Chapter 505 Equipment

Next are some specific job appointments and various regulations. These things that should be changed are basically like this, so there is no need to go into too much detail.

And with the establishment of the reform of the Beijing camp and the nine-side system, what is left are some words behind closed doors.

"The Imperial Master, Uncle Zhongcheng, and several Dukes will stay together. The others can leave."

Zhu Di knocked on the table, and the generals responded with a roar, and then dispersed with the rustling of armor leaves.

In such a large conference hall, apart from Zhu Di, there were only six people left including Jiang Xinghuo, Ru Yu, Zhu Neng, Qiu Fu, Yao Guangxiao, and Xu Jingchang.

Jiang Xinghuo actually discovered something that was of special concern, that is, after the completion of the transfer of power in the Fifth Army Governor's Mansion, the overall age of the senior officials was still relatively young. The princes and princes were generally in their thirties and forties. There are very few veterans of this age.

Among the dozens of people, the older ones can basically be counted on one hand, including Rong Guo Gong Yao Guangxiao (69 years old), Qi Guo Gong Qiu Fu (61 years old), Xing'an Bo Xu Xiang (72 years old), Yingcheng Bo Sun Yan (65 years old), these are the four.

Does this matter make sense? Of course it makes sense. The significance lies in that people of different age groups have completely different attitudes and tendencies toward the same thing. Generally speaking, the older they get, the more cautious and slow they are. This is also commonly known as "the older you get, the less courageous you are." , while young people are relatively aggressive, which is reflected in soldiers, that is, young generals are usually brave, aggressive, and enterprising, while old generals are generally cautious and cautious at every step.

When the top military leaders are generally "young and strong", they will be more inclined to make achievements, expand their territory outwards, and implement active foreign policies.

"Squeak~"

The door of the conference hall was closed, and when the light was cut off, a solemn atmosphere filled the air.

Zhu Di was wearing heavy armor, revealing the murderous aura and sense of oppression that were deliberately suppressed when wearing dragon robes.

“Let’s say a few words of personal reflection behind closed doors.”

Zhu Di moved his back from the back of the chair, bent one elbow and supported his knees, and glanced at everyone.

"I've had enough of this south side."

"While we have time now, we must organize and prepare the army. In the spring of this year, the snow on the road will melt, the mud will dry up, and the army will go north."

"Go to Henan and enter Guanzhong directly from the west of Tongguan."

Zhu Di said bitterly: "King Qin and King Jin, these two little bastards, the butcher's knife that Jianwen used to cut down the feudal vassal fell on their heads. Instead of resisting, they joined hands to help Jianwen. I will deal with them this year." both."

Everyone was silent after hearing this.

The reduction of vassals is not only the old and new grudges between the Qin and Jin vassals and Zhu Di, but also the inevitable need of the entire northern border defense system. There is nothing to say about this, but it is better for outsiders to interfere with the royal affairs.

"At that time, let Sheng Yong and Ping An lead their troops to the Jin Dynasty from the north, and Xu Huizu enter the Jin Dynasty from the east via Jingxing Road, and deal with them all at once."

"As for the matter on the grassland, Beiyuan has just disintegrated. The Oara tribe is in the west and the Tatar tribe is in the east. The Oara tribe is not that aggressive. In addition, it is beyond our reach, so we can let them go for the time being. But I must fight against the Tatar tribe. Not only It’s for the Wara tribe to see, and it’s even more for the Uliangha tribe to see.”

The Wuliangha tribe, also known as the Duoyan Sanwei, also known as the Wuliangha Sanwei, belongs to the lineage of Temuge Ochijin, Genghis Khan's younger brother. At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, it was commanded by Azasili, the king of Liao, and nomadic in the south of the Greater Khingan Mountains. region, and two things happened in the middle and late Hongwu Dynasty that made the Ulliangha tribe begin to lean towards the Ming Dynasty. The first thing was that in the 20th year of Hongwu, Beiyuan Taiwei Naha came out to lead his troops to surrender to the Ming Dynasty. The second thing was In the 21st year of Hongwu, Lan Yu won a great victory at Yuerhai. The battle of Yuerhai caused Beiyuan to lose all its vitality. The failure of Beiyuan in this battle also left the Mongolian tribes east of the Greater Khingan Mountains isolated and helpless. In this situation, they could only choose to surrender to the Ming Dynasty, so in the 21st year of Hongwu, King Azha of the Liao Dynasty felt the huge pressure to survive. In November, he sent an envoy to Lao Zhu to surrender.

Lao Zhu accepted Azasili's request to surrender, and in May of the 22nd year of Hongwu, he divided his tribe into three, and set up Duoyan, Taining and Fuyu guards in the Shanyang area. Of the three Jisuwei under Daning Dusi, Duoyanwei was in the upper reaches of the Quli River (referring to the Guileli River, the southern branch of the Taoer River) and the Duoyan Mountain area; Tainingwei was in the Taer River (today's Taoer River) River) basin, that is, Taining Road in the Yuan Dynasty; Fuyuwei was in the Nenjiang and Fuyu River (today's Wuyuer River) basins.

But Uliangha has always had the tradition of jumping left and right. When Azashili realized that the Ming Dynasty had no intention of continuing the northern expedition in Liaodong and launched a campaign similar to the one in Yuerhai, he soon fell in love in the 23rd year of Hongwu. Betrayed the Ming Dynasty again.

