Only by increasing the power of gunpowder can the shortcomings in the range of firearms be solved.
But at present, the Second Artillery Bureau has not yet been set up, and various materials are not in place. Zhu Yunwen can only turn his attention to the muskets and artillery, and start to draw a sketch of the rifle structure.
I also shot a shotgun when I was a kid, so I'm very familiar with it.
Dingyuan City.
Yu Xin stood on the city wall, looking at the people living outside the city, with sunken eyes, and asked slightly with a look of vicissitude: "How many victims are there?"
Huang Zicheng patted the crenellations of the city wall and replied solemnly: "Including the previous victims, the number has reached more than 23,000. Refugees not only came from Huaiyuan, but also from Yingzhou, Wuhe, Guzhen and other places after hearing the news. People follow food.”
"You have also read the imperial decree. Do you think it is feasible?"
Yu Xin was a little worried.
The emperor's will is very clear, which is to use work for relief, so that the victims can go to the capital to work and earn money.
If this was a mandatory decree, Yu Xin would think it was good. It would be easy to implement. He could just move people to the capital. As long as he paid more attention on the way and protected women, children, the elderly and the weak, there wouldn't be much of a problem.
But this is an advocacy decree, and there is no mandatory requirement. It is up to the victims to decide whether to go to the capital or not.
This means that some people will go and some will stay.
The main force for disaster relief in Dingyuan is only a few dozen people, and including Dingyuan government officials, there are less than a hundred people. If half of this number of people is allocated to escort the victims to the capital, wouldn't the manpower in hand be stretched thin?
At that time, I will have to carry food, cook porridge, patrol with sticks, and maintain law and order.
"The emperor's will is right, Mr. Yuge. Although there is no shortage of food in Dingyuan City, it does lack winter clothing. It is already early August. It's okay to say that if we wait until October and the north wind is strong, they will have people. Freezing to death outside, after all, there is no more room for shelter in the city."
Huang Zicheng looked at the autumn sky and said solemnly.
Yu Xin let out a long sigh and said helplessly: "What should we do if the victims are unwilling to go to the capital?"
After all, Dingyuan City is just a county town, and supplies are very limited. If it were not for the mobilization of military rations from the guard station, Qu You leading merchants to collect grain, and merchants from all over the country hearing about the high prices and constantly transporting grain, there would have been problems with the food supply.
The main conflict now is no longer about eating, but about keeping warm.
The August night is already a bit cold, which is to say, if you cover yourself with clothes and light a fire, you can get through it. But if it gets colder, these people will not be able to survive the winter with just the single clothes they wear.
"Do your best and obey fate!"
Huang Zicheng replied seriously.
Yu Xin couldn't think of a better way, so he told Xiong Wucheng: "Post the imperial proposal in the county government, in the city, and outside the city, and find some government servants and calligraphers to explain it to the people, so that they understand why the imperial court wants them to enter the capital. Also tell them that the court will not force them to move."
Xiong Wucheng agreed and turned around to take people to make arrangements.
Li Jiu stood outside the yamen and looked at the notice posted on the wall. He couldn't help but pull Li Laosan and said: "Old squad leader, you have eaten at the public house. Take a look at this notice. Is it a sign of beheading someone?"
Li Laosan broke free from Li Jiu's hand and said viciously: "Yes, he is the one who chopped off your head. Look, it also says Li Jiu..."
Li Jiu suddenly became nervous. Is he going to lose his head just because he ate an extra bowl of rice last night?
"Official documents from the imperial court, please listen."
A government official stood beside the notice and shouted loudly: "The imperial court has said that the capital needs manpower. If you want to go to the capital to contribute some effort and make money to support your family, the imperial court will arrange for people to escort everyone to the capital."
"Don't make any noise!"
The gong rang, and the yamen servant stiffened his neck and shouted: "Listen carefully, I went to the capital, the court is in charge of food and housing, and I also get wages, twenty taels of silver a month. The officials have said it, and they are not forcing it on everyone.
