Ming Empire

Chapter 296 Everything Goes Well
What Cao Yue wants most now is to develop a steam engine as soon as possible.

In his mind, with the steam engine, the real industrial revolution began. Ironclad ships, trains, cars, and even airplanes could be produced.

When these modern means of transportation come out, the earth-shaking changes will start that day. The national power of Ming Dynasty will continue to grow rapidly, and the weapons of the army will be highly modernized. threaten.

For this reason, Cao Yue also offered a heavy reward, saying that whoever first develops a device powered by steam, that is, a steam engine, will be rewarded with 100 million taels of silver in his own name.

This reward order immediately shocked the world. In the eyes of the people at that time, including those Westerners who traveled across the ocean to Daming, 100 million taels of silver was definitely an unimaginable astronomical figure.According to the current price level, it is almost possible to buy 10,000+ acres of fertile land.There are a large number of small duchies in Europe today, and some of them are less than [-] acres in size.

If they can own such a large area of ​​land in the West, they will be nobles, and even have titles hanging on their heads. This is a fatal temptation for Western scholars.

For local technicians, although 100 million taels of silver cannot be said to be incomparably rich, it is enough for them to live for several lifetimes.

There must be a brave man under the reward, so many physics researchers devoted themselves to the development of steam technology with enthusiasm.

And Cao Yue explained to them the principle of steam-driven machinery, the technology of pistons and cylinders, and those who have researched in physics quickly figured out the way.In order not to waste time, energy and resources, a research team was set up under Cao Yue's personal leadership to gather all physicists to develop steam technology.

Cao Yue believed that the steam engine would soon appear on the land of China, and he also began to prepare for making trains and laying rails on the land of China.If steam technology appeared, then trains could be made very quickly. With trains and rails connecting the north, south, east and west of Daming, then Daming would completely change.

Cao Yue is very busy. He hardly has any free time. He fights on women at night, and runs between military academy, science academy, arsenal, barracks, and court during the day. There is no obvious overall improvement in Daming Technology, and his ideas have not been accepted. Before others fully understand and accept, many things can only be handled by himself.He also has to personally pay attention to the wars in the north and west, and make new arrangements in time.

Throughout the Ming Dynasty, no one valued technology as much as he did, no one knew all kinds of high technology like him, and no one understood modern warfare better than him, so many things could not be entrusted to others, and Cao Yue could only laugh at himself in many cases , he is busier than a dog now.

What reassures Cao Yue is that the preparations for the Military Academy are progressing very smoothly. Chinese and foreign scholars like the Academy of Sciences are working very diligently, and the military operations in the north and west are also progressing smoothly. He does not need to worry about everything. The reversal of the Ming Dynasty's national fortune has become a trend. , no one can stop.

After Cao Bianjiao led his army out of the pass to fight, he fought repeatedly and quickly recovered Songshan, Jinzhou, and Liaoyang, which were occupied by Jiannu, and recovered most of the land outside the pass that originally belonged to Daming.Facing the powerful artillery bombardment and musket shooting of the Ming army, Dorgon and the Duoduo brothers were still helpless. They finally abandoned these cities, retreated northward with shrinking troops, and prepared to stick to the Shengjing area.

The channel for Jiannu to attack North Korea was basically blocked by the Ming army. North Korea soon broke away from Jiannu's control, returned to the arms of Ming, and was willing to be a vassal of Ming again.

The Korean army that originally followed Jiannu to attack the Ming army became the servants who followed behind the Ming army and attacked Jiannu.It's just that Cao Bianjiao didn't look straight at the North Korean army, and didn't let them serve as cannon fodder, but let them play the role of militiamen.As for the cost of the war, North Korea has to share part of it. Cao Bianjiao's promise to North Korea is that Daming will always protect North Korea's security.

Cao Bianjiao, who has once again experienced the great power of firearms, has safely abandoned the previous concept of war. When training soldiers, the shooting accuracy of muskets is also the main requirement, and bow, arrow, knife and gun skills have retreated to a subordinate position.

Cao Bianjiao also knows that in future wars, only firearms and soldiers who are proficient in firearms will play the leading role.

Going out to fight, winning consecutive battles, regaining most of the original Daming city occupied by Jiannu, Cao Bianjiao's confidence increased greatly. In his memorial to the court, he pleaded with a very confident tone to continue to attack Jiannu and regain Shengjing. Eliminate the threat of slavery.The imperial court also replied and agreed to Cao Bianjiao's request, and ordered him to lead the Northern Expedition to continue to pursue and suppress Jiannu. As long as Jiannu continued to resist, they would all be wiped out.

Shengjing must be recovered, the so-called Manchu Kingdom must be eliminated, Mongolia and other tribes, as long as they dare to continue to fight against Ming, they will also become targets of conquest just like Jiannu.

The Western Front Legion led by Hong Niangzi is also progressing very smoothly. Originally, Cao Yue only wanted Hong Niangzi to lead the army to suppress the bandits and prevent them from wreaking havoc in Henan and Shanxi.But after the red lady led the army to the front line of Shaanxi, they did not obey Cao Yue's orders before the war, and launched a large-scale active attack.And several groups of people also fought very bravely, easily repelled the blocking rogues, and advanced towards Xi'an like a broken bamboo.

The powerful combat power of the Ming army, coupled with the call from Hong Niangzi as the leader of the original rebel army, and the effect of secretly sending people to contact, after the victory of the Ming army, a large number of rogues gave up resistance and surrendered to the Ming army.

Today's rogues are actually in a very bad situation. The Guanzhong area is already very barren, and the years of war have greatly reduced the population. The output of the entire Shaanxi is very small, and the people have no way to support themselves.Coupled with the exploitation of bandits and the stability of the local situation under the control of the Ming court, many people desperately escaped from Guanzhong and went to other places to find livelihood.

In the Guanzhong area, the population was further reduced, and the food production was also severely reduced. This seriously caused the morale of the army to fluctuate. The so-called Dashun army deserted the phenomenon very seriously.Facing the steady advance of the powerful Ming army, and none of the "Da Shun" generals dared to lead an army to resist directly, the military operation launched by Hong Niangzi's risk went very smoothly.

During the course of the battle, Hong Niangzi had already received many people who were sent by important figures of "Dashun" to make contact.Knowing that the rogues led by Li Zicheng are over, and the days of their destruction are not far away, how can Hong Niangzi give up the opportunity to beat the dog in the water?She repeatedly wrote letters, asking the court and Cao Yue to agree to her attacking Xi'an and completely destroying Li Zicheng's tribe.

In the end, Cao Yue also agreed to Hong Niangzi's request and ordered her to lead an army to attack Xi'an, and then sent her reinforcements. The reinforcement army of 6 horses from three guard divisions also set off from Hubei to Shanxi.

Cao Yue also sent a letter of persuasion to Xi'an, asking Li Zicheng to give up resistance and surrender to the Ming Guards!
(End of this chapter)