Back to the end of the Ming Dynasty to engage in infrastructure construction

Chapter 235
When Zhao Cheng mobilized his men to vigorously launch the military expansion campaign, the capital and the palace hall.

Xu Guangqi is reporting the situation of Qiangdi to Emperor Chongzhen.

All the cabinet ministers listened respectfully.

"...The military strength of the strong land is strong, and the soldiers dare to fight, not only because of the sharpness of the guns. The most important thing is that the army and the people are united as one. The people are rich, everyone lives and works in peace and contentment, and everyone is willing to work hard to protect their own land... ..."

Xu Guangqi talked eloquently, his eyes fell on Emperor Chongzhen.

Emperor Chongzhen was thin and pale.He was only 20 years old, supposedly at the prime of his life, but his face actually looked a bit vicissitudes, and silver strands were already protruding from his hair.

It's not easy for him to be the emperor!

Since ascension to the throne, there have been constant natural disasters, internal and external troubles, and the court has been precarious, just like the setting sun on a long river.

Emperor Chongzhen was also ambitious. At the beginning of his ascension to the throne, he got rid of Wei Wei.Everyone in the imperial court praises him, and everyone praises him as a wise king.

As soon as Emperor Chongzhen changed his ancestors, he was either lazy or had other eccentric styles. He was very diligent and did everything by himself.

However, the development of the court situation did not go in the direction he imagined.

After killing Wei Xie, the court did not become clear as expected, but became even more chaotic.

All the officials in the court are fighting each other, and the faction is constantly fighting.

Emperor Chongzhen felt that his orders would not have any effect.

He felt very tired. For the sake of the people, he used up all the money in the national treasury, and even took out the money in the internal treasury to help all parties.

The clothes he was wearing were all half-worn, even patched in inconspicuous places.

Xu Guangqi looked at the emperor, feeling at a loss.

In fact, he had always thought that Chongzhen was a Ming emperor before, and that the reason why the court was so corrupt was not to blame Chongzhen, but to blame the mess left by the late emperor for being too difficult to clean up, and to blame the successive years of natural disasters.

The emperor was already very hardworking and loved the people. In order to help all parties, he saved food and money, and even wore tattered dragon robes himself.

However, after going to the strong land and seeing the scenery of the strong land, Xu Guangqi's thoughts gradually wavered.

Why is it that in such a remote place in Qiangdi, everyone can eat enough and wear warm clothes?

In Qiangdi, even the lowest-level common people, no one needs to wear patched clothes!

There are several textile factories and garment factories in Qiangdi, and a large number of clothes and cloth are produced every day at very low prices.

On the street, there are stalls selling clothes with many styles, and everyone has spare money to buy new clothes.

The capital should be a rich place, why even the emperor wears patched clothes?
What exactly is going on?

"I don't want to hear this!" Chongzhen waved his hands irritably, "What I am concerned about is that there is news from the front line of Guanning that the Tartars in Liaodong have been driven away, and Liaodong has been occupied by a mysterious army. Is this army led by Zhao Cheng?"

Since a few months ago, the name Zhao Cheng has been appearing in the memorials.

At first, Chongzhen didn't care.

Bian Town is just a small general, with his bravery, he has made great contributions, and it is enough to give him a reward to show his appreciation.

However, since Zhao Cheng went out of the fortress and started to fight against the Tartars, Chongzhen began to be shocked by this name.

A small garrison in the border town of Ming Dynasty was able to defeat Jiannu!And it's going out to kill the enemy!
You know, over the years, Chongzhen was so annoyed that his hair turned gray a lot because of his slavery.

Since the Battle of Sarhu, Jiannu has continuously invaded Daming and conquered cities and lands, so that now the entire Liaodong is almost lost.

Building slaves is a serious problem for Chongzhen.

All the ministers in the court also mentioned Jiannu, and they all fell silent.

Last year, the army of slaves even arrived at the capital city, and the capital was shaken.

Yuan Chonghuan, who claimed to be in peace for five years, was questioned for this.

A small garrison officer... It is said that a few months ago, this garrison officer was just a small pier, and he led more than a thousand people out of the fortress, and defeated Jian Nu?

This is simply unbelievable!

"This..." Xu Guangqi pondered for a while, "I am not sure. Zhao Cheng only said that he led the army out to fight the Tartars. He went there for more than three months. After returning, he said that he had defeated the Tartars and opened up trade routes outside the Great Wall. As for the matter of Liaodong, I have never heard of it."

In fact, Xu Guangqi heard about it by accident, and the conscript army had recovered Liaodong.

But Zhao Cheng doesn't seem to have the intention of handing over Liaodong to the imperial court, which is a bit ambiguous.

