By virtue of his status as a great scholar, Zhu Zhiyu is very popular throughout East Asia.
Even Annan, a rebellious son of the Celestial Dynasty like Burma, would normally not embarrass a great scholar of the time!
Because, in this era, Confucianism is the prominent school in the entire East!
Tokugawa Ietsuna sent Zhu Zhiyu to the dock. Zhu Zhiyu was about to board the ship, but he still held Zhu Zhiyu's hand and said goodbye reluctantly.
"Sir, with your departure, Japan has lost a great sage!"
Zhu Zhiyu said with a smile on his face.
"If the general is interested in Confucianism, perhaps he can send an envoy to study in the Ming Dynasty, following the example of the Tang Dynasty!"
"I think the emperor will definitely not refuse!"
"That would be a nice talk!"
Hearing this, Tokugawa Ietsuna's face showed deep thought and emotion.
Maybe it really works...
During the Korean War, Toyotomi Hideyoshi was the only one who offended the Ming Dynasty.
There is no conflict between the Tokugawa family and Daming!
Even after the death of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the Toyotomi family's rule was overthrown by their Tokugawa family.
Sending Ming envoys to the Ming Dynasty may really be a good choice.
Today's Japan, after tomorrow's Korean War attempt to challenge Ming's absolute hegemony in East Asia failed.
The contempt for the Ming Dynasty that had arisen because the Japanese pirates once harassed the Ming Dynasty's coast and the Ming Dynasty had no choice but to do so disappeared.
Everyone in Japan has once again clearly realized that the higher country in China is still the same higher country in China!
The Ming Dynasty had nothing to do with the Japanese pirates, just because the Ming Dynasty's main energy at that time was to deal with Mongolia in the north and was unable to look south.
Didn’t you expect that after the Ming Dynasty was freed up, the Japanese pirates were wiped out?
Whenever the Japanese pirates started to make trouble, the Ming Dynasty dispatched a frontier cavalry from the north to go south, and the Japanese pirates would have been beaten to the ground!
Haven’t you seen what Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s so-called elite soldiers who fought during the Warring States Period were taught by the Ming Dynasty’s frontier cavalry in Korea?
Then, after Toyotomi Hideyoshi died of illness and the Tokugawa family seized power in Japan, out of fear of the Great Tomorrow, they began to implement the national policy of seclusion.
Only merchants from the Ming Dynasty and the Netherlands were allowed to come to Japan for trade.
Now, after the restoration of the Ming Dynasty, because the Ming Dynasty took over the entire Nanyang, even the Dutch trade share in Japan was greatly seized by the Ming Dynasty.
Therefore, Japan’s current foreign trade partners are only the Ming Dynasty.
In this way, Japan's admiration and adoration for the Ming Dynasty has been further intensified!
Now, Zhu Zhiyu said that Japan can send Ming envoys to study in the Ming Dynasty. Tokugawa Ietsuna is really interested.
While the two were talking, a middle-aged man dressed in traditional Japanese clothes, with a Tsukiyo haircut and a samurai sword at his waist came out of the merchant ship docked at the dock.
It’s none other than Tagawa Nanaemon!
Tagawa Nanzaemon came to Zhu Zhiyu's side, cupped his hands and said.
"I met the General and Mr. Shunsui at Shimodagawa Nanzaemon!"
Although Tagawa Nanzaemon was very powerful, he respected truly learned people.
He has also admired Zhu Zhiyu and Zhu Shunshui for a long time.
Tokugawa Ietsuna was thinking about sending an envoy, so he just nodded slightly to Tagawa Nanzaemon in return.
Instead, Zhu Zhiyu spoke.
"Mr. Tagawa, you are polite!"
"It's really annoying that I want to borrow the Tagawa family's boat when I return to my homeland."
Seeing this, Tagawa Nanzaemon said cheerfully.
"Why did you say this, sir?"
"It is an honor for our Tagawa family that Mr. Shunsui can ride on our Tagawa family's boat!"
"Not to mention that I still want to ask Mr. for advice!"
At this moment, Tokugawa Ietsuna seemed to have made up his mind and spoke to Zhu Zhiyu.
"After thinking deeply about what you said about sending an envoy to the Ming Dynasty, I think it is feasible!"
“I wonder if I could trouble you, sir, to stay in Japan for another Chinese New Year!”
"After the new year, sir, you can accompany me as an envoy sent by the Tokugawa shogunate to the Ming Dynasty, and you will be a companion on the way!"
"In this period of time, everyone in Japan can listen to Mr.'s teachings again!"
When Zhu Zhiyu heard this, a look of embarrassment appeared on his face.
He really doesn’t want to wait at all to go home!
