Before the tide of the industrial revolution represented by the steam engine, anyone who tried to stop its development was like an ant trying to shake a tree. No matter how loyal Song Yingxing was to Daming, when the steam hammer that weighed several tons fell heavily in front of him, the shocking power was enough to destroy any fluke in his heart.
He really knelt down!
Song Yingxing stayed in Jinzhou that night. His spirit was awakened from the flattery of several time travelers. Listening to the roar of the three shifts of production in the distance, he could only kneel down and cry. His understanding of the world was shattered at this moment. Only then did he understand why Zhou Qingfeng had infinite contempt for Daming. The two were not opponents of the same level at all.
"Learn literary and martial arts and sell them to the royal family." As a traditional intellectual, Song Yingxing still had some attachment to fame. In history, he had participated in four examinations and failed four times. It was not until he was in his forties that he completely gave up. But now, a new path appeared in front of him — to be a thief or a dragon. Did he need to think too much?
Song Yingxing was not the first or the last to succumb to the tide of the industrial revolution. He and his family all went to Jinzhou. The hundreds of people who came with him from Bailudong Academy were easy to deal with. Those who wanted to go home were given travel expenses, and those who did not go home were arranged to study or work. These scholars didn't have any bad records. They had no choice but to come because Ye Na had kidnapped their teacher.
As for Xu Xiake, it was even simpler. Wherever he wanted to go, he could use the triplane to send him there. He could also be assigned a servant to take care of him. But he did not want to run away. He said that he wanted to take a look in Tianjin, and then he wanted to go to Jinzhou. Zhou Qingfeng did not agree. He only told him to write more travel notes, to record more of the current society, culture, and natural scenery.
In this turbulent era, someone needed to add luster to it.
Song Yingxing was not the only talented person who was kidnapped by Zhou Qingfeng. In fact, there were many people in Daming who had learned to specialize in society. It was just that what these people were good at was often not valued by the so-called orthodox literati. They had low social status and were not famous. However, in the Revolutionary Army, they were much more useful than the so-called elites who could only write stereotyped sentences.
Recently, the Revolutionary Army had been poaching people more and more smoothly, especially after Eunuch Ma Keshi began to write a column. He had set a good example for a large number of low-level technocrats and craftsmen of the Ming Palace in the north. Ma gonggong often exposed the dirty secrets of the Ming court. Only the people at the bottom of the hierarchy saw a great deal of corruption and suppression that had been covered up in the past. Many people were angry and decided to head south.
If you don't want me here, there will be a place for me. If you don't want me everywhere, I'll go join the revolution.
Zhou Qingfeng had recently recruited a group of craftsmen from the Ming Court's Imperial Silver Bureau. These people were originally making jewelry for the Emperor and Imperial Concubines in the palace, but when they came under Zhou Qingfeng, they were sent to grind lenses, make telescopes, magnifiers, and even microscopes. When they arrived in Tianjin, they sent back a piece of news. The Ming Imperial Ordnance Department was copying the rockets of the Revolutionary Army.
The rocket that seemed to be fine was being tested in the drill ground outside Tongzhou City. A large number of officials were sitting on the high platform in the drill ground. The leader had a square face and was tall. He wore an official robe bestowed by the Emperor and sat in the middle. Sun Yuan Hua, who had been in Tianjin for more than a month, was also among the officials. When he heard the summons, he walked to the front of the platform and respectfully called out "Supervisor Xiong."
This "Supervisor Xiong" was the recently appointed Governor of Ji and Liao, Xiong Tingbi. This person was famous for his straightforwardness and bad temper. Sitting next to him was the Young Zhan of the Zhan Office, Xu Guangqi, who was in charge of training the troops. Xu Guangqi specially called his disciple over to introduce him to Xiong Tingbi. Xiong Tingbi immediately smiled and said, "Did you steal that Daming Great Universal Geographical Map from the hands of the rebels?"
Stole it?
Sun Yuan Hua raised his head to look at his teacher. Xu Guangqi nodded without batting an eyelid. He immediately bowed and said, "It's all thanks to Supervisor Xiong's encouragement and the Emperor's great blessing. This junior doesn't dare to claim credit. If that map can help Supervisor Xiong strategize, it will be a joyous occasion. "
"It's not just helpful, it's a great help." Xiong Tingbi's voice was loud and clear, and his manner was magnanimous. "In the past, the maps of the Ministry of Works were very crude. I didn't expect this rebel to be so familiar with the geography of the world. Comparing the two, I found many mistakes and omissions in the past. It's said that you spent a hundred taels of silver to bribe the traitor's spy. This money was well spent. It's a reward, a reward. "
Sun Yuan Hua said a few modest words and retreated to his teacher's side.
It had been two months since Zhou Qingfeng attacked the capital region, and the Ming court's plan to strengthen the army had been carried out for some time. Tongzhou was the frontline against the Revolutionary Army, so it was reasonable to train here in preparation to recapture Tianjin. If the water transport could not be unblocked, the north would have to starve for the rest of the year.
A large-scale famine was right in front of them, and the situation in the north was surging. The Revolutionary Army's propaganda department sent a large number of people deep into the enemy's territory to spread propaganda, encouraging the people to flee. If they didn't flee while there was still food, they wouldn't have the strength to flee when the food ran out in the second half of the year. Because of this, the Daming court was also like an ant on a hot pan, urgently needing a big victory to stabilize the situation.
