Nanming Yiming

Chapter 61
The construction of Tianjiazhuang is proceeding in an orderly manner. It can be said that Tianjiazhuang is changing with each passing day, and the outline of the bastion outside the village has also been seen.

Although "fairy lime" is constantly being transported from Tianmu Mountain.However, the output of "fairy lime" is still limited, so the bastion still adopts the method of concrete, and stones are mixed with "fairy lime" for pouring.

Xu Ermo's good friend Father Philip also came to Tianjiazhuang.

Like Xu Ermo, Philip is also full of curiosity about Tianjiazhuang.

In particular, the flat roads and squares paved with cement made him feel incredible.

When he saw the "Bastion Defense System Map of the Western Countries in Thailand" drawn by Qian Mo, Father Philip asked in surprise: "Dear Governor, where did you get such a bastion defense system map? "

"This is more complete than any Taixi Limburg I have seen, and the layout is more reasonable."

Qian Mo couldn't say that this was summed up by the great gods of the military forums of later generations, so he could only say: "When I was in Nanjing, I met a missionary, and learned from him that Taixi has a mysterious bastion, which is different from the eastern ones. The city. Then I felt that this bastion still has some room for improvement, so I drew this "Bastion Defense System Map of Western and Western Countries."

Father Philip said: "Dear Governor, it turns out that you have been guided by God, no wonder you have such wisdom!"

"I am willing to help you build such a great bastion, but I still have a small request. I wonder if the governor can agree?"

Qian Mo said, "Then let me hear, what is Father Philip's request?"

Father Philip said: "I also ask the governor to allow me to preach under your rule in the future, so that the "Bible" can be spread among the people of Ming Dynasty."

In fact, Qian Mo did not object to preaching. After all, Confucianism and Buddhism have been spreading in China for so long. How easy is it for Catholicism to spread quickly in China?

Among so many emperors in China, there really was one who believed in Catholicism, and that was Zhu Youlang, the Yongli Emperor of Nanming.

Of course, in addition to spiritual sustenance, the most important thing for Emperor Yongli to believe in Catholicism is practical needs.

The Nanming regime was crushed all the way by the Qing army, and it was almost powerless to fight back.So Emperor Yongli began to actively look for foreign aid.There were already many Portuguese mercenaries in Macau at that time, and they had advanced firearms brought from the West.

But the Portuguese mercenaries in Macau are not enough, and they don't want to help Nanming anymore.So Emperor Yongli thought of asking the Pope for help, hoping that they could send more troops and firearms to help him restore the country.

But if you are a heretic, the pope has no reason to help you.So Emperor Yongli made their whole family into Catholicism.The mother was renamed Maria, the wife was renamed Yana, and even the prince was renamed Constantine.And wrote a distress letter to the Pope in Rome.

But how can distant water quench thirst?It took three years for this letter to be sent, and it was not until the Pope replied that it was sent back.Nanming has been basically wiped out, and even Emperor Yongli who fled to Burma was hanged in Kunming by Wu Sangui.

In the end, the pope failed to save him, a believer far in the east.

As long as the government doesn't dominate the Catholic Church, it's okay to let them preach freely in China. Of course, the premise is that these "foreign devils" can't use religion to confuse people and engage in political activities.

So Qian Mo said: "Dear Father Philip, although I am a devout Buddhist, I still advocate freedom of religious belief. I can allow you to preach under my rule in the future. But you cannot force or deceive people to believe in religion. , and religion cannot be used to interfere with court-related decrees, can you guarantee this?"

Hearing that Qian Mo agreed that he would preach in the future, Father Philip was naturally overjoyed, and immediately responded: "Your Excellency, you can rest assured, I can assure you that you must be free to join the church and will definitely not affect the government's decrees."

Father Philip said: "I am very interested in your 'Fairy Lime'. I believe it will become a hot commodity. I have business friends in Macau who can help you trade with them."

Qian Mo thought to himself: Fortunately, the craftsmen and workshops in Tianjiazhuang have all been transferred to Tianmu Mountain, otherwise there is really no secrecy about the technology of firing cement.

So he said: "I am also very willing to trade with friends in Macau, but the production of this 'fairy lime' is extremely difficult, and we don't have enough for ourselves at the moment. After the bastion is completed, we can consider selling some."

"I heard from Mr. Xu that God Philip is also very proficient in firearms. What do you think of the firearms we are producing now?"

Father Philip said: "I have seen the arquebus you produced, and I personally feel that it is very close to the performance of the firearms in my hometown, and even the effect of test firing is obviously better than our arquebus, and for you I personally like the design with a bayonet port under the barrel."

