"Your Majesty, the South China Sea Fleet has just defeated the Dutch and drove them out of Taiwan. Will they cooperate with us?" Li Chunye felt that Zhu Youjian was too young after all, and he still didn't understand the sophistication of humanity.
"Xiyi is different from us. In the face of absolute strength, they will accept the status quo," Zhu Youzhen seemed to get the pulse of the Dutch. "Xiyi will not value hatred, only eternal interests, no eternal enemies. Or friends."
"Your Majesty, Xiyi has milk and is a mother. Is this kind of cooperation reliable?" Li Chunye turned to another worry.
"It doesn't matter, Daming is only working with them, not brothers. Our interests are still in our own control."
"Oh!" Li Chunye seemed to understand, but in fact, he didn't correct the relationship between Daming and Xiyi at all.
Zhu Youjian suddenly thought about shipbuilding: "That Dutch shipbuilding expert, called Stern, how is it now?"
"His Majesty, the craftsmen at the Fuzhou Shipyard have already designed drawings and are ready to build test ships, but Stern just changed the drawings. He said that the ship is too wide and the speed will inevitably drop. Moreover, I don’t know how. What happened, he also added an artillery on each side, bringing the number of artillery on the new ship to 44."
"This Stern is really an individual talent?" Zhu Youjian was overjoyed. It seems that this Stern must be retained. If there are more such talents, Daming will develop much faster.
"Whether it is a talent or not, you have to wait for the ship to be built before you can officially conclude." Li Chunye still doesn't trust these Xiyi people. If Zhu Youjian hadn't supported Stern, he would never let Stern enter Fuzhou. Shipyard's.
"Has the test ship been built?"
"His Majesty, construction has already begun, but it will take at least a year to launch."
"One year? So long?" Zhu Youjian frowned. This test ship is only one year away. Then the real ship will be launched and entered, and it will wait until the year of the monkey? "Can you speed it up? Is there enough wood?"
"Your Majesty, it's not a matter of materials, but manpower."
"Manpower? Does Daming lack shipbuilders?"
"Your Majesty, the Fuzhou Shipyard is only a medium-scale shipyard with insufficient number of craftsmen."
"What about the shipyards in Nanjing and Guangzhou? Don't they have skilled workers? Haven't the shipyards in Nanjing and Guangzhou temporarily suspended production? These skilled workers will be transferred there."
"Then what will these two shipyards do in the future?"
"Now they are in the phase of suspension of production, and the workers are idle as well. When production resumes in the future, let them go back."
"Yes, Your Majesty," Li Chunye felt that Zhu Youzhen was really generous. "If there are enough workers, the test ship should be able to be launched within half a year."
"In addition, haven't you seen the production unit of the Firearms Bureau? Let these shipyards also start assembly line production, so that a large number of skilled workers can be trained soon, and the speed of shipbuilding will definitely be greatly accelerated."
"Yes, Your Majesty," Speaking of the Firearms Bureau, Li Chunye suddenly thought about the breech gun. "Your Majesty, 100,000 breech guns have been built. Which army should they be distributed to?"
"A breech gun? Is it the musket that was shot from the breech last time?" Zhu Youjian remembered, Li Chunye once told him.
"Your Majesty, this gun is more advanced than the flintlock. When used, there is a bullet bag hanging under the gun, which can hold five bullets. If the soldier is proficient, these five bullets can be fired within one minute."
"Is the combat effectiveness of the breech reliable?" The birth of a new type of weapon must go through a lot of tests. There is no battlefield test, and Zhu Youjian is a little worried.
"Your Majesty, after many verifications, there should be no problems with quality and craftsmanship. Who dares to make fun of the soldiers' lives? If the craftsmanship is immature, the Firearms Bureau will not mass-produce." Li Chunye felt a little strange, Zhu Youjian has always been concerned about new firearms Very enthusiastic, why are you not interested in the breech today
"Is the bullet of the breech the same as the flintlock?" Zhu Youjian didn't want the army to have a variety of firearms. In case of war, the bullets don't match the gun, then it will be troublesome.
"Your Majesty, the bullet of the breech is different from the flintlock. The two cannot be used together." Li Chunye seemed to understand the reason why Zhu Youzhen was not enthusiastic.
Zhu Youjian thought for a long time, "How is the reorganization of the Shaanxi army?"
"Your Majesty, there is a firearms factory in Xi'an, and the reorganization of the Shaanxi army has been accelerated. Except for the five armies originally reorganized, the rest of the army has been reorganized. Thirty-one and five armies, but only the 27th army is equipped with firearms. Once the Xi'an Firearms Factory produces enough flintlocks, they will be immediately rationed to the army."
"Well, all these 100,000 breech guns were shipped to Shaanxi, equipped with the 13th, 28th, and 29th Army of the ancestors, and the original flintlocks of the 13th Army. For the 30th Army, so Shaanxi is only short of the 31st Army without firearms, and the pressure on the Xi'an Firearms Factory will be lower."
"Your Majesty, the breech is Daming's most advanced firearm. Isn't it equipped with the Capital Army?" Li Chunye wondered. Since the founding of Ming Dynasty, the Capital Army has been the strongest, so that the political situation will be stable.
