During the New Yuan period, all departments of the imperial court were on holiday, and even the three major halls were rare and quiet for a few days, Zhu Youzhen found that during this time, there were many fewer concerts in various places, and he did not need to stay up all night to review the concerts.

Except for the first day of the new Yuan Dynasty, Zhu Youzhen wanted to take the ministers to worship his ancestors, and he made trouble all day, and the rest of the time, at most, he could get the concert in half a day, he rarely stopped for a few days, and the time was at his disposal, and he spent the night in the Qingong Palace for several days.

On the evening of the eighth day of the first lunar month, Zhu Youzhen was gossiping with Zhang Yan in the Qinqin Palace, and the two chatted happily, so Zhu Youzhen sent a decree to the eunuchs to send meals to the Qinqin Palace, and they would not return to the Qianqing Palace at night.

The holy decree has been passed to the imperial dining room, but Zhang Yixian is in a hurry to break in, "Your Majesty, the secretary of the military department and the old pavilion Yang Sichang urgently ask to see you in the Qianqing Palace!" ”

"Yang Sichang? What could he do? Zhu Youzhen was full of excitement, he had an ominous premonition, hoping that this premonition was not true.

Zhang Yixian bowed down: "Back to the emperor, the slave doesn't know what's going on, Lord Yang just said that it's an emergency military situation......"

Yang Sichang was in charge of the military department, he suddenly asked to see him, naturally for military matters, Zhu Youzhen frowned, and said coldly: "Let him wait first, I will go over after dinner in the Qingong Palace!" ”

Zhang Yan said with a smile: "Your Majesty, Lord Yang suddenly asked to see you, it must be a military matter, and the emperor will deal with it first," paused, but lowered his head, "If there is nothing important, it's not too ......late to come later."

Zhu Youzhen glanced at Zhang Yan, then nodded, stood up, shook the hem of the court clothes, and didn't look at Zhang Yixian, striding out by himself, Zhang Yixian hurriedly trotted to catch up, "Your Majesty, wait for the slave maid......"

When I came to the gate of the Qianqing Palace, the sky was already dark, and I could only see a black shadow standing in front of the palace gate, motionless, like a eunuch keeping vigil.

Yang Sichang saw a figure for a while, it was estimated that it was Zhu Youzhen, and when he took a sneak look, he saw that Zhu Youzhen looked bad, so he hurriedly lowered his head and bowed to the ground, "Minister Yang Sichang knocked to see the emperor!" ”

"No rudeness!" Zhu Youzhen didn't stop, just said lightly: "If you have anything to say, let's talk about it when you enter the palace!" ”

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Zhu Youzhen was in front, Zhang Yixian led Yang Sichang, followed closely behind, and entered the Xinuan Pavilion, Zhu Youzhen sat on the dragon chair, and gave Yang Sichang a seat, "What happened to Yang Aiqing?" ”

"Your Majesty ......" Yang Sichang arched his hand, thinking a lot along the way, but at this moment, he didn't know how to speak.

"Say!" When Zhu Youzhen was in the Qingong Palace, he almost forgot that the Tartar was still near the Beijing Division, and he was in a rare mood very well, and he was spared by the military situation, and he was unhappy in his heart, which naturally affected his face.

Yang Sichang was even more trembling, but the matter had already happened, it was impossible to hide it, if he was not careful, the disaster would lead to him, he took a deep breath, stabilized his mind, and said: "Yesterday at noon, the Tartars broke Jinan, King De was captured, Zhang Bingwen, the political envoy, and others were killed in battle, and Zhu Gang, the imperial historian of Song Xue, was killed......

"King De...... Ah......" Zhu Youzhen jumped three feet high, although he had a certain amount of mental preparation, but when he heard such information, most of the governors were beyond his expectations, and his heart suddenly fell into the abyss!

Tartar, Tartar again......

Tartar not only broke through Jinan, but even captured Zhu Youshu, the king of Germany, he is the prince of the Ming clan...... What better could it be if it fell into the hands of the Tartars? If you don't get it right, you will die in a foreign land, and you won't even be able to find your bones......

He didn't have much affection for Zhu Youshu, the king of Germany, in fact, he hadn't seen Zhu Youshu at all, but Zhu Youshu was the prince and the face of the Ming court, if he couldn't even keep the prince, the court would lose face in front of the Tartars!

Zhu Youzhen gritted his teeth with hatred, why did the hateful Tartar repeatedly violate the boundary? Da Ming didn't provoke them, why did he bite Da Ming so hard...... Gyeonggi didn't count, but went to Shandong......

But after thinking about it, no, the Tartars are plugged in, didn't Daming raise millions of soldiers? Now there are hundreds of thousands of troops near Jingshi......