"Our flintlock guns still have some room for improvement in details, but the overall improvement is not great. In my hometown, soldiers are still accustomed to using matchlock guns, mainly because the actual operability of flintlock guns is not good enough. good."

Qian Mo understands that this is because the quality of the steel produced in this era is not good. The melting point of iron is 1565 degrees. The temperature of the blast furnace in this era cannot reach 1600 degrees. It cannot completely melt the iron ore. Instead, it uses mixed impurities such as sulfur and Iron melts together, which can lower the melting point of iron, and then remove sulfide through repeated quenching, which is what we usually call "steelmaking".

If the furnace temperature can exceed 1600 degrees, the quality of steel can be improved, which will greatly improve the production of flintlock guns and cannons.

Therefore, the quality of iron cannons is not good now, and good cannons have to be cast with copper. For the current family property of the Taihu Rebel Army, the cost of casting copper cannons is still a bit high, so I will not consider casting cannons by myself for the time being.

However, Qian Mo expressed his interest in buying a batch of new guns and artillery from Macau, which would allow Father Philip to contact his friends.

The production capacity of Tianjiazhuang is very limited. Even now that many workshops have been expanded and more craftsmen have been invested, the output of the modified Miru blunderbuss is only 600 shots a month, which is far from meeting the needs of soldiers' hunting suits.

In fact, Qian Mo also likes Tianjiazhuang, which is much better than the small island on Taihu Lake.

Especially for the current rebels, Tianjiazhuang is far more important than the cottages on Taihu Lake, so Qian Mo ordered to build a wall with cement to protect all the newly built camps and craftsmen's quarters. Doubled in size, almost catching up with a small city.

But Qian Mo, who hasn't been back to Taihu Lake for a long time, still wants to go back.

Because news came from Taihu Lake that his little nephew was born, and the mother and child are safe!
So Qian Mo took this opportunity to gather all the core members of the Taihu Rebel Army. After all, it has been more than a month since he went out to attack Tianjiazhuang, and everyone has not gathered yet.

Yongli first year (1647), December 12th.

The rebel village on Shengui Island is decorated with lanterns and festoons, and the soldiers and civilians in the village are also extraordinarily enthusiastic.

This is now the residence of Governor Su Song of the Ming Dynasty. Although Qian Mo, the Governor of Su Song, is almost not here, Xia Wanchun, the Governor of Su Song, still sticks to Shengui Island.

Because of Xia Polu's birth, everyone can finally gather together again.

Now Taihu Rebels have more territory, Taihu, Tianjiazhuang, Tianmu Mountain, and Qian Ning just came back from Nanchang.

Although the promotion order for everyone has already been issued, but I still take this opportunity to announce it again.

After all, officials above the third rank still need to be approved and filed by His Highness Jian Guo in order to take effect.

So he re-read the canonized imperial edict in front of everyone:

Appoint Qian Mo as the governor of Su Song, the left servant of the Ministry of War, and supervise all affairs of Su Song's two mansions and the Taihu Rebel Army.

Xia Wanchun was appointed as the governor of Su Song and the right servant of the Ministry of officials.

Appoint Qian Buer as Su Song's chief envoy.

Gu Yanwu was appointed as Su Song's envoy.

Weng Zhiheng was appointed as Su Song's general.

Lu Shanhai was appointed as the general of Susong's Chongming camp, and Hong Fugui was appointed as the deputy general of Susong's Chongming camp.

Appoint Zhang Xiaofan as the general of Su Songjing's southern battalion.Zhou Bao is the deputy general of Su Songjing's South Camp.

Huang Yu was appointed as the general of Su Song's Shenji Battalion.Wang Yongfu (Wang Bazong) is the deputy general of Su Song Shenji Battalion.

Wu Qi was appointed as the general of Su Song's Taihu camp.

Appoint Qian An as deputy general of the law enforcement battalion.

Li Qi (Li Bazong) was appointed as the deputy general of the Susong Engineering Battalion.

Qian Ning is the commander of the intelligence department, and Liu Yichen is the deputy commander of the intelligence department.

In the end, Lu Jianguo also granted Qian Wei the title of "Uncle Zhongyong" and the posthumous title "Wenxiang".

It has to be said that Lu Jianguo really spent a lot of money in order to win over Qian Mo, especially the trick of chasing up Qian's father is really clever.

This can be regarded as completely tied Qian Mo to the chariot of King Lu's family.

In addition to expressing his thanks, Qian Mo also sent someone to Chongming with 5000 shi of grain and grass, some knives, guns, bows and arrows, and gunpowder.

