With strong anger, dissatisfaction and worry, Zhao Min first approved the Privy Council's recruitment request.
An additional sum of money was then allocated to the Ordnance Department.
He asked the ordnance department to study iron pipe-like firearms that could destroy an army formation with one shot, as well as smaller firearms that could be held in the hand and fired and penetrated armor and shields.
Don't forget, they can all fire projectiles.
Regarding the requirement to research ordnance, Zhao Hao only gave the craftsmen in the ordnance department three months. He asked them to develop these two firearms within three months to use against the Ming army.
At present, the entire Southern Song Dynasty's understanding of the Ming army's new firearms is still limited to their appearance, and it is not clear how this new firearm is operated and fired.
They don't know why an iron pipe can eject a large iron ball and destroy a military formation, nor do they know how this thing is cast.
The source of all their information is the [death message] sent back by Li Xianzhong.
It's hard to say how serious this death message is. At least knowledgeable people would never say something like destroying an army formation with one blow, but Li Xianzhong obviously couldn't tell accurately at the time.
But it’s not bad. The exaggerated rhetorical techniques of ancient literati are too common. Everything can be adjusted like black technology. The range of bows and crossbows can be adjusted as steadily and accurately as modern firearms. Not only does it have a long range, but it also has high accuracy. , often killing people with one blow from 700 to 800 meters away...
So why did later generations invent firearms?
Why are you constantly pulling the rifling, fixing the front sight and rear sight?
These are things that scholars who write history books will not consider.
It is also something that Emperor Zhao Yu would not consider.
Zhao Xin's idea is very simple.
Since such firearms existed in the Ming Dynasty and were so powerful, they must be manufactured so that the Song Dynasty can also use them. Otherwise, it will be the incompetence of you craftsmen.
The imperial court does not support incompetent people!
Zhao Xing felt that as long as he put enough pressure on the people below, they would be able to perform some miracles in order to survive.
He didn't care how desperate and panicked the craftsmen in the ordnance department were when they learned about this administrative order. He only knew that he needed firearms, powerful firearms, and firearms that could fight against the Ming army.
Isn’t that what firearms are all about?
As long as the money is in place, what else can't be done?
Get it out for me!
If you can't do it, it will kill you!
In this matter, Zhao Min rarely acted as a domineering monarch.
It feels pretty good.
Then on other issues, Zhao Yan began to hesitate.
The ministers had different opinions on whether to send troops, whether to mobilize troops, and the current real situation in Xiangfan. They could only investigate the current situation in Xiangfan first, and then discuss what to do next.
But as time goes by, instead of good news coming, there is more and more bad news, which is becoming more and more alarming.
In early June, they learned that the Ming army began to attack the prefectures around Xiangfan. Many officials and wealthy households in the prefectures around Xiangfan chose to flee, and then brought the news over.
At first, the news they brought was that the Ming army was fierce and they had to flee. But as time went on, the news they brought was that Xiangfan had fallen and the Ming army began to attack the city on a large scale.
Xiangfan fell?
Zhao Xin first heard the news in mid-June.
He heard that news in the palace began to circulate in Lin'an City that Xiangfan had fallen, Jinghu was completely destroyed, and the Ming army began to march towards Lin'an.
He was shocked and angry, and immediately ordered the palace officials to go out to inquire about the specific information, and also asked the Privy Council about the situation.
Zhou Linzhi had just taken over the Privy Council not long ago. Although he had served as Privy Council envoy, it still took some time to start his work. Even so, he had heard some rumors about Lin'an City.
But this is not solid because the professional spies he sent out have not brought back the real news.
Therefore, his feedback to Zhao Xun should be classified as rumors, not real news. It is estimated that someone had bad intentions and wanted to shake the determination of the soldiers and people of Lin'an to resist the Ming army and help the Song Dynasty.
Speaking of this, Zhao Min instantly became vigilant.
Not long ago, the group of fugitives from the Ming Dynasty landlords and squires who were secretly exploited were completely annihilated in a secret station outside Lin'an City. They were completely wiped out by mysterious forces. When Yu Yunwen reported the news to Zhao Hao, Zhao Hao very shocked.
