Hearing Zuo Mengeng's words, Zuo Liangyu couldn't help but fell into deep thought. He has an army of 500,000 people. Now in the world, apart from the bandits, he has the largest number of soldiers and horses. Although he dare not say that he is the most powerful.
He is powerful, but I dare say that no force can easily defeat him.
Even though there were thieves and bandits from all sides of the court, he did not take the opportunity to rebel. This was his bottom line and he would never cross it easily. After all, he had been fighting for the court for more than ten years. Not to mention how many achievements he had made, he still had some loyalty.
Here I am.
If you suddenly rebel, at least you won't be able to cope with it in your heart.
But the imperial court now regarded him as a threat. This time he told Qin Liangyu of Sichuan to beware of him. If he leads an army to annihilate Zhang Xianzhong in the future, and then pretends to pass through his territory, will he suddenly besieged and killed? I have to say,
This possibility is extremely high.
And if he handed over his military power, he would definitely not be willing to do so. Five hundred thousand troops! The entire half million took him so much effort and so much time.
Not to mention the money, manpower, and material resources needed to cultivate an army of 500,000. In other words, if you really hand it over, can you still survive? Isn’t that just meat on the chopping board, and sooner or later someone else will
Cut it with one knife.
At the moment, Zuo Liangyu is also extremely hesitant. Rebellion is not a trivial matter. Although his son Zuo Mengeng is an adult, he is still too young after all. Can he handle such a complicated situation? He has never experienced it.
Any major events and all storms are caught by him himself.
Looking at his son in front of him, Zuo Liangyu suddenly felt sad.
He can die, but his son...he really doesn't want to die.
"Rebellion is not something to talk about, and you are not a common person. Your identity determines what you say, and it cannot be just a joke. Tell me, what are your plans?"
Seeing his father asking for his opinion, Zuo Mengeng couldn't help but be overjoyed. It seemed that his father really had the idea of passing on the position to him. He immediately cheered and said: "Father, this is what I think: isn't the imperial court planning to lead troops west to conquer Zhang Xianzhong?"
? Then they must pass through our territory. Before that, we deployed the army and surrounded them on their only way. We took advantage of the situation and said that we would hand over our military power. Once they relaxed their vigilance, we immediately ordered the army to annihilate them! This way
As soon as we come, we can succeed without any effort!"
After hearing these words, Zuo Liangyu, who has been on the battlefield for a long time, also felt that it was very feasible. He could use the other party's trust to achieve his own goals. He would not arouse the suspicion of the court, and he would not have to worry about the other party's troops.
I thought my son would also be an armchair strategist, but I didn't expect that he would also have some talent.
“It’s a good idea and deserves praise!”
Hearing his father's praise, Zuo Mengeng couldn't help but feel a little happy. He had been scolded just now, and now he was praised again. Suddenly he felt that he would definitely become a more powerful person than his father in the future.
"Now let's save face first, copy the seal on the letter, find someone to imitate the font, and then write a new letter. But in this letter, remove the part about us, and only
Just write down what you said before. Remember, only you and your son know about this matter."
"Understood, father!"
…
At the same time in Yingtian Mansion, Zhu Ling was studying the foreign red cannons in an open area. There were two cannons placed here, and the black muzzles were facing the west, and it seemed that they were about to fire at the next moment.
The Hongyi cannon has many advantages in design compared with the cannons owned by the Ming Dynasty at that time. The barrel is long, the tube wall is thick, and the caliber is large. The overall shape gradually becomes thicker from the muzzle to the breech, which is in line with the chamber pressure when gunpowder is burned.
The principle from high to low.
There are cylindrical lugs on both sides of the center of gravity of the gun body. The gun can adjust the shooting angle based on this axis, and change the range according to the amount of gunpowder. It is equipped with a front sight and a rear sight, and calculates the ballistic trajectory according to the parabola, with high accuracy. Most of them
The Hongyi cannon is about 3 meters long, has a caliber of 110-130 mm, and weighs more than 1 ton.
It was even called "one of the best artillery pieces in the world in the seventeenth century" in "The Age of Gunpowder" written by Portuguese East Asian historian Tonio Andrade.
At present, the Ming Dynasty lacks craftsmen, but artillery is a powerful weapon on the battlefield. Even the Jiannu, who have always been proud of their cavalry, are attaching great importance to the research and development of artillery, so the Ming Dynasty must build more artillery and research more artillery. Only in this way can it withstand the power of the Jiannu.
Pressure, only if you want to regain the Ming Dynasty in the future can you have hope.
Moreover, firecrackers and other other firearms also needed to be manufactured in large quantities. As long as these firearms were used in large quantities, he would like to see how powerful Jiannu's cavalry was.
"Your Majesty, are you studying Western artillery?"
At this time, Wu Linzheng and others happened to arrive at the palace. After the eunuch explained, they found out that His Majesty had been studying artillery since he got up today. He even ate here. It is conceivable that His Majesty's love for artillery was not what they understood.
of.
Seeing Wu Linzheng and others coming here, Zhu Ling also greeted them a few words, and then continued to be immersed in the artillery.
