Chongzhen's domineering

Chapter 337 Secretly Accumulating Strength, the Traitor Paralyzing the Victim
The Ming Dynasty's fleet that went to the Americas has returned.

The densely packed ships almost filled the port outside the mouth of the Haihe River; they could be seen from miles away.

They not only unloaded cargo at the port, but all the medium-sized Zhiyuan merchant ships also went to the southeast coast and even the Yangtze River to pick up people after unloading.

The number of sailors, soldiers, and civilians involved was at least several million, and the scale of the event was so immense that it was known to everyone.

The three powerful clans and eight imperial merchants of Puzhou were all lulled into a false sense of security upon hearing the news.

It seems the young emperor has been focusing all his efforts on developing overseas markets lately.

Not only were the populations of the two capitals and thirteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty migrating outwards at an alarming rate, but the navy was also frantically recruiting soldiers.

Zhu Jue made no attempt to conceal any of this from anyone. The three major clans and eight imperial merchants of Puzhou even knew roughly how many men the navy had recruited, and even the whereabouts of these men.

It's easy to find out with a little inquiry that the young emperor has conscripted over three million men this time. Of those, about two million went straight on the ships and haven't disembarked since. The remaining one million are laying tracks in Southern Zhili and show no signs of heading north.

These traitors all thought the young emperor was focusing all his energy overseas and had no intention of waging war against the north.

In fact, Zhu Jue had been secretly gathering strength, preparing to launch a counterattack beyond the Great Wall.

The New Year holidays passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye it was already the first month of the sixth year of Chongzhen's reign.

At this time, the capital region was still covered in ice and snow, and there was no sign of the more than three million newly recruited troops gathering in the north.

The entire capital remained peaceful and tranquil, as if it were in a golden age, with no sign of a major war breaking out.

Zhu Jue seemed to have nothing better to do, spending his days wandering around.

Around 9 a.m. that day, he actually came to the ceramics factory in the southeast outer city.

Lu Xiang-sheng, Bi Mao-kang, and Song Ying-xing were all waiting for him in a workshop deep inside the ceramics factory.

After everyone exchanged greetings, he couldn't help but ask, "How's it going, Chang Geng? Have you finished developing the hand grenade yet?"

This grenade actually refers to the Thunderclap Grenade.

Simply put, it's a small ceramic jar filled with gunpowder, with a fuse attached. You just light the fuse and throw it out.

Song Yingxing didn't know why the current emperor called the thunderclap "hand grenade".

However, this thing is quite simple; even if its shape becomes bizarre, it is not difficult to mass-produce it.

He nodded without hesitation and said, "Your Majesty, we have already produced a batch of grenade casings and are currently loading them with gunpowder."

If this grenade is somewhat difficult to make, the difficulty lies in the outer shell described by the current emperor.

Originally, there were no special requirements for the outer shell of the Thunderclap Grenade; an ordinary ceramic jar would suffice. However, the current emperor has stipulated that the outer shell of the grenade must be made into a block of tofu, with numerous grooves.

It's just a matter of the mold; it's not that difficult.

Zhu Jue nodded slightly, then beckoned everyone to walk toward the machine that was processing the outer shell of the ceramic blank.

This machine seems to be no different from the machine used to make small rice bowls, except that the craftsmen brush some water into the ceramic mold before putting the cut clay blocks into it.

The problem is that the resulting grenade shell, made in this way, is shaped like a rice bowl, and is semi-circular.

Zhu Jue examined it carefully for a while before asking, "Does this need to be glued together after it's made?"

Song Yingxing nodded repeatedly and said, "Yes, Your Majesty, it's too troublesome to make it into a single piece. We've tried many times, but it's difficult to remove the clay blank. Making it into a semi-circle is just like a rice bowl, which makes it much easier to remove."

However, before firing, some clay slurry is brushed between the two semicircles, so that they will stick together as a whole after firing.

That doesn't have much of an impact. Actually, whether it looks good or not isn't the key, and even whether it leaves marks when it's glued on isn't the key. The key is the groove, because when the grenade explodes, it will form a lot of fragments, which increases the kill radius and kill effect.

As for the appearance, that's not the point; as long as it's easy to make and can be mass-produced, that's fine.

Zhu Jue nodded slightly, then waved his hand and said, "Come, take me to see what the finished product looks like."

Upon hearing this, Song Yingxing quickly led everyone to a small cubicle in a corner of the factory.

Inside, there's just a large table where several craftsmen are sitting, pouring gunpowder into ceramic shells.

Upon seeing this, Zhu Jue picked up a grenade filled with gunpowder and nodded slightly.

Nowadays, the processing level of the Ming Dynasty is really high. Even if it is made by gluing the two sides together, you can hardly see the traces of the glue.

This grenade is slightly different from the pineapple grenade of later generations.

Because there was no firing pin to ignite it at that moment, they could only use the fuse to ignite it.

Therefore, this grenade does not have a pin or shrapnel; the opening on the grenade is just a wooden plug with a fuse in the middle.

The fuse is stiff, standing straight up in the middle of the cork, making it very easy to light a fire.

He weighed it in his hand, then made a throwing gesture to test it, and couldn't help but nod.

