"...I have read the records of the previous dynasties, and it is recorded that Emperor Taizong established the Shenji Battalion, and its firearms were extremely powerful. The so-called Shenji muskets used iron as arrowheads and fired them with fire. They could reach a hundred steps away, and they were as clever as God, if you hear the voice and lose it, you will arrive. In Yongle, Pingnanjiao, it is especially clever to hand it over to others. It orders the internal officials to supervise the production according to the law. The generals are ordered to be in charge of the Shenji camp, and the internal officials are ordered to supervise the Shenji camp. Gai Shenzhi."
"But what I see today is that the garrison officers everywhere are using wooden muskets and arrows. The national power of the Ming Dynasty is not as good as a hundred years ago. This shows that it is ordinary. I also know that when you mount your horse to conquer the world, you need to dismount your horse to rule the world. Can governing the world include running the army? ? The military equipment is depleted and weak. Once encountering the police, what will the Ming Dynasty rely on to defend its territory? "
During the Yongle period, the emperor established the Three Thousand Battalion, the Five Military Battalion and the Shenji Battalion.
The so-called Three Thousand Battalion refers to the army composed of the Mongolians who were defeated and surrendered at that time. It was originally three thousand people, so it was called Three Thousand Battalion, but later it was far more than three thousand people.
The fifth military camp is an army composed of elite soldiers drawn from various provinces.
The Shenji Battalion is a unit equipped with guns and artillery.
Various history books have different explanations for the specific types of firecrackers used at that time, but generally speaking, they were weapons that could be fired by hand. But it's definitely not as convenient as it is now. And not everyone has a firecracker. Because loading is inconvenient, the Shenji Battalion is actually a team of fifty-seven people. Thirty-three of them are divided into three teams. Eleven people load, eleven pass the firecracker, and eleven Man aims and shoots. The remaining personnel defended with shields.
The trouble is that it is a bit troublesome, but this setting achieves "the gun is silent, against the undefeated formation". In the era of cold weapons, the Shenji Battalion certainly showed its power.
Plus three thousand battalions and five military battalions.
Zhu Di relied on these armed forces to sweep across the desert, and the Ming Dynasty was also conquered by the foreigners. At that time, not to mention the border raids like today, the border ministers reported that the Mongols might invade the Central Plains. It is possible. Zhu Di will order the Ming army to conduct a sweep.
Of course, it did cost a lot of money.
However, despite the significant gap over the past century, the issue of armaments will still cause huge controversy if it is raised today.
Because the money was spent, the people were not in a good place, and neither were the officials. Then they characterized this behavior as the emperor's excessive success and militarism.
Once a war is really launched, hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world will be recruited, which will waste people and money. It is indeed a fact.
"Your Majesty, the complex has become a national policy, and it costs millions of money. Only half of the national wealth is spent on it. In order to fight against the Tatars, the imperial court spares no effort to rectify the horse administration and organize and train the cavalry. There are reasons for this. And listen to Your Majesty seems to want to rebuild the Shenji Camp, but I don’t know where the enemy is to be dealt with?”
The person who said this was not someone else, but Zhang Mao, the censor of the left deputy capital.
Later, Lin Han, the Minister of Rites, also added, "Your Majesty, the wood used for the divine machine gun was called iron pear wood. Its wood is dense and heavy, red in color, and heavy. One shot can reach three hundred paces. It was originally a tribute from Jiaozhi to Beijing. , used in the magic gun. After the Xuande period, the Ming Dynasty withdrew from Jiaozhi, and the court could no longer obtain a large amount of iron pear wood, unless it was purchased at a high price. However, the Ming Dynasty's treasury was empty, and the large amount of iron pear wood purchased could only be stored without being used, so it was impossible to restore the magic of the past. The courage of the machine camp.”
Zhu Houzhao said: "According to your opinion, the court should give up firearms and ignore him. In this case, why did Emperor Taizong set up the Shenji Battalion? Emperor Taizong's martial arts skills were rare in ancient times. Isn't he the wise king I want to imitate? If Speaking of wasting money, my Forbidden City also cost a lot of money, you might as well dismantle it and sell it!"
"Your Majesty, calm down." Zhang Mao reported: "I am just worried that the imperial court's expenses are too high. Your Majesty is not a fatuous person. What you said about strengthening the power of the officers and soldiers is also what the title says. It's just that on the second day of the meeting, Henan and Shandong Zhejiang and Zhejiang have been fighting for a whole day for 400,000 taels of silver to repair the river. All the people ask for are what they want. The military equipment of the imperial court has been greatly improved, so why spend more silver taels?"
Zhang Fuhua, the imperial censor of Zuodu, also warned, "I heard that your Majesty allocated a million dollars of silver to the northern border to ward off the Tatars, and another 350,000 to calm the sea. It is really inappropriate to bring up firearms now! Your Majesty first Ascending Dabao, you should rest with the people, and you must not be wary and exhaust the people of the world!"
Zhu Houzhao frowned a little, "To allocate millions of silver to the northwest, I used the silver from opening the sea. To the southeast to level the sea, I used the silver from sea trade! You said that I will not rest with the people. Which of these silvers came from Are you sending taxes?! I work tirelessly every day to revive the prestige of the Ming Dynasty. Why do you think that I am wasting people's energy in vain?!"
