"Currently, it is tentatively determined that the new city is 20 miles longer from north to south than wide from east to west. A double-layered city wall is set up to defend against enemies. The outer wall is thirty feet high and the inner wall is forty feet high. Both walls are five feet thick. It is twenty feet wide and can be used by cavalry and musketry chariots."
One Mingli is equal to one hundred and eighty zhang or one thousand eight hundred feet, which is equivalent to 576 meters. Twenty Li is the length of eleven and a half kilometers.
Today, the length of the inner city and the outer city of the capital is 8,500 meters from north to south. The new city is about three kilometers longer than the old city. Overall, it is larger.
One clear foot is equal to thirty-two centimeters, three feet is about one meter, and thirty feet is almost nine and a half meters high, which is equivalent to the defenders being able to defend the enemy on the fourth and a half floors.
The inner city wall is three meters higher than this. Even if the enemy climbs to the top of the outer city, they will be attacked by the inner city defenders. They will be knocked down by arrows and bullets before they can stand still.
"There are nine city gates. The city gates are no longer based on flashy arrow towers. They are all designed in the compact shape of Western-style bunkers. The city gate fortress is fifty feet high and is designed as a double-layer structure with more than a hundred perforations on multiple floors. The top can accommodate twenty muskets and more than a hundred soldiers hiding in it for shooting, and there is a watchtower sixty feet high and ten feet in diameter on the left and right."
Yaoji directly transformed the outer shell of the new city into a fortress, abandoning the Chinese-style appearance and adopting the more affordable shape of a Western fortress. Not only is the outline taller, but it can also achieve crossfire per unit length with the help of staggered height differences.
By turning the new city into a land battleship parked next to the old city, a certain prince's goal has been achieved, but I don't know whether Chief Engineer Zhang can turn the design drawings into real objects. With the architectural standards of the late Ming Dynasty, there is no Western It is difficult to create without the help of peers.
After there are nine city gates, a certain prince can set up a nine-gate admiral to take charge of the city gates. This title is very funny and visual at first, but there is no suitable candidate yet, so I will put it aside for now. Bar.
"Forty thirty-foot-high horse platforms were set up outside each city wall. The horses were shaped into a rhombus with a side length of three feet. Each horse platform could accommodate fifty soldiers and twenty fire guns, and could attack four Fire at the enemy without blind spots. Dig a moat two feet deep and three feet wide outside the city. The embankment outside the river is a reverse slope. The inclination angle of the ten feet wide slope is in a straight line with the mouth of the gun at the head of the city. In this way, the fire The projectiles fired by the gun can fly all the way along the slope and penetrate an entire column of enemy troops."
Only if the new city is designed to be impregnable and pleasing to the eye, will a certain prince feel at ease. Even if what happened last night and this morning happens again, as long as the factory guards and the Yongwei battalion can control the city, even if the rebels have 100,000 troops, they will not be able to attack from the outside. Enter the city.
The horse-faced bastion and the reverse slope are all prepared for the invading enemy. They will not be willing to do anything until they are beaten to death. I hope they will send troops to fight out of curiosity.
Otherwise, the masterpiece that Chief Engineer Zhang worked so hard for the strong men to create would not be able to be used, and it would really become a decoration. At any rate, 18,000 people would have to be killed and injured to make the fortresses open and let them know Know what is called "the art of defense".
According to Yaoji's plan, the Wengcheng in the new city is also in the shape of a bastion, but it is larger than the one in Ma Mian. It is considered a large bastion. From a bird's eye view from a high place, it looks like a bunch of small bastions connecting several large bastions. It seems like getting up.
"Your Highness has an exquisite idea. The defense capabilities of this city must be extraordinary. I admire you very much. However, as a result, the cost will definitely rise!"
After listening to the young prince's idea, Zhang Guowei felt that the new city was no longer used to house the common people. It was simply a pass specially used to station troops. It was indestructible from the design point of view, but the cost of construction was also rising.
If many buildings in the city are included, the Ministry of Household Affairs must allocate 1.5 million taels of silver every year. The construction period will be as long as four years, and the total cost will rise to 6 million taels of silver. It can be called the largest in the world since the founding of the Ming Dynasty. Big city.
Due to its special structure that absorbed the architectural characteristics of the East and the West, the city's defensive capabilities are the best in five thousand years since the Shang and Zhou dynasties. It is bound to win this crown. Luoyang City in the Han Dynasty and Chang'an City in the Tang Dynasty Everyone will be disappointed.
Combining the double-layered city wall, many bastions, moats and reverse slopes mentioned by the prince, the city's waterproofing accuracy has almost reached its peak, which can make the invading enemy bleed into a river within half an hour.
