While the civilian officials of the Donglin Party were planning to threaten Tianqi Emperor Zhu Youxiao by resigning from office, Xu Guangqi and a group of non-Donglin officials were testing the performance of the Turtle Dove gun in the testing hall.
The test hall is the Ming Dynasty's official weapon inspection base for testing firearms. It was established during the Jiajing Dynasty.
boom!
Luo Shangzhi, a former deputy commander of the Shenji Battalion, pulled the trigger and shot out a lead weighing one or two pounds.
After the white smoke dissipated, a large hole opened in the wooden board a hundred steps away.
Luo Shangzhi was quite excited when he saw this: "This gun is very good!"
Xu Guangqi also laughed: "Sure enough, it is much more powerful than a bird cannon. Most bird cannons will fail after a hundred steps!
Next, Xu Guangqi also tried firing once, but his strength was limited, and because the recoil of the Turtle Dove gun was too great, he had to put the fork on the gun bed to shoot.
boom!
After another shot passed, the iron plate seventy steps away was immediately shot through by the turtle dove gun in Xu Guangqi's hand.
"Without this gun, it is not enough to kill the enemy and win!"
Xu Guangqi spoke excitedly.
"Your Majesty is here!"
At this time, Wei Zhongxian's voice reached the testing hall, and Xu Guangqi, Luo Shangzhi and others rushed over to greet him: "I respectfully welcome your Majesty!"
Zhu Youxiao smiled and said: "I heard the gunfire from a long way away. How about it? Is this turtle dove gun of practical value?"
"Your Majesty, I believe that this blunderbuss should be promoted quickly. This blunderbuss will be a weapon for defeating prisoners! It's just a little heavy and difficult for non-strong men to hold. Otherwise, it can only be equipped with a fork pole!"
Xu Guangqi started talking.
Zhu Youxiao nodded and looked at Luo Shangzhi: "Luo Aiqing is a veteran of the Qi family army and has rich practical experience in the application of firearms in the army. In Aiqing's opinion, how should this gun be used in the army?"
Luo Shangzhi thought for a while and then said: "Reporting to your Majesty, in my opinion, two of these guns can be used in each firearms team! They are used to break heavy armor during defense and blocking. In addition, it is best to select a group of strong ones. Or, form a separate team and equip all of them with these muskets. As the fist of a battalion, when encountering a large group of enemy shield vehicles coming to fight, you can focus on using these muskets to blast them!"
Therefore, Zhu Youxiao immediately replied: "That's right! You can immediately design the regulations for the formation and preparation of the firearms team for me! There is no need to consider the cost of money!"
"I obey the decree!"
Luo Shangzhi replied excitedly. What he loved most in his life was organizing firearms troops and studying how to maximize the power of various firearms through formation. Even after the victory over the Japanese iron cannon in the Battle of Pyongyang, He had always wanted to use his many years of actual combat experience to improve the original Yuanyang Formation of Qi Jiajun, but unfortunately he never had the chance. Now that the newly enthroned emperor asked him to take charge of this matter, it simply scratched his itch, not to mention Qi Jiguang now After being posthumously awarded the title of Marquis, he was naturally looking forward to making great achievements following his old boss, so he couldn't wait to go back and pick up a pen to write. He thought to himself: "Damn it, I have never been as eager as I am today. Write a memorial! I won’t sleep tonight! I’m sure I won’t be able to sleep anyway!”
"Your Majesty, as General Luo said, this blunderbuss can be used as a fist by those with strong strength, but most firearms hands are better equipped with other fire blunderbuss. I think that the machine gun should be used, which is what Zhao Shizhen said. , this blunderbuss is improved on the basis of the Sanchang blunderbuss and the Lumi blunderbuss, it is easier to operate, and it can prevent rain and wind because of the rainproof canopy.”
Xu Guangqi also started talking at this time.
Zhu Youxiao also knew that the combined machine gun was one of the best firearms that could be produced in this era, so he agreed with Xu Guangqi's suggestion.
"Instruct the cabinet to merge the Ordnance Manufacturing Bureau of the Yuheng Department of the Ministry of Industry and the Military War Bureau of the Inner Court into the General Bureau of Ordnance Manufacturing. A minister of the Ministry of Industry will be appointed to manage the General Bureau. The General Bureau will be responsible for hiring craftsmen to manufacture machine guns!"
Zhu Youxiao gave instructions to Wei Zhongxian, and then said to Xu Guangqi: "After you and General Luo and others have agreed on the required number of machine guns for the new Guards, you will apply to me to order machine guns from the General Administration of Ordnance Manufacturing. .”
"As for the Minister of Industry who manages the Ordnance Manufacturing General Administration, Bi Maokang will take over. I heard that this person is good at handling firearms, so I asked him to take office immediately."
"In addition, the cabinet was informed of a decree to encourage craftsmen all over the world to make more sharp weapons and use them as soldiers. Therefore, the craftsmen's status was abolished and the ban of banjiang silver was permanently abolished. Banjiang's silver after the first year of Tianqi will no longer be collected."
