Chapter 60: It's time to grasp the economy

I waited anxiously in the study for news of the test firing of the musket, the first arquebus in the world, and my longing was eager.

As soon as Wen Tianxiang entered the door, he said: "Your Majesty, the musket test was successfully fired yesterday evening, but it was just ......."

I nervously said, "Just what, say it quickly." ”

Wen Tianxiang took a breath: "Back to Your Majesty, the maximum range of this musket can reach one hundred and twenty meters, but the actual effective range is only more than thirty meters, and the projectile will be offset if it exceeds more than thirty meters, and the speed of firing once is also very slow. ”

I breathed a sigh of relief, and found that Wen Tianxiang was covered in sweat, and it seemed that he had been going all the way non-stop, so I didn't care about telling him to rest, and said happily: "The effective range of more than 30 meters is not bad, and I want to reward him well." ”

Lu Xiufu, who arrived in one step at an early Wen Tianxiang, said: "Your Majesty, forgive the minister for being stupid, when the minister was in Yangzhou, he saw that the range of the Mongolian soldiers' bows and arrows was at least 100 meters away, and the range of more than 30 meters was not enough to compete with the archers." ”

Wen Zhang also said: "Yes, why is Your Majesty so happy? As far as Chen could see, the bomb was strong enough. ”

I knew that everyone still didn't pay attention to the musket, so he said: "Ladies and gentlemen, this is only the first test shot, I believe that the range and speed will gradually increase, secondly, it takes two or three years to train a qualified archer, and the musketeer only needs one or two months of training to shoot projectiles, as for the other advantages, you will naturally know when the time comes." Wen Zhang, of course, the power of that bomb is strong, but it is limited by manpower, and few people can throw it fifty meters away, but the range of the musket in the future will be able to reach hundreds of meters away. ”

"Your Majesty, do you want to start making it in batches?"

"Song Rui, first ask Yun Bofei to build a hundred, first, to let the craftsmen have some experience, and second, to let the new army have some understanding, and a large number of muskets will be improved before manufacturing. Also, Song Rui informed Yun Bofei that in addition to improving the musket, its projectile also needs to be improved, and the light weight of the projectile will also affect the range and accuracy. I then said to Wen Zhang, "Wen Zhang, the barracks at the foot of Luoshi Mountain have been basically built, you can move over tomorrow, and by the way, take over the outer defense of the Gunpowder Division, remember." ”

"Wenzhang obeys."

"Well, how is the training of the young guards going?"

"Back to Your Majesty, everything is going well."

"Let's start throwing and aiming training when you move in."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Wen Zhang was eager to try, "That bomb is powerful, let's equip our young guards first." ”

"This is not enough, the bomb is my secret weapon, and the young guards are full of tongues at the moment, so they can't be equipped for the time being, you just need to practice throwing."

Wen Zhang said helplessly: "The minister's will." ”

I smiled and said to Lu Xiufu: "Junshi, Xiao Tian has already driven Tongle Building to Lin'an, and your intelligence department has also infiltrated. ”

"Your Majesty, the ministers have made arrangements, and at present, the Ministry of Intelligence has built eight strongholds outside Lin'an, and there are also three in the capital, but Mongolia has not been able to enter for the time being."

"Well, it's already very good, you can ask Zhang Shijie from Mongolia, he is from Mongolia, and see if there is any chance to cut in."

"Yes, Your Majesty, in accordance with Your Majesty's will, Lord Li of Yangzhou has expanded the military tax army to more than 30,000 people, led by Jiang Cai, a general under your command, divided into 25,000 army and 6,000 navy, and is currently practicing at night."

I nodded approvingly: "Junshi, repair a letter and tell Li Tingzhi that the members of the Dragon Tooth were secretly developed in the original Yangzhou Army and the Wushui Army, and as one of the members of the new army, Wen Zhang was also a member of the secret development team. ”

"Yes, Your Majesty." The two replied.

Seeing that we had finished speaking, Yuan Jian got up and said, "Your Majesty, I recently found that there are often people near the Shifeng Commercial Bank, and they may be watching. ”

Wen Zhang said hurriedly when he heard this: "Stalking? Sir, who is the rat generation, let Wen Zhang clean them up. ”

Yuan Jian said: "It's still unknown, the situation is unknown, and the ministers don't dare to startle the snake." ”

"Yes." I said, "Among them, Jia Rudao, Mongolia's possible surname is the largest, when I was still the prince, Jia Rudao knew about this teahouse, and the Mongolians must have made fine works in the court, Xiaoqi." ”

"Official, the little one is here."

