If there was any major military action in the Ming Dynasty in the past, at most it was to seize the time to prepare food and grass, and then notify the relevant leading generals, check the weapons and equipment, train the soldiers diligently, and wait for the date of the expedition to arrive, gather the army, and then boost morale, and then you can set off.

It's different now, Zhu Cijiong has too much preparation work to do, like artillery, although he contributed a lot in the recent victory in Liaodong, but there are also many problems exposed.

First of all, the number is too small, this shell is not as powerful as the later generations, the difference between the explosive power of black powder and yellow gunpowder is not ordinarily large, don't expect a cannon to go down, blow up a large crater within a few meters, black powder made of flowering shells can also make the enemy within a few meters a little injured, to say that the destructive power, is not as good as scattered bullets.

According to the current range and rate of fire of artillery, when the opposite cavalry launches a charge, there will be at most a chance for a round of artillery bombardment, so if you want the artillery to gain an overwhelming advantage in the battle with the cavalry, you must pile up the number, dozens of artillery pieces can suppress thousands of cavalry, and in the face of 100,000 gold and iron cavalry, at least 500 artillery pieces must be prepared, so that they can not raise their heads.

Of course, there are flintlock pistols after artillery, but the current flintlock pistols are also far from meeting the standards of later rifles in terms of penetration because of gunpowder.

Lion Bo Rabbit also has to use all his strength, but must not underestimate the enemy, the development of equipment is generally based on the actual combat situation and choose the focus, if Huang Taiji saw the power of the new musket and artillery and also vigorously developed light cavalry, then he is a pig. By the way, could he be a pig?

It can be seen from the range and quantity of Houjin's current artillery that their smelting technology is actually quite good, but during the Chongzhen Dynasty, they could not fight the Ming Dynasty with light cavalry alone, coupled with the poor quality of the Ming army's gunpowder weapons, they looked down on muskets and guns in their hearts, so they did not pay attention to the development of heavy cavalry and gunpowder weapons.

Now that the situation on the battlefield is completely different, Zhu Cijiong can be sure that after the Houjin suffered this loss, they will definitely attach importance to gunpowder weapons, and as for which direction they will develop, whether they will focus on offensive development of heavy cavalry or defense and development of artillery, it is unknown.

If the field battle depends on the quantity, then the siege war depends on the range, after all, Houjin also has artillery, and it is also a 4-inch howitzer, the 518-style howitzer of the Ming Dynasty can also bully and bully them on the flat ground, and the advantage is gone when attacking the city, unless the earth platform is built, but every time the siege is built, so many earth platforms are built, not to mention the waste of time, you can be sure that Houjin has no way to demolish your platform?

Combined with the needs of field warfare and siege, Zhu Cijiong decided that when he waved his army to recover Liaodong next year, he would bring at least 200 Type 317 howitzers, 417 howitzers, and 518 howitzers, and also try to produce 520 howitzers or 618 howitzers with a longer range, and the number should reach 200 at best.

It's almost November now, except for the half-month rest time for the New Year, to the thaw in March in Liaodong, there will be a total of more than three months in between, almost exactly about 100 days, according to the current average production rate of 30 cannons every seven days, a maximum of 350 cannons can be produced in 100 days, which does not include the more difficult 520 howitzer or 618 howitzer, that is to say, the production speed of the cannon must be at least doubled to meet the requirements.

As for the new flintlock pistol, there is no problem, since the Tianxiong Army and the Qin Army were equipped in June, up to now, the Beijing battalion has been equipped with almost 100,000 recruits, and by the end of the year, basically all the 150,000 Beijing battalion recruits will be equipped with flintlock muskets, and the ones produced after the year will be prepared for other troops.

Regarding the issue of the speed of artillery production, Zhu Cijiong is really not as familiar with Sun Yuanhua as they are, and it just so happens that he hasn't gathered with a few cronies for a long time, so Zhu Cijiong simply summoned all of them directly to the Qianqing Palace, mainly to discuss the production of artillery, and at the same time, he can also take the opportunity to get together.

Now his first few cronies are terrible, all of them are busy people, if Zhu Cijiong doesn't summon them into the palace, they will be able to meet in the early court, and they usually don't even have the opportunity to say a word.

Like Xu Guangqi, he has to deal with the affairs of the cabinet, preside over the work of the yamen of the Ministry of Rites, teach Zheng Chenggong, and develop telescopes, and he is busy to death all day long, and his big disciple has basically been forgotten by him.

Like Sun Yuanhua, he has to preside over the work of the yamen of the military department, preside over the production and test firing of artillery, and train the artillery of the Beijing battalion.

There are also Bi Maokang and Wang Zheng, who are also very busy all day, not only to deal with official business, but also to help Song Yingxing manage the daily operation of the military factory, the scale of Wang Gong's factory, in modern times, it is also a large enterprise, daily procurement, production, experiments, property, personnel, etc. If Song Yingxing is pressed alone, then he can't manage it even if he splits it in half.

Of course, no matter how busy these five people were, the emperor still didn't dare to delay when they summoned them, and they all rushed to the Qianqing Palace in less than half an hour.

Zhu Cijiong deliberately found a spacious side hall, set up two Taishi chairs and a coffee table, and let them sit on the left and right, and talk back while drinking tea.