If you want to go, you can go. If you don't want to go, you can stay here and take care of food and housing. Those who want to go to the capital should report to Mr. Huang. They only have three days to think about it. If they are late, they will not wait. "
After hearing this, Li Jiu spat and said in a low voice: "These dog officials, we have all suffered a disaster, and they want us to go to work so far away, that's the devil."
Li Laosan did not speak, but walked out of the crowd and said to the cursing Li Jiu: "Your child is eight years old, right?"
Siluke
Li Jiu nodded, looked at Li Laosan with a serious face, and said, "Old squad leader, what's wrong with you?"
Li Laosan counted with his fingers and said: "Two taels of silver a month, if you work for five months, it will be ten taels of silver. With this money, how can you worry about finding a teacher for your baby? By then, the baby will be able to learn two taels of silver." In 2018, if you go to the county school, won’t your family produce a scholar? My kid is smart, so there’s no reason why he can’t learn well.”
"Here, old squad leader, what do you mean?"
Li Jiu became serious.
Li Laosan chuckled and said: "Your child wants to study, and my child also wants a wife. While we are still able to move, instead of making some money, we just stay here and sleep in the county government office all day? You Li Jiuliang is at peace?"
Li Jiu swallowed and looked a little ugly.
"I have thought about it. I will take my family to the capital. Whether you go or not is up to you. Under the emperor's feet, no matter how presumptuous the officials are, they will not dare to punish us to death. As long as we live and make money, , after returning home, can’t we buy a cow, and we still have to look at other people’s faces?”
Li Laosan made up his mind and strode to the county government office, ready to tell his family the news.
Li Jiu was a little hesitant. He had to go to the capital, and he had to exert his strength. He might even be whipped. Those officials didn't treat people as human beings.
However, two taels of silver a month is better than lying in Dingyuan all day long getting moldy.
The old monitor is right, you have to think about it not only for yourself, but also for your children.
As parents, you have to pave a way for your children to come out. You can just be a cow yourself, and your children can no longer be cows.
The entrance to the west city.
Huang Zicheng sat behind the desk, holding a volume of "Spring and Autumn" in his hand, shaking his head from time to time.
Yu Xin came over, knocked on the desk, and said, "How many people have reported?"
Huang Zicheng stood up to greet him, shook his head bitterly, and said, "Mr. Yuge, no one has reported it yet. In my opinion, we need to send a report to the court immediately, asking them to stop building residences outside Sanmen and prepare winter clothes for the victims. , all-warming stuff.”
Yu Xin looked at the victims gathered in the distance. They were indifferent to the court's notice. They just sat there chatting or sleeping without trying to find a way out.
"Just wait. If there is still no one in three days, then report it to the court urgently and make another plan. The real disaster is laziness."
Yu Xin sighed and walked away lonely.
In the capital, the inspection courses continued to advance. At the same time, the number of memorials to impeach officials increased significantly, and even officials at the level of minister were not spared.
Hou Tai, the Minister of Punishment, was impeached on more than a dozen charges. Hou Tai reluctantly proposed to become an official and apply for retirement.
Zhu Yunwen did not approve it. Instead, he called out the censors who were most violent in the impeachment and asked them to kneel outside the gate of Fengtian Palace and read the impeachment memorial written by him over and over again.
It has simply become a habit for these people to hear things happen.
It is not for you to spread rumors and slander others. Hou Tai helped the old man cross the road and the old man fell. How could it be insulting the people? Is it bad etiquette for Hou Tai to burp a few times after eating? I took two days off when I was sick. How could you tell me that I was slacking off in my work?
Zhu Yunwen told them that there must be evidence for impeachment. Even if there is no evidence and it is collected from Roadside News, then it must at least be marked with the word "reprinted" and make it clear which aunt told you, not your own point of view, right?
These people impeached Hou Tai not out of justice, but out of speculation.
A few days ago, Hou Tai came forward and openly advocated reducing the vassal state and disbanding the vassal king's guard in order to reduce the court's expenditure.
Hou Tai's idea was right, but it was inappropriate, so Zhu Yunwen scolded Hou Tai and asked him to go home and reflect.
As a result, the officials who added insult to injury came.
Criticism by court officials has almost no bottom line.
