"Your Highness's words are not bad, but...... The ministers also fought with their brains and bravery, not just reckless men who blindly rushed forward, otherwise they would not have looked for weak points in the military formation everywhere during the battle. Zeng Guang lowered his head and explained to the prince, "That's right, our army's firearms are powerful, but the enemy's firearms are not as powerful as ours, their firearms are far inferior to ours in number and accuracy, and when our cavalry charges, they can not cause too much damage to our cavalry." At the same time, even if our army's firearms have made great progress compared with the pre-Ming era, their accuracy is still not enough, and if they are scattered among the various armies, they will not be able to stop our impact. Don't forget that today there is only one battalion of cavalry, but when fighting against the enemy, we have thousands of cavalry! The minister felt that with the training and courage of our cavalry, even if the infantry was in good standby, they would be able to break through, instead of just standing aside, as those who said cool things thought. In addition, our cavalry is very fast, and can easily move between various areas of the battlefield, allowing them to freely choose the battlefield, which is beyond the reach of the infantry. ”

He said very excitedly, and wanted the prince to understand that cavalry could still be used as the main force, and that the Han could compete with any enemy army now, including the Han's own infantry corps.

"I see what you mean, and there is some truth to it. However, even so, it is still unwise to use cavalry to attack the infantry formation head-on. The prince pondered for a moment, and finally shook his head, "And, even if what you say is true, as long as the firepower becomes more and more dense and powerful with the development of firearms in the future, in the end, the cavalry will not be able to use it on the battlefield at all, right?" ”

This question was to the point, Zeng Guang was a little speechless, but he quickly laughed. His Royal Highness is right, but the development of firearms cannot be achieved overnight, but slowly improved, and this situation should be a long, long time later. At least...... I'm afraid that these generations of ministers can't see it, anyway, until now, the minister thinks that cavalry is still very useful. ”

"Since the cavalry maneuvers are very fast, and it is becoming more and more dangerous to storm the enemy's formation, can we train some men to ride horses, but only for maneuvering, and then dismount and fight in formation when they encounter the enemy? I heard that the Jianzhou Jurchens were infantry on horses back then, and when they encountered the enemy, they fought under their horses, and the Ming army was also very miserable. ”

"Your Highness is really talented!" Before Zeng Guang could answer, Zhao Song, who had already broken through, took over, "Actually, similar things are already being done by our Liaodong Army. ”

"Huh?" The crown prince looked at Zhao Song with some confusion, "Are you already doing this idea?" I thought it was just my imagination......"

"Your Highness's thinking is very reasonable, how can it be called utopian!" Zhao Song smiled and shook his head, "In fact, this problem has been in front of our army for a long time, although our army is well-known in the world for its good use of firearms, but for many years firearms have been flowing out through various means, and there are Westerners selling weapons everywhere, so now when our army is facing the enemy, the enemy has more and more firearms, so the original tactics are a little difficult." We have been studying new tactics in order to adapt to the new situation. For example, one of the methods mentioned by the prince is to let the cavalry charge against the enemy's army formation lose more and more, then simply let the infantry ride and maneuver with them. This cavalry was not equipped with sabers or melee weapons, but only firearms, and was mobile everywhere, dismounting and attacking the enemy when encountered. This kind of cavalry and the cavalry that our army now has can complement each other, which greatly facilitates our army to compete with the army that is generally equipped with firearms. ”

"If this idea is so good, why hasn't it been promoted throughout the army now?" The prince asked curiously.

"That's because the situation is not urgent enough, and the equipment conditions are not ready." Zhao Song immediately explained to him, "Now the enemies around the Han Dynasty do not have the national strength to shake the existence of the Han Frontier, so the situation is not urgent enough to improve immediately, and you can move slowly." In addition, there is no suitable weapon for this kind of cavalry, and our army's firearms, whether it is a firearm or a handcuff, are too bulky to use on a horse, not to mention that they cannot be aimed and used on a horse, and even if they dismount, it is inconvenient to immediately line up to meet the enemy, so now we are tasking the research institute to develop miniaturized handcuffs as their equipment. ”

Since the founding of the country, the imperial court has set up a special appropriation to set up an organization responsible for the improvement and research and development of ordnance, and the elite technicians and technicians accumulated over the years in the original ordnance factory have been enriched with it. Thanks to their efforts, the firearms of the Han Dynasty have developed very rapidly over the years, and they have surpassed the Westerners.

The army and navy will often submit their problems and hopes to make improvements in the use of weapons to the Ordnance Division, so that they can conduct research and development, and sometimes customize weapons for a certain class or warship, and the concept of this cavalry also depends on the improvement of weapons.

Zhao Song didn't know that this originally independent Ordnance Department would also be assigned to the Ministry of War in the future, and then the ordnance factory that originally belonged to the Ministry of Industry would also be placed under the management of the Ministry of Industry, so that the Ordnance Department responsible for research and development and the ordnance factory responsible for production would be integrated into one department, and the Ordnance Factory could give feedback and produce according to the requirements of the Ordnance Department, so that every weapon improvement could be installed in the troops needed at the fastest speed.