Now that time is not so urgent, Zhu Cijiong is not in a hurry to get down to business, but picks up the things they are more interested in and asks a few random questions.

He first asked Xu Guangqi, "Master, how is the scope used for the flintlock pistol?" ”

Xu Guangqi touched his beard and replied with interest: "This lens barrel is simple, cast with a sand mold, and then clamp the lathe and turn a few knives to come out, this lens is a little troublesome, too small, manual grinding is very difficult, I am discussing with Lord Wang, design a special grinding machine to grind the lenses." ”

Zhu Cijiong nodded and said, "Well, if this scope is really made, the amount will be large, and it is time to design a bed to grind the lenses." ”

He turned his head again and asked Bi Maokang, "Meng Hou, how is that revolver doing?" ”

Bi Maokang sincerely admired: "The emperor is really powerful, even such a delicate pistol can come up with, the sample has been made, and it can really be fired continuously, but the runner is a bit too difficult to process, if you want to mass production, I am afraid you have to design a special lathe to process the runner." ”

After chatting a few words to harmonize the atmosphere, it was almost time to get down to business, Zhu Cijiong straightened his face and said with a little seriousness: "Well, wait a minute, I came to you this time mainly to talk about artillery, I decided to lead the army to recover Liaodong in the spring of next year, and at least 800 artillery pieces of all kinds will be needed at that time, and it will definitely not be possible to do it at this current output, if you have any good ideas, put it forward for discussion." ”

As soon as everyone heard that Liaodong was going to be recovered, they all showed excitement, but as soon as they heard that they wanted 800 artillery pieces, everyone couldn't help but be taken aback, and then they all looked at Sun Yuanhua, because he had always been in charge of the production of this artillery.

Sun Yuanhua thought for a while, and replied in an orderly manner: "More than three months to make 800 artillery pieces, this processing bed is enough, but the casting is a bit of a delay, fortunately, now the craftsmen who make clay molds are all proficient, as long as they recruit a hundred more people to give them a hand." There is also a problem, the casting cannon is too material-intensive, and I am afraid that this iron ore will not be in supply. ”

When Zhu Cijiong heard this, he couldn't help but show joy, this iron ore is not a problem for him at all, as long as the casting progress can catch up. He slapped his face and asked excitedly: "How much iron ore is there now, and how much is missing?" Needless to say, the problem of recruiting people is enough, you can recruit two hundred,"

When Sun Yuanhua heard this, he opened his mouth and counted it up: "If a cannon is calculated according to 1,000 catties, 800 cannons are 800,000 catties, and iron ore is calculated in half, it will take 1.6 million catties, and now Wang Gongchang has about 500,000 catties of iron ore, and there will be no more for the New Year, and the mining side can mine up to 200,000 catties a month, and 600,000 catties in three months, which is about 500,000 catties." ”

500,000 catties is only more than 20 tons, which is really not a matter for modern times, not to mention iron ore, even if it is steel, any steel shop owner can send it to you immediately, but Daming will not work at that time, mining is still pure manual work, unless you use people to pile it.

But Zhu Cijiong has a better solution, he said confidently: "Well, this is no problem, don't count it according to 1,000 catties, count it according to 2,000 catties, I will buy you 2 million catties of iron ore, and you can get it after the New Year." ”

Sun Yuanhua couldn't help but ask curiously: "Please forgive Weichen for his courage, where else can Daming buy iron ore?" ”

Zhu Cijiong smiled and said: "Daming must have nowhere to buy, don't we still have a friendly ally, they have a lot of iron ore, it just so happens that they still owe me tens of millions of taels, it should be no problem for them to send some iron ore over to settle the account." ”

At this time, Xu Guangqi couldn't help but speak: "The emperor is talking about the Buddha Lang machine? ”

Zhu Cijiong nodded and said: "Well, I still prefer to call them Portugal, don't call them Franc Machine in the future, they are not Franc Machine, Franc Machine is another country." ”

Xu Guangqi hurriedly arched his hand and said: "Weichen made a mistake, a mistake in the mouth, I am used to it, please forgive the emperor." ”

Zhu Cijiong waved his hand, signaling that it was okay for him, and then continued to say to Sun Yuanhua: "Chuyang, can we build a Type 520 howitzer or a Type 618 howitzer now?" ”

Sun Yuanhua said with a sad face: "This, it can be built, but the success rate is too low, the 618-type howitzer Weichen is estimated to be stronger, but there are at most ten qualified ones out of fifty, and the success rate of the 520-type howitzer is estimated to be even lower, these two kinds of artillery Weichen have tried, it is too heavy, and it will be scrapped if you don't pay attention to it when pouring." ”

Zhu Cijiong gritted his teeth and said: "If you can do it well, if you can't recruit more people, let's make 618 howitzer howitzers, make 200 guns, 317 type, 417 type and 518 type each make 200 guns." It doesn't matter if you spend a little more time at home, if there are too few artillery, I am afraid that you will not be able to suppress the ferocity of the serf. Jiannu has always been extremely ferocious, and they are all deadly masters who attack ruthlessly, and if they are not suppressed by artillery, the casualties of the soldiers in front will be heavy. ”

When Sun Yuanhua heard this, he nodded solemnly and said: "Please rest assured, even if there are only a few of the fifty gates, Weichen will make all the artillery on time." ”