The Prosperous Era of Longwan

"Increase the caliber and increase the amount of powder."

This idea instantly appeared in his mind, because in Wei Guangde's impression, in addition to a large number of light matchlock guns equipped in the West during this period, there was also a kind of musket that needed a bracket, which was generally called a heavy musket.

This kind of musket uses larger caliber projectiles, and more powder produces greater destructive power.

The reason why there are two types of muskets equipped in the army at the same time is actually related to this era of intersection of cold and hot weapons.

Not only in the Ming Dynasty, Western soldiers at this time did not give up heavy armor to increase their own protection, so ordinary muskets were actually difficult to kill and injure enemies with heavy armor.

So, this kind of heavy musket with increased power was born, and it can also be understood that this is the ancestor of anti-material sniper rifles in later generations.

In later generations, when talking about the fire guns of the Ming Dynasty, they are generally called bird guns and regarded as a weapon.

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But in fact, the bird guns of the Ming Dynasty that people in later generations talked about were more about the Rumi guns that Zhao Shizhen improved and developed, a very advanced European firearm at the time.

The bird guns that the Ming army now mass-produces and equips are actually developed based on the light individual muskets carried by the Portuguese.

Although some literature and materials mention that the development of the bird guns of the Ming Dynasty was more influenced by the Japanese iron cannon, in fact, the Ming Dynasty had contact with the Portuguese earlier, and was able to obtain Portuguese weapons through naval battles.

Although Japan already had iron cannons at the same time, it was still in its early stages, and both the production quality and output were extremely low, and it was impossible for a poor samurai to obtain a weapon.

Therefore, according to logical inference, the bird guns of the Ming Dynasty should be based on the Portuguese muskets, and in the later period, they may have been improved by the idea of ​​​​captured Japanese iron cannons.

But no matter what, the bird guns that the Ming Dynasty equipped in large quantities at this time were actually small muskets with small calibers and small amounts of powder.

Light guns were also used in early Europe. Knights strengthened their armor in the face of the threat of muskets. Musketeers also needed to sniper field artillery with greater threats. The economies of European countries were not enough to support the artillery of mercenaries for a long time, so they simply replaced them with larger muskets. Therefore, muskets became heavier and more powerful.

The Western muskets that the Ming Dynasty first obtained should be a small-caliber bird gun with a long barrel and less powder, which means that the recoil is small and accurate. Some people have also verified that this gun may also be used by Western cavalry.

Because Western guns are suitable for dealing with unarmored targets in the south, they are light and accurate, and the ammunition used is lighter and less, and can be fired more times. They are suitable for the complex mountains in the south, and southern soldiers use them more.

The bird guns in the north of the Ming Dynasty increased the barrel length and the amount of gunpowder used. The purpose is naturally to increase the effective range to deal with the Mongolian cavalry in the north.

This is the biggest difference between the bird guns in the north and south of the Ming Dynasty at this time, but because the caliber of the bullets is similar, the power is similar.

At this time, the bird guns of the Ming Dynasty were aimed at the Mongolian cavalry on the grassland who lacked iron armor and mainly wore leather armor. The power of the bird guns was sufficient.

That is why the Ming Dynasty has not realized the idea of ​​increasing the caliber of the bird guns and the weight of the bullets to increase the lethality.

In fact, although the level of ancient Chinese science and technology was very high, many of them were pragmatic and relied on the skills of agricultural and industrial craftsmen to solve problems.

They knew the facts but not the reasons, and did not dig deep to find out the reasons like the West.

This situation continued until the end of the Ming Dynasty, when the military industry office of the Ming Dynasty began to look for ways to increase the armor-piercing power because of the three-layer armor of the Liaodong Jurchens.

So, under the promotion of Zhao Shizhen, Bi Maokang and Xu Guangqi, European heavy muskets gradually entered the Ming Dynasty and became the main firearms of the northern border army of the Ming Dynasty at that time.

The Rumi gun is actually a kind of musket with sufficient power and between light and heavy muskets.

Unfortunately, it is only the third year of Wanli, and the envoys of Turkey's Rumi Kingdom have not yet arrived in the Ming Dynasty, so naturally there is no finished Rumi gun for reference.

There is no reference, but it doesn't matter. Wei Guangde believes that as long as he puts forward ideas, the craftsmen of the Ming Dynasty should still be able to find a way to develop the Ming Dynasty's own heavy musket.

So Wei Guangde washed his feet in two steps, asked people to prepare pen, ink, paper and inkstone, and then began to write.

Under the premise of maintaining the length of the bird gun barrel, appropriately increasing the caliber of the barrel, loading larger bullets, and increasing the amount of charge to increase the lethality are all written down.

Because the technical level of iron materials during this period was not good, Wei Guangde also mentioned that the thickness of the barrel wall could be appropriately increased to prevent the explosion.

In fact, even if Wei Guangde didn't write this, the craftsmen knew it.

