The eunuch organization of the Ming Dynasty was extremely large, known as the "inner government", with twelve supervisors, four divisions and eight bureaus. The Bingzhan Bureau, one of the eight bureaus, is responsible for the manufacture of weapons, including swords and guns, swords and halberds, whips and axes, armor, bows and arrows and other weapons.
In the Ariming Dynasty, at the beginning, the agency responsible for manufacturing firecrackers was the Baoyuan Bureau, and later it was changed to the War and War Bureau and the Ordnance Bureau. Among them, the Ordnance Bureau was established in the 13th year of Hongwu, and the Military War Bureau was established in the 28th year of Hongwu.
During the Yongle period, the imperial court returned the power of firearms casting to the central government. "All firearms are under the control of the Military Affairs Bureau of the inner government and are not allowed to be manufactured outside." Firearms required by various regions must be declared and manufactured centrally before being sent to various regions. At this time, the Military War Bureau was under the control of the internal government system. Its main function was to produce various firearms and propellant. It was a specialized firearms manufacturing department.
Comparing the two rounds, the casting technology of the Bingzhan Bureau is slightly higher than that of the Ordnance Bureau. "Records of the Yingzong" records that in the fourth year of Zhengtong, the emperor believed that the quality of firearms manufactured by the Ordnance Bureau was not high, and ordered the Ordnance Bureau to use weapons manufactured by the Bingzhan Bureau as the standard. The original text is "Bi Wen made more than the law, and he took one piece each as a form in the military battle."
However, because the central manufacturing organization is out of touch with the army and does not understand the actual needs of the army, the firearms produced are inevitably impractical. "They may be suitable for this but not for that, or they may be suitable for offense but not for defense." In short, they just look good. , and it sucks to use.
So in the 14th year of Zhengtong, the imperial court began to gradually relax the ban, "each side made its own, starting from Sichuan in the 14th year of Zhengtong." When local governments manufacture firearms, they must report the specific quantity and must obtain approval from the central government before they can be manufactured. They cannot be manufactured privately.
However, these regulations have gradually undergone new changes after the implementation of the military private sector.
The most interesting thing about this change is that both bureaus began to change from manufacturing departments to testing and inspection departments.
Because the production department is now basically handled by private factories.
In the private military industry sector, Jinghua is the strongest in firearms production, and Wang is the strongest in cold weapons production. Currently, only in terms of armor, the official bureaus are stronger for the time being.
However, this is also caused by Jinghua's lack of interest in armor manufacturing. Since Gao Pragmatic does not attach great importance to this aspect, Jinghua is mainly responsible for providing iron materials in this aspect. Wang's capital was limited, and he did not dare to take over the manufacturing of both "offensive" and "defensive" equipment. This made it necessary for the two bureaus to retain production departments.
Of course, since their production has been limited to armor, they have no choice but to make concessions in the firearms business, cutting back again and again, and now they are only doing experiments and random inspections.
It was under such circumstances that Jinghua's "Wanli Type One Bayonet Musket" was sent to the War and War Bureau for testing.
In fact, the test process of the War and War Bureau was first provided by Jinghua, including those projects that Gao Pragmatic had undertaken when he was ordered to inspect military equipment in Xuanda, such as range, effective killing range, shooting accuracy, loading speed, continuous shooting reliability, etc. wait.
If there is anything else to add, it would probably be cost-effectiveness.
When Gao Pragmatic was promoting the privatization of military industry, he once pointed out that any weapon that does not have a high cost-effectiveness is not a good weapon - your musket worth one hundred taels of silver, even if the reloading speed is twice as fast, is not as good as five 20-gun guns. Two ordinary goods.
This is the Ming Dynasty, so we are not afraid of imposing numbers, but we are afraid that the cost of individual soldiers is too high to be used.
However, the Wanli Type 1 seems to be very inconsistent with the cost-effectiveness concept proposed by Gao Pragmatic himself at that time, because its unit price is as high as 30 taels of silver each, which is almost twice the price of the existing Longqing Type 2 musket.
In other words, the original Longqing II style only cost 1.5 million taels to equip an army of 100,000, but if it was replaced with the Wanli I style, it would cost 3 million taels.
In fact, the imperial court now only replaces more than 20,000 and less than 30,000 Longqing II-type muskets a year. If it is replaced by Wanli I-type muskets, wouldn't it mean that there are only 10,000 to 15,000 muskets if the court's funding is not increased? Got it?
This... the Ming Dynasty's million-strong army, how long will it take for it to be completed?
As the chief eunuch of the Royal Horse Supervisor, Chen Ju was also under his actual management of the military affairs department. He was also very troubled by this issue.
It stands to reason that he and Gao Jingshi are old friends, and Gao Jingshi has indeed never cheated him on these matters, but he is still very hesitant about whether to support the replacement of Longqing's second style with Wanli's first style.
Is the Wanli Type 1 a good gun? The answer is yes. The test result of the War Bureau is that unless the barrel of this gun is used to block the mace dropped when the enemy cavalry charges, the possibility of damage on the battlefield is very small, and the equipped The bayonet is even more exaggerated. That "half Tang knife" is enough to penetrate any existing armor at close range if the user is strong!
Even if you use it to fight with a knife, you are not afraid. The existing standard Yanling knife and Miao knife will be cut off in a hard fight. Only the Pu knife will not break, but it will also be chipped.
This is amazing. You must know that the sword and the bayonet are not the same heavyweight weapons at all, so Gao pragmatically said that this bayonet is a new generation of "sharp weapons" formed by the latest smelting technology. It is indeed not a boast.
It’s just that the price…it’s so short…
It is so expensive, almost equivalent to the same weight of silver.