"It doesn't matter, I will ask the Ministry of Household Affairs to allocate funds as scheduled. Aiqing only needs to complete the design and submit the budget at that time. The city defense will be built this year and next, and the buildings in the city can be built slowly thereafter. There is no need to rush the work. We must ensure the city defense quality!"
If someone contributes, someone will naturally contribute money. If you don’t have money, you’ll be in trouble in Xincheng. Five or six million taels of silver is quite a lot, but as long as you don’t pay it out of your own pocket, no amount of money is acceptable. Money is like a pot, often tossed around. That’s it…
It doesn't matter if the construction period is extended to five years. By the time the dynasty was overthrown in the 17th year after the blame was thrown away, it would be the time when the new city was standing on the land of Jifu. As the prince of the current dynasty, he would also use a majestic man-made landscape to express his identity. and political achievements.
If you can live in such a big city as solid as a tortoise shell, you no longer have to worry about the courier Brother Li or Ergon Tangyuan leading his troops to come to play. You can play if you want. Don't be surprised if your bones are broken by then. I did not warn you in advance.
Yaoji planned to let the servants make a large sand table based on the design drawings. It was mainly based on the new city and included the surrounding landscape. The visual impact must be unparalleled. Even just thinking about it can relieve fatigue. nerve.
It would be perfect if we could build another Eiffel Tower in the new city. It will definitely become a landmark building of the Great Dynasty. No matter spring, summer, autumn or winter, there will be an endless stream of tourists. Can we also charge some scenic tickets to build the tower? Cost recovery.
"Your Highness, building a new city costs a lot of money. It is really difficult for the Ministry of Revenue to raise so much silver!"
Li Daiwen, the Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue, really couldn't bear it anymore. Because the prince had many demands, the cost of building the new city soared from 4 million taels to 500 or even 6 million taels in the blink of an eye. How could the Ministry of Revenue have so much money to spend on it? Satisfy the little prince's hobby.
It only costs less than one million taels to repair the outer city of the old city, and it costs at least five million taels to build the new city. There is a huge difference between the two. Although the household department has the wealth of nobles and nobles to supplement it, it can face relief, wages, etc. at every turn The expenditure of millions of taels is also overwhelming.
If the prince insists on having his own way and insists on building a new city, the Ministry of Household Affairs will fall to the point where Taicang is exhausted again. There is no essential difference from the previous situation. Five to six million taels of silver are used to build the city. This move is really a great success.
The chief minister who had just become a quasi-state warlord would not speak to Li Daiwen. That would be openly confronting the prince. Xue Guoguan also had to look at the attitudes of other courtiers before considering his own discretion in this matter. It would be no good. There will be no objection.
Wu Zong, who was about to speak, saw that the chief minister was turning a blind eye, so he swallowed the words that were on his lips. The prince had his own reasons for building a new city, and it was reasonable for Li Daiwen to object. Both sides had their own views that they believed were correct. It’s really hard to tell who is right and who is wrong immediately.
"This money will be provided by someone, and then everyone in the Ministry of Revenue will not want to line their own pockets. The major case involved yesterday has not yet been investigated. I hope Li Aiqing will go back and remind the officials in the Ministry of Revenue who have not been involved in the case to take this as a lesson. Because in the future, the goods arriving in Taicang The number of silver taels can reach millions of taels at a time, and those who guard and steal will inevitably lead to their own destruction!"
A certain prince only asked the Ministry of Revenue to allocate funds, but did not ask the Ministry of Revenue to use the current harvest. Otherwise, the inventory in Taicang may not be enough even if it is moved out and dumped on the construction site in Xincheng.
Before spending money, you must think about whose pocket you want to spend the money on. This is the most basic talent that a prince must possess.
After coming out of the imperial city just now, Yaoji had already caught a glimpse of the benefactor on the road, and this time it was them who would pay the bill.
"Zhang Aiqing comes and follows me to see the damage done to the city wall by the fire cannon projectiles, so as to use it as a reference for building the new city wall!"
Under the personal protection of Huang Degong, Fang Zhenghua and others, Yao Ji came to the outer city and inspected the destructive power of Shenji Camp's various types of firecrackers on the inner city wall from the outside.
A certain prince was also shocked when he saw the lethality of the Hongyi cannon with his own eyes. The inner city wall was completely damaged by heavy artillery fire overnight, and it was horrific.
Wherever he looked, there were dozens of iron bullets of different sizes embedded in the city wall. Some of them had penetrated the city wall and penetrated directly into the interior. It was full of dangers.
If the enemy who came to attack the city was not as lazy as the Beijing camp, and could persevere, and the more efficient braided Han banner fired wildly with the Hongyi cannon for five or six hours, they might have directly destroyed the city wall.
