After Ma Wensheng resigned, it was Jiao Fang who took over as the first assistant.

Xu Jin, the secretary of the military department, became the second assistant, and Wang Hua, the secretary of the household department, was added to the cabinet, and Zhang Cai, the right attendant of the ministry, was promoted to the secretary of the ministry, and the internal affairs of the Ming Dynasty entered the Jiao Fang era.

Jiao Fang's methods are undoubtedly much tougher than Ma Wensheng's, and as soon as he was promoted to the first assistant, he immediately asked the central ministries and temple supervisors and local governors to make year-end summaries and even political envoys, inspectors and envoys.

On the eve of the arrival of the third year of Zhengde, he directly dismissed more than 20 lazy officials and exiled more than 10 corrupt officials!

Not only that, Jiao Fang also asked officials at all levels to draw up plans for next year, and they must be submitted to the cabinet before March of the third year of Zhengde!

For example, the Ministry of Household was asked how much revenue it would increase in the state treasury next year and how much grain it could have left in surplus.

Although the new examination law has been implemented for a long time, Ma Wensheng's promotion will not be too strict, at most he will be dismissed, and Jiao Fang will not only dismiss the official but also punish the crime, which makes the entire Ming officialdom more dangerous, but also makes the administrative efficiency of the Ming Dynasty much faster.

Zhu Houzhao was quite satisfied with this, and what he wanted was a civil official who dared to do things as the first assistant.

Because Xia Yan discovered Zeng Jian's conspiracy in time, after the internship period ended, he was instructed by Zhu Houzhao to be promoted to the head of the Ministry of Industry, responsible for the Ordnance Bureau, and directly responsible to Zhu Houzhao.

Zhang Xuan, another first-class graduate of Beijing Normal University, followed Ma Wensheng to the border town in order to help Ma Wensheng, Yang Yiqing and others rectify the border preparations.

After Xia Yan took over the Ordnance Bureau, he began to recruit craftsmen in accordance with Zhu Houzhao's instructions, implemented the reform of the employment system, and divided the Ordnance Bureau into a firearms factory, a gunpowder factory, a steel-making factory, an iron foundry, a copper foundry, an ordnance factory, and a research and development institute.

As the name suggests, firearms are the place where firearms and guns are made, and gunpowder is where gunpowder is made.

By analogy, there are exclusive institutions for the manufacture of firearms, from iron and copper leaves to casting and firearms, while the weapons factory is responsible for the manufacture of cold weapons, especially bows and crossbows.

The R&D institute is a place for the development and improvement of various types of weapons and equipment.

As for the employment of craftsmen, it is still the craftsmen who served the imperial court in the past, although these craftsmen have been changed to civil registration, but their lives have not changed much in a short period of time, there is no land to plant, no business to buy, sell, and even Xu Jing, the head of the Royal Bank, is unwilling to give them loans.

Therefore, the only difference between these craftsmen and the past is that they no longer have to work for the public for free, and they can still only make a living by making some iron tools or mending pots and iron, and their lives are still poor.

When Xia Yan instructed people to post a notice that craftsmen were hired to enter the Ordnance Bureau to manufacture ordnance, and said that each craftsman would have a basic salary of one tael of silver a month and a certain share of money for making one more piece of ordnance, these craftsmen still flocked back to the Ordnance Bureau to inquire about the situation.

"Official! After being hired by the Ordnance Bureau, you can really get a basic salary of one or two silver a month, as well as rewards, more work and more rewards? Can I apply for termination of employment at any time? My family is also free to choose their careers, and my son can also study and participate in the imperial examination? ”

After listening to Xia Yan's explanation, a craftsman named Tong Lao Wu still asked again in disbelief.

"How could the imperial court deceive you! It is written in black and white, as long as you make more weapons and firearms, you can have a lot of income, you are now the subjects of His Majesty the Ming Emperor, not slaves, you and the Ordnance Bureau are called labor cooperation, naturally you can apply for termination of cooperation at any time, your family can naturally do whatever they want, and your sons and grandsons can naturally participate in the imperial examination! ”

Xia Yan answered patiently, not only when Tong Lao Wu came to ask, but also when other craftsmen came to ask, he answered seriously, and for a while, these craftsmen were more willing to be hired by the Ordnance Bureau after confirmation.

However, these craftsmen found that the current military ordnance bureau was different from the previous requisitioning in the Ministry of Works, regardless of their skills, and now they had to attend an interview to test their skill level in order to be hired by the ordnance bureau.