For this reason, in the 24th year of Hongwu, Lao Zhu ordered the King of Yan Zhu Di and the Duke of Ying Fu Youde to lead the army out of the fortress to clear out the three guards. This was the first time Zhu Di had dealt with the three guards of Duoyan.

Well, mingle in a physical sense.

However, due to the cost of governance, the Ming Dynasty only maintained effective rule in Shenyang and other areas in the Liaohe Plain. Because there was a lack of population for immigration, in addition to the Liaohe Plain, the entire deep mountains and old forests in the Northeast and the grasslands close to Mongolia were all invaded by the Jurchens and The Mongols occupied it.

Lao Zhu knew very well that he could not exercise actual control in these places, so he had no intention of completely wiping out the three guards of Duoyan. Instead, he established a buffer zone along the Liao River to isolate the three guards far north of Daning and Hedong, and Strictly prevent them from infiltrating into the Ming Dynasty's actual control area.

The incident of the Zhou vassal army going north that King Zhou mentioned before happened in the 29th year of Hongwu. Because King Ning reported that "nearby cavalry patrolling the fortress saw some radiation left in the road", Lao Zhu ordered King Zhu Di of Yan selected elite soldiers and strong horses to arrive in Daning and monitor the three guards of Duoyan along the north and south of the river.

At the time of Jingnan, Zhu Di rushed thousands of miles to attack Daning, taking with him the soldiers and horses of the Daning Dusi. As for the so-called "Duoyan Sanwei mercenaries", it was a rumor spread by the Jianwen court. Do you think there were any Duoyan Sanwei people following Zhu Dijing? Disaster? There must be some, but the number is very small, and most of them are spontaneous actions. The three guards of Duoyan are still on the sidelines, after all, the two sides have always been enemies before.

In order to win in public opinion, the Jianwen court naturally described all the Tartar officials as soldiers borrowed from the Mongols by King Yan, and used it to blacken Zhu Di's son-emperor Shi Jingtang.

In essence, the Yan army has many Tatar officers, which is a legacy of history. But in any case, these Tatar officers are Zhu Di's subordinates and are the product of the long-term inward migration of the Mongols. Even if the fight is difficult, Zhu Di really has not found the north. Yuan borrowed troops, such a big issue of right and wrong must be tenable.

After the end of the Jingnan period, Zhu Di also ordered the reconstruction of Daning, Yingzhou, Xingzhou and other guards, and began to restore the two capital divisions of Peking and Daning that had been deducted by him, so that the Ming army could return to garrison outside the pass.

But at this time, the military presence of the Ming army outside the pass is really not optimistic. Especially the Daning Dusi, which was originally strong and strong, has indeed shrunk from a tiger to a sick cat. The attitude of the Daning generals is also something Zhu Di needs to consider here. Therefore, Zhu Di needs to regularly demonstrate or take the initiative to attack the Uuliangha tribe to maintain the balance in the Northeast and buy time for the Daning Dusi to recover.

The Ulyanha Tribe and the Tartar Tribe are not of the same mind at all, and to be honest, these wallflowers in the Ulyanha Tribe are quite worthless. They are the most timid and fearful of all the Mongolian tribes. They don’t have any big pursuits. They just need to survive, which is rare. Making trouble. Unless they are really suffering from a disaster and can no longer survive, they will consider using the knife. Otherwise, they usually look like honest and honest herdsmen.

The main reason is that Wu Liangha has nothing to rob even if he uses the knife. To the west are the Tatars, to the east are the Jurchens in the mountains, and to the south are the Ming military households in the Liaohe Plain. They are all hard-fought.

"How about a large army marching north to attack the Tatar tribe, and then if the battle is over, some of the troops can be divided and march eastward depending on the situation, forcing the Uliangha tribe to assist in sending troops to attack the Jurchens?"

At this time Jiang Xinghuo suddenly said.

The Jurchens were always a big hidden danger. Of course Jiang Xinghuo knew that without the Jurchens, there might still be male ones. The foreign races were always like leeks in the ground, growing one after another and never being cut off.

But the problem is that Jiang Xinghuo cannot do it if he still remains indifferent now that he knows the impact that the Jurchens may have on Chinese history.

So although it was clear rationally that even if the Jurchens were annihilated, it might not really have any effect, Jiang Xinghuo still felt that it needed to be done.

Even if you have to vent your feelings, it's still worth it.

Before Zhu Di could speak, Zhu Neng said first: "The key lies not with the Jurchens, but with North Korea."

"That's the truth."

Qiu Fu also said: "North Korea has been secretly building forts, surrendering the Jurchen tribes in Haixi, and pushing the border to the west. It is easy to annihilate the Jurchens. How many tens of thousands of Jurchens are there? The problem is that the Jurchens are gone. Changbai Mountain There is such a large area in the mountainous area, and North Korea has few people and many people can move around, but we cannot stand."

