The Prosperous Era of Longwan

"The bigger the artillery is, the more it needs to be mounted on a sports car so that it can be moved more easily."

After Wei Guangde finished saying what he needed to say, he looked at the craftsmen around him.

"grown ups."

At this time, the one who seemed to be the leader among the craftsmen hugged him.

"My name is Mr. Wei Ge. This is Mr. Wei Guangde, a scholar in the imperial cabinet."

The head of the Ministry of Industry in charge of the Ordnance Bureau yelled at the craftsman at this time.

The craftsman was startled, and he hurriedly clasped his fists and saluted: "Mr. Wei Ge."

"hehe."

Wei Guangde touched his furry chin and said, "Just call me sir. If you have any opinions, just tell me."

"Sir, as far as I know, it is not practical to equip artillery with artillery carriages, because most of the border army's artillery is defended at the top of the city and is not used in field battles.

In order to transport quickly in the field, small artillery and Fran cannons are often chosen. This kind of artillery can be lifted by two or three people, so there is no need for a gun carriage. "

Having said this, the craftsman pointed at the cannon in front of him and said: "Sir, as far as I know, even if such a cannon is cast, it will only be placed at the top of the city and the gun positions set up.

If the artillery cart is installed, there will be no way to drive nails on the city wall, and the artillery cart will become a burden. "

Among the artillery built during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it was almost rare to see artillery carriages with large and small wheels. Therefore, there were rumors on the Internet that the Chinese seemed unable to build artillery carriages.

Although this view is very ridiculous, it must be admitted that at that time, neither the Ming Dynasty nor the Qing Dynasty really thought about the issue of installing gun carriages for large artillery to facilitate maneuverability.

The reason is, as the craftsman said, there is really no need for Chinese artillery to be installed on artillery carts.

Many people have questions about why the Chinese invented gunpowder and applied it to the battlefield, but why it was the West that finally developed the use of gunpowder, while the East has always been very conservative in its development.

In fact, in the final analysis, it is caused by the different battlefields between the East and the West.

Before the fifteenth century, both East and West had the same choice, which was to focus on the construction of city walls and castles to defend against foreign enemies.

However, the design and structure of city walls built in ancient China are different from those in Europe.

The Chinese focused on the sturdiness and durability of city walls, using methods such as multi-story construction, rammed earth, and stone masonry to enable the walls to withstand prolonged attacks.

In contrast, European city walls before the Middle Ages were usually built of stone or bricks and were more easily destroyed by artillery.

The design of Chinese city walls pays more attention to the overall defense system, including gates, moats, turrets and other structures, to respond to enemy attacks in a comprehensive combat manner.

Therefore, China does not place special emphasis on using large artillery to attack strong city walls.

Since China became a centralized country, gunpowder weapons have been mainly used to fight against barbarian invasions in border areas. Whether it is defending a city or fighting in the field, judging from these two usage scenarios, the small and mobile artillery has more advantages.

The cannons Wei Guangde requested to manufacture were actually mainly used in castles and ships during this period in the West, and were not used in field battles.

So strictly speaking, Wei Guangde's requirements are somewhat beyond the conditions of this era and are not applicable.

On the battlefields of the Ming and Qing Dynasties decades later, the Hongyi cannons equipped in large quantities by the Ming army were also widely used in city defense battles, and were not used much in field battles.

"You have a point."

Wei Guangde listened. These craftsmen may have some limitations in their thinking, but they really know what kind of firearms the Ming army needs.

"However, you also know that this time's artillery is just a trial-produced prototype cannon. It cannot even be called a cannon. It is just a prototype to participate in the parade. You will need to study the casting method afterwards.

Only the artillery cast at that time will be truly used in actual combat, and it will not matter whether it is installed on the gun carriage or not.

But now, this gun must be mounted on a gun cart and dragged through the grand parade by mules. Do you understand? "

At this moment, Wei Guangde also felt that the craftsman's words were correct, but he still wanted to put wheels on the wooden cannon.

The old craftsman seemed to have just woken up from a dream. Although he knew at first that the cannon was made of hollowed wood, it was a cannon after all and would be handed over to the military department for distribution in the future. Therefore, the old craftsman used his past experience to Make the point that cannons do not need to be mounted on gun carriages.

But he did neglect that the cannon was used to participate in the grand parade, to be shown to the emperor, the Manchu ministers, and the vassal envoys, and was not really intended to be used on the battlefield.

"Little old man, I understand. Today I should be able to install it on the artillery cart as requested by the adults. It will definitely not affect the parade."

After the old man figured it out, he knew what to do.

If the cannon is made of pure iron or copper, it will not be light in weight. The artillery carriage also needs to be carefully designed and tested. However, the current wooden cannon is much lighter. There is no need to specially design and experiment to install the cannon carriage, and it can be guaranteed. Successfully completed the reading.

