Zhu Youzhen touched the slightly hot barrel and asked Li Fengjie:

"How far can this Hongyi cannon hit?"

"Your Majesty, it's about three miles, and no matter how far it goes, it's not so powerful."

Zhu Youzhen nodded.

Three miles up and down, that is, about 1,800 meters, is already very powerful at this time, but it is really inconvenient to move the weight of more than 2,000 catties. It would be nice if it could be improved, thinking of this, he said to Sun Yuanhua:

"Sun Qing."

"The minister is here."

"I'll give you this Hongyi cannon, and you'll see if you can make it."

"Your Majesty, there are artillery craftsmen brought back by Lord Li, and it shouldn't be difficult to imitate them. But I'm afraid the cost is not small. ”

"You don't have to worry about the silver, you just need to make it, I will order the War Bureau to fully cooperate with you in the development!" Zhu Youzhen waved his hand and said proudly.

"Command!"

Zhu Youzhen ordered someone to try the musket again, and the movement of the musket was much smaller. Of course, the power is also small. He handed the musket to Bi Maokang and asked him to compare it with the self-generated firearm he had made the other day to see if he could have any new inspiration.

On the way back to the palace, he has been thinking about the problems that exist in Daming at the moment.

It is often said that the demise of a dynasty is often due to internal and external troubles, and the Ming Dynasty was in such a situation at this time.

If you look at it from a historical point of view, the internal worries of the Ming Dynasty are the peasant uprisings. But what caused the peasant uprising? It's a natural disaster.

In this matter, the heavens may not favor Chongzhen very much, and the natural disaster is so serious that it is outrageous. At first, there was a drought in some areas, but later on, floods, snowstorms, plagues, locust plagues, and hail came one after another. As far as the Henan region is concerned, Chongzhen has been in drought for seven years for ten to seventeen years! The drought lasted until he died.

When the people had no food to eat, they began to eat grass and tree bark, and when they finished eating, they ate the soil, but they still died after eating. Some people don't want to die, what to do? Rebellion. Will the rebellion die? Possibly. But if you don't rebel, you will die. This obvious multiple-choice question is something that everyone will do. If you want these people not to rebel, then let them have enough to eat. What do you need to have a full meal? Money needed!

As for external problems, it's even simpler.

Houjin.

A very strong, but not strong enough enemy.

Zhu Youzhen thought a lot, disasters, displaced people, landlords, scholars, Mongolia, and Houjin.

It's like having thousands of clues, and finally they converge to one point.

Money.

Everything is a war of money.

While I was thinking about it, the palace arrived.

As soon as he entered the Qianqing Palace and sat down, Wang Chengen walked in.

"Long live, Lord Wang Xiangqian has arrived, and he is asking to see him outside the palace."

"Oh? Please come in! ”

Seeing Wang Xiangqian trembling and walking in from outside, Zhu Youzhen hurriedly ordered someone to give him a seat. Then he stepped forward and held him up, stopping him from saluting.

Looking at this eighty-two-year-old man, Zhu Youzhen thought of an anecdote about him.

It is said that when Wang Xiangqian was guarding the new town, he ordered the craftsman to build a big knife, which was one foot wide and weighed a hundred pounds. Every time Wang Xiangqian inspected the frontier, he asked four people to follow with big knives. Everywhere he went, he thrust his broadsword into the ground and let the enemy in the north get it, but no one could move it.

Wang Xiangqian carved a big knife with paulownia wood, the same size, width and narrowness, and pasted silver foil on the outside, making it exactly the same. He danced the wooden sword on the frontier, rode to and fro, and laughed demonically.

The frightened northern tribes were all terrified, and regarded Wang Xiangqian as a god.

Later, Wang Xiangqian inserted reeds outside the border pass as a boundary, which was more than ten miles horizontally oblique, shaped like a fence, and threatened: "This is the Great Wall." "When the northern soldiers came, they all pulled him down and burned him, and Wang Xiangqian inserted it again and was burned again. It was burned three times in a row, and the enemy soldiers didn't bother to pull it out, so they burned it when they came.

But the fourth time, the quick-witted Wang Xiangqian buried gunpowder stones under the reeds. The northern soldiers came and lit a fire, but all the medicine stones suddenly exploded, and the enemy soldiers were killed and wounded. After the enemy fled, Wang Sima planted reeds as before. No matter how far the enemy soldiers saw it, they did not dare to come and pull it out, so they rode and ran. From then on, the enemy soldiers in the north were afraid of Wang Xiangqian, and they were obedient to him and very honest.

For this old man who has struggled for Daming all his life, Zhu Youzhen is net weight in his heart. After a brief greeting of two sentences, I got to the point.

"Wang Qing, I summoned you here today as a last resort. At present, the situation outside the border is turbulent, and the Mongolian provinces are divided. I intend to make Qing the governor of Xuanda. I hope you don't shirk! ”

"Your Majesty, the minister is very old. I'm afraid I can't take on this heavy responsibility. ”

"Wang Qing, at the beginning of this year, the Karaqin Department united with the Ordos, Abagar, Asut, and Khalkha departments, with the support of the Eastern Prisoners, to form a coalition of more than 100,000 people, and the 10,000 soldiers and horses under the command of Hudun Rabbit fought in Zhaocheng, and Hudun Rabbit was outnumbered and almost all of them were annihilated. I expected that he would send someone to negotiate with my Ming Dynasty and restore the city reward. At present, most of the Mongolian tribes have formed an alliance with the eastern captives, such as Hudun Rabbit moving west again, and the Great Wall outside Jizhen is completely opened, and there is no fence to follow. At that time, Dongyu will bypass the Ningjin defense line, take troops from Jizhen, and approach the Beijing Division, and I will be in danger! ”

It is said that Hudun Rabbit is also a talent, and it can be said that it is simply the Mongolian version of Chongzhen.

His full name is Erjin Lindan Batur, the 22nd grandson of Genghis Khan, the descendant of the Golden Family, the head of the Chahar Department, and the last suzerainty in the history of the Northern Yuan Dynasty.

Listen, these series of titles are simply golden signs in the grassland.

I don't know if it's because of the genes of the golden family in his body, he has always wanted to restore the glory of his ancestors.

So hit this today, hit that tomorrow.

In the end, he betrayed his relatives, and after he died, even his wife and his children surrendered to their enemies.

For such a person, under normal circumstances, Zhu Youzhen may not be interested at all.

But this is not the right moment.

According to historical records, Hudun Rabbit would send his brother-in-law to negotiate in May, but was killed by the generals of Xinpingbao. From the perspective of national righteousness, it is quite relieving. But the next series of consequences is a little unbearable.

Hudun Rabbit immediately besieged Datong after knowing it, and then the negotiations were not settled. In the end, Chongzhen announced that he would never give them any more money to spend. Now it's okay, not only Hudun Rabbit is reluctant to move back to live, but even the thirty-six families of Harashen, who were rewarded before, have also fallen to Houjin.

Since then, the periphery of the Great Wall has been completely opened, and Houjin has changed since the second year.

Although continuing to reward is tantamount to drinking water to quench your thirst, it will be half the effort, but it will be of some use.

Don't you just want money? Give it to him!

40,000 taels of silver a year, not much.

Wang Xiangqian looked at the young emperor in front of him unexpectedly, but he didn't expect it to coincide with his own thinking. So he said slowly but firmly:

"Please rest assured, Your Majesty, you will not fail in your mission!"