Ming Dynasty: Ask Zhu Yuanzhang to abdicate at the beginning

Chapter 149 Rapid-Fire Cannon! The Correct Way to Use It for Naughty Kids!

Zhu Yunhuan turned his head and saw that the person who spoke was none other than the 'Sanbao eunuch' Ma He.

After digging Ma He away from Zhu Di, he always kept Ma He by his side.

But I never tried to win them over deliberately.

Zhu Yunhuan had a lot of things to deal with, and Ma He was not needed for the time being, so naturally he would not care too much about it.

Hearing his words, she couldn't help but laugh and said, "Why, do you want to join the army?"

Ma He knelt on the ground and looked at Zhu Yunhuan with admiration on his face.

"I have met countless people in my life, but I have never seen anyone as wise and brave as Your Majesty the Crown Prince."

"As long as I can stay by His Royal Highness's side, I will be satisfied in my life."

"But the more I feel the extraordinaryness of His Royal Highness, the more I feel that I am too insignificant and incompetent."

"Although I am not even a fraction as capable as His Royal Highness, I am fortunately tall and strong, and I am also proficient in water. I like rivers, lakes, and the sea."

"If His Royal Highness the Crown Prince allows, I would like to join the Ming Navy."

"Perhaps one day in the future, I can also help His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and do something."

Zhu Yunhuan laughed out loud.

He also knew something about what happened after Ma He entered his mansion.

After all, the affairs of the palace are also the affairs of the world, and the people around you are always the most important.

To Zhu Yunhuan's surprise, Ma He admired him very much.

It is the kind of crazy worship of idols similar to the star-chasing in later generations.

Whether talking with other servants in the mansion or with the two brothers Zhu Gaochi and Zhu Gaoxu, he always praised Zhu Yunhuan.

What's more, he secretly posted poems written by Zhu Yunhuan in his room.

People of this era probably still don’t understand what star chasing and idol worship are, but this does not prevent this phenomenon from appearing among a minority of people.

Zhu Yunhuan was very famous in the Ming Dynasty, and people said he was a rare genius that was rare in a thousand years.

Coupled with the halo that comes with his imperial status and position, there are actually quite a lot of people among scholars and ordinary people who admire Zhu Yunhuan.

Ma Heye happens to be one of them.

In his eyes, although His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is young, he is truly amazing.

Whether it is writing poetry and articles, governing the country, or doing other things, all of them are at an extraordinary level.

It made him feel admiration for her.

"Okay, I agree." Zhu Yunhuan would certainly not object.

He walked over, patted Ma He's shoulder who was kneeling on the ground, and said, "Now that you have entered the Daming Military Academy, you must study hard and train diligently. I look forward to you becoming the best student and making a career for the court in the future."

Ma He burst into tears of gratitude: "I will definitely live up to your expectations, His Royal Highness."

He kowtowed three times respectfully, then stepped back and went to the admissions office to register.

In the history of previous lives, "Eunuch Sanbao" was a very outstanding navigator.

So can he also become an excellent naval commander?

When the Ming Dynasty Navy was first established, it was the time to recruit people.

Zhu Yunhuan was full of expectations for this.

Afterwards, he took a carriage, left the Ming Military Academy and headed for the Ming Manufacturing Bureau.

Recruiting new soldiers is important, but the weapons and equipment manufactured by the Ming Manufacturing Bureau are the foundation of the new army.

Zhu Yunhuan was naturally very concerned about this and kept an eye on the Ming Manufacturing Bureau all the time, urging it to continuously produce new treasures.

At this time, the Ming Manufacturing Bureau was already a completely different scene.

Seeing Zhu Yunhuan coming, Zhu Gaochi ran out to greet him excitedly.

"Your Highness, we have already built the rapid-fire cannon."

When Zhu Yunhuan heard this, his eyes suddenly lit up.

The rapid-fire cannon that Zhu Yunhuan mentioned is what was called "Portuguese cannon" in the previous life.