"Then you go to work and load this cannon onto the gun carriage today."

After speaking to the craftsman, Wei Guangde turned to the head of the Ministry of Industry and ordered: "After the artillery carriage is completed today, we will send someone to the camp on the outskirts of Beijing early tomorrow morning. I will also go there tomorrow."

"Yes, Mr. Wei Ge."

The chief hurriedly bowed and accepted the order.

"In addition, we will speed up the production of nine more cannons and hand them over to the Beijing Camp for the grand parade.

In addition, research on the casting method cannot be delayed. What I want is not just a fake product, but an artillery that can actually be used in combat.

When the artillery is built, send someone to notify me and I will come to see and test the artillery. "

Wei Guangde ordered again.

After the arrangements were made here, Wei Guangde ignored it and returned to Zhu Heng and said: "Master Shangshu, please pay attention to this matter. If the Arms Bureau needs it, please provide convenience and approve the materials."

There was a shortage of copper in the Ming Dynasty. Although there was plenty of iron, it was also difficult to make wrought iron. Therefore, the materials used to make cannons were actually very tight. Approval for use required the signature of at least a high-ranking official of the rank of minister before they could be issued.

The cannon requested by Wei Guangde requires even greater materials. Even the materials used for such a cannon can be used to make two or three large Folang machines.

How much material is removed and how many cannons are returned must be recorded.

Therefore, work like this kind of trial production of artillery requires the green light from senior officials of the Ministry of Industry.

"Okay, since Shandai is so optimistic about this cannon, I will first approve the materials for two cannons and give them trial production."

In fact, the trial production of such artillery does not consume much material, but the labor cost is relatively higher. After all, it requires skilled craftsmen to manufacture, and the speed is extremely slow and takes a lot of time.

As for the artillery trial production, the consumption of materials is nothing more than some losses in the casting process. After all, the waste materials can be reused, and repeated castings are not one-time consumables.

Wei Guangde nodded, cupped his fists at Zhu Heng and said, "This matter depends entirely on the adults."

After saying this, Wei Guangde also noticed that Zhu Heng's face looked a little bad, and couldn't help but asked curiously: "Is there any difficulty in this matter?"

"No."

Zhu Heng shook his head and denied it, but in the end he added another sentence: "Shandai, do you know how much copper is needed to produce these two cannons?"

When Zhu Heng asked this, Wei Guangde of course shook his head. How could he know this?

"At least five thousand kilograms."

Zhu Heng stretched out his hand and said, "We can only wait until more of these cannons are made. After the craftsmen are familiar with them, we can consider trying to make a batch of them with iron materials."

"Five thousand catties?"

Wei Guangde was shocked when he heard Zhu Heng's words.

According to what Zhu Heng said, wouldn't it be possible to build such a cannon and weigh more than two thousand kilograms?

Only then did Wei Guangde realize how stupid it was for him to develop the Ming Dynasty's Hongyi cannon in advance. How much money would this waste?

With the current financial resources of the Ming Dynasty, even if it really comes up with the Red Yi Cannon, how much can it afford to build?

"Zhu Shangshu, how much can the cost be reduced if the copper material is replaced with iron material?"

Wei Guangde knew that the cannons manufactured in the Ming Dynasty were originally mainly made of copper materials, but now they are mostly made of iron materials.

When iron materials are replaced with copper materials, the cost drops a lot. Wei Guangde knows this, but he is not sure how big the price difference will be.

"If it is a copper cannon, the wall of the cannon does not need to be so thick, because the copper cannon is not easy to explode and is easier to cast.

If you switch to an iron cannon, the wall of the cannon needs to be thicker, more waste materials, and naturally heavier, but no matter what, the cost will be reduced by more than half. I estimate that it is still three to five times. "

Zhu Heng didn't know how much money would be wasted before the cannon came out. He could only estimate it based on the original cost of making the Franco cannon.

After leaving the Ordnance Bureau, Wei Guangde returned to the cabinet to handle official business.

In the third year of Longqing's reign, which had been quiet for half a year, a memorial from Guangdong was finally sent to the capital a few days ago. Guo Ming, Hu Yihua, and Chen Yiyi from Chao, Jie, Pu, and Hui counties in Guangdong gathered people to revolt, relying on each other's momentum to resist the officers and soldiers.

In fact, Guo Ming, Hu Yihua, Chen Yiyi and others have been going up to the mountains to be thieves for a long time. Before, they were just making small troubles. Although the government issued arrest documents, they didn't take them seriously.

But in the past year, the situation has begun to change. Not only did the various hilltops expand their manpower aggressively, they also began to take the initiative and no longer guarded the previous one-third of an acre.

In the past, because the government and businessmen knew about the existence of these bandits, they could take a detour to avoid them. But now that they are running around, they can no longer sit idly by and ignore them.

However, the government launched several consecutive sieges, all of which were successful, but they themselves lost troops and generals.

