On the fourth day of June in the forty-seventh year of Wanli, the sky was cloudless.

Zhu Xiaoqi took Li Jinzhong, Zhou Yuji, Zhang Qianfang and a group of 24 guards to Tongzhou. Li Jinzhong drove, the guards all rode horses, ten opened the road in front, ten followed behind the car, and Zhou Zhang and the others protected on both sides of the car. After only sitting for a while, Zhu Xiaoqi had enough suffering. The carriage was too bumpy, he was in a two-wheeled carriage, although the two-wheeled carriage was no worse than the four-wheeled carriage, but it was indeed much inferior in comfort, so he proposed to Zhou Yuji to ride a horse.

Zhou Yuji's equestrian skills are excellent, and the group has extra horses anyway, so Zhou Yuji chose the most tame horse, and then told Zhu Xiaoqi some basic control methods, Zhu Xiaoqi trembled and rode the horse, and controlled the horse to move forward according to the method taught by Zhou Yuji. Slowly he got used to the horse, and the horse slowly adapted to him, the whole horse team slowly advanced at a turtle speed, and it took more than an hour for the Beijing division to travel only a few dozen miles to Tongzhou, and Zhu Xiaoqi basically learned to ride a horse in this more than an hour. This made Li Jinzhong and Zhang Qianfang shoot a lot of sycophants, and "His Royal Highness is wise and martial" said that Zhu Xiaoqi almost believed it. However, I know that I am not a wise and martial artist, but at least my ability to accept it is still good.

Xu Guangqi led his subordinates to greet His Royal Highness Taisun and his party at the gate of the barracks, and after everyone saluted, they hugged Zhu Xiaoqi and entered the barracks together. The barracks were being drilled, and I saw that the soldiers were in high spirits, with vigorous steps, sonorous movements, and earth-shattering shouts. People can't help but admire: "What a mighty and majestic man!" But only half of them were wearing cotton armor, only half of them had spears in their hands, and the others had wooden clubs. He looked at Xu Guangqi suspiciously, Xu Guangqi lowered his head: "Last time I went back to Beijing, I went to the military department and the household department to ask for military salaries and equipment, but the salary was seventy percent, but the soldiers and armor could not be supplied, and last month's salary was only fifty percent." ”

It is not difficult to ask Zhu Youxiao to come out with dozens or hundreds of taels of silver to reward people, because he has a common practice, and his mother also left him some money, and if it is not enough, he can also ask Li Xuan's waiter. But taking the money out to help Xu Guangqi, firstly, he didn't have that ability, and secondly, he was just a grandson, and he didn't dare if he had the ability, so he could only shake his head and sigh. I thought that it was only a year, and when the time came, I would become the emperor, and then I would rectify the old mountains and rivers.

Everyone entered the house, and after the guard served tea, Zhu Xiaoqi waved his hand, and Li Jinzhong retreated with the guards and Zhou Zhang. Seeing this, Xu Guangqi also asked his subordinates to withdraw. Zhu Xiaoqi opened his mouth and said: "Lord Xu is so urgent to train the army, but because of the matter of Salhu? ”

Last year, that is, in the forty-sixth year of Wanli, Nurhachi raised troops with the so-called "seven hatreds", and led the Houjin army to attack and occupy Fushun and Qinghe. And decided to send troops to Liaodong and attack Houjin in a big way. In the forty-seventh year of Wanli, that is, in February this year, with 110,000 troops divided into four routes, the first day of March and the Houjin soldiers were engaged, and were broken by each, to the fifth day of March, the four route soldiers lost more than 50,000 people, more than 300 generals were killed in battle, including the two main generals, more than 30,000 mules and horses were lost, and more than 20,000 guns and guns were lost. Later generations believed that the Ming Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty were prosperous, and this battle was of great significance.

Xu Guangqi nodded, and shook his head again: "Jiannu abused my border people, attacked my border city, and all my people should think about destroying this great rebellion." Guangqi therefore asked for training many times, and now he is in Shengming, and allows his ministers to train new soldiers in Tongzhou. However, the recruits should be mainly firearms, supplemented by knives and guns. Nowadays, there are no knives and guns, let alone firearms. ”

"Isn't there a fire gun in the Shenji Battalion? Why didn't the Ministry of War give you a firearm? ”

"The Ministry of War thinks that the fire gun is not enough for Liaodong, how can it allocate it to us for this training new army?"

Zhu Xiaoqi couldn't help, so he changed the topic: "I wonder if Lord Xu has ever heard of a fire gun that doesn't use an arquebus?" ”

"I've heard of a kind of self-made firebolt, which doesn't use a fire rope. It's just that I haven't seen it yet, and I've already asked someone to go to Macau to inquire. I wonder where Your Highness found out? ”

"Who did you send to Macau to ask? Franc machine man? Will they tell you? Suppressing the desire to show off, Zhu Xiaoqi asked curiously.

