Cough, cough, cough …
Forbidden City, Palace of Heavenly Purity, East Warm Room.
Wanli Emperor Zhu Yijun weakly fell on the bed with a gloomy face. His favorite concubine Zheng accompanied him and took care of him carefully. Fire phoenix stood in front of the bed and picked up a few pills. She smelled them and said angrily, "Which imperial doctor gave them to you?"
The emperor was so sick that he didn't respond to fire phoenix's words. Noble Concubine Zheng was in her forties and was a little afraid of fire phoenix's question. She replied in a low voice, "Zhenren, these are the elixirs sent by Eunuch Cui of the Song: Director Of Ceremonies."
Fire phoenix immediately sneered, "Elixirs? Why didn't the emperor ask me for the medicine? There is rhubarb in it. This is a laxative. Do you want your man to die quickly? "
Noble Concubine Zheng was shocked. Even Zhu Yijun opened his eyes slightly when he heard the quarrel. Fire phoenix just sneered, "Forget it. Your man's life is up anyway. If he dies, he dies. Don't come to me if he wants to take any medicine in the future. I can't control it. "
Fire phoenix turned around and left, as if there was a skeleton behind her.
Noble Concubine Zheng wanted to ask her to stay, but she couldn't. She could only kneel in front of the emperor's bed and cry bitterly. The maids and eunuchs in the warm room didn't dare to breathe. They were all in fear and trepidation. Lying on the bed, Zhu Yijun stretched out his skinny arm and gently touched his woman's bun. He comforted her softly, "Don't cry, my dear. I know you are kind. In my life, you are the only one who is loyal to me. "
Noble Concubine Zheng cried even more sadly and couldn't help herself.
Outside the warm room, a little eunuch suddenly poked his head in and came up to report, "Your Majesty, Grand Secretary Fang has just sent someone with good news, saying that the rebel thieves who invaded and harassed the capital region have finally been driven away by Commander Du, they fled to Tianjin. Commander Du is pursuing them with his men. It is said that they will be wiped out in a few months. "
This sounded really good. Emperor Wanli finally had a smile on his face. He waved his hand to indicate that he knew, "Let the Song: Director Of Ceremonies draft a decree to reward the meritorious officials."
"Yes." The little eunuch bowed and nodded.
Emperor Wanli suddenly thought of something and continued to ask, "Didn't you say that it was Liu Da who surrounded the rebels in Tongzhou a few days ago? Why was it Du Song who had made a contribution in the blink of an eye? Where's Liu Gu? "
The eunuch was instantly rendered speechless.
Although Emperor Wanli didn't attend court for more than twenty years and didn't pay attention to government affairs, the rebels had run to the capital, so he had to step in and ask about it. However, the Ming Army was being toyed with non-stop by the rebels. Song: Director Of Ceremonies tried his best to choose some good news to present, but the situation of the battle was simply too bad. The more he read, the angrier he got. Emperor Wanli's health deteriorated day by day.
The eunuch didn't know what to say when he asked about Liu Gu's whereabouts. Emperor Wanli didn't get a reply for a long time. He couldn't help but ask angrily, "Where is Liu Da? Didn't he dare to fight and was good at it? Could it be that they lost the battle? "
The little eunuch stuttered for a long time. "General Liu did lose the battle. Forty thousand men and horses were all destroyed."
"What?" Emperor Wanli was startled and struggled to get up. "Liu Gu lost, Du Song won, and the traitor escaped. You … how dare you! Are you bullying me because I've lived in the palace for a long time and am a fool? "
The little eunuch hurriedly knelt and kowtowed. Imperial Concubine Zheng cried and persuaded her man not to get angry. Zhu Yijun's chest rose and fell violently. He struggled to get up but was even more powerless. His body went limp and he leaned on the chair, panting. Imperial Concubine Zheng saw his pale face and hurriedly shouted to the little eunuch, "Imperial physician, quickly summon the imperial physician."
