Chapter 966
Reminder
Pan Yu felt incompetent and decided to study martial arts, military strategy, and training and deployment.
The Ming Dynasty and the Oirat Mongols will inevitably have a war in the future in order to wash away the shame, regain its dominance over all sides, and establish its status as the suzerain state.
Military officers could only be promoted through military merit.
Pan Yu was like that, but Pan Yue was even more diligent, immersing himself in various books and case files every day.
The case files are all old cases and can be viewed as historical materials.
Unfortunately, he is not currently in the Hanlin Academy and cannot access the historical records of the current dynasty; he can only glean information about the past through case files.
The case files contain a lot of information, but they are different from established historical materials. You need to discover and summarize them yourself.
It reveals the struggle for interests, the shifts in political parties and imperial will, and the merits and demerits of national policies.
Unfortunately, his father could not obtain the more confidential case files. He was actually more interested in the major case files from the Hongwu period, as he had a premonition that many lesions were hidden in them.
Although he had never seen the case files, he knew from his father's description that the Ming Dynasty had many problems, the largest of which had been sown at the beginning of the founding of the country.
My younger sister wants to make reforms. Some lesions can be cured with medicine, while others must be surgically removed to prevent them from regrowing.
Medication can no longer cure it.
All Pan Yue could do was identify these lesions and write down countermeasures for each one. He wasn't sure if the countermeasures he came up with were correct, but he believed that as long as he could identify them, he could help her.
Pan Yu's thinking was correct; more than one person in the court had noticed the emperor's intention to reform.
Pan Yue was right; not many people realized this.
Without exception, those who noticed remained silent in unison.
On the third day of the eighth lunar month, the emperor celebrated his birthday, and the whole country rejoiced.
The princes of various regions and the envoys of foreign states presented gifts to the emperor to celebrate his birthday.
The emperor was overjoyed and immediately took them to see the final examination of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Of course, they only watched the last one.
At the end of the final match, Hu Cheng, the Minister of Works, presented the newly made muskets.
Zhu Qiyu then turned and invited the envoys from various foreign states to watch the trial use of the new firearms, specifically mentioning the names of the Jurchen and Burmese envoys.
Hu Cheng waved his hand, and ten imperial guards immediately stepped forward, each wielding a long spear. The new muskets were different from the current ones; they were about the length of an arm, with a handguard covering the barrel. They were not loaded with gunpowder or lit with a fuse; they could be fired with a slight movement and a pull of the trigger. Moreover, after each shot hit the bullseye, the ten guards did not stop reloading; instead, they continued aiming and firing…
When the Imperial Guards fired their second shot, all the officials widened their eyes in surprise, and the foreign envoy stood up, staring intently at them.
The Jurchen envoy, Fancha, was immediately struck by a sudden realization, his arrogance vanishing as he realized that the Ming Dynasty actually possessed such a remarkable object.
The Burmese envoy's eyes flickered slightly, and although he was still smiling, the smile seemed much more forced.
The Siji family, who escaped from Luchuan, are now hiding in Myanmar.
After the Imperial Guards fired five shots in quick succession, they stopped firing and the entire audience fell silent for a moment before erupting into thunderous applause.
Zhu Qiyu was also witnessing the test of the new firearm for the first time, and he was equally shocked.
Without the need to fill in gunpowder, not only is a gunpowder soldier saved, but the firing rate is also faster. If they had had this last year, how could my elder brother have been chased all over the world by the Oirat cavalry?
They could easily form a musket formation and use muskets to block the cavalry's attack...
Zhu Qiyu clenched his fists, his face remaining expressionless, still smiling broadly, and said loudly, "Our Great Ming has obtained this powerful weapon; the Ministry of Works has made a contribution and shall be rewarded!"
Hu Cheng immediately accepted the reward on behalf of the Ministry of Works. The craftsmen who were fortunate enough to be selected to participate in the birthday celebration were all very excited and knelt down to receive the reward.
Hu Cheng said, “Your Majesty, although this new musket uses the same gunpowder, the manufacturing process of the barrel, the overall structure, and the gunpowder ratio are all different. In order to distinguish it from the musket, I request Your Majesty to give it a name.”
Zhu Qiyu stared intently at the muskets in the hands of the Imperial Guards.
Hu Cheng, quick-witted, immediately took a musket from the Imperial Guard and presented it to them.
Zhu Qiyu stroked the barrel; the handguard was slightly warm, much better than the barrels of the previous muskets.
Both the length and the format vary greatly.
Last night, the Imperial Advisor showed him the blueprints. He knew that this was not the complete version of the musket. A bayonet could be attached to the section above the barrel, allowing the user to fight with a knife after the gunpowder ran out.
He had already made up his mind last night, but after seeing it today, he immediately changed the name he had chosen.
He said, "This musket is shaped like a long spear, and the gunpowder it fires makes a sound like thunder. How about we call it the Thunderclap Spear?"
Apart from Hu Cheng and the artisans from the Ministry of Works, everyone else felt that the name the emperor had chosen was completely inappropriate.
The thunderclap is fine; a musket is a musket, what does it have to do with a spear?
It's only an arm's length long, how can it resemble a spear?
But this was a name given by the emperor, and today is the emperor's birthday, so everyone praised the name as well-chosen.
Pan Jun stood at a distance, and could vaguely hear the praise and songs of the crowd, while his eyes could clearly see the pride and joy on the emperor's face.
The name was thus decided.
Zhang Zijin appeared behind Pan Yun at some point and stared at her for a long time: "See, it's hard for an emperor not to be arrogant, isn't it?"
Pan Yun smiled and said, "Today is his birthday, and the ministers don't want to spoil the mood. Besides, it's a small matter like naming a child, and there's no need for everyone to go against the emperor."
Zhang Zijin snorted coldly: "You haven't been in the palace long enough. Small matters are the easiest to be used for repeated fighting. In this palace, big matters can be decided quickly."
“You’ve been in this palace for a long time, I trust you,” Pan Yun said after thinking for a moment. “A compliance test?”
Zhang Zijin raised an eyebrow: "Your name is quite good, indeed. When a new emperor ascends the throne, he wants to control the court officials, and the court officials also want to control the new emperor. Therefore, at the beginning of the new emperor's reign, some trivial matters are most likely to be picked out and fought over."
Pan Yun raised an eyebrow: "In today's world... it seems there aren't any?"
“He was lucky. The late emperor died suddenly and so tragically, almost destroying the dynasty. Nearly a quarter of the civil and military officials were lost. If he had followed Empress Dowager Sun’s wishes to settle old scores, half of the remaining officials would have died,” Zhang Zijin glanced at Pan Yun. “Moreover, you managed to calm the army’s morale at the time. Under the crisis of the impending doom of the country, they forgot about their own interests. He was very lucky, and you were very lucky too.”
Pan Jun smiled slightly: "So, the people of our Great Ming Dynasty are fundamentally good and have a sense of the big picture."
Zhang Zijin looked at her with a half-smile, sized her up and down and said, "I hope you can always think this way. I'm here to remind you to commit fewer killings. Your merits are strong enough to bear the debts owed by Sanqing Mountain, but if you commit more killings, you and Pan Gongping will share the merits and sins, and you will definitely be crushed to death."
Pan Jun was slightly taken aback.
Zhang Zijin turned and left, leaving behind the words: "You are the most promising talent in our Taoist sect. Don't let worldly concerns bind you." (End of Chapter)