Chongzhen's domineering

Chapter 302: Constant Harassment, Traitor in a Dilemma (Part 2)

Did the three major powerful clans and eight imperial merchant guilds of Puzhou manufacture cannons?

There's no need to think about it; they definitely will.

Historically, the Jurchens inexplicably created the Divine Might General Cannon.

This is definitely related to them. Not to mention anything else, the source of materials for casting cannons is inseparable from them. The Jurchens at that time did not know how to smelt pig iron. If they didn't rely on them, who else could they rely on?
There were also craftsmen who cast cannons; the idea that the Jurchens were captured from Liaodong is utter nonsense.

Liaodong was not easily conquered by the Jurchens, and the Ming court was not stupid. It was impossible for the artisans who could cast cannons to be left to the Jurchens. These artisans must have been recruited from the rear by the three powerful clans and eight imperial merchants of Puzhou.

Therefore, the three powerful clans and eight imperial merchants of Puzhou would certainly be able to manufacture cannons.

Even the Jurchens' sudden abandonment of cannon production after seizing the Ming Dynasty's territory, and their return to focusing on cold weapons, is largely related to this.

This is because artillery was the nemesis of the Jurchen cavalry, and the Jurchens themselves did not know how to manufacture artillery. Under these circumstances, the Jurchens would naturally not allow the three powerful clans and eight imperial merchants of Puzhou to continue manufacturing artillery.

If these guys are allowed to go on a rampage of cannon production and their power grows, who knows, another dynastic change might happen.

Of course, these are all later stories, so we will skip them for now.

Now that even the rebels have started building cannons, Zhu Jue can't help but take it seriously. Time is of the essence; the rebels, the Jurchens, and the colonial bandits are all building cannons. If he doesn't pay attention, the Ming Dynasty might be overtaken.

This is no joke. War is a matter of life and death, and any means that can enhance military strength will be desperately developed by the enemy.

Anyone who stagnates will be overtaken, and the consequence of being overtaken is death!
At this moment, he was still not paying enough attention to building artillery. After handing over the task of renovating the factory to Bi Maokang and Song Yingxing, he hadn't paid any attention to it. This was definitely not going to work.

The next morning around 9 a.m., he hurriedly finished processing the memorials and then, together with Zheng Zhilong, Wang Chengen, Fang Zhenghua, and others, boarded a horse-drawn railcar and headed towards the northeast outer city.

At this time, several factories in the northeast outer city were undergoing intensive renovations. These factories were originally used for casting and producing boilers, so converting them into factories for casting and producing cannons was not too difficult.

Bi Maokang and Song Yingxing are also quite responsible; they are currently busy working in the factory.

Accompanied by the two men, Zhu Jue toured the factory and couldn't help but ask, "Lord Meng, Chang Geng, why are only a few factories under renovation right now? Do you not have enough manpower?"

How do you say this?

Bi Maokang and Song Yingxing exchanged a glance, and Song Yingxing spoke cautiously, "Your Majesty, we are indeed short of manpower. We have transferred almost all the craftsmen who could be transferred from the capital to renovate the factories."

Another issue is the boiler production capacity. We have converted a factory here to be used for casting and boiler production, and in return, a factory in Jizhou Town needs to be converted to be used for casting and boiler production as well.

If there aren't enough factory buildings over there, we need to build more quickly. Otherwise, boiler production will be affected. If we can't produce enough boilers, shipbuilding, heating, machinery manufacturing, and even the development of Southeast Asia will all be impacted.

They are using boilers in so many places right now, and if boiler production is affected, it's hard to imagine how many places will be affected.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Jue frowned slightly and asked, "How many factory buildings can you renovate in a month now?"

Song Yingxing cautiously said, "Your Majesty, we can only renovate about ten factories a month now. Even so, it might affect the casting and production of boilers."

This is because in Jizhou Town, only the workshops that cast rails could be converted into workshops for casting and boiler production, and we only had twenty or thirty workshops for casting rails to begin with.

In other words, we need to renovate here for about three months before the factory is built there. Otherwise, the casting and production of the boiler will definitely be affected.

"Your Majesty, I was thinking that the lockdown would be lifted in about three months, and factories could be built in Jizhou Town then. That's why I limited the pace of factory renovations here to about ten per month."