In Zhao Xun's view, this group of people has been out of public view for a long time. They have been lurking outside Lin'an City and are well hidden. Only he, Yu Yunwen and a few eunuchs know about the entire action plan, which can maximize their concealment. information.
But despite this, the situation was still leaked. This group of Ming traitors were all wiped out, and the three hundred people sent by Yu Yunwen to destroy the dam were also missing. In Yu Yunwen's opinion, they should have been annihilated by the Ming Dynasty. .
If they had not been discovered, even the small villages outside Lin'an City would not have been discovered and then wiped out.
This is a very scary thing.
What is basically confirmed is that their plot was known to the Ming Dynasty, so the Ming Dynasty sent a professional team to deal with them and sent them away. However, neither Zhao Xun nor Yu Yunwen knew who leaked the news.
Zhao Xun himself could not leak the news, and Yu Yunwen was the proposer and executor of the entire plan, so it was impossible for him to leak the news.
So who?
Those eunuchs?
In order to get rid of the scourge, and in line with the principle of preferring to kill the wrong one rather than let it go, Zhao Min ordered the dozens of eunuchs who assisted Yu Yunwen to be killed and silenced, ending their existence in the world.
After all the eunuchs were killed, Zhao Hao and Yu Yunwen's worries could not be alleviated, because now that the news had been leaked, the Ming Dynasty must have known what they wanted to do. This should be a situation that Su Yonglin could never bear, and he would definitely do it. React.
But a few months passed and nothing was reflected.
Or is this war a reaction?
No, he hadn't sent anyone north when the war started.
Moreover, before they died, those eunuchs screamed that they were not sinners and that they did not leak the secrets. This made Yu Yunwen feel that there seemed to be a force belonging to the Ming Dynasty secretly operating in Lin'an City, spying on the most important people. The information was passed to the Ming Dynasty.
With this idea in mind, Yu Yunwen asked Zhao Hao to allocate a team of people to him to investigate the people who might know about the matter and leak the information, so that they could investigate the hidden forces belonging to the Ming Kingdom in Lin'an City.
Zhao Hao agreed to Yu Yunwen's request and removed a team of his personal guards to Yu Yunwen's command for investigation.
But the results were not very great, and no valuable clues were found.
This time, there was also no gain. The news circulating in Lin'an City was not spread intentionally by anyone, but was brought by a group of squires from the Xiangfan area who fled to Lin'an City. They said that Xiangfan was finished and that the Ming Dynasty had begun large-scale operations. .
Yu Yunwen sent people to investigate them, but found nothing.
If it was still a folk rumor so far, it would be much more valuable if some local bureaucrats escaped a few days later and brought news of the fall of Xiangfan through official channels.
For example, Meng Xiang, the prefect of De'an Prefecture, brought back very precise news.
He said that Xiangfan fell and the entire Song army was annihilated. The Ming army began a large-scale attack on the prefectures around Xiangfan. There was no organized Song army around Xiangfan that could resist the Song army. He tried his best to defend the city but could not resist the Ming army. He had no choice but to abandon it. Go to the city.
Now, the news brought back by the officials can't be considered rumors, right?
The civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty were about to break their guard collectively and go on a rampage because of this incident, but Zhao Xun became even more angry.
He publicly stated that he did not believe the news brought back by Meng Xiang, and also said that after a rigorous interrogation, he learned that Meng Xiang was a spy of the Ming Dynasty. He accepted the mission of the Ming Dynasty and came back to deceive the emperor, intending to flatter the emperor of the Ming Dynasty in order to gain credit.
Everything Meng Xiang did was ordered by the Ming Dynasty and was completely false news, just to shake the will of the Song Dynasty monarchs and ministers to fight.
The fortified city of Xiangfan was still under the control of the Song army, how could it fall so quickly?
How could Xiangfan, such a strong city in the world, be captured by the Ming army in just three months?
This is the Ming Dynasty’s strategy!