This type of cannon consists of three parts: the barrel, the belly, and the sub-gun.

When firing, first fill the gunpowder pellets into the sub-gun, then load the sub-gun into the belly of the gun, and then ignite the sub-gun firing port to shoot.

This is also the key equipment of the Ming Dynasty Navy.

Because the manufacturing principle is very simple, Zhu Yunhuan had already proposed to the Manufacturing Bureau to manufacture it as soon as possible.

Zhu Gaochi took him to the artillery testing range.

A rapid-fire cannon was placed not far away.

The soldiers skillfully loaded the sub-cannons into the gun bellies and fired quickly.

boom!
boom!
boom!
The sound of artillery fire rang out one after another.

Not only is the firing speed fast, but the fire is also extremely accurate.

A smile appeared on Zhu Yunhuan's face.

The advantages of this gun are extremely obvious.

The first is the fast firing rate.

Because the sub-gun can be loaded with gunpowder in advance and there is no need to reload gunpowder temporarily, the firing rate is very fast.

It only takes one or two breaths to fire a shot.

Secondly, the size and capacity of the sub-gun are determined, and there are fixed standards for how much gunpowder to load, so there is no need to worry about the barrel exploding due to overloading.

Furthermore, the sub-gun itself can share part of the gunpowder pressure, thereby increasing the service life of the gun belly and the gun belly can also be cast thinner.

The thinner the gun body, the faster it dissipates heat and the stronger its sustained firing capability.

At the same time, it is lighter and easier to move.

If a sub-gun is broken or has cracks, it can be discarded without affecting the artillery's ability to fire other sub-guns.

In addition, the breech block is equipped with sights, front sights and other aiming devices, which can be used to aim and shoot at distant targets.

As for the disadvantage of the rapid-fire gun's short range, it can actually be solved to a large extent by lengthening the barrel.

There are gun ears on both sides of the gun body. By placing the gun body on the mount and turning the gun ears, the elevation angle of the gun can be adjusted to control the range.

The gun body can also rotate left and right to adjust the firing range and expand the shooting range.

Compared with the thick, short and bulky cannons that were previously commonly used in the Ming Dynasty, this rapid-fire cannon can be said to be a qualitative leap.

If the two sides were to fight, the combat power of a rapid-fire cannon would be at least equivalent to that of twenty old cannons, or even greater.

"We also made shrapnel."

Zhu Gaochi pointed at the place where the artillery fire exploded, and then pointed at the artillery shells next to it, looking very excited.

It can be seen that he is very interested in cannons.

"Scattered bullets are much more powerful than the solid bullets of the past!"

Zhu Yunxi nodded slightly.

A smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

Strictly speaking, solid bullets can only be regarded as an alternative catapult that uses gunpowder to launch.

Only shrapnel shells can truly unleash the power of gunpowder.

A cannon that uses shrapnel is a true cannon.

However, although the invention of shrapnel was relatively early in history.

However, due to the instability of black powder, firing shrapnel bombs was extremely dangerous, and often the enemy was not hit by the bomb, but one's own people were killed first.

Therefore, the use of shrapnel bombs has been less common.

But Zhu Yunhuan brought modern standard manufacturing and testing processes to the Ming Dynasty.

When making artillery shells, the craftsmen of the Ming Manufacturing Bureau no longer relied on their own skills or personal experience. Instead, they strictly followed the conclusions drawn from repeated experiments and compiled corresponding process standards. The craftsmen then loaded the gunpowder according to the standards and conducted strict testing.

The amount of gunpowder in each shell remains exactly the same.

Thereby greatly reducing the probability of malfunction of the fragmentation bomb.

The popularization of shrapnel bombs has become a natural thing.

The power of the cannon increased dozens of times again.

Zhu Gaochi then reported: "Also, the formula of gunpowder, after repeated trials, we have already measured the formula ratio with the greatest power."