"Waiting for quality, there are not many opportunities for the Beijing Army to fight recently. It is a waste of all these new firearms to be distributed to the Beijing Army."
"Your Majesty, the breech is issued to the Shaanxi Army. Are you going to fight Tatar Mongolia?"
"Not for the time being." In fact, Zhu Youjian's biggest headache is the nomads in the north. They took advantage of the speed of the cavalry to plunder the materials and population of Daming from time to time, making the north of Daming uneasy. "Tatar is going to fight sooner or later. They have contained Daming’s 300,000 troops, but Daming must now fully support the South China Sea Fleet and will not start a war against the Tatars for the time being."
"Ou, Chen understands."
"Also, the breech gun is no longer produced."
"Why? Your Majesty, the range of the breech is not inferior to that of the flintlock, and the rate of fire is faster than that of the flintlock." Li Chunye said heartily, the breech is at least half a generation ahead of the flintlock.
"Quality, the breech gun is just a transitional firearm, and it will soon be replaced by a new type of musket."
"New style firearms?"
"The newer muskets contain gunpowder inside the bullets, and no flint is needed. It is very convenient to use. It can be loaded and aimed no matter on the ground or on horseback." Zhu Youjian thought of the stand-up gun. The above is the oldest rifle, "Unfortunately, the bullet shell is made of red copper, which requires a lot of red copper."
"Your Majesty, the Firearms Bureau is already developing this type of musket. Last time the minister went to the Firearms Bureau to observe them. They are already developing it, but they have not yet succeeded."
"Oh? When I have time, I will definitely go to the Firearms Bureau." Hearing that the rifle had landed, Zhu Youjian became excited immediately. Once the rifle is successfully developed, the machine gun will not be far away. This kind of continuous-fire machine gun, It is the baby of the infantry.
"Your Majesty..." Li Chunye hesitated.
"If you have any questions, just say it, there are no outsiders here."
"Your Majesty, 32 new troops have been reorganized, plus Ma Shilong’s 100,000 troops, Jizhou’s 100,000 troops, and Liaodong Sun’s 100,000 troops have not been reorganized. The Ming’s army has exceeded 1.3 million. Adding to the fact that the government soldiers in the five central and southern five provinces have not yet been reorganized, they may have exceeded two million. This military pay is a lot of money..."
"Yeah," Zhu Youjian nodded slightly. Now the production of flintlocks is speeding up, but the new army can no longer be reorganized indefinitely. Li Chunye's worries are justified, and the new army’s military pay is much higher than the original military soldiers. No wonder the tax revenue of the imperial court has increased, but the financial situation has not fundamentally improved. If it weren't for the raids of several wars, I am afraid that it would have been unable to make ends meet. "The quality is right and we have to consider it all."
"Your Majesty, do you need to reorganize the capital's army?"
Zhu Youjian thought for a while, "Master Sun's 100,000 troops in Liaodong are now just road construction workers. Master Sun is now governor of Liaoning and has left the army. When the construction of the First Avenue is completed, all these 100,000 will be retired, or Go back to your place of origin, or settle down in eastern Liaoning, in short, all will be converted to people."
"Your Majesty, this saves one hundred thousand soldiers."
"In addition, Jizhou is no longer on the front line. The 100,000 troops are no longer needed. Go and let them disband this army. Except for a handful of particularly outstanding soldiers or officers, all the rest will be retired and converted to ordinary people. "
"Your Majesty, Jizhou is the north gate of the capital. Once the Jizhou army is disbanded, isn't the gate of the capital open to the north?"
"Don't worry about the quality, the north of Jizhou is the Horqin of Daming, and there are also garrisons of Daming. Today's Tatar is no longer the Mongolian iron cavalry of the past. If I don't conquer them, they should burn the incense."
Li Chunye thought that Zhu Youjian had already deployed outside the pass, and there was Daming’s garrison outside the pass. In fact, he had moved the possible front greatly north. Regardless of whether there was a war or not, the capital was no longer a country. "Your Majesty, the 200,000 troops that have been abolished are already What about Ma Shilong’s 100,000 army if you save a lot of military expenses? Is it abolished or reorganized?"
"The capital now has two hundred thousand new troops. This one hundred thousand troops is temporarily unavailable." Zhu Youjian suddenly thought of something. "Well, this one hundred thousand troops will be reorganized into one army based on the best and will be appointed by Ma Shilong. Commander, the rest of the soldiers, let them retire."
"Yes, Your Majesty." Li Chunye secretly exclaimed. Zhu Youjian abolished 270,000 troops in two attempts. The salaries of soldiers alone saves more than 1.6 million taels each year. If we add weapons, equipment and food, It should be no less than two million taels.
"Waiting, in this way, the soldiers in the five northern provinces will all be turned into professional soldiers? Can their combat effectiveness be guaranteed?"
"Your Majesty, not only can soldiers receive their salaries and salaries on time, but the treatment is far different from before. The combat effectiveness of soldiers has been initially tested during the Northern Expedition and the Southern Expedition."
"The government soldiers in the five northern provinces have been completely resolved. After the beginning of the year, the government soldiers in the five provinces in the middle will be resolved. It is best that the soldiers in the five southern provinces work together. The imperial court cannot leave this malignant tumor forever."