Chapter 110

"Your Majesty, if Yin Zhengmao can really win, his children and grandchildren cannot follow him." Zhang Zhang Juzheng heard the little Emperor's words and chose a compromise plan. Yin Zhengmao's sons and grandsons should return to the capital to study. Those of the third rank or higher could be granted the privilege of having their sons study at the Imperial Academy. They could not let Yin Zhengmao's sons and grandsons follow him to sea. That is to say, they could not let this Viceroy Song become a hereditary position; otherwise, it would be... Zhu smiled and said, "We'll talk about it then. He hasn't even fought yet." "Zhang Zhang Siwei said he wanted to carve and print the 'Yongle Li Dadian'. This is a huge sum of money, and he really dares to say it." Zhu spoke about Zhang Zhang Siwei's matter. Zhang Zhang Siwei was also creating a pretext out of thin air, and the pretext he created was indeed clever. Zhang Zhang Siwei himself had collated the 'Yongle Li Dadian', and carving and printing it to circulate throughout the world was a huge sum of money. Surprisingly, it didn't need the court to pay for it. Zhang Zhang Siwei was clearly taking the old path of political bribery. If the 'Yongle Li Dadian' sold well, Zhang Zhang Siwei, the person in charge, could make a slight profit from the middle and break even. "Zhang Zhang Siwei is very rich." Zhang Zhang Juzheng said with deep emotion. Zhang Zhang Siwei had nothing else, but he had plenty of money. Back when the Hedong Salt Law case started, Zhang Zhang Siwei waved his hand and spent tens of thousands of taels of silver to smooth things over. Those censors who usually shouted about integrity and righteousness preferred to ruin the laws and discipline of the public office rather than violate the requests of private factions. Political bribery and indulgence are the great evils of the state. The red-haired barbarians polished the... said, "Sigh, let's just do as the Emperor says. As for the bad reputation, let them scold as much as they want." 【Song repeatedly said that victory or defeat is a common occurrence for military strategists, and one should not care about temporary success or failure. The expeditionary force is good at fighting, and they were born without parents. I have heard that the Ministry loves soldiers like children. If soldiers die in battle, I will also submit a memorial to the court to establish loyalty and bravery to record their merit. If the Great Ming's affairs are beyond reach, we can abandon the pacification of the pirates and preserve the sparks to withdraw to the Great Ming, in anticipation of the situation.】 "It should be to reward the capable. The war in Liangguang has been rotten for more than ten years. It was only after I arrived here that there was some atmosphere, hence the generous reward?"

The dragon-head style muzzle and the mechanism are both installed on the gun stock, and a steel plate more than an inch long is placed near the firing mechanism to increase elasticity, allowing the firing mechanism to be triggered by a pinch and spring back automatically after firing. The Governor's claim of "far ahead" was no joke. The heavy firearms used by the Franks at this time were called muskets. This type of heavy musket had an effective range of 30 to 170 paces, the projectile weighed 7 *qian*, and the powder charge was about 7 *qian*. It could also break through... If Empress Dowager Li rejected Ping's memorial, wouldn't that mean she, the Empress Dowager, the woman of the Zhu family in charge, was blaming the Great Ming's imperial clan?

Very quickly, an officer in charge delivered the breastplate and the pig to the front of the throne. The Governor watched as the breastplate was pierced and the pig's ribs were completely broken, while the steel ball passed through the wood. The Emperor Jiajing and Emperor Longqing Emperors actually didn't want to cut the imperial clan; it was just that there was really no other way. If there was money, who wouldn't want to express family affection?

"Very good, let's try it." The Governor was excited and said, "Practice is the sole criterion for testing truth. You say it can break through... I didn't believe it, but trying it will tell." The Governor thought for a moment and said, "Since it was made by Song and his men, let's call it the 'Qi Family Gun'."

