West Nuan Pavilion of Qianqing Palace.
Zhu Youtang had just finished the morning court in the morning and was now catching up on his sleep on the dragon couch.
Standing outside the door were Yan Hai, the head of the Qianqing Palace, Li Guang, the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Palace, and Su Yin, a young girl who had been rescued from Fengmingyuan not long ago.
Because Su Yin was quite beautiful and homeless, Zhu Youtang kept her by his side. As the frequency of Su Yin's appearance on orders increased in the past few days, Zhu Youtang's heart was already ready to move.
"Su Yin, where are you?"
"Miss Su, the emperor has called you." Li Guang said with a smile.
Su Yin immediately blushed and ignored Li Guang. She quickly ran into Nuan Pavilion and responded, "Your Majesty is here. He's here."
Zhu Youtang rubbed his eyes and asked sleepily: "What time is it now?"
Su Yin said softly: "It's time to reply to Your Majesty."
Zhu Youtang stretched, rubbed his shoulders and said with a bitter smile: "Su Yin, my shoulders feel sore. Come and rub them for me. Let Li Guang and Yan Hai come in together."
After receiving the emperor's summons, Li Guang and Yan Hai ran in.
"Yan Hai, I remember that Ma Wensheng handed over a piece of information. You find it and read it to me. While Yan Hai was looking for the memorial, Zhu Youtang immediately asked: "Li Guang, what I have entrusted to you. How is your son doing? Have you found the dirty things in the harem? I heard that you got a lot of money. I wonder how things are going. "
Li Guangxuan smiled and said: "Your Majesty, please rest assured. The servants have replaced a group of people in all departments of the inner palace, as well as the attendants who come in and out, and the palace people who guard the various palace gates. The servants have also been replaced by the royal confidants." .”
"Well...if something unexpected happens, you also know what will happen to you." After Yan Hai found Ma Wensheng's memorial and read it, Zhu Youtang was overjoyed: "It seems that the new firearm has been successfully tested. Go to the capital camp quickly. Tell Ma Wensheng, I understand what he means, the military parade will be today. I will give him enough time to prepare on the school field!"
After Yan Hai left, Zhu Youtang chatted with Su Yin and a few young eunuchs for a few more words before going to Dongnuang Pavilion to change into military uniforms. He couldn't wait to see the heroic appearance of the Ming Dynasty soldiers.
...
"Kill! Kill! Kill!"
Accompanied by neat shouts, the Ming Dynasty infantry and cavalry battalions were gathering into formation as quickly as possible.
"Your majesty, Ma Wensheng and Wang Shu, are here to see you. Your majesty forgives us for not being able to meet you from far away." The two said in unison.
"You two beloved ministers, please get up quickly. I will pardon your innocence. I have read the memorials you submitted. Have you equipped the entire army with new firearms?" Zhu Youtang asked happily.
"Your Majesty, please forgive me. We..." Wang Shu spoke hesitantly. Next to him, Ma Wensheng's face was also a little red.
All this was seen by Zhu Youtang. He was about to speak but was interrupted by Li Guangxian: "If Wang Shangshu has any difficulties, just tell him. Your Majesty is also a wise king. He will try his best to solve it for you. "
Hearing the kind words from the eunuch Li Guang, Ma Wensheng immediately cast a grateful look at Li Guang.
Being able to have Li Guang say good things for Wang Shu and Ma Wensheng shows that Li Guang does have the ability to observe people's emotions. Knowing that he attaches great importance to the training of the Beijing camp, even if they make a little mistake, he will not blame them. Secondly, by speaking for them, Li Guang could be a favor, and Ma Wensheng and Wang Shu might also be kind to him afterwards, which would be very helpful for his career in the rest of his life.
But Zhu Youtang was not angry because Li Guang took the opportunity to speak from him.
"Oh? Aiqing, if you have any doubts, it's okay to say so!" Zhu Youtang glanced at Li Guang and laughed loudly.