"Gunpowder prepared according to this ratio has the greatest explosive power, and it is not easily affected by moisture, so it is easy to store." "With these cannons and guns, our Ming Dynasty will definitely be able to completely destroy the Northern Yuan Dynasty and eliminate future troubles."

He grew up in Peking, and what he heard most was the war between the Ming Dynasty and the Northern Yuan Dynasty.

Zhu Di also repeatedly mentioned that one day he would destroy the Northern Yuan Dynasty and ensure eternal peace for the Ming Dynasty.

Now that he had cannons and guns and had seen their power, Zhu Gaochi naturally thought of using them to deal with the Northern Yuan Dynasty.

"Well said!" Zhu Yunhuan praised, and then said: "Now that the rapid-fire cannon has been developed, it must be mass-produced."

"There is no need to rush to deal with the Northern Yuan Dynasty."

Zhu Yunhuan was well aware that the situation of nomadic peoples was very complicated.

If you don't remove the roots of the grass, the spring breeze will blow it back deep.

In his opinion, simply sending an army to teach the Northern Yuan a lesson was meaningless.

If we really want to send troops, we must eliminate future troubles forever.

The Ming Dynasty’s rule penetrated deep into the grasslands, leaving the grassland tribes with no ground for rebellion.

The current Ming Dynasty is not yet prepared for this and the time is not ripe.

"Next, the Ming Manufacturing Bureau will take over the Longjiang Tizhu Division of the Ministry of Industry to manufacture treasure ships."

"All the guns that were made were loaded onto the ships."

"I want to build an invincible Ming navy to wipe out the Japanese pirates."

The shipbuilding industry during the Ming Dynasty was definitely quite strong.

Of course, there is still a lot of room for improvement and transformation.

For example, the hard sails and square sails commonly used in sailing ships now will be replaced by soft sails and triangular sails.

Thereby enhancing the ship's ability to sail against the wind, making it more in line with the combat requirements of warships.

For example, the treasure ship could be modified to add a level for installing artillery.

After all, the treasure ships manufactured in this era were built according to the standards of ordinary ships for long-distance voyages, not warships.

This is obviously inconsistent with Zhu Yunhuan's requirements for building the Ming Dynasty navy.

There are many areas that need to be redesigned.

With warships, cannons, guns, and a well-trained and fearless new army, it was a natural thing to wipe out the Japanese pirates and force Japan to surrender.

"Not sending troops to the Northern Yuan Dynasty?" Zhu Gaochi was a little disappointed, but his attention was soon attracted by the "treasure ship".

Shipbuilding is of course fun and interesting!

"Yes, Your Highness the Crown Prince!" Zhu Gaochi replied loudly.

……

After leaving the Ming Manufacturing Bureau and returning to the Eastern Palace, Zhu Yunhuan saw a pitiful figure - the naughty boy Zhu Gaoxu.

During this period, Zhu Gaochi was in charge of the Ming Manufacturing Bureau. After returning, he told him about all kinds of interesting, fun and novel things, which made Zhu Gaoxu very envious.

When Zhu Gaoxu saw Zhu Yunhuan, he hurried over.

"Brother Taisun, I have always been your most loyal subordinate. If you have anything to do, please remember to let me do it."

"I've been alone in the mansion for a while now, and I'm almost bored to death."

"I can do anything my brother can do."

Naughty kids always have too much energy and nowhere to vent it.

If he is not allowed to do something, he will feel uncomfortable.

It had been a long time since the last time he took the sword to the Tongzhengsi to kill someone.

The naughty kid can't stand being idle for a long time.

Zhu Yunxun looked at him and smiled: "I do have something to do, that is..."

He didn't say anything else, pretending to be in deep thought.

Zhu Gaoxu got anxious when he heard this and said hurriedly, "Brother Crown Prince, please tell me what you want me to do."

"Forget it!" Zhu Yunhuan shook his head: "This matter involves too many things, and it will offend people. It will also involve killing people, many people. I'm afraid you can't do it well."