Ru Yu also spoke cautiously at this time: "There is a saying about Changbai Mountain. The Book of Mountains and Seas calls it Buxian Mountain. The reason is because Changbai Mountain is covered with snow all year round. The snow is pure white and resembles salt but not salty, so it is called Buxian Mountain." Buxian Mountain. In the Northern Wei Dynasty, it was called Gaima Mountain, Tutai Mountain, and Taihuang Mountain. In the Tang Dynasty, it was renamed Taibai Mountain. The name of Changbai Mountain began in the Jin Dynasty and has been used to this day. This mountain is also the name of the former Goguryeo Mountain. The ruling core of the kingdom has always been remembered by North Koreans."

After Ru Yu's explanation, everyone had a rough understanding. The main barriers lay in two places.

One is that in Korean mythology, the ancestor of the Korean people was named Dangun. He was the son of the mountain god. After establishing the dynasty, he ruled the dynasty for a period of time, and later lived in seclusion in the mountains and forests again. The place of seclusion was called Taebaeksan Mountain, but this place is actually A mountain in North Korea is not Taibai Mountain in China during the Tang Dynasty. However, Koreans spread rumors and believed that Changbai Mountain should be their holy land in terms of myths and legends.

The second is that the Kingdom of Goguryeo, which had been in direct contact with the Sui Dynasty and the Tang Dynasty in history, originated from Changbai Mountain. However, what I want to say here is that although the Kingdom of Goguryeo and the Kingdom of Goguryeo have only one word difference, they are actually completely different. The Goguryeo regime was a frontier regime established in Goguryeo County, Xuantu County, during the Western Han Dynasty by Zhu Meng, a native of Fuyu. Its territory spanned parts of northeastern China and the northern part of the Korean Peninsula; the Goguryeo Dynasty, also known as the Wang Goryeo regime, was a new The regime established on the Korean Peninsula by the Koryo people, composed mainly of Luo and Baekje people, derived its political and legal system from the Silla regime that unified the Korean Peninsula.

After the founding of the Kingdom of Goryeo, under the influence of the policy of "big things", it successively became ministers of the Later Tang Dynasty, Later Jin Dynasty, Later Han Dynasty, Later Zhou Dynasty, Northern Song Dynasty, Liao Dynasty, Jin Dynasty, Yuan Dynasty and Ming Dynasty, emphasizing that whoever is stronger is my father. He has maintained a very stable father-son relationship with the Central Plains Dynasty.

The Kingdom of Goryeo and the current Kingdom of Joseon are of the same origin in terms of territory and legal principles. Twelve years ago, Li Chenggui deposed the last king of Goryeo and established the Joseon Dynasty of the Joseon Dynasty.

But as mentioned before, Li's North Korea was not honest at all. Relying on the rich military assets left behind as the Yuan Dynasty's eastern province, while outwardly surrendering to the Ming Dynasty, it had been making small moves secretly.

After Li Fangyuan imprisoned his father and brother and came to power, he also behaved in the same way. Relying on his old friendship with Zhu Di, he always wanted to control the Ming Dynasty in a submissive manner to a small country.

As for whether he also usurped the throne to gain the country, whether he compares himself to Zhu Di or looks down on Zhu Di is unknown. In short, he is still very humble on the surface. Every time the envoys are sent, they are respectful to the Ming Dynasty and often talk about my family. Your Majesty and His Majesty the Great Emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

So, in short, in the eyes of the Ming Dynasty's monarchs and ministers, the current eradication of the Jurchens is really not a matter of ability.

If the Ming Dynasty wanted to annihilate the Jurchens and wipe this tribe from the world, it could be done easily.

The problem is that in Liaodong in the Ming Dynasty, there are only a total of more than 200,000 people, more than half of whom are military households. The Jurchens have been wiped out and directly returned to the primitive tribal era. No problem. The Jurchens are in Changbai Mountain Should the habitats of other places be given to the Koreans in vain?

North Korea now has a population of six million, and Ming Dynasty has a population of 60 million. Judging from the total population, Ming Dynasty is of course much larger than North Korea, but the problem is that you have to combine population with land area! A place as big as the Ming Dynasty, with a population of 60 million, is generally characterized by fewer people and more land (some areas have more people and less land, such as Jiangnan and Jiangxi). Although the northern part of the Korean Peninsula is also mountainous, it has a population of 6 million. For this For North Korea in this era, it is still a bit crowded.

It is precisely because of this population pressure that North Korea has the endogenous motivation to open up foreign lands. If it can't plant all its own land, North Korea will definitely not choose to carry out these small actions on the border under the watchful eye of the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Di suddenly slapped the table: "What do you want to do with this? When the time comes, we will drive the troops eastward, and then let the Liaodong capital commander go northward, and coerce Duoyan Sanwei and Li Fangyuan to send troops together. We originally planned to do it slowly. Just kill them all? Just destroy them all first. Destroy the Jurchens, and then station troops across the Yalu River. There is no need for ordinary people. First, the boundary river is stabilized, and supplies are transported by sea. If the Koreans refuse to accept it, they will directly bulldoze Korea and replace it with a king, or simply merge it with the Ming Dynasty. Wouldn't everything be solved? "

Gu Cheng's previous plan was to deal with the Jurchen's most powerful Aoduoli tribe first, then to intimidate North Korea, and then to deal with the Huli Gai tribe and Towen tribe. But if the main force of the Ming army really returns to the north, it will be done in sequence. It’s still one pot, there really is no difference.

