The New Destiny of the Ming Dynasty

Pan Wenmao and Zhang Guogan arrived late.

Although Yang Zhen appeared calm on the surface, behaving and chatting casually with Yuan Shu and others who came to see him off, he was actually quite flustered inside.

Regardless of the sudden cause, if either Pan Wenmao or Zhang Guogan is unable to leave the city smoothly or arrive as agreed, then there will be big trouble.

Pan Wenmao was delayed in packing his belongings to meet Yang Zhen's large group of men because he was busy making leather glue and using the glue to purify saltpeter.

But if this is the reason why they fail to leave the city, then Yang Zhen's previous arrangements and efforts will have been in vain.

Because the saltpeter crystals, after being boiled and purified by mixing with leather glue, were the most important raw materials for making the flintlock "Rumi Gun" ignition powder and other envisioned flintlock gun ignition powder in Yang Zhen's plan.

Without this ignition powder, the flintlock gun that Yang Zhen had Zhang Guogan modify would immediately become a huge joke!

The Ming Dynasty had a wide variety of firearms. During the Wanli era, when the court was imitating the "Lumi Cannon", some firearms experts proposed the idea of ​​"flintlock" and designed "flintlock" firearms.

However, the design of the "flint" was never finalized or mass-produced, and it was not widely adopted.

Was it because there wasn't a single wise person in the Ming Dynasty who could see the advantages of the "flintlock gun"?

of course not.

Could it be that the manufacturing process of flintlock muskets was too complicated for the Ming Dynasty's technological level to produce?

Of course not.

The manufacturing technology in the mid-to-late Ming Dynasty was of a very high standard. The reason why flintlock muskets or flintlock firearms were not widely adopted was that, despite their advanced design, they could not realize their full potential in practice.

Without high-quality flammable ignition powder, no matter how advanced the design concept of a flintlock musket is, it is not as reliable as a matchlock in practical use.

Therefore, for Yang Zhen, finding a way to obtain high-purity saltpeter is the fastest way to improve the ignition powder and thus the power of black powder under the current circumstances.

If he hadn't unexpectedly discovered that Pan Wenmao, this old soldier, had once been in charge of the gunpowder for his own guard, then he would have prepared to take matters into his own hands, relying on some memories from his later life to find a way to do it himself.

Fortunately, there were still quite a few skilled craftsmen and talented individuals in the Liaodong Army during this era. As long as you look for them carefully and are willing to make good use of them, these people can still play a role.

This time, Yang Zhen placed high hopes on Pan Wenmao's purification of saltpeter and improvement of gunpowder, and absolutely did not want anything to happen to him at this critical juncture.

Of course, if Pan Wenmao successfully produced this high-purity saltpeter crystal, but Zhang Guogan had an accident, then Yang Zhen would also be in big trouble.

The purpose of producing high-quality saltpeter, which in turn led to the production of high-quality ignition powder, was to be used in the modified flintlock "Rumi Gun." However, if Zhang Guogan had an accident and did not board the ship, then even if it had been produced, it would not have been of much significance for the time being.

Therefore, while waiting, Yang Zhen was even a little annoyed, annoyed at himself for being so impatient, for insisting that Pan Wenmao produce some high-purity saltpeter today, and for creating unnecessary trouble—letting Zhang Guogan "kidnap" the blacksmith father and son.

In these chaotic times of war, how could an ordinary family remain in Ningyuan City, a place teeming with soldiers and ruffians, and run a small blacksmith shop?

If they had no connection whatsoever with the Zu family in the city, or the Wang family, who were related to the Zu family by marriage, this blacksmith shop would probably have been plundered and bankrupted by these fearless and ruthless soldiers in Liaodong long ago!

Indeed, this was almost exactly the case, although it differed slightly from Yang Zhen's conjecture, it was still very close.

When Yang Zhen, accompanied by several personal guards and Yuan Jin, the fleet's garrison officer, boarded the last large ship and left the simple dock, they saw a group of people rushing towards them from the direction of Ningyuan City along the Ningyuan River.

The group of men only stopped when they reached a makeshift dock on the coast, and the leader was still gesticulating wildly and cursing loudly.

But the sea breeze was strong and the waves were loud, so Yang Zhen couldn't hear what they were shouting at all.

However, looking at the small boat that was approaching the fleet not far away, and at Zhang Guogan frantically climbing up the gangway to a large ship, Yang Zhen was in a very good mood and was not affected at all.

Seeing the furious state of the cavalry on the shore, and realizing that his fate was now in his own hands, Yang Zhen suddenly burst into laughter!

The frustration, depression, gloom, and unpleasantness of the past few days were all swept away with a burst of extremely joyful laughter!

From then on, whether it was Governor Fang Yizao or Commander Zu Dashou, Yang Zhen could ignore them if he wanted to!

"It seems Lord Yang is in a good mood! He doesn't seem worried at all about the tens of thousands of Tartar troops outside Jinzhou and Songshan City!"