"Let Xiao Tian buy all the houses between the palace and the trading house in batches."

"Yes, the little ones will do it immediately."

"Junshi, the Ministry of Intelligence focuses on monitoring the movements of Jiafu, as well as investigating Wei Quanzhong's villa in the foothills of Lingyin Mountain."

"Obey."

Yuan Jian said: "The minister also thinks that Jia Nidao's possible surname is big, maybe His Majesty's prediction of celestial phenomena has attracted Jia Nidao's attention." ”

My opinion is the same as Yuan Jian's, but I am not as jealous of Jia as I was now.

After three or four months of understanding, I basically saw this Jia Dao clearly.

Jia Rudao's biggest strength is that he is good at capturing the emperor's mind, and he can be called a master of psychology. Its success is to create a false impression for Song Lizong, he Jia seems to be able to be civil and martial, Wen can level the courtiers, and Wu can contend with Mongolia, he is the only capable person in the Great Song Dynasty, Song Lizong left him and couldn't play, and Song Lizong slowly believed, after getting the power given to him by Song Lizong, Jia Rudao and inside and outside the court wantonly formed a party for personal gain, excluded dissidents, and blocked the true news of the border between Sichuan and Hubei and Mongolia, and said to Emperor Lizong from time to time that the Mongols were coming, Lizong was mediocre, and instructed Jia Nidao to deal with it, and Jia Nidao made up stories, The Emperor believes that as long as Jia seems to be able to speak out, there is nothing that cannot be done.

Jia Nidao's power and scheming skills are at their peak, but they are not capable of being able to secure a state and a martial arts to determine the country, and many of the important ministers in the court belong to the party of the queen mother or live in neutrality, so Jia Nidao cannot completely cover the sky.

Of course, it is not so simple to deprive Jia Nidao of power, after all, he has been operating in the DPRK for more than 20 years, and it has long been deep-rooted. The dog will jump off the wall when he is in a hurry, not to mention that Jia Rudao still has the forbidden army in his hands.

However, the ultimate enemy is still Mongolia, and the Mongolian iron cavalry that fights all over the world is not a vegetarian.

Thinking of this, I said: "In the future, when I travel, I will send more details to the surroundings, and I don't dare to rebel openly, and the only thing to watch out for is Wu Tieshan's fellow disciple, the Wu family in Changsha." However, the possibility of the Mongols cannot be completely ruled out, and those men in black must have lurked in Beijing last time. ”

Yuan Jian said: "The ministers will arrange for the Dragon's Tooth Security Department to be careful. ”

"Well, don't be in a hurry in this matter, slowly figure out the situation before making a decision. Ming said that it is the great dynasty of the middle of the court, I want to discuss the current economic matters with the ministers, you all know, now the treasury is empty, Song Ruijun is real, what is the best plan? ”

Wen Tianxiang said: "The minister does not have much research on the economy, but since ancient times, there has been a saying that the source of income and the reduction of expenditure, so the minister thinks that it is necessary to start from these two aspects at the same time." ”

Lu Xiufu said: "Song Rui is reasonable, now from the imperial court to the government at all levels, it is very expensive, compared to saving a lot of costs, but more importantly, open source, similar to the Ministry of Commerce in the dragon's teeth." Your Majesty should encourage agriculture, industry, commerce, and trade, and only when the people are rich can the tax revenue of the state treasury be increased. ”

"Well, the two Aiqing are reasonable. Song Rui, I heard that you once established a convenience library when you were in Ruizhou, is there such a thing? ”

"Back to Your Majesty, Ruizhou was ravaged by the Mongols, the city walls and houses were destroyed, the people were brutally tortured, and the cultural relics and monuments were looted. After taking office, Intertek implemented a policy of leniency, tried its best to appease the people, and raised funds to establish a "convenience bank" for lending and relief, so that local order could be restored. ”

"This convenient library can be promoted, I plan to set up a Ministry of Economy, reading power outside the six, I will think carefully tonight, and then discuss it at the court meeting tomorrow." Recently, I have won the economy of our dynasty, otherwise I would have no money to make guns and cannons, and I would not have the money to pay you money. ”