If he compares himself with others, Jiang Xinghuo also knows very well that no one except himself now regards the Jurchen as a threat. In fact, the Jurchen is a dog raised by the Ming Dynasty to guard the house and live in a kennel to prevent North Korea at the border. If the Jurchens are killed due to the infiltration of people, then the Ming Dynasty will have to garrison its own troops.

There were no local people, and the conditions for cultivated land were poor. It was difficult for the military settlement to be self-sufficient.

Just calculating the economic accounts is a blood loss.

But Jiang Xinghuo felt that this was not just a matter of economic accounts.

"It is of course easy to replace North Korea with a king, but if you want to eat North Korea in one go, the current Ming Dynasty may not be able to do it."

Yao Guangxiao suddenly said at this time.

Zhu Di shunned the slope and said: "Then garrison? What do the Imperial Guards think? Garrisoning costs a lot of money. This money is a bottomless pit, and we have to throw it into it year after year."

Why rarely did the Central Plains dynasties choose to annex the Korean Peninsula? The important problem is that the cost of rule is too high and the assimilation time is too long. The Goryeo Dynasty has been a country for nearly five hundred years, and the top and bottom have long been integrated into one. The Mongols are not It was annexed, but it was still unable to form an effective rule. It still used the same method of replacing officials and imprisoning officials. When the force was strong, it could be subdued. Without the strong force, the locals would be driven away immediately. And those who govern the place are Those local powerful and aristocratic families.

The same was true for the Qing Dynasty in Jiang Xinghuo's previous life. After the establishment of the Hou Jin regime, attacking North Korea was like pinching a chicken, but they did not choose to annex it. The reason behind this is the same.

Of course, everything can actually be attributed to whether the benefits are attractive enough.

To put it bluntly, it is to attack North Korea, and the efforts and rewards are not proportional.

But attacking Japan is different. If you attack Japan, the gold and silver mountains are real wealth, and they can be mined for hundreds of years. This belongs to the category of "If God does not take it, you will be blamed." If you don't fight, you will be sorry. Lao Zhu.

But in theory, the cross-sea expedition against Japan does not necessarily require an attack on North Korea.

Just a few springboards such as Jeju Island and Tsushima Island are enough.

After all, if we set sail from the Yangtze River to transport troops, this distance can be reached in a few days with smooth sailing.

If we take the overland route to North Korea, it will take several months.

From a time perspective, it's completely unnecessary.

When attacking Japan, it is enough to coerce the Koreans to provide materials and manpower.

It is easy to change the king of North Korea, but annexing North Korea is a matter that requires a long-term investment of manpower, material resources and energy, at least the current Ming Dynasty should not be able to do it.

Therefore, everyone has always spoken harshly about this matter, but their accounts are clear in their hearts.

"The Jurchens must be destroyed."

Jiang Xinghuo had such an attitude, and then said: "Just station the troops along the Yalu River. It happens to be looking at the border trade with North Korea. Anyway, the "Ming Dynasty Free Trade Contract" has been signed. The tax collected from trade every year is enough to support the garrison. , at most it’s a matter of making less money.”

"become."

Now the only items that North Korea needs to pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty every year are buffaloes, and war horses and the like are all goods for free trade on the border.

It's just that the place where Ming Dynasty and North Korea trade now is not on the land border, but on Jeju Island.

If the Ming Dynasty can use part of its garrison to actually control the land border, then North Korea can also do transactions in the north, and then all supplies will be transferred from Denglai.

These major military events this year, including the reduction of vassal states, revenge against the Tatars, and the annihilation of the Jurchens, were basically decided at the beginning of the year, and other things followed.

"I stopped by today to see the progress of the new weapons first, and then go to the field to inspect the defensive effect of the bastion."

"Vice President Xu, please lead the way."

Zhu Di joked, but this sentence made Ru Ru's heart tremble.

Things that had been vaguely rumored before may come true this time.

There are always well-informed people leaking that because of Jiang Xinghuo's effectiveness in leading the reform in the past year, in the second year of Yongle, the President's Reform Affairs Office was deliberately strengthened by the emperor.

In fact, this is indeed the case. The two organizations, the Ordnance Bureau of the Ministry of Industry and the War Bureau of the Imperial Palace, used to work hand in hand, manufacturing various military products at the same time. However, now the entire new light and heavy industry system has been unified according to the plan. management.

The handicraft workshops in the cotton textile industry are now solely owned by the royal family, but they are not owned by the inner court, because if they are left to the eunuchs to manage, they will be ruined in a short time. Currently, Xu Jingchang is in charge, but the name is somewhat unfair, including textiles. Within the country, light industrial products such as fertilizers, glass, cement, perfume, and liquor are planned to be uniformly allocated to the President's Reform Affairs Office this year.

This is not only what Jiang Xinghuo has achieved through his hard work over the past year, but it is also an inevitable adjustment that he will face as the reform process deepens.

The main task of the president's reform affairs office is to make money. In other words, for the emperor, the greatest significance of reform is to make money.

Therefore, after this round of adjustments, most of the following departments are related to making money.

