[Ming] Wuzong's Chronicle of Rebirth

"You can see the costumes of the visitors clearly, but are the soldiers and horses in the camp?" The camp has not been very peaceful these two days, and Ma Cong has already transferred a small team from the Shenji Battalion to garrison. idea.

"Exactly."

Zhu Houzhao and Du Ruo looked at each other in blank dismay, thinking that these people were a little too bold, and dared to directly make a messy idea.Zhu Houzhao immediately ordered Liu Wei, who was in his entourage, to find Ma Wensheng, who was inspecting the armory, to investigate the matter thoroughly, and he must find this team.Liu Wei rode away immediately after hearing the order.

Unexpectedly, Ma Cong had a way to deal with it long ago, and successfully kept the miscellaneous situation safe. Zhu Houzhao immediately praised him and said: "You did a good job today. I will definitely report to the emperor and ask for credit for you."

Unexpectedly, there was such an opportunity, Ma Cong immediately thanked him humbly: "The miscellaneous affairs of the bureau are all the responsibility of this humble official, and I dare not claim credit for it."

Zhu Houzhao praised him a few more words.Time was limited, so Zhu Houzhao went straight into the door and walked to the backyard.

The Miscellaneous Manufacturing Bureau is only responsible for the research of new guns, so the blast furnaces for ironmaking are all small, and a small yard can accommodate them.Lan Licheng was waiting there to supervise the iron smelting craftsmen who used the power of livestock to smelt the iron.Seeing Ma Cong approaching, he asked, "I heard gunshots outside earlier, it was an emergency here, and I didn't go out to check, but what's the matter?"

After telling Lan Licheng what happened just now, Ma Cong realized that Lan Licheng hadn't noticed Zhu Houzhao behind him at all, and let Zhu Houzhao come to the front.Only then did Lan Licheng discover Zhu Houzhao, and he was about to plead guilty, but Zhu Houzhao excused him.

"The last time I came to see it, it only took two or three hours to produce a furnace of molten iron. Why did it take so long this time?"

"This time, the furnace was changed to the material of the crucible that Lord Guo said. It is a new furnace, and it will take a little longer to produce results." After doing this kind of thing a lot, Lan Licheng has become half an expert in steelmaking. "It's still a new furnace. No one can use it before. This time it's for ironmaking, and it can't produce steel."

It turned out to be like this, Zhu Houzhao continued to check curiously. "How sure are you of the iron you have practiced this time?"

"I'm telling the truth, I'm only a little sure." Lan Licheng sighed.

Zhu Houzhao and Du Ruo were both shocked at how they were only one point sure. "Didn't you find out the reason for the failure? Why is Master Lan so unsure?"

"Even if the problem is found, the newly arrived ores are still lacking. Your Highness does not allow charcoal to be used for ironmaking, so I am really not sure." The ironmaking coal contains too much phosphorus and sulfur. In fact, there is the best solution The method is to smelt iron directly with charcoal.But Zhu Houzhao felt that this was not a long-term solution, so he rejected Lan Licheng's proposal.

Zhu Houzhao just found it funny that he used this to complain. "Using charcoal to make iron is absolutely unacceptable. I have already told Lord Lan about the disadvantages. I hope Lord Lan will forgive me."

"It's just cutting down more trees. It's not as serious as His Highness said." Lan Licheng couldn't understand Zhu Houzhao's things like planting trees to protect the soil and environmental protection.He only knew that there was a shortcut to making iron with charcoal, so he tried to persuade Zhu Houzhao many times to change his mind.

"The Emperor and His Highness have already made up their minds about this matter, so there is no need for Lord Lan to speak." Du Ruoke was not as good-natured as Zhu Houzhao, and straightforwardly blocked Lan Licheng's words.

Zhu Houzhao was worried about how to get back to Lan Licheng, so Du Ruo helped him. Sure enough, the two had a good understanding, but unfortunately he had no idea that Du Ruo was jealous and was waiting to deal with him. "An Guogong's words are exactly what I want to say. My Ming Dynasty has millions of troops. I will be equipped with guns in the future. Don't they all rely on charcoal? So I still say that, my lord, don't say it again .”

Seeing that there was no chance for things to turn around, Lan Licheng had no choice but to give up.Zhu Houzhao asked many things in detail, but in fact he didn't see much to see. Seeing that it was almost done, he rode his horse back to his original temporary residence.

Unexpectedly, Ma Wensheng was already waiting there when he knew what happened at the Miscellaneous Bureau.Those account books have not been finished yet, and the officials are still crackling with their abacus.

"Your Majesty is not thinking well, please punish me, Your Highness." Ma Wensheng didn't know that they were so bold in order to stop his party, or that some people wanted to take advantage of the chaos.But in the end it was my own negligence, so I had no choice but to take it on myself.

Du Ruo also knew that his fault was not his, and he didn't reason.Just ask how he is doing.

"Today, the people in each battalion gathered together in one place, and each of them took care of the registers. It should not be done by the people in the battalion. I think the gates of the camps have been very strict in the past two days, and they have not been able to leave the camp. , must still be hiding somewhere. The official has sent people around to check the reasons for the non-compliance, and it is necessary to find these people."

Zhu Houzhao heard what he said was very true, so he didn't get entangled in this matter, and asked another question: "Master Ma looked at the armory, is there anything wrong?" Jiajia, once the capital is in trouble, the military arsenal of the Beijing camp is the basis for the entire defense of Beijing. The nearly [-] soldiers and horses of the Beijing camp must be supplied with food and drink from it, and there must be no mistakes.

