There were many firearms in the Ming Dynasty, including more than a dozen types of blunderbuss and muskets, which have been widely used in armies across the country since the Yongle period.
During the Korean War during the Wanli period, the Ming Dynasty's kidnapping gun and thunder gun were so powerful that the Japanese firearms were unable to confront them head-on. The Ming army was unable to fight back against the Japanese army.
There are also multiple rocket launchers, which the Ming army called a swarm of bees. Later Qi Jiguang improved them and called them Liuguang Shenji Arrows. This kind of gun carries multiple rockets, with specifications ranging from large to small, ranging from three-shot Shenji Arrows to large There are 100-shot rocket launchers, and 100-shot rocket launchers are called Hundred Tigers Rush. The Ming army widely used Hundred Tigers Rush, because the accuracy of firearms in this era was so poor.
If you can't strike accurately, then use firepower coverage. In order to make up for the shortcomings of unstable ballistics, most of them just bomb indiscriminately with numbers. In Zhu Youxiao's view, this is the Ming Dynasty version of Katyusha. In fact, It's so similar.
There are too many others similar to the large-caliber Five Thunder God machine revolvers and lift guns.
And why did the Ming army have such powerful firearms? Why couldn't they defeat Jiannu and Mongolia in the end? Even the bandits couldn't be quelled.
Not only because of the limitations of the times, but also because firearms were used on a large scale in military operations during the Yuan Dynasty. It has been developing for hundreds of years. Emperor Yongle's Shenji Battalion was the first army to use firearms as its organizational structure. That's right. But before Shenji Camp, firearms had been on the stage of history for nearly a hundred years.
In Zhu Youxiao's opinion, it is because people nowadays have no innovation, and their thoughts have been completely imprisoned by the Four Books and Five Classics. Those so-called scholars think these are just gimmicks and tricks.
Moreover, the administration of the Ming Dynasty has been completely rotten from top to bottom. Those people are greedy everywhere. They don’t even want to issue uniforms and armors to sergeants. They deduct all kinds of food and treat the army like pigs and dogs. There are three or five arrears in the army. The monthly supply of food is completely commonplace.
When the Qi family army went to Korea with Li Rusong, they were responsible for all the most painful, tiring and dangerous tasks. They were also the first to rush into the battle. However, when they came back, they could not get a penny of money. As a result, they were beaten by their own people. The entire army was wiped out. The army that was not defeated by Japan, Japanese pirates, and Mongolia was annihilated by our compatriots who were also members of the Ming army. It was really ridiculous.
I would like to ask, if there is such a group of people governing the world, why should they not perish?
Can we still expect them to spend money on research and manufacturing of firearms? They didn't sell these things as scrap and exchange them for money. They just burned incense.
This is also the reason why the equipment of the Ming army became more and more backward. Except for Hongwu and Yongle, neither the emperor nor the ministers had ever seen firearms.
The matchlock guns that Zhu Youxiao ordered the arsenal to build this time were the kidnappers and thunderbolts used in the Korean peninsula.
The kidnapper's gun is a cranked repeating matchlock gun. Its loading method is similar to the general cannon (Flang machine gun). It can be fired three times in a row. The longest range is up to 150 meters, but the effective range is only 100 meters. If you want to break through the heavy armor, you have to rush within 60 steps of the enemy on the opposite side. But against the Mongolian army with very little iron armor, it is a great weapon.
The Thunder Gun is a multi-barreled firearm. One person lifts the barrel of the gun in front as a support, and one person fires it from behind. One gun can reach eighteen barrels of ballistic launchers. The Ming army often kneels down in formation to fire. The firepower is continuous and uninterrupted. For The charging army can be said to be a nightmare.
During the Korean War, the Japanese pirates had used their lives that were worth less than shit to verify many times that if the enemy rushed in front of them, the thunderbolt can also be used as a cold weapon, because this kind of gun is similar to a spear.
The reason why Zhu Youxiao mainly builds these two types of firearms is because they are easier to improve than other firearms. After the flintlock gun is developed, the flint firing device can be directly modified to avoid early elimination.
In addition to these two types, Zhu Youxiao also made five hundred heavy matchlock guns, which were fired from a single barrel and weighed more than twenty kilograms. They were filled with one or two coins of medicine. They were specially designed to break heavy armor. Guns can penetrate armor, but their shortcomings are also very obvious.
The gun body is too heavy to carry, and the loading of this gun is also very troublesome and time-consuming. Although it can break armor, it can only fire three shots at most, and the opponent can suddenly jump into your face. Zhu Youxiao is also well prepared. , When it comes to war, you must be fully prepared.
Zhu Youxiao held a gun and pointed it at Zhang Zhiji and said:
"If you don't have enough time, you don't need to build the heavy matchlock gun for the time being. Give priority to the two kinds of matchlock guns: the Streaming Divine Machine Arrow and the Kidnapper Gun and the Thunder Gun!"
There are a lot of these old-fashioned matchlocks, not to mention the muskets in the Ministry of War warehouse. Just the muskets from the original Beijing camp, after review, there are still six to seven thousand usable muskets.
What Zhu Youxiao lacks is a sophisticated and powerful light matchlock gun like the kidnap gun.
Zhang Zhiji bowed and said:
"Don't worry, Your Majesty, the firearms should be fine. Before March 10th, 5,000 matchlock guns and 100 flowing light divine machine arrows will be completed!"
"This is the best thing. After this batch of ordnance is built, select some people to help Bi Aiqing develop new firearms. Whether it is a lack of people or money, we must give the greatest support. If it is not enough, we will report it."
In the future, military construction and technological development will definitely focus on firearms and industry, but the current situation is like this. We can only use traditional methods to build an elite force, at least as long as it can be stable.
Wang Chaofu stepped forward and said to Gong Shen:
"Your Majesty, Wei Zhongxian has come to report that the people in the city are unstable. Those Donglin officials are conspiring together to discuss matters, and most of the students from the Imperial College are also involved. It seems that they want to kneel together to remonstrate at the Meridian Gate!"
"Why?"
"It seems that the emperor appointed Mr. Song as Minister of Industry a few days ago, which caused dissatisfaction among those scholars!"
Zhu Youxiao knew that these people would definitely cause trouble for this reason. Although they were afraid of the beheading knife, as long as they were given a so-called righteous status as a famous teacher, they would still come to complain.
"Rui Zheng, go to the military camp and mobilize two thousand troops into the city now. Tell Wei Zhongxian and Xu Xianchun to disperse all their people. Keep a close eye on those people. I will catch them all this time!"
The expedition was about to begin, and Zhu Youxiao did not allow any instability in the capital. He did not want another earthen fort or falling into the water.
After Ma Xianglin gathered the soldiers in the military camp, Zhu Youxiao also rode back to the palace. Two thousand people were guarding the palace. He wanted to see what the civil servants could do.
At this time, there was also an undercurrent surging in the capital, and the students and scholars were running around to unite all the clear currents in their eyes, and they would not give up until the situation was restored this time!