Zhu Yijun also had a headache after listening to the report.
Needless to say, the goods must be good goods. Although he could not watch the actual target shooting, the War Bureau arranged a "bayonet fighting" demonstration. In his opinion, this Wanli-style bayonet was fully capable of "cutting iron like clay." , the reputation of "blowing hair and breaking hair".
But if a musket with such a price was to be installed, the Ministry of War would definitely have a smile on his face, but Tobe would be afraid of going crazy.
The key is that he has also reduced a large amount of taxes this year. This gap is still expected to be made up by the increase in commercial taxes at several major ports. Where can he get such a sum of money to replace weapons now?
Of course, Zhu Yijun's idea is to maintain the replacement speed and replace 25,000 to 30,000 units a year, instead of keeping the allocation unchanged and reducing the quantity.
There is also a problem with reducing the quantity. Now the Longqing II type is wanted by frontier troops from all over the country. Several towns have been sparsed one after another. Needless to say, there is a war in Liaodong. The reason is that I urgently need it here; other towns are not polite, such as Shaanxi. Just say, with Anda's serious illness, both Dongtao and Xitao are now a little unstable. If there is a fight, we can't stop it.
The three towns of Xuanda Shanxi said that because I was seriously ill and worried that the situation would change after his death, the number of cavalry in our three towns had decreased in recent years. If we no longer have the advantage of muskets, the consequences would be disastrous.
Even Qi Jiguang from Jizhou joined in the fun, saying that after the hollow enemy tower was built, Ji Town was safe, but it was still unable to cause enough damage to the invading enemy forces due to insufficient firepower. Therefore, it was urgent to replace the Longqing II muskets to increase the firepower.
If we say that their frontier troops really need it, then forget it. The Beijing camp is actually also gibbering. It is said that the border troops change their uniforms more vigorously than the Beijing camp. This is simply putting the cart before the horse. Our Beijing camp is in charge of Yanjing. , is your Majesty’s strongest force that scares the world, how can you lag behind others? Therefore, our Beijing camp also needs to vigorously change its equipment - if it is 30,000 guns a year, our Beijing camp will need 15,000!
Do you have the nerve to say that you are the strongest force in Ming Dynasty?
Zhu Yijun just pretended not to see all these statements, and still distributed according to his own wishes. Basically, Liaodong got the biggest share, Jizhen and Xuanda and other places followed suit, and Shaanxi basically made up the numbers. As for further places, especially For the Southern Army, there are even fewer.
However, the Nanjing Ministry of War is not just a freeloader. They have a unique trick: we buy it ourselves.
Southern Zhili, Zhejiang, Guangdong and other places are relatively wealthy. If you squeeze through the governor and fu yamen, you can collect a few hundred thousand taels and buy them from Jinghua - as long as the Nanjing Ministry of War uses the seal.
The system of the Ming Dynasty is very unique. The Nanjing Ministry of War has great real power. The armaments of the southern provinces are directly managed by the Nanjing Ministry of War. Only important matters will be reported to the Beijing Ministry of War or the court. When purchasing from such places, the Nanjing Ministry of War can make the final decision.
It is impossible for the Nanjing Military Department to object to local self-purchase - it does not need to pay for it. When local armaments are strong, the Nanjing Military Department has a strong back, so of course they will not object.
Although Beijing has lost the heavy burden of changing the equipment of the southern provinces, the military strength of Jingying and Jiubian far exceeds that of the south. If the price of guns doubles now, the problem will still be huge.
Where to get money? Zhu Yijun started to have a headache.
"Pragmatic..." After hesitating for a while, Zhu Yijun finally spoke: "How about selling this Wanli style for twenty-eight taels? The Ministry of Household Affairs is really nervous now, and last year Yao'e got married, this year Yao's got married, and next year Prince Lu is about to get married again, and he is also in a bit of embarrassment regarding internal funds..."
Although it only costs 20 taels of silver, changing clothes is a big deal. If you buy 30,000 cigarettes a year, you will save 60,000 taels of silver. If you change the clothes to 300,000 taels in ten years, you will save 600,000 taels. .
This is the first time that the emperor has negotiated the price in person, and this face must be given.
Although sixty thousand taels is not a small amount, it is still acceptable to Gao Pragmatism. After all, the accounting of this transaction is not Zhu Yijun's algorithm, his algorithm is a layman's.
Now the cost of this new carburized steel is relatively high, mainly because the production process is not mature enough. The products produced now are actually products from the temporary production line. In the future, there will definitely be deployment and upgrading of the production line, coupled with the efforts of the workers and craftsmen. The proficiency will gradually increase, the yield rate will definitely increase, and the cost will gradually decrease. If the original price is maintained at that time, it will definitely make a lot of money.
Ahem, because even the second Longqing style is very profitable, not to mention the Wanli first style?
So as long as you change your thinking, you will find that even if you earn 28 taels of silver a piece, you will earn less in the first one or two years. By the third year at the latest, the costs will definitely drop significantly, and the profits will naturally increase all of a sudden.
Therefore, getting orders is the key.
Gao Pingshi sighed and said seriously: "You have your orders, how dare I disobey you? The emperor said twenty-eight taels, so let's go for twenty-eight taels. As for Beijing... I will find a way to explain to them."
Well, Jinghua is a business group. Gao Pragmatic has told Zhu Yijun many times, and Zhu Yijun can understand it.
Seeing Gao pragmatically agreeing, Zhu Yijun breathed a sigh of relief and quickly finalized: "Well, as for the Ministry of Household Affairs, as far as I'm concerned, if it really doesn't work, the extra money will be half provided by the Ministry of Household Affairs and half from the internal funds."
Hey, do you now have the awareness of the Three Great Marches?