Tong Lao Wu was hired as the master of the firearms factory of the Ordnance Bureau because he could quickly create a good quality arquebus, and many other craftsmen with real skills were hired by the Ordnance Bureau one after another.

But some craftsmen who are used to messing around and have not mastered the technology have been eliminated, and at this moment these craftsmen have discovered that the technology is still different.

After re-employing a group of craftsmen, Xia Yan began to reorganize the Ordnance Bureau to manufacture and produce firearms and weapons, because these craftsmen now have remuneration and implement the system of more work and more pay, which makes the production of ordnance much faster than before, and the reward and punishment system of additional rewards if the failure rate reaches a certain level, and the reward and punishment system of additional rewards if the pass rate reaches 100%, and the quality of ordnance has also improved a lot, basically every musket can almost reach the qualification.

Tong Lao Wu was hired into the Military Ordnance Bureau to become a firearms factory master for three months, and now he can be described as very active, basically coming to the Ordnance Bureau early in the morning to work, and only going home when it is dark that he can't see his five fingers.

Despite this, he is still very energetic, especially when he sees the growing smiles on his daughter-in-law's face and hears the sound of his children reading.

Tong Lao and other craftsmen are now very grateful to His Majesty the Emperor Zhu Houzhao, because after Zhu Houzhao heard that they all wanted their children to study, he directly ordered Xia Yan to rebuild the old house of a criminal official next to the Ordnance Bureau into a primary school for the children of the Ordnance Bureau, and the Ordnance Bureau specially hired Mr. as a guide to be responsible for the enlightenment education of these workers' children.

Originally, the scholars were unwilling to be condescended to teach the children of these craftsmen, and although these craftsmen had the income from working in the Ordnance Bureau, it was still insufficient to ask Mr. to teach the children of the family to read, but now Zhu Houzhao issued an order by the Ordnance Bureau to solve these problems perfectly, first of all, the scholars teach the children of these craftsmen to read, and they are awarded the official position of discipline and do not appear to be degraded and noble, and secondly, these craftsmen do not have to bear the education expenses of the children at home.

Because of this, the craftsmen are more active in their work, and they also know that the Ming Dynasty now has a good emperor, and even began to consciously bow in the direction of the Forbidden City during the New Year's holidays, and now they feel that even if the Ordnance Bureau does not pay them, it is okay.

And on this day, Zhu Houzhao personally drove to the Ordnance Bureau, not only the officials were excited because of this, but these craftsmen were also sincerely excited, looking at Zhu Houzhao with a trace of reverence, and naturally they wanted to kowtow, and Zhu Houzhao was always with a warm smile, busy shouting these people to be flat.

"I came here today to see if my Ming Ordnance Bureau has any talents who can make great contributions to the imperial court!"

As he spoke, Zhu Houzhao ordered someone to take out the drawings of a flintlock pistol.

And Xia Yan also instructed at this time: "The masters of the firearms factory who make firearms are all here!" ”

So, Tong Lao Wu and the others came to Xia Yan and Zhu Houzhao, and also knelt down to Zhu Houzhao from the heart, and directly began to kowtow, as if they had seen a Bodhisattva in the temple.

Because this good emperor gave them a free life, let their children have the opportunity to study, and gave them the hope of yearning for a better life.

What's more, these craftsmen have already learned through the night classes and newspaper reading activities of the Ordnance Bureau, what kind of danger the good emperor in front of them faced in order to save them, and how he fought with the corrupt officials of the imperial court.

"Get up! Take a good look at this drawing, this drawing was drawn after I expanded the proportion, what is the proportion, compared to what the Xia chief has already told you, this firearm is called a flintlock pistol, and the difference between it and the firearm we make now is that his firing place is different, he doesn't use the arquebus......"

After Zhu Houzhao finished speaking, he asked: "Do any of you want to take over the task of developing a flintlock pistol, if you are willing, I will ask Director Xia to transfer you to the research and development institute, one or two per month, specifically responsible for the development of this kind of musket, and the first person who successfully develops it will receive a reward of one hundred taels of silver!" At the same time, he was hired as an academician of the Academia Sinica, and was treated as a four-grade official, but he could wear a red robe and a black veil! ”

Although the craftsmen listened carefully to Zhu Houzhao's explanation of what this flintlock pistol was, and also looked at the musket without arquebus on the drawing, they still did not understand how this musket should be made.