But in that case, all the heavy siege artillery in their hands would be useless, and if they let the pigtails attack the capital, they would suffer huge casualties. This is something Huang Taiji, who advocates low investment and high output, absolutely does not want to see. to the scene.
From this point of view, the capital city is not indestructible, and the seemingly solid brick and stone walls are just like made of rammed earth in the face of heavy artillery.
After checking several collapsed city walls in succession, Yaoji frowned and was almost certain that as long as the enemy used heavy artillery to blast the city wall for twelve hours, they would be able to collapse a certain location, allowing the infantry to swarm in.
"After measuring the penetration depth, record the results in a record. The Ministry of War, the Ministry of Industry, the East Palace, and the Armor Factory each keep a copy as a basis for future development of firecrackers and city wall construction."
The requirements of the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Industry are completely opposite. The generals naturally hope that the fire cannons equipped by the troops will be as powerful as possible, while the officials in charge of city construction in the Ministry of Works want to make the city stronger to offset the damage caused by the fire cannons.
This is a contest between spears and shields, and no one wants to see the enemy use their own spears to pierce their own shields, and then massacre and loot their own homes. If this is the case, their face will be lost and their lives will be in danger.
Practice brings true knowledge. After on-the-spot investigation, Yaoji gained a new understanding of the "red barbarian artillery", which is the heavy siege artillery. Although this type of artillery is heavy, inconvenient to transport, and has a slow rate of fire, it is invincible. It is extremely powerful and has a long range.
Their existence is a very big threat to the city defenders and field troops. If they cannot be eliminated as soon as possible before the battle, it will cause unimaginable tragic consequences to our own side.
Huang Taiji's troops have hundreds of "Red Yi Cannons" and the same number of "Pan-Red Yi Cannons", plus light artillery such as Folang Machines, the total reaches thousands. This Just thinking about the quantity made a certain prince upset.
Relying solely on your own subjective assumptions will inevitably be biased. It seems very necessary to discuss with the experienced Wang Zaijin how to defend against the enemy. The old Wangtou is familiar with border affairs and will definitely have a deeper understanding of the characteristics of braids.
How to break the trinity attack combination of rangers, heavy infantry and heavy artillery should be the first step in breaking the myth of Braid's invincibility.
Even with the heartless cannon and flintlock muskets, the infantry under his command are equipped with thickened plate armor, and there are also "Apocalypse" tanks and "Kirov" airships to assist in the battle.
In a field battle with the main force of Braid, a certain prince was not sure that his side would win. After all, low-tech weapons could not completely make up for the lack of battlefield experience.
Facing the battle-experienced braid, the opponent rushed over at full speed. If the newly formed musketeer phalanx did not collapse, it would be considered qualified, and it would be worthy of the dog food spread by His Highness the Crown Prince.
"This is the projectile of the falcon's gun! This is the projectile of the bird's beak!"
Zhang Guowei was not able to identify artillery by looking at the shells, so he had to ask Huang Degong to answer them one by one.
As the Minister of Industry and an expert in civil engineering, he originally thought that the prince's requirements for the new city's defense were too high.
Unexpectedly, I didn’t know it until I saw it. I was shocked when I saw it. Compared with what I saw, the walls of the new city really needed to be reinforced.
The projectiles fired by some fire cannons penetrated the city wall to a level that shocked the generals and ministers.
If the Yongwei camp hadn't defended the city to the death this morning regardless of casualties and fought for every inch of territory with the rebels from the Beijing camp, some of them would have been sacrificed by the bandits and lighted sky lanterns by now...
Zhang Guowei not only recorded and marked it in detail, but also made drawings of some projectiles that impressed him, and commented on their destructive power on the city wall, which made it easier to understand intuitively.
I was thinking in my heart, if the new city wall is five feet thick and still can't withstand the attack of fire bullets, then build it to six feet thick. If that doesn't work, make it thicker again until it can withstand the attack.
Huang Degong basically knew the style and lethality of firecrackers. When he saw a bullet mark, he could deduce roughly how many times the opponent fired based on visual inspection, and several types of projectiles were fired into the damaged city wall.
Without the generals of the Yongwei Battalion responsible for explaining the situation, even if officials from the Ministry of Industry conduct on-site inspections and are conscientious and responsible, they will not be able to gain an in-depth understanding of the destructive power of the projectiles, and going back to analyze them will make mistakes even more wrong.
This can be regarded as first-hand information after the war. The place where the incident occurred has not been artificially repaired at all. Each yamen can obtain more detailed and objective inspection results. Proper research will be of great benefit to their future work.
A certain prince was in a daze looking at the dilapidated city wall, and was considering whether to replace the new city wall with granite, so that he could feel more at ease. Then the cost of the new city climbed again...