"The purpose is to set up a Patent Department in the Ministry of Industry. From now on, people all over the world, regardless of high or low, can apply for patent protection from the Imperial Patent Department when acquiring new technologies. Anyone who uses this new technology, whether government-owned or private, must pay the patent fee. fee!"
"Another edict was drawn up to establish two yamen: the Daming Academy of Engineering and the Daming Academy of Sciences. The main official was designated as Zhengqing, the third rank. The Daming Academy of Engineering selected the most outstanding craftsmen in the world as academicians, ranking them as the fifth rank. The Academy of Sciences of the Ming Dynasty selected the most outstanding craftsmen in the world as academicians. Scholars who are beneficial to the people are academicians, and they are also classified as the fifth grade, but their treatment is the same as the second grade treatment!"
Zhu Youxiao said, "For the time being, Xu Aiqing will serve as the chief minister of both houses!"
"I obey the decree!"
Xu Guangqi replied.
Then, Zhu Youxiao ordered Chen Xin, who was accompanying him: "Turtle dove gun, you immediately arrange for someone to go to Nanyang to buy it. It is best to invite craftsmen who can make this gun. As long as you are willing to come, I will reward you with the rank of academician." .”
"I obey the decree!"
Chen Xin also replied.
Next.
Zhu Youxiao also operated the turtle dove gun and other fire guns for a while, and finally took back the turtle dove gun given to him by Chen Xin.
Although the inner court has been purged now, it is naturally more secure to have more firecrackers around you.
…
However, not long after Zhu Youxiao returned to Qianqing Palace, two cabinet ministers, Fang Congzhe and Han Xu, were eager to see him.
Zhu Youxiao had no choice but to give up and go see the manufacturing process of hand-spinning machines and met Fang Congzhe.
As soon as Fang Congzhe and Han Xu saw Zhu Youxiao, Fang Congzhe hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, something bad is going on. The Six Ministries, Duchayuan, Liuke, Honglu Temple, Taichang Temple, Taipu Temple, Imperial Academy, Hanlin Academy, etc. A large number of officials have resigned from their posts, totaling hundreds of them. Even Zhou Gong, the Heavenly Official of the Ministry of Personnel, and Bosun Gong, the Shaozong of the Ministry of Rites, have resigned from their posts. The ministers dare not approve it, so they still ask for His Majesty's Holy Judgment!"
Han Xu also followed up and said: "Your Majesty, the temple has been unable to see the court for a long time due to illness, which has caused a serious shortage of officials in the world. The late emperor only took the throne for only a month, and there was not enough time to replace the officials. Some places have been without official management for a long time, and there is chaos. There are so many elephants, now that so many Beijing officials have resigned, I fear that the court will be in chaos!"
Zhu Youxiao glanced at Han Xu, and he naturally understood that this must be a group of Donglin Party civil servants who resigned collectively because they were dissatisfied with his execution of Donglin Party officials such as Gao Panlong, Miao Changqi, Zhou Yanru, etc., and wanted to threaten him. .
But Zhu Youxiao didn't care, because as far as he knew, there was no shortage of people who wanted to be officials in the world.
For example, there was a dynasty in history that required that only eunuchs could serve as officials. Even so, there were still many scribes who would rather wield their swords in the palace than rush to serve as officials in the court. What's more, there was no such requirement in the Ming Dynasty, and the Ming Dynasty still had There were more scribes.
Therefore, Zhu Youxiao only asked with a sneer: "The emperor has been raising scholars for more than two hundred years, but there is still a shortage of officials in the world?"
Then, Zhu Youxiao ordered: "Approval for their resignation! But knowing that the imperial court is currently in difficulty and many government affairs are piled up and neglected, making the country uneasy, he suddenly wants to resign, instead of waiting until next year when all major changes to the Yuan Dynasty are finalized before resigning , it can be seen that they ignore the imperial court and the country, especially these officials, where is their loyalty to the country? They must be warned when drafting the vote, and the following decrees should be drafted when approving:
First, those who resign this time will all be dismissed from their posts and become common people. If they do not enjoy the benefits of becoming an official, they will not be allowed to return home! Since they don’t understand the court, don’t blame the court for not understanding them;
Second, scientific examinations are not allowed for the next three generations, and all Enyin are banned! If someone is so disloyal to the country, their family education will inevitably be poor, and their descendants will not have the concept of loyalty and filial piety. They will devote themselves to studying the teachings of three generations of saints before serving the country;
Third, the Metropolitan Procuratorate, together with the Six Sections, formed a special Beijing inspection team to conduct a temporary special inspection of the resigned Beijing officials to investigate whether there were any unresolved government affairs that had not been neglected during the performance of their duties, and to treat them as a loss to the imperial court. If you are convicted and punished to a certain extent, if you cause a deficit, whether it is confiscating your home or borrowing money, you must make up for the deficit! Anyone who commits corruption will be convicted by the Tribunal of Justice! So as not to implicate the successor! You are not allowed to leave Beijing until the investigation is clear! "
