The Prosperous Era of Longwan

"Mr. Wei Ge, this cannon"

Qi Jiguang stood up and pointed at the cannon beside him, stuttering and saying: "How far can this cannon shoot, and how powerful is it?"

Seeing that Qi Jiguang's face was still flushed and he looked extremely excited, Wei Guangde smiled and said: "Don't be excited, the real cannon hasn't come out yet, and we are still studying the casting method.

So I didn’t test the cannon, it was just a showpiece. "

"Then this cannon can be taken to the school grounds for testing. It's spacious there."

Qi Jiguang said immediately when he heard that he had never tried this cannon.

"come here."

Hearing that Qi Jiguang wanted to take the cannon to the school field for testing, he almost laughed out loud.

Although it is not that there are no wooden cannons these days, they are all small cannons with a small charge and average power. Don't even think about the range. Moreover, they will be useless after being fired a few times. If they are used again, they will definitely explode the chamber.

As for the use of materials such as bamboo and wood to make firearms, it is not that it has never happened before. The earliest firearm, the sudden fire gun, was actually made of giant bamboo. Its basic shape is: the front section is a thick bamboo tube; the expanded part in the middle is The gunpowder chamber has a small fire hole on the outer wall; the back section is a hand-held wooden stick.

According to the "History of the Song Dynasty·Bingzhi": In the first year of Kaiqing's reign, "another musket was built, with a giant bamboo as a tube and a nest inside. .

However, with the development of firearms, the power of firearms made of materials such as bamboo and wood can no longer meet the needs, and copper and iron have become the first choice for firearm materials.

However, perhaps it is precisely because of this development history that after the craftsmen of the Ming Dynasty received the task of making cannons from their own ministers, they first asked a carpenter to make a prototype cannon, or model.

Wei Guangde led Qi Jiguang to the muzzle of the cannon, pointed at the muzzle and said, "Put your hand in and touch it."

Qi Jiguang was suspicious, but he still put his hand into the muzzle according to Wei Guangde's words. The wooden touch was instantly transmitted to his brain, and his mouth opened slightly.

"This cannon is actually just a prototype cannon made of wood, covered with a layer of copper.

You know how to forge cannons, right? It was just a temporary trick just to catch up with the parade.

Although it is a superficial product, the Ordnance Bureau of the Ministry of War is indeed trial-producing such a cannon. "

Wei Guangde looked at Qi Jiguang happily and continued: "My request to them for this cannon is very simple, that is, it must hit at least two miles, and the farther the better.

The new firearms made by my Ming Dynasty must have a farther and farther range.

Although the rate of fire of this gun is not as good as that of the Folan machine, it doesn't matter. Let the people from the Ministry of Industry make this gun first. Once the needs are met, let them find ways to increase the rate of fire.

However, the craftsmen over there told me that if it were made like a Franco cannon, the range would be greatly reduced.

I just asked them to do this considering the layering of firepower. "

"Mr. Wei Ge, did you propose building this cannon?"

Qi Jiguang understood the origin of this cannon. It was originally intended to participate in the Grand Parade and show the strength of the Ming Dynasty's military industry in front of the emperor.

He was still wondering why the wooden cannon was brought here, and it didn't work.

I get it now.

At the same time, he also strongly agreed with Wei Guangde's firepower stratification.

Although the word was a bit new, he could still understand it easily.

After all, this concept had already appeared in China's war history during the Qin and Han Dynasties, and it reached a very high level in the Song Dynasty.

In the infantry formations of the Song Dynasty, archers and bows were formed according to levels, with ranges ranging from dozens to hundreds of steps.

In the first year of Xining, Emperor Shenzong of the Song Dynasty issued an edict to teach the army of Zhuzhou, Hebei Province. All bows were divided into three grades, with nine buckets being the first, eight buckets being the second, and seven buckets being the third. Crossbows were divided into three grades, with two stones and seven buckets being the third. One, two stones and four buckets is the second, two stones and one bucket is the third.

With this formation, the Song army could build a huge arrow net by firing all bows and crossbows, destroying all life in the net.

The pinnacle of the Song Army's military industry was the Divine Arm Bow and the Eight Ox Crossbow.

The Divine Arm Bow, also known as the Divine Arm Crossbow, is a weapon used by individual soldiers. It was invented by Shenzong of the Northern Song Dynasty. The bow is three feet three feet long and the string is two feet five feet long. It has a range of more than 240 steps. It is said to be the best weapon among other weapons. Less than that, it became one of the standard weapons of the Song Army's crossbowmen.

The Eight Ox Crossbow, also known as the Three-Bow Crossbow, is the most lethal bow and arrow weapon that appeared in the Northern Song Dynasty, comparable to modern rocket launchers. It has a long range, up to 1,500 meters. After the craftsman Wei Pi improved it during the Tianbao period of the Northern Song Dynasty, it once reached 1,536 meters! The use of the Eight Ox Crossbow requires at least 10 soldiers to operate it, who are responsible for aiming, cocking, pulling the trigger and other steps. It is incredibly powerful.

