The decision has been made, and there is nothing else to say.

The Ming army in the Hongwu-Yongle period was the peak of organizational ability, as long as the generals above had clear instructions, even at night, some of the soldiers were still called up in an orderly manner, and under the leadership of officers such as Qianhu and Baihu, they quickly began to carry out the order, and there was no accidental bombing of the camp.

In the stacked camps of the Ming army, the direction facing the White Lotus Sect rebels was partially emptied, and the camp wall outside also remained towering, but most of the foundation stakes were pulled out, and the two ends were also tied with countless thick ropes to ensure that they could be directly pulled down or pushed down.

When viewed from the sky, such a figure is formed.

1 (Camp Wall)

Concave (front camp)

The hollow part cleaned up in the middle is a structure similar to an urn city to accommodate the people who were used as a precursor, and when the people arrived here, they were in a relatively safe position and could not break the other camps.

Chen Xuan went to dispatch, Liu Sheng, Zhu Gaoxu, and a few military cadets accompanied Jiang Xinghuo, who did not sleep, to patrol the camp.

Or, in other words, the final preparations before the battle.

There was silence all the way, and Zhang Anshi couldn't help but ask.

"Principal Jiang, what if there are White Lotus Sect rebels mixed into the people? It is also troublesome for these people to jump and climb the camp in the clothes of the people, and how should our army deal with it? ”

Jiang Xinghuo looked at Zhu Gaochi's brother-in-law, and did not answer him directly, but was quite thoughtful.

Of course, Jiang Xinghuo knew that the dispute between Zhu Gaochi and Zhu Gaochu for the prince did not disappear, but was temporarily suppressed by the general environment of the law change, and this kind of competition, even in the near future, Zhu Gaochu left Nanjing to go north to Beizhili and presided over the reform of the north, it will not disappear, but will become more intense.

Therefore, as the deputy general of the army and the commander of the tax guard, Zhu Gaoxu did not treat Zhang Anshi very well, which is not incomprehensible.

But Zhang Anshi is also his own student, and Zhu Gaochi is also an important figure who can influence the direction of the change, but Jiang Xinghuo can't treat them differently, not only that, but he should also try to win their support for the change, which is the so-called "making friends more and enemies fewer".

Before, Jiang Xinghuo received a letterhead from Zhu Gaochi, not for anything else, but to ask him if it was convenient for him to teach the young Zhu Zhanji.

Jiang Xinghuo did not directly agree or refuse at that time, but temporarily went down on the grounds that he was busy with law change affairs at that time.

Now that the Jiangnan Rebellion is over, it is time to control floods, provide disaster relief, and build factories, and then we have to return to Beijing and launch a new round of reforms.

And in any case, to teach Zhu Zhanji, that is, Zhang Anshi's eldest nephew, has to make a decision.

Jiang Xinghuo himself has no opinion on Zhu Gaochi and Zhu Zhanji, father and son, who created the "rule of Renxuan", although some of the authority was manipulated by conservative civilian officials, which led to the comprehensive contraction of the Ming Dynasty had a great adverse impact, but if you look back at that time, there were indeed various practical needs for shrinking forces in the Ming Dynasty.

But from the very beginning, Jiang Xinghuo had a lot of opinions about Zhu Qizhen of the Mingbao Sect, who didn't even have a shadow at the moment!

If the throne of the Ming Dynasty is still passed on to this product, it is difficult to be sure that there will not be another "civil engineering change".

And Jiang Xinghuo now undoubtedly has the ability to influence the outcome of the dispute between the princes to a certain extent.

How he treats his founding disciple Zhu Gaoxu, and how he treats Zhu Gaochi, Zhu Zhanji, and his son, must be measured, at the very least, he must have a rod and scale in his heart.

"Hey, Yuqian is the same age as Zhu Zhanji? If you want to bring a baby, bring Yu Qian at this time, I don't know if it will affect his growth? But the so-called character determines fate, Yu Qian's nature is like this, what will become of him after being taught by scientific concepts? Will it be possible to become my successor, to become the new Dragon Rider? Or is it a more tragic ending than in the history of previous lives? ”

A series of questions in his mind made Jiang Xinghuo's heartbeat slightly faster.