The government's morale was low due to repeated setbacks, while the bandits' morale was high because of their victory. Now they finally reported to the capital to send out soldiers to encircle and suppress them.

A similar situation also occurred in Shaanxi. Miner He Shu and others in Luonan County, Shaanxi gathered more than 3,000 people and occupied 18 mines in Baihualing. The government could not capture them for a long time.

Therefore, people from the Ministry of War often came to the cabinet in the past two days to discuss the matter of mobilizing officers and soldiers for encirclement and suppression.

According to the current situation, Guangdong is definitely in dire need.

According to the nature of local government officials, they would never report anything to the capital unless they were forced to do so. If they could conceal it, they would continue to conceal it. After all, it involves official inspections, which can directly affect their official status.

Therefore, yesterday, the Ministry of War basically came up with a charter, ordering General Guo Cheng, Military Preparation Officer Yang Zhi, and Deputy Supervisor Jiang Yilin to lead the army to attack in separate groups. They must strive to capture all the Guangdong bandits in one fell swoop.

The situation in Shaanxi is more responsible. After all, after the miners are armed, their combat power is also very good, and most of the mines are in dangerous terrain that is easy to defend and difficult to attack. Therefore, the Ministry of War has not yet made up its mind whether to mobilize the border troops. Go to war.

You must know that autumn is about to begin, and soon all the nine border areas will face threats from the prairie knights, so the mobilization of border troops must be extremely cautious.

Wei Guangde returned to the cabinet, and before his buttocks got hot, Chen Yiqin walked in from the door and closed the door smoothly.

Wei Guangde was surprised. As soon as he stood up, he saw Chen Yiqin walking quickly to his side and whispered: "Shandai, something big has happened."

"What's the matter? Brother Zhengfu, let's sit down and talk."

Wei Guangde frowned, and then pulled Chen Yiqin to sit on the guest chair.

"I just came out of the palace. Your Majesty just summoned me to see you. He said that he planned to summon Gao Gong to return to the court."

Chen Yiqin said with a serious face.

"ah?"

Wei Guangde screamed in surprise, then reacted and lowered his voice and asked: "How could His Majesty have such thoughts? Did the cabinet's handling of government affairs not satisfy His Majesty?"

Chen Yiqin shook his head, "I don't know exactly what happened, but it should be related to that person.

He probably didn't know that his move had a connection with the great eunuch in the palace, otherwise it would be difficult to understand why His Majesty would have this idea. "

Wei Guangde didn't bother to ask Chen Yiqin for his answer. Even when Emperor Longqing asked him for his opinion, he just showed joy and happily said that he supported Gao Gong's return or directly joined the cabinet.

The relationship between Gao Gong and Emperor Longqing did not allow them to say "no".

The only ones who are qualified to say it are Li Chunfang and Zhang Juzheng.

Thinking of this, Wei Guangde immediately asked: "Chief Assistant and Uncle, can your Majesty summon you?"

"I met Yifu when I came out of Qianqing Palace, but I was accompanied by a summoned eunuch, so I couldn't tell him about it.

When you first came back, your Majesty also summoned the Chief Assistant and your Uncle. It is estimated that someone will summon you soon. "

Chen Yiqin analyzed.

"It only depends on the chief minister and my uncle. If they also support it, the overall situation will be determined and cannot be changed if Gao Gong returns to the court."

Wei Guangde frowned, regretting his original decision.

When you find out about this person, you should find a way to deal with him, and you should not let him move around in the capital.

"Tonight, I plan to invite Teng Xiang for a drink and ask what's going on."

Chen Yiqin looked at Wei Guangde and whispered.

"Then I will contact Chen Ju to see if he knows who is speaking to Gao Gong in the palace, Meng Chong, Chen Hong, Feng Bao? Who are they? Aren't they afraid of angering others? They will be attacked by a group of people. .”

Wei Guangde still finds it difficult to understand that these eunuchs in the palace should not be so stupid.

When Gao Gong returns to the court, the emperor's favor will not only overwhelm the officials in the outer court, but also put great pressure on the eunuchs in the inner court.

Who doesn't know that Gao Gong despises eunuchs the most?

"Teng Xiang is now the number one person in the inner court. He shouldn't be. It depends on whether Meng Chong and Gao Gong have reached any private agreement."

Chen Yiqin whispered at this time, "I guess His Majesty will summon you later and you will know what to say."

Wei Guangde just nodded when he heard this. This kind of matter was sensitive and he could not show his dissatisfaction with Gao Gong in front of the emperor.

At first, I just wanted to cover the emperor's ears and eyes, so that he could not think of Gao Gong, and the matter passed.

Even now, the cabinet is very careful when handling memorials, that is, Gao Gong's name is not mentioned, just for fear that Emperor Longqing will see it.

In the end, the two could only look at each other and smile bitterly to end today's meeting.