"Report to the emperor. Our spies in Liaodong have brought back news that it was the Conscript Army who restored Liaodong. The flag they used was a red flag with a long yellow line embroidered on it, which represented the Great Wall.

And all of this coincided with Zhao Cheng's army.The one who recovered Liaodong was undoubtedly Zhao Cheng.Zhao Cheng, as a frontier general of the Ming Dynasty, led the army to restore Liaodong, but he did not return Liaodong to the imperial court, but occupied it privately.

In addition, privately set military numbers, privately made military flags, privately changed military uniforms, privately manufactured weapons, privately expanded the army... all kinds of signs, the opposite is already very obvious.Xu Guangqi has been in a strong place for more than a few months, how could he not even know these things?
However, he just wanted to say that he had never heard of it.This is clearly a conspiracy with Zhao Cheng's anti-thief, and it is also a rebellion!Your Majesty, please have insight! "

Wu Changshi stood up with a righteous expression on his face.

He is the head of the Ministry of Rites and the accomplice of Zhou Yanru, the chief assistant of the cabinet.

As the second assistant of the cabinet, Xu Guangqi has a sense of justice, which is a stumbling block for Zhou Yanru to control the government.

Originally, Zhou Yanru had already ignored Xu Guangqi, because Xu Guangqi's health was getting worse and worse, and seeing that his time was running out, he didn't need to care about anything with a dying person.

Unexpectedly, after Xu Guangqi returned to Beijing this time, Long Zhong's aging state was swept away, and he became radiant and full of energy.

Under his instruction, a younger brother immediately stood up and bit Xu Guangqi first for him to see the reaction.

Emperor Chongzhen's face suddenly became gloomy.

What he is most afraid of hearing now is the word rebellion.

It is true that the imperial court has no money and no extra soldiers to send.The small army is already exhausted just to confiscate the current rogues from all over the place.

Emperor Chongzhen went to great lengths to raise food and grass.

Xuanfu Town can be said to be the back garden of the imperial court.If a rebel army suddenly appeared in Xuanfu Town, how could the imperial court have soldiers to send!
Wen Tiren is the best at figuring out what is going on, and he can see the embarrassment of the emperor at a glance, so he immediately stood up to share his worries, and scolded Wu Changshi:

"Bold! In Wu Changshi, you dare to frame a meritorious minister and conspire against him. Can you talk nonsense?"

Wu Changshi was the best friend of Zhou Yanru, the chief assistant of the cabinet, and Zhou Yanru was Wen Tiren's political enemy.Wen Tiren tried his best to pull Zhou Yanru down.

It can not only please the emperor, but also attack political enemies...

Of course Wen Tiren would not let go of this opportunity.

"Miss Wen, I'm not talking nonsense..."

"How dare you make excuses!"

With a righteous face, Wen Tiren yelled loudly.

"Do you know that if these words are spread, it will chill the heroes! Whether Liaodong was recovered by Zhao Cheng is still unknown. Even if it is, maybe General Zhao has not had time to report to the court. In other words, Jianu has not yet been captured. Completely cleared, Liaodong may be lost at any time, and it is not stable enough. General Zhao is worried that he will be responsible for the loss of land, which is possible.

When Wu Chang was in the court, you were clothed in rich clothes and fine food every day. You didn’t know that on the battlefield, the generals died in a hundred battles!Talking nonsense, if you force against loyal ministers, can you bear the guilt? "

Emperor Chongzhen felt more comfortable listening to Wen Tiren's words.

correct!With such a powerful army in Zhao Cheng's hands, what if he was really forced to turn against him?

When he looked at Wu Chang again, his eyes were already cold.

Wu Changshi's head was covered with cold sweat.

Originally, he just wanted to speak for Mr. Shoufu, but unexpectedly, he was bitten by Wen Tiren.

Out of the corner of his eye, he looked at Zhou Yanru.

Zhou Yanru had no choice but to speak, cleared his throat, and said: "Your Majesty, Mr. Wu is also considering the imperial court, and he has no bad intentions. What he said is not groundless, just a moment of impatience, and what he said is not thoughtful..."

"All right!"

Emperor Chongzhen waved his hand and interrupted Zhou Yanru.

He didn't like to hear what Wu Changshi said.

Zhao Cheng holds an army that can defeat Jiannu in his hand.No one of Chongzhen's army could do this.

If Zhao Cheng really rebelled, what should he do?
Chongzhen was irritable and irritable, and he was good at killing ministers, but all he killed were civil servants, or generals who had no soldiers under them.

For a general with a heavy army in his hand, Chongzhen would never try to get the opponent's idea. Even if the opponent really made a big mistake, Chongzhen would at best reprimand him a little, and then send food and money to comfort him.

