Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

While Zhu Youjian, Lu Xiang, Bo Jue and others were researching the next generation of muskets, some people in the army also put forward suggestions for improving the muskets.

Gu Yanwu, who was blind in his right eye, stayed in the army after being encouraged by the emperor, and spent a lot of energy on the training and use of firearms.

Although his physical condition was limited, Gu Yanwu had a strong will. With his hard training, aiming and shooting with a musket were no longer difficult for him. He could rely on his intact left eye and sense to hit the enemy like other soldiers.

After the victory in the Battle of Beihai Island, Gu Yanwu was greatly encouraged and trained even harder on his way to Heilongjiang to provide support.

But at this time, his blind right eye caused him great inconvenience.

Because with today's firearms, it's not enough to just aim and shoot; what's even more troublesome is the series of loading steps before shooting.

Taking the heavy matchlock gun he used as an example, according to the military manual, he needed to place the musket flat, open the powder pool, take out the powder bottle, open the powder bottle, pour out the gunpowder, and close the powder pool; stand the musket upright, pour out the powder, close the powder bottle, and put the powder bottle back; take out the bullet, load the bullet, take out the cleaning rod, push the bullet into the chamber, pull out the cleaning rod, put the cleaning rod back, and hold the gun against his shoulder.

There are a total of seventeen steps to complete the loading.

Every step must be correct. If there is any mistake, the subsequent rhythm will be disrupted.

Loading gunpowder and bullets was not a problem for Gu Yanwu. Even though he only had one eye, he could still see the muzzle of the gun which was 20 millimeters wide.

But pouring the primer was a hassle for him. If he couldn't pour the primer accurately into the powder pool, he might fail when he used the fuse to ignite it later.

What made him even more crazy was that the residue of black powder would clog the ignition hole. If it was not cleaned properly, ignition would still fail.

This was too difficult for him as he could only see with his left eye.

In the end, what made him feel extremely miserable was that the revolver musket given to him by the emperor also required pouring gunpowder to prime it.

The revolver gun uses a bullet that is integrated with the ammunition, which can save the steps of loading propellant and projectiles when firing. However, each ignition still requires the pouring of priming powder. Otherwise, the spring wheel lighter will not be able to ignite the bullet.

Because of the high firing rate of the revolver, it gave Gu Yanwu the feeling that it was constantly pouring out gunpowder.

This feeling became even stronger after he switched to a second-generation revolver that no longer required winding the spring wheel.

Gu Yanwu now really hated the gunpowder.

On the way to Heilongjiang by boat, he started to compete with the skill of pouring gunpowder, and kept training on this and solving this problem.

But after several days of training, he failed. The humid weather at sea made his ignition success rate even lower. The gunpowder did not burn completely, leaving more gunpowder residue.

Now, he no longer thought about solving it through training, but was thinking about whether he could omit this step like the second-generation revolver musket:
"If you pour the gunpowder into the muzzle, the gunpowder can flow into the powder pool through the ignition hole."

"This way, you don't have to pour the primer, and you don't have to open the powder pool to prevent the primer from getting wet."

"The musket will fire faster and have a higher ignition success rate!"

With this idea in mind, Gu Yanwu called together the soldiers to brainstorm and discuss how to skip this step.

He had a good reputation among the soldiers, and many of them were willing to be close to him, and these people proposed various solutions.

Some say that the gunpowder should be rolled into small balls to make it easier for it to roll through the ignition hole into the powder pool.

Some say that the ignition hole should be made larger to make it easier for gunpowder to flow out.

Others say that you can make the ignition hole into a funnel shape that is larger inside and smaller outside, and then poke it with a cleaning rod, and the gunpowder will naturally flow out.

Gu Yanwu wrote them down one by one and applied for a few muskets for experimentation.

With the help of the military ordnance officer, he first used a mesh to sift out the rounder and finer particles of the granular gunpowder used in the army. Then he drilled a large ignition hole next to the gunpowder pool, poured the gunpowder in, and used a cleaning rod to push the bullet into the chamber to squeeze the gunpowder. Sure enough, gunpowder flowed out of the ignition hole.

This made him very excited, as he thought that this automatically flowing out primer could save him the trouble of pouring the primer deliberately.

But when he tried to ignite the gun, he discovered another problem: because the ignition hole was too large, the gas leakage would be more serious when firing, causing the power of the musket to decrease.

So he had to give up the method of simply enlarging the ignition hole and try the funnel shape mentioned by some soldiers.

After carefully opening a small conical ignition hole, Gu Yanwu found that the ignition powder could still flow out and the leakage was not much more serious.

