Late Ming Dynasty: Oops, I am surrounded by the Donglin Party

Zhang Shikang was really angry. Other armies were equipped with more sophisticated Rumi guns, but the Ming treasury did not have the money to build them, so he could wait.

But now there are clearly more than 8,000 guns in the warehouse, but they are kept here and not given to the Beijing camp, which makes people very uncomfortable.

"Why is Admiral Zhang angry? But how could I be inconsiderate?" Fang Fengnian looked surprised and seemed very puzzled.

"To be honest, Lord Fang, you have seen the situation in the Beijing camp. The soldiers don't even have decent clothes, their swords are rusty, and their muskets are the oldest bird guns.

Looking at these sophisticated Lumit guns, this admiral really likes them from the bottom of his heart!"

Zhang Shikang sighed. He was just about to ask if he could get a batch. Not a lot, just five thousand would be enough. But Fang Fengnian seemed to know what he was thinking. He shook his head and said first:

"I have a good relationship with Admiral Zhang, and I also want to give you this batch of muskets, but... I have to forbid it, because this batch of muskets is specially supplied to Yang Sichang and Yang Ge's department.

Unless there is an order from His Majesty, I would not dare to use these muskets without authorization even if I had ten heads. I hope Admiral Zhang will understand."

Fang Fengnian looked embarrassed, and even felt a little guilty as he spoke later, as if he really wanted to give this batch of muskets to Zhang Shikang.

Zhang Shikang walked up and picked up a Rumi gun to examine it, but he didn't say anything. He just acted like he couldn't let it go.

Fang Fengnian saw this and sighed:

"Yang Gebu took 6,000 muskets from the Ministry of Works last year, and this year we need to supply another 8,000.

I don't understand either. Firearms are not easily broken. Did Yang Gebu treat those firearms as obsolete items after one year?

A gun can be used for at least three years if it is well maintained. I think this batch of muskets should be supplied to the Beijing camp, but Yang Gebu... well, let's not talk about it."

Fang Fengnian's tone seemed to be speaking up for Zhang Shikang, but Zhang Shikang's mind suddenly became clear after listening to him.

As soon as he entered the gate of the Ministry of Industry, Zhang Shikang felt something was wrong. Fang Fengnian was unusually enthusiastic, as if they had been friends for many years.

But who is Zhang Shikang? The most dissolute person in the capital!

All those civil servants tried to avoid him, but you, Fang Fengnian, are the only ones who get along well with me?

But forget it, Zhang Shikang knows his reputation better than anyone else.

As the saying goes, showing courtesy for nothing is either cheating or stealing.

He just deliberately showed his liking for this batch of Rumi guns, but did not say anything, just because he wanted to see what this guy was up to.

Now he understood that this guy just wanted to stir up conflict between him and Yang Sichang.

This guy is a member of the Donglin Party!

This is the same purpose as the Jinyiwei secretly passing the note to him, so it makes sense.

The Ministry of Works knew that the Beijing camp was short of everything, so when he came here, they took advantage of the situation to do him a favor, enthusiastically taking him around and even giving generous gifts to the craftsmen. The ultimate goal was to bring him here, right?

But Zhang Shikang still didn't understand why the Jinyiwei and the Donglin Party were in collusion with each other and wanted to stir up conflicts between him and Yang Sichang behind the scenes. He could understand this because it was a way to eliminate dissidents.

They couldn't get rid of Yang Sichang themselves, so they pushed the blame on me.

But why would Yang Sichang want to trip me up? If he wasn't crazy, then the Jinyiwei must have spread false information.

However, Zhang Shikang still did not intend to give up this batch of Rumi guns. Fang Fengnian was not lying. Yang Sichang's frequency of replacing muskets was indeed too high.

Doesn’t this guy know how poor the imperial court is?

A batch of muskets were replaced with new ones after only one year of use. Such luxury is unreasonable.

Even though he knew that Fang Fengnian was deliberately trying to stir up conflict between him and Yang Sichang, Zhang Shikang still decided to find a way to get his hands on these muskets.

The Beijing Army needs this batch of equipment very much. There are only so many people in the Beijing Army. If Yang Sichang is really an official who is dedicated to the country, he should take the time to discuss it with him and make him give up some of the equipment.

Next, Fang Fengnian took Zhang Shikang to visit the warehouse where swords, armor and military uniforms were stored, and once again stated that these were prepared for Yang Sichang. His words also implied that Yang Sichang complained that the military equipment was replaced too frequently.

Zhang Shikang knew that it was all a show for him. A guy like Fang Fengnian who was sycophantic would not care whether the weapons were wasted.

But he didn't say anything, and even picked out a piece of Ming Dynasty armor with mountain patterns. In order to deepen his relationship with Zhang Shikang, Fang Fengnian generously gave Zhang Shikang a set.

