Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 195 The North is determined and the South is uneasy

"emission"

"boom!!"

In mid-to-late September, when the south got information about the war in the north, Zhu Gaoxu had already brought people to the Ordnance Bureau in Blackwater City.

Compared to when he left, Meng Zhang had already built the most important Ordnance Bureau before winter in just two months.

Although the cement-built Ordnance Bureau is not large, a large area of ​​open space has been cleared, which is very suitable for experimenting with artillery and muskets, without the primitive feeling at the beginning.

At the moment, Zhu Gaoxu stood not far from a cannon, looking at this cannon that was not much different from the wrought iron cannon of later generations, with satisfaction in his eyes.

Not long after, when the shells fired by it landed, Meng Zhang, who was guarding Zhu Gaoxu, sent Wu Ming to send Qingqi to measure.

They had a cloth ruler in their hands. After Qingqi ran more than [-] steps, the cloth ruler was completely straightened. Zhu Gaoxu looked at the content on the cloth ruler.

"Two miles and 67 steps!"

Seeing the range of this artillery, Zhu Gaoxu was very satisfied. Wang Yuan on the side also explained:

"This cannon is one of the best quality among the first batch of wrought iron cannons. It weighs eight hundred kilograms, the bullet weighs five kilograms, its caliber is two inches, and its length is five feet two inches. Its maximum range is about one mile. It can effectively hit The range to hit the target is about two hundred steps."

"According to your instructions, Your Highness, we tested the shooting accuracy and range of this [-]-pound artillery piece."

"As far as average data is concerned, when using an [-]-pound cannon to aim at a target that is one foot three feet wide and six feet high, if the distance between the target and the cannon is four hundred to five hundred steps, then half of the solid bullets will Can hit.”

"If the distance is five hundred to six hundred steps, the hit rate of the [-]-pound artillery is still about [-] to [-] percent. If the distance is two miles, the hit rate is only half percent."

The data and modern terms and nouns mentioned by Wang Yuan were all left by Zhu Gaoxu when he was drawing, as well as the various statements given to him before testing the musket. Now he can use them skillfully.

"In addition to this type of five-hundred-jin cannon, we have also forged various types of artillery of five-hundred-jin, one-thousand-jin, as well as two-thousand-jin, three-thousand-jin, five-thousand-jin, and seven-thousand-jin cannons."

Wang Yuan's cannon forging speed far exceeded Zhu Gaoxu's expectations. He couldn't help but ask: "Have all these cannons been forged successfully?"

"I am ashamed..." Wang Yuan said guiltily: "In the past two months, I have forged four cannons out of 120, and only seventeen of them were successful. After testing, only two cannons of five hundred kilograms and two thousand kilograms were successful. "

While Wang Yuan was explaining in shame, Zhu Gaoxu also saw two draft horses bringing a large artillery mounted on a gun carriage.

Seeing this, he quickly moved forward, and Wang Yuan also introduced it forcefully: "This cannon weighs two thousand kilograms, the bullet weighs twelve kilograms, its caliber is four inches, and its length is six feet, nine inches and four cents."

"On flat ground, when the test party used this cannon to bombard a target two and a half miles away, the hit rate was at most [-]%."

"If ricochet shooting is used and the target is three miles away, the hit rate of the artillery shell is about [-]%."

"If the artillery fires from a hill about ten feet high to the ground, then the hit rate of the ricochet at the same distance is still similar to the previous flat ground test, but if it shoots from the flat ground below the mountain to a hill ten feet high, the hit rate of the ricochet at the same distance is only [-]% of the ricochet can hit."

Wang Yuan truthfully talked about the various data he obtained through the test, which made Zhu Gaoxu very happy.

Judging from the results of actual measurements, the range and power of the [-]-pound cannon are already equivalent to the six-pound field cannon held by Napoleon during the First Opium War.

Even a two-thousand-pound cannon was comparable to Napoleon's twelve-pound field cannon.

The only thing Wang Yuan and the others lacked was experience in casting medium to large and large artillery.

If Zhu Gaoxu remembers correctly, the six-pound and twelve-pound field guns in Napoleon's hands were shorter, lighter, and had a longer range than the two-thousand-pound cannons written by Wang Yuan and others.

Converted to Ming Dynasty weight units, the six-pounder should be about six hundred kilograms, and the twelve-pounder should not exceed one thousand kilograms.

Zhu Gaoxu doesn’t remember the specific number, but the content should be like this.

However, Napoleon used bronze cannons, while Wang Yuan and the others used wrought iron cannons, which should be heavier than Napoleon's.