But when he saw the sincerity and earnestness on Tokugawa Ietsuna's face, he really couldn't say no.
After all, Tokugawa Ietsuna is the head of a country. Since he is so earnest in asking me to stay, how can I refuse?
Finally, Zhu Zhiyu finally spoke.
"The general's kindness is hard for me to refuse!"
"I hope the general will organize a mission as soon as possible. I really miss my homeland!"
Seeing this, Tokugawa Ietsuna knew that Zhu Zhiyu had agreed, so he spoke.
"In that case, thank you for your hard work, sir!"
Zhu Zhiyu nodded, then turned to face Tagawa Nanaemon, and said with an apologetic tone.
"Mr. Tagawa, this old man will have to stay in Japan for a while longer!"
"I'm really sorry to bother Mr. Tagawa waiting for you in Edo for nothing!"
When Tagawa Nanzaemon saw this, he waved his hand indifferently and said.
"It doesn't matter!"
"If you feel guilty, why don't you keep your eldest son by your side, follow you around, serve you day and night, and learn knowledge?"
Tagawa Nanzaemon wanted his son to learn from Zhu Zhiyu, a great scholar of the time, as his teacher.
It is also a good way to prepare for my son to go to the Ming Dynasty to become an official in the future!
There is no such thing as the so-called imperial examination in Japan today, and the solidification of classes is no less impressive than that of Western white-skinned people at the same time.
Although the Tagawa family also has a certain status, thanks to the Zheng family's prestige, no one in Japan dares to offend them.
However, there is indeed no room for advancement for the Tagawa family in Japan!
Unless the Tagawa clan could overthrow the Tokugawa clan, or even overthrow the emperor, they would have the possibility to go further.
But, then again.
Although the Tagawa family has no room for advancement in Japan, they can definitely try their luck in the Ming Dynasty.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! With the energy of the Zheng family in the official circles of the Ming Dynasty, the Tagawa family can transform from a powerful Japanese family into a powerful family of the Ming Dynasty.
Tagawa Nanzaemon knew that the future of the Tagawa family was not in Japan, but in the Ming Dynasty!
If the Tagawa family wanted to integrate into the Ming Dynasty, the first step was to find a famous scholar as a teacher for their son.
At present, there is no more suitable candidate than Zhu Zhiyu!
When Zhu Zhiyu heard this, he didn't refuse, he just said.
"Okay, let Mr. Tagawa stay with me and study!"
Tagawa Nanizaemon goalkeeper Zhu Zhiyu agreed and said.
"Thank you sir!"
"I will order someone to send Mr. Xiu for repair later!"
Zhu Zhiyu nodded slightly and said.
"Easy to say, easy to say!"
"..."
Tagawa Shichizaemon left his son with Zhu Shunshui, then boarded the ship, raised the anchor and set sail, heading towards the Ming Dynasty.
…
December 20th, the second year of liberation!
In the last few days of the new year, Zhu Hongyu came to inspect the Ming Dynasty Royal Arsenal.
The heads of various departments of the arsenal personally came to the entrance of the Royal Arsenal to greet the Holy Emperor.
"I see your Majesty, long live my emperor, long live, long live!"
Bow down and do all the movements in one go.
Zhu Hongyu turned over and dismounted, reached out to help the people in charge at the front, and then spoke.
"Get flat!"
After that, he strode towards the interior of the Royal Arsenal.
Several responsible persons followed closely, waiting for the emperor's inquiry.
Zhu Hongyu asked as he strode forward.
"Tell me about the development process of the breech-loading rifle project!"
Zhu Hongyu came to the Ming Dynasty Royal Arsenal today to inspect the development process of the breech-loading rifle project. This was the main purpose.
[To be honest, I have been using the Huanyuan app recently to read and catch up on updates. It can switch sources and read aloud with many sounds, huanyuanapp. Both Android and Apple are available.]
He didn't have to do other things, but he definitely wanted to take a look at the breech-loading rifle.
Liang Jinan, the person in charge of the breech-loading rifle project, walked in front, leading the way towards the testing site of the Royal Arsenal.
Not long after, a group of people arrived at the testing site.
In the testing site, several researchers saluted Zhu Hongyu with clasped fists.
"Let us see your Majesty!"
Zhu Hongyu nodded slightly and then spoke.
"Not bad, thank you for your hard work!"
While talking, Zhu Hongyu strode to a table.
On the table were a pile of gun parts and an assembled gun.
Zhu Hongyu reached out and picked up the gun on the table, then began to caress and look at it carefully.
The back-swinging bolt, the long firing pin, the complex trigger structure, the sight at the muzzle, and the rifling in the chamber...
