Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 1001
When the Ming army entered the north and marched on the plains, they might encounter the cavalry of the Qing army at any time. The infantry needed certain means of self-protection. Having enough artillery and artillery vehicles would undoubtedly provide a certain degree of security for the infantry.

"Can this cannon open flower shells?" Wang Yan asked suddenly after hearing Bo Yingli's words.

If the flower bombs can be opened, coupled with the continuous firepower of self-generated firecrackers, and the army is placed in the wilderness, I am afraid that even the cavalry would not dare to charge the front of the Ming army.

"Your Highness's cannon is not very suitable for using explosive ammunition." Bi Maoliang said, "The explosion time of the current explosive ammunition is difficult to control. It either explodes in advance or delays the explosion. There are even cases of misfiring, and the performance is not stable yet."

As he spoke, he took out a cannonball the size of a baby's head from the wooden box in the corner and handed it to Wang Yan.

This cannonball is a hollow iron sheet filled with gunpowder and small projectiles, and then a lead wire is inserted into the iron projectile. The length of the lead wire is determined by the soldiers according to the range of the shot. It is equivalent to a time bomb fired. , It is better to throw insurance with a trebuchet.

Wang Yan looked at it for a while, but naturally couldn't see the door and said: "As early as in Guangjing, Gu asked Song Yingxing to improve this thing. Why has it been several years, and there is still no progress?"

"Reporting to Your Highness, there is still some progress." Bi Maoliang brought the iron bullet over, then pointed to the fuse, and said, "When the cannon was fired before, the fuse was easy to ignite and cause an explosion on the spot. Now we will insert a bullet into the bullet hole." Hollow wooden tubes, inserting slower-burning matches in the wooden tubes, extending and shortening the length of burning matches by rotating the wooden plug, thereby controlling the time of explosion, have changed some stability, but want to use it on a large scale, especially this small Cannon, there are still many problems."

Wang Yan was silent for a while, then nodded and said: "Just make some progress, don't stop improving the flower bomb, this thing is indeed a sharp weapon!"

There were explosive bombs in the troops of the Ming Dynasty, and Wang Yan had used them before. If you were lucky, it was indeed a sharp weapon, but if you were unlucky, the explosion rate was not high, and the safety was not high, which was a trouble for the army.

Bi Maoliang cupped his hands and said: "Your Highness, don't worry, the Ministry of Engineering Academy will focus on solving this problem."

At this time, Wang Yan touched the six-pound bronze cannon again, "How far can this one hit?"

"Your Highness, according to Daming's statement, the effective range of this gun is about one mile!" Bo Yingli replied.

Bronze cannons are much lighter than iron cannons, but China has always been short of copper. Now that the economy is developing, a large amount of copper coins are needed to circulate in the market. If you want to cast copper cannons on a large scale, it will inevitably make money panic in the market and limit economic development.

Wang Yan was silent for a while, but he still decided to build, "The school will build a few of these bronze cannons first, and experiment to see if there is any room for improvement. The imperial court will definitely manufacture them in large quantities."

Just as he was talking, Lu Shikui walked in and came to Wang Yan's side. He clasped his fists with joy and reported, "Your Highness, you have received the good news from Governor He. The elders please go to the cabinet as soon as possible!"

"Did the capture of Luzhou destroy Sun Kewang?" Wang Yan was delighted when he heard this.

Lu Shikui didn't know the details, so Wang Yan talked with Bi Maoliang and Bo Yingli, then left the School of Engineering, got on his horse, and returned to the city.

As soon as Wang Yan entered the cabinet, he saw several senior scholars surrounded by a military newspaper with excited faces, watching with joy.

"What? Was the Southwest battle well fought? Did you capture Sun Kewang?" Wang Yan walked into the hall and said as he walked.

"Your Highness!" Several people heard the voice, and when they saw Wang Yan coming in, they all fell silent and bowed to greet each other.