But now is obviously not the time to think about this, Zhang Anshi and others are still waiting for their answers.

All kinds of thoughts flashed, Jiang Xinghuo looked at Zhang Anshi again and said.

"Just follow the platoon gun straddle fire I taught you before."

Seeing that from Liu Sheng to Zhu Yong and Xu Jingchang, they all looked a little hesitant, Jiang Xinghuo understood what they meant.

It's not that they don't understand Jiang Xinghuo's arrangement, but they don't know the bottom of their hearts.

The so-called platoon artillery straddle fire is to use the barrage of artillery to cut off the main force of the White Lotus Sect rebels and the vanguard that has mixed into the people, and the new light bronze field artillery has transported dozens of guns, which is enough to form a platoon artillery straddle fire, so that even if the White Lotus Sect rebels are mixed into the people, they are still isolated and helpless, and they will not cause any harm.

And this tactic, in this world, it is no exaggeration to say, is the first time on the stage of history!

Why?

Because before the invention and installation of the new light bronze field cannon invented under the guidance of Jiang Xinghuo, the previous cannons were all cumbersome and almost immovable when fixed to the head of the city.

Even if someone has moved the cannon for field combat, no one has formed an artillery group in the battle to divide the barrage.

The reason is simple, the artillery straddle fire forms a barrage partition, which requires two basic preconditions.

One is a salvo, the other is rapid-fire.

In the past, the cannon was first made of a sparse barrel, a shell hit a hundred times, a hundred times can fall on different points, the spread of a wide range of points, the second is the lack of relevant artillery geometry knowledge, if the shell hits crookedly can not form a barrage, there is no way to block at all; Rapid-fire could not be done at all, because the artillery of the Hongwu era was generally large-caliber iron or stone cannons, and the reloading speed was miserable.

Therefore, a tactic that has never been used by anyone, the first time it is brought to the battlefield, who can have the bottom in their hearts?

"Let's go, let's go to the artillery camp and see the artillery first."

The artillery camp is not far away, and these cannons are Liu Sheng's housekeeping treasures, so they are naturally very precious.

The artillery camp here, although there is only a thousand households, but there are a lot of open and secret sentries.

"Hello Headmaster!"

A cadet in cowhide armor ran over to greet him.

"Open the warehouse and inspect the artillery before the battle."

Jiang Xinghuo took out his waist card and handed it to him, and after completing the regular procedures, dozens of artillery pieces that were stored in the temporary warehouse appeared in front of him.

Jiang Xinghuo's technical indicators for the War Bureau are the classic light bronze field guns that emerged from the military revolution during the Thirty Years' War in Europe, that is, the "Klein Drake" light cannon in 1628.

In fact, in Gustav's military reform, first of all, the field artillery needs to consider lightweight, which is one of the important criteria for artillery reform, and now it has been moved out by Jiang Xinghuo two hundred years in advance, and it can be done with the technology of the Ming Dynasty.

This artillery was a three-pounder bronze cannon, often referred to as a regimental cannon.

The original size of the gun was 1225 mm in length, 78 mm in caliber, the barrel / caliber ratio was about 16, and it weighed 300 to 400 catties, and the weight including the gun carriage was 600 catties.

Usually towed by two horses, it can be operated by only two artillerymen, and can fire the two most common types of ammunition (solid projectiles, shotguns), solid projectiles can hit 800 to 1,000 meters, and shotguns can hit 200 meters.

The reason why it is so light is because the copper cannon has good ductility, and the barrel can be made more light and tough than the iron cannon.

That is to say, pure copper is of course very soft and not suitable for making artillery, but adding the correct proportion of tin (91% copper and 9% tin) can produce a tough alloy, which is commonly known as gun copper, that is, bronze used to cast guns, gun copper is harder than pure copper and pure tin, and the melting point is slightly lower than pure copper but much higher than pure tin, and the weight of the cast cannon is much lighter than that of iron cannons, only hundreds of pounds in weight, and it is completely possible to use mules and horses to quickly maneuver in the field.