Zhu Yijun leaned on the bed and unexpectedly cried and said to himself, "The state affairs are difficult. The civil and military officials of the court dare to deceive me. They deceived me for dozens of years, deceiving me and deceiving me. There is not a single loyal official in or out of the court. Not a single one, not a single one. "
The old emperor was ill and bedridden. The civil and military officials of the court were also frowning. In the Imperial Library in the east of the Forbidden City, the Grand Secretary Fang Yizhe was leading a few important officials of the court. He, together with the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Works, and the Chief Military Officer Du Song, who had just entered the city, were all frowning.
Du Song sat half-way down and said in a deep voice, "Gentlemen, the rebels' firearms are so sharp that we can't even fight a war. General Liu led forty thousand soldiers to surround the city, but in just one morning, everything was destroyed. According to the general who escaped, the rebels shot countless arrows at that time, all of them were far and accurate. General Liu was two li away from the front line, but unexpectedly he was also bombarded.
Not to mention that the rebels also had heavy artillery, firearms, and explosives. Each of them was a weapon of the country. Although the rebels have returned to Tianjin, they have blocked the transportation route to the north. If we don't think of a way to reorganize our military strength, we won't be able to get Jiangnan's rations this year. "
It would have been better if they didn't mention the rations, but once they did, everyone became even more worried. Even the Grand Secretary wanted to curse, 'Damn the rebels, they actually cut off my way of survival.' But cursing was useless. Everyone could only look at the several assistant ministers from the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of War who came to discuss the matter. The Military Guard Bureau and the Ordnance Bureau also sent officials and eunuchs. In front of them was a rocket from the 'Revolutionary Army' that had not exploded because of a misfire.
The rocket had already broken into pieces when it hit the ground. The scene was a restored damaged product. The gunpowder inside the rocket had naturally been removed, but its original shape could still be seen. Other than the rocket, there was also a matchlock gun used by the female guards. After many days of campaigning, the female soldiers also suffered battle damage and lost many firearms.
A few technical bureaucrats first greeted the officials present and came together to discuss the mystery of this rebel's weapon. Du Song, Sir Du had said clearly that if the Ming Army also had this kind of weapon, they would certainly be able to kill countless rebels as easily as turning over their hands. Therefore, Daming's military personnel pondered to imitate this kind of powerful military weapon.
A wooden shell rocket, at first glance, it looked like a large Sky Monkey. However, the one Zhao Ze made was actually called the Hale Rocket. It was a greatly improved version of the 'Congreve Rocket' of the later British Army. The difficulty of this technology lay in the spin of the tail, which required precision in processing. In the eyes of Daming's bureaucrats, this was just a wooden shell stuffed with black gunpowder. With a ready-made sample, it should be very easy to make.
A few bureaucrats who understood technology met and discussed for a while. Looking at the sample in front of them, it did not seem difficult. They all nodded their heads indicating that this rocket could be made. It was just that the rebel's was more exquisite and beautiful. However, Daming did not lack skilled craftsmen and could definitely make something better than this.
If it could be made, Fang Shoufu and the others were immediately overjoyed. They then asked if the rebel's firearms could be made. The answer they received was naturally yes. The firearms of the Daming court were common equipment and there were many of them. It was just that the quality was too poor and easy to explode. The soldiers did not like to use them. As long as the court allocated more silver, there would naturally be durable firearms made.
If they could even make rockets and firearms, then finally they talked about cannons.
This was troublesome.
In the battle of Tongzhou, the power of the rockets was great, but the damage was not great. The fiercest and gave the deepest impression to the Ming Army were the two 150mm caliber short-barreled heavy cannons. After Zhou Qingfeng's team withdrew, Du Song personally led a team to inspect the rebel's formation on the city walls of Tongzhou. He intended to unravel the secret of the rebel's impregnable defense against tens of thousands of troops.
The hundreds of corpses lying in the direction of the cannons had not been cleared. The bloody scene was clearly displayed in front of the Ming Army. In particular, the last 100 meters had been hit by canister fire. The tragic state of the ground shocked everyone. The Ming Army had many cannons, but there was no model that could be compared to this.
If it was heavy cannons, Daming also had them. However, they were huge city-guarding behemoths that easily weighed thousands of kilograms. It was quite troublesome to transport them. There was absolutely no possibility of them marching with the army. The small caliber Francon cannon had already proven to be completely useless. Its power was small and it could not hit accurately. It was completely no match for the rebel's heavy cannons.
