Chongzhen's domineering

Chapter 85 Heroes Rise in the Central Plains (Part 1)

Zijin Liangwang died inexplicably.

Hong Chengchou actually boasted that he had defeated the rebels!
In fact, this was a premeditated plan to support Gao Yingxiang or Zhang Xianzhong in controlling the rebels.

This was all because Wang Jiayin and Wang Ziyong were too prestigious among the rebels. If these two were not eliminated, Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong would never be able to rise to prominence.

There are reasons behind everything that seems abnormal in this world.

The successive deaths of Wang Jiayin and Wang Ziyong are clearly abnormal. If Hong Chengchou was really that capable, and had killed the rebel leaders Wang Jiayin and Wang Ziyong one after another with his true abilities, why couldn't he kill the later rebel leader Gao Yingxiang?
If Gao Yingxiang was really that hard to kill, why did Sun Chuanting catch him as soon as he arrived?

Therefore, by successively eliminating Wang Jiayin and Wang Ziyong, this fellow was essentially handing over Gao Yingxiang the reins to control the rebels.

The reason why Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong gave up their good lives to become rebels under Wang Jiayin was precisely for this purpose.

However, Wang Jiayin and Wang Ziyong in history did not die so quickly.

The current situation is as if the three powerful clans and eight imperial merchants of Puzhou have pressed the fast-forward button, and the course of history is moving so fast that it is unpredictable.

Zhu Jue had no idea what strange thing might happen next.

However, he knew very well that the reason why the three powerful clans and eight imperial merchants of Puzhou were pressing the fast-forward button so frantically was because he was developing too fast, so fast that people couldn't understand it, and so fast that it terrified these traitors who were colluding with the enemy.

This is only the rebel side; the Jurchens are probably about to reach the capital region soon!
Fortunately, he had secretly prepared a powerful weapon.

The next morning around 9 a.m., when the weather had improved a bit, he led Wang Chengen and Fang Zhenghua on horseback to the machine factory in Tongzhou City.

With enough copper now available, Song Yingxing went on a frenzy of building lathes. Combined with the non-copper parts he had already made and the existing lathe processing, he was able to build two or three lathes on average every day.

Nowadays, each of the ten workshops in the machine factory has several lathes, and the number of lathes is constantly increasing.

Bi Maokang, on the other hand, used the machine factory's workshop as a gun-making workshop, and he was frantically manufacturing muskets.

He had just entered the workshop with the most lathes when Bi Maokang strode forward, cupped his hands, and bowed, saying, "Your humble servant greets Your Majesty."

Zhu Jue repeatedly raised his hand and said, "No need for formalities, no need for formalities. Didn't I already say that we shouldn't stop to bow when we're working?"

Bi Maokang quickly explained, "Your Majesty, I didn't actually do anything. I was just teaching the newly recruited artisans how to make firearms."

New artisans have also joined?

Zhu Jue nodded slightly, then asked, "How's the gun manufacturing speed now?"

Bi Maokang explained in detail: "Your Majesty, the most difficult part to process, the gun barrel, takes about two hours to make. The other parts can also be processed in about two hours. One lathe with two craftsmen can make two guns and ten bullets a day."

If we want to produce 10,000 muskets a month, we only need a little over 100 to 200 lathes and 300 to 400 artisans. We don't lack artisans, but we lack lathes. Chang Geng has only given me about 30 lathes, so we can only make about 60 muskets a day, and about 2,000 a month.”

You have the nerve to say it!

Song Yingxing had already arrived upon hearing the news, and bowed respectfully, saying, "Your humble servant greets Your Majesty."

Zhu Jue nodded slightly, then asked, "Chang Geng, how many lathes can you build a day now?"

Song Yingxing said with some helplessness, "Your Majesty, I can only make two or three lathes a day now. This is because Lord Meng said that firearms are important, and all the newly made lathes have to be used to make firearms. I haven't been able to increase the number of lathes I use to make lathes and steam engines."

You guys are even fighting over lathes?
Zhu Jue pondered, “Lord Meng, it’s freezing cold right now. Even riding a horse in the city is dangerous, let alone in the wilderness. Besides, we can’t camp in this weather.”

In other words, if the ice and snow don't melt, the Jurchens are unlikely to attack. Therefore, you don't need to rush to increase the production of muskets.

These ten workshops can only hold about two hundred machine tools. If you leave more machine tools for Chang Gung and let him operate at full capacity, the workshops can be filled in about a month.

"By then, you'll have no problem using over a hundred lathes, and producing ten thousand muskets a month is no problem either. If you drag this out, it will take Chang Geng about two months to fill these ten factories. In those two months, you'll actually produce fewer muskets. Do you understand?"

Uh, I haven't thought about that.

Upon hearing this, Bi Maokang nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty, I understand." Zhu Jue thought for a moment and then asked, "Have you tested the lethal range of this new type of firearm?"

