Relatively speaking, Xue Guoguan knew less about military affairs, so he was the first to come to his senses and said: "Your Majesty, this...is this impossible?"
He expressed his opinion again, with the same words, even with the same stutter.
This time, Emperor Chongzhen looked serious. He looked at him and asked, "What's impossible? I'm here to ask you. In the past, catapults were used to attack cities. At that time, could anyone think of using gunpowder?" The Hongyi cannon that propels iron bullets? In the past, gunpowder was used to set off fireworks, but have you ever thought that after the gunpowder formula is improved, it can be used in war..."
Listening to the examples he gave, Xue Guoguan couldn't even stammer out his words this time. Because he couldn’t deny what Emperor Chongzhen said!
After Emperor Chongzhen spoke for a while, he looked at the other two people and said earnestly: "The level of our craftsmen in the Ming Dynasty has stayed at the same level for too long. In many ways, Xiyi is already ahead of us. I believe you Have you more or less seen the things brought by those Western missionaries?"
In fact, even the Hongyi cannon was brought by Xiyi. That's why it's called the Hongyi Cannon. In addition, there are many things, such as telescopes, mirrors, clocks, etc., all brought by Xiyi.
With the intelligence of Lu Xiangsheng and others, they had already guessed what the emperor wanted to express. Others may frown upon this. But Lu Xiangsheng and Sun Chuanting knew that Hongyi's cannons, telescopes, as well as Xiyi's cannon-casting methods and artillery technology were indeed better than those of the Ming Dynasty. If things continue like this, and if Xiyi is close to the Ming Dynasty, the consequences will be unimaginable.
Therefore, the expressions of the two of them immediately became serious. Among them, Sun Chuanting even reported to Emperor Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, Ming Dynasty, it's time for me to change!"
Although the other two people may still be unable to imagine the examples given by the emperor, this does not prevent them from finally agreeing with the emperor's idea.
As a result, the monarch and his ministers began to further discuss the specific details.
Emperor Chongzhen had the imagination and experience of later generations, and his ministers were the top figures living in the contemporary world. If they discussed it together, it would be down-to-earth and feasible.
At the end of the discussion, Sun Chuanting and Lu Xiangsheng were about to take up their posts.
Emperor Chongzhen looked at Sun Chuanting and told him: "You went to Shanhaiguan, go ahead and keep an eye on Shanhaiguan for me. Give me some time, and when the future is safe, I can counterattack Liaodong and regain the lost territory!"
"Wei Chen obeys the order!" Sun Chuanting heard the order and immediately accepted the order.
Then Emperor Chongzhen turned to Lu Xiangsheng and explained to him: "I will try my best to satisfy you about the establishment of a cavalry army proposed by you. It's just that the Ming Dynasty is currently short of horses, and it will take time to assemble war horses. In addition, the navy matter is This is the foundation for you to rebuild Dongjiang Town. You don’t need to wait for news from the Fujian Navy. You can build warships and recruit sailors first.”
"I obey the order!" Lu Xiangsheng heard the order and immediately accepted the order.
He has always advocated the route of elite troops, and the decree he received was that he rebuild Dongjiang Town and contain the Liaodong Jianlu. The best thing is to have a powerful cavalry army. Only in this way can the Jianlu dare not use all his main force. out, detouring through the Mongolian grasslands to attack the pass.
Because his idea had been mentioned to Emperor Chongzhen before. This is also why Emperor Chongzhen said these words.
They all know that for now, the Ming army is not a match for the Jianlu army. Even if the three major battalions under the Royal Horse Supervisor are sent out, even if there is a great victory in Tianjin, they will still not be able to match the Jianlu army.
Because nearly one-third of the current three major battalions are newly recruited soldiers; and their ordnance and armor are not as good as those of Jianlu, and their troops are smaller than the main force of Jianlu; they no longer have the ability to take surprise. It is too difficult to defeat Jianlu in a frontal battle.
Therefore, the current situation must be stabilized, and step by step, relying on the national power of the Ming Dynasty, the military power gap between the two sides can be reversed until Liaodong is defeated.
After saying this, it was already dark, and the discussion between the monarch and his ministers stopped.
A few days later, blacksmith Liu Chengye and his wife returned to the west of the city from outside the city. When their neighbors saw it, they said, "You're back?"