"Xia Guan was baptized into the Catholic Church in the 31st year of Wanli, so some foreign Catholics often studied the study of Taixi together. If you have any questions, you will often write to ask for advice. ”

There is collusion with the Portuguese in Macau, oh, there is a connection. That's a good thing. I was worried about the technology tree, and I heard such good news, God really helped me! Zhu Xiaoqi was secretly happy in his heart. So he said slowly: "As for the matter of self-generated fire, Lone knows a little, and without using a fire rope, hitting the flint with steel to ignite the gunpowder, that is, the self-generated fire, we call it a flint firecracker." The craftsmen of the Bureau of Arms and War have already made a lighter device, and now they are improving it to increase the rate of fire. Yesterday, it was reported that the success rate of ignition has reached 32 percent. ”

Xu Guangqi was dumbfounded, and his face full of disbelief hit Zhu Xiaoqi seriously, and he said dissatisfiedly: "If Lord Xu doesn't believe it, he will ask someone to send it to you tomorrow." Xu Guangqi came back to his senses and hurriedly explained: "Your Highness forgives your sins!" It's not that the officials don't believe it, but when they hear such good news at the first time, their hearts are stirred and they can't help themselves. He has been immersed in this Tao all his life, and as soon as he heard Zhu Xiaoqi explain the principle, he immediately understood that it was not a matter of words, but of words. It's just strange that His Royal Highness cares not only about agricultural affairs, but also about military affairs at a young age, and he doesn't care about empty words, but has something to say. Could it be that the Ming Dynasty is going to produce a holy monarch?

"Your Highness is a genius, and he has unpredictable wisdom at the age of young Chong, and he is benevolent by nature. The minister is here to congratulate the emperor and congratulate the Ming! "It seems that the scientists of the Ming Dynasty also have a set of sycophants, Zhu Xiaoqi thought proudly.

"If you know what it is, you should also know why it is, and then you can touch the bypass. Lord Xu is a scholar of heaven and man, and he should know this truth. If you can get the guidance of Lord Xu, you can get twice the result with half the effort, and today I came to ask for the guidance of the adults. ”

"Don't dare to be a false praise of His Highness. His Royal Highness is a naturally wise person, and the guidance of the lower officials cannot be talked about, but if you refer to it together, you can serve Your Highness for one or two. Xiaguan has a student, named Sun Yuanhua, who has a foolish knowledge of firearms. If you train with your ministers here, you can't show your talents to the fullest, and you can use them for Your Highness. ”

Zhu Xiaoqi has no qualifications and no way to use Xu Guangqi now, this Sun Yuanhua can be recommended by Xu Guangqi, and he is his student, so it should not be bad. Using theory to guide practice is the scientific truth. He now only has some superficial knowledge of the afterlife, although he is far ahead of this generation, but to turn into a real thing, it still depends on the wisdom of this generation.

"Since you can get Lord Xu's blue eyes, I believe that you can benefit a lot from Mr. Sun. Since adults are familiar with Westerners, can they help Gu find a few things? ”

"Thank you, Your Highness, for your support! I don't know what His Highness wants, and the officials should try their best to seek it. ”

"The currency system of our dynasty is chaotic, the coinage law is old, and the use of silver is inconvenient. I heard that Tessie has a coinage machine, which is called a minting machine, and there is another thing called a lathe or other name, which can also be used for coinage and production. Adults can ask their friends if they can bring it to our court, or if they have a person who has the method and knows how to use it, they can build it in our court. He didn't know the name of the machine that minted gold coins, but there should be no problem in calling it a minting machine, and as for the lathe, I don't know if there is one now, but as long as it can be used to make things, it should be useful.

"It is said that Westerners have a far-sighted mirror, which can see distant objects as if they were in front of them. If you can pass on the method of manufacturing to our dynasty, you should be rewarded. "Telescopes should be available now, and this thing should have a military role, and maybe it can be used for astronomical research.

"What His Highness said is unheard of by His Majesty. But if there are such things, you should dedicate them to Your Highness with all your might. ”

"In addition, the method of timing in my dynasty, although it is simple and easy to use, but the accuracy is not high, although the clock of Taixi has been introduced to our dynasty, but the method of mass manufacturing, please pay attention to Xu Qing."

"The artillery of the Westerners, some of which weigh more than 1,000 catties, can reach up to a mile or even half a mile, and Macao has it, so you can buy more of this cannon in the future, and the people who make and operate the cannons. What the Westerners want, apart from gold and silver, is nothing more than missionary work. You can tell the Westerners that the eldest grandson of the emperor is not only interested in his actual learning, but also in his missionary work. "He's heard of the Hongyi Cannon, and he knows from the name that it's made by foreigners, so Macau should have it. Westerners seem to be very fond of proselytizing, and this temptation may be effective.

Xu Guangqi was overjoyed, for the Western missionaries at that time wanted to expand their influence in China by translating science and technology bookcases and revising almanacs in order to preach. If the future crown prince and the future emperor support them, then the mission should not be too simple. Like the Nanjing lesson plan of the 44th year of Wanli, it will never appear again. The crown prince asked him to tell the missionaries what to do, but I was afraid that they would rush to do it, and it should be just around the corner to find what His Highness wanted.

After discussing some details in detail, Xu Guangqi called Sun Yuanhua in. Sun Yuanhua is in his thirties, with thick eyebrows and big eyes, and he is a lifter. Learn firearms and mathematics from Xu Guangqi. Historically, he served as the governor of Denglai and was executed by the imperial court because of Kong Youde's rebellion. Now Xu Guangqi recommended him directly to the imperial grandson, which completely changed his fate, of course, Zhu Xiaoqi had never heard his name.

Zhu Xiaoqizhi was so proud that he almost forgot to get down to business. It was Li Jinzhong who reminded me that I remembered to ask about potatoes. Xu Guangqi told him that the people sent had not returned. Once he returns, he will be sent to His Royal Highness Taisun immediately, please don't worry. So, the team with one more person returned to Jingshi with Shi Shiran.