Bi Maokang nodded repeatedly and said, "This humble subject has already tested it with Jian Dou. The sharp cone-shaped bullet is indeed much more lethal than the round bullet. Even if the person is wearing leather armor, it can penetrate within a hundred paces. If the person is not wearing leather armor, it can injure them within a hundred and fifty paces."

However, armor is ineffective; even pointed bullets cannot penetrate it. This remains a problem, mainly because the Jurchens wear a significant number of armored soldiers. If they position their armored units at the front, our muskets will be much less effective.

Hmph, this is the work of those traitors who colluded with the enemy. The Jurchens don't even know how to smelt iron yet, so where would they get so much iron to make armor!
Zhu Jue snorted inwardly, then pondered, "Then we have to consider building cannons. The armor plates aren't thick, so a pointed cannonball can definitely penetrate them."

To build artillery?
Upon hearing this, Bi Maokang was excited for a moment, but he quickly became dejected and said, "Your Majesty cannot forge cannon barrels weighing several hundred pounds. If we make old-style cannons, the ammunition loading speed will not be of much use to the cavalry. At most, the cavalry will be able to rush up to us in one round of bombardment."

Modern artillery shells are solid lumps of iron and do not cause any explosive damage. To put it bluntly, they rely purely on impact. Therefore, artillery was originally built as large as possible, with the goal of killing or injuring a whole bunch of people with a single shell.

However, those were round shells; pointed shells are different, and even if they were made large, they probably wouldn't kill many people.

Zhu Jue thought about it carefully, and then decisively said, "Then let's make smaller ones. We can't forge cannon barrels weighing several hundred pounds, but we can forge ones weighing a hundred or so pounds, right?"

Cannons are always built big, and you want me to build them small?
Upon hearing this, Bi Maokang cautiously asked, "Your Majesty, are you referring to something as big as the Tiger Crouching Cannon?"

How big is the Tiger Crouching Cannon?

I have no idea about the size and weight of the Tiger Crouching Cannon.

Zhu Jue asked bluntly, "How long and heavy is the Tiger Crouching Cannon, and how thick is its barrel?"

Bi Maokang explained in detail: "The Tiger Crouching Cannon comes in three sizes: small, medium, and large. The small Tiger Crouching Cannon is two feet long and weighs thirty-six catties. The medium Tiger Crouching Cannon is two and a half feet long and weighs forty-nine catties and six taels. The large Tiger Crouching Cannon is three feet long and weighs sixty-three catties. The barrel of the Tiger Crouching Cannon is about three inches thick, the wall thickness is half an inch, and the inner diameter is two inches and two taels."

so small?
Zhu Jue thought for a moment and then asked, "What are the range and kill distance of the Tiger Crouching Cannon?"

Without hesitation, Bi Maokang replied: "The small tiger crouching cannon has a range of about one li and a kill distance of about 150 paces. The medium tiger crouching cannon has a range of about 400 paces and a kill distance of about 200 paces. The large tiger crouching cannon has a range of about 500 paces and a kill distance of about 250 paces."

The large tiger-squatting cannon's effective range is barely sufficient.

Zhu Jue then asked, "Can the large-sized Tiger Crouching Cannon be manufactured now? I mean the breech-loading type."

Bi Maokang thought about it carefully, then slowly nodded and said, "It shouldn't be a big problem."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Jue decisively said, "Then let's build it according to the size of the large Tiger Crouching Cannon first, preferably one that can be installed inside the armored vehicle. As I said before, we need to have this first before we can slowly improve it."

Large tiger-squat cannons are quite effective against Jurchen cavalry. Even if a single cannonball can kill an armored soldier, building more can blast down their entire front line of armored soldiers.

Bi Maokang nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty is wise, I understand."

As they were discussing, Fang Zhenghua suddenly strode in, carrying a memorial, and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, the Governor of Henan, Liu Zongzhou, has sent an urgent report from eight hundred li away."

This guy has probably discovered the traitors.

Zhu Jue took the memorial and opened it. Sure enough, Liu Zongzhou reported that rebels had suddenly appeared everywhere in the Central Plains, and many disaster victims had fled with the rebels.

This will let this guy disgust those traitors who collude with the enemy and betray their country.

He thought for a moment, then decisively said, "Ruoyu, draft an edict ordering Liu Zongzhou to thoroughly investigate how many rebel groups have emerged in the Central Plains and how many disaster victims have fled with the rebels."

Upon hearing this, Liu Ruoyu immediately ordered his men to bring over the drafting materials, and then sat cross-legged on the ground, quickly writing with his brush.

After Zhu Jue saw that he had finished writing, he instructed him: "Draft another decree, ordering Hong Chengchou to quickly lead the army into the Central Plains to pursue and capture the rebels."

Liu Ruoyu quickly picked up another blank imperial edict and continued writing furiously.

After Zhu Jue saw that he had finished writing, he instructed him: "Draft another secret edict, instructing Yang He to quickly mobilize 10,000 elite border troops to guard Tongguan Pass and prevent the rebels from sneaking back into Guanzhong."

(End of this chapter)