The President's Reform Affairs Office is expected to expand to "four departments and one office", which includes four departments: the Industrial Department, the Commercial Department, the Municipal Shipping Department, and the Banking Department, plus a separate Ming Pao Office, which is already considered a standard ministerial configuration. Well, it’s similar to the Sixth Department. It’s said to be the President’s Reform Affairs Office, but actually it’s more reasonable to rename it the “Industrial, Commercial and Financial Department”.

Different from the traditional civil service yamen, Zhu Di directly assigned two princes as vice-presidents, each in charge of a department.

The Industrial Department is headed by Ding Guogong Xu Jingchang, which includes various specialized commodities in light and heavy industries, as well as independent research and development institutions for next-generation technologies such as steam engines and machine tools, and the two downstream military product production departments, namely the Ordnance Bureau The Hebingzhan Bureau was merged into the Weapons Bureau, and was also merged here.

The reason why Xu Jingchang, a nobleman, should be responsible instead of a civil servant is because the heavy industry here directly involves the production of weapons and equipment of the Ming army and cannot be handed over to civil servants. Even if it is light industry that does not involve this aspect, These specialized products are all cash cows that can make money, and Zhu Di couldn't hand them over to civil servants, so they were simply merged together.

The Coal and Iron Department and the Ordnance Bureau can be regarded as Jiang Xinghuo cutting off a piece of flesh from the Ministry of Industry.

As for the military situation in the inner court, it doesn't matter. This is a matter of Zhu Di's words.

Yao Guangxiao is in charge of the Commercial Department because the cement concrete has been completed and paving the road will begin next year. Regarding business roads, there are still a series of complicated matters to negotiate with the local government and the central government. Except for Yao Guangxiao, others may not be able to handle them well.

The Municipal Shipping Department is equivalent to directly holding the customs in its hands. This is the intended meaning of the title, because the policy of opening Haiyuguo has been promoted by the President's Reform Affairs Office, or in other words, the abolition of the maritime ban policy was initiated by Jiang Xinghuo He pushed it, so the sea trade stall that was just opened must also be under his control.

The last banking department is Daming Bank. This is also the business that Jiang Xinghuo focuses on. Restoring the value of treasure banknotes and exchanging banknotes, I am afraid no one can figure it out except Jiang Xinghuo.

Therefore, what I went to visit today was actually the Weapons Bureau of the Industrial Department that had just been integrated under the President's Reform Affairs Office, and was managed by Xu Jingchang, the incoming vice president.

It's just that these haven't been announced yet, and we have to wait for the results of the Beijing inspection, but the senior officials believe it.

In fact, with the gradual success of the reform, it is inevitable that the power of the president's reform affairs office will expand accordingly.

It's just that Jiang Xinghuo's growing authority is definitely something that some people don't want to see.

Ordnance Bureau weapons testing site.

After the merger of the Ordnance Bureau, the Warfare Bureau and the Artillery Foundry, they have been moved to a new site outside the city.

The main reason is that there are too many explosive dangerous goods. If one is not careful, it can easily have a huge impact on the entire city of Nanjing. Jiang Xinghuo has heard of the rumors of the Apocalypse explosion, so this kind of thing will not be a long-term pain. It's a short-term pain. It would be better for everyone to move out of the city as soon as possible.

Moreover, the open space outside the city is also conducive to experiments with various weapons.

The new equipment we want to see today is mainly cotton-iron composite armor that may be installed in small batches in the Beijing camp, as well as new artillery made of low-phosphorus steel, and a demonstration of a matchlock gun equipped with paper-cased custom-loaded ammunition.

The cotton-iron composite armor painted in the Ming army's standard red was draped on the dummy and presented to everyone.

The previous batch sent to Beijing were specially made cotton-iron composite armors as gifts for senior generals, and these are the actual cotton-iron composite armors for ordinary soldiers.

Taking into account the average height of the soldiers, the size of this cotton-iron composite armor is slightly smaller than the previous cotton-iron composite armor, and the overall size is more bloated.

This bloat is mainly due to the increased weight of the iron sheets in order to have the proper defensive effect. Furthermore, considering the cold winter weather conditions in the north, the cotton sheets are also made thicker, so they do not look so handsome. , but it is warm enough to wear and has enough defense.

In addition, a heart guard made of two curved half-copper plates is installed on the chest to protect the heart and prevent it from being penetrated. In addition, there are also elbows and knees. The important parts that need to be moved are also protected, and with the addition of Doudou, such a set of equipment can be said to be airtight from top to bottom, with only one face exposed.

"How does the cost of this kind of cotton armor compare to that of pierced armor?"

"It's much cheaper. The same set of cotton armor is about a quarter of the cost of pierced armor."

This is actually nonsense. It costs sixty kilograms to pierce armor and two to three thousand pieces of armor. The total weight of cotton armor is less than thirty kilograms, and the number of iron pieces inside is only a few hundred. Even if the cotton is compacted, it will cost a few money? As long as the number of iron sheets is reduced, the cost will also be reduced.

"What about defense?"

"The defensive effect against swords, guns and crossbows is slightly weaker than that of piercing armor, which is about 60 to 70% effective. However, the defensive effect against blunt weapons such as fire guns and bones is significantly higher than that of piercing armor."

Zhu Di and Zhu Neng personally tested it. At fifty paces away, even a standard walking bow could not penetrate. When they got closer to twenty paces, cotton armor could penetrate. However, when a bow arrow hit a armored body, it would still be like a hedgehog. almost.

