Travel back in time and become Chongzhen, watch me turn the tide

Shi Kefa had never been so wealthy.

Previously, Wang Zheng's property had been confiscated, and fines had been imposed on the Shen and Zhang families, netting 10 million taels of silver alone. And today, selling government bonds had netted another 12 million taels of silver.

In just a few days, he already had 22 million taels of silver in his hands. Shi Kefa now wanted to confiscate the property of all these salt merchants. This was a large amount of silver he had obtained on their voluntary basis. If he confiscated all of them, wouldn't this number be several times higher?

Of course, he also knew that such a thing as killing the chicken to get the eggs was absolutely unacceptable. But now that such a huge amount of wealth was in front of him, how to properly use it became a more difficult problem.

Chongzhen was also pondering this question at this moment. Although this amount of money seemed quite considerable, it was far from enough to implement his plan.

However, there is one thing that is of utmost importance, and that is to train a new army.

Since receiving Chongzhen's formula, Xie Quanfeng and Chen Wenkai, a gunpowder expert specially transferred from Jiangyin by Chongzhen, have been working tirelessly to prepare black powder on a large scale. Fortunately, the progress is quite smooth and the results are quite good.

At the same time, the modification of muskets was also carried out in full swing.

At that time, the Ming army was already equipped with a large number of firearms, mainly bird guns, also known as matchlock guns. Compared with Western firearms of the same period, this bird gun was not much different in performance and technology.

During this period, Chongzhen thought a lot. After much deliberation, he concluded that if he wanted to quickly improve the combat effectiveness of the musket in a short period of time, the key was to use paper shell bullets with fixed ammunition.

Fixed-load paper cartridges are bullets in which the projectile, propellant, and primer are ingeniously integrated into a paper casing, forming a fixed-load ammunition. The casing is typically made of tough, airtight paper, tightly enclosing the projectile and propellant, forming a complete ammunition unit. To fire, the musketeer bites open the paper casing with his teeth, cocks the hammer, opens the powder reservoir, pours a small amount of gunpowder into it, then places the remaining gunpowder, lead bullet, and paper casing into the chamber. Using a cleaning rod, he tamps the cartridge firmly to secure it in place, allowing the shot to be fired.

Compared to the previous method of loading loose ammunition, this paper shell fixed ammunition offers many significant advantages. It significantly increases loading speed and is much simpler and faster to operate. Furthermore, because the various components of the ammunition are fixed together, shooting accuracy and stability are also improved.

Chen Wenkai also successfully developed this kind of paper shell fixed ammunition as Chongzhen said, and has now begun large-scale production.

These modifications are relatively simple and can be implemented relatively smoothly based on the existing bird gun. However, the longer-term plan involves further and more comprehensive improvements to the gun. For example, rifling could be designed to improve the accuracy and range of the projectile; the ignition mechanism could be innovated, with the development of a flintlock ignition system or other more reliable ignition mechanism to increase the success rate of the musket and make it less susceptible to interference from external factors such as weather. Of course, these improvements will require considerable time and effort to develop and perfect.

At present, if we want to improve the combat capability of muskets as quickly as possible, in addition to relying on the advantages of black powder and paper shell fixed ammunition, the most important thing is to carry out strict and systematic training for the musket team according to the standards and models of later new-style armies.

"What is Xie Quanfeng doing?" Chongzhen frowned slightly and asked after thinking for a moment.

"We are recruiting new soldiers!" Shi Kefa replied quickly.

"Let's go! Let's go and take a look." Chongzhen was about to go out for a walk and stretch his muscles, so he said decisively.

Wang Wan'er secretly glanced at Shi Kefa's expression and quietly followed Chongzhen. She carefully avoided Shi Kefa's gaze and stuck close to Chongzhen, like a loyal follower.

Shi Kefa had already noticed Wang Wan'er's sneaky behavior out of the corner of his eye, but seeing that Chongzhen didn't care at all, he had no choice but to sigh secretly, swallow the words of persuasion that were about to come out of his mouth, and said nothing more.

At this time, Yangzhou City was divided into the old and new cities by the Xiao Qinhuai River, presenting a dual-city structure of the East Market and the West Government.

The Old City of Yangzhou is the core area of ​​the city. Its streets are neatly laid out, with a dense concentration of residential buildings, government offices, temples, and schools. This was Yangzhou's political and cultural center, home to a large number of the gentry.

The New City was the industrial and commercial center of Yangzhou. Because of the large-scale settlement, transportation, and commercial activities of salt merchants, the New City became a prosperous commercial and entertainment area.

Ninghai Gate is the east gate of Yangzhou City, and it is also the gathering place for refugees who have fled here.

Due to the raging war, civilians were displaced and fled to the relative safety of Yangzhou City. Ninghai Gate, as one of the key entrances to the city, naturally became a temporary stop for refugees. Ragged and haggard, their faces filled with fear and helplessness, they huddled together at the city gate, hoping for a little help and shelter.