"It seems that the military is really broad and profound, and it is by no means inferior to literature......" After hearing Zhao Song's explanation, the prince couldn't help but sigh, "Just for an idea, you have to put so much effort up and down!" ”

"It's shallow on paper, Your Highness." Zhao Song still smiled, "No matter how simple a problem seems to be, it is still difficult to implement it." ”

The crown prince always felt that Zhao Song was not just talking about military affairs, but taking the opportunity to persuade him.

"What Lu Zheng said is very true, I understand." He smiled, and then left the camp with Zhao Song.

After such an on-the-spot observation, Hashimoto Minoru was already full of confidence in the Han army, and he believed that since the Han had such a strong army, and he wanted to devote the power of the country to discuss the shogunate, then naturally there would be no mistakes, and the shogunate would definitely be defeated by them, and it was a rare luck that the imperial court was able to find the Han before they were regarded as enemies.

After that, he also talked to the prince several times, asking him to allow him to go to the capital of the Han Dynasty to meet the Son of Heaven, and after several delays, he was finally able to make the trip, but the prince asked him to leave a letter first, which he would send back to the Japanese court.

Minoru Hashimoto, who originally had this intention, naturally agreed, and then wrote down all his experiences after leaving Japan, wrote a thick letter to the prince, and then took a ship to Dahan.

After reading it carefully and confirming that there were no problems, the prince also sent the letter to the merchant ship with a commendation order attached to it, and sent it to the Nagasaki Merchant House.

Nagasaki and Busan were very close together, so soon the next day they received something from the envoy, and both Zhou Pu and Liu Jing were overjoyed.

They were not only happy that they had been rewarded by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, but also that the envoys of the Japanese court had accepted the approach of the Han Dynasty, and took the initiative to cooperate, promising to thread the needle for them.

"Your Excellency, are you planning to go to Kyoto to meet the Japanese Imperial Court for a while?" Looking at his eager look, Liu Jing asked.

"Yes. Now that we already have this thing, why don't we go early, if we can get along with Kyoto sooner, maybe it will be of great benefit to us. ”

"Your Excellency has a good point, but how do you plan to go to Kyoto? If you go to Kyoto in your current capacity, it will inevitably arouse suspicion...... "Liu Jing put forward his own suggestion......

"Of course I can't just swagger like that, I'm going to dress up in disguise and simply dress up as someone from the Shimazu family." Zhou Pu immediately stated his plan, "Although the Shimazu family is a daimyo of the foreign domain and is disliked by the shogunate, they are always people in Japan, and they have always been in contact with Kyoto, so I can take the opportunity to go to Kyoto with their people to meet their court." ”

"Have you figured out how to get in touch with their court?" Liu Jing asked again, "Don't forget that in Kyoto, the shogunate has a special agency to restrain the imperial court, and it is not so easy to get on the line with them." ”

"Naturally, we can only rely on the Shimazu family again, since they have been entrenched in Kyushu for several generations and become a daimyo, they should naturally have some way." Zhou Pu smiled, "Besides, since they are now on our thief ship, it is natural for them to do something for us." ”

"That's true, but ...... To be honest, Xia Guan still felt that something was inappropriate. Liu Jing still seemed to have something to say, "It's a bit too dangerous to rely on the Shimazu family alone, after all, the Shimazu family is also a big tree." And...... If the Shimazu family had been allowed to make meritorious contributions, would we still be able to rely on the Shimazu family to maintain control over Japan after the war? ”

"Lord Liu?" Zhou Pu looked at the other party inquiringly. Although I don't understand what he means, Liu Jing's words still make sense, whether from the current situation or from a long-term perspective, if you can not rely on the Shimazu family, it will naturally be the best. "You seem to have something in mind, right? Just tell me, there's no other good way to do it, and if there is, I'll gladly take it. ”

"It's not necessarily a good idea, it's just a suggestion." Liu Jing smiled, "My lord can rely on other people to find the imperial court when he goes to Kyoto this time, and some people are much smaller than the Shimazu family, and they are not noticed much more. ”

"I want to hear about it." Zhou Pu immediately asked.

"Although the Japanese imperial court has always been under the surveillance of the shogunate, it is not guarded all the time, and even they have a superficial respect, so as not to mess around, at least their daily life can be free and unhindered." Liu Jing explained to him in a whisper, "So, adults can try to find their way through the merchants." ”

"Through the merchants?" Zhou Pu didn't react at once.