Zhu Yunwen did not have the energy to look through the impeachment memorials whose authenticity was difficult to distinguish every day. After Yao Guangxiao, Zhang Zhen, Xie Jin and others proposed, a "Verification Department" was set up outside Dong'an Gate to review the authenticity of the impeachment memorials for Beijing officials.
Because the Verification Department is located outside Dong'an Gate, it is also called "East Factory".
Dongguang has a factory official, one for inspecting one thousand households and one for one hundred households, one hundred people for arrests, and one corresponding officer. Except for the factory company, which is the chief ritual supervisor and junior supervisor, all of them are personnel from the Security Bureau.
In order to prevent Dongchang from blocking his eyes and ears and blocking his speech, Zhu Yunwen arranged for the Metropolitan Procuratorate and the Ministry of Personnel to review the results, and at the same time allowed officials to report impeachment reports during court meetings.
The establishment of the Dongchang, its responsibility is only to identify the content of the impeachment of Beijing officials and to find out who is guilty and loyal. It holds the power of investigation. Like the Security Bureau, it does not have the power of arrest or interrogation.
Zhu Yunwen's request for impeachment memorials from places outside the capital was to be delivered to all ministries and the cabinet. After preliminary review by the cabinet, Dongchang was entrusted to go to the local area to investigate.
This arrangement improved the quality of the impeachment memorial and reduced the tendency to use rumors to criticize court officials.
Lian Zining of the Metropolitan Procuratorate was very conflicted about Zhu Yunwen's arrangement.
The support is because the existence of Dongchang can make the Metropolitan Procuratorate's impeachment more precise and effective. Once the facts of the impeachment are found out, the results can be given in a short time.
I don't support it because the existence of Dongchang has greatly restricted the government agency such as the Metropolitan Procuratorate. In the past, you could just open your mouth to talk about things, and impeachment came and went, all the way to heaven.
Now there is a dongchang out of thin air, that is, a wall is built in front of the mouth of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, so the sound may not be able to reach the emperor's ears.
Although the Metropolitan Procuratorate can still go beyond the East Factory and directly report the matter at the court meeting.
But the court meeting is irregular. If it weren't for the serious disasters in recent times, it would be impossible to say that there would only be two meetings in a month.
The status of the Metropolitan Procuratorate seems to have been weakened.
Regardless of Lian Zining's attitude towards Dongchang, he could not prevent the emergence of Dongchang because the cabinet supported it, officials from the six ministries supported it, and even the vast majority of officials also supported it.
Without him, the emergence of Dongchang can protect them from being impeached for no reason.
As long as you act righteously, you will not be afraid of investigation no matter how impeached you are.
It's not like before, when someone wrote a letter of impeachment in the morning, and then the order came in the afternoon: So and so, this is a ticket to experience the prison of the Ministry of Punishment. Please, you don't need to pack your clothes and quilts, the furniture inside is very complete, and there are torture instruments performances...
In the Wuying Hall, Zhu Yunwen looked at the young eunuch Wang Yue who was kneeling below, and said seriously: "The impeachment memorials are divided into priorities. All matters involving the vassal king, the cabinet, the six ministers, the local envoys, the envoys, and the envoys will be commanded. All memorials will be reported to the inner court on the same day, and can only be investigated after I review them. Other memorials will be investigated first to ensure their authenticity and submitted to the cabinet for disposal."
"According to the order."
Wang Yue kowtowed and thanked him.
Zhu Yunwen warned solemnly: "I hope that you will take charge of the Dongchang well and never betray my trust. If you are deceived by corruption, secretly seize memorials, fail to distinguish right from wrong, and confuse the public, I will not forgive you lightly."
Wang Yue quickly shouted: "Your Majesty, our family will fulfill our duties faithfully and we will never dare to betray God's kindness."
Zhu Yunwen asked him to step aside and picked up a document. This was a list of teachers for the prince re-drawn by Xie Jin and Zhang Zhen. There were six names on it, namely:
Fang Xiaoru, Xu Huizu, Qi Tai, Huang Guan, Liu Jun, Lian Zining.
Zhu Yunwen shook his head and sighed, and crossed out three names with his pen. At almost the same time, a country in the far west of the Ming Dynasty was completely obliterated.