This grenade weighs only a little over one pound, less than two pounds. It's not difficult to throw, and an ordinary soldier could easily throw it dozens of paces away.

The only problem now is how to carry it.

As for testing, there's absolutely no need for testing.

To put it bluntly, this thing is just like a big firecracker; once you light the fuse, it explodes, so there's no need to even try it.

He thought about it carefully, then asked, "Chang Geng, have you made the boxes for holding the grenades?"

That was naturally done.

Upon hearing this, Song Yingxing immediately ordered a craftsman to bring up a wooden box from under the table.

The box was divided into twelve small squares by wooden boards, and each small square contained a hand grenade already loaded with gunpowder.

Zhu Jue reached out and lifted the box to test its weight, then nodded in agreement.

The box, including the grenades, weighs only about ten kilograms; the soldiers could definitely carry it and run.

As for carrying grenades on your person, that's not necessary yet.

This is because these grenades are intended for city defense; at most, some might be provided to chariot soldiers, but cavalry haven't even been considered for deployment yet.

He nodded slightly and then asked, "How is the grenade production going now? How many can you make a day?"

Uh, you're asking about production volume right now?
Upon hearing this, Song Yingxing cautiously replied, "Your Majesty, we have only just completed the trial production. We only have one machine for processing, and we can only produce a few hundred a day."

Making hundreds of these in a day is definitely not feasible.

Zhu Jue thought about it carefully, and then decisively said, "You need to add some more machines. We need to make 10,000 a day."

This isn't a big problem. They have plenty of clay and gunpowder at the moment, and the thunderclap bombs existed as early as the Song Dynasty, so it's not a secret. It doesn't matter where they make them.

Song Yingxing nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty, I understand."

We've got the grenades, and the knives, spears, swords, and halberds have already been forged for the new recruits. What other equipment do we need next?

Zhu Jue thought for a moment, then asked, "Jian Dou, do you think the soldiers defending the city are lacking any equipment?"

"Well, how should I put it?" Lu Xiang-sheng thought carefully for a moment before cautiously asking, "Your Majesty, could we equip the soldiers guarding the city with some muskets?"

This musket also needs improvement. The breech-loading flintlock musket seems much more advanced than the old matchlock musket, but in fact it is not a qualitative leap. Once new gunpowder, firing pin ignition, magazines, and even machine guns are developed, the flintlock musket will be a piece of cake.

In short, everything must be constantly developed in order to maintain a leading edge, and the development of firearms cannot stagnate either.

As for breech-loading flintlock muskets, it doesn't seem like a big deal to let people learn how to make them, but these things are not easy to manufacture, and the precision requirements for the parts are exceptionally high.

Even if the European colonial powers learned it, their output and precision still couldn't compare to that of the Ming Dynasty. Even if an internal traitor learned it, they might not be able to manufacture it.

Zhu Jue thought about it carefully, then nodded slightly and said, "Well, you can decide how to do it. Give the soldiers guarding the city as many as you think is appropriate."

That would be great.

Upon hearing this, Lu Xiang-sheng nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty, I understand."

Zhu Jue then asked, "Think again, do you need any other equipment?"

We already have muskets, what more do we need?

Lu Xiang-sheng thought about it carefully again, and then said cautiously, "Your Majesty, we have cannons, thunderclaps, and muskets. The attack power of the soldiers defending the city is almost there, but their defense is still a bit lacking. Do you think we could equip them with some iron shields?"

This stuff is simple.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Jue nodded without hesitation and said, "No problem. Just tell me how much you need and have Chang Geng arrange for them to be made. Is there any more?"

The soldiers defending the city are already well-equipped; the elite border troops of the past couldn't compare to them, let alone the Jurchens.

Lu Xiang-sheng thought about it carefully again, then slowly shook his head and said, "No, I think this equipment should be enough, at least enough to defend against Jurchen cavalry attacks on the city."

Now that we have enough equipment, we need to intensify our training.

So, what should we train those infantrymen in?
There seems to be no need to emphasize swords, spears, halberds, and the like. Once these weapons are distributed, they will naturally practice with them as they carry them every day. Firearms and cannons cannot be distributed to them for practice yet.

There's not much to say about the weapons training, but the city defenses deserve some emphasis.

The Northern Pacification Commandery doesn't have any cities at this time; the original garrison city had long been demolished by the Northern Barbarians.

After they recovered the former territory of the Northern Pacification Commandery, they still needed to build a city to defend it.

Therefore, the construction of the city needs to be properly trained. If the infantrymen have never built a city before, and you just drag them over and order them to build a city, they will probably be confused, and the construction speed will definitely not be fast.

Zhu Jue thought for a moment, then asked, "What are those more than a million infantrymen guarding the city doing?"

They don't have anything to do right now.

Lu Xiang-sheng replied without hesitation, "Yu Ji is currently leading them in training in Southern Zhili. Ostensibly, they are building a railway station along the Zhenjiang-Nanjing line."

Building a train station is far less impressive than building a city.

The problem is that the north is still covered in ice and snow, so if we want the infantry to practice building cities, we can only try building cities in Southern Zhili.

