The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 56 Liaodong Rebellion
After the palace examination, Wanli actually took Queen Wang, Concubine Zhang, Concubine Wang Gong and others to the Summer Palace!

It's still spring now and it's not hot at all in the capital. Why should we avoid the heat?
The civil and military officials in the court were no longer able to deal with the little emperor.

Because he had already taken control of the Beijing Camp, the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Imperial Guards, and he was extremely rebellious and would kill people if he made them angry.

Who would dare to provoke him in this situation?

Of course, Wanli was not here to escape the summer heat; he was here to see samples of artillery and telescopes.

And, more importantly, spring has come, and the ice on the Chaobai River and the Beiyun River has melted. He can easily transfer the elite troops of the Shandong Dusi Garrison to expand the Beijing camp.

The longer the emperor was in power, the more he realized that imperial power was supported by military force, and a dynasty must also be supported by military force.

After the Yongle Dynasty, successive emperors of the Ming Dynasty were fooled by civil officials and focused more on civil affairs than military affairs. The strength of the Ming Dynasty declined and the imperial power gradually weakened.

If this continues, the Ming Dynasty will be finished sooner or later.

He must control enough military force to completely regain imperial power, and the Ming Dynasty must maintain enough military force to continue. Without military force, everything is fake.

Therefore, he made controlling and developing military force his top priority.

As soon as the palace examination was over, he brought a group of concubines and tens of thousands of imperial guards and Jinyiwei and headed straight to the Mountain Resort.

As the sun sets, the long dragon-like team finally merges into the huge Summer Resort. The rows of water wheels appear before their eyes again, and Qi Jiguang, Wang Wei, Zhou Danquan and others also hurried to meet them.

When Wanli saw this familiar scene and familiar people, he felt extremely happy.

He asked impatiently, "How was the artillery test?"

Qi Jiguang said excitedly, "The range of the new artillery is about the same as the old artillery, only about two miles, but the reloading speed is amazing, comparable to the new musket."

Wanli looked at the carriage behind him and said very simply: "Uncle, take them to the other courtyard. Yuanjing, let's go to the shooting range."

At this time, a gun carriage had already been set up on the shooting range. It was the kind with two large wheels, a small platform for the gun in the middle, and forked iron brackets at the front and back.

The cannon on the gun carriage did not look big, about the thickness of an arm and two feet long.

This was designed based on the impression in his mind and the prototype of the Tiger Crouching Cannon. At that time, he only drew a sketch without even the dimensions, but now the real thing has appeared before his eyes.

When Wanli saw this, he couldn't help but feel dazed.

He stepped forward to take a closer look, then asked, "How is it? Is it easy to pull the horse?"

Upon hearing this, Yongnianbo Wang Wei explained in detail, "We've tried this before. The two front legs are connected to the warhorse's reins, and the two rear legs can be pulled up so two people can push it. The four large iron nails have holes on them, and iron rods are inserted into the holes. Two people can lift them up and pull the nails out, making it very convenient to pull a horse."

That's good.

Wanli looked at the sky and said decisively, "Let's try a shot."

Upon hearing this, Qi Jiguang immediately waved his hand behind him.

Two soldiers from the Beijing camp hurried forward. One of them quickly opened the ammunition box and took out a cannonball about the size of his forearm. The other one deftly opened the buckle and opened the gun door. The two of them worked together to push the cannonball in, pulled out the fuse, closed the gun door, and the loading was completed.

Then, someone took out a fire starter and blew on it, and the cannon soon fired the shell with a "bang".

Uh, this, it’s impossible to see clearly from two miles away.

Wanli was stunned when he saw this. Zhou Ganquan quickly pulled out a delicate copper telescope from his pocket, handed it to him respectfully, and explained, "Your Majesty, this telescope can roughly see objects two miles away."

He was so focused on the artillery that he forgot about the telescope.

Upon hearing this, Wanli immediately took the telescope and looked forward.

Sure enough, there were several artillery shells stuck near the white line marked two miles ahead. The tips of the shells were buried in the soil, about three or four inches deep. If they were shot at a person, they might even shoot a big transparent hole in the person.

This power is of course incomparable to the artillery of later generations, but it is enough in this day and age.

Wanli put down the telescope and asked, "Father-in-law, how many cannons can be produced in a month now?"

Yongnianbo Wang Wei said rather embarrassedly: "Your Majesty, we don't have enough space. The musket and artillery workshops can only accommodate twenty musket workshops, and we can only build one artillery workshop.

We can now forge four or five gun barrel blanks and about ten sets of shell blanks a day, but we only have one waterwheel for grinding gun barrels and shells, so we can only grind out one gun barrel and about ten shells a day."

There's no way. It's not that their place is not big enough, but the river channel they have enclosed is only so long.

It turned out that there were already 1,500 water wheels built on the river, and the remaining river was only a short distance long.

Upon hearing this, Wanli pondered, "The faster the waterwheels for grinding cannon barrels, gun barrels, shells, and bullets, the better. The section of Chaohe and Baihe Rivers is perfect for installing special grinding waterwheels.

How about this: we move all the civilians and garrison families in Miyun County to Huairou County, and then build a wall around the north side of Huairou County.

From then on, this place was called Miyun Mountain Resort, and workshops for forging muskets and cannons were built in Miyun County. The Chaohe River, Baihe River, and the northern section of the Chaobai River were filled with waterwheels and workshops for forging and polishing.

Are they going to remove the entire county town this time?

Yongnianbo Wang Wei said with some concern: "Your Majesty, removing a county town is no small matter. I'm afraid the cabinet will not approve it."

Why should I care whether the cabinet approves it or not?

This kind of thing has to be done whether the cabinet approves it or not.

Wanli said without hesitation, "We don't need to worry about whether the cabinet approves it or not. I have issued an order that you send craftsmen to Huairou County to help the civilians and garrison families in Miyun County build houses. Once the houses are built, Yuan Jing will lead the soldiers of the Beijing Camp to help the people in Miyun County relocate."

Okay, you are used to doing things recklessly anyway, and in the eyes of those civil servants, you like to do things recklessly.

Yongnian Earl Wang Wei nodded repeatedly and said, "I understand."

Wanli then said to Qi Jiguang, "Yuan Jing, you must quickly have the Ministry of War issue a transfer order to mobilize the elite troops of the Shandong Dusi Tuanwei to come for training and selection. This year, we must complete the 50,000 soldiers in the Beijing camp."

Qi Jiguang bowed without hesitation and said, "I understand."

While they were discussing, a horse suddenly came galloping from the south.

The Jinyiwei with the command flag on his back galloped straight to the firing range, then reined in his horse, leaped down, knelt on one knee, and shouted, "Your Majesty, the commander of the Jianzhou Right Guard, Atai, has rebelled, gathered a crowd to plunder the Fushun Pass area, and killed and injured countless soldiers and civilians."

what?
Upon hearing this, Wanli frowned.

Liaodong is still in chaos, Nurhaci is about to show up!

(End of this chapter)