Chen Bangyan was also among them. He had just returned to Nanjing in early September, and Wang Yan's prestige in the Wuzhong army and the Chu army was still there, so he was relatively successful in lobbying the generals to accept the imperial court's military reform.

This is mainly due to the fact that Wang Yan has always controlled the financial power and human rights of the Five Loyalty Army. The payment of military salaries does not go through the leading generals, nor does the personnel transfer and replenishment of soldiers go through the leading generals. It is completely done through the Ministry of War. Therefore, accepting reforms is in their interest. The damage was not great, but the armies of Zheng Chenggong, Jin Shenghuan, and King Lu's factions were different. The generals held financial power and could recruit troops by themselves, basically a warlord.

Wang Yan walked straight to the middle hall seat, and Chen Bangyan said: "Your Highness, this battle in the Southwest was indeed well fought."

The attendant poured Wang Yan a bowl of water, he drank it straight away, wiped his mouth with his sleeve, and motioned first, "You guys too!" Said: "How beautiful, tell me!"

"Your Highness, although Sun Kewang was not captured in this battle, Yunnan and southern Sichuan were basically pacified and the original goal was achieved." Chen Bangyan said with a smile: "In addition to pacifying Sun Kewang, the generals in the Southwest also Hauge was severely injured, and one hundred thousand enemies were killed!"

Wang Yan was about to take another sip of water, and almost spit it out.Killing one hundred thousand enemies, isn't the Kingdom of Jin about to be wiped out by them?

Seeing Wang Yan choking, Chen Bangyan felt that the military newspaper was too exaggerated, so he hurriedly said: "Your Highness, this over-reporting of military exploits is a bad habit for many years, and it cannot be eradicated at once. What Governor He said is an exaggeration Some, but looking at the battle report, I and a few elders thought that killing and injuring the Jin army should be no less than 3 people, which is a shame for Chuandong."

"Hmph, is this just an exaggeration? That's how bad the officialdom and officials are!" Wang Yan snorted coldly, but he didn't continue to get angry. After all, the heavy blow to Hauge gave him a bad breath, "What's the situation in Sichuan now? Sample?"

"Sun Kewang has defected to the Kingdom of Jin. Hauge and Wu Sangui are now retreating to Chengdu. Governor He is going to attack Chengdu and take advantage of the situation to recover the whole of Shu!" Chen Bangyan cupped his hands and said, "The southwest side hopes that the imperial court can order Huguang side to cooperate with them in attacking Hanzhong. Complete the imperial court's strategy of breaking through to the west and obtaining the horse herding land."

It's really a pity that Sun Kewang took refuge in the Kingdom of Jin, but since He Tengjiao decided to recover Quanchuan, it shows that he has indeed severely injured Hauge.

Wang Yan thought for a while, and then said: "Since Wu Sangui and Hauge withdrew to Chengdu, Wang Yuncheng's troops stationed in Jingzhou can be freed. In addition, Hao Yaoqi, who was stationed in Shangyong area of ​​Xiangyang, can be withdrawn together. 4 horses should be no problem."

Speaking of this, Wang Yan paused for a moment and asked, "Is the budget of the Ministry of War enough for this year? Can we fight another war?"

"Your Highness, the Ministry of War has too many things to do this year, and the money has already been spent!"

Wang Yan immediately looked at Wang Fuzhi, "Is there any money in the household account?"

"There are still more than 300 million taels in stock. If you insist on fighting, you can only barely support it!" Wang Fuzhi said.

Wang Yan was silent for a while, "Since the Southwest has severely injured Hauge, we must seize this opportunity. We really don't have enough money, so we borrow it from the Wude Hao!"

"Your Highness, the budget of the Ministry of War this year has exceeded 500 million taels, and now we have to borrow it again. I'm afraid the meeting hall will not approve it!" Su Guansheng said.

Wang Yan pondered for a while, and said firmly: "I will explain it myself, such a good opportunity, I can't let it go."

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(End of this chapter)