Under the guidance of Yi Bin, Jiajing and Lu Fang entered the weapons department.
The scene in the Arms Department seems to have never changed. It is always so busy. You can vaguely smell the smell of burning gunpowder.
Jiajing accidentally noticed it, and the craftsmen responsible for making paper-cased bullets turned to ask.
"By the way, I heard that it has become difficult to recruit craftsmen. Is this true?"
When Yi Bin heard Jiajing's words, he stopped suddenly, turned around and began to complain.
"Your Majesty, you are right. It is becoming more and more difficult to recruit craftsmen. Even if you entrust Shuntian Mansion to post notices in the city, it will not help. In order to recruit enough craftsmen, the Arms Department has to repeatedly increase the salary!"
"Although the salary of craftsmen in the Arms Department has been increased to fifty-two cents, we still can't recruit enough craftsmen!"
When Jiajing heard this, he nodded slightly and responded.
"Well, I understand, don't worry, money is not a problem, I will find a solution in the future!"
After that, Jiajing changed the subject and asked again.
"By the way, have the paper-cased bullets and many new weapons manufactured by your weapons department been sent to Feng Yue?"
"Your Majesty, as early as ten days ago, the Ordnance Department loaded the paper-cased bullets, grenades, firecrackers and other weapons needed for this battle on the ship and transported them to Huguang Province via the Grand Canal."
Facing Jiajing's inquiry, Yi Bin did not dare to show any slightness, immediately leaned down and responded respectfully.
After hearing Yi Bin's report, Jiajing couldn't help but breathed a sigh of relief and said to himself.
"Once these weapons, baggage, food, and other supplies are all transported to Huguang Province, the imperial court will soon be able to officially take action to suppress the chieftains in the southwest and implement the reform of the land!"
After that, Jiajing came back to his senses, turned his eyes to Yi Bin, and gave instructions.
"Well, take me over to see the flintlock gun made by your weapons department!"
"As you command, Your Majesty, please come this way!"
Later, under the leadership of Yi Bin, Jiajing and Lu Fang came to a room. On the table in the room, there were neatly placed flintlock guns made by the Arms Department, including long guns and short guns.
Immediately, a craftsman stepped forward and began to explain.
"Your Majesty, these flintlock guns in front of you are all imitations of the flintlock gun you sent earlier!"
"After careful study, we found that the structure of the flintlock gun you sent over is very different from the previous flintlock guns. The flintlock gun you sent over is missing a spring. Steel wheels, therefore the structure becomes simpler, easier to manufacture, and the cost is also reduced!”
"After repeated tests by the Ordnance Department, the firing range of this type of flintlock gun is about 150 steps, which is much stronger than the matchlock gun. In addition, the degree to which this type of flintlock gun is affected by the weather is also Significantly lower than a matchlock!"
When the craftsman said this, he paused for a moment and then added.
"In other words, these flintlock guns in front of us can still fire in rainy weather!"
After listening to the craftsman's introduction, Jiajing nodded slightly and then gave instructions.
"Well, show it to me!"
"As you command, Your Majesty!"
After that, Lu Fang stepped forward, picked up a short flintlock gun from the table, and handed it to Jiajing's hands respectfully.
"His Majesty!"
"Um."
Jiajing took the flintlock gun from Lu Fang and played with it carefully. At this moment, he found that the flintlock gun in his hand was decorated with many complicated patterns on the gun body, which looked like a work of art. .
After Jiajing played with it for a while, he put it back in its place, then turned around, looked at Yi Bin aside, and gave instructions.
"Take me over to see how the experiment is going!"
"As you command, Your Majesty!"
When Yi Bin heard Jiajing's words, he immediately looked stern and responded in a deep voice.
…
When Jiajing and others came to the place specially used to test firearms, several craftsmen who had been waiting here immediately stepped forward and said respectfully.
"My lord, everything is ready and you can start testing at any time!"
"Well, let's get started!"
After listening to the reports of the craftsmen, Yi Bin nodded slightly and gave instructions.
"Yes, sir!"
After the craftsmen took the order and left, two soldiers soon came up. One of them used a matchlock gun, and the other used a flintlock gun newly manufactured by the Ordnance Department.