"Yes, since their daily residence is not restricted, of course they can freely associate with merchants and buy clothes and other items from outside," Liu Jing still had a smile on his face, "The shogunate also looks down on the imperial court, thinking that they can only play the flute and drum anyway, and nothing else is useful, so they simply don't care." ”

"Actually, the shogunate is not wrong to think so, most of the ministers of the imperial court are really useless, and they don't need to be too guarded." After remembering the performance of the messenger Hashimoto Minoru, Zhou Pu suddenly nodded with deep feelings, "In short, I already understand what the adults mean, since it has come to this, I am afraid that the adults have already made a plan in their hearts, right?" Who is this businessman who is the adult's favor? ”

"Where is the lower official, what qualifications do you have to say what you want? It's nothing more than a suggestion to adults, and as for whether to adopt it or not, it all depends on the adults themselves. Liu Jing waved his hand, looking like he really just regarded himself as a subordinate.

"Lord Liu is out of sight, now we are in the same boat, we are friends of life and death in the same trouble, if something big happens, we will be killed by the shogunate together. Even if it is a fluke and everyone fights for wealth, I am afraid that they will still work together in the future, where can we divide what is superior! Today we have received the commendation of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, and it is not awarded to me alone, if there is no adult to respond, I am afraid that I will be half the effort...... Please continue to take care of me. ”

"Don't say that, adults! It is our duty to serve the country, and we dare to take credit for ourselves. Although Liu Jing looked panicked on the surface, he was also very happy after Zhou Pu's assurance, "In fact, because I export a lot of money to Japan, there are many businessmen who have taken a fancy to the benefits and have been trying to deal with us in various ways, in order to get a piece of the pie, so it is not difficult to find someone to help." For example, Mitsui is one of them. ”

"The Mitsui family?" Zhou Pu frowned, searched in his mind, and did not find a similar impression, "They are not maritime merchants, right?" I haven't heard of it. ”

"They're not maritime merchants, but they want to get involved, so now they're asking us." Liu Jing replied mysteriously.

Then, he explained the specific situation to Zhou Pu - the Mitsui family was a merchant in Ise Province, who began to do business among various daimyo during the Warring States period, and then began to get involved in the pawnshop and sake house industry, relying on the operation of these two industries, accumulated a lot of wealth over several generations, and became a well-known local wealthy businessman.

During the Warring States period, there were many such wealthy merchant families, who had been in business for generations, and traveled around the boundaries of the various daimyo to do business, and many well-known people were born among them. Because the daimyo everywhere needed them to sell goods and maintain the economy and armaments of their territories, many of these merchants were even treated as top daimyos.

For example, the Imai family, a wealthy merchant in Sakai City, was one of them, this wealthy merchant had great wealth at the time, and also had great prestige among the powerful daimyos, Tokugawa Ieyasu married Date Masamune, and let his sixth son Tadaki marry his eldest daughter, which was introduced through Imai Munekaoru, which shows the influence of these merchants.

However, the situation began to change after the Tokugawa shogunate swept through Japan and seized control of the entire country. In order to prevent the suppression of these dissenting daimyos, the shogunate deliberately suppressed the daimyo economically, so the economy of the daimyo in each region became increasingly poor, and the profits from business with them began to decline year by year. In this situation, the Mitsui family began to look for other ways to make up for their losses.

Not surprisingly, they are looking to overseas trade, especially to participate in the already growing trade with China. Wealthy businessmen will naturally bring a little bit of the momentum of wealthy businessmen, and they found Liu Jing through the officials they befriended at the beginning, and then gave a large sum of money, so they opened up the relationship with the big Han.

However, although he is the highest-level official of the Han Dynasty in Nagasaki, the trade between the two countries is not something that Liu Jing can say alone, he only verbally promised to give the other party some convenience, and even so, the Mitsui family has made some fortune in the trade between the two countries.

The Mitsui family was born in Ise, and naturally had a lot of influence in the region, and had dealings with many ministers and families in Kyoto, and as a businessman, they drank less and had more scruples than the Shimazu family, and if they could contact Kyoto, it would certainly be much better than Zhou Pu's plan.

"Sounds like this Mitsui family is pretty good...... Zhou Pu pondered for a moment after listening to his explanation, "However, businessmen value profit over righteousness, and they only come to us for profit, and they may not be willing to take risks that endanger their lives." ”

"My lord said very much, businessmen are very profitable, especially those who open pawnshops, it is ten times more cunning, most of the Japanese are straightforward, but a few of them are so cunning that it is impressive, this Mitsui Takatoshi is one of them." Liu Jing did not object to Zhou Pu's statement at all, but agreed very much, "However, there are benefits to heavy profits, as long as we induce them, they are willing to do anything, after all, they have to ask us now." We don't need to tell them that the adults are going to Kyoto, we just need to say this, and I think they will agree to us after weighing the pros and cons. ”

"That makes sense...... Zhou Pu nodded, "Okay, let's do it." My lord, let's go to the people of the Mitsui family now, and if it can be done, then I will leave as soon as possible. ”

Then, suddenly, he smiled wryly.