."

Cao Wei couldn't help grinning. This guy was quite eloquent and was suitable for the Ministry of Etiquette.

"Okay, when Ru Shangshu comes back, tell him that if he needs anything, he can come to me." Cao Wei took the blunderbuss and prepared to leave.

"Yes, I have remembered it," the Minister of War said, "I would like to send you off to Master Cao."

Cao Wei left the imperial city, went all the way to the Manufacturing Bureau, found the corresponding tools, and soon dismantled the firecracker to pieces.

Hmm...a simple comparison.

This was not the first time that Cao Wei saw the Ming Dynasty's fire cannons. In the last battle between the Ming Dynasty and Beiyuan Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty's army had [-] soldiers from the Shenji Battalion. Cao Wei even came to shoot twice.

However, the firecrackers at this time were too useless and did not play a big role in that war.

At this time, the Ming Dynasty's firecrackers were two completely different things from the muskets of later generations, both in terms of performance and appearance.

At this time, one end of the gun is where the ammunition is fired, and the other end is a long stick, which is relatively straight as a whole.

This is because the way the gun is loaded with ammunition is backward, and a fire gun can only fire one round of ammunition during a battle.

The firing principle of the fire gun at this time is to load the tail of the fire gun with explosives, then put a solid bullet in the front, push it in with a stick and compact it, and then ignite it and launch it.

This loading method of changing ammunition is too complicated and time-consuming, and because the shooting distance of the fire gun is relatively short, before the soldiers can load the second round of ammunition, the enemy has already reached them, and they can only fight with cold weapons. .

Therefore, a gun was added to the tail of the fire gun, allowing soldiers to shoot from a distance or fight the enemy at close range.

What Cao Wei has to do is to change the fire gun that can only be fired once into a continuous fire, and then increase the shooting distance of the fire gun, and then the prototype of the musket of later generations will probably be formed.

At least on the battlefield, it is no longer a fire stick that is useless after one shot.

If you want to change the single-shot fire gun into a continuous fire gun, you have to completely change the linkage method between the inside of the fire gun barrel and the trigger.

There are roughly two types of continuous firing muskets in later generations. One is the earliest type of revolver, which relies on the rotation of the bullet cylinder to achieve continuous firing.

The other is a more advanced one, which uses the recoil of bullets fired from the firearm and cooperates with the various parts of the gun to achieve continuous firing.

In a short period of time, it was almost impossible for Cao Wei to realize the second continuous firing method of firearms, so he could only settle for the next best thing, first figuring out the continuous firing method of the revolver.

But whether it is the continuous firing method of the revolver or the continuous firing method of the bolt, another problem must be solved first.

That's what ammunition is made of.

At this time, the ammunition for the fire gun is very simple, which are small iron beads.

Therefore, Cao Wei had to first solve the problem of making later generations of ammunition, that is, wrap the gunpowder with steel and place it at the tail of the ammunition. When the firing pin strikes, the gunpowder is ignited, and the front-end warhead can be launched.

Although Cao Wei knows the principle, the manufacturing process is definitely not simple.

After scratching his head, Cao Wei frowned and thought for a long time, then picked up the pen again and started to draw the first draft.

Not only does the production method and floor plan of the ammunition need to be worked out, but also the revolver-type firearms must be developed at the same time. Only in this way can the two sides slowly adjust and match.

Cao Wei just leaned on the table and concentrated on painting. Song Ping brought him lunch at noon. After a few simple bites, he concentrated on thinking and painting again.

After experiencing several times and long periods of painting in the past, Cao Wei's painting skills have soared. Now he can put his thoughts on the drawings without any hindrance, although he has to make many revisions along the way.

It wasn't until the sun set and night gradually fell that Cao Wei drew a rough outline of the internal profile of the ammunition.

"Hmm... still need to modify it."

Cao Wei held a pen in his hand, frowning and murmuring.

Put down the pen, stretched and stretched my stiff back, and suddenly there was a muffled "bang bang" sound like exploding beans.

Walking out of the room, the craftsmen were still busy in an orderly manner under the setting sun.

After saying hello to Song Ping, Cao Wei left the manufacturing bureau and returned to Cao Mansion.

the next day,
After going to court, there were still no major events. Only Zhu Yuanzhang supervised Zhao Mian's progress in recruiting craftsmen.

During this period, planning railway tracks, implementing public ownership of land, and recruiting craftsmen were all handed over to the Ministry of Household Affairs. Zhao Mian's burden was really not light.

Cao Wei could even see Zhao Mian starting to have dark circles under his eyes.

After the court dispersed, Cao Wei left the main hall and rushed to the manufacturing bureau to continue drawing the design drawings of the revolver.

However, Zhao Mian stood in front of Cao Wei with a pair of panda eyes.

"Master Zhao, is something wrong?" Cao Wei asked in question.

Zhao Mian pulled Cao Wei to the corner,
"Brother Cao, you are always very wise. Please help me think of a way. This time His Majesty wants to recruit five thousand craftsmen. Although there is no set time, it is still an urgent matter. I have arranged the manpower to work for a day but with little effect. Please help me think of a way. There is a way, I will remember Brother Cao’s kindness in my heart.”

Cao Wei laughed, "This is simple."

"Man will die for wealth, and birds will die for food. Under heavy rewards, there will be brave men.

You can discuss with His Majesty to increase the wages of the craftsmen who go to sea this time. As long as you spread the news, you won't be afraid that no one will come to answer the call. "

"Anyway, Japan has silver mines. It doesn't cost much to increase the monthly salary of thousands of workers."

Zhao Mian's eyes lit up and he slapped his forehead.

"Yes! It's so simple. Why didn't I think of it?"

Cao Wei looked at Zhao Mian and shook his head. Several important tasks fell on him one after another. He was probably too busy and dizzy, and it was normal for him to lose his mind for a while.

Zhao Mian cupped his hands and thanked Cao Wei, then hurriedly walked in the direction of the imperial study.

(End of this chapter)