In Wuchang Mansion, Huguang, in the cannon casting workshop of Hankou New Town, Wang Yanzheng led a group of generals to inspect.

The firearms manufacturing base of the Ming Dynasty mainly had three places, namely in Guangzhou, Wuchang and Nanjing, and of course Zhejiang, Fujian and Jiangxi, but they were backward in scale and technology, because the artillery casting workshop controlled by the imperial court was not only secret to the north, but also to the internal separatist forces.

Wang Yan was the first to re-establish the Ming Dynasty's firearms casting base in Guangzhou, so Guangzhou was the earliest, the foundation was the best, Nanjing mainly received Hong Chengchou's Jiangnan Cannon Casting Workshop, the scale was huge, and Wuchang was Wang Yan in order to facilitate the supplement of the Huguang battlefield, and in order to prepare for the attack on Nanjing, a casting base was established.

Relatively speaking, Huguang's cannon casting workshop is the smallest.

Because the scale is relatively small, the types of firearms produced here are also smaller, only a few kinds of guns and one type of gun are cast, and the main task is to repair all kinds of firearms that have been scrapped and have problems in various armies.

The guns produced by the cannon casting workshop are naturally self-generated guns, and as for the guns, they are the rapid-fire bronze guns that appeared during the last autumn exercises.

Wang Yan said to the generals of the Ma army before that they would be equipped with artillery, and there was coal and iron near Wuchang, so in order to save costs, they would build them directly in Huguang.

At this time, on the school field outside the city, fifty rapid-fire bronze cannons were lined up in turn, and the non-commissioned officers of the artillery team were conducting a drill, but it was not the people of the Ma Army who participated in the drill, but the artillery team of Zhongzhen Town brought by Wang Yan.

The artillery used by the Ming army in field battles was generally a vehicle-mounted Franc machine, and the Franc machine had a limited range and could only hit a few hundred paces away because of the problem of air tightness.

If the Ming army is equipped with this rapid-fire artillery, it can increase the maximum range of the field artillery by two miles, which will make the Ming army gain a huge range advantage in the field.

The governors of the Governor's Office of the Five Armies believed that this kind of artillery might be able to play an unexpected effect when it cooperated with the horse army to fight the infantry army.

If the infantry and the horse army meet in the field, the infantry army forms a tight formation, the horse army is generally difficult to break through, can only attack and harass, and slowly drag down, but if the horse army is equipped with this kind of rapid-fire artillery, it can be outside the range of the infantry artillery, unscrupulously bombardment the infantry formation, until the infantry line is loosened, and then the horse army raids.

"Boom, boom..."

The school field was filled with smoke, and iron bullets rushed out with a roar, smashing on the ground and splashing patches of dirt.

Although the artillery team of Zhongzhen Town are all veteran gunners for some years and are very proficient in artillery operation, these guns are new after all, and they also need a certain amount of time to run in.

Wang Yan arrived in Huguang in May, and now it is July, and the artillery team has been practicing for more than a month, and it has basically figured out the performance of this batch of artillery.

After Wang Yan watched the artillery test at the artillery range, he returned to Hankou New Town, and as soon as he returned to Xingyuan, someone greeted him.

"Your Highness, there is news sent again!"

When Wang Yan heard this, he handed over the horsewhip to his subordinates, and hurriedly walked into the courtyard, passing through several halls before stopping in a large hall.

In the middle of the hall is a huge sand table, on which there are five colors of small flags, each color represents a faction, and on each flag, there is also the number of the army and the number of troops.

From the situation on the sand table, we can see the current situation, and the general trend of the whole world is clear at a glance.

Although the red flag representing the central government is three times larger than the yellow and blue flags representing Tang Lu, there are still a large number of black and white flags in the north, and if these two parties also join in, the situation in the Ming Dynasty will not be easy.

Wang Yan took off the red cloak and handed it to the guards to hang on the wall, then took off his helmet and put it on the table, and then asked, "What news, tell me about it?" See what they want to do with me! ”

"Your Highness, the information sent by Jinyiwei says that King Lu has secretly left Nanjing, and the fifth son of the emperor, Zhu Cihuan, is indeed in the hands of King Lu!" Wang Ji opened his mouth and said.