Don't underestimate this, the mule-horse rapid artillery unit will not be outdated in World War I, but the artillery is different.

In addition, the copper cannon has many advantages, for example, because the copper element is more stable than the iron element, it is not easy to react with other substances in the smelting process to form impurities, the purity of the copper cannon is often higher than that of the iron cannon, and the furnace temperature is also hundreds of degrees lower, it is not as brittle as iron, the damage caused by the explosion is small, and the corrosion resistance and so on.

Of course, there are pros and cons, the bronze cannon has high structural strength and light weight, but the problem is that copper is a currency metal and an auxiliary currency of the Ming Dynasty, so the cost of building a cannon is to burn money in it.

- Copper coins are melted, impurities are removed, and copper cannons are cast, which is a real sense of money burning.

In addition to this, the Bronze Cannon heats up quickly after continuous fire, which means that it cannot withstand long periods of rapid fire, and once it is overloaded, there is a risk of exploding, and the barrel life will be drastically shortened.

Now there is no technology to replace the barrel, and if it is not used, it will have to be scrapped and rebuilt.

The cost is undoubtedly a huge obstacle to the large-scale installation of bronze cannons.

Of course, all of this will be solved with the occupation of Japan's silver mines.

As long as Jiang Xinghuo conceived in prison, abolishing the status of copper coins as auxiliary coins and monetizing silver as treasure money, then there will naturally be endless copper for cannon casting.

Looking at the rows of bright artillery, everyone's hearts began to gradually quiet, full of confidence in victory.

The soldier's desire for battle and honor gradually rose to the top of his heart.

Just as they wanted to say something, Jiang Xinghuo suddenly said.

"Artillery still has to be standardized, and craftsmen make it by hand, which is somewhat slower and not standardized enough.

"What does Master mean?"

Facing Zhu Gaoxu, Jiang Xinghuo did not hide it, he motioned for a few people to sit on the ground, and then said.

"The way forward is to replace artificial cotton weaving with standard machines, and the same is true for the casting of gun barrels."

People cannot imagine what they cannot know, and this is true for the world after death, as well as for the future of this world.

Liu Sheng asked curiously: "Now that the cannon barrel is drilled with a large iron vertebrae, then how does Principal Jiang think the machine should cast the cannon barrel?" ”

"With a boring machine, a hydraulic boring machine."

Jiang Xinghuo stroked the barrel of the bronze field cannon beside him, and once again truly felt the changes he had brought to this era.

"In the future, when we make cannons, we don't need to rub the hard hands of craftsmen, turning, milling, drilling, grinding, boring, planing, punching, these steps will be done by corresponding machine tools."

Jiang Xinghuo sighed for a while: "In addition, mining, metallurgy, shipbuilding, can use machine tools, and it has to be iterated from generation to generation. ”

After that, Jiang Xinghuo gestured with his hand, and when he saw that a few people still didn't understand, he didn't care, but turned to say.

"It's normal for you not to understand, just like a lot of people don't understand you either."

As soon as these words came out, even the air in the warehouse where the artillery was stored fell silent.

"I know that many people in the military circles of the Ming Dynasty don't agree with these things such as artillery and firearms, so those who adhere to this point of view are also somewhat contemptuous on weekdays."

Liu Sheng, Xu Jingchang and the others all nodded silently, and the principal obviously said what was in their hearts.

"But I always feel that artillery and guns can really change war, and I want to fight this battle!"

After Zhu Yong finished speaking, he buried his head: "My father doesn't believe it, and I can't tell him clearly, so I'm a little angry. Principal Jiang, I want to prove to my father tomorrow that I was right! ”

"I also believe you're right."

Jiang Xinghuo nodded, and turned to look at the few people sitting around him.

"What about you? Do you want to fight this battle? Or is it just a duty to have to fight? ”

"I want to fight."