As a long-range weapon, the Eight Ox Crossbow can also be used as a tool for soldiers to attack the city, because the Eight Ox Crossbow's bow and arrow are as thick as a modern javelin and can be shot into the city wall to form a ladder for climbing the city wall.

Precisely because of the great power of the Eight Ox Crossbows, when Li Jilong learned that Xiao Dalin surrounded the northern city of Chanzhou on three sides, he asked his soldiers to transport several of them to the city wall in order to deter and kill the Liao army from a distance.

Of course, it was precisely because of the development of military technology in the Song Dynasty that when the Song army fought against foreigners, the imperial court would even directly issue military formation maps and directly intervene to direct the front-line battles.

It must be said that they themselves were enchanted by this powerful military formation and felt that the land covered by arrows was indestructible and invincible.

However, the Song Dynasty eventually became history, so neither Wei Guangde nor Qi Jiguang thought that they could dominate the battlefield and conquer the world by developing advanced weapons.

"Um."

Wei Guangde nodded and admitted in front of Qi Jiguang that he was the initiator of this cannon.

"If you can defeat the enemy from a distance without fighting him knife-to-knife or gun-to-gun, why not use it?"

Wei Guangde immediately asked.

Seeing this shot, Qi Jiguang's excitement gradually cooled down and returned to normal.

It seemed that Qi Jiguang was already thinking about the use of this weapon. As expected, it didn't take long for him to ask: "Mr. Wei Ge, is this cannon equipped for the city or for soldiers to use in the field?"

Qi Jiguang asked this question mainly because he saw this cannon mounted on a gun carriage, which was rare in the Ming army, so he asked this question.

"Of course they are used by frontier troops. Whether they are defending the city or fighting in the field, they can kill and injure the enemy. When the enemy forms a formation, several artillery pieces fire at the same time, forcing them to retreat a longer distance and launch a charge as a whole team."

Wei Guangde smiled and explained: "Of course, the main purpose of this gun, I think, is to be mounted on a warship to fire from a long distance to destroy enemy ships.

After all, it can hit two or three miles, but shotguns cannot. Iron bullets hitting military formations are just an alley, and hitting boats is just a hole. "

"With this firearm, the coast will no longer be harassed by Japanese pirates."

After all, Qi Jiguang had been fighting Japanese pirates all year round, so when Wei Guangde said that this cannon was mainly used on warships, his first reaction was to use it to fight Japanese ships.

In fact, at this time, except for Wei Guangde, no one in the Ming Dynasty realized that the Xiyi people would eventually become the biggest threat to Chinese civilization.

There is a long distance between the East and the West. Although European countries have started to seize colonies, they are still restricted by backward transportation and communication technology and cannot form large-scale military forces in the Far East.

Being able to assemble dozens of warships and one or two thousand soldiers is already the limit.

The coastal officials of the Ming Dynasty also seemed to have discovered the truth about the other party's foreign power and internal insufficiency in their contacts with them, so they did not regard the Xiyi people as a threat.

However, when Wei Guangde thought of the Hongyi Cannon, in addition to asking for credit from Emperor Longqing, he did have the idea of ​​​​strengthening the naval and land forces of the Ming Dynasty.

Without strong armed forces and the ability to intimidate surrounding areas, it is not enough to call it a "prosperous dynasty".

Wei Guangde had no intention of creating a prosperous Ming Dynasty. That could only be judged by future generations. All he wanted now was to claim credit.

The purpose of opening the sea was to eradicate the Japanese invasion and make money on the way. If it was done well, it would be the support for his cabinet.

The military power has become stronger, and he has the ability to plan and plan for victory in foreign wars.

"The Ordnance Bureau will build ten of these guns to participate in this parade and incorporate them into the Shenji Battalion."

Wei Guangde spoke again.

Knowing the details of this cannon, Qi Jiguang certainly would not consider releasing this cannon during the drill. He would just show it and pull the cannon past the grand parade, so he nodded.

"How is the joint training of the border troops? In addition to bringing this thing, I also want to see the drills of the border troops."

Wei Guangde continued.

"After repairs, a joint training was conducted yesterday. Because it was conducted according to the Ming army's battle formation, it went smoothly. You can go to the school grounds to have a look."

Qi Jiguang answered with cupped fists.

"A drill like the Fifth Army Camp?"

Wei Guangde asked casually, walking towards his horse as he spoke.

Soon, the group entered the capital camp and arrived at the school grounds with cheers and cheers from behind.

Wei Guangde was no longer interested in other military exercises, but asked Qi Jiguang to take him directly to see the joint training between the frontier army and the Beijing camp cavalry, and Qi Jiguang sent someone to the Shenji camp for arrangement of the cannon.

Sure enough, just as he thought, the frontier infantry formed the central army, supported by cavalry on both wings. However, this time the cavalry was supported by the cavalry from the Beijing camp, so the strength of the two wings far exceeded that of the fifth military camp.

"The Beijing cavalry will participate in the parade three times. Can the horses bear it?"

Watching the drill of the new army formation, Wei Guangde suddenly thought that in addition to the drills of his own army formation, Wei Guangde's Shenshu camp cavalry and others in the Beijing camp had two joint trainings, so he was a little worried about the physical strength of the horses in the Beijing camp.