Zhu Youzhen suddenly glared at Yang Sichang with blood-red eyes, and said viciously: "Didn't I send the first assistant Liu Yuliang to supervise the army?" Why is this happening? What does Liu Yuliang eat? ”

Yang Sichang saw Zhu Youzhen's gloomy face, and knew that he was angry, so he said carefully: "Lord Liu is holding back the Dolgon Department of the Tartars' Western Route Army, and it is the Yuetuo Department of the Tartars' Eastern Route Army that is breaking Jinan......"

"I let Liu Yuliang supervise the army on the front line, do you just care all the way?" Zhu Youzhen suddenly felt that something was wrong, "Didn't I let Zu Kuan go to Shandong, where is his Guanning Iron Horse?" ”

Yang Sichang's heart moved, the city of Jinan was broken, the German king Zhu Youshu was captured, someone had to take the blame, this Zu Kuan, the most suitable, he bowed his hand to Zhu Youzhen, and said without a look: "Zu Kuan has few soldiers, and when he saw the main cavalry of the Tartars, he withdrew to Gyeonggi and wanted to wait to protect the ...... of the Beijing Division."

"Pig!" Zhu Youzhen scolded, "The Tartar is in Shandong, and he retreats to Beijing, which is clearly afraid of war, and he will pass on the decree to arrest and return to Beijing...... and muttered in a low voice: "What is the use of keeping such a pig-headed general?" ”

"Yes, the subordinates will pass on the decree immediately!"

"And that Liu Yuliang," Zhu Youzhen was still angry, and continued: "Tell him that if there are any more unforeseen incidents, he, the first assistant, can go home to farm!" ”

Yang Sichang was afraid that the anger would burn on him, and he didn't dare to breathe, and after a long time, Fang said: "Your Majesty, the military deployment on the front line ......"

Zhu Youzhen pondered for a moment, and said with a calm face: "Didn't Hong Chengchou and Sun Chuanting come to Jingshi?" Spread the decree, let Hong Chengchou Governor Ji Liao, Sun Chuanting Governor Baoding, Shandong, and Jinggi, don't drive the two Tartars out of the customs! ”

"Your Majesty," Yang Sichang couldn't help it, "Hong Chengchou and Sun Chuanting are sitting in Shaanxi, and the Liukou don't dare to move easily, if they all leave Shaanxi, ......"

"Yang Aiqing," Zhu Youzhen suddenly accentuated his tone and said, "When is this happening, I still think about Liukou in my heart...... Didn't the main force of Huguang Liukou all accept the appeasement? ”

"Ah...... Yes, the minister knows that he is wrong! Yang Sichang didn't dare to tell the difference, so he had to leave in a hurry and go back to convey the emperor's will, the emperor's anger was not aimed at himself, it was already the best ending......

……………………………………………………………………

These days back in Lanzhou, just in time for the Xinyuan holiday, the official yamen are closed, except for the Tartars around the Beijing Division, there is very little information from all over the place, Li Zicheng has nothing to do, except for nesting at home to make people, is to take his own soldiers out of the city, in fact, the snow outside the city has not yet melted, even the grass is not visible, and there is nothing to see, just choking on a breath of northwest wind in vain.

On the sixteenth day of the first lunar month, all yamen and departments began to work, and Li Zicheng's first investigation unit was the Lanzhou Firearms Bureau.

When Liu Fang heard that Li Zicheng had come to visit suddenly, he hurriedly greeted him and saluted, "Metropolitan Governor...... ...... on the first day of work today"

"Why, on the first day of work, I cleaned the desks and chairs in the office?" Li Zicheng smiled faintly: "The first day of work can best reflect the efficiency of a unit!" ”

"The Metropolitan Governor ......" Liu Fang sneered: "The people of the Firearms Bureau have made all preparations yesterday, and the workers will be able to produce immediately when they go to work today, do you want to go to the production department to have a look?" ”

"Well, let's go to the production department first!" Li Zicheng was most concerned about the production of rifles and various artillery, and the Heavenly Mandate Army now relied heavily on firearms.

"Grand Duke, please come here!" Liu Fang introduced Li Zicheng into the rifle production workshop, Li Zicheng swept his eyes, a series of workshops, all of which were production workshops, and the workers were busy with their work, so they didn't bother, and on the first day of work, it was already very good to be so devoted, so he withdrew from the workshop, "How many rifles are in stock now?" How many bullets are left? ”

"Back to the Grand Dudu, there are more than 5,000 rifles, and the ammunition is in stock for two months!"

Li Zicheng frowned lightly, there were a lot of bullets, but the rifle was only five thousand, which was only enough to equip a regiment, once there was a large-scale battle with the imperial court, the battle loss of the rifle would definitely not be less, this rifle was really difficult to supplement, "Is it a problem of pig iron, or a problem of manpower?" ”

"Pig iron," Liu Fang said: "There is no problem with manpower, the Firearms Bureau has adopted the assembly line production method, each worker is only responsible for a small project, it is easy to train and train skilled hands, and the scale of production can be expanded indefinitely......"

Without pig iron, Li Zicheng has no way, Sichuan's pig iron, everything that can be transported has been transported, and now it is a war period, and it is impossible to buy pig iron from the imperial court on a large scale.