When Zhu Gaoxu heard this, he became more interested.

Killing is such a fun thing, how could he be absent?

"Brother Taisun, I am not afraid of killing. I love killing the most. Leave the killing to me. I guarantee that Brother Taisun will be satisfied."

"Are you serious?" Zhu Yunhuan asked back.

"I swear to heaven!" Zhu Gaochi patted his chest and promised.

Zhu Yunhuan laughed and said, "Since my cousin has said so, I will not hide it from you."

"I will increase the commercial tax and at the same time, severely rectify the chaotic local taxation."

"For this purpose, I intend to establish the Ming Dynasty Taxation Bureau to collect commercial taxes."

This was something he had been planning for a long time.

The current commercial tax is the first step, and customs duties and other taxes will follow later.

Zhu Yunhuan had already thought of the candidate for the chief official of the Department of Taxation.

Of course it must be the naughty kid Zhu Gaoxu!

Another assistant official is the current Jinyiwei commander Jiang Lin.

One of the most important reasons for choosing Zhu Gaoxu was that imposing commercial taxes was a very offensive task.

If it is really implemented seriously, the whole court will definitely be enemies.

Whoever becomes the chief official of the Taxation Commissioner will have to be a "lone minister"!
Why is commercial tax difficult to collect?
Because the people who do business in this era all have simple backgrounds.

It is true that merchants have a low status, but in fact, most of the big merchants in Jinling City do not run their own businesses, but do business for the families of powerful officials.

In the words of later generations, they were all "white gloves"!
Their status is actually very high.

There is a paradox here.

The status of normal businessmen is too low, and any petty official can easily control them, resulting in businessmen without background being unable to do business at all and may go bankrupt at any time and anywhere.

If you must do it, you can only do some small business.

Any business that is a little bigger needs someone to support it.

They could be royal relatives, meritorious officials, or high-ranking officials in the court...

Imposing additional commercial taxes is actually levying taxes on the powerful, wealthy and others.

Whoever becomes the head of the taxation department and is responsible for levying additional commercial taxes is declaring war on all the powerful and wealthy people in the court!

Zhu Yunhuan did not want to let Yao Guangxiao, Yang Shiqi and others do such a glorious and arduous task.

If you offend too many people, it will be difficult for them to help you with your work in the future.

But he also wanted to make the Ming Dynasty Taxation Bureau a feared institution and collect all the evaded commercial taxes.

It is most appropriate for the naughty kid Zhu Gaoxu to be in charge!

At this moment, Zhu Gaoxu was looking at Zhu Yunhuan with an innocent face, not knowing that he had been sold out by his cousin.

Before Zhu Yunhuan could speak, Zhu Gaoxuxi took the initiative to ask, "Brother Crown Prince, can I go to the Ming Dynasty's Taxation Department?"

"If anyone dares to evade taxes, I will kill him and confiscate his house! Hehehe!"

The more the naughty kid thought about it, the more fun it seemed. The more he thought about it, the more excited he became, and his eyes were full of little stars of anticipation.

"You have to think about it carefully. This will offend a lot of people." Zhu Yunhuan deliberately warned.

"No problem, I'm not afraid!" Zhu Gaoxu was fearless and begged again: "Brother Crown Prince, please let me go to the Taxation Department."

I know you'll take the bait!

Zhu Yunhuan pretended to ponder for a while, then sighed, "Who made you my cousin?"

"I will never treat my brothers unfairly."

"Since you are so eager, I will hand over the position of the Commissioner of Taxation of the Ming Dynasty to you."

"I hope you can do your job well and live up to my high expectations."

When the naughty kid heard that he had agreed, he was overjoyed: "Please rest assured, brother Taisun, I will definitely collect every cent of the commercial tax."

"Whoever doesn't pay taxes, whoever dares to evade taxes, I will kill his entire family, I will kill, kill, kill..."

……

(End of this chapter)