This made him shout out in excitement, knowing that his experiment was successful:

"Fuck the primer!"

"It will flow out automatically in the future, so you don't have to pour it out."

He couldn't help but swear, and one can imagine how excited Gu Yanwu was.

He was so tormented by the problem of pouring out the primer that during training a few days ago, he was thinking about the primer even in his dreams.

Now the propellant can flow out of the barrel automatically, so there is no need to pour it specifically.

He felt that he had finally gotten rid of this torment and no longer had to worry about it.

He was so happy that he immediately ordered the armorer to replace the musket he was using with a self-priming gun.

The armorer said with some difficulty:
"It's no problem to modify one or two for you, sir, but for more muskets, we need approval from above."

"And if the drill manual is not changed, there will be a step to pour the primer, and we will have to pour the primer when the time comes."

Gu Yanwu then felt the trouble and said after thinking:
"I will go and discuss this with General Sun and ask him to order the changes."

He hurried to find Sun Yingyuan and discuss the matter with him.

Sun Yingyuan attached great importance to Gu Yanwu's proposal.

He was a lieutenant general of the Beijing Camp, and was transferred to the Imperial Camp. Because the emperor ordered Zhou Yuji, Huang Degong, and Ji Jike to take charge of the three camps of the Imperial Camp, he could not find a chance for promotion in the Imperial Camp. So he took the initiative to request to go to the battlefield, and was sent by the emperor to the patrol camp to lead this brigade.

Gu Yanwu was promoted to acting instructor because of the emperor's favor. And after the Battle of Beihai Island, the word "acting" was removed.

It can be said that in this new army, he and Gu Yanwu held the highest positions, but their division of labor was different, and he focused more on commanding combat.

Below them was Zhang Yongan, who was in charge of training. The squadron he led performed well in the Battle of Beihai Island, and he was now promoted to brigade staff officer.

After hearing Gu Yanwu's proposal, Sun Yingyuan sent someone to call Zhang Yongan to discuss it together. At the same time, he took Gu Yanwu's musket and fired a few rounds, and found that it could indeed save the need for pouring gunpowder.

For the 17 loading steps, this can at least save three steps: opening the powder pool, pouring the priming powder, and closing the powder pool. This can be said to be a huge improvement.

Sun Yingyuan, who knew how much the emperor valued improving weapons, immediately realized that Gu Yanwu's improvement had made a great contribution.

Zhang Yongan, the brigade staff officer who came hurriedly, rejected Gu Yanwu's proposal immediately and said to the two:

"We are heading to Heilongjiang for battle soon, so the drill manual should not be changed."

"Besides, using self-priming powder requires changing the muskets and selecting the gunpowder, which will reduce the muskets and gunpowder available to the army."

"Now we can only fight with the weapons we carry. We can't discard them at will."

Sun Yingyuan nodded slightly, agreeing with this statement. He was more worried that some soldiers would not adapt well and would cause chaos on the battlefield.

So the two of them together rejected Gu Yanwu's proposal.

However, Sun Yingyuan also proposed that Gu Yanwu modify a few more muskets and write down the modification methods, and then send them back to the court by ship after arriving in Jiangling Principality.

In order to attract the emperor's attention, he even asked Jiangling Dukedom to send a brief message back by carrier pigeon, directly to the Jinyiwei in the capital.

The current emperor will certainly be very happy with this improvement and apply it to the next generation of muskets.
-
Zhu Youjian did attach great importance to self-flowing medicine. After receiving the brief report written by Gu Yanwu, he immediately realized the importance of this improvement.

With the gravity-priming system, he planned the second-generation flintlock musket, and the loading steps were only to erect the musket, take out the ammunition, bite open the ammunition, deflect the propellant, load the ammunition, take out the cleaning rod, push the bullet into the chamber, pull out the cleaning rod, replace the cleaning rod, and hold the musket to the shoulder for ten steps.

Moreover, the flintlock gun does not require the fuse to be lit; it can be prepared, aimed, and fired directly.

Even if we add the two steps of resetting and launching, the total steps are only fifteen.

Compared with the more than 20 loading and firing steps of the previous matchlock gun, it can be said to be greatly simplified.

So he immediately ordered the Equipment Institute to modify the matchlock gun according to Gu Yanwu's instructions.

The Equipment Research Institute has stronger R&D capabilities. Not only did they dig out a conical ignition hole, they even improved the powder pool and the tail of the gun barrel to allow the gunpowder to flow more smoothly.