This set of mountain pattern armor is bright silver all over. Except for the rhino skin used as the color of the armor edge, even the helmet is bright silver. The entire armor is made of thousands of armor plates stacked together. It is said that it takes more than a hundred craftsmen several months to make it, and the cost is astonishing.

Zhang Shikang was in need of a better set of armor, so he did not hide his joy on his face and even asked someone to try it on.

It fits him well, just a little heavy. But he looks so handsome in it, and he is definitely the brightest one in the crowd.

"Yang Ge's army has as many as eight sets of this kind of armor." Fang Fengnian still did not forget to assist.

"Hmph, I will explain the facts to Your Majesty and seek justice for my soldiers in the Beijing camp!" Zhang Shikang cooperated very well and showed an expression of dissatisfaction with Yang Sichang's style.

Fang Fengnian quickly agreed, and then they passed by a platform where there were several guns that were longer than the Rumi gun and even the bird gun. They looked to be at least 1.7 meters long. Zhang Shikang was interested and asked the craftsman what kind of guns they were.

"Your Excellency, this is a turtle-foot gun. It was seized from pirates along the coast by Xiong Wencan, the governor of three provinces. The superiors asked us to study it and see if we can copy it."

Zhang Shikang became interested immediately when he saw the big guy.

"I wonder how this gun compares to the Rumi gun?"

"Look, sir." The craftsman said, pointing at a wooden target not far away.

But I saw that the two wooden rakes had one deep and one shallow, and the depth difference was huge.

"The one with the bullet deeply embedded is the Turtle Foot Gun. This gun is five feet and five cents long and uses one ounce and three cents of medicine, which is several times that of the Rumi Gun. The bullet weighs one ounce and eight cents, which is also several times that of the Rumi Gun.

As for the range and power, it is naturally several times that of the Rumi gun.

However, this type of gun is difficult to load because the barrel is too long, so it needs a tripod to support it, and its shape resembles a bird's foot, hence the name "pigeon foot gun."

I'm so surprised! Zhang Shikang was very surprised. If the Rumi gun was a small shotgun, then this damn dove-foot gun was a big shotgun.

Both the left and right guns are slow to reload, so a large gun is naturally more powerful than a small gun. After asking, I learned that this type of gun can only be made in Guangdong at present, and these craftsmen are also observing and studying it.

There were a total of one hundred turtledoves in this batch. Zhang Shikang took advantage of Fang Fengnian's enthusiasm for him and took five of them.

It is unknown when the Ministry of Industry will be able to copy it. It is better to rely on ourselves than on others.

When he returned to the craftsman's workshop, the craftsman had already prepared the list and quietly gave it to Zhang Shikang.

After asking, Zhang Shikang learned that the craftsman's name was Mao Yuantong, which means "Mao" in the style of Taoist priests on Mount Mao. He thought the surname was rare and could not think of any famous person.

"Master Fang, I want these thirty people. Here is the list."

When Fang Fengnian saw Zhang Shikang casually take out a list from his pocket, he felt something was wrong. He had been following him and had no idea what list Zhang Shikang was writing.

As soon as he opened the list, he felt a headache. Although Fang Fengnian didn't care much about craftsmen, the names of some skilled craftsmen were always mentioned by his colleagues, so he knew some of them.

On this list, all the people he knew were on it. Fang Fengnian looked embarrassed, but this time he was not pretending.

But Zhang Shikang pretended:

"Alas, it is a pity that our soldiers in the Beijing camp are poorly clothed and poorly fed, and their weapons are broken but no one repairs them. Now with the help of these craftsmen, the situation will be greatly improved.

I will go to see Your Majesty as soon as I have time, and I will expose Yang Sichang's misuse of military equipment and seek justice for our soldiers in the Beijing camp."

If you pretend, I will pretend too. Zhang Shikang thinks he is a good actor.

Fang Fengnian immediately put away his embarrassed expression upon hearing this, and generously agreed to send these craftsmen to the Beijing Camp, and also reminded:

"Then I wish Admiral Zhang a successful start. I will do my best to preserve the weapons for Admiral Zhang, but Admiral Zhang must report to Minister Yang as soon as possible this morning and declare that he will be setting out to suppress the bandits the day after tomorrow."

"Oh, no need to make time for it. I may have to go to the palace now." Zhang Shikang was stunned for a moment and looked towards the direction of the entrance of the government office.

Many eunuchs came outside the government office, including Wang Chengen. Zhang Shikang immediately knew that these people were probably looking for him.

Sure enough, Wang Chengen walked up to Zhang Shikang and said:

"Admiral Zhang, His Majesty has ordered you to come to the palace immediately to see him."

……