We can only take one step at a time, and now we can only make full use of the existing conditions.

"What about the naval artillery, it was shipped to Sichuan?"

"Back to the Metropolitan Governor, I set off as early as the eighth day of the first month," Liu Fang bowed and said, "But the naval guns are too cumbersome, and I am afraid that there will be a lot of delay on the road......

Li Zicheng nodded, it seems that once the naval artillery is determined, it will be better to produce it in Sichuan in the future, and long-distance transportation will not only be time-consuming and laborious, but also in case of bumps......

Seeing that the workers were busy, Li Zicheng didn't want to disturb them, so he raised his feet and walked back, "Lord Liu, let's go to the R&D department to see, what does this R&D department do on weekdays?" ”

"Back to the Metropolitan Governor, some time ago, the craftsmen concentrated their efforts on the research and development and production of naval guns," Liu Fang said: "The naval guns are too cumbersome, and everyone has spent a lot of time ......"

Li Zicheng said with a smile: "You know that the firearms developed in the future will become more and more complex, and only by concentrating everyone's wisdom can they be produced." ”

"My subordinates understand!"

"Once the naval artillery is confirmed, the Mandate of Heaven Governor's Mansion will definitely not be stingy with rewards," Li Zicheng had already come to the R&D department, and when he saw that it was empty, he was a little dissatisfied, "What about people?" They're ......."

"Governor, when there is nothing to do on weekdays, the craftsmen will go down to the workshop to supervise the production of the workers and see if the firearms can be improved......

"They don't have to worry about production, they just take care of research and development," Li Zicheng said: "You will find the people who develop firearms, and I will personally test and teach!" ”

"Yes, Grand Duke!" Liu Fang first let Li Zicheng into the inner room, served tea, and then went to find it in person, and after a while, four people came one after another, and saluted Li Zicheng together, "Knock to see the Governor!" ”

Li Zicheng asked them to get up and sat down on the opposite side, only Tang Jin and Zhao Jiacai knew each other, and the other two seemed to be a little familiar, but they didn't know who it was for a while, "Tang Jin, you are the leader of the R&D department, and you specialize in firearms, let's talk about it, what are the plans for improving the Xining rifle?" ”

"Xining rifles?" Tang Jin was stunned for a moment, his face was slightly red, "Governor Dadu, the Xining rifle is the sharpest of the fire # guns seen by his subordinates, and he only thinks about repairing it on weekdays...... My subordinates never thought about improving, and they didn't know which direction to improve......"

"The three-eyed gun of the imperial court, when it first came out, was indeed very powerful, but now?" Li Zicheng chuckled and said: "There is no kind of firearm that is always advanced, and it will be replaced by more advanced firearms, and the Xining rifle is no exception......"

"The subordinates have some understanding," Tang Jin's eyes lit up, and he said: "What the Metropolitan Governor means, we must prepare as soon as possible, in case the enemy will produce the same rifle, we will use more advanced firearms, or a generation ahead of them......"

"That's what it means, even if the Xining rifle is now the most advanced firearm, we still have to consider improvement," Li Zicheng said: "Do you know the direction of improvement?" ”

Don Kim shook his head, "This...... The subordinates don't know ......"

Li Zicheng looked at the other three people, and shook his head one by one, he had no choice but to go into battle by himself, "You know, when the Xining rifle is used, where is the most inconvenient?" ”

"This ......" Tang Jin hesitated for a while, and said: "Reload, every time you shoot, you have to reload, it's a waste of time......"

"That's the right idea," Li Zicheng gave Tang Jin a thumbs up, "The previous firebolt not only had a range that was not as good as a bow and arrow, but it was also very inconvenient to ignite, so the Xining rifle overcame these two weaknesses, and now the Xining rifle also has to load the inconvenience, and it will definitely be replaced by a new rifle......"

Tang Jin was also unsure, so he said tentatively: "Grand Duke, then our research direction is...... Can you shoot continuously? ”

"This direction is correct, but before studying the burst fire, we have to change the paper shell bullet to a metal bullet," Li Zicheng took out a drawing from his arms, unfolded it and put it on the table, "Look at it, how about this drawing?" ”

Tang Jin and Zhao Jiacai immediately lay on the drawings, and considered it a little bit, even Liu Fang forgot about Li Zicheng's existence, and after a long time, Zhao Jiacai said: "Governor, my subordinates understand a little, but to produce it, we still need to ......."

Li Zicheng smiled: "Yes, that's why we need people from your R&D department!" ”

Tang Jin is excited, most of the governors have every opportunity, but they are improving the rifle, and these professional R&D personnel are ...... He hurriedly arched his hand, "The Metropolitan Governor, my subordinates are ashamed......"

I should be ashamed! Li Zicheng smiled secretly, "If this metal bullet and the corresponding rifle can be developed, it will be a big step forward in technology......"

"The subordinates understand that the subordinates will develop this new rifle as soon as possible......"