Seeing His Majesty being so obsessed, everyone couldn't help but feel helpless. As an emperor, how could he devote all his physical and mental energy to this? Thinking of the former Emperor Tianqi, wasn't he just playing with things and losing his mind? He didn't even want to pay attention to national affairs and spent all his energy on it all day long.
Putting it on top of a carpenter is really a headache.
There is absolutely no way we can recreate the appearance of Emperor Tianqi.
"Your Majesty, there are many state affairs. If you feel tired, you can go out for a walk and see the scenery. Don't waste your time on this." Ni Yuanlu saw Zhu Ling's obsessed look and immediately stepped forward to persuade him.
When a voice came to his ears, Zhu Ling stopped immediately, then turned around and said, "You have misunderstood me. I am not one who loses my ambition by playing with things, nor am I like Emperor Tianqi."
Seeing that His Majesty knew their inner thoughts, everyone couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed.
"When I saw the artillery, I saw its power! What I saw was its combat effectiveness on the battlefield. You should know that Yuan Chonghuan once seriously injured Jian Nu with a Hongyi cannon, and even made Jian Nu very afraid of artillery. In the end,
Because of the betrayal of the traitors, many craftsmen were captured, and then they were allowed to make cannons."
Zhu Ling looked at everyone and knew what they were thinking, but he couldn't say it directly.
"Jiannu relied on artillery to continuously conquer many of our cities. Sometimes it can be said that the artillery gave Jiannu a lot of strength when we failed to defend the city many times. We were defeated because of artillery. Shouldn't we reflect on it? Is it really true?
Are we unable to defeat them, or have we not seriously thought about these aspects?”
Seeing that His Majesty attributed all the defeat to the artillery, everyone always felt that something was wrong. Although the artillery was powerful, it was too exaggerated. There were also many human factors involved, including betrayal by traitors, failure of one's own people to rescue them in time, and the blindness of some generals.
Low command, low morale of soldiers, etc. are all factors in defeat.
Is it possible to win with artillery?
"Your Majesty, I believe that although artillery is powerful, it cannot affect our Ming Dynasty! Although the founding of the Ming Dynasty was helped by artillery, it was not just because the artillery defeated the Yuan Dynasty. It was because everyone in our Ming Dynasty worked together and our generals were brave.
This allowed the Han people to return to the prosperous age of the Han and Tang Dynasties!"
Xu Zhili, a member of the civil service department, immediately stepped forward to refute Zhu Ling's words.
"certainly!"
Zhu Ling knew that his words were full of loopholes, but their meaning was to pave the way for vigorous research and development of artillery in the future. Therefore, he had to exaggerate a little to make everyone take it seriously.
"But once we have artillery, morale, and general command problems, we can greatly avoid them! We only need to prepare sophisticated artillery and sufficient ammunition to fully cover the enemy! At that time, there is no need to worry about other things, the enemy will naturally
Collapse! As long as we win, it will be my Ming Dynasty’s victory!”
"But Your Majesty, artillery is only suitable for attacking and defending cities. What should we do if we encounter a field battle?" At this time, another person stood up, it was Chengde, the doctor of the Ministry of War.
Hearing this, Zhu Ling couldn't help but chuckle a few times, and then said: "You guys have forgotten the firecrackers."
But after all, others don't quite understand Zhu Ling's thoughts. In their eyes, although the firecrackers are very lethal, the distance is too far and the reloading speed is too slow. If they were to fight in the field, they would probably die.
"The firecrackers we are using now have low power and slow shooting speed. The enemy only needs to make a better shield, and then they can rush over and cause great damage to our musketeers. Faced with this situation, we must
Upgrade the fire gun!" Seeing the confusion on everyone's faces, Zhu Ling couldn't help but shake his head.
After all, my thinking is hundreds of years advanced than theirs, so it is normal for them not to understand.
"My dear friends, watch out!"
Suddenly, Zhu Ling picked up a firecracker, lit it, and fired a shot after a few seconds.
Although some gravel was broken into pieces on the far wall, the power was still too small and the speed was too slow. If a better one could not be built, Jiannu's cavalry would be massacred as soon as the insects came over.
"Your Majesty, this fire gun also has three-eyed guns and five-eyed guns, each of which is different. Moreover, we also have formations that will prevent the enemy from easily getting close to us. The fire gun has a special army, and they will conduct special training.
It would be so fragile."
Seeing that these ministers were still so stubborn, Zhu Ling did not want to entangle with them anymore, so he chuckled and stopped entangled. It seemed that if he wanted to develop more advanced fire guns in the future, he would have to find someone to modify them privately.
"By the way, do you have anything else to do here?"
Seeing that His Majesty finally mentioned the important point, Wu Linzheng raised his hand and said: "Your Majesty, there is a military report from the north, but there is no rush. It is just that there are a lot of changes in Jiannu, and it is estimated that there will be a decisive battle."
"Zhu Dadian asked your Majesty whether the Ming Dynasty should participate in the war?"
"Building slaves?"
Zhu Ling looked at the sky to the north and said immediately: "Those who are not of my race must have different minds. If the Jiannu dare to invade China, they should be expelled. Tell Zhu Dadian, there is no need to hesitate. If the Jiannu dare to attack, I will kill them!"
"Put down your hatred against the intruders, and drive out the Jiannu Tatars first!"