On the drill ground, tens of thousands of horses and banners fluttered, their footsteps creating dust. First, a group of horses charged out, followed by large groups of infantry. Looking at the scene, it was really much better than the scattered soldiers who didn't even have enough to eat before. Xiong Tingbi and Xu Guangqi still put in a lot of effort to win the war.
However, these were all ordinary drills. The finale at the end was the shooting of more than a dozen cannons and a volley of rockets. The military officers came to ask for orders. Xiong Tingbi nodded slightly and began the rocket demonstration. More than a dozen soldiers ran out from under the high platform with a few rockets in their arms, preparing to launch in front of the officials.
The Ming Army was no stranger to rockets. Sun Yuan Hua carefully looked at the imitation rockets placed under the platform in the drill ground and also felt that they were very different from the past. But to say that they were the same as the imitation used by the Revolutionary Army, he always felt that something was wrong.
The rockets used by the Revolutionary Army used an iron slide rack, which was very light and portable. The slide rack of several meters gave the rockets enough distance to accelerate. The Ming Army only picked up the wreckage of the unexploded rockets, so they took it for granted that the launch rack was similar to the old rockets. The Ming Army laid a one-meter-long wooden box on the ground, and the angle and height couldn't be adjusted. In this way, the range couldn't be adjusted.
It was very different from the Ming Army's previous rockets that pushed the arrows to attack. The rockets of the Revolutionary Army relied on the explosion of the arrows after they landed to cause damage. In terms of design ideas, the two were very different. However, no one at the scene saw the clues. They only saw the rockets fly into the sky like a monkey after they were ignited.
As soon as they flew into the sky, Sun Yuan Hua finally understood why he saw something wrong. The craftsmen of the Ming Army didn't understand the function of the rocket tail at all. At first, they thought it was cumbersome and even canceled this thing. Later, they found that without the tail, the rockets would fly randomly. But when they added the tail, they couldn't achieve consistency because of the processing precision.
The deviation of the tail made the rockets in the sky become Brown Mobile Rockets. Some flew to the east, some flew to the west, some flew for hundreds of meters and fell to the ground, and some even flew upside down after they flew into the sky. None of the officials at the scene had seen the real Revolutionary Army's rockets. They compared it with the original rockets used by their side. With this comparison, they immediately felt a sense of superiority.
"Oh, this rocket is so powerful. It flew for a mile."
"It can even explode when it lands. If the rebels were hit by it, they would definitely explode."
"This weapon is light and easy to use. It's even better than cannons. Wonderful, wonderful! "
A group of officials didn't forget to flatter Xiong Tingbi after praising him. They all said that Supervisor Xiong had the emperor's trust. At this moment, he was full of good fortune. With the support of the military and the country's heavy weapons, he would definitely win the battle in the south.
Xiong Tingbi had a strange temper. He didn't like to listen to people's flattery. He also knew that these people in front of him were useless and completely ignorant of the way of battle. He turned to look at Xu Guangqi and asked this colleague who was proficient in Western learning, "Brother Zixian, what do you think?"
Xu Guangqi was knowledgeable. He was disappointed with the rocket and whispered, "To tell you the truth, this thing isn't made well. It flies randomly in the sky and doesn't have any accuracy. Previously, Liu Gu's defeated soldiers all said that the rebels' rockets were like meteors falling to the ground. They were continuous and shot for two miles and were still very accurate. This is completely different from what we made.
Also, my disciple heard in Tianjin that the rebels are extremely skilled in mathematics and craftsmanship. I have also seen many books sold by the rebels. The people who wrote them are all outstanding and not an undeserved reputation. The goods sold on the market are also extremely exquisite. They are several times better than our military weapons. If we compare them with what we see now, I'm afraid we will lose in a muddle if we fight. "
Xiong Tingbi nodded slightly and said in a deep voice, "I have also sent people to Tianjin to investigate. The information we received is not different from what Brother Zixian said. It is hard to predict whether our tens of thousands of troops can take down Tianjin. But if we don't fight, the situation in the north will be in chaos. Ai … "
Zhou Qingfeng had to take Tianjin of all places. This move was too vicious. In terms of strategy, he was in an invincible position. It immediately choked the Ming court's throat and made it hard for the Jing officials to breathe. Historically, the Ming court could still borrow Jiangnan's provisions to continuously organize troops to resist the Later Jin and suppress the Manchurian Qing. But now, the troops in Xiong Tingbi's hands were the Ming court's last hope.
This group of troops had exhausted the court's money and food, putting great pressure on Xiong Tingbi. If he lost, the court would not have the ability to counterattack again. The funny thing was that the court officials were still getting rich.
"Brother Zixian, do you have a good plan?" Xiong Tingbi could not afford to lose. When he thought about how Liu Gu also had tens of thousands of troops and besieged more than 2,000 rebels in Tongzhou but collapsed after fighting for half a day, he really could not think of how to defeat the Revolutionary Army.
Xu Guangqi also knew Xiong Tingbi's difficulties. He also knew that the fate of Daming's country was in the hands of the two of them. One mistake would lead to the destruction of the country. He thought about it and finally gritted his teeth to dismiss everyone. He lowered his voice and said to Xiong Tingbi, "The Tongzhou army needs to be trained more. Commander in Chief, you must not fight recklessly. If you want to solve the problem in front of you, you might have to … "
Xu Guangqi's words reached Xiong Tingbi's heart. He was hot-tempered but not a fool. He would not do something like hitting a rock with an egg. However, Xu Guangqi stopped at the end and quickly said, "Brother Zixian, please say it. If there is any responsibility, I will bear it alone."
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