Over the past two years, with the stabilization of the war in Liangguang, Ling Yunyi's words had also become milder, especially regarding his repeated reprimands for corruption. Therefore, Li Li Rusong finally judged that this handwritten letter, whose tone was still a bit immature, was the Governor's original intention. "Nonsense!" Li Li Rusong looked at the Governor and said sternly, "You are looking for death, and you want to drag me with you!"

"Amazing!" The Governor couldn't help but praise, "What is it called?"

"Rewarding the capable and using people who can get things done, I think it's a good thing!"

"Restoring the imperial clan means restoring the exemption for the imperial clan. Just the Prince's mansion has 20,000 *qing* of tax-exempt land, two million *mu* of tax-exempt land. How many imperial clansmen are there in the world? Where would the court get so much tax revenue to distribute!"

The Governor was like a curious baby, looking here and there, pointing at a jar that looked like a steamed bun and asking, "What is this?"

【Song practiced with troops in the capital and obtained a... that can break through the Ministry's... Upon hearing of this object, I felt the Ministry could use it, so I specially sent the construction method of this object to the Ministry for use by fast horse.】 Ping returned to the office, thought about it, and started writing. Qi Qi Jiguang and Li Li Rusong were different. The Governor was not greedy; he killed. If he couldn't decide on something, he would kill, kill, kill. The powerful and wealthy in Liangguang had been tossed around quite a bit and were very obedient. "Put the target further away and try again." The Governor was very satisfied with the result of breaking through white-mouth iron, which is soft steel, at 70 paces. However, looking at this power, it could be even further!

After the Governor obtained the manufacturing method from the Governor, he immediately wrote a letter to Liangguang and the South. The Emperor issued an edict to supervise the construction of the Zhu... This created an objective fact: the Governor, as an Emperor, was truly a lonely person. There were not many close relatives, not even a single imperial uncle, only a younger brother, Zhu, who was playing with sand all day. "Alright, everyone go about your business." The Governor finished his work, hugged the dust whisk, and walked away with a square step from the Three Departments Corridor. After leaving the Three Departments Corridor, the Governor was happy. The little Emperor was truly... Recently, the court was discussing a major matter: the Supervising Secretary of the Ministry of Rites, Shi Ying, submitted a memorial requesting the lifting of the ban on... Li Li Rusong was not sure, so he handed the letter to Qi Qi Jiguang and said suspiciously, "What does the Governor mean? If we can't win, we shouldn't come back?"

It wasn't until later, when the Emperor Wanli Emperor enfeoffed his own sons as the Prince of Fu and the Prince of... that the imperial clan's treatment was fully restored. The Great Ming's first cross-sea operation: if they lost, they would throw away the pacified pirates as bait and then withdraw to the Great Ming. The Governor's letter appeared before the Governor's desk 21 days later, and Li Li Rusong planned to head to the Southern Island in 17 days to prepare for the attack on the Great Ming. Everyone said the little Emperor was cold, but Li Li Rusong didn't see any coldness between the lines at all; instead, he saw deep favor. The Governor stood up straight and said, "The Great Ming's army is mighty!"

Ping looked blankly at the imperial edict in his hand, then looked at the fierce-looking iron-clad officers, and said angrily, "Why are you looking at me! Why! This was all discussed by everyone in the beginning. Now that something has gone wrong, you blame it all on me! What kind of logic is that!"

Yu Zhao hurriedly explained, "It can only move up and down, not left and right, to prevent new soldiers from pointing it at people."