Wu Changshi even said that Zhao Cheng was going to rebel, isn't that making him hard to get off?
"Zhao Cheng has indeed not turned his back. In the future, such words are not allowed to be mentioned indiscriminately, otherwise, it will easily chill the heroes!"

Emperor Chongzhen's words set the tone.

In the future, whoever wants to say that Zhao Cheng rebelled will have to weigh it.

Unless Zhao Cheng publicly declares his rebellion...

Otherwise, if Zhao Cheng really rebelled, he would have forced him to rebel.

It's hard to say what will happen to Zhao Cheng, but the minister who forced Zhao Cheng to rebel must be killed first.

Xu Guangqi watched from the side, speechless for a while.

This is simply a farce!

In the past, he was used to this kind of party struggle in the court.If there was any court meeting, these ministers would not fight each other red-faced and frame each other, he would not be used to it.

But now, after staying in Qiangdi for a few months, I am used to Qiangdi's straight-forward efficiency, and everything is done in accordance with the rules and regulations.

The new strong land, the growing strong land, everyone is full of expectations for the future, everyone thinks about the strong land, everyone worships Mr. Zhao...

That feeling is really good!

Let's all work together to do great things together!

Compare it with the strong one... Can Daming still be saved?
For a moment, Xu Guangqi was at a loss.

"Master Xu!"

At this time, someone suddenly called.

Only then did Xu Guangqi realize that he saw Emperor Chongzhen frowning at him, and other courtiers were also looking at him.

"I ask you, can you make Qiangdi's firearms? The reason why Qiangdi's army is so powerful and able to fight against Jiannu in field battles and gain the upper hand is because they are equipped with Zhuge artifacts in large numbers. I have seen Qiangdi's firearms before. It is indeed extremely sharp. If we can also manufacture this firearm, equip the whole army, suppress the bandits, and calm the universe, wouldn't it be just around the corner?"

Xu Guangqi would like to say that the reason why the strong army is strong is not just because of its firearms.

He has seen the morale of the strong land army, which is completely incomparable to other court troops.

However, he knew that His Majesty did not like to hear this.He had already said it just now, and His Majesty didn't want to hear it at all.

He could only say: "Your Majesty, there are many types of firearms in Qiangdi. Now they are equipped with the most advanced firecrackers, which are called Li's rifles. I have always been interested in firearms, and I have personally tested the rifles. , It is extremely convenient to fill the bullets, and each magazine can be filled with ten bullets, and the gun can be fired after pulling the bolt. The shooting speed is ten times that of ordinary Peruvian guns, which is simply unstoppable.

This kind of Li's rifle has a complicated structure, and I don't know where it was produced, and I can't solve the key point in a short time.In addition, there is also the Mie rifle, which is a type of rifled gun, which Wei Chen can barely manufacture.

The simplest is a smoothbore gun.As long as the skilled craftsmen of the Ministry of Industry are mobilized, and then the Ministry of Households allocates funds and hand them over to Wei Chen to manage, production can be carried out immediately. "

The more Xu Guangqi spoke, the more excited he became.

Daming is too big.

Even if it is just the lowest-end smoothbore gun, if it can be mass-produced and equipped in the army on a large scale, Ming Dynasty will have a million invincible lions.

Not to mention sweeping away bandits, even Zhao Cheng, who is in a strong place, might put away his thoughts of rebellion in the face of this million-strong army.

At that time, the monarch and his ministers will complement each other, how perfect is it?
However, just as he finished speaking, Min Hongxue, Shangshu of the Ministry of Industry, stood up and said:
"Your Majesty, the production of this tool is a matter for our Ministry of Industry. Elder Xu Ge is willing to give us advice, and we can't wait for it. However, the dispatch of craftsmen involves too many things, which is extremely cumbersome, and it is extremely troublesome to argue between various departments. We, the Ministry of Industry, will preside over it!"

"Your Majesty, the Ministry of Households can't allocate any money now! Shanshan has been using troops for years, and the army's food and salary can't be paid out. How can there be money to make firearms for Mr. Xu Ge now? What's more, this is an unnecessary thing. In case of money What can I do if I can't make firearms?" The people from the household department also stood up and said.

"Your Majesty, I also believe that this matter must be cautious. The manufacture of firearms is a major matter for the country. Before we manufactured the Frang machine gun, we obtained firearms from the Frang machine, and then hired the Fran machine to guide it. Even In this way, it will take a long time and slowly adapt to success."

Wen Tiren and Zhou Yanru are usually at odds, as long as one proposes, the other will definitely oppose it.

But now, there is an unexpected unity of opinion.

Because they aroused vigilance and did not want Xu Guangqi to resurface.

The manufacture of firearms is obviously the next important thing for the DPRK.

If Xu Guangqi is allowed to integrate the Ministry of Households and the Ministry of Industry...

(End of this chapter)