When it came to bronze cannons, it was difficult for even Lao Zhu to afford one, let alone Zhu Gaoxu, so the number of Ming Dynasty bronze cannons that survived in later generations was not very large.

After all, copper was currency in the Ming Dynasty, and using it to cast cannons was not in line with the concept of governing the country.

But even so, with these two kinds of wrought iron cannons, Zhu Gaoxu could easily deal with the southern army's artillery.

The importance of the module seems extremely precious at this moment. He only slightly modified the artillery shape and caliber ratio, and adjusted the module. As a result, Zhu Gaoxu obtained an artillery that spanned more than 400 years.

One step further, we have to deal with things like smokeless powder and primers.

Zhu Gaoxu has only heard of these things and has no idea what the specific content is, so the artillery now forged is the highest military technology within his reach.

In fact, he was very lucky. If he hadn't come to the Ming Dynasty, he might not have been able to build these two artillery pieces.

The period from the early Ming Dynasty to the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty was the peak period of China's metallurgical technology. When talking about the history of world metallurgy before the [-]th century, it is impossible to avoid the history of Chinese metallurgy.

The key to the West's choice to cast cannons in bronze was that the metallurgical technology was not up to standard and they were unable to produce qualified wrought iron cannons.

If the forged iron cannon technology in the late Ming Dynasty had not flowed out from the hands of Foshan craftsmen to the Bugalao Cannon Foundry in the hands of the Portuguese in Macau, the Bugalao Cannon Foundry would not have become the number one arms factory in the Far East in the next 200 years, preparing for the invasion of India. The British army provided a large amount of arms.

The late Ming Dynasty imitated European artillery, and subsequently cast artillery that was better than European artillery. The reason lies in the advanced metallurgical technology.

The only limitation on the artillery of the Ming and Qing Dynasties was actually the artillery module. The loss of the artillery module after the Kangxi period was also one of the reasons why the artillery technology of the Qing Dynasty gradually retreated.

In terms of metallurgy, the advantage of wrought iron cannons is that the cannons made of wrought iron are lightweight because they are made of steel. The cannon has a thin bore and a large bore, and the light cannon can fire large shells.

Under the same weight, the forged wrought iron barrel can hold twice as much gunpowder as the pig iron barrel without the problem of bursting.

Therefore, for Zhu Gaoxu, using wrought iron cannons is enough for his Bohai Navy to dominate.

Artillerymen who use this kind of artillery are also easy to train, and there is no need to study "ballistics" in depth.

After all, in this era when artillery manufacturing standards are not uniform and the accuracy is not high, the gunner's experience in determining the range of the gun and how far to lift it through test firing is far more reliable than pure mathematical calculations.

Historically, even though Fontaner's "Ballistics" was written and spread, the book had little use in practice except for gaining repercussions in some circles of mathematicians. It was written by experienced professional artillerymen. Ballistics was rarely mentioned in artillery treatises written thereafter.

Ballistics really came into use after the [-]th century, that is, after the development of technologies such as rifled instead of smoothbore, smokeless gunpowder instead of black powder, and steel instead of wrought iron.

Before the [-]th century, gunners' experience in determining the range of a gun and how far it could be fired through test firing was far more reliable than pure mathematical calculations.

European gunners operated in this way, and gunners in the Ming and Qing Dynasties also operated in this way. For example, how many steps to shoot with one inch of height, how many steps to shoot with two inches of height, etc. These are all clearly recorded.

So what Zhu Gaoxu has to do is very simple, that is, keep feeding the artillery shells, so that they can shoot more and practice more.

As for getting a rifled gun, even if that thing is made, it cannot be produced in a standardized way, at least he can't think of any way at the moment, so ballistics is possible, but it is not a must-learn knowledge.

After clearing his thoughts, Zhu Gaoxu also put his hand on the two thousand kilogram artillery piece and asked at the same time: "If the two artillery pieces are added with the gun carriage and ammunition box, how much do they weigh in total?"

"The former is almost [-] jins, and this one is almost [-] jins."

"It's too heavy..." Hearing Wang Yuan's answer, Zhu Gaoxu felt slightly dissatisfied.

Whether it is [-] kilograms or [-] kilograms, it cannot achieve the quality of field artillery that Zhu Gaoxu wanted.

At present, the artillery in the Ming army is not as capable of firing several miles as later generations boasted. Even the three-thousand-pound general cannon has a range of only one and a half miles.

The rest of the artillery, such as Hongwu iron cannons, copper cannons, and bowl-mouth blunderbuss, have even shorter ranges and cannot even exceed one mile.