"From the Qin and Han Dynasties to the Sui, Tang, Song and Yuan Dynasties, the military force was strong in the early years of the founding of the country, but in the middle and later periods, the government was corrupt and the army was depleted. Open your eyes and take a look, is it the same in the Ming Dynasty? If it continues to be like this. I feel sleepy, will the Ming Dynasty fall? And you, Lin Shangshu, without Tie Limu, came to me and told me that the court should just give up. You are too easy to be a minister. You spread your hands and say you can't do it. Come on, there is no one saying how to do it, do you want me to chop wood for you, then what do I need you for?!"
The emperor used to lose his temper.
But after so many years, it has actually become less and less.
But today I couldn't hold back my temper.
The main reason was that Zhu Houzhao suddenly felt that it was very difficult to do something. He did not bother the treasury, but he still had to face many obstacles. It seemed that even if the emperor got some money, he should leave it to them to decide how to spend it.
When the ministers saw that the emperor was angry, most of them did not dare to say anything and knelt down silently, all with their heads lowered.
Zhu Houzhao flicked his sleeves and said, "Li Dongyang and Xie Qian, the great scholars, Wang Bing, the minister of the Ministry of War, and Zeng Jian, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, listened to the decree."
The four elderly people moved forward and knelt together, "I'm here."
"I would like to transfer a guard group from among the Supreme Guards to the Shenji Battalion, and allocate 300,000 taels of silver for the purchase of firearms!"
purchase?
When everyone heard this word, they were a little surprised.
"The imperial court is seeking to purchase firecrackers from all over the world. All capable craftsmen and craftsmen who can make firecrackers and artillery can recommend themselves to the court. The cabinet, the Ministry of War, and the Ministry of Industry work together to prepare for the test-firing ceremony. The one with the highest quality and lowest price will win. , after winning, the imperial court increased the price to purchase equipment for one guard! It was for the new Shenji Camp!
】
"
After the announcement, Zhu Houzhao didn't want to say anything else, "Quit the court!"
He couldn't do this in the past.
But now that the court is completely under his control, discussing this and that as an issue is just a show. He has already said that the issue on the issue is not whether it should be done, but how to do it.
If you want to do this, then don't even act like this, just issue an imperial edict and do what you say. Is there anyone who dares to resist the decree?
In fact, when I put it on the last day, I vaguely thought of the possibility.
That's fine, it will end tomorrow anyway.
After the imperial meeting, the emperor was exempted from the imperial court for three days, but the imperial edict was not exempted from the consequences. The attendants would check to see if the imperial edict had been drafted.
In fact, Zhu Houzhao has been thinking about the procurement method for a while.
For things like weapons, it is indeed unnecessary for the court to set up a research institute and invest in them themselves. Originally, it could be purchased from the private sector. Once a weapon is ordered, a relatively large factory can be established quickly.
The methods adopted in later generations still have a certain scientific nature.
In this way, not all the money spent by the court was exchanged for a few houses, but at least something could be built.
In the same way, war horses are also a kind of 'weapon' in this era.
Therefore, the imperial court allocated silver to the officers and soldiers to purchase it from Taipus Temple, and the silver earned from the purchase was used to maintain and expand the official horse farm. Currently, there are not enough war horses, so they are only used by the army. In the future, they can also be sold to civilians for transportation.
Only when all the horses sold are profitable, is this a healthy model.
Of course, even if there is profit, it is probably not enough to continue to expand the horse farm, so the court also has to allocate money to Taipu Temple, which is another matter.
What Zhu Houzhao is doing is to slowly straighten out these relationships and logic. These groups can be called quasi-state-owned enterprises for the time being. They need to grow step by step and become new vested interest groups in order to be able to fight against the old, conservative vested interest groups.
The most important thing about reform is to cultivate new interest groups, otherwise the people and the government will surely die.
To put it simply... when there are several large weapons manufacturing factories that always need 'orders' from the court every year, they will naturally have the urge to gain political weight to maintain or even expand the equipment and firearms currently proposed by Zhu Houzhao. This kind of thinking.
If someone says, without war, there would be no need for these things. Simple, just create a war.
By that time, the farming culture will also like to wage war. Because one of the reasons for loving peace is that war does not make money.
If Ma Zheng also has a group of people who rely on this to gain benefits, then if the court wants to abandon Ma Zheng, there will naturally be opposition.
Now there are only a bunch of landowners in the court. Of course they do nothing. They focus on farming every day and let the people be tenants and farm the land honestly.
It's a coincidence,
As soon as the meeting was over, it began to rain lightly.
Spring rain, the light rain on the sky street is as moist as crisp, the color of grass looks far away but not up close.
The carriages and horses going back from various places were blocked by the rain, but this did not prevent people from enjoying the scenery in the capital and listening to the rain and drinking tea. Several eunuchs held paper umbrellas, crossed the alley and knocked on the door of Mei Mansion.
There was a favor in the palace, and the Gu family of Mei Mansion was allowed to enter the palace to visit the two nobles in Yongshou Palace.