"Mr. Geng Ge, the quality of the Beijing Camp's war horses is the best among the Ming Dynasty's army. In the past, it was just that the forage was not good, so their physical strength declined.

In recent months, the Ministry of War has allocated enough horse materials, and the horses' physical strength has recovered. Moreover, the horses participating in this performance are all carefully selected, so there will be no problem. "

Qi Jiguang replied hurriedly.

As Prime Minister, he had actually considered these details early on, and was already sure of them after conducting multiple batches of tests.

And as the date of the grand parade approaches, the horse materials become more refined, just to ensure that these horses will not fall off the chain at the last moment.

The nobles in the capital already had a tacit understanding, so no one dared to take action on these fodder.

At noon, two sheep were slaughtered next to the training ground. Wei Guangde had lunch here and watched the border troops train together twice in the morning and afternoon before returning to the city with satisfaction.

Riding back to the city, Wei Guangde did not accept Qi Jiguang's request to arrange a cavalry escort.

Just kidding, in the capital city, if a cabinet minister like him is not safe, then the world will be in chaos.

Wei Guangde didn't think it was very glorious to bring the Beijing cavalry to parade through the city.

The weather was good. When Wei Guangde left the capital camp, he let his horse rest and walked slowly instead of galloping like he did when he came out in the morning.

In the vast world, Wei Guangde only felt relaxed.

But with his current status, enjoying the autumn scenery in the suburbs of Beijing was already a luxury, and soon his thoughts returned to last night.

Chen Ju came, and he also brought news about the Supervisor of Ceremonies, and found out that Gao Gong seemed to be teaming up with the inner court Chen Hong.

Although I don’t know how Teng Xiang and the others identified the traitor, since the chief eunuch in the palace pointed the finger at Chen Hong, there would be nothing wrong.

In fact, Wei Guangde has always been worried that Feng Bao and Zhang Juzheng will unite and the inner and outer courts will work together to suppress them. Therefore, he has invited Feng Bao many times over the past year and also sent generous gifts during the festival. However, Feng Bao's attitude is extremely ambiguous.

According to the results of the surveillance he sent, Zhang Juzheng seemed to be doing the same thing as him, but Zhang Juzheng did not seem to join forces with Feng Bao. Everyone was still looking for allies in the inner court.

Feng Bao's waiting for price made him scratch his head. These eunuchs were not easily bribed. They had a huge appetite that was difficult to satisfy.

Moreover, eunuchs are also extremely fickle. If they are being conciliatory with you today, they may become ruthless tomorrow.

However, the inner court has lost the eunuch Li Fang, and Chen Ju's status in the palace is not high now. It is difficult to rely on him as a pillar, so he can only win over Feng Bao.

Wei Guangde did not expect that the Feng Zhang Alliance did not come out, but the Chen Gao Alliance came out first.

Wei Guangde does not think that his appearance has changed much history. According to the current trajectory, Wei Guangde has more or less guessed that perhaps the Feng Zhang Alliance finally defeated the Chen Gao Alliance in the game of power. Zhang Juzheng and Feng Baocai finally took control of the power. Zhang Juzheng This also led to reforms.

Winning over Feng Bao means that his alliance with Feng Bao will replace the Feng Zhang Alliance to defeat the Chen Gao Alliance, and Zhang Juzheng may also find new allies in the inner court, and they will continue to fight fiercely.

Just thinking about it gives me a headache.

When Wei Guangde got home and dismounted from his horse and entered the house, he was greeted by the housekeeper Zhang Ji.

"Master, Mr. Chen Ge sent someone to send a message and invited the master to come over for a banquet tonight."

"knew."

Wei Guangde did not answer the post. Of course he knew why Chen Yiqin asked him to go, but he just didn't know what Chen Yiqin and Teng Xiang talked about last night and how they went.

"Prepare hot water for me, I want to take a bath."

Wei Guangde just gave an order and entered the backyard.

That night, the bright moon hung high and the lanterns were lit. Wei Guangde came to the Chen Mansion in a sedan chair and was led into the flower hall.

"Brother Zhengfu and Brother Yifu, I have kept you waiting for a long time. I will apologize first."

"No need to apologize, just three drinks at the wine table as a penalty."

Wei Guangde came in and saw Yin Shizhen had arrived, so he bowed his hands and saluted, but Yin Shizhen took over and asked Wei Guangde to drink three glasses first.

The three glasses were just small wine glasses, which really didn’t mean much, so Wei Guangde just smiled and said, “Okay, okay, it’s up to you.”

"You should know that."

After Wei Guangde sat down and chatted for a few words, Chen Yiqin brought the conversation to the main topic of the evening.

Wei Guangde knew what he was talking about and naturally nodded.

"You were not in the cabinet this morning, so I told Zhengfu about this matter."

Wei Guangde knew that this was the highlight, and it should be Chen Yiqin's response after discussing with Teng Xiang last night.

"When Gao Suqing returns to the court, Your Majesty should still trust him in every possible way. In the near future, we must try our best to follow his wishes and not conflict with him.

But the most worrying thing is that someone in the cabinet will turn to him and join forces to deal with us."