Zhu Di was not too disappointed. After all, pierced armor generally had several layers of armor, while cotton armor was much thinner. It could not withstand a powerful bow at close range, and it was normal for it to be penetrated.

But if the battle really reaches a distance of twenty steps, to be honest, it doesn't matter even if it is penetrated by a bow and arrow.

Then, Zhu Di and Zhu Neng used the standard waist knives of the Ming army to chop cotton armor and pierced armor. Just by chopping, the resistance effects of cotton armor and pierced armor were almost the same, and there was no obvious difference. , the difference can only be seen if the spear is used for stabbing.

Piercing armor can withstand spear thrusts at close range, but cotton armor can only do so in certain areas, that is, the upper torso where the armor leaves are relatively thick and are protected. However, there are not enough armor patches on the arms and thighs. Not thick enough, so the spear can still do effective damage.

If we only go so far, then cotton armor is obviously a low-end product with only disadvantages and no advantages.

But the next test surprised Zhu Di and others.

The most feared thing about armor piercing is blunt objects. Often it is okay to pierce armor, but the person inside has been beaten to death. However, the test of cotton armor's resistance to blunt blows has shown a very significant effect.

Whether it is a meteor hammer or a bone, if it is hit on the cotton armor, the cotton armor can effectively absorb bludgeoning damage and protect the soldiers inside.

Cotton armor also works well when tested against fire weapons.

Lead bullets can effectively penetrate armor at close range, but they cannot penetrate cotton armor with fewer and thinner armor leaves, because another layer of thick, compacted cotton on top of the cotton armor can fully absorb the kinetic energy of the lead bullet.

After some testing, Zhu Di had an idea of ​​whether to choose the new cotton-iron composite armor as the equipment for the northern Ming army.

As the pinnacle of heavily armored warriors in the Song, Liao, Jin and Xia dynasties, Zhanjia is a product of the arms race. Everyone is stacking up the armor’s defensive quality and relying on the iron canned corps to be the winner on the battlefield. If you don’t use Zhanjia If it were made stronger, it would be at a distinct disadvantage.

But times are different now. In this era, the Ming Dynasty has no opponents similar to the Liao, Jin, Xia and Song Dynasties. Therefore, the defensive power of the armor only needs to be about the same. It does not need to be perfect. Perfection requires a huge cost. When installing armor for ordinary soldiers, the first option that needs to be considered is cost-effectiveness.

Moreover, in addition to keeping warm in the north, cotton armor is also an important highlight from the perspective of the development trend of future wars.

Therefore, the cost of cotton armor, which is only one-fourth of that of pierced armor, is almost the same as that of pierced armor in terms of resistance to slashing, but slightly inferior in resistance to puncture, but it has more outstanding performance in resistance to blunt objects and firearms. Combined with the latest The key cost-effectiveness seems attractive enough.

"The current armor coverage rate in the Beijing camp is about 80%, of which 40% are cowhide armor, 20% are iron armor, and 20% are leather armor. If 200,000 people are all equipped with cotton armor, how long will it take? Ten years? Twenty years? "

This question was obviously asked casually by Zhu Di. Firstly, the Beijing camp does not need to wear armor at all. Secondly, in the era of cold weapons, the armor rate is now 80%. Although it is a mixture of cowhide armor, iron armor and piercing armor, it has already Belongs to the elite among the elite.

In addition, Zhu Di did not ask how much it cost, because cotton and iron blocks cost nothing to the country. What limits armor production is the number of laborers. Generally speaking, the more skilled workers there are, the faster armor production will be. quick.

If a skilled craftsman is responsible for hand-made production alone, it usually takes about three months to make one set of armor, and four sets can be produced in a year. However, this is obviously not the case in reality. If there is a collective division of labor and cooperation, the efficiency will be lower. It is much higher. Generally, a workshop with a hundred people can produce thousands of sets of armor a year.

"With 200,000 people, it will take about five years, and 40,000 sets of cotton armor can be produced in a year."

Jiang Xinghuo's answer was obviously beyond everyone's expectations.

Zhu Di originally thought that even if he went all out, the annual output would be between 10,000 and 20,000 sets, but no one expected that, Jiang Xinghuo directly quoted him 40,000 sets.

"How did you do it?" Qiu Fu was a little in disbelief.

"Three reasons."

Jiang Xinghuo quickly answered his questions.

"The first reason is the compacted thick cotton sheets. This can be outsourced to the manual workshops in Jiangnan. It is a task that can be completed by female workers and does not require manual labor here."

"The second reason is that armor plates are made of iron armor. In addition to grinders and boring machines, lathes, drilling machines, milling machines, planers, broaching machines, sawing machines and other machine tools have begun to be trial-installed. With machine tools, the armor plates are The efficiency can be greatly improved during processing, and the nail pieces of cotton nails do not need to be perforated exactly like pierced nails, so the processing technology is much simpler."

"The third reason is that the now merged Military and War Bureau, the workshops responsible for manufacturing armor, as well as the workshops for casting cannons and muskets, are all assembly line operations."

"assembly line?"

Zhu Di was curious about this word.

Jiang Xinghuo directly asked Xu Jingchang to take them to visit the armor workshop not far away.