Where else in Southern Zhili was it necessary to build cities?

The area from Jinling to Zhenjiang was originally the most prosperous region in the Ming Dynasty, with countless cities. Moreover, it was unlikely that the area would suffer from war again, so building another one seemed like a waste of resources and manpower, and was completely unnecessary.

If he were to order the construction of cities in places where there was absolutely no need for them, it would be superfluous and would only arouse suspicion from traitors.

This was very important; he didn't want any traitors to become suspicious, so he had to find a place where it was necessary to build a city and order people to build one.

Zhu Jue thought about it carefully, then suddenly asked, "Jian Dou, isn't Songjiang Prefecture in Southern Zhili the closest to Japan?"

What does this mean?
Do you want to attack Japan?

Lu Xiang-sheng was taken aback for a moment before slowly nodding and saying, "Yes, Your Majesty, Songjiang Prefecture is only a little over a thousand miles away from Kyushu Island in Japan. It takes less than two days to get there by ship."

The Japanese have never given up their desire to destroy us. We will deal with these Japanese pirates sooner or later. Moreover, during the Wanli era, the Japanese pirates even tried to attack the Ming Dynasty. Now that the Ming navy has become powerful, it seems that there is no problem in fighting back.

During this time, he also pretended to pay attention to overseas countries. Japan is also overseas, and it just so happens to be on the way to the Americas. No one would find it strange if he wanted to use force against Japan.

Zhu Jue thought about it carefully again, and then decisively said: "You order someone to send a message to Yu Ji, asking him to gather troops and rush to Songjiang Prefecture. I will also order Zhongxian to take the Embroidered Uniform Guard there."

"Let them discuss it properly then, and build a city near Japan in Songjiang Prefecture to store grain and supplies. Also, build more docks, ideally capable of accommodating thousands of ships at once."

Uh, weren't we supposed to launch a counterattack on the grasslands beyond the Great Wall this spring?
Upon hearing this, Lu Xiang-sheng cautiously asked, "Your Majesty, if I may be so bold, do you mean to wage war against Japan?"

This isn't entirely a charade.

Zhu Jue nodded without hesitation and said, "Yes, the Japanese pirates are wolves in sheep's clothing. If we don't teach them a lesson, they will turn around and attack us sooner or later."

You really want to attack Japan!

Lu Xiang-sheng cautiously reminded him, "Your Majesty, if I may be so bold, what about the border regions? Should we attack the border regions first or attack Japan first?"

Naturally, we should attack the border regions first.

Zhu Jue smiled slightly, and instead of answering, asked, "You feel that my order to build a city and port in Songjiang Prefecture is because I'm thinking of immediately sending troops to Japan, right?"

Of course, otherwise why would you go through all this trouble?

Lu Xiang-sheng nodded slowly and said, "Yes, Your Majesty. If we do not wage war against Japan, then building cities and ports in Songjiang Prefecture is a waste of manpower and resources."

You're mistaken about that.

Zhu Jue shook his head slightly, then explained in detail: "Jian Dou, at this time, the Beiping Regional Military Command does not have any cities. The infantrymen who are guarding the cities have to build cities first before they can defend them."

Therefore, building cities is also a skill they must learn. If they have no experience in building cities, how can they build them if we take them to the Northern Pacification Commandery and ask them to build cities?
Furthermore, and more importantly, they need to travel by boat to reach the Northern Pacification Commandery as quickly as possible. Traveling by carriage is definitely not as fast as traveling by boat, and we do not have enough carriages to transport more than a million people at a time.

"Once they build the city in Songjiang Prefecture, they'll have gained experience in city construction. They'll also build the docks, making it easier for their naval ships to transport people. We only need to mobilize a thousand large Zhiyuan merchant ships and over two thousand smaller ones; one trip will be enough to transport them all to the Beiping Regional Military Command."

Oh, so it was for the convenience of training and recruiting people.

Upon hearing this, Lu Xiang-sheng nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty is wise, I understand."

You also need to get Zhou Yuji to cooperate and create a smokescreen to lull the traitors in the court into a false sense of security.

Zhu Jue then instructed, "You should send someone to tell Yu Ji to spread the word that we are going to attack Japan."

This is a tactic of paralysis.

Lu Xiang-sheng nodded repeatedly and said, "Your humble servant obeys the decree."

This tactic of deception needs to be implemented more comprehensively.

Zhu Jue thought for a moment and then instructed, "Ruoyu, draft an edict ordering all vassal states to make good preparations and come to pay tribute next year. This edict must have a threatening tone. You must make them feel that if anyone dares not to come, then my Great Ming Dynasty may send a large army to punish them."

Do you mean to make those traitors think you want to show off your power overseas?

Upon hearing this, Liu Ruoyu slowly nodded and said, "This servant understands."

Zhu Jue then instructed, "Cheng'en, you should also arrange for the chief eunuchs to go to the Palace of All Nations and make thorough preparations to welcome the delegations from various countries. Where there are areas that need repair, gather the craftsmen to repair them properly."

So you mean to make a bigger splash, right?
Upon hearing this, Wang Chengen nodded repeatedly and said, "This servant understands."

(End of this chapter)