The reason given by Zhu Gaoxu is simple and unpretentious: "I like the feeling of cutting off people's heads." ”

"My subordinates want to fight too." Liu Sheng hesitated for a moment, "My subordinates seem to have been born to do this, and after seeing Principal Jiang's concept of forming a firearms unit, my heart is like grass growing, and I am no longer willing to command other troops. Firearms are attractive to me, and I want to prove it. ”

"What about the two of you?"

Zhang Anshi is also honest: "I don't have much preference for firearms, but I want to prove to those noble children that I have my own ability, and I don't live by my brother-in-law." ”

Only Xu Jingchang has been silent.

Several people said what was in their hearts, and when they saw that he didn't speak, they were naturally a little surprised, Zhu Yong pestled him with his elbow, and Xu Jingchang grinned in pain.

Xu Jingchang hesitated for a long time, and then said: "I don't actually need to prove anything, and I don't have any preference for firearms, my family asked me to come, and the family has a heavy responsibility." And I came all the way here, and I felt guilty if I didn't accompany everyone to do this big thing. ”

As soon as the conversation box is opened, it will be easy to talk later.

Xu Jingchang continued: "You all know the situation in my family, so I won't hide it. My uncle will go north soon, and together with the two generals Ping'an and Sheng Yong, he will be responsible for the reorganization of the troops of the king of the north, and he will not be able to come back in a few years. ”

What he said was not to show off, but to be a fact, after the death of Xu Da, the king of Zhongshan, the Duke of Wei had Xu Huizu and Xu Zengshou, and the rest of Xu Da's sons were not wrecked, and the daughters of the Xu family were also well married, so they were still the top wealthy relatives of the Ming Dynasty.

But now, Xu Zengshou was given to death by Emperor Jianwen a year ago, Xu Huizu was to be transferred, and the Huanghuang Wei Mansion was about to collapse the sky, as the leader of the third generation of the Xu family, Xu Jingchang naturally had to work hard to cheer up and make some contributions to the family.

And what can we do now to stabilize the position of the Xu family? Naturally, he moved closer to the national teacher Jiang Xinghuo.

Xu Jingchang, who doesn't talk much on weekdays, talks more and more at this time, and the more he talks, the more presumptuous he becomes, and in the end, he simply said.

"National teacher, my aunt (Queen Xu) actually asked me to ask one thing before leaving, but I haven't found a chance to ask, and now that I'm about to fight, no one can say whether there will be three long and two short tomorrow, so I have to return the horse leather shroud."

Looking at everyone's suddenly somewhat strange eyes, Jiang Xinghuo said calmly: "You say." ”

"My sister-in-law Xu Miaojin has not married so far, Your Majesty and the eldest and queen mothers intend to marry you, in this way, in terms of seniority, you are still the elder of the princes, a national teacher, an emperor teacher, a prince teacher, no matter who becomes the prince in the future, the prince and the prince will not be able to run."

As soon as these words came out, the warehouse suddenly became a little embarrassed.

It has always been the national teacher who arranged this and that, and today it was arranged for the national teacher, and it was still a marriage, which was quite uncomfortable.

"Xu Jingchang!" Zhu Gaoxu, who was on the side, finally couldn't stand such an atmosphere and shouted coldly.

That is, Zhu Gaoxu, changed to Liu Sheng, although these people are his students and subordinates, but their status is amazing, Zhu Yong and Xu Jingchang are like this, I can't say when I will become the grandfather of the country, but I don't dare to scold him on weekdays.

Seeing that the second prince Zhu Gaochu was angry, Xu Jingchang sneered and said: "Your Highness, don't be angry, I just want to explain the difficulties of our family (and Zhu Gaoxu are in-laws) to the national teacher, if it can be natural, it would be great, if the national teacher is unwilling, it will not be embarrassing when the aunt comes to ask in the future." ”

Hearing this, everyone looked at Jiang Xinghuo, waiting for him to make a statement.