"Well, I'm back!" Liu Chengye agreed. When he was about to walk back to his yard, he suddenly thought of something and asked his neighbor: "Has anyone from the Yamen come to see me?"
"I don't know!" his neighbor replied, "I only came back half a day earlier than you."
His neighbor, Wang Dongming, was also a craftsman and carpenter. He also lived outside the city and had a relative who died at the hands of the rebels.
At this point, Wang Dongming suddenly breathed a long sigh of relief and said, "After paying homage, I felt a lot more relaxed. Otherwise, I would have been thinking about them all day long!"
Liu Chengye listened and nodded. These days, many people in the capital, like them, went back to pay homage to their relatives, and talked about the affair with the captives, so that their relatives could rest in peace.
Seeing that his wife's eyes were still a little swollen, Liu Chengye said nothing more, went into the house with his wife, and put away their luggage.
After finishing their work, the two sat at the table and were speechless for a while. When his wife was about to speak, she saw him stand up, walk to the corner of the room, pick up a wooden board placed there, put his hand to dust it, looked at it carefully, and then turned and walked towards the door.
When his wife saw it, she was a little surprised and said, "Why are we still hanging up the sign? Aren't we planning to go to Jiangnan?"
Hearing her words, Liu Chengye just stopped for a moment before continuing to walk out, and at the same time said: "I'm not going!"
His wife was stunned after hearing this, and when he returned to the house, she asked a little worriedly: "Are you worried about Lu Yin?"
"No." After hearing this, Liu Chengye shook his head and denied it, but he didn't want to tell his wife about his promise because he was afraid that his wife would be worried.
After hearing this, his wife was silent for a moment, and then asked: "What should we do? Here in the capital, we can hardly live anymore!"
Hearing this, Liu Chengye was also worried.
He inquired and found out that the official who let him go was named Lu Xiangsheng and was the governor of Baoding. Letting him go is a good official, so he cannot break his promise to be a good official. If you say you won't run away, you must not run away.
However, on the capital side, as my wife said, it is really difficult to maintain it. Today's blacksmith shops rarely have time to open fire. They managed to sell some ironware, but the little money they earned was not enough to buy food. If it weren't for the current food control in the capital, both members of the family would have starved to death.
Moreover, blacksmithing is a strenuous job. If you don’t have a full stomach and don’t have the strength to strike, how can you make good iron tools? If you can't make good iron tools, fewer people will come to patronize it, which will make it harder to make money.
Now, what should we do? Are you going to work hard? But these days, there is no shortage of people who work hard!
I thought about it left and right, but I just couldn't think of any good way to solve the predicament at hand.
The little money I had saved in the past, even if I had been frugal and frugal, was almost used up. So what should we do next? Liu Chengye couldn't help but feel a little worried when he thought about his current situation.
But even so, he never thought about breaking his promise and immediately going to the south to make a living.
His wife must have noticed her husband's embarrassment. She didn't question anything and just sat quietly.
In this way, the two of them sat in silence for who knows how long, until there were footsteps outside the door, followed by a rapid knock on the door, and Wang Dongming shouted with a little excitement: "Master Liu, are you there? Open the door quickly. , What a happy event..."
What other great things could happen? The couple looked at each other, both a little confused.
He couldn't understand, but it didn't stop Liu Chengye from going over and opening the door. He saw Wang Dongming standing at the door with sweat on his face, but with excitement.
As soon as Liu Chengye opened the door, Wang Dongming smiled and said excitedly: "Go and see, the court has announced that we are saved..."
This was said inexplicably, but his emotions aroused Liu Chengye. After all, he was just worried about his future livelihood, so when he heard it, he was curious and asked quickly: "What announcement?"
"We can go work for the emperor!" Wang Dongming said excitedly, "The original craftsmen who gave us money have been disbanded. There is a lot of money. They also say that if we do a good job, there will be rewards. This way, we don't have to worry about our livelihood. Already..."
The ravages of Jianlu and the skyrocketing prices in the capital pushed families like Liu Chengye back below the poverty line. The same was true for Wang Dongyang's family.
Although what he heard was still a bit unclear, Liu Chengye heard something and quickly asked: "You said that the craftsmen service was cancelled? We were hired instead? This...is this impossible?"