After the establishment of Houyong Town was abolished, he was also transferred to the Governor's Office of the Five Armies as a Tongzhi.

Wang Yan frowned after hearing this, "In this way, King Lu is determined to raise an army!" However, he held Zhu Cihuan in his hand, obviously holding Huang Que behind, and he was not of the same mind as Tang Fan. ”

Tang and Lu together have more than 100,000 horses, if the two of them are united, plus there are Jin and Qing troops in the north to contain the imperial court, Wang Yan is really difficult to deal with, but the two kings have their own ghosts, then it will be much easier for him to deal with it.

Thinking of this, Wang Yan asked again, "What about King Tang?" What is he doing now? ”

"King Tang is still in Nanjing, and he doesn't seem to have any intention of leaving Nanjing!" Wang Ji said in a deep voice: "However, Jin Shenghuan and Zheng Guo have both sent henchmen to Nanjing to have a secret meeting with the Tang King, as for what is being discussed, Jinyiwei has not yet found out. ”

"King Tang is still in Nanjing?"

Wang Yan was puzzled for a while, judging from the information he received, King Tang obviously wanted Jin Shenghuan to ambush him halfway on his way back to Beijing.

In the city of Nanjing, Wang Yan has many henchmen, and the garrison is mainly Wang Yan's people, Tang Wang dares to stay in Nanjing, what is his calculation? Wang Yan didn't understand it very well for a while.

"These two highnesses are not fuel-efficient lamps!" Wang Yan shook his head and sighed: "It's a pity, they are the clan, destined to be the enemy of Lone, if they can obey Lone and obey the orders of the imperial court, Jin and Gu will be swept away early in the morning!" ”

"Yes! King Lu carried the banner of Jiangnan to resist the Qing Dynasty alone, and King Tang was also a famous virtuous king, if they could support His Royal Highness, the world would have been decided! Wang Ji echoed, but then changed his words, "However, His Highness can't show mercy to his subordinates, the two kings are not easy to deal with, Your Highness must uproot them this time, and you can't give them another chance!" ”

Wang Yan knows that for a strong opponent, cutting the grass and eradicating the roots is the greatest respect for the opponent.

Wang Yan nodded, "North, is there any movement?" ”

"Yes!" Wang Ji's face showed a worried face, "The secret spies of the Manchu Qing Dynasty should have also detected some movements, and the Qing army is increasing troops in Henan, which seems to have the intention of recapturing Nanyang." ”

"Is there any movement in the Jin Kingdom?" Wang Yan raised his eyebrows, it was really eventful.

"The Jin side didn't see any movement until now, they suffered several big defeats and were eager to regain their strength. Hanzhong sent back news that Wu Sangui was organizing soldiers to reclaim Tuntian, and he had no intention of attacking Shangyong! Wang Ji opened his mouth and said: "As for Qinghai, whether the Jin army will make a move, we have no way of knowing for the time being. ”

After listening to a deep groan, Wang Yan spoke: "This matter can't be delayed any longer, if we wait any longer, we will let Hauge and Dolgon take advantage, and Lone must calm down this civil strife as soon as possible, and the north cannot be given a chance." ”

Speaking of this, Wang Yan stood up, walked quickly to the sand table and looked at it, and then said, "Didn't the spy say that Jin Shenghuan was waiting for a lonely person in Anqing?" Lone changed the route back to Beijing this time, Lone wanted to inspect Jiangxi, and asked Jin Shenghuan to send him to Nanchang to see King Lone. ”

Wang Yan was domineering, waved his hand, and ordered: "In addition, tell Gao Yigong that no matter what, you must hold Nanjing, in case you can't hold it, Your Majesty, the Queen Mother, and the officials of the cabinet and the council must be withdrawn, with them, if they lose Nanjing, they are still the regent of the Ming Dynasty, and they can only be traitors!" ”

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(End of chapter)