Three-thousand-pound artillery will basically not appear on the battlefield of this era, because road conditions do not allow it, and it is just a snail if it leaves the official road.

So for me, I only need to maintain a firing range of more than one and a half miles, which is enough to crush all the artillery in the south.

Zhu Gaoxu held the cannon with one hand and ordered Wang Yuan without looking back:

"If you try to reduce the weight of the artillery, if you can't reduce it, you can make lighter [-]-jin or [-]-jin artillery pieces."

"As long as the weight of the lightest artillery including the gun carriage and ammunition can be controlled under one thousand kilograms, and the range can be controlled over one and a half miles, then the artillery I want will be successful."

As he said this, Wang Yuan also bowed after hesitating and said: "Your Highness, the casting of the cannon is easy to say, but the iron consumption is too large, and too much is scrapped. It requires additional manpower to keep up with the speed of forging the cannon. The same goes for clay molds..."

"Meng Zhang!" Zhu Gaoxu turned around and called Meng Zhang, who had never spoken.

Meng Zhang did not dare to neglect, and stepped forward to salute in return. Zhu Gaoxu also asked: "How is the matter you were asked to do?"

Wang Yuan basically didn't care about matters outside the Ordnance Bureau, so he looked at Meng Zhang curiously.

In response, Meng Zhang said in a neither humble nor arrogant tone: "Most of the Jurchen Wudiha here have heard of His Highness, so there are many people who come to worship."

"In just two months, the general has already recruited six tribes, large and small, with a population of more than 260, and trained [-] soldiers."

"Although it's not too much, I will continue to work hard to let them attract other brother tribes to each other to increase their momentum."

Meng Zhang answered truthfully. Zhu Gaoxu also knew that in this era of leg-based communication, it was not easy to appease the savage Jurchen, so he helped Meng Zhang up and bowed: "If you have any difficulties, tell me and I can take care of it for you. "

"No!" Meng Zhang's answer surprised Zhu Gaoxu. He didn't expect that Meng Zhang didn't ask for anything from him.

Without waiting for him to ask, Meng Zhang gave a complete explanation: "The reason why I don't want anything is because Yi Zhangyin has given me everything."

"Thirty officials from the military academy, twenty officials from the Qianhu Station, more than 16 kilograms of iron, [-] kilograms of gunpowder, [-] shi of grain, [-] shi of beans..."

Meng Zhang explained that the supplies and manpower that Yi Shiha had sent to him were fully equipped.Although Zhu Gaoxu also guessed that Yi Shiha would manage the palace in an orderly manner, he did not expect that he would manage it so appropriately.

He pondered for a moment, then nodded, stretched out his hand and patted Meng Zhang on the shoulder: "I will stay at the Ordnance Bureau this winter. I asked someone to bring me some paper, pen, inkstone, and I will take advantage of this winter." Make something up that you might use later.”

"General, take your orders!" Meng Zhang agreed. From the moment Zhu Gaoxu appeared today until now, he has not mentioned a word about the war in the west, because he knew very well that Zhu Gaoxu paid more attention to Heishui City than Wu Liangha did.

Not to mention anything else, the single sentence "The more troops Blackwater City recruits, the better" has already determined the status of Blackwater City.

How big an official you can be in the future and how many troops you can lead depends entirely on how hard you work now.

What he has to do now is to recruit more Jurchens in the mountains and fields and draw enough people for His Highness.

Without any other words, Meng Zhang left the Ordnance Bureau when Zhu Gaoxu was testing the two thousand kilogram artillery, and only asked people to strengthen the security here.

Afterwards, he sent someone he trusted to cook for Zhu Gaoxu to prevent anyone from harming his highness.

Time passed little by little, and soon the cold wind from the North Mountain swept outside the pass. Not only was Blackwater City covered in snow, it could be said that the entire north became a country of ice and snow in less than half a month.

On days like this, both the military and civilians in the north have greatly reduced their outdoor activities.

But the north is quiet, but the south has never stopped making noise.

"Your Majesty, Duke Xu Huizu of the State of Wei, brought peace to Burma and sent envoy Silun Fa to pay homage to your majesty. May your majesty be blessed with good health..."

On the sixth day of October, when Xu Huizu, who had gone through many twists and turns, returned to Nanjing from Yunnan with Silunfa and arrived in front of the golden platform of Fengtian Hall, all the civil and military officials on and off the stage looked at them and secretly speculated on the emperor's thoughts. .

"flat body"

"I thank the Holy Grace..."

Zhu Yuanzhang's condition is still the same as more than half a month ago, without any pathology.

He watched Xu Huizu and Silunfa get up, and this was not the first time he met Silunfa.

