Warrior in Turbulent Han Dynasty

Guo Shao couldn't hide his disappointment from the situation in front of him. The power of firearms is not as strong as imagined, but very tasteless... The performance is not even half that of a bow | ...,

People pay great attention to practicality. If it is used to make decisions on anything else, it will definitely be just a gimmick for novelty weapons, used to scare people. But Guo Shao doesn't think so: firearms are definitely not as good as cold weapons at the beginning, but the future direction belongs to hot | weapons, there is no doubt about it.

Guo Shao has personally seen the great advantages of gunpowder weapons in fighting with swords and arrows (until the opium wars, the great powers also used black|gunpowder weapons), and those who have confirmed the results with their own eyes, if they don’t go in the right direction, this is unreasonable in itself... Obviously knowing that guns|cannons are powerful, but intentionally avoiding them, not touching them or even trying them, Guo Shao feels that it seems unnecessary to do so.

Moreover, even if firearms are not of great use now, Guo Shao has the entire country's resources in his hands, and there is no shortage of research and development consumption. The disappointment was fleeting, and in a blink of an eye Guo Shao straightened his mind and planned to continue walking.

He asked Zan Jurun, the military supervisor, to rearrange the test, and saw with his own eyes the effects of metal pipes made of various materials. A group of people came to the school grounds. The craftsmen set up the target, filled the gunpowder with gunpowder, and fixed it on the ground with a wooden frame to face the front.

Firecrackers are all semi-finished products, with only one metal tube. After the gunpowder and projectiles are loaded, a long lead wire is pulled out from the front. The lead wire is gunpowder wrapped in paper, similar to the lead wire of firecrackers.

After a while, the craftsman lit the "firecracker fuse" and ran away. The firecrackers on the wooden frame made a "bang bang" sound and smoke rose. Just looking at the scene, it really looks like a gun|gun firing. After some experiments, everyone checked the damage of the gun barrel and the bullet holes on the target. The situation is not much different from Zan Jurun's description... Guo Shao fully confirmed that the power of this thing is indeed not great.

...Guo Shao took Zan Jurun and others to a nearby room and sat down. There were many tools in this room, including the kind of drill that Guo Shao had seen that used the twisting force of hemp rope.

Guo Shao asked someone to put paper and ink on it, picked up a pen and asked casually: "Even if it is that kind of bronze firecracker, is the production cost cheaper than that of a crossbow?"

"Of course." Zan Jurun said, "Although the imperial court is short of copper, a bronze blunderbuss does not require much copper, and casting, drilling and grinding are far less than the manpower consumed by crossbow arrows... What's more, the right to mine mines is in the hands of the government. Even though copper is expensive, it consumes less manpower and does less harm to national strength and people's livelihood; making bronze blunderbuss is much less burdensome to the court than making crossbows."

After hearing this, Guo Shao nodded in approval, and said in his heart: People who have reached the center of their senses have knowledge and brains that surpass ordinary people. When Zan Jurun says something, he knows to think about it from a large level.

Guo Shao picked up the pen not to record, but to draw a form. After a long time, he put the pen on the inkstone, picked up the paper in his hand and blew on it, handed it to Zan Jurun, and said: "In the future, when reporting various affairs to the Military Supervision, follow this form to make it clearer. It will not be easy to miss every attempt."

"Here." Zan Jurun hurriedly took it with both hands, watching carefully.

"For each item, what is the size and material, and then write the craftsmanship and production process in another grid, as well as the description after the test. First classify and organize, and then write a few words of summary." Guo Shaodao, "There are also standards for length and weight. The dimensions used in the world are not accurate. Mr. Zan thought of a way to set the basic standards. In the future, the size of all kinds of ordnance produced by the Military Weapons Supervisor will be in accordance with the government's standards."

Zan Jurun hastily clasped his fists in response: "I obey the order."

Guo Shao said again: "The craftsmen we are looking for are paid well, and they may be more attentive in their work at the beginning. It is hard to say whether this place will become a place for people to mess around after a long time. You need to set some rules, clarify rewards and punishments, and reward those craftsmen who have worked hard to achieve results... let everyone have a head start."

...Guo Shao stayed here for a while, and then ordered the development of artillery and the throwing of explosives.

For things related to the use of gunpowder, firearms workshops can ask for funds to try. However, Guo Shao's key directions are still guns, cannons, and projectiles... Only these three things are the most practical, and the conclusion still comes from knowledge.

When the black | gunpowder weapons developed to the extreme in later generations, especially the Western world came from behind. After years of melee and testing by various countries, musketeers, artillery, and grenadiers are the most useful arms. And other things that look fancy and strange are probably useless in practice... For example, that rocket seems to have dozens of shots at a time, but because the trajectory of the ballistic is completely uncontrollable, it is basically useless.

However, Guo Shao has no intention of restraining people's attempts, and he will not refuse if something new and practical is created. Anyway, on the school field to see the effect.

