The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 498 Don’t Be Ruined by the Civilian

Wanli was really prepared to personally teach the future crown prince.

This is even more important than expanding territory.

As the saying goes, it is easy to conquer a country but difficult to keep it.

Now that the Ming Dynasty has become extremely powerful, it is not difficult to expand its territory.

The problem is that it is not easy to hold on to the kingdom you have conquered.

This "holding" does not just mean that the soldiers guard the land and the border.

In fact, most of the powerful dynasties in history began to collapse from within.

Because there are always people who cannot control their greed, who are greedy for pleasure, greedy for wealth and glory, and even want to live a life of luxury.

All of these are based on the exploitation and oppression of others. If you want to exploit and oppress others, you need to fight for power and profit. Once there are too many people fighting for power and profit, there will be many conflicts.

Interests are limited, but some people's greed is unlimited. In the end, if the interests gained cannot satisfy the greed of some people, all kinds of bizarre and strange things will happen, and a dynasty will begin to collapse.

This kind of thing has been common throughout the dynasties. It can be said that the demise of a dynasty begins with internal collapse. Some people have seized too many benefits, leaving others with insufficient benefits to grab. The common people are even unable to afford clothes or food, and then the dynasty enters the countdown to its demise.

The saying "rich people live in luxury while poor people freeze to death on the streets" is a portrayal of internal collapse.

Wine and meat refer to benefits. Some people take away too much benefits and cannot use them all, so they can only leave them there to rot. The common people do not even have the most basic necessities of survival and can only starve to death or freeze to death. Then this dynasty is not far from destruction.

The Ming Dynasty had actually developed to this level during the Jiajing period.

At that time, there were constant wars between the Japanese pirates in the south and the barbarians in the north, and natural disasters occurred frequently. Countless people starved to death or froze to death. The profits seized by the Yan Party, the three major powerful families of Puzhou, and even the Qingliu leader Xu Jie amounted to millions of taels, which was richer than the imperial court and could not be spent at all.

These civil servants keep saying that they are working for the country and the people, but the imperial court is unable to provide disaster relief, yet they have never contributed a penny. They just watch the people starve to death or freeze to death. With such civil servants in power, how can the Ming Dynasty not perish?

Therefore, Wanli wanted to personally teach the future crown prince. He did not want the civil officials to ruin his successor.

If civil servants were allowed to teach, they would definitely be kidnapped by all kinds of etiquette and morality, destroyed by all kinds of useless knowledge, and taught all kinds of principles that you must employ talented people to govern the country.

In short, they wanted to abolish the emperor's teachings and rely on themselves to govern the country.

Therefore, starting from the reign of Emperor Renzong and Emperor Xuanzong, it became an unwritten rule that the imperial tutor must enter the cabinet as a Grand Secretary or even the Chief Minister of the Cabinet.

Why?

This is what they teach.

You are not capable enough to be the emperor, you must appoint these "virtuous" people to govern the country!

This is a historical fact. Just like the Jiajing, Longqing and Wanli dynasties in history, Jiajing was a vassal king who succeeded to the throne. He had no imperial teacher, so he didn't have to listen to anyone.

Longqing couldn't do that. He had to listen to the imperial teacher Gao Gong and let him enter the cabinet and even become the chief minister.

Wanli couldn't do it either. He had to listen to the imperial teacher Zhang Juzheng and let Zhang Juzheng be the chief minister. Even if Zhang Juzheng died, it wouldn't work. He had to let Zhang Siwei, the former attendant of the Eastern Palace and the Chancellery, be the chief minister!

If civil servants were allowed to teach like this, the Ming Dynasty would be finished.

These civil officials don't teach the prince how to govern the country, they only teach the prince to let them govern the country!

Wanli naturally would not allow the civil officials to ruin the future crown prince. He planned to personally teach the young Zhu Changxun how to govern the country.

So, how to teach?

At about 3:00 p.m., little Zhu Changxun had just woken up from a nap, and Wanli carried him out of the Miyun Palace and came to the workshop outside.

At this time, Yongnian Earl Wang Wei was already waiting in the workshop with Wang Jun and Wang Dong.

After the emperor and his ministers exchanged greetings, little Zhu Changxun asked in surprise, "Grandpa, uncle, and uncle, why are you all here?"

When asked this question, Yongnianbo Wang Wei, Wang Jun and Wang Dong didn't know how to answer.

Wanli smiled slightly and said, "Xun'er, you may not know this yet, but your grandfather is in charge of all the workshops in the entire Summer Resort. The muskets, cannons, grain carts, chariots, and even swords, spears, and halberds used by our Ming soldiers were all made by your grandfather and his craftsmen."

Wow!
Little Zhu Changxun couldn't help but ask in surprise: "Grandpa, are you so powerful?"

That's what I said.

Yongnian Bo said with a loving face: "Your Highness, I am a humble servant who was born into a family of craftsmen. I have been doing this my whole life. This is not considered impressive."

Oh, my grandfather also came from a family of craftsmen.

Little Zhu Changxun nodded slightly, and couldn't help asking, "Grandpa, what are they doing?"

Uh, well, I don’t know why His Majesty brought you here.

Yongnian Earl Wang Wei couldn't help but look at Wanli cautiously.

Seeing this, Wanli smiled slightly and said, "This is where they assemble muskets. Do you want to go in and take a look?"

It turned out to be the place where muskets were assembled.

Little Zhu Changxun nodded repeatedly and said, "I think about it, I think about it."

Children are curious and want to see everything.