But they have to admit that the bait given by His Majesty the Emperor is very tempting, once they succeed, they can get a reward of one hundred taels of silver, one hundred taels of silver is enough to live in their own family for five or six years, and they can also have the treatment of an official master! is still four grades, and the county lords are only seven grades, which means that they are more noble than the county lords.

However, these craftsmen also have rods and scales in their hearts, and although it seems that the reward for making this fire hammer is very attractive, if they can't make it, it means that they will only be able to get one or two a month, which will undoubtedly reduce their income for a long time compared to their current income.

Because of this, many craftsmen were discouraged from trying to develop this new firecracker.

Tong Lao Wu boldly stood up at this time: "Your Majesty! The little ones are willing to give it a try! ”

At this time, several interested craftsmen also stood up and expressed their willingness.

Seeing this, Zhu Houzhao asked Xia Yan to record these people, and let them be brought into the palace by the eunuch the next day, and Zhu Houzhao personally instructed them.

……

In the end, Tong Lao Wu and several other craftsmen took over the task, and because these craftsmen knew that the first person to be made would receive a high reward and a high official status, they also riveted their efforts to develop flintlock pistols day and night.

Soon, in less than a month, Tong Lao Wu first manufactured the flintlock pistol, and successfully passed the test, and under the instruction of Zhu Houzhao, Xia Yan was responsible for recording the technical information of Tong Lao Wu's flintlock pistol, and at the same time, the first flintlock pistol was grouped into parts, and the standard was formulated, and it was ready to be manufactured according to the composition of the parts.

And Tong Lao Wu also became the first academician of the Daming Academia Sinica! Enjoy the treatment of four-grade officials.

Several other craftsmen involved in the research and development are taught the manufacturing method of each part by Tong Lao Wu, and each craftsman only masters the manufacturing method of one part, and then divides into several working groups.

At the same time, the Ordnance Bureau hired innocent civilians as apprentices, and the craftsmen of these working groups led a group of apprentices, and each apprentice was rewarded with silver, and each working group took these apprentices to produce a part, a working group dedicated to assembly, and a special working group for inspection.

After the number of apprentices in each working group reached a certain size, the skilled apprentices were selected to be promoted to masters, and the master led the new apprentices to form a new working group, so that the production scale of flintlock pistols in the Ordnance Bureau continued to expand, and the production volume of single-day production also increased.

Tong Laowu, an academician of the Academia Sinica, continues to develop new firearms in the R&D Institute, and like R&D workers in other factories, he will also lead several apprentices who are willing to sign up to study in the R&D Institute to participate in the R&D work.

In this way, the entire Ordnance Bureau has become a place where there are both large-scale ordnance production and specialized institutions for ordnance research and development.

Not only ordnance, steelmaking, cast iron, copper casting and other basic industries, Zhu Houzhao also asked Xia Yan to set up production and research and development institutions in this way.

Among them, it not only allows some craftsmen who pursue stability to carry out steelmaking and other production activities according to the existing technology of Daming, but also mobilizes some craftsmen who are willing to explore new technologies and enterprising to participate in new steelmaking technology and iron-smelting technology research and development activities.

In the end, a craftsman named Tao Hei of the Daming Ordnance Bureau mastered the crucible steelmaking method according to the information provided by Zhu Houzhao, so that the Daming Ordnance Bureau could smelt the world's first tank of liquid molten steel, and thus realized the technology that could make high-carbon steel, that is, tool steel.

This made it possible to create rifled guns.

At the same time, Xia Yan also successfully led a group of craftsmen from the gunpowder factory to realize the granulation of black powder, and greatly increased the explosive power of gunpowder, and because of this, the firearms factory further improved the earth-shaking thunder, so that the explosive power of the earth-shaking thunder was enhanced.

At the end of the third year of Zhengde, the Guards began to replace all of them with new firearms, new knives and guns, and began to conduct new firearms drills.

Ma Wensheng has also been patrolling the border town for a year, and returned to the capital at the beginning of the fourth year of Zhengde, Zhang Xuan also entered Beijing, and brought the latest military map of the Hetao area, and it was also the first map of the Ming Dynasty with contour lines and directions.

In fact, such a map was used in Shen Kuo's Mengxi pen talk in ancient China, so it is not difficult for the current Ming Dynasty people to accept it.