In the armor workshop, craftsmen responsible for different tasks were busy. The clothes they wore marked their craftsman level.

Jiang Xinghuo divided craftsmen into two categories: technicians and technicians. Technicians are junior technicians, intermediate technicians, senior technicians, and special technicians. Technicians are apprentices, junior workers, intermediate workers, and senior workers.

Different levels receive different basic wages, and then bonuses are paid based on piece-rate wages.

As for how to evaluate, it is mainly based on professional and technical level, not age.

Jiang Xinghuo hates the situation in a system where seniority is used in determining capital and relying on the elders.

Although craftsmen in this era generally have higher technical skills as they get older, this is not always the case. The function of assessment is to screen the bastards into the positions they should be in.

Seeing the crowd of people coming in, the craftsmen had solemn expressions on their faces and moved quickly, appearing to be more focused and serious than usual.

Zhu Di quickly figured out the clue.

In the assembly line, one technician is only responsible for one component, and then it is handed over to the technician at the right station to continue the next step.

In this case, it is obvious that efficiency can be greatly improved.

Some tasks that cannot be performed on the assembly line are left to technicians, that is, hand rubbing.

No way, although the assembly line can improve the efficiency of some repetitive work, some things still have to be done by hand.

After being processed by technicians, each nail leaf looks shiny and dazzling, which is eye-catching and very pleasing to the eye.

Zhu Di nodded and praised: "It is indeed a way to benefit the country and the people! As expected of a national teacher, he can come up with such a method."

The corner of Jiang Xinghuo's mouth twitched. In fact, he had already told Zhu Di in the memorial. Zhu Di probably glanced at it, or looked at it seriously but didn't understand it, and then stopped asking for more explanation.

However, the high efficiency of this kind of assembly line production still left a deep impression on Zhu Neng, Qiu Fu, Ru Ru and others who came to visit.

A simple change has improved the production efficiency several times. Jiang Xinghuo's wisdom is indeed as deep as the ocean.

Of course, the most critical point is that in this way, many standard weapons can be quickly installed in batches.

Yes, for a huge empire, if a standard weapon or armor can be installed within five years, it can be called "quick".

The artillery project made of low-phosphorus steel that Hu Yuancheng was responsible for also failed to meet expectations.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The steel cannon and the copper cannon fired at the same time, and the entire shooting range was shaking.

Although the caliber is the same, it is obvious that the steel cannon is more durable than the copper cannon. Continuous firing makes the barrel of the copper cannon start to get hot and turn red, while the steel cannon is not affected at all.

"You can't hit it any more, or it will explode."

"Stop it."

"nice one!"

Looking at the red copper cannons on the shooting range and the steel cannons that had basically not changed much, Zhu Neng exclaimed: "If such things are installed in large quantities in the army, victory in future wars will definitely belong to the Ming Dynasty!"

Although Zhu Neng unfortunately did not personally command the battle to conquer Annan, Zhu Neng was already very clear about the role of artillery in attacking fortresses and field battles, so he also had a clearer understanding of the role of firearms in future wars. Cognition, coupled with Jiang Xinghuo's reasons, is not as repulsive as before.

Now that I see a low-phosphorus steel cannon that can be fired at high intensity without exploding the barrel, I am suddenly eager to see it.

For example, in the Shenji Camp of the Beijing Camp, there is an artillery unit of one guard. More than 5,000 people are enough to serve hundreds of artillery pieces. In a real war, hundreds of cannons would fire at the same time. Zhu Neng did not dare to imagine this scene.

"That's right!"

Zhu Di also nodded in agreement and said: "In the past, I was only half-doubtful about the future of firearms told by the National Master. Now that we have fought one actual battle after another, if we are allowed to return to Jingnan with these firearms, we will be able to compete with Ping An and others. The firearms unit's battle will probably be a rolling one."

When Zhu Di saw this artillery just now, it was like seeing a treasure. He wanted to build thousands or thousands of this thing right away.

However, ideas are just ideas after all, and actual implementation is very difficult.

Although steel cannons are much cheaper than copper cannons, which directly consume wealth, manufacturing steel cannons requires consuming a large amount of coking coal and ore to enchant molten steel, and requires corresponding technical support. This is not a problem that can be solved casually. , now the only one who can realize this technology is the gun foundry here.

But no matter what, now Cannon Casting is heading in the right direction.

"what about this?"

Under the leadership of Xu Jingchang, everyone came to another workshop, a workshop responsible for manufacturing and assembling paper-cased fixed-loading ammunition.

Looking at the white paper shell ammunition, Zhu Di asked curiously.

This kind of paper-cased fixed-loading ammunition is different from the paper-cased fixed-loading ammunition that was first used by Jiang Xinghuo's Dresser rifle in his previous life.

The paper-cased fixed-loading ammunition appeared in the era of transition from front-loading guns to rear-loading guns. Therefore, the firing principles at that time were firearms with mercury flash caps as the excitation principle. The flintlock gun has been replaced. Well, the paper-cased fixed-loading ammunition is a cylindrical paper shell that wraps the warhead, bullet holder, primer, and propellant into a whole.

But the paper-cased fixed-loading ammunition that is produced now does not have a primer, so there is no way to get it.