Wanli nodded slightly, and then signaled Yongnian Earl Wang Wei to lead the way.

Yongnianbo Wang Wei hurriedly led them inside.

The Ming Dynasty had already started mass production of muskets, and the quantity was very large.

Wanli also specifically asked Yongnianbo Wang Wei to integrate the workshops for manufacturing and assembling muskets and put them all together. This place is very large, with various workshops for manufacturing precision parts lined up in rows.

Wanli also asked Yongnian Earl Wang Wei to take them to the workshops where each part was made. Moreover, he took one of each part and let little Zhu Changxun play with it in his hands.

Along the way, Xiao Zhu Changxun, Wang Jun and Wang Dong all had a lot of delicate little parts in their hands.

When they arrived at the final assembly workshop, Wanli had almost explained the functions of these parts to Zhu Changxun.

This final assembly workshop is an extremely large room. The tables and shelves inside are so densely packed that it makes people dizzy. There are at least a hundred craftsmen sitting there carefully assembling muskets. The whole workshop is filled with the sound of clicking.

Seeing this, little Zhu Changxun couldn't help but exclaim in surprise, "Wow, it's so big. How many muskets can be assembled in a day?"

Wanli looked at Yongnian Earl Wang Wei very decisively.

Yongnianbo Wang Wei patiently explained: "Your Highness, this place is actually not very big. This workshop is only about a mile long. We can only assemble a hundred muskets at a time. Moreover, many parts of the muskets need to be run in. It would be good if each of them can assemble four or five muskets a day.

So, that's 400 to 500 pieces a day. However, not all of them are qualified. They still need to be tested. Generally, only about 80% are qualified, which means we can only make 300 to 400 pieces a day."

This number is already terrifying, tens of thousands per month, and more than 100,000 per year.

In other words, the Ming Dynasty could equip millions of musketeers in less than ten years.

This is the true warmongering.

Upon hearing this, Wanli couldn't help but nodded slightly.

Little Zhu Changxun said excitedly, "Do we need to test it further? Let's go see how they shoot."

what?
Can I watch this too?

Upon hearing this, Yongnian Earl Wang Wei looked at Wanli cautiously again.

Wanli pondered, "Will the gun explode if I test it now?"

How do you say this?

Yongnianbo Wang Wei said carefully: "It is possible that the barrel exploded, but at most the shell and bolt inside would be destroyed, the gun body and barrel would not explode."

That's no problem.

Upon hearing this, Wanli said without hesitation: "Okay, let's go and take a look."

The place where guns were tested was actually right at the base of the city wall behind the workshop, and the target was placed against the city wall.

There are actually only ten craftsmen in the shooting range who actually test guns, but there are also twenty or thirty who disassemble the guns for inspection.

The gun testers were very skillful. After taking a new gun, they would load a box of bullets into it and shoot non-stop. After shooting, they would directly replace the old one with a new cross target ring and take a closer look to determine whether the new gun was qualified.

This is their job, and they don't feel anything after doing it for so long.

When little Zhu Changxun saw this, he was so excited that he couldn't help himself.

When he was in the palace, Queen Wang did not allow him to watch the soldiers firing, but now he finally saw it.

The gunshots sounded like firecrackers, popping non-stop. He was so excited that he danced with joy and just wanted to pick up a gun to try it out.

Wanli however signaled Yongnian Earl Wang Wei to bring a small telescope and put it in his hand.

Of course he knows how to use a telescope.

He immediately raised his telescope and scanned everywhere.

This little guy not only looked at the target, but also carefully looked at the place where ammunition was loaded and fired for a long time.

Wanli had watched him for a long time, and then asked, "How is it? What do you think?"

Feeling?
That certainly feels really fun.

However, this is definitely not what my father wants to hear.

Little Zhu Changxun actually pondered, "Father, I feel this musket is much more powerful than a bow and arrow."

Oh, little guy, it feels good.

Wanli nodded with satisfaction and said, "Yes, our muskets are much more powerful than bows and arrows.

It is very difficult to shoot an arrow through the target from a hundred paces away. It requires diligent study and practice for a long time, and it also requires eyesight, hand strength, physical strength, etc. Therefore, there are not many archers who can shoot the arrow through the target from a hundred paces away.

Our muskets are different. It is very easy to learn to aim and shoot. Moreover, as long as you aim more and practice more, it is not difficult to hit the center of the bull's eye within a hundred steps.

More importantly, our muskets do not have high requirements for hand strength and physical strength. Generally, a young and strong man will do. In this way, we can train archers in batches.

In addition, our muskets are more lethal than bows and arrows within a hundred steps, and their range is longer than that of ordinary longbows. Moreover, firing a gun does not consume any physical energy. As long as the musket is in good condition, firing dozens or even hundreds of shots will be no problem.

This is just the beginning. We can also develop muskets with longer range, and we can also find a way to make the muskets shoot bullets continuously. In that case, bows and arrows will be useless, and archers will be no match for the muskets.

Therefore, it is a trend that muskets will replace bows and arrows, and muskets and cannons will definitely dominate the world in the future.

You must remember this. From now on, you must focus on developing muskets, artillery, and tower ships. You must find ways to continuously increase the range and rate of fire of muskets and artillery. Only in this way can we remain invincible."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Zhu Changxun nodded repeatedly and said, "I understand, your son. I will remember this."

Maybe he really understood it, or maybe he didn't.

But it doesn't matter. He will understand everything when he sees a battle between muskets, artillery and cold weapons.

(End of this chapter)