The two soldiers used paper-cased bullets. The two of them bit open the paper-cased bullets and poured the gunpowder into the firecrackers.
Immediately, the two of them were seen stuffing warheads made of metal into the barrel of the gun with a special small wooden stick.
After doing this, both sides raised their guns and aimed at the target in the distance almost at the same time. Then, there was only a "bang" sound, a burst of white smoke flashed by, and the soldier using the flintlock gun accurately hit the target in the distance. target.
After that, the soldier using the flintlock gun picked up the paper bullets again, followed the previous steps, started to load the bullets in an orderly manner, and then raised the gun to aim.
Then, there was another 'bang', and the soldier using the flintlock hit the target in the distance for the second time.
Just when he finished loading the ammunition and raised his gun to aim, he heard two "bang" and "bang" sounds. The soldier using the matchlock fired the matchlock gun for the first time and hit the target accurately.
Jiajing had a panoramic view of the entire process, and a look of relief appeared on his face.
He could see that the movements of the two soldiers were extremely skillful and there was no suspicion of fraud. With the help of paper bullets, the reloading speed of both matchlocks and flintlock guns was much faster than before. Big improvement.
In the same time, the matchlock fired only one shot, while the flintlock fired three times. On the battlefield, every additional shot fired can kill more enemies, regardless of firepower, range, or In terms of stability, the flintlock gun is far stronger than the matchlock gun!
"If our army of the Ming Dynasty were all equipped with flintlock rifles, and with the help of paper bullets, it would be enough to overthrow most countries!"
Jiajing thought so, and his heart was filled with joy.
Immediately, Jiajing came back to his senses and looked at Yi Bin, the chief of the weapons department, with a look of approval on his face.
"Okay, very good, your weapons department did a great job this time!"
When Yi Bin heard what Jiajing said, he immediately leaned down and said humbly.
"All of this should be attributed to Your Majesty's wise leadership. Without Your Majesty's strong support, the Arms Department would never have been able to achieve this!"
Jiajing did not comment on Yi Bin's words, but immediately changed the topic and asked.
"By the way, didn't your weapons department just open several workshops in other parts of the capital and recruit many craftsmen?"
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
When Yi Bin heard Jiajing's words, he nodded immediately and responded without thinking.
Jiajing took in the expression on Yi Bin's face, and after pondering for a moment, he followed up with instructions.
"Use those newly opened workshops to mass-produce flintlock muskets. As for the money, you don't have to worry. When we come down later, your Arms Department will send a report. I will ask the Ministry of Household Affairs to give it to you. You move money!"
"As you command, Your Majesty!"
When Yi Bin heard Jiajing's words, his face was filled with unconcealable joy, and he immediately responded in a deep voice.
After that, Jiajing did not stay in the Arms Department for too long, but took Lu Fang and left directly.
…
Night falls in the capital, Prince Yu's Mansion.
On the same day, after being dismissed, King Yu invited everyone to gather at Prince Yu's Mansion for the first time to discuss the next response.
At this moment, in the study room, everyone saw that everyone was present, and Zhu Zaijing nodded incomprehensibly, and then spoke.
"In a while, it will be time for the imperial court to hold an examination specifically for the clan and nobles. What do you think about this?"
As soon as Zhu Zaijing finished speaking, Xu Jie stood up on the side with a solemn expression and spoke admonishment.
"Your Highness, you have just made a good impression on His Majesty not long ago, but you must not act rashly!"
When Zhang Juzheng on the side heard Xu Jie's words, a strange color flashed across his face, but the strange color quickly disappeared.
Xu Jie paused for a moment, then looked directly into Zhu Zaijing's eyes and spoke seriously.
"Your Majesty wants to take this opportunity to let the clan and nobles regain the right to speak in the court. If anyone in the court dares to stand in front of His Majesty, he will definitely die in an ugly way!"
Zhu Zaijing naturally understood what Xu Jie wanted to express, so he waved his hand and followed up with an explanation.
"Mr. Xu Ge has misunderstood. I have no intention of opposing my father's decision. I just want Yan Shifan to be the examiner of this exam..."