However, Wei Guangde wrote it down, so that the next design idea could be added to the front end of the bird gun.

The bird gun made according to this idea must have enough armor-piercing power, but the weight of the gun increases, making it more difficult for a single soldier to hold it, and the increased recoil will also affect the shooting accuracy.

Installing a bracket on the barrel can perfectly solve the stability of this new type of musket and ensure shooting accuracy.

After writing the note, Wei Guangde put down the pen and waited for the ink to dry. Only then did he realize that he felt good when he got used to the bird gun, but he didn't think about the problem of armor-piercing power.

At that time, he was thinking about developing a long-barreled cannon, that is, the red cannon, but forgot the development of the most popular firearm, the bird gun, which was really wrong.

The predecessor once claimed to be a half-baked military fan, and he didn't even think of guiding the Ministry of Industry to develop subsequent rifles.

Yes, influenced by this incident, Wei Guangde began to consider whether he should use his golden finger to point out the development direction of Ming Dynasty weapons.

Thinking of this, Wei Guangde sat quietly behind the desk for a while, and after careful thinking, he took out a piece of paper and spread it out, picked up the pen and started writing.

This note was written to the Ministry of Industry, and only mentioned two points. One was to develop more powerful gunpowder, and the other was to propose the idea of ​​fixed bullets, requiring the use of oil paper to wrap a fixed amount of gunpowder and stick the bullet on the top.

Regarding gunpowder, Wei Guangde didn't know much about the development of gunpowder in later generations, but he had an impression that the development potential of gunpowder was actually greater.

The same firearm, using different gunpowder, has different range and power.

Even some gunpowder with better combustion effect, when the weapon remains unchanged, has to reduce the charge to ensure the safety of firing.

As for fixed bullets, Wei Guangde also had to follow the development process of future firearms step by step.

Wei Guangde certainly knew the advantages of metal fixed bullets, but who said that the technology of this era could not reach that industrial level.

Even if the skilled craftsmen of the Ming Dynasty could grind bullets by hand, they could not realize industrial production and had no practical value at all.

So in later generations, many people said that bullets were actually the soul of guns, and guns without bullets were not as good as rolling pins.

The earliest handheld gunpowder kinetic weapons can be traced back to the Song Dynasty. "Song History·Military Records 11" Shouchun Prefecture "made a fire gun, with a giant bamboo as a tube, and a sub-hole inside. When it was burned, the flames were extinguished and then the sub-hole was emitted, like a cannon sound, which could be heard more than 150 steps away."

At that time, the gun barrel was made of bamboo, and the sub-hole was gunpowder. Although the military records did not specify what the bullet was, judging from the projectiles used by the modern Ming army, it was nothing more than small stones. It is estimated that some people put lead bullets in it in the later period.

Stuffing everything in it, it is similar to the later spray gun.

Now, projectiles and gunpowder are stored separately. The Ming and Western musketeers carry two bags with them, one for gunpowder and one for projectiles.

It is not known when fixed bullets appeared, but Wei Guangde knows the development law of firearms. With the new ignition method, firearms will also be improved and become more and more advanced.

In fact, Wei Guangde originally thought of using the small falconet cannon as a blueprint to develop the Ming rifle. Well, it is better to develop the caseless bullet directly in one step.

In the new century, Western countries are still developing several caseless rifles, and even finished products have appeared, but they have not been favored by the troops.

However, although the concept of the falconet fits the development ideas of rifles in later generations, the airtightness of this era makes it impossible for him to guarantee the lethality.

The metal material cannot meet the standard of use, and it is impossible to make the falconet cannon the same size as the musket.

Even for the small falconet cannon, it requires two soldiers to operate it together to fire it quickly.

Wei Guangde wrote down his ideas, and as for the follow-up, it was the work of the Ministry of Industry, and he could not do it himself.

And even if he did it himself, with his level, he couldn't do better than those masters of the Ministry of Works, and he would just make things worse.

He called Zhang Ji, handed him two slips of paper and ordered: "Go down and copy these two slips, and send them to the two masters of the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of War early tomorrow morning."

"Yes, sir."

Zhang Ji had studied with Wei Guangde after all, and although he couldn't write good articles, he had no problem copying and writing.

As for the thorny problems encountered by Yunnan now, Wei Guangde was helpless.

The only thing he could do was to give full play to the strengths of the Ming army's firearms, concentrate on using the Portuguese cannon to bombard the enemy's front line, and after defeating the front line, use the bird gun to kill the light infantry behind.

The Ming Dynasty has always had a special liking for large-caliber artillery. Since the Zhengde Dynasty came into contact with the Portuguese cannon and realized its power, from the Jiajing Dynasty to the Longqing Dynasty and now the Wanli Dynasty, the Portuguese cannon has been favored, and a large number of firearms are cast every year to equip the entire army.