"To answer your Majesty's question, due to the construction of the Ordnance Department and the continuous development and improvement of new firearms, silver has been stretched thin. The new firearms are not yet equipped with the entire army, with only 216 guns. Moreover, the previous firearms were worn out and There has been no maintenance all year round, and an average of 60 out of 100 shots exploded. For the safety of the entire army and for the sake of insurance, I suggest that all old firearms be replaced with new ones." After hearing what Wang Shu said, Ma Wensheng was even more dismayed. Sorry, after all, this is asking the emperor for money.
Zhu Youtang also heard the meaning of Wang Shu's words. It was obvious that there was not enough money to develop new firearms, and the firefly gun could not be developed too much. Moreover, the old firearms were dilapidated and often exploded, making them useless.
Zhu Youtang understands this truth. To put it bluntly, wars are fought with money. It is rare for an army to have high combat effectiveness without spending money to arm it.
"Your Majesty, in addition to the research and development of new firearms, I have submitted an application to the Military War Bureau for the rest of the armaments of the soldiers. However, it has been ten days and the War Bureau still has no accurate information." Ma Wensheng couldn't hold it anymore. , if Wang Shu had to do everything for him, he would be embarrassed to work with Wang Shu again afterwards, so he would leave the unpleasant task of filing a lawsuit to himself.
Seeing Zhu Youtang thinking for a moment, Li Guang said, "Your Majesty, I have also discovered something recently, that is, I don't know whether to say it or not."
"Speak." Zhu Youtang replied lightly.
"Your Majesty often goes to Nanhaizi for hunting. There are more than 2,000 Pure Army soldiers in Nanhaizi. These Pure Army soldiers are just idle if they are idle. Why not ask the director of the Military War Bureau to order the unused equipment to be distributed to these Pure Army soldiers, and no matter how little they add, Practicing can also protect the emperor."
After Li Guang finished speaking, he bowed down, like a "licking dog".
Zhu Youtang remained calm after listening to this, but he had already scolded Li Guang dozens of times in his heart.
"Jing" takes the superficial meaning and means "clean". In the feudal period, "purification" meant that men were castrated and became eunuchs. Therefore, the "Jingjun" of the Ming Dynasty actually means "purifying army", that is to say: an army composed of eunuchs. This "pure" army was owned by the emperor.
The most famous one is the eunuch Wei Zhongxian. When he controlled the government, he personally trained a group of pure soldiers, selected 40,000 eunuchs, and gave them the most luxurious equipment and the most generous salaries, in order to make them obey. to oneself. But this army failed to meet expectations. When Li Zicheng's army approached the city, these "pure troops" were the first to surrender.
"Li Guang, you have been thinking a lot about me recently. These pure soldiers have been castrated and have no masculinity. They are really powerless to restrain chickens. How can they be of much use? Why do you ask them to protect me? Intentions?" Zhu Youtang said coldly, his words full of murderous intent.
When Li Guang heard this, he quickly fell to the ground, crying and begging for mercy: "Grandpa Emperor, have mercy on me, Grandpa Emperor, have mercy on me, I am doing this for your own good, I don't dare to do it anymore..."
The person in charge of the War Bureau was arranged by Huaien, the eunuch in charge of the ceremony. Li Guang, an eunuch, saw that Huaien was ill recently and tried every means to exclude Huaien and weaken Huaien's power. If he doesn't treat him, Li Guang may not know how good the world is.
Zhu Youtang ignored Li Guang, snorted coldly, and continued to ask: "Change the manager of the Military War Bureau and let Wynn choose another one. Besides armaments, what other difficulties are there?"
Wang Shu hesitated for a while and then said: "Your Majesty, what is left is the pension and reward for the soldiers after the war. I believe that the infantry should be rewarded and rewarded uniformly for combat, while the cavalry should be based on the combat situation."
When he heard about the reward, Zhu Youtang thought it was nothing. After all, under a heavy reward, there must be brave men. Qi Jiguang, the famous anti-Japanese general of the Ming Dynasty, offered extremely high bounties to the soldiers. Each team killed a Japanese pirate and was rewarded thirty taels of silver. Kill ten for three hundred taels, and kill one hundred for three thousand taels.
