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Chapter 855: Sudden Changes on the Plateau
"Alas... I am ashamed to talk about the new projectile. Brother Changji was experimenting with it many years ago, but he was seriously injured and died. I have taken over for four or five years, but I still cannot make it useful. I have failed the grace of the Lord!"

As soon as these words were spoken, Wang Zheng's face immediately darkened, and his expression was like a child who had done his homework wrong, feeling both guilty and unwilling.

"Yes, it is indeed difficult. It is not just Liangfu's problem. Using new bullets requires replacing new muskets that load bullets from the breech. The machinery factory has been working on it for two years, but it still has not produced a qualified product. We are ashamed of the soldiers on the front line."

Not only did Wang Zheng blame himself, Li Zhizao also apologized. The research and development of new ammunition was the job of the Royal Gunpowder Factory, but the design of new muskets was the turn of the Machinery Factory, and he also had a great responsibility in this work.

"Don't be so, both of you. Even without the new guns, the army will not lag behind. We still have bayonets. Thirty percent of the time in the new army's training is spent practicing how to fight with bayonets. That's how war works. We need to play to our strengths and make up for our weaknesses. I have to inspect the barracks today, so I'll take my leave first."

Seeing that the two ordnance experts were disillusioned and gloomy because of him, Sun Chengzong knew that he had said something wrong. But he could not help with ordnance, so he quickly made an excuse and slipped away.

"Liangfu, your classmate is so slippery!" Looking at Sun Chengzong's hurried back, the melancholy expression on Li Zhizao's face disappeared, and he gave his comments with a smile.

"If he heard what Brother Zhenzhi said, he would be secretly happy!" Although Wang Zhen did not laugh, his expression was much more relaxed and he did not care about this comment.

"Oh? Why is that?"

"Brother Zhisheng has always followed Your Majesty's example and followed in his footsteps. When it comes to being slick, who can be better than him?"

"Shh...be careful with your words...hehehe...now that you mention it, they do look somewhat similar, especially with a sincere face and a mouth full of nonsense."

Upon hearing this, Li Zhizao quickly covered Wang Zheng's mouth with his hand, looked around and didn't see anyone paying attention before letting go, then he laughed to himself.

Others might have secretly appreciated Sun Chengzong's statement for being righteous and revealing some military secrets. However, he and Wang Zheng could not hide it. It could not be said that it was all nonsense, but at least half of it was plausible.

Judging from this point alone, Sun Chengzong and Emperor Jingyang are indeed somewhat similar. The emperor always has a harmless smile on his face, tells half-truths, and is particularly believable.

"In that case, aren't you and I just following suit..." Wang Zheng pointed at himself and then at Li Zhizao.

“Hahahahahahaha…” Then the two of them suddenly burst into knowing laughter, stumbling forward and backward, stamping their feet and beating their chests.

In the conversation just now, the three of them were avoiding the main point. Sun Chengzong was hiding the military goals, while Li Zhizao and Wang Zheng were hiding the progress of military equipment development.

It is said that one should do his job according to his position. No matter how close you are to someone, there are some things that cannot be said. But it is not good to say "I don't trust you" in front of your friends, so you can only lie with your eyes open. You may feel a little awkward at first, but the higher your position, the more such situations you will encounter, and you will gradually get used to it.

The emperor was so ruthless that he invested a lot of money in Lanzhou and Shaanxi Xingdusi to build industrial bases and rail transit, with only one purpose, the Western Expedition. However, the first step was not the Western Regions, but the Haixi Tumed tribe, which was not far from Lanzhou. As mentioned earlier, the Tumed tribe was divided into two parts, east and west, after the death of Altan Khan. The Eastern Tumed tribe is currently controlled by Bushitu, and the Western Tumed was originally under the command of Bushitu, but when he returned to the east to compete with Su Nang for the Khan position, many tribal leaders did not participate and took a completely neutral attitude, which was equivalent to being out of control.

After Bushitu got the Khanate, he also sent people to Qinghai to negotiate, trying to persuade the Xitumed tribe to return to his embrace, but failed. The other party's words implied that he was accusing him of colluding with the Han people, driving out the Ordos, and rebelling against Ligdan Khan.

In fact, dividing East and West Tumed into two parts is more in line with the interests of the Ming Dynasty. Don't think that Bushitu calls him Sun and Moon Khan all the time and seems to be very loyal. Once his power grows, he will immediately make small calculations and pretend to obey from time to time.

In fact, it is not just him, including the five tribes of Kharachin, Horchin, and Khalkha, which are basically the same. Nomadic peoples have no concept of country or even nationality at all, and they are only concerned with making profits for their own ethnic group.

If you can win, you fight. If you win, you rob people, livestock, and pastures. If you can't win, you just give in temporarily, and it's not shameful at all. When the time comes, you turn your back on others immediately, and you don't feel the slightest bit of guilt.

However, the Xitumed tribe did something that Hong Tao could not tolerate. They actually colluded with the Ordos tribe that fled westward, and allowed Ligdan Khan to bring the remnants of the Chahar tribe into Qinghai.

At the beginning of last year, just as Bu Shitu had predicted, the Oirat people who occupied the Western Regions launched an attack on the Ordos tribe entrenched near the Juyan Lake, and the two sides fought back and forth with alternating victories.

But the Ordos tribe came from afar, with insufficient property and population, and they would not be able to bear such a long-term entanglement. So they found the Xitumed tribe and asked for shelter, and they were actually accepted.

In the summer, Lin Danhan also came with the remnants of the Chahar tribe and also entered the area west of Qinghai Lake. This news was sent by Bushitu. If he didn't say anything, Hong Tao and the entire Ming Dynasty would still be in the dark.

The main reason was that Qinghai was too desolate, with not many people, and even fewer Han people. It was difficult for the Statistics Bureau to infiltrate and establish an intelligence network, and everyone from Hong Tao to the General Staff ignored it.

But now that he knew about it, Hong Tao didn't intend to pretend that he didn't know. He immediately asked Du Song and Fang Congzhe in Guihua City to find out the details, and at the same time began to prepare for a military strike.

Du Song and Fang Congzhe fulfilled their mission and soon heard the truth from Bu Shitu. This made Hong Tao more determined to eradicate the trouble completely and not tolerate it!

Lin Danhan burned down the White City of King Kong and led his troops northward to return to the territory of Outer Khalkha. The result was similar to what Hong Tao had guessed, and it immediately caused chaos among the seven Khalkha tribes. Some tribes supported the return of the legitimate heir of the Golden Family, while others did not.

The two sides argued several times, but neither could convince the other, so they went to war. As a result, Lin Danhan was defeated again, because only one of the seven tribes supported him, and the remaining six were all against him.

Outnumbered, they could only take the remnants of their army south again to find shelter. However, looking back, the world had changed dramatically, the five Inner Khalkha tribes and the Khorchin tribe all surrendered to the Ming Dynasty, and the Jin Dynasty was simply destroyed.

At this time, the Ming army was strong and invincible, and it was obviously inappropriate to return to the territory of the Left Mongols. The Kharchin and Dong Tumed tribes also chose to surrender, and even with the Ming army as their backing, they were still defeated.

(End of this chapter)