Except in the inland garrisons, as long as it is a border town, it is actually very easy to gather a hundred large and small Portuguese cannons.

This time, Wei Guangde also specifically asked the North and South Military Departments to transport artillery to support Yunnan, so Wei Guangde was not worried that Li Chengliang would be helpless with the rattan shield.

As for Tan Lun's letter mentioning that Li Chengliang cried poor to the court and asked for this and that, it was just a strategy to emphasize his difficulties.

But is it useful?

Wei Guangde actually did not have a good impression of Li Chengliang, perhaps because of Liaodong.

So this trip to Yunnan really concerns the rise and fall of the Li family. As long as it fails, Li Chengliang will inevitably be demoted to the bottom, and there will be no chance to lead troops to fight in the future.

Of the Li family, perhaps the only one he would give a chance to was Li Rusong, after all, he had participated in two of the three major campaigns.

A person's reputation is like a tree's shadow, so Wei Guangde was still willing to give him a chance.

The next day, Wei Guangde went to the cabinet to work, and completely forgot about the Ministry of War.

During this period, the Ministry of Revenue was summoned to the cabinet very frequently. There was no way, as floods began to occur frequently in various parts of Jiangnan from April.

In April, there were floods in Xuzhou and Huaihe. In May, there were floods in Huai'an and Yangzhou. On the first day of June, the four prefectures of Hangzhou, Jiaxing, Ningbo, and Shaoxing in Zhejiang were flooded and several feet high. People and livestock were drowned, and houses collapsed. Suzhou, Songjiang, Changzhou, Zhenjiang and other prefectures also suffered from large and small floods.

For this reason, the governors and magistrates of various places submitted petitions requesting the reduction of land rent and relief for the victims.

The Ministry of Revenue ordered the governors and the provincial governors to select virtuous officials to adjust the rent from the public, and to distinguish the heavy and light, so as to deal with it as appropriate. He also said: The money and grain spent on rent reduction and relief in Huai and Yang, etc., totaled 500,000 to 600,000 taels of silver.

The state's financial system has its own regular items, not just one area. Although the situation of urgency should be known, it is difficult to continue without asking for it.

Moreover, there is no magic strategy for famine relief. The good strategy depends on the officials to first select honest and capable officials who do not disturb the people to supervise the local areas, and then try to solve the difficulties on the spot according to the actual situation.

If we rely solely on the state to save, not only can we not solve the difficulties in time, but also the state's financial resources are difficult to meet the needs of the country.

For this reason, the Ministry of Revenue reported to the cabinet, requesting the removal of officials who are corrupt and cruel, old and sick, and no longer competent for their duties.

Wei Guangde disagreed with this and suggested that the Censorate should send censors to investigate and remove officials after the flood subsided.

It is really unwise to appoint and remove officials at this critical moment of disaster relief.

You know, if the court really does this, I'm afraid that the officials below will do anything to keep their official hats.

What if they ignore the lives of the people and conceal the disaster?

However, Wei Guangde's opposition did not play any role this time.

After all, the officials participating in the discussion this time were mainly from Zhang Juzheng's faction. Whether it was Wang Guoguang from the Ministry of Revenue or Zhang Han from the Ministry of Personnel, they all believed that incompetent officials should be dismissed as soon as possible to prevent them from harming the people at this time.

Wei Guangde couldn't argue, so he didn't argue anymore and let the Zhang faction do it.

But in his heart, he was still a little unhappy.

In fact, there is no right or wrong in the two strategies, they just look at the problem from different positions.

After all, the rules set by the court are actually double-edged swords, with good and bad sides. It depends on how the people below deal with them, whether to play to their strengths and avoid their weaknesses to play to their strengths or weaknesses.

Anyway, Wei Guangde had no confidence in the integrity of the officials of the Ming Dynasty, and was not optimistic about their efficiency, so he was worried that innocent people in Xiduo would die in vain.

At this time, news finally came from the direction of Jiugang. After the Ming Dynasty's South China Sea Navy went south, it issued official documents to the surrounding foreign countries to clarify the status of the Old Port Xuanwei Office. No one in neighboring countries, including Aceh and Bachang, raised any objections, and no one dared to question it.

Just kidding, nearly 300 warships of the Ming Dynasty were parked in Jiugang. If anyone was dissatisfied, it would be a reason to teach the Ming Dynasty a lesson.

Even the Portuguese in Malacca expressed their understanding and acceptance after learning that the Ming Dynasty was going to restore the so-called Old Port Xuanwei Office, and were willing to continue trading with Jiugang.

However, these were all expected results. Wei Guangde's most concerned Feilong Kingdom remnants also had news. Yu Dayou gathered nearly 4,000 troops to use in Myanmar.

Combined with the available forces of the South China Sea Navy, without borrowing troops from the Nanyang vassal states, more than 6,000 people could be used to attack Myanmar in the south.

The situation has become increasingly favorable to the Ming Dynasty. (End of this chapter)