Since Silunfa was defeated by Mu Ying, he has been very honest to the Ming Dynasty. Even if he invaded the vassal states of the Ming Dynasty such as Burma, Laos, Bago and Sukhothai several times, he would always obey as long as the Yunnan Dusi sent officials to mediate. Tie obeyed the arrangements, which was also the main reason why Dao Ganmeng and others started the uprising.

As for the so-called wife's false accusation of killing the chief, it is just one of the excuses.

Perhaps it was because Silunfa's obedience made Zhu Yuanzhang, who was thinking about peace in his later years, feel comfortable, so Zhu Yuanzhang still had the intention to go to war over his overthrow.

In front of Silunfa, Zhu Yuanzhang said in a deep voice: "As the old saying goes, like what the people like, like it. What the people hate, hate it. This is where the parents of the people influence the people's hearts..."

"Now, Dharma Master Silun is on the same side as Burma and is different from the likes and dislikes of the people. Therefore, he is not tolerated by his subordinates and has returned to me."

"I think this is based on the fact that my father and ancestors have benefited the people for generations. Now if we lose the hearts of the people, betray the customs of the country, abandon our graves and come away from our relatives at dusk, and do not return for a long time, we will be in a bad land."

Only a few days after Silun Fa arrived in Nanjing, Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to send him back to Luchuan. Apparently he had already made his decision.

Sure enough, amidst Silunfa's anxiety and the attentive listening of the ministers, Zhu Yuanzhang rewarded Silunfa with a hundred taels of gold and 150 taels of silver as a reward for coming to Nanjing, which was also considered as giving him a capital.

After the reward, Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Xu Huizu: "Now Wei Guogong has led his troops to escort you back to the country, and sent officials from the Yunnan Chief Envoy Department to adjust your relationship with your country and sort out your interests."

"If Meng Qianqian doesn't know the number of days and doesn't know the king's way, he will be punished and the Duke of Wei and the Marquis of Xiping will raise an army to attack him."

Zhu Yuanzhang set the tone, that is, let Dao Qianmeng and Silun Fa shake hands and make peace.

If Dao Ganmeng is willing, then Zhu Yuanzhang is willing to help Dao Ganmeng take away half of Luchuan's territory, leaving Luchuan in a balance of internal fighting.

As for Silunfa, he naturally knew what Zhu Yuanzhang was thinking, but now except for a dozen small chieftains who were willing to obey him, the other medium and large chieftains ignored him at all.

Relying on those dozen little chieftains, he couldn't defeat Dao Gan Meng, so even if he knew Zhu Yuanzhang's thoughts, he could only obey him. After all, he could get back half of his territory if he obeyed.

Of course, in his heart, he wanted to do something stupid.

In this case, he could ask Xu Huizu to send troops to bring Dao Ganmeng, the rebellious minister and traitor, to justice.

With this in mind, Silunfa and Xu Hui's ancestors took over the order, and Zhu Yuanzhang also got up and left Jintai.

Accompanied by the singing of the ministers of Honglu Temple, today's noon court has come to an end.

However, just after the court ended, Zhu Yuanzhang summoned Xu Huizu to Wuying Palace, apparently looking for him for something.

Xu Huizu accepted the summons and went to Wuying Hall. In about two-quarters of an hour, he arrived at the entrance of Wuying Hall and received publicity.

"Your Majesty, Duke Xu Huizu of the State of Wei, is here to meet His Majesty, Grandson, and Prince..."

"Yungong, we are all family members, please get up first."

After entering Wuying Hall, Xu Huizu bowed five times and kowtowed three times, which he had not done for a long time, and stood up slowly in the sound of Zhu Yuanzhang's voice.

He left Yunnan for a few years, and when he came back, his skin was dark and his temperament was much calmer.

Looking at him, Zhu Yuanzhang stroked his white beard with satisfaction, and then asked: "Have you ever paid attention to things in the north?"

"Both the ministers in the north and the south are all ministers of the Ming Dynasty. Naturally, they need constant attention." Xu Huizu replied neither humble nor overbearing. This attitude made Zhu Yuanzhang even more satisfied.

He turned to look at Zhu Yunwen and the other two people standing beside the dragon case, and said to the three of them: "There are your uncles in the north, and the Marquis of Xiping and Wei Guogong in the south. You can rest assured and enjoy the blessings."

"Grandpa said..." Zhu Yunwen took the lead in echoing, and Zhu Yuanzhang turned back with satisfaction. With a smile, he also asked Xu Huizu:
"So Yunnan, is it more peaceful now?"