At the gates of Ninghai, Xie Quanfeng had already issued a recruitment notice, inviting aspiring men from all over the world. Furthermore, following Chongzhen's careful instructions, he had ingeniously set up a row of large pots at the city gate. Steaming from the pots, a variety of foods were cooked. There was plump, fragrant white rice, nutritious, uniquely flavorful multi-grain brown rice, mouth-watering hot dishes generously spiced with oil, and even a pot overflowing with the alluring aroma of rich, greasy meat! The aroma of these foods filled the air, drawing the attention of those around him and causing their stomachs to growl.

By the time Chongzhen and his companions arrived, the recruitment had already been underway for an hour. Unfortunately, the results seemed less than ideal. Dozens of sturdy men stood sparsely on the sidelines, making the vast recruiting ground seem rather empty and desolate.

Seeing Chongzhen's sudden arrival, Xie Quanfeng couldn't help but feel a little surprised, and his heart tightened. He hurried forward to greet him. But Chongzhen ignored him and walked straight to the group of applicants, looking them over carefully.

Although these people were all ragged and worn out, they were in good spirits. Some of them were even wearing tattered Ming Dynasty military uniforms, which, though riddled with holes, still vaguely showed traces of their past military service.

"Let them line up!" Chongzhen lowered his voice and said with a hint of unquestionable majesty in his tone.

Ever since the terrifying assassination attempt, Chongzhen's safety had naturally not been relaxed in the slightest. On this trip, in addition to Zhao Meng and Zhu Tie leading a dozen personal guards, Zhu Ge's secret guards also accompanied him closely, providing close protection from the shadows.

Upon hearing Chongzhen's order, Zhao Meng immediately stepped forward and began to assemble his troops. Although Zhao Meng's individual combat prowess was slightly inferior to Zhu Tie's, he possessed extraordinary talent in military command and leadership, making him a highly skilled commander. Chongzhen was already considering sending him to lead the army.

However, after hearing Zhao Meng's order to form up, the group of people were lazy and slow to move, and it took a long time for them to form a line. Some of them were hunched over, some were whispering to each other, and they had no military discipline and spirit. This made Chongzhen frown and feel quite unhappy.

"Where are you from? Have you ever served in the army?" Chongzhen suppressed his anger and asked, trying to make his tone sound calmer.

"Your Excellency, I and the dozen or so people next to me escaped from Shandong. We were soldiers before, but we were defeated on the battlefield," a man who looked like a leader was quite smooth and sophisticated. He hurriedly bowed to Chongzhen and answered respectfully.

"We are from Henan and have served in the army for a few years..." another person followed.

"We escaped from Shaanxi and were also dispersed..." someone else echoed.

"We escaped from Shandong. I'm just a farmer. Our village was destroyed by bandits and defeated soldiers. We can't survive there anymore, so we came here with our fellow villagers..." At this time, a young and strong man said in a simple voice. This man was very tall and was at least a head taller than the others when standing in a group of people.

"Oh, what's your name?" Chongzhen ignored the others and focused his gaze on the farmer. Although the man was tall and strong, his face was pale and bloodless. It was obvious that he had not eaten for a long time and was extremely weak.

"My last name is Gao. When I was little, my family called me Goudan. When I grew up, everyone called me Gaoda because I'm tall," the farmer replied with a simple and honest smile on his face. "We may not be good at fighting, but as long as we have enough food to eat, we have plenty of strength!"

"Oh? Not bad." Chongzhen nodded slightly, a smile of approval on his face. "How many of you are there in total? Are there any who can read?"

"Mr. Gao is literate, but he thinks being a soldier is shameful and doesn't want to join the rest of us. He has women and children at home who he can take care of." The tall man continued with a simple smile and said, "Sir, can I take some food back for them?"

There was a hint of desire and expectation in his eyes, which made people feel pity.

"How many of you are here? How many have been selected?" Chongzhen asked.

"There were more than 30 of us who came together, but this officer only wanted me, saying we were all too weak to be soldiers," the tall man said with a somewhat depressed look. His eyes revealed a hint of loss and frustration, and he felt sorry for his companions who were not selected.

"Why don't you eat the food in your hand?" Chongzhen only then realized that the tall man was holding the bowl in his hand, but he didn't even touch a single bite of the food that was given to him!

"There are a few kids with us who haven't eaten in a few days. I want to bring some back for them," the tall man said, looking down at the food in his hands. He swallowed a few times, suppressing his hunger. His Adam's apple moved up and down, revealing his inner struggle and restraint.

"Alas..." Looking at the honest and simple tall man, Chongzhen felt sad. He sighed deeply and said, "Where are the fellow villagers you came with? Let me see if they are suitable for military service."