Ping An Biography

In the evening, Zhang Ning went back to Chu Palace to have dinner and was free to do things.People want to relax mainly because of their mood, and the most relaxed mood is when you do everything according to your heart.It is also reading. It is very hard to study hard in a purposeful and planned manner during the imperial examination; but reading at this time is quite different. Read if you are interested, and leave the interest behind, and you are very free.

Zhang Xiaomei also came to the study room. She first tidied up the room and made Zhang Ning a cup of tea. After doing some chores, she sat down beside her to do her needlework.The two of them didn't say anything, they seemed very quiet, and the younger sister probably didn't want to disturb him when she saw that he was reading a book.

I don't know what she is sewing. Every once in a while, she has to bite off the thread with her teeth.Zhang Ning noticed her movement, and silently looked at the scissors beside her, but didn't use them.She straightened the thread first, then brought her mouth closer, and made a soft "snap". At this time, as long as Zhang Ning turned his head to look, he could always see her biting the needle thread, as well as the gleam of her smooth red lips. White teeth.

It wasn't long before this silent atmosphere, Zhang Xiaomei finally spoke up: "What are you looking at, why don't you read it out and let me listen to it."

Zhang Ning hesitated a little, and didn't need to answer. After a while, he recited: "The six kings are finished, the four seas are one, the mountains of Shu are towering, and Afang is out. The pressure is more than three hundred miles, and the sky and the sun are separated. Lishan is built in the north and turned west, and goes straight to Xianyang. .The two rivers melted and flowed into the palace wall. Five steps to the first floor, ten steps to a pavilion...”[

After reading it, he explained the literal meaning a little bit, and then said: "This is a fu written by Du Mu of the Tang Dynasty. It is mainly against the Great Qin Dynasty, criticizing Qin Shihuang for his arrogance|extravagance|sexuality|yield and not being benevolent. From the point of view of poems and songs, This Fu has been handed down through the ages and has reached a high level of attainment; but from the perspective of knowledge, the knowledge of the ancient literati is limited to this, and there is nothing new."

Zhang Xiaomei said: "I also heard people say that the ancient Qin Dynasty was very cruel, so it died in the second generation. Do you think it's wrong?"

"At least I have seen two far-sighted political strategies of Qin." Zhang Ning said thoughtfully, "The first is that the size of Qin's ordnance, staff and other objects is standardized, so if a carriage breaks down, it is easy to find the corresponding one. Accessories. The second is Shang Yang's legalist policy of governing the country, which is also remarkable..."

It was obviously the wrong person to tell my little sister about these things, but she didn't seem to find it boring, and then pestered Zhang Ning to tell her what Legalism was, and then naturally there were all kinds of schools of thought.Before I knew it, it was completely dark, and the time passed too fast.

...But the story about the Qin State gave him inspiration, as if it made him realize something that could be used practically.

Shang Yang's reforms, encouraging farming and warfare, so that civilians can be awarded titles through food production and military exploits, actually formulated a set of "upgrade" system, well versed in human nature; but this caused fundamental contradictions with the nobles of various countries, including Qin, and the hostile class The strength is too great.

People need a way to be promoted so that they can have a head start. This will not only help many people to work together to do a big thing better; stability of domination.The way of the Qin Dynasty is to pay food and military exploits. The current Ming Dynasty is an imperial examination, which is actually a kind of upgrading system.By formulating a rule, everyone can see their own upward process after making contributions and investing time and energy; and there is a very attractive destination at the top, just like the carrot in front of the donkey ... With perfect rules, everyone does not need to be opportunistic and monopolize through the world; such rules will make a department machine work well.

Zhang Ning used to be a very rule-abiding person, but there was another rebellious idea hidden deep in his heart, that is, he wanted to make his own rules.And he felt that this idea could be tried in the weapon bureau in front of him.

He wanted to experiment with making a flintlock gun, but Nai himself couldn't do anything about it. The original plan was to offer a reward among officials and craftsmen. Under the so-called reward, there must be a brave man; No doubt, is it really useful?

A "product" needs to be mature enough to be put into practical use. It actually contains many technologies, and a flintlock is actually a project.I don't deny that there are geniuses in the world, but it is obviously very unlikely that one person can create many links of technology by offering rewards... Instead of this, it is better to let many people participate in it, and everyone contributes a little bit Add up drop by drop to complete the project.The problem lies in how a superior person can "squeeze" the potential of so many people and let them cooperate well.

Zhang Ning felt that doing such a thing was his job, and it was a job that a person should do after having power.

Then you can try a "promotion rule" that is directly linked to credit rating and contribution.Formulate specific standards for ratings, classify the level of profit distribution and the rules for promotion; now we are preparing for six departments, if a craftsman can use his talent and hard work to enter the Ministry of Industry as an official... this kind of thing will greatly improve people enthusiasm.After all, in this era, people at the bottom have no hope for life except to study the imperial examination, and in the system without compulsory education, some people cannot study at birth; it is not so easy to become an official and climb up.