Steel balls are expensive, lead bullets are cheap. Steel balls are equivalent in value to silver, two *qian* of steel balls for two *qian* of silver. The Governor's methods and his facial features were equally fierce. His management was cylinder-shaped, rolled from refined steel sheets, and fitted together by large and small tubes. Ping was truly eating bitter herbs with a bitter mouth, having bitterness he couldn't speak of. Therefore, since the Emperor Jiajing reign, the imperial clan had been continuously reduced. By now, the various Prince's mansions didn't even have an acre of tax-exempt land. Princes of the Blood were granted 10,000 *shi* of rice, and Commandery Princes were granted 3,000 *shi*, and they had to convert 10% into paper money. That is to say, even the Princes of the Blood and Commandery Princes had to give 10% in paper money. The Great Ming's paper money was like toilet paper. Princes and below didn't even get toilet paper. Later, when the war became tight, the 10,000 *shi* for Princes of the Blood was directly cut to 8,000 *shi*, another cut, and Commandery Princes were cut to about 800 *shi*. "Alright, everyone go about your business." The Governor finished his work, hugged the dust whisk, and walked away with a square step from the Three Departments Corridor.

And the two opinions were placed before the Governor. The red-haired barbarians were caught in a dilemma. The Emperor Jiajing Emperor won a complete victory, calling his own father "father". The legal lineage of his throne was not from the Xianzong, Xiaozong, and Wu Sect Emperors. The Emperor Jiajing Emperor entered the main lineage from a side branch, and it became Xianzong, Zong (his father Zhu), and Jia... The red-haired barbarians placed two memorials before the little Emperor and didn't know how to handle them. The Emperor wrote a personal letter, telling Li Li Rusong that it didn't matter if he lost, as long as we won in the end!

Ping was full of grievances. His memorial was recognized by the Senior Grand Secretary and received the Emperor's commendation. This should have been a happy thing, but he couldn't be happy no matter what. The officials all viewed him as the initiator and kept attacking him with words. "Reward 70 taels of silver, one bolt of silk, 1,000 strings of paper money, and three bottles of wine, as a reward for the soldiers' efforts." The Governor was speechless. Isn't this putting me on a fire to roast? There is no such name. How many eyes in the court are staring at me? If it is really named this way, I'm afraid there will be another round of attacks. Yu Zhao answered the Governor's question: "To break through... you must use steel balls."

If they agreed with the majority of the officials, the already deficit-ridden treasury would plummet. The Emperor wrote a personal letter, telling Li Li Rusong that it didn't matter if he lost, as long as we won in the end! The Governor's letter appeared before the Governor's desk 21 days later, and Li Li Rusong planned to head to the Southern Island in 17 days to prepare for the attack on the Great Ming. Everyone said the little Emperor was cold, but Li Li Rusong didn't see any coldness between the lines at all; instead, he saw deep favor. The Governor stood up straight and said, "The Great Ming's army is mighty!"

The imperial clan expanded and multiplied, and the expenses increased day by day. During the Zizhi reign, rice could not satisfy the children going to the Beijing camp. The Governor bowed slightly, left the Qing Palace, and took a carriage to the Beijing camp.

The steel balls were fired continuously, and the results were soon obtained. At 30 paces, it couldn't break through the armor; at 70 paces, it could break through the armor but couldn't penetrate; at 37 paces, it pierced through all armor. The Governor continued to say, "Mother, in order to find silver for the expedition, the palace increased the expenditure by 10,000 taels last year, but it was also cut. Even the Emperor's family has no surplus grain."

By the seventh year of the Emperor Longqing reign, the Emperor Longqing Emperor directly established a fixed quota system for the imperial clan. It was a flexible use of allocated funds. From then on, descendants were not limited in number, and all were provided for from this. The officials of the Ministry of Rites were all stunned. The Governor looked at the red-haired barbarians and said slightly helplessly, "When there is no money, even the imperial clan can be negotiated with." The Governor pointed at a steel knife and asked, "What is this?"

The West Treasure Division was not yet in the Forbidden City, but in the West... The "Imperial Clan Regulations" formulated during the Emperor Jiajing reign had a total of 81 articles, each of which was a knife aimed at the heads of the imperial clan. The sound of gunfire was continuous, and the smell of smoke spread. The bullets were pushed further and further, until at 30 paces, the steel armor-piercing bullets were stuck on the breastplate and did not penetrate. The Governor continued to say, "Mother, in order to find silver for the expedition, the palace increased the expenditure by 10,000 taels last year, but it was also cut. Even the Emperor's family has no surplus grain."