I saw Jiang Xinghuo's brows furrowed slightly, and he said slowly for a while:

"I've seen Miss Miaojin, she is a beauty in the show, and her family is high enough, if it is from the perspective of marriage, it is also very beneficial to Jiang himself, after all, she can directly become an in-law with the Duke of Wei and the royal family, and it is difficult to refuse in anyone's eyes. But this family business, Jiang has no will. ”

Hearing this, everyone was stunned, obviously not understanding his answer.

After all, the national teacher has always advocated gathering all the forces that can be gathered to promote the change, and only need to nod, not only can he hold the beauty, but also get the support of the top nobles like the Duke of Wei, and even get related to the royal family and become His Majesty's brother-in-law, why not?

Moreover, Xu Miaojin is also a first-class beauty in the capital, but the wealthy lady does not have too much arrogance and temper, and she is proficient in piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, and even bow and horse, if it weren't for the dilemma of seeing the two sisters in Jingjing, she resolutely refused to marry, I am afraid that she would have married a long time ago, and it would not be Queen Xu's turn to marry Jiang Xinghuo.

It is reasonable for him to ask for it.

Xu Jingchang seemed to grasp the key point in a trance, and asked tentatively: "Does the national teacher think that he is not worthy of his sister-in-law?" ”

Zhang Anshi shouted: "A talented man is worthy of a beautiful woman, if a talent like a national teacher is not worthy of it, there are few men in the world who are more worthy." ”

"It's not."

Xu Jingchang continued to ask: "Since it's not, why is the national teacher unwilling?" Could it be that the national teacher likes other women? Or is it "

"Nope."

Hearing this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, it's good if there isn't.

"None of them, why did the national teacher refuse?" Xu Jingchang asked again.

Jiang Xinghuo didn't answer directly, but looked at Zhu Gaoxu and asked, "Do you remember the noon when your father first came to the edict prison to listen to the class?" ”

Zhu Gaoxu was stunned, and seemed to fall into memories for a short time, with a little depression on his face.

Zhu Gaoxu suddenly felt a little like in a dream, feeling that all the people and things in front of him seemed to be a little unreal, he was still the second prince who ran into the edict in a fit of anger with his father, not the deputy general of the army who led the tax guards to quell the rebellion in Jiangnan and promote the reform of the law.

"I remember, at that time, Shi and Mr. Jiang were talking about the release of military power with a cup of wine in the Song Dynasty, and the time to eat watermelon with me under the tree passed so fast, and a year was about to pass."

"If only you remember." Jiang Xinghuo nodded, "Then what are we doing now?" ”

Zhu Gaoxu pondered, pondered for a moment, and then said, "Make a big watermelon?" ”

"Yes, to make big watermelons, I am also the one who makes watermelons, and I am also the one who divides watermelons. The knife to cut the watermelon is in my hand, who to share more, to whom to share less, a little bit of the pool, is full of resentment, if I am iron-faced, selfless, not close to people, it is fine, but if there is an entanglement of interests, that is, I uphold the justice of my heart, can outsiders completely believe in my impartiality? ”

After Jiang Xinghuo said this, the hearts of everyone present were more or less admired.

The mind and ambition of the national teacher can be described as admirable.

You must know that the vast majority of people in this world live for profit, not for ideals. Many people, after having power, will indulge in all kinds of material or spiritual enjoyments.

And the national teacher can uphold the ideal in his heart, and do not hesitate to give up his personal interests for this, this kind of noble character of sacrificing the small for the big is not something that any person can do.

"I'm not a saint, so naturally I don't have to dress up how noble I am, but I still want to tell you that now is the first step in the hundred-mile journey of changing the law, and there is no room for slack and enjoyment."

Jiang Xinghuo patted the barrel of the bronze field cannon beside him vigorously, and his clapped hands were a little red, and he said with some emotion.

"Maybe you don't feel it, but I really think that including these cannons in front of me, all this is too easy and not easy. This thing shouldn't be in this day and age, you know? ”

"And for the road ahead of changing the law, the road is too difficult and dangerous, if you are not careful, you will not be able to turn over, and sometimes I am really a little afraid in my heart."