"I, Daming, am a land of heroes and talented people. Can't I make cannons that are as sharp as this?" Fang Shoufu said this without any shame.
The technocrats who were bowing their heads cursed in their hearts. There were many talented people in the Daming Dynasty, but they only knew how to recite poems and be officials to earn money. There were not many who knew how to make cannons. However, they had to answer the Grand Secretary's question. Those who knew technology were at least more straightforward. If they couldn't make it, then they couldn't. However, they still gave a solution.
"Sir Fang, I, Daming, am indeed lacking in the art of making cannons. However, the people of Taixi are often skilled in this field. There was Matteo Ricci, skilled in astronomy and mathematics. He was also on good terms with our dynasty. Unfortunately, this person passed away several years ago.
However, there are still many people from Taixi in the capital. Zuo Zanshan Xu Guangqi of the Zhan Prefecture's Zuo Chunfang can help contact craftsmen who are skilled in forging cannons. His disciple, Sun Yuanhua, is also skilled in Western learning and is especially good at making cannons. He can also solve the court's problems. In addition, it is rumored that the people of Taixi have set up a cannon factory in Zhanhaojing in Guangdong. They can also make cannons for our army. "
At the end of the Ming Dynasty, firearm technology was backward. They had no choice but to learn some scientific knowledge from Western missionaries and merchants. Among them, the casting of cannons was one of them. When Fang Shoufu heard that he wanted to learn from the people of Taixi, he didn't mind. He nodded and had people make arrangements.
However, there was a way to strengthen the army. It couldn't be done without money.
Fang Shoufu frowned and called the people from the Ministry of Revenue to discuss it. One word — money!
Money wasn't a problem. The problem was that they didn't have money.
Jiangnan's taxes had been blocked by the rebels, so they could only look to the north. However, the north's economy was far inferior to the south's. It would be difficult to collect taxes. After pondering for a long time, Fang Shoufu only had one idea — collect taxes.
Two cents per mu. As for how much he could collect, he didn't know. After all, he couldn't count on the south's silver now. The north's agriculture had been severely damaged. He didn't know how much money he could collect. An assistant minister from the Ministry of Revenue came up with another idea — why not abolish the post office and save some money.
The post office of the Ming Dynasty was a strange thing. Officials didn't have to pay for lodging and could eat and drink for free. In theory, it was a benefit the court gave to the officials. In the end, anyone who had even the slightest connection to the officials would all run to them for money. However, the court didn't give enough money and food, so the stewards of the post office had to pay for the officials themselves.
Now that the grain supply had been cut off, it was better to save as much as possible. Fang Shoufu took the opportunity to agree.
Then someone else suggested, "There are many wealthy families in the capital, and countless relatives of nobles. Not long ago, the court gave them nine months' worth of rations in one go. Why don't we ask them to donate to the country? "
"No, no." Fang Shoufu shook his head like a rattle drum. "Forcefully collecting donations will cause the court and the public to be in an uproar. All the officials will be resentful. This is not appropriate, not appropriate." He directly blocked off this path, leaving no room for discussion. "Stability is the most important thing right now. Don't add to the troubles."
The country was about to be finished. Taxes weren't collected from the richest officials, but from the poorest and most powerless commoners. Or they could be saved on some seemingly unnecessary expenses to struggle at death's door. This was Daming's method of prolonging the life of the dynasty.
After discussing the various matters, Fang Shoufu also felt quite tired. During this time, he had endured a great deal of pressure from the court and the public. Like a paperhanger, he barely managed to maintain Daming's broken house. Under the wind and rain, the house was tottering and on the verge of collapse. However, no one living in the house was willing to do anything, waiting for someone else to take the blame.
His heart was so tired, Fang Shoufu just wanted to go home and rest. But before he could leave the Imperial Library Pavilion, a young eunuch rushed in and shouted, "Official Fang, the Emperor has summoned you to the palace."
"What's the matter?"
"The Emperor is seriously ill. The imperial physicians are helpless. I'm afraid there's something I can't bear to talk about. "
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