Zhang Ning thought of a way, and immediately felt like forgetting to eat and sleep.He didn't sleep, and stayed in the study all night to plan. The general direction has already been thought of, and the key is how to formulate reasonable rules.Who will judge the merits?How to prevent those in power from using the public for personal gain and taking care of the private, and how to check and balance?

The flintlock is something that is 200 years ahead of the world, but he believes that it can be made.

It's as if self-artillery was created by human beings. Whether it was the Yuan army or the later Ming army, they could only use large-caliber short-barreled mortars, small-mouthed guns, bowl-mouthed guns, generals... the extremely long-barreled field guns. Firearms with high muzzle velocity are almost impossible; why is the bore of the long-barreled gun too high and the casting technology limited, and the bore will explode if the tube wall is slightly rough or has sand holes.But in the end, it was not Zhang Ning and a group of craftsmen who fiddled with it.Copper-core iron-clad gun body, hollow water-cooled... The solution is always figured out by people.Difficulties in the world are only for those with a heart.

Moreover, Huguang is extremely short of copper, and even the whole of China is short of copper. Zhang Ning's conditions are not good.For this reason, the current Huguang economy has been affected by the Weapons Bureau. There is an urgent shortage of copper coins in the market, and the copper materials are used to make guns.The local gold and silver reserves are not enough, and now the Suzaku Army’s Senate can’t pay the military salary. Let civil and military officials and soldiers take tickets to the storefront of the treasury to exchange for needed materials, such as grain, silk, handicrafts, various animal skin raw materials, etc., which is equivalent to paying in kind.Huguang's economy has regressed to the point of bartering.

……

In the morning of the next day, he came to the government office and wanted to ask civil servants to help him improve his idea; to formulate the detailed rules for the personnel inspection of the Arms Bureau, there is no need to keep it secret within the Senate, and he can ask someone for help.But after thinking about it for a long time, he couldn't find anyone who could conspire with him. If Zhu Heng was in Wuchang, he should be able to consult with him.But Zhu Heng is currently in the Yongding camp somewhere between Wuchang and Jiujiang, and has not returned.

I had to figure it out by myself, then this matter would take some time, and there was no rush. [

At this time, General Chen Gaijin mentioned something in the official office: "Today, the fourth and fifth armies of the Yongding Battalion are going to conduct a drill at the school ground in the north of the city. The recruits have trained for more than two months and it has been quite effective. Will the prince go to watch?"

After thinking about it for a while, Zhang Ning decided to follow Chen Gai and other generals to see the situation.Now the security of Wuchang City mainly depends on the part of Changde Camp in the west after crossing Dongting Lake in the east, and the main camp of Yongding Camp in the southeast; when Wuchang City is threatened, the troops on both sides will reinforce in the middle.But the city defense still can only rely on the Fourth and Fifth Armies in Wuchang City, the two newly built troops have never been on the battlefield.So Zhang Ning had to pay attention to their situation.

From the end of the second year of Xuande to the beginning of this year, the three battalions of the army and the first battalion of the navy under the Suzaku Army have undergone a series of expansions, but the scale is limited, because they can't effectively mobilize the young and middle-aged men everywhere.The Fourth and Fifth Armies of Yongding Camp stationed in Wuchang City are the product of this military expansion. Except for the officers who are all novices, most of them are refugees and urban bankrupts.

The Wuchang City School is to the north, not far from the government office.The west of the city is near the river, and there are several wharfs with no place to build schools; the population in the south and east suburbs is too dense, and the population attached to the big cities and important towns gathers here, estimated to be in the hundreds of thousands.Only a school field was built in the north of the city, and the Vermilion Bird Army gathered for large-scale training here.

A group of generals surrounded Zhang Ning and rode to the North Campus. Thousands of people were lined up on both sides, with bright banners and armor, and the formations looked like they had been in rows for two months.

Zhang Ning asked Chen Gai and others whether the soldiers had learned to use matchlock guns, and the general replied, "It takes a month to be proficient."He thought to himself: When the flintlock enters the stage of mass production, the time to mobilize and organize the army will be faster.

And advances in weapons will further narrow the gap between elite veterans and newcomers.A group of farmers can be put on the battlefield after a short period of training. A recruit and a person who is proficient in archery, horseback riding and archery can shoot the same firearm with the same killing effect.But like those elite soldiers in the imperial court and Beijing camp, they can't reach that level of toughness without ten or eight years of tempering. As long as they lose, they can't be recruited from the people to supplement them with equivalent soldiers.

Zhang Ning started from scratch, and he didn't have elite retainers who had been in the field for a long time. The firearms army was his only choice.

A general next to him was reporting the training content of the day: "The whole army does not issue lead, only gunpowder; line up to [-] steps, let them face each other and fire a volley to practice courage. After the gunshots, some fled. Just use a whip until he understands the rules... In the afternoon, let's fire the cannons and the queue, let them know when the cannons will be fired and when they should move forward..."