The black powder used was high-quality granular gunpowder that has been continuously improved, so the results achieved in the experiment were naturally more successful.

After shooting drills, the Equipment Academy believed that if the flintlock musket was successfully developed, it would be able to achieve a firing rate of at least four rounds per minute under unified command and volley fire.

If the reset firing is omitted in the future, it may be possible to reach five rounds per minute.

When used alone, a well-trained elite shooter can even fire at a maximum rate of seven rounds per minute.

Compared to the archer's twelve shots per minute, it is more than half.

This means that two shooters using self-priming flintlock muskets can completely suppress archers in terms of power, range, rate of fire, accuracy, etc.

The complete suppression of bows and arrows by muskets is about to come.

After receiving this conclusion, Zhu Youjian couldn't help but laugh wildly towards the sky, because he finally saw the possibility of pacifying the Jianlu.

After the bows and arrows, which the Jianlu were best at, were suppressed, what other methods could they use to break the deadlock?
The Ming Dynasty would need at most a hundred thousand troops to deal with one Jianlu with two soldiers. As long as he trained 200,000 fire-gun soldiers, pacifying Liaodong would be a piece of cake.

Even if the general leading the troops can only fight stupid battles, he can still defeat the enemy with his strength.

This made Zhu Youjian very happy, and he immediately ordered:
"Gu Yanwu improved the firearm and was awarded a hereditary knighthood and a fief of 20 li."

"Soldiers who participated in the improvement will be collectively awarded one year of merit, and those who made effective suggestions will be promoted to hereditary knights, and will be granted one to three li of land certificates in Liaodong."

"Let Gu Yanwu report their achievements and give them rewards as soon as possible."

He also thought of Sun Yingyuan who reported the matter back, and gave him and Zhang Yongan each a credit, and would reward them together in the future.

Then Zhu Youjian said to Lü Xiang and Bo Jue, who were in charge of the design of the second-generation firearms:

"You two have worked hard. When the second generation of fire guns is finalized, I will reward you for your contributions."

"Remember the list of meritorious personnel. I will send someone to supervise."

Encourage them to work hard and finalize the musket as soon as possible.

Seeing that the emperor had conferred hereditary nobility on Gu Yanwu, Lu Xiang and Bo Jue thought that they would certainly be promoted to higher titles after they successfully developed the musket.

He made up his mind that even if he had to go without food or water, he would complete the second-generation musket as soon as possible.

After Zhu Youjian sent the two away, he summoned Tu Wenfu and Wang Chengen and asked:
"How much silver can the inner court spare now, and how many muskets can be manufactured?"

The two were confused for a moment, and Tu Wenfu carefully responded to the emperor:
"After the inner court personnel were separated, the palace's expenses were reduced a lot."

"But most of the prisons' industries can only support these people, and there is not much profit."

"The only person who can make money now is the Imperial Household Supervisor."

Wang Chengen, the seal-holder of the Imperial Household Department, said:
"The Shuntian Bank, the Royal Commercial Bank, the Royal Auction House, and the Jingbao Group of the Imperial Household Department are all making money, adding up to hundreds of thousands."

"All of this is used for the palace's daily expenses, so there is not much left."

"The largest sum of money in the Imperial Household Department is still the two million left over from last year."

Zhu Youjian knew that this money was originally donated by eunuchs such as Wang Chengen during the raid on the Wuqing Marquis' Mansion. It had been kept in the bottom of the box since the year before last, and it was still the same money now.

This made Zhu Youjian frown, feeling that saving money was too difficult. He was spending money everywhere and couldn't save it at all.

He asked Wang Chengen:

"The Arms Bureau is also manufacturing weapons. How much does a musket cost?"

Wang Chengen paid attention to this and replied:

"The cost of a light musket is four taels, and a heavy musket is slightly more expensive, at more than four taels."

"Now the cost has started to drop and is lower than before."

Based on this, Zhu Youjian made an estimate and felt that if flintlock muskets were mass-produced, the cost would be more than four taels of silver. According to the estimate of five taels of silver, two hundred thousand muskets would require one million taels of silver.

If we take into account the losses caused by training and fighting, we would have to stockpile at least 300,000 muskets, which would amount to 1.5 million taels.

He would need to take out most of the silver in the inner court to produce so many.

This gave him a headache, and he wondered if he should let the households take some of the responsibility:

"But the Ministry of Revenue doesn't have any money either!"

"I have increased so many taxes, and the Ministry of Revenue can only barely maintain the expenses of the Nine Borders. The rest is used to increase the salaries of officials in the capital so that they can support the property tax."