He immediately thought of the army. In the past, the army was composed of military households, and they had been in the army for generations. But later on, that kind of army composed of military households could not be fought at all. During the Jiajing period, it is said that dozens of Japanese pirates were killed in the south, all the way to Yingtianfu City. From this, there was the recruitment of troops, the kind that paid soldiers.
It seems that the craftsman side is also about to change. However, craftsmen are not as important as military households, right? Will this change?
In his opinion, if the army is incompetent, as it is now, thieves will be everywhere and the captives will be rampant, threatening the rule of the government. Therefore, it is conceivable to change. But what about the craftsmen? The incompetence of the craftsmen does not seem to have much influence on the court, right?
Thinking this way, Liu Chengye couldn't believe it. Wang Dongyang saw it, pulled him away, and said excitedly: "If you don't believe it, just go and have a look. I'm telling you, you may not be able to go if you want to. You have to take an assessment, and you can only go if you pass the assessment." Enter..."
"There will definitely be no problem in my husband's assessment." Liu Chengye's daughter-in-law suddenly appeared and said very confidently.
Liu Chengye turned around and saw his wife looking at him, her eyes full of hope.
Liu Chengye nodded, and without Wang Dongyang's pull, he quickly followed him to see the notice.
Along the way, he found that many craftsmen he knew were rushing excitedly to the same destination. Obviously, everyone heard the news and rushed to verify it.
In today's world, life is very difficult for everyone except those who are officials and the wealthy and noble families. If there was such a good thing, it would just solve their predicament, so naturally they would rush to work. This point, not even Emperor Chongzhen, Lu Xiangsheng and others expected, would trigger such an enthusiastic response.
Liu Chengye rushed to the place where the notice was posted, and there were already people standing there. Basically, they are all craftsmen, and they are all talking excitedly.
When Liu Chengye saw it, he became inexplicably more excited. While squeezing in, he listened to what they had to say with open ears.
"I'm going to work in the palace! Give me a salary. Look, even an ordinary craftsman only earns twenty taels of silver a month. This is really great!"
"No, this is higher than the monthly salary of a soldier. Is it true?"
"Why can't it be true? How can this notice be false?"
"Yes, didn't they raid the homes of those Shanxi merchants? The carts of gold, silver and jewels are all too numerous to count. Is the emperor still short of silver?"
"That's right! Besides, do you think any craftsman can get in? Look, it's said on the notice. There is an assessment. Only if you pass the assessment can you be qualified to be an ordinary craftsman!"
"..."
Liu Chengye is confident in his craftsmanship. The fine steel he makes is among the best among all the blacksmiths in the capital. Therefore, I automatically ignored the assessment, and just wanted to see the notice. No matter what, I had to see it with my own eyes, even if I couldn't read.
The iron was strong, but even so, it took a lot of effort to squeeze in. Sure enough, I saw a new announcement. It was quite long and contained a lot of content.
So, he quickly turned his ears and continued listening. Naturally, there were literate people in the crowd.
It happened that a newcomer, who was literate, was reading the notice, so he listened quickly with his ears perked up.
Wang Dongyang was right. The emperor sent back all the craftsmen who were serving as craftsmen in the palace, and instead recruited craftsmen with good skills, paid them salaries, and provided other rewards for good work...
"What? A knighthood?" Liu Chengye suddenly felt incredible as he listened, and quickly interrupted the man.
Finally, a literate person came. The craftsmen around him couldn't wait to hear it again. When he was interrupted like this, they all glared at him, which made Liu Chengye feel a little embarrassed. He quickly said: "You continue, you continue..."
This person obviously knew a lot, so he explained to them all: "This title is similar to the military title of the pre-Qin Dynasty, but it is divided into five levels, which is different from the current princes and princes. However, there are also tax exemptions and exemptions from military service. , I won’t pay my respects to the official..."
Even though Liu Chengye thought his craftsmanship was good, he became nervous when he heard about it. If the emperor's offer was so good, would everyone come to grab it? Can he stand out and become a craftsman in the palace?
Other craftsmen even have this idea. With such good treatment, they are afraid that they will not be able to get in! Correspondingly, many people have opinions on this.
. m.