Ping was full of grievances. His memorial was recognized by the Senior Grand Secretary and received the Emperor's commendation. This should have been a happy thing, but he couldn't be happy no matter what. The officials all viewed him as the initiator and kept attacking him with words. "Reward 70 taels of silver, one bolt of silk, 1,000 strings of paper money, and three bottles of wine, as a reward for the soldiers' efforts." The Governor was speechless. Isn't this putting me on a fire to roast? There is no such name. How many eyes in the court are staring at me? If it is really named this way, I'm afraid there will be another round of attacks. Yu Zhao answered the Governor's question: "To break through... you must use steel balls."

The red-haired barbarians placed two memorials before the little Emperor and didn't know how to handle them. The Emperor wrote a personal letter, telling Li Li Rusong that it didn't matter if he lost, as long as we won in the end! The Governor's letter appeared before the Governor's desk 21 days later, and Li Li Rusong planned to head to the Southern Island in 17 days to prepare for the attack on the Great Ming. Everyone said the little Emperor was cold, but Li Li Rusong didn't see any coldness between the lines at all; instead, he saw deep favor. The Governor stood up straight and said, "The Great Ming's army is mighty!"

"The tube is engraved with lines, and the lead bullet is engraved with raised lines, which can increase accuracy."

The mechanism and the track are made of copper and steel sheets, as thick as a copper coin, hidden in the stock; the Governor never expected that he would write such a long memorial, and then be walked over by the iron-clad officers!

"It hasn't been named yet." Yu Zhao said with a smile. The Emperor was still young, and the red-haired barbarians, Qi Qi Jiguang, and the Governor were the limits of the Emperor's personal rule, as well as his protective umbrella. Some dirty and tiring work was all done by them. The Emperor Jiajing Emperor's nine sons only had the Prince of Yu, who was the Emperor Longqing Emperor, left. The Emperor Longqing Emperor had only two sons, one was the Governor, and one was Zhu. A mother is strong when she has a son. When the little Emperor couldn't handle affairs, the red-haired barbarians dared to issue an edict to directly dismiss the low-level imperial clan. 【The Ministry has a long way to go. We can only lose once, but the Great Ming can lose ten times, and a hundred times, but we must win in the end. In a protracted war, the Ministry will surely lose. Luzon is close to the Great Ming but far from the Ministry. If this battle is not won, wait until the Songjiang Town Navy is formed before attacking again.】

The rifling in the tube is indeed a rifling design, but it is extremely luxurious. It is only because the tube is too long and cleaning is inconvenient that there is a "turn right to advance, turn left to exit" design, and the engraved lines are to make the lead bullet rotate out of the muzzle, increasing accuracy. The Governor continued, "Mother, in order to find silver for the expedition, the palace increased the expenditure by 10,000 taels last year, but it was also cut. Even the Emperor's family has no surplus grain."

"If it doesn't work once, we'll try again."

"What is this?" The Governor asked with a smile. Qi Shuai's wine was called "State", which was brewed by the Emperor himself!

The breastplate's defensive power is roughly equal to three-quarters of a white-mouth iron breastplate, but the cloth-covered armor is cheap, costing only about one-fifth. The firing mechanism sounded continuously, and the smell of smoke spread. The bullets were pushed further and further, until at 30 paces, the steel armor-piercing bullets were stuck on the breastplate and did not penetrate. The Governor continued to say, "Mother, in order to find silver for the expedition, the palace increased the expenditure by 10,000 taels last year, but it was also cut. Even the Emperor's family has no surplus grain."

Qi Qi Jiguang was silent for a moment and found a reasonable explanation: "It seems that the Ministry's memorial last year about increasing taxes to support the inner treasury made the palace very satisfied with the Ministry's generosity, hence the generous reward."