"When I woke up in the middle of the night a few months ago, I often asked myself, can I really do this kind of thing that changes the world and even history? Are my abilities, decisions, knowledge, and conduct really worthy of my ideals? ”

"But after thinking about it, it's useless after all, it's self-internal friction, and later, I don't want to think about it at all."

Jiang Xinghuo simply stood up: "All the truths in the world have to be implemented in a down-to-earth manner, that is, the sentence of the Three Kingdoms, crying day and night, can you cry to death Dong Zhuo?" It's the same now, thinking about it day and night, if you don't do one thing, can you change the law out of thin air? And to do things, you have to be within the range of this artillery. ”

"I understand, the national teacher upholds the way of heaven and justice."

At this time, Zhu Yong on the side suddenly said: "But in this way, even if the law change is successful, the national teacher will be regarded as the prime minister who saves the time." But in the future, I am afraid that it will still be criticized by civil and military officials and courtiers."

"What you said is also tactful, you might as well say it directly, isn't it the ending of the fifth equal division of Shang Ying?"

Jiang Xinghuo smiled: "What are you afraid of? Since Jiang is the principal of a military academy, he is also half a soldier, and the last thing he is afraid of is death. ”

Zhang Anshi on the side didn't speak, but he was also a little secretly glad that he listened to his sister's intention to report to the Ming Royal Military Academy, otherwise he would have missed such a heroic figure as the national teacher, which is really a regret in his life!

This kind of mind and courage is really a model for our generation!

Xu Jingchang originally planned to shut up, but in the end, he couldn't help but ask a question for his sister-in-law.

"Then the national teacher, what kind of woman do you like? In other words, what kind of woman will the national teacher think is a good match? ”

Jiang Xinghuo was in a trance for a while, and many memories seemed to flash in his mind, but in the end they all turned into fragments.

Jiang Xinghuo said firmly: "What I need is not a good match, but like-minded people." ”

"What does it mean to be like-minded?"

"With the ambition to save the world, you can give up your small family and throw away your personal interests; Deal with things with benevolence, righteousness and fairness, be frank and open, and lead Huaxia to take the road of light. ”

Xu Jingchang replied thoughtfully, "I understand." ”

"Maybe you don't necessarily understand, you don't necessarily understand yet, but I really hope that you and I will go to the end and be like-minded people and will not part ways."

Jiang Xinghuo got up and waved his hand and said: "That's the end of tonight's talk, you just have to arrange the troops to be stationed, and don't underestimate the enemy tonight." In addition, the order was sent down to let the soldiers who had finished working in the former battalion hurry up to rest and recuperate, and there would be a decisive battle tomorrow morning. ”

This is the official directive.

"Subordinates obey!" Everyone bowed their hands in unison.

The final mobilization before the war, everyone cheered up.

"Now that our army has absolute superiority in all aspects, coupled with the fact that our army is well-equipped and has sharp artillery, as long as the traitors dare to meet them head-on, we have enough confidence to defeat them."

"It's best to be caught in one net, and at that time, the entire Taihu Lake will become empty, as long as we can eliminate the Taihu Lake bandits in time and win the hearts of the people. The Taihu Lake area will once again be included under the Ming Dynasty. ”

Jiang Xinghuo continued: "Of course, if the rebels of the White Lotus Sect do not fight a decisive battle with us, we will also force them to fight, if we think about it any worse, the traitors really want to retreat, we can also take advantage of this good opportunity to suppress the rebellion and completely sweep away the waters of Taihu Lake." ”

"As for success or failure, I believe in myself and in you."

After finishing speaking, Jiang Xinghuo turned around and walked towards the warehouse gate.

The night is thick, but it will eventually dawn.

I will dedicate myself to this ideal of either blessing or disaster, and I will never admit defeat or turn back.

Even if no one is together.

PS: [Important Reminder (There is no charge for the content of this paragraph)] Chapters 316-356 are the content of Jiangnan's rectification of the official rule and the suppression of the rebellion, without any theoretical knowledge, all of which are practical content, if you don't like it, you can skip directly to Chapter 366 "Class", and then it contains theoretical knowledge.

(End of chapter)