"Your Majesty..." Xu Huizu bowed and replied: "Many military households have been moved in, and many thieves have been put down. Now it is much more peaceful than before."

"When I was in Yunnan, I often worked with the Marquis of Xiping to cultivate cultivated land in valleys and plains such as Dianchi Lake, Yangzonghai, and Fuxian Lake. In addition, Dali moved into military households, and the mines in various places were successfully mined. Therefore, Yunnan can be regarded as living and working in peace and contentment."

"The local problems are mainly epidemics and earthquakes, with famine being rare."

"After I arrived in Yunnan, I governed Yunnan in accordance with some concepts entrusted to me by the Bohai County Prince. The local epidemics have been reduced by more than [-]% compared with previous years."

"Okay..." Zhu Yuanzhang said okay. Obviously he knew that Zhu Gaoxu had exchanged experiences with Xu Huizu, but he didn't know that it could be so effective.

"How many farms and available soldiers are there in Yunnan now?"

Zhu Yuanzhang continued to ask, and Xu Huizu also knew everything: "Today, there are more than [-] hectares of military settlements and more than [-] hectares of civilian settlements in Yunnan. The number of military and civilian households that the imperial court can directly intervene in reaches more than [-] households."

"So many?" Zhu Jixi exclaimed in surprise, but Zhu Yunwen explained to him kindly: "When Yunnan was in Dali, there were more than three million people who could be traced. Although there were some casualties after the struggle with the Qianyuan Dynasty, there were still no Just like the country facing the north, it was washed with blood."

Yunnan has always had a large population, but very few were registered in the Ming Dynasty.

Before Zhu Gaoxu visited the Shandian Mine, there were only 30 households in the area that could be registered by the imperial court. Now, in just four years, that number has doubled.

The newly acquired population was not entirely due to Xu Huizu's encirclement and suppression of rebellious chieftains, but more to immigration.

From the 27th year of Hongwu to the 30th year of Hongwu, since Zhu Gaoxu visited the Shandian Mine, Zhu Yuanzhang moved people to Yunnan many times. In four years, 5 households were moved to Yunnan, which was more than [-] households more than in history.

It can be said that Zhu Gaoxu just unveiled the gold, silver and copper mines in various places in Yunnan, and in disguise helped Yunnan to be localized decades ahead of schedule.

Zhu Yuanzhang knew more about the situation in Yunnan than Zhu Yunwen, so he asked Xu Huizu to see how Yunnan had changed.

Now it seems that Yunnan has changed more than he expected, which is a good thing.

Before, Yunnan was just a military location used by the Ming Dynasty to protect Sichuan, but now it has become an indispensable economic province for the Ming Dynasty.

The gold, silver and copper mines transported from Yunnan were worth more than two million yuan each year, which greatly alleviated the money shortage of the Ming Dynasty and made the Ming Dynasty more and more comfortable in recycling treasure banknotes.

Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang must be careful about this incident.

Looking at Xu Huizu, Zhu Yuanzhang also slowly said: "Yunnan is an important place for the imperial court to mint money, so we must not lose anything."

"This time, after Yun Gong escorts Silunfa back, if the barbarian chieftains such as Dao Ganmeng and others are unwilling to give up their land to Silunfa, you and Muchun do not have to restrain yourself. You can recruit two Dusi from Sichuan and Guangxi and three Dusi from Guiyang. The local soldiers and horses carry out counterinsurgency."

"No matter what, Yunnan must not be in chaos."

Zhu Yuanzhang drew a bottom line for Xu Huizu and gave him the power to control the southwest again.

Hearing this, Xu Huizu immediately bowed, and Zhu Yunwen also took out the imperial edict he had written earlier, walked to him, and handed it to him with both hands.

Xu Huizu took it with both hands, and Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand: "It's rare for you to come back, so go back and spend time with your relatives."

"My lord, please retire..." Xu Huizu returned the favor and left. Zhu Yuanzhang also looked at his back, turned to Zhu Yunwen and taught:

“If you want to continue using cash to offset taxes, you have to rely on the Southwest, so you have to stabilize the Southwest.”

"Thank you grandpa for your advice. My grandson understands." Zhu Yunwen agreed, but he couldn't help but think of the relationship between Xu Huizu, Zhu Di and Zhu Gaoxu.

If Xu Huizu is also included in the Yan Mansion faction, then the Yan Mansion's strength may have surpassed the Jin Mansion.

At this moment, Zhu Yunwen recalled what Xu Huizu said that Zhu Gaoxu taught him how to govern Yunnan, and that face couldn't help but appear in his mind.

"Gao Xu..."

(End of this chapter)