... The wish to rely on firearms to solve military problems failed, so Guo Shao didn't stay in the firearms workshop for too long, and left here soon. However, the emperor came here in person, which also showed that Guo Shao attached great importance to this matter.

He returned to the Imperial Study Room of Jinxiang Palace, where Zuo You and others had already submitted the arranged memorials. Guo Shao didn't look at it right away, but first thought about what he was going to do... conquering the Northern Han Dynasty.

But preparations are far from complete. First of all, he had to wait for the Privy Council dispatched to the Northern Han Dynasty to work closely and get back more detailed information before he could deploy troops and tactics. As Sun Tzu said, know yourself and your enemy and you will win a hundred battles; if it is a battle that you are not sure about, the best choice is not to fight it if you can.

Guo Shao started to deal with the memorials. Zuo You and Huang Binglian sorted out the "simplified translation" of the content, which seemed very fast; when the military is the top priority, government affairs are secondary. This method has allowed Guo Shao to improve the efficiency of governance... But it is not a good way. Therefore, Guo Shao still reads the original text written in classical Chinese from time to time, and he probably understands all of them, but it takes a little effort.

A while ago, he participated in two "Jing Banquets", where a talented and famous Confucianist gave lessons to the emperor. Guo Shao didn't feel very good. Great Confucians focused on the ideas of classics and classics, and Guo Shao didn't quite agree with their ideas. So after going there twice, he didn't go.

What Guo Shao needs is an enlightenment teacher of ancient prose. In fact, a private school teacher who teaches elementary school in the countryside is enough, and can teach him ancient prose knowledge systematically. But he didn't dare to invite that kind of person to teach the emperor, for fear of being laughed at by scholars. So Zuo You took on this task.

After dealing with the business, Guo Shao called Zuo You to the back room and asked him to teach his basic courses, and he also had homework of copying and practicing calligraphy every day. The two spent a long time alone in that small room almost every day, and those who didn't know it thought they had some conspiracy and always had to discuss it... Guo Shao didn't want to be watched by a group of officials outside.

Guo Shao studied very seriously. He sat in front of the desk like a good student, concentrating on reciting the Analects without punctuation in a decent manner, similar to those children. Because Guo Shao realized the importance of literacy in classical Chinese in this environment, otherwise he would not even be able to understand memorials, and he would govern a country... He thought of Emperor Tianqi of the Ming Dynasty, whose hobby was being a carpenter and did not want to handle government affairs himself;

Read the content of the day. Zuo You talked to Guo Shao for a while.

Zuo You picked up a memorial and said: "This article is written by a local official. He means to advise His Majesty that officials over fifty years old are prohibited from being the highest bureaucrats of a locality."

Guo Shao asked, "What's Mr. Zuo's attitude?"

Zuo You said: "This person is a bit cynical and his speech is bold, but it is not unreasonable. He has been in the officialdom for many years, what is the future for an old official? He has no hope of promotion, and he must only care about two things, lust and greed. Once this type of person has the power of life and death, amassing family property, luxury and lust are the most important things. As for political performance, people's livelihood, and government, what benefits do they have?"

Zuo You talked eloquently: "I think it's not just the corpses of these people. There are also more officials who have no hope of promotion, and the same will be the case... The reason is that for many years, military generals can be promoted by military exploits, but civil servants can only rely on appreciation from the top. This method of seeking talents and talents cannot benefit most officials. It is too difficult for people without connections and fame to make a difference."

Guo Shao nodded and said yes, Zuo You was born as a low-level official, so he probably knew the situation very well.

Guo Shao pondered for a moment, then said: "However, to solve this situation, reforming the system is not a one-day achievement, and it is not the most important thing at present. The current court's first priority is to open up the situation and structure. It must push the defense of the territory to the Great Wall, and then clean up the interior like cooking small fresh.

At present, we should not act rashly and affect the interests of too many people, otherwise it will cause disturbances. Although the current administration of officials is not very good, it is a situation formed by a century of melee. It is a good thing that the new king is calm after he ascended the throne; we cannot easily move them before we are sure. "

After hearing this, Zuo You thought it was good.

Looking back at the layout of the imperial study, Guo Shao said, "I need a knowledgeable and wise staff group. It's time to establish a cabinet to assist the government. The rooms in this place are not easy to use, and I feel that I can't use them for various things. Mr. Zuo asked someone to bring the construction plan of the Jinxiang Palace to help me choose a place and rearrange a center for handling state affairs."

Guo Shao immediately took up the pen to write his own ideas. An outside room is needed as a place to issue imperial edicts and deliver news; then a place for cabinet officials to work and rest, which can assist the emperor and provide advice at any time; a room for the emperor to work;

While discussing with Zuo You, he wrote it down, planning to build a central core that would become the brain of the entire imperial court.