"If this money is used to build firearms, officials will probably destroy them first!"

Thinking about the evil deeds of Ming officials, Zhu Youjian felt that he had to make the musket himself.

Only when the officials in the court see the power of the musket will they rush to make it and seize it from the royal family.

So Zhu Youjian asked Wang Chengen and Tu Wenfu:

"Is there any way to squeeze out one million as funding for manufacturing muskets?"

Wang Chengen was in a dilemma because most of the expenses managed by the Imperial Household Department had fixed purposes.

After thinking about it, he responded to the emperor:

"In the past, the palace's expenses were mostly financed by gold and silver. Your Majesty used this money for immigration and disaster relief."

"Now the palace has saved money, but it all depends on the Imperial Household Department."

"If Shuntian Bank hadn't made a lot of money from issuing silver dollars in the first half of the year, we might have used the remaining two million."

"The various properties of the Imperial Household Department are currently unable to make any money."

"If Your Majesty is in urgent need of this million, I think you can ask the Ministry of Revenue to return it."

"When the inner and outer treasuries were separated last year, the Ministry of Revenue has not yet transferred the money that was agreed to be transferred to the inner treasury!"

Zhu Youjian frowned and said:
"Not given?"

"Why didn't you give it to me?"

"Didn't the people from the Imperial Household Department collect the money together with the Ministry of Revenue?"

"The Ministry of Revenue has secretly withheld this money?"

Wang Chengen hurriedly explained:
"The Ministry of Revenue collects taxes in summer and autumn. I sent someone to see it when the summer taxes were collected."

"This year, I have sent people to monitor the taxation of the imperial farms, noble farms, manor farms, public farms, and military farms."

"But the Ministry of Revenue has been calculating the collected taxes, and the newly appointed Minister of Agriculture has not said anything about it."

"I think your majesty can issue an order to have the Ministry of Revenue disburse the money."

Zhu Youjian became even angrier and asked Wang Chengen:

"Where will this collected money be placed? Will it be completely handed over to the Ministry of Revenue?"

"How can you be the head of the Imperial Household Department without even understanding this?"

"Don't you know to ask the Ministry of Revenue to deposit the collected silver in Shuntian Bank?"

It’s Wang Chengen’s fault for not doing a good job and giving the initiative to the Ministry of Revenue.

Wang Chengen had no choice but to kneel down and plead guilty. He actually did this according to Cao Huachun's instructions, thinking that the emperor was trying to make friends with the ministers, so he gave the Ministry of Revenue more power.

Who would have thought that those people in the Ministry of Revenue would be so arrogant and still delay the summer tax collection, which made the emperor furious and blamed him for not doing a good job.

Tu Wenfu was standing by at this time, and he said secretly:
"Gao Zhangyin is in charge of supervising the two departments of household and labor. I think we can summon him to ask him questions."

When Zhu Youjian heard this, he remembered that he had previously given Gao Shiming the position of supervising the Second Household Industry Department.

He immediately ordered someone to call him over and asked:
"Are the accounts of the Ministry of Revenue clear now?"

"Is there any major problem with the imperial court's finances?"

Gao Shiming was quite responsible for this and replied:

"Minister Bi is a diligent person and is conscientious in the affairs of the Ministry of Revenue. Now the accounts of the Ministry of Revenue are relatively clear."

"It's just that the local officials like to delay payments, and there are some things he can't do anything about."

"The reason why the summer tax that should have been allocated to the inner treasury this year has not been allocated is because some local officials owed taxes to both the inner and outer treasuries."

"Minister Bi has been urging them to pay the tax before the autumn tax season."

"I think we should let the Ministry of Personnel conduct the assessment and thoroughly implement the performance evaluation system."

When Bi Ziyan took office, he proposed to link tax payment with performance appraisal, and Zhu Youjian also gave the Ministry of Revenue the power to formulate performance appraisal system.

It was thanks to this that Bi Ziyan was able to collect a lot of arrears last year and resolve the wage arrears in the nine border areas.

However, those local officials did not learn their lesson. When Bi Ziyan relaxed his rules a little this year, they started to default again.

Gao Shiming therefore proposed that the Ministry of Personnel should continue to implement the performance evaluation system and veto any officials who defaulted on tax payments.

Zhu Youjian agreed to this proposal and asked Gao Shiming to discuss the matter with Bi Ziyan and Yang Jingchen and explain it to Han Yu.

Let Han Yu, the Prime Minister, solve the financial difficulties. (End of this chapter)