Such a bonus system means that if the entire team kills 60 Japanese pirates in a year, it will basically make a fortune. For example, eight soldiers on the front line can each receive 150 taels of silver, which is equivalent to a national defense team. Minister's income.
Although Ma Wensheng may not have as large a reward as Qi Jiguang, it still costs a lot of money. Besides, it is the Beijing camp and it belongs directly to you. If the military salary you give is low, the enthusiasm of others to work for you will naturally be low.
"I'm sure. As for the specific reward intensity, I will ask the cabinet to come up with a charter immediately when I get back. Aiqing, just rest assured and train the troops. I don't want to come here in vain. Let me see the results." Zhu Youtang With a wave of his hand, he issued an order.
Wang Shu and Ma Wensheng were both excited after hearing this. They clasped their fists and said, "I obey the decree!"
I saw Ma Wensheng take a few steps forward, glanced at the pacesetters, and said, "Let the military parade begin."
The pacesetter immediately understood and waved the general's flag up and down. The flags were waved faster and faster, and the shouts of death on the field gradually became quiet.
Ma Wensheng ascended to the general platform and shouted loudly: "Soldiers, today the Emperor wants to see the results of our training in the past few months. Today you have to show your best condition and bring out your murderous aura. Do you have any?" confidence?"
"Yes, yes!" All the soldiers in the Beijing camp shouted in unison, the shouts shaking the sky.
"The martial arts performance begins!"
Following Ma Wensheng's military order, the officers of each battalion in the Beijing camp began to give orders.
"Infantry battalion inspection!"
On the ground, a pair of teams with swords rushed out.
"Kill! Kill!"
Although there were straw men on the opposite side, these soldiers carrying swords still fought bravely to chop them down.
Zhu Youtang nodded, extremely satisfied, and said: "Well...it does have murderous intent!"
Ma Wensheng was very excited after hearing this. It was the highest honor to be recognized by the emperor.
"Cavalry battalion inspection!"
As soon as the order was given, the ground in the racecourse shook and horses' hooves burst into formation.
After the cavalry passed by, the sky was filled with loess.
During the charge, the cavalry was divided into two teams. During the charge, the two teams of cavalry slashed and hacked at the straw men along the road. When the last cavalryman finished the race, the two teams of cavalrymen turned their horses' heads again, encircled and encircled them, and implemented the splitting and intersecting tactics.
It is worth mentioning that during the roundabout way, both teams of cavalry pulled out something similar to a mace from their waists.
Zhu Youtang couldn't help shouting: "Three-eyed gun."
This kind of mace has a long shaft and a large attack range. It is originally a blunt weapon. It can be attached with nails, barbs, etc. If it is hit, even if it does not die, the skin will fall off. In the early Ming Dynasty, sometimes the goal of the cavalry was not to kill the enemy, but to prevent the enemy from escaping or losing the ability to fight. The Mongolian cavalry must have a deep understanding of this.
"Listen to our team's orders and fire a gun a hundred steps away from the target. Violation will be punished by military law!"
There was a martial arts performance in the capital's racecourse. There was enough distance for the horses to gallop, but only about a hundred paces away from the straw man. The two teams of cavalry set up their three-eyed muskets, fired three muskets in succession, and then continued to wield them as melee weapons.
To this day, all the Ming Dynasty's Jiubian Military Town has been equipped with this kind of three-eyed fire blunderbuss.
In the hands of the Ming army, this kind of three-eyed firearm can have miraculous effects on the grassland nomads.
Coupled with the continuous diversification of the Ming army's cavalry tactics, Zhu Youtang believes that this cavalry will definitely become a weapon of the Ming Dynasty in the future.
Zhu Youtang was very satisfied when he saw the Ming army cavalry performing martial arts, and asked Ma Wensheng: "Approximately how many cavalry do we have now?"
"In reply to Your Majesty, due to the scarcity of high-quality war horses, there are currently only 3,423 cavalrymen in the Beijing camp."
"It's still small, we need to expand it." Zhu Youtang shook his head.
At this moment, the sound of gunfire came, attracting everyone's attention.