The principle of a percussion gun is that after the trigger is pulled, the firing pin on the bolt penetrates the paper case, strikes the primer, and then ignites the gunpowder and shoots the projectile. However, with the current level of technology, neither the firing pin nor the mercury flash cap has any effect.

Therefore, the key research and development direction of fire blunderbuss is still on the transition from matchlock blunderbuss to flint-hair blunderbuss. It has already been developed, but it is unlikely to be developed within a few years. The key technology of flint-hair blunderbuss is not so easy to overcome. , it requires trial and error. Although the flint gun sounds very simple, it is nothing more than the flint clamp driving the flint, hitting the iron sheet covering the gunpowder pot to generate sparks, and then the sparks fall into the gunpowder pot and then launch the projectiles. The principle is very simple. But it just couldn't be mass-produced, and the stability of what was tested was very poor, not even as stable as a matchlock gun.

If it were a flintlock gun of this quality, mass production would be a torture and there was no need at all.

In addition to the transition from matchlock muskets to flintlock muskets, the Bureau of Ordnance is actually also trying to make small batches of handguns with a spring wheel structure, which is a small variant of the transition to flintlock muskets. The main components of spring wheel handguns are grinding wheels and flints. , spring, when pulling the flint clamp, the grinding wheel is already wound. Then when the person pulls the trigger, the flint clamp can bring the flint against the grinding wheel. At this time, the grinding wheel has released the spring, and then Sparks will be produced, and when the sparks fall into the place where the gunpowder is placed, they can ignite the gunpowder and launch the projectiles.

It sounds very complicated, but in fact it is highly similar to the principle of one thing, that is, a lighter.

The friction of the Zippo lighter with your hand is the entire process of igniting the sparks with the reed gun.

However, this kind of thing is of experimental research and development nature. It is only produced as a technical reserve and for self-defense of special groups. The cost is relatively high and it cannot be mass-produced at all.

And it is very likely that it will not be able to fire at the critical moment.

The weapon of kindness belongs to yes.

Speaking of custom-loaded paper shells, this actually uses paper to place the compacted gunpowder, cotton and projectiles in layers. The bottom paper shell can be directly ignited by a match rope, and the cotton in the middle layer acts as a holder for the bullet. , and the upper paper shell contains projectiles. If the launcher misfires, the paper shells in the middle and upper layers will be launched from the gun tube. During the launch process, the projectiles will break away from the paper shell and fly towards the target.

This saves the step of compacting the gunpowder and then placing the projectiles. There is still a big gap between the fixed paper shells that can really function as primers, but for the fire gunner, although it only reduces the work of one step, in the The significance it can play on the battlefield is very great.

Because the steps required for a normal firing of a matchlock gun are very complicated. You must first stuff the gunpowder into the mouth of the gun with a small spoon, then stuff cotton as a bullet holder, then stuff the projectiles, and finally put in a long rod. The projectiles are compacted (improving air tightness), and with this kind of paper-cased fixed-loading projectile, you only need to stuff the projectiles inside. It doesn't matter if you don't have a primer and firing pin. Anyway, the matchlock gun is ignited by the match rope. of.

After seeing the actual demonstration, everyone quickly understood the significance of this little invention.

"What about the quality? I'm afraid the paper shell is easily affected by moisture."

"The paper used in these paper shell bullets is of special quality and will never be easily deformed by moisture. Don't worry."

Xu Jingchang said with a smile: "Besides, even if there is a quality problem, it must have been strictly inspected before leaving the factory. How can these craftsmen escape? The number of each batch can be found."

After that, Xu Jingchang lifted up a box containing paper-cased bullets. The serial number was written on it. Following the serial number, one could directly find out which batch of craftsmen were responsible for the production.

This is an old rule. When cannons were cast in the Hongwu Dynasty, no matter who the name of the craftsman was, they were directly cast on the barrel. If there were quality problems, no one could escape.

"Haha, that's true."

After hearing what he said, Zhu Neng and Qiu Fu laughed loudly. They knew that Xu Jingchang must have exaggerated. It is impossible to say that there will be no problems with the new things, but in front of the emperor, they can only say this. , for this reason, the two of them also covered up the past for Xu Jingchang, lest Zhu Di really take it seriously and need more test firings on the spot.

"The yield of paper-cased bullets is guaranteed, but it is unrealistic to say that there are no problems at all. There will always be duds or jams due to various reasons. We can only say that we should try to avoid them."

However, since Jiang Xinghuo has already made it clear, it doesn't matter.

Zhu Di nodded and understood what Jiang Xinghuo meant.

Bullets and firecrackers are in a matching relationship. Sometimes, when dumb bullets or jams occur, it is not necessarily the bullet that has a problem. It may also be that the firecracker itself has been exposed to rain and moisture, or the caliber is not very accurate during casting. This is all possible.

Of course, as long as there is a paper-cased fixed-loading bullet, its effect will not be comparable to that of normal lead bullets. The firing speed of gunmen will be greatly increased by the appearance of this little thing.

And this also means that the speed at which the fire gun troops kill enemies will become faster.

Once this efficiency exceeds a certain threshold, the greatest significance is that it will be possible to truly "control cavalry with footwork". At that time, the cavalry will probably be reduced from the protagonist on the battlefield to a supporting role.