He also reported that he had established strongholds in Tianjiazhuang and Tianmu Mountain, and was ready to cooperate with Wang Shi to counterattack Su Song at any time.

Everyone who has been sealed is naturally beaming.

Next, Su Song's general soldier Weng Zhiheng introduced the family background of Su Song Governor's Mansion to everyone.

The first-class battalion of the Chongming Battalion has 1000 troops, 300 bird guns, and 6 tiger crouching guns.

The first-class battalion of the Jingnan Battalion has 1000 troops, 300 bird guns, and 60 pairs of iron armor.

The first-class battalion of Shenji Battalion has 1000 troops, 600 Lumi guns, 200 bird guns, 12 tiger squat guns, and 7 Qianjin Frang machine guns.

The second-class battalion of the Taihu Battalion has 600 troops and 50 bird guns.

The auxiliary battalion of the engineering battalion has a strength of 800 people.

The auxiliary battalion of the law enforcement battalion has a strength of 200 people.

All A and B battalions have already put on armor, and cotton armor is a must.

All battalions have also changed into new-style military uniforms, and they are no longer the gatherings of the various beggar gangs before.

Seeing that Governor Su Song has grown to nearly 5000 people, everyone is also very encouraged!

Then Channing reported on the recent work of the Intelligence Department.

The Intelligence Division is currently developing rapidly.Intelligence points have been established in Nanjing, Suzhou, Songjiang, Jiaxing, Yangzhou, Huzhou, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Nanchang, and Fujing.

At present, the various industries under the intelligence department have achieved profitability, and they can fully afford the salary and rewards of the intelligence personnel under the intelligence department, and there is still a slight surplus.Currently there are still 11000 taels of silver in the account, and there is no need for the chief secretary to allocate any more taels of silver to open new stronghold intelligence points.

Qian Mo said that Beijing, Taiyuan, Xiangyang, Changsha, Guangzhou, Guilin, Kunming and other places should also pay close attention to the layout, and the existing intelligence network needs to be laid out in more detail.In addition, information points in Chongming and Zhoushan should also be established.

After that, Qian Buer introduced the money and food issues that everyone is most concerned about.

Governor Su Song's treasury now has a total of more than 73 taels of silver and 2000 shi of grain.

Qian Mo immediately questioned: "Why is there so little silver in the treasury?"

"I remember that there are more than 48 taels of gold and silver copied from Tianjiazhuang alone. Before departure, there were 55 taels of silver in the treasury. Now there is only less than 3 taels more?"

Qian Buer thought to himself: My second young master, you spend money lavishly all day long, and if I can save nearly 18 taels for you, it is already a high incense.

钱不二说到：“藩库原有存银55万3千两，田家庄得银48万1千两，商人献银入藩库5万两，攻略嘉兴府城得银10万3千两。”

"Last month, the treasury received a total of 63 taels of silver."

"The purchase of grain consumes 5 taels of silver, and the purchase of various production materials consumes 3 taels of silver. The intelligence department opens various strongholds with 8 taels of silver at a time, and the Tianmu Mountain mining and cottage construction branch of 8 taels of silver. There are 3 taels of silver subsidy for senior officials and craftsmen, and 2 taels of miscellaneous expenses."

"The big head is Tianjiazhuang's material purchases, and the craftsmen and villagers are rewarded with money. The workshop, Lingbao builds a one-time payment of 23 taels of silver."

"Of course, according to the accounts, Tianjiazhuang, the Intelligence Department and Tianmu Mountain should all have balances. In particular, the large amount of goods produced by the Tianjiazhuang workshop has not yet been settled, and the construction of the bastion is also a one-time payment."

"But these balances are not counted in my treasury account."

Qian Mo realized that he was really not in charge of the family and didn't know that Chai Migui was expensive. Now that the land was getting bigger, he had to save some money.

So he said: "Both the Tianjiazhuang Workshop and the Intelligence Department must achieve profitability, and the growth of our army must be supported by stable income."

"Fortunately, the one-time huge expenditure like Lingbao is gone, and the various industries invested in before will gradually realize profits, and the income of our rebel army will be more stable."

Next, Xia Wanchun said: "Let me tell you about the recent information. First of all, the news from the Qing court that Hong Chengchou has been dismissed because of his donation of money to Shenjiang and improper employment, and he is at home."

This is good news, no doubt Hong Chengchou is the most unwilling to meet Qian Mo among many opponents.

In history, Hong Chengchou returned to Beijing to report because of his father's death, and was dismissed as soon as he arrived in the capital to recruit the Southern Governor's Military Affairs Bachelor.
It seems that although Qian Mo's travel caused a little disturbance, it did not affect this historical trend.

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