Zhu Cilang's words, including Yang Wencong, did not believe them, but they did not dare to refute them, but they had perfunctory smiles on their faces, and Zhu Cilang knew this very well.

This is no wonder Yang Wencong and others.

The Ming army had actually been equipped with firearms, one of which was the Shenji Camp. The Shenji Camp was equipped with firearms, including match guns, tiger squat cannons, general cannons, red barbarian cannons, francs, rockets and other firearms. It is said that the Shenji Camp had strong combat power, but in fact, Zhu Cilang knew very well that the Shenji Camp was extremely powerful in the late Ming Dynasty, and the Shenji Camp could not be spared. And the two outstanding emperors, Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di, were the two outstanding emperors. The rest were not very good.

The biggest problem of Shenji Camp is that on the one hand, it is to burn money. The firearms equipped by Shenji Camp consume huge amounts of money and need continuous improvement, which the court cannot bear. On the other hand, it is that the progress of firearms is too slow. For example, Zhu Yuanzhang had a coercion when he fought, but until the Chongzhen period, the coercion was still not improved. Its disadvantages are very obvious. The firing speed is slow, and it has no effect on rainy days like a fire stick. When encountering rapid attacks from cavalry, the coercion is a decoration.

What's even more terrible is that after the Wanli period, the Firearms Bureau in Beijing and the Firearms Bureau in Nanjing did not get the money to make firearms. Even if the money allocated by the court was deducted layer by layer, it was very few of them on the firearms. This made the craftsmen in the Firearms Bureau unable to support their families. Gradually, they gave up and tried every means to find other livelihoods.

Zhu Cilang, who traveled through time, had long thought about the issue of firearms. There were many types of firearms in the Ming Dynasty, and each one was amazing, but there were too few that could really play a role in combat. For example, the reloading speed was too slow, and the bullets that occurred were too low, which basically did not pose a threat to the cavalry. When facing the Later Jin Tartars, the soldiers only had the chance to fire once or twice, and there was no chance later, because the Later Jin Tartars had already rushed up.

It is certain that it takes a lot of money to develop firearms, so Zhu Cilang, who traveled through time, was hesitant at one time. If he used this money to buy war horses and equipped with large-scale cavalry, it might have an immediate effect.

What changed Zhu Cilang's idea was a memorial from the Ministry of War, which detailed the combat effectiveness of the Manchu Eight Banners. This memorial was found during the Tianqi period and was written by Sun Chengzong, the minister of the cabinet. At that time, Sun Chengzong wanted to build the Guanning Jin defense line, so he specifically mentioned the combat effectiveness of the Later Jin Eight Banners cavalry. In the memorial, he said that the cavalry of the Manchu Eight Banners basically achieved the unity of man and horses. Manchus grew up on horseback since childhood, and he was skillful in riding horses, and combat training was also carried out on horseback. The most powerful Guanning Iron Cavalry of the Ming army was not the opponent of the Manchu Eight Banners. The biggest weakness of the Manchu Eight Banners cavalry was that they lacked the ability to attack cities, so it was necessary to build cities and resist the Manchu Eight Banners.

Sun Chengzong's memorial was originally written to build the Guanning Jin defense line. Zhu Cilang fully agreed with the description of the Manchu Eight Banners Cavalry. The Later Jin Dynasty was in the north, with a severe cold climate, barren land, and farming and farming could not support people. Therefore, they rarely built cities and lived a nomadic life, making a living by grazing and hunting. Horses were their indispensable means of transportation. They rode horses to graz and hunt, and their military literacy began to be formed since childhood.

Objectively speaking, the most elite cavalry of the Manchu Eight Banners basically have no rivals.

Under such circumstances, no matter how Zhu Cixuan strengthened the cavalry, the Ming cavalry who became a monk halfway through could not defeat the cavalry of the Eight Banners. If he relied solely on the advantages of military strength, at most, both sides would be equal and no one could destroy anyone. However, this kind of equality brought huge and unbearable financial consumption to the Ming court.

Who doesn’t know that the consumption of cavalry is huge, let alone maintaining a large number of cavalry teams.

If you want to truly defeat the Eight Banners Army, what Zhu Cilang can rely on is the firearm.

The development of firearms is definitely not good. Not only does it cost money, but it has no effect. After careful thinking, Zhu Cilang has decided that the Nanjing Firearms Bureau mainly manufactures and develops artillery, impact flintlock rifles and rockets.

Needless to say, artillery is decisive in the history of human wars. Artillery is called the "God of War" and can decide the victory or defeat of the war by its own strength. The current Ming army artillery is mainly composed of Fran aircraft, tiger squat cannons, general cannons, etc. The red cannons were introduced from Europe and are expensive. It takes 8,000 taels of silver to buy a red cannon, so it is impossible for the Ming army to be equipped universally. If the power of these cannons is used to the extreme, it can indeed affect the end of the war. However, it is unlikely that the real combat will be possible. The biggest disadvantage of artillery is that it is bulky and difficult to transport. The powerful cannons are almost difficult to move during combat. After all, the Eight Banners are mainly composed of cavalry, and the movement speed is fast, so it is impossible to wait for you to bomb on the spot.