Are you planning to convert the entire rail casting workshop into a casting and boiler production workshop?
It seems that I really can't leave it alone.

"Your factory renovation is not only slow, but it also sacrifices the casting of railway tracks. It's simply not worth it." Upon hearing this, Zhu Jue asked again, "You mean, if we mobilize craftsmen from all over, the renovation of your factory can be sped up, right?"

Song Yingxing nodded repeatedly and said, "Yes, Your Majesty. Nowadays, we have many artisans. If we can scrape together a little bit from various places, the speed of building this factory can be greatly accelerated."

Then hurry up and do it. If you keep modifying it slowly like this, it will take at least a year to increase the production of artillery.

Next year I am preparing to go to war with the Dutch. This cannot be delayed any longer, as it will affect the pace of development in all aspects.

Zhu Jue frowned and pondered for a while, then decisively said, "We will now mobilize craftsmen to build factories in Jizhou Town. It will be a bit hard to work in the freezing cold, but it doesn't matter much. I will pay them double the wages."

Here's what I'll do. I'll go talk to Grandfather Yuan and have him move all 300,000 artisans who are building the Wanguo Palace and the houses in the southern outer city to Jizhou Town. I'll have them build the factories as soon as possible and try to build 100 factories within two months.

"You should also mobilize more artisans here. You need to renovate at least thirty workshops a month, and strive to increase cannon production to six hundred cannons a day before the lockdown is lifted next year."

As soon as his decree was issued, the capital and Jizhou town were immediately bustling with people, and countless craftsmen were busy working in the freezing cold.

At this time, the area between Wangwu Mountain and Taihang Mountain, where the Central Plains and Shanxi meet, is also bustling with people.

For some unknown reason, Zhang Yun, the King of Hanzhong, suddenly mobilized 100,000 troops and marched swiftly through the snow and ice, directly to the pass between Wangwu Mountain and Taihang Mountain, where he seized the rebels under Gao Yingxiang and gave them a good beating!

Gao Yingxiang sent men to block all roads leading from the Central Plains to Shanxi. However, because there were too many roads and the weather was too cold, he did not send many men to each checkpoint.

He reasoned that the blockade was only necessary during the snowy season, and by the time it was lifted, cities like Zezhou, Yangcheng, Yuanqu, Gaoping, Qinshui, and Lingchuan would have produced countless cannons, making a complete blockade unnecessary.

He also believed that it would be impossible for the Hanzhong army to mobilize a large force to attack them in such a freezing weather.

This wasn't just a wild idea of ​​his; the key was that the icy, snowy conditions were really unsuitable for large-scale military operations. Just setting up camp would be a huge problem, since they didn't have boilers or heating.

He knew from his frequent trips with his men through the freezing snow that camping in the snow could really freeze a person to death.

Therefore, although they seemed to be running around in the snow and ice, they were actually heading towards areas with many cities or villages. Wherever they went, they would find houses to squeeze into and stay there, rather than setting up camp in the snow and ice.

There are no villages or cities between Wangwu Mountain and Taihang Mountain, which means that if Zhang Yun, the King of Hanzhong, wants to mobilize a large army to attack, he will have to set up camp in the freezing cold.

He thought it was unlikely, as people could really freeze to death in the freezing cold.

Who knew that Zhang Yun, the King of Hanzhong, would act as if he were out of his mind, mobilizing a large army to attack even in the freezing cold!

This really caught him off guard.

He set up checkpoints to prevent enemy scouts from infiltrating, and he only stationed a few hundred or a thousand men at each checkpoint at most.

How could such a small force possibly withstand the 100,000-strong army of Hanzhong?

The pass between Wangwu Mountain and Taihang Mountain was quickly captured by the Hanzhong army, which put Yangcheng and Zezhou in danger.

Who knows if Zhang Yun, the King of Hanzhong, will go mad and lead his army to attack Yangcheng and Zezhou?

He hurriedly mobilized a large army to guard Yangcheng and Zezhou. He even ordered people to pour water continuously onto the city walls of the two cities, making the walls as smooth as ice and slippery as a mirror.

With this freezing weather and ice walls, surely the Hanzhong army couldn't have gone mad and attacked us?

(End of this chapter)