In the past two years, due to the opening of the sea ban, merchants were allowed to ship their own ships to trade overseas, and textile factories and so on were rising day by day, absorbing many landless people.Moreover, these factories also recruit female workers. Even if the wages are extremely low, the couple will be able to support the family, which is much better than before when they were displaced.This temporarily solves the refugee problem, and there will be no worries for at least five years.

As for the squeeze of workers and the like, there is no clue for the time being, and consideration can be postponed.Now there are only two problems that need to be solved immediately. One is that the over-rich Tatars in the Central Plains are not dead, and the other is that textile factories and porcelain factories are gradually rising. The resulting food shortage and forest resource depletion are also a big problem. question.

People's livelihood matters can still last for a few years, and Zhu Houzhao can take care of them slowly.But the Tatars can't wait any longer.The year before last, Li Gao, Liaodong's chief military officer, conspired with Zhang Yu, the governor, and Ren Liang, the guarding eunuch, thinking that the three guards of Duoyan were weak and could be bullied, and wanted to kill him to cover up their crimes and angered the three guards of Duoyan.

The Taoist officials impeached Li Gao and Zhang Yu for the crime of deception and murder, but Zhu Youtang just wanted them to be dismissed from office.Zhu Houzhao persuaded him many times before he was sentenced to exile in the southwest, where he would not be pardoned.Even so, in the end Duoyan's tribes hated this matter to the bone, so they got involved in the Tatar branch's revenge and harassed the border many times.

In April of last year, more than 5 people from Huoshai and Duoyan Sanwei divided their forces from Daqingshan into Weiyuanwei.Zhu Youtang urgently ordered Ping Jiangbo and Chen Rui to be the general of Jinglu, as the general officer, and the eunuch Jin as the assistant supervisor of the army, to lead the troops to resist the fire screen.In May, [-] people were screened by fire and harassed Datong Zuowei again, and the guerrilla general Zhang Jun fought hard.But Chen Rui was cowardly and prevented the army from holding out, seeing that the military situation was in a hurry.It was Hami Xu Jin who attacked Huoshai base camp in the starry night to solve the danger of Datong.

After this incident, Zhu Houzhao felt more and more that the armaments were slack and the army was seriously ill. He had been investigating for a whole year, and it only happened recently, and he began to rectify it from the Beijing camp.

"Don't dare to lie to Your Highness, there are ten to five items in the armory, but there are too many people involved, Your Highness, please consider it." After Ma Wensheng replaced Liu Jian in the cabinet, he and Zhu Houzhao got along fairly well. Zhu Houzhao's relationship in the past few years His mind was also on improving the law and order around Beijing. This matter was originally under Ma Wensheng's management. The two had worked together for several years, and Ma Wensheng also got to know Zhu Houzhao thoroughly, knowing that this man could not tolerate any scum in his eyes.

The matter of the Beijing camp is too involved, and many nobles are involved. Ma Wensheng is afraid that Zhu Houzhao will shake everything out in a hurry, and it will be difficult to deal with the opposition of civil and military officials.After all, the original intention of this incident was to rectify the Beijing camp rather than punish the crime.

This reflects the difference in thinking between Zhu Houzhao and Ma Wensheng. One is to act resolutely in accordance with the rules, and the other is that as long as the goal is achieved, the rules are nothing but clouds.

After hearing Ma Wensheng's words, Zhu Houzhao suddenly felt dull.

Over there, Zhu Houzhao was in a bad mood, but here in Crimea, he was happy after the rain.

It has been two days since the Crimea and the caravan have nestled in this mountain on the other side of the river, and the Tatar army on the other side of the river has not yet dismantled their camp.

"My lord, it looks like the little prince's army will pass by tomorrow, and we can set off tomorrow night." Jin Feng is a Han, and the border has not been peaceful for two years. It is said that Hami can still survive. , Dedicated to Hami decisively.To earn a living under the Crimean.

"I/fuck/him/mother/damn, this Tatar really doesn't give anyone a chance to survive. If the head of the family didn't react, we would all die here." The Hami people have been killed and injured after many wars. Now Hami has become the number one trading center in Northwest China, but in fact, most of the residents are Han Chinese.The caravan of the Crimean family was all Han Chinese or Mongols who were unwilling to join the Tatars and go to Hami, except for the second head of the caravan and the Fa Xiao who was in the town of Hami.This man is a Mongolian who was rejected because his mother was Han.

After listening to the words of his subordinates, Kerim showed a mysterious smile on his unshaven face.It wasn't because he reacted quickly, but because he met a caravan transporting herbs from An Guogong's mansion to Hami on the way, he knew that the Tatars had invaded the border, and he knew that he would run into them and hide early.It's just that I don't know whether the Tatars will win this battle or the Ming Dynasty will win.

"I don't know if Master Liu's caravan has arrived in Hami. The summer epidemic is coming. This year's cattle and horses will rely on these medicinal materials." Du Ruo's caravan does not do ordinary trade business, and only transports some urgently needed goods for Hami. Things, just collect some information along the road to explore the mines everywhere.

"Yo, it should have arrived. It has been seven or eight days, and they are transporting light things. It stands to reason that it should have arrived yesterday."

"God bless, I'm afraid this business won't be done in three or four months. This year, I'll just watch these livestock live." I don't know who mentioned these things again, everyone fell silent for a while, and they all became a little sentimental, and the family was tired. The older one, started to plan how to live these few months.

Kerim didn't speak, and narrowed his eyes looking at the densely packed Tatar camps across the mountain.

In April of the 14th year of Hongzhi, the little prince of Tatar, the troops of the various tribes of Huozhai harassed the border, entered from the Red Salt Pond and Huama Pond, thousands of miles across, Yansui and Ningxia both called the police.An urgent report was sent to Beijing.