Therefore, artillery must be improved, large-scale improvements, and the artillery transportation system also needs to be comprehensively improved. If artillery can play a decisive role in field battles, it will really become the "God of War".

The second is the impact flintlock rifle. The flintlock rifle invented by Bi Maokang is a huge improvement over the flintlock rifle. However, flint fire is a bit primitive, and it is completely necessary to pull the trigger to hit and get angry. Pulling the trigger requires a lot of effort. It is good for a strong man to pull the trigger three or five times within two minutes. This impact flintlock rifle is not very effective when used on the battlefield. Therefore, it is necessary to combine the flintlock rifle developed by the Frenchman Mahan to use the gears on the flintlock rifle to drive the impact with the gears to reduce the force of pulling the trigger, and ensure that the trigger can be pulled more than six times per minute.

As for the bomb filling technology, the current technological level cannot reach the height of a hundred years later. We can only rely on intensive training to speed up the sergeant's bomb filling speed.

If the impact flintlock can be fundamentally improved, it can be used to deal with the charge cavalry.

Finally, there is the Rocket. This rocket is not a rocket hundreds of years later, but a firearm similar to a grenade. This is the focus of Zhu Cixuan's attention and the focus of the Firearms Bureau. The rockets of the Ming Dynasty were ahead of the world and had good power. However, shells need to be launched with the help of cartridges, which has great limitations. If a firearm that explodes after being thrown will play a decisive role on the battlefield.

Zhu Cixuan issued an order specifically to the Ministry of War, requiring the Nanjing Firearms Bureau to immediately start improving artillery and rockets, and at the same time try to develop an impact flintlock rifle.

The development of firearms is actually the most important matter, but such things cannot be rushed. Zhu Cixuan gave the Firearms Bureau three months to half a year, and the development process needs to be absolutely confidential.

With the powerful firearm, Zhu Cilang had enough confidence to completely defeat and wipe out the Later Jin Tartars.

"I think the flintlock rifle mentioned above is very good. By the way, there are also impact flintlock rifles in Europe, but they have stagnated in recent years. I heard that people from Europe have this impact flintlock rifle and also brought drawings. The Ministry of War must pay attention to this matter and combine the flintlock rifle invented by Bi Maokang with the impact flintlock rifle in Europe and develop it. I heard that Bi Maokang is idle at home and is not in good health. The cabinet will send a special person to visit."

"The development of artillery must be strengthened. I have ordered the Ministry of Revenue to allocate one million taels of silver to the Firearms Bureau to specialize in the development of artillery that is powerful and easy to transport. Can Europeans be able to build red cannons, can't we? This silver must be used for the development of artillery. If anyone dares to touch this silver, I will kill his whole family..."

"The last one is the Rockets. I hope the Firearms Bureau will develop a rocket that can be thrown at will."

"From now on, the Ministry of War must send a special person to the Firearms Bureau. I will give the Firearms Bureau half a year. Within half a year, it is necessary to develop practical firearms that can deal with cavalry firearms on the battlefield."

Speaking of this, Zhu Cilang looked at Shi Kefa. He did not expect that with his few short words, everyone would change their thoughts and views. Many things must be spoken by facts. Moreover, the many disadvantages of the Firearm Bureau need to be supervised by himself after returning to Nanjing, so that they can be fundamentally improved.

Money is still a matter that Zhu Cilang needs to consider. He will not thoroughly reform the tax system of the court. The court will still lack silver for a period of time in the future. Changing the tax system means that Zhu Cilang will form an opposition to the entire gentry and wealthy class. However, Zhu Cilang doesn't care. As long as the Ming Dynasty can become stronger, some things must be done.

After looking at everyone again, Zhu Cilang stood up.

"Wencong, Dezhou, Jinan and Liaocheng have done a good job in the deployment of defense. I just told Master Shi that there are some minor flaws in the control of Liaocheng Wharf. The entire Shandong's defense must be tight inside and loose outside. Fortunately, Liaocheng is still a little distance away from Dezhou. Dorgon of the Jin Dynasty has always despised the Ming army, and the problem is not too big at present. However, the deployment of defense in Jinan and Dezhou and other places must be cautious and secret, and the Later Jin Tatars must not know that the imperial court has sent a large number of troops."

"I have a suggestion. For those merchants who travel through the south and the north, you must attach great importance to it. Fan Wencheng, Hong Chengchou and others will mostly learn about the many situations in Shandong and the south through these merchants. Since these merchants can travel through the north and south during extraordinary times, their abilities are definitely extraordinary, so you must identify them. For those merchants who like to talk too much or who hope to obtain business opportunities by selling intelligence, they must be closely monitored. When necessary, they can pass on some specious intelligence to the north through them, so that the Later Jin Tartars can be at a loss..."
Chapter completed!