Before Zhu Zaijing finished speaking, Gao Gong stood up and confirmed to him.
"Your Highness, you mean that we can take this opportunity to deal with Yan Shifan?"
"Well, that's right, that's what it means to be alone!"
After that, Zhu Zaijing looked around and said to himself: "Everyone in the court knows that this matter is a hot potato, so no one dares to take it!"
"Since Yan Shifan is currently the examiner of this exam, we might as well take advantage of this to cause him some trouble, and then take the opportunity to impeach him. Maybe we can oust him from the position of Minister of the Ministry of Industry!"
When Zhu Zaijing said this, he couldn't help but clenched his fists, his face full of determination.
When Zhang Juzheng on the side saw this situation, he shook his head imperceptibly. He looked away from Zhu Zaijing, looked at the ground casually, and said to himself.
"It seems that King Yu has been dazzled by the earlier "success". He thought that he would be favored by His Majesty because he performed perfectly at the banquet for the Rakshasa envoy."
"As everyone knows, it was you who personally extinguished the last possibility of becoming a prince!"
Zhang Juzheng thought this, the corners of his mouth raised slightly, and a look of ridicule appeared on his face.
While mocking King Yu, Zhang Juzheng also felt regretful about why he agreed to King Yu's invitation to come.
"The most important thing to do right now is to quickly clear up the relationship with Prince Yu!"
Zhang Juzheng was thinking this, but his eyes accidentally met Gao Gong beside him.
At this moment, although the expression on Gao Gong's face was very calm, Zhang Juzheng could still see a hint of deep concern in his eyes.
The two eyes met in mid-air for a moment, and then quickly separated.
Next, Zhu Zaijing excitedly discussed with Xu Jie what measures should be taken to deal with Yan Shifan on the day when the exam was held.
Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng on the side would interject and add a few words from time to time.
Gradually, as the night progressed, everyone saw this situation and immediately stopped discussing and said goodbye to Zhu Zaijing one after another.
After that, Xu Jie, Gao Gong, and Zhang Juzheng were seen walking out of Prince Yu's Mansion one after another. The three of them chatted some gossip at the door of Prince Yu's Mansion. Later, Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng said that leaving together was too conspicuous. Let Xu Jie go first in the sedan.
Xu Jie didn't have the slightest doubt and left in a sedan chair.
After Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng watched Xu Jie leave, Gao Gong stopped Zhang Juzheng who was about to leave and said slowly.
"Zhang Juzheng, let's talk!"
Faced with Gao Gong's sudden request, Zhang Juzheng couldn't help but be stunned for a moment. Then, as if he had thought of something, he suddenly reacted, and a look of surprise flashed across his face.
After that, Zhang Juzheng calmed down, an inexplicable smile appeared on his face, and he spoke immediately.
"Since it is the request of Mr. Gaoge, I have no reason to refuse!"
"Um."
Gao Gong heard the words and just responded in a subtle way.
Afterwards, the two of them came to a secluded and uninhabited place. The bright moonlight slightly peeked out from the clouds, clearly reflecting the shadows of Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng.
Zhang Juzheng took in the expression on Gao Gong's face, raised his eyebrows, and then asked.
"Gaoge always asked me to come here. Is it because of the previous incident?"
Gao Gong naturally understood what Zhang Juzheng was referring to. Not long ago, Zhang Juzheng once proposed in front of his teacher that King Yu should go to the fief to become a vassal, so as to stay away from the political whirlpool of the capital.
Gao Gong clearly remembered that after hesitating repeatedly, he finally rejected Zhang Juzheng's proposal.
The reason is that as King Yu’s teacher, I can’t do anything!
But what is happening now has made Gao Gong feel an inexplicable sense of crisis. He can vaguely feel that if he does not intervene, it will soon lead to a catastrophe!
Besides, he didn't want to see King Yu being used by Xu Jie anymore!
Not long after Zhang Juzheng finished speaking, Gao Gong met Zhang Juzheng's gaze, nodded resolutely, and then said in a deep voice.
"Well, I came to you this time just to discuss the previous matter with you!"
(End of chapter)