After Yuan Jin led Yang Zhen onto his ship, he quickly directed his boatmen and sailors to set sail as planned. Just as he returned to the bow deck, he saw Yang Zhen looking towards Ningyuan and laughing heartily. He then jokingly struck up a conversation with him.

Yang Zhen left a very deep impression on Yuan Jin.

Yuan Jin was originally a pirate from Shandong. After Yuan Keli became the governor of Dengzhou and Laizhou, he recruited and subdued Yuan Jin, who was then incorporated into the Dengzhou and Laizhou navy and became one of Yuan Keli's trusted lieutenants in the navy.

Yuan Jin knew Yuan Keli's son, Yuan Shu, very well. He knew that Yuan Shu had a very high opinion of himself and would not easily submit to anyone.

However, Yuan Shu regarded Yang Zhen as the only friend he valued after he took office as the Liaodong Supervisor of Military Supplies, which shows that Yang Zhen was extraordinary.

However, Yuan Jin wouldn't completely believe Yuan Shu's words about what kind of person he was. Having been involved in the pirate world and the government military for so long, Yuan Jin, although not holding a high official position, had his own set of skills in judging people.

Therefore, ever since Yuan Shu said that Yang Zhen was his friend and solemnly introduced him to Yuan Jin as his friend, Yuan Jin had been silently observing Yang Zhen's words and deeds.

His benefactor, Yuan Keli, had passed away as early as the sixth year of the Chongzhen reign. Otherwise, Yuan Jin would not have remained a low-ranking official for so many years.

Yuan Shu, who inherited Yuan Keli's mantle, was just a scholar. Although he liked to talk about military affairs and admired military men, he did not hold a high official position and had little influence in the court.

This time, the imperial court appointed Yuan Shu as the Liaodong Supervisor of Military Supplies. Before taking office, Yuan Shu tried every means and exerted all his strength to transfer Yuan Jin from Dengzhou and Laizhou to Liaodong.

If Yuan Jin wanted to gain a foothold in Liaodong and make further progress, he had to make meritorious contributions as soon as possible. This would not only help him get promoted and develop, but also solidify Yuan Shu's position in Liaodong and even the imperial court.

Therefore, Yuan Jin was observing, wanting to see if Yang Zhen and his group could possibly perform a rescue and relief mission after arriving at Songshan.

If given the chance, even if it's only a 50% chance, Yuan Jin is prepared to try his luck, take a gamble, and go all in.

Whether it's worth taking the gamble depends on Yang Zhen, the person in charge—his temperament, wisdom, courage, and plans.

After Yang Zhen saw that Yuan Jin had arranged the affairs of the voyage, he went up to the deck and came to speak to him, indicating that he also wanted to befriend him.

Therefore, upon hearing Yuan Jin's attempt to strike up a conversation, he immediately responded warmly, "Brother Yuan, you're being too polite! With your connection to Young Master Yuan Shu, there's no need for such formalities between us. As for age, I'm only thirty this year (by the traditional Chinese age reckoning), while Brother Yuan seems to be over forty! If Brother Yuan doesn't mind, how about we become brothers?"

Yuan Jin immediately understood the implication in Yang Zhen's words. Since he also wanted to build a closer relationship, he smiled and said, "In that case, I'll gladly accept! Compared to you, brother, I've wasted over ten years of my life, and I've just passed forty this year! Brother Yang, as your elder brother, I pay my respects!"

As Yuan Jin spoke, he bowed slightly to Yang Zhen, signifying a renewed fraternal greeting. Yang Zhen quickly followed suit, bowing in return. The two then looked at each other and burst into laughter.

Yang Zhen valued Yuan Jin because he knew that the navy was very important, but he himself did not understand the navy of this era at all.

Although Yuan Jin's fleet, strictly speaking, cannot be considered a navy at present, and is unarmed except for a few large ships equipped with a few breech-loading cannons for self-defense, Yang Zhen's troops will rely entirely on Yuan Jin's fleet for both advance and retreat on this northward expedition to rescue Songshan.

If I survive this time and am able to enter Songshan to garrison it in the future, then it will be very necessary to maintain a fleet of ships not far from Songshan City.

Because after the siege of Songshan is lifted this year, Songshan will be besieged again in just one or two years. At that time, it will be a real life-or-death situation.

Yang Zhen and Yuan Jin both wanted to befriend each other, so they naturally hit it off very well and seemed to have become old friends at first sight.

As the two were chatting happily, Yang Zhen's personal guard captain, Yang Zhan'ao, hurried over to report: "Sir! Zhang Guogan, adjutant of the musketeer team, and Pan Wenmao, adjutant of the artillery team, request to board the ship and come to pay their respects!"

"Alright! Order them to come over!"

The naval flag bearer under Yuan Jin, who had come with Yang Zhan'ao to seek instructions, heard this and, seeing that Yuan Jin was nodding, immediately rushed to the foot of the bed to relay the order.

A moment later, the mainsail of the ship Yang Zhen was on slowly lowered, and the ship began to slow down. Another large ship not far away gradually approached and eventually sailed side by side.

The sailors on the decks of the two ships used long spears with hooks to grapple the other's sides, pulling the two large ships together.