"Your Majesty! The minister inspected all sides this year, and thought that the first city we wanted to build should be in Yulinwei after we recovered the Hetao!

Here the west is Chi'er Mountain, the south is the Tu Mao River, the north is the Jiulong Ditch, from the Datong right guard over the Tuan Mountain along the Tu Mao River to the north, out of the side wall you can go straight to the Yulin, you can rely on the Chi'er Mountain and the Jiulong Ditch as a barrier, and you can return to Datong to rely on the Tuan Mountain, and the middle flows through the Tu Mao River, the land is fertile, you can reclaim the barren tun field, and it is connected with Datong, and you can also do business and trade! ”

Ma Wensheng pointed to Yulinwei on the newly drawn map and said.

Zhu Houzhao nodded: "In this way, the Guards will take the recovery of Yulinwei as the first goal, and now I will issue an order, change Yulinwei to Yulin County, and appoint Zhang Xuan as the magistrate of Yulin County, and make specific military arrangements, Ma Aiqing, you immediately work out a charter with the people of the General Staff!" ”

"Obey the order!" Marven replied.

Zhu Houzhao nodded, and went to the cabinet and the celebrant duty room, and at this time, Jiao Fang, the first assistant of the cabinet, handed Zhu Houzhao a notebook: "Your Majesty!" Datong came to report that the little prince of the Great Khan of the Great Yuan sent his son Urus Borot to ask for tribute, and also brought 3,000 good horses to pay tribute. ”

Zhu Houzhao didn't expect that his side was planning to recover the Hetao, and seeing that he was about to establish the first county seat in the area of Dongshengwei on the east side of the Hetao, this little prince suddenly came to pay tribute!

"Tell me, Aiqing, what is the purpose of this little prince asking for tribute at this time?" Zhu Houzhao asked.

"Your Majesty! These Tartars sometimes ask for tribute, sometimes they will plunder directly, in recent years, the border has been strengthened, the Tartars can not deduct the border robbery, so they want to pay tribute to earn benefits are also there, after all, according to the convention, the tributaries will all benefit, and the court will have a false reputation! ”

Shoufu Jiao Fang said.

"That being said, since people come to pay tribute, there is no reason to disallow it, otherwise it won't seem that I am a big country without a stomach!"

Second assistant Xu Jin said.

"Since this is the case, I agreed to pay tribute, but this time the rules of the tribute have to be changed, didn't they say that they brought 3,000 good horses, and when the time comes, give me a good look, whether it is 3,000 good horses."

As soon as Zhu Houzhao said this, Jiao Fang voted according to Zhu Houzhao's intention to agree to the little prince's tribute to the Ming Dynasty.

At this time, Xu Jin, the secretary of the Second Auxiliary Army, asked: "Your Majesty, since this is the case, is it necessary to recover the Hetao, after all, since people have come to pay tribute, they intend to repair it." ”

"It's one thing to pay tribute, it's one thing to recover the Loop, your cabinet is only responsible for its tribute, and the recovery of the Loop is the matter of the Guards, so it will naturally continue, of course, if your cabinet can persuade the little prince's people to return the Loop when they come to pay tribute, they can naturally recover the Loop without force! In this way, it will not be necessary to turn against the people on both sides and hurt the people on both sides! ”

When Zhu Houzhao said this, Jiao Fang and Xu Jin couldn't help but shake their heads, it was impossible for the little prince to return the Hetao, people came to pay tribute to ask for benefits, where would they be willing to lose their capital, and they would also pay the entire Hetao.

……

At this time, the second son of the little prince, Urusborot, was looking at the wall of Datong Mansion, and said to Gao Ze, a Han staff member who had taken refuge in him, very depressed: "Mr. Gao! You said that what can this Ming man do except hide behind a high wall, he has the ability to come out and fight a decisive battle with our Mongol warriors of Dayuan! ”

"Where can the Ming people match the bravery of the Mongolian warriors, they are all cowardly and incompetent! If it weren't for the cowardly Han people who dragged down these cowardly Han people, Dayuan could still dominate the Central Plains, and now Jinong (a kind of honorific title of Tatar) sent the Ming Dynasty, even if you brought only 300 inferior horses, but you said that it was 3,000 good horses, they would have to believe it, and they would reward it at double the price! Because they are afraid of the sword and the arrow in your hand! ”

As soon as Gao Ze, the Han staff, said this, this Urusborot couldn't help laughing: "These Han people are really cowardly and incompetent!" ”