Ming Dynasty and New Rome and Infinite Magic Machine

Chapter 1626 Light Weapons

So, are you sure you want to come?

“Yes. I’m sure I wanted to come and see.” Victoria said, her head down. She sat in the back row, not looking out the window.

This is the Yingtian Artillery Academy in Tangshan. Although it's called an artillery academy, it's actually the largest comprehensive military academy. The reason it's called an artillery academy is because, during the modernization of the army in Yongqing, the artillery was the first to need to be armed with knowledge. Therefore, the origins of military academies began with the artillery.

Currently, this area is under the jurisdiction of the Imperial Guard, which means it is directly under the control of the royal family.

“Okay. If possible, I still don’t want you to see it.” Shang Luo unusually drove himself, because the “demon AI” Grani, who was driving for him, hadn’t been to this plot of land much.

"I need to see it before I have enough information to convince our people. I know about the backup plan, but I don't want it to be activated. So, I hope our people are smart. But I'd like to ask, what can I possibly see by suddenly asking to see it?"

“I’ve already contacted Wen Yuan, and he said it’s no problem. He’ll be waiting for us at the school gate. He’s also submitted the relevant application, but since you only gave him one day to prepare, you probably won’t see anything particularly large or highly classified. However, you can trust Wen Yuan’s confidentiality. He’s a member of the Imperial Guard, so if he really thinks you need to see it, the application should be approved.”

"I have a question I'd like to ask before we go in—is this the Imperial Guard? What is the relationship between the Imperial Guard and other armies?"

"The Imperial Guards were the royal army. Almost every department of the Ming government had its own army, and the Imperial Guards were the royal army."

"You have every single one?"

"Yes. For example, the Ministry of Rites can mobilize the Xiaoling Guard to carry out surprise operations overseas—usually for protection or raids and arrests, so the Xiaoling Guard is actually the most advanced in terms of equipment. The Ministry of Justice mobilizes the mobile forces of the Dali Temple, mainly for law enforcement. This part cooperates with the Censorate and is under the command of the Censorate. The Ministry of Works has its own guard posts, mainly used to protect key projects."

"The Ministry of War doesn't actually have any troops, right? I've heard that the Ming Dynasty's army is mainly managed by the Five Military Commissions, which then distribute troops to various border areas to become 'frontier troops.' There aren't actually any large-scale army units stationed within the capital region. And the Ministry of War is actually the General Staff Department, only responsible for mobilizing troops during wartime."

"No, actually the Ministry of War has its own army, you've heard of it, and this army is very large."

"What is it?"

“The Navy,” Shangluo replied. “The Navy is not under the jurisdiction of the Five Military Commissions; it is directly under the Ministry of War. This is because the Navy’s finances were initially independent. The money for the Ministry of War to build warships did not come from the military expenditure, but from the Ministry of War’s budget. Therefore, it was separated from the Five Military Commissions from the very beginning.”

"Why didn't you guys start fighting???"

Rome had already experienced one civil war, though not a direct confrontation, but the indirect conflicts had already crippled New Antioch. The indirect conflicts were so intense that a full-blown Rome war was unnecessary. If she could, Victoria truly wouldn't want New Antioch to end up like this—she would absolutely not celebrate its demise, because it was part of Rome. Even if it meant fighting on two fronts, she wouldn't willingly cut off a hand.

The current brief period of harmony in Rome is due to the fact that after Rome in the New World was bombed into the sky, the armies of Italian Rome and Syracuse Rome were unable to defeat the Eastern Mediterranean legions of Byzantine Rome, Greco-Roman Rome, and Egyptian Rome.

If war were possible, given the current state of affairs in Europe, civil war would likely have already begun.

Victoria had initially assumed that Aurora was highly unified. But now it seemed that military command was even more fragmented than in Rome. Ultimately, Roman military command was centralized in the Senate, and even if senators belonged to different factions, they still had to attend meetings in the Senate. "That's your misunderstanding of Aurora. In reality, not only the military, but the finances of our provinces are also quite independent. Northern Zhili even operates two completely different economic systems from Southern Zhili."

"Then why didn't a fight break out?! I...I really want to know."

"Because of their positions. Each government department and each province within us has its own viewpoint, which can be basically summarized as a dynamic balance between central-local contradictions and regional conflicts. But all these entities with independent viewpoints do not have independent positions—our views are free, but our positions must be unified."

Victoria leaned back, her face contorted in agony: "Rome has turned the tables! We were able to reach the same conclusion in the Senate—we did indeed reach a consensus, and Neo Antioch even expressed support for the virtual ascension plan. But our positions are inconsistent! What's that called again?"

A gentleman agrees with others but does not seek harmony; a petty person agrees with others but does not seek harmony. The outspoken Apollonia spoke the truth.

"Waaaaah~~ So I'm the monarch of Lilliput!"

"Oh dear," Shangluo said helplessly, "Why did you say that out loud? I deliberately phrased it in a roundabout way."

I'm just straightforward.

"No one who's truly outspoken can claim to be outspoken!"

"Shangluo. I've given up. But at least now all the Romans are physically together, which should help them form a united front, right?"

That's not necessarily true. Even sharing a bed can lead to different perspectives, let alone living in the same city.

“Ah,” Victoria covered her forehead, “Never mind, I think sometimes external pressure is what can bring people to a consensus.”

“Yes, that is indeed a solution,” Shangluo said, turning around. “So, since you’re already here, take what you saw today back and explain it to them.”

"Light weapons?" Victoria saw the sign for the light weapons laboratory. The laboratory's code name was Qilin—Yingtian Artillery Academy had a large number of research labs operating in parallel, and there were four light weapons laboratories, so each laboratory had to have its own code name to distinguish them.

“Yes, light weapons.” Wen Yuan led the way. “Although time is tight, I still picked this one piece from the high-secret equipment to display—I think this one should be enough. Your Excellency Victoria, you probably don’t think there’s much to display about light weapons, right?”

“Hmm.” Victoria nodded. “It seems that small arms are only things like guns, which is a bit…”

Before she could finish speaking, she heard "gunshots" coming from the laboratory.

(End of this chapter)