In Zhu Hongyu's view, except for the fact that this rifle uses paper-cased fixed ammunition instead of metal fixed ammunition, it is no different from the rifles of later generations during World War I and World War II.
The pile of parts on the table are the components of this rifle, and now they are just dismantled and displayed.
Zhu Hongyu put down the rifle in his hand and turned to Liang Jinan.
"Get ready for live fire training!"
Hearing this, Liang Jinan cupped his fists and said.
"Here!"
Under Liang Jinan's arrangement, an experimenter picked up a musket and began to prepare for the live-fire test.
Pull the bolt, stuff the paper-cased acorn-shaped lead bullet into the bomb bay, then close the gun, aim, and pull the trigger, all in one movement.
As the trigger was pulled, the long firing pin pierced the tail of the paper-cased fixed bullet under the action of the bullet, and then ignited the primer.
The primer ignited the gunpowder, and the next moment, a puff of white smoke rose from the muzzle!
The lead bullet rotated and shot out from the muzzle of the gun, with a very stable trajectory, and shot towards a wooden target a hundred meters away.
With a bang, the lead bullet hit the wooden target, and wood chips flew everywhere!
The tester moved quickly, rotated and pulled the bolt, opened the bolt mechanism, took out the remaining paper casing in the magazine, then reloaded and fired.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
The entire testing ground was filled with the sound of gunfire.
After one minute of live ammunition shooting, the target announcer from afar strode over and spoke in front of Zhu Hongyu.
"Your Majesty, a total of ten shots were fired, and all of them hit the target!"
"The total number of shooting rings is eighty-five!"
Upon hearing this, Zhu Hongyu nodded with great satisfaction.
From the current point of view, the accuracy of this rifle is still good, coupled with its ultra-high rate of fire, the performance can be said to be quite impressive.
However, whether a weapon can be fielded or not, although its performance is important, what is more important is its cost.
That’s great value for money!
"How much does this rifle cost? What is the unit price of the bullet?"
Zhu Hongyu was playing with a long firing pin part in his hand and asked.
Liang Jinan on the side said.
"Reporting to Your Majesty, this type of musket has a complex structure and requires very high processing accuracy. Its cost is three times that of the rifled guns currently in service in our Ming army, with the average price reaching sixty silver dollars."
"If it is put into production on a large scale, the price may be able to be reduced!"
"Also, the unit price of bullets is not cheap. On average, one silver dollar can produce two fixed paper shell bullets."
When Zhu Hongyu heard this, he couldn't help but gasped.
This price gave him a headache!
The current size of the Ming army is probably over half a million, with each man having one gun, which is 30 million silver dollars.
Not to mention there are bullets!
In fact, it is not an exaggeration for the rifle to have such a price. Zhu Hongyu gritted his teeth and had no problem replacing the Ming army level by level.
Take your time. If the entire change is completed in ten years, it will only cost 3 million silver dollars per year.
Although it was quite a lot, it was not unacceptable to the court!
However, the problem with ammunition is that it is really expensive!
It sounds like two bullets for one silver dollar is not an exaggeration, but what you need to know is that the consumption of bullets is very large.
If you want the army to go to the battlefield without being blinded, daily live-fire training is indispensable!
Not to mention too much, there must be an opportunity for live-fire training once a month, right?
In a live-fire training session, it’s not too much for each person to fire ten bullets to practice their skills, right?
The cost of bullets alone is five silver dollars per month for one person.
That’s sixty silver dollars a year!
After a year of training, bullets are more expensive than guns.
If all 500,000 people change their costumes, the bullet cost for that year will be 30 million!
Who the hell can handle this?
Zhu Hongyu frowned, and then asked.
"The cost of bullets is a bit high, why?"
Liang Jinan said.
"Your Majesty, the reason for the high cost of bullets lies in the production of primers."
"Because the primer production technology is not yet mature and the output is limited, so..."
When Zhu Hongyu heard this, he nodded slightly and said.
"Then, in the next time, we must focus more on technological breakthroughs in primer production!"
"Produce a result that satisfies me as soon as possible!"
After pondering for a while, Zhu Hongyu spoke.
"The performance of this rifle is still good, but at present, there is no need to put it into large-scale production."
"Produce one thousand first to equip the first regiment under the Guards Division, so that the first regiment can familiarize themselves with the new equipment and explore new tactics based on the performance of the new weapons and other factors..."
At present, although the performance of the new breech-loading rifle is very good.
But Zhu Hongyu would not equip the army with it immediately.
First, due to cost issues, the cost of breech-loading rifles and the price of bullets are too expensive.
The imperial court's finances cannot bear it!
The second reason is because it’s not necessary!
Now the weapons and equipment of the Ming army are enough to form an absolute generation gap with any country or army in the world.