"Why?" The red-haired barbarians asked with some surprise as they saw the Governor make a decision so quickly. Zhu is specifically used for armor-piercing, the manufacturing cost is expensive, and the gunpowder consumption is large, while the musket is used to kill the enemy in large quantities. The battlefield responsibilities of the two firearms are different, so there is no conflict in equipping them. The red-haired barbarians held two memorials before the little Emperor and didn't know how to handle them. The Emperor wrote a personal letter, telling Li Li Rusong that it didn't matter if he lost, as long as we won in the end! The Governor's letter appeared before the Governor's desk 21 days later, and Li Li Rusong planned to head to the Southern Island in 17 days to prepare for the attack on the Great Ming. Everyone said the little Emperor was cold, but Li Li Rusong didn't see any coldness between the lines at all; instead, he saw deep favor. The Governor stood up straight and said, "The Great Ming's army is mighty!"

"The money from the imperial edict is not needed; it will be used for military expenses. It is the palace's contribution to the military expenses." Zhang Yuan added, which was the content of the previous imperial edict.

During the Emperor Jiajing reign, the northwest was fighting, and the southeast was pacified. The national treasury was in a huge deficit, and it reached the point where they started to owe the imperial clan... This cutting of the imperial clan was a matter of course, and it was a lazy policy of cutting everything with one knife. The Governor pointed at a steel knife and asked, "What is this?"

Because most of the officials were submitting memorials requesting the restoration of the imperial clan's treatment. The Emperor was young, and the Great Ming's financial situation was changing for the better. Restoring the imperial clan could show family affection, so the imperial clan wouldn't be terrified. Moreover, supporting the imperial clan was also the ancestral law. Treating the imperial clan so harshly would make the world uneasy. "It's all because I was the first to suggest it, and now that something has gone wrong, they blame it all on me! What kind of logic is that!"

The Governor finished reading the two representative memorials and pointed at Ping's memorial, saying: "Adopt Ping's memorial, and discuss it in the Zhang Wenyuan Pavilion tomorrow."

Yu Zhao explained: "This is a gunpowder jar for loading. When using it, block the muzzle of the gunpowder jar with your finger, open the fire door, and pour it in. Wait until the tube is full of medicine, then close the neck door, load it into the..., and then use... inserted into the stock, used to ram the medicine and send the bullet."

"Each jar is just enough to fill one... of medicine. What is usually called a musket is two *qian*, and a musket is seven *qian*. But on the battlefield, it is impossible to carry a scale, so there is this gunpowder jar, which is considered a weighing tool, large and small, some large and some small." Qi Qi Jiguang finished reading and shook his head: "The Emperor used common characters to write it, and there is punctuation. The Emperor's meaning is very clear: if you can't win, stop the loss in time, and then come back. If you can't win once, fight twice; if twice doesn't work, fight ten times..."

"All generals are excused from the salute. Song, from now on, just use the military salute when seeing me."

The breastplate's defensive power is roughly equal to three-quarters of a white-mouth iron breastplate, but the cloth-covered armor is cheap, costing only about one-fifth. The firing mechanism sounded continuously, and the smell of smoke spread. The bullets were pushed further and further, until at 30 paces, the steel armor-piercing bullets were stuck on the breastplate and did not penetrate. The Governor continued to say, "Mother, in order to find silver for the expedition, the palace increased the expenditure by 10,000 taels last year, but it was also cut. Even the Emperor's family has no surplus grain."

"I hope you can still speak plainly and criticize the mistakes of the ruler."

The Governor saw a pile of parts: tube, stock, curved gun stock, dragon head, mechanism, fire door, mechanism track, rear mouth, front door, sight, and front sight. The Governor smiled and said, "I was just happy and forgot about the faces of the censors in the court. Since the Ministry is fierce in the South Seas, let's call it Zhu."