Emperor Zhengde of Ming Dynasty

Chapter 66 Development Decisions
You know, the reloading speed of the firecracker is much faster than before.The previous firecrackers were only suitable for short-distance shooting and were not powerful enough.

For this reason, the Shenji Battalion also specially trained the army formation. Once the bullets in the front were fired and could not be replenished in time, the spears in the back would be replenished immediately, but this was not conducive to long-distance combat.

For long-distance combat, you can only use long spears or bows and arrows.

However, since the Tumu Fortress Change, the development of firearms in the Ming Dynasty has almost stagnated.

Over the years, Ming used the previous combat weapons most of the time, which is why Zhu Houzhao asked them to increase innovation.

"Li Qing's house!"

"Chen is here!"

"I am now ordering you to build five hundred of these new firearms and one hundred cannons within [-] days. At that time, I will command the civil and military officials to the western suburbs for inspection. Only when you can see the past in the eyes of the minister can you prove that this period of time has not been wasted!"

"It will also make the officials feel that I am doing something meaningful!"

After hearing this, Li Suide showed a serious expression on his face, but he also cupped his hands helplessly and said: "I obey the order!"

After Li Suide left the Hall of Mental Cultivation, Zhu Houzhao stood with his hands behind his back, and muttered to himself, "I don't know what General Horror will think when he sees this kind of firearm?"

The next day, clean up the palace.

Zhu Houzhao opened the memorial sent by Qi Jingtong. In the memorial, Qi Jingtong played in detail the situation of the battle with the Frang robot.

Although Da Ming had won a complete victory against the Flying Robot this time, Qi Jingtong also discovered a fatal problem in the naval battle.

That is, as long as the opponent's warship shells hit their hull, their warship will be smashed.

To put it bluntly, although some wood was very strong in the past, it has long been rotten after years of wind and sun. Although he ordered the craftsmen to paint the outside, it can only be used as a facade. If used, I'm afraid.
Facing the attack of artillery fire, the defense of wooden ships is too fragile.

In the later stage of this naval battle, the Franji fleet desperately broke through. Seven warships were hit by the Franji battlefield, causing damage to the hull and requiring improvement and maintenance.

"Faced with such a result, I am willing to accept punishment!"

"I have checked the traumatized warships. Most of these warships have damaged hulls. The shells directly hit the wooden hulls. Even those strong wooden boards cannot parry the Franji artillery!"

"If there is another naval battle, we need artillery coverage with a longer range to prevent the opponent's artillery fire from hitting our warships. In that case, even the most advanced wood cannot withstand it!"

Zhu Houzhao put down Qi Jingtong's memorial. Judging from the results of this naval battle, the construction of iron-clad warships must also be put on the agenda.

The R&D speed of the artisans of the Ministry of Industry is a bit slow, and it is time for them to speed up.

The wooden warships of the past would definitely not be able to withstand the artillery fire, let alone wooden warships, even iron-clad warships might be sunk.

Thinking of this, Zhu Houzhao said to the eunuch, "Hurry up and summon the Minister of the Ministry of Industry to the palace!"

This naval battle ended with the complete victory of the Ming Navy, and the whole country of Franji was shocked. The subordinate countries of the Ming Empire, seeing how powerful Ming was, and destroying the Franji warships were like killing a few wild boars. They all stopped trade with them.

They are all very close to the Ming Empire. If the Ming Empire knows that they have trade relations with the Francine Country, if they accommodate the Daming Empire, the consequences will be bad.

In the Qianqing Palace, Zhu Houzhao was waiting for the arrival of Li Suide, Minister of the Ministry of Industry. At the same time, he was also considering the future development of the Ming Empire.

At present, the ocean powers have risen one after another, and the Franji country is just one of the many powers. His Majesty, the technology of the Ming Empire, has accelerated its development. Otherwise, it will be easily surpassed by those ocean powers.

Just when Zhu Houzhao was deep in thought, the voice of the eunuch came from outside: "His Majesty, Mr. Shangshu of the Ministry of Industry is waiting for orders outside."

"Announce him in!"

After Li Suide, Shangshu of the Ministry of Industry, came in and finished his salute, Zhu Houzhao asked someone to bring a chair and let him sit down and answer.

"Navy Governor Qi Jingtong sent good news. In the waters of Guangdong, our Ming Navy has won a complete victory. We wiped out seven Franji warships, captured six ships, and captured nearly 2000 people in combat uniforms. They were all detained in the customs prison."

After listening to Zhu Houzhao's words, Minister of the Ministry of Industry arched his hands and said: "Congratulations, Your Majesty, the construction of the Ming Dynasty's navy has achieved initial results. This small test of sharp knives has already caught the barbarians without a fight."

Zhu Houzhao handed Qi Jingtong's memorial to Li Suide and said, "Look at Qi Jingtong's memorial from the Admiralty of the Navy!"

"According to the order!"

Li Suide took the memorial with both hands respectfully, and opened it carefully.

He read all the memorials from top to bottom, frowning.

"Your Majesty, is it possible that the artillery of the people of Francine is much sharper than my Daming's?"

"What? It's beyond your expectation?"

"Your Majesty, Qi Jingtong's memorial seems to be dissatisfaction with the outcome of the naval battle. He probably hopes that the Ming Navy will have advanced warships and artillery."

After Li Suide finished speaking, Zhu Hou looked at him and said with a smile: "Yes, it depends on the hope that I can have advanced naval warships and artillery. I have an idea, listen to it."

"Your Majesty, please speak."

"Will it work if the ship is built of steel? Will the power of the hull be hindered?"

"Steel Battleship?"

Li Suide, Shangshu of the Ministry of Industry, almost exclaimed. He never expected that the emperor, who was only fifteen or sixteen years old, could come up with such a fantasy idea.

"Your Majesty, how can steel go into the water? If so, wouldn't it just sink to the bottom of the sea?"

"Will you be silent?"

Zhu Houzhao stood up, poured out the bird's nest porridge, leaving a silver bowl, and then put the silver bowl into the basin next to it.

There was water in the basin, and it actually floated the silver bowl.

Li Suide, Minister of the Ministry of Industry, was stunned on the spot.

"This silver bowl can float on the water, so can't a steel warship float?"

He felt extremely shocked, all the years of experience were instantly rubbed against the ground by this young man.

After a long time, the eyes of Li Suide, Shangshu of the Ministry of Industry, suddenly lit up, and he cupped his hands and said, "I understand!"

"Go down! I will give you three months, and I want to see a steel warship that can be launched!"

Li Suide, Shangshu of the Ministry of Industry, had already understood the principle of the ups and downs of the silver bowl, and immediately said confidently, "I will live up to your majesty's high expectations!"

"Well, what's the progress of the artillery research and development?"

"Report to Your Majesty, there is not much progress yet"

"You can use your brain to think about it. After the end, I will let you find a few prisoners of war in Francine. Some of them will make this. You can completely pardon their capital crimes and include them among your craftsmen."

"In addition, among the Francine cannons you seized from the customs, you can follow their way of thinking and improve them, and strive to make them better than theirs!"

"In terms of the development of artillery shells, you must not slack in the slightest, otherwise we will fall behind if other countries surpass."

"In short, your recent research and development is still very good. You can take this map as a reference."

Zhu Houzhao handed over the brief construction diagram of the shells of the later generations to the Minister of Industry, and at the same time, he also handed over the principle of firearm excitation to the Minister of Industry.

Li Suide, Shangshu of the Ministry of Industry, is like a treasure.

(End of this chapter)