Since he ascended the throne, the emperor has made great efforts to rectify the military affairs, paying special attention to the soldiers.
Renewal of military pay, high silver rewards and pensions, honorary titles, building tombs and monuments, writing books and biographies, establishing martial arts halls, etc., allowed all soldiers to relieve their worries.
In the current Ming Dynasty army, as long as you dare to fight and as long as your ideas are feasible and effective, the emperor will never treat you badly.
Can you imagine that an old man with a lot of money and a high reputation personally wrote a plaque for you and was proud of it?
Can you imagine that the high-ranking prefect personally delivers the plaque to your home and chats with your elderly parents about daily life?
Can you imagine that when the local county and government annals are being re-edited, your deeds may be on the first page?
Can you imagine that someone won more than a thousand taels of silver in one battle;
Can you imagine someone being promoted to four or five levels in a row, from an ordinary sergeant to a general banner or a hundred households?
The current Ming Dynasty can be said to have generals who are not afraid of war, soldiers who are not afraid of death, and whose fighting spirit is like a dragon.
Now the emperor has given another title of martyr. The meaning of this title goes straight to their hearts and makes them determined to die for their confidants.
“Today in this martyrs’ cemetery, I want to announce a very good news in front of all the martyrs.
Yesterday, good news came from Seoul. The existing officials and heads of aristocratic families in North Korea have jointly submitted letters of credence, agreeing that North Korea will be peacefully included in the territory of the Ming Dynasty. The blood of the soldiers has not been shed in vain! "
"Your Majesty, Holy Might!"
"Long live your Majesty!"
"The Ming Dynasty is mighty!"
"The Ming army is mighty!"
"Long live the Ming Dynasty!"
…
After only a brief silence, the thundering cheers mixed together and soared into the sky, and then rumbled in the mountains not far away, startling the birds and beasts that had returned to roost in recent days.
Listening to the cheers, Chongzhen suddenly remembered the feeling of later generations' saying "if you all work harder, the good news will come as paper money".
After a while, the cheers slowly subsided, and then became quiet. Chongzhen said in a deep voice: "Today, all the soldiers can come and burn three sticks of incense to pay homage to our fallen soldiers.
Tomorrow, the army will set off at midnight, and the troops will return to the court! "
After Chongzhen finished speaking, he filled the wine glasses on the table in front of the monument before leaving, and the soldiers began to pay homage. This form was almost impossible before the emperor ascended the throne.
As the memorial ceremony was going on, Chongzhen and others returned to the city, and Li Ruolian approached them.
"Your Majesty, I have compiled the information I learned from General Fuso. Please take a look at it!"
After Li Ruolian finished speaking, he took a small box from the door and presented it.
The Fang family, who was a personal guard, quickly took it over, opened the box, and took out the information inside.
Good guy, there are a hundred pages of large 16-page paper, and each page is densely packed.
Chongzhen took it and flipped through it casually, then handed some of them to Yuan Keli and Li Guopu, and said calmly: "You say what you say, I will see mine, don't delay!"
Li Ruolian bowed slightly and said in a deep voice: "Fuso captured a total of eleven generals. Except for Masayuki Hoshina and Munenomi Yagyu, the information the others knew was almost negligible.
I would like to focus on the information revealed by Yagyu Munenomi.
First of all, there is the army, which is divided into those directly under the general and under the control of the daimyo. There are more than 110,000 people directly under the general, 100,000 standing troops, 5,000 general guards and 8,000 artillery.
More than two hundred daimyo control about 250,000 people. This is consistent with what Zheng Zhiqi discovered.
Among the 100,000 people who entered the court this time, 30,000 were under the direct control of the general and 70,000 were under the daimyo. This meant that there were still about 80,000 people in the Tokugawa family and 180,000 in the daimyo, totaling 260,000.
The most important thing in military power is firearms. At least 30% of the standing army is equipped with matchlocks.
Seventy percent of the five thousand generals and guards were equipped with firearms, of which eighty percent were matchlocks, and twenty percent were large barrels, light cannons, and other firearms.
Among the eight thousand artillery, there are 1,500 large cannons, 500 light cannons, 30 red cannons, and nearly 100 French cannons and tiger crouching cannons.
The Red Coat Cannon and the Folan Cannon were technologies purchased from Portugal, while the Crouching Tiger Cannon was copied from the Crouching Tiger Cannon obtained by the Japanese pirates when Qi Jiguang was fighting against the Japanese.
The guard army and artillery were the main reasons why the Tokugawa family dared to entrust daimyo. "
Listening to Li Ruolian's report, Chongzhen's initially indifferent expression became serious.
The number of matchlocks in the Tokugawa family's standing army and shogun's guard army is about 40,000, which is a considerable number.
Of course, it doesn't matter if it's just a matchlock gun. The Ming Dynasty's flintlock guns are far more powerful than their matchlock guns and can be easily crushed. But the problem lies with Fuso's artillery.
The range and power of the large cannons and light cannons can only be considered average, but they can't handle the large number. If they are concentrated, the lethality will be extremely shocking.
The most important thing is the Hongyi cannon, which has a total of thirty. If he hadn't traveled through time to vigorously develop firearms, Fuso's number of Hongyi cannons would have exceeded them.
It's hard to say in field battles, but if the Ming Dynasty attacked Edo City, these thirty cannons could cause huge casualties to the Ming army.
"Your Majesty, according to Yagyu Muneki, the Tokugawa family controls two firearms production workshops. One is on Tanegashima, where Fuso firearms rose.
Moreover, iron ore mining and smelting technology is very advanced, which is not a secret in Fuso. There are about 1,200 craftsmen and more than ten matchlock guns are produced every day;
The other one is on Awaji Island. It is a secret controlled by the Tokugawa family. Very few people know about it. It is mainly responsible for the research and development of various firearms. It has about 500 people and reserves a large amount of refined iron;
Only craftsmen with extremely outstanding performance on Tanegashima will have the opportunity to be selected to be sent to Awaji Island, and they must go through extremely strict investigations.
Although there are few people here, their skills are all top-notch, and they spent a lot of money to hire craftsmen from Portugal and the Netherlands. Once fully operational, they can produce dozens of matchlock guns every day.
If it is to make Hongyi cannon, at least three to five can be made in a month.
Moreover, Awaji Island is the tenth largest island in Fuso and the largest island in the Seto Inland Sea. It is bounded by Akashi Strait to the north, Kitan Strait to the east, Naruto Strait to the southwest, Kii Suido to the south, and Harima Beach to the west. It has an extremely geographical location. important.
The key is that it is very close to Edo Castle. As long as there is a war, no matter which direction it is, Awaji Island's firearms can be quickly transported to Edo Castle for use in the defense of Edo Castle.
And at the critical moment, the Tokugawa family can quickly retreat to Awaji Island and rely on the island's firearms workshop to resist. "
Trouble...
This was the first reaction of Chongzhen, Yuan Keli and others after listening to Li Ruolian's report. They had already expected that Fusang had more standing troops, but the number and strength of this firearm really exceeded their expectations.
But it's just a bit tricky. If there are no casualties, Daming's firearms can easily push it through, but this is obviously not the result they want.
"Your Majesty, in addition to these, Fusang also..."
Before Li Ruolian finished speaking, a burst of rapid horse hooves sounded outside the door. Without any further thought, a guard in uniform entered the door: "Your Majesty, Beijing City 600 Miles is urgent!"
