Guangzong Yaoming

Chapter 360 Killing and Punishing the Heart

My eyes were opened.

It should be said that it was cheating.

Six people squeezed onto the not-so-big arrow tower.

Mao Wenlong took a quick look and muttered, "Oh my God..."

The Arrow Tower is located at a higher position, so the view is naturally better.

Today, the north bank of the Suzi River where the arrow tower is located is less than two miles away from the northern wall of Nahetuala City, and this telescope has shortened the observation distance to five times closer.

This is because it is still derived from the Galilean astronomical telescope, and the size of this prototype is also large enough.

"Bogui, you have good eyesight, come and see."

Yuan Keli gave the order excitedly.

Upon hearing this, Qiao Yiqi carefully took it from Mao Wenlong and began to observe the city of Hetuala.

Behind him, Mao Wenlong and others began to discuss.

"It's still a bit too heavy. If this clairvoyance were a bit smaller..."

"I heard from the two eunuchs that it seems to be easily damaged by earthquakes? When marching, the battlefield is bumpy..."

"If you dislike it, give it to me first when a new one comes."

"You think beautiful!"

Yuan Keli had a smile on his face, but he was already thinking about it in his mind.

If I can use this to find out more about what's going on in the city, I wonder if I can come up with some special methods...

He looked at Hetuala City with a twinkling eye. If Nurhaci came to inspect the northern city wall again...if the cannons could fire accurately...

Or, if this magical weapon could be used skillfully to capture Nurhaci alive...

"Pass on my order, select the best gunners in the artillery squad, and transport two Mingwei cannons to the rear fort!"

Yuan Keli gave the order first. Whether it was to kill the enemy on the spot or capture him alive, accuracy was extremely important. He had to practice and see how to coordinate it with the observations from the telescope.

Here in Hetuala City, Yuan Keli was thinking about how to use this new tool to achieve great success.

He knew the emperor's expectations for scholarship, so he thought it would be best if the telescope could play a symbolic role.

Back in the Forbidden City, in addition to continuing to manufacture a batch of telescopes of this type, Zhu Changluo also brought together Wang Zheng, Xu Guangqi, Galileo, Kepler and others to discuss more advanced models.

"The problem with the bubbles has been figured out. It just requires more mixing, and that won't be a problem."

Glass manufacturing technology is constantly improving. As telescopes first appeared and were used in the military, there are always some bubbles in the glass, which greatly affects the effect.

In this regard, craftsmen with rich experience in firing porcelain and glass finally found the current solution: stir the raw materials as much as possible during the production process...

But there are still two problems.

One is that it is gradually corroded by water and turned into frosted glass - the original astronomical telescope has now had this problem.

Another thing is to further streamline the structure, mainly because the size and weight of the telescope are still too large.

Zhu Changluo searched his memory and asked, "Is it possible... to add a layer of waterproof, dustproof and light-transmitting film on the outside of the lens?"

I have the impression that all kinds of familiar lenses have a layer of film that looks colored from the outside but does not actually affect the viewing effect. This thing should have a protective function.

The emperor put forward his idea, but the others were confused for a while.

"There are also styles." Zhu Changluo picked up the pen again and drew the binoculars he was familiar with. "Can it be made like this?"

Wang Zheng was stunned when he saw it: "Your Majesty, this telescope is so short..."

"Refraction, reflection, let the light bend back and forth twice in the eyepiece, can we make the tube shorter?" Zhu Changluo said affirmatively, "This is a mathematical problem. Kepler, the telescope with two convex mirrors you mentioned, the image formed is inverted, can adding an eyepiece make it upright? All of these can be calculated!"

Most of the earliest telescopes were of the Galilean structure, which had the advantages of simple structure and high light transmittance, but the magnification and observation field of view were relatively small.

The structure of the Keplerian telescope is more complicated and requires more fine lenses, but it can be made into finished products with higher magnification and better observation effects. Ultimately, the telescopes widely used in the military field became Keplerian.

As for binoculars, they are of course more in line with the needs of both eyes.

There are still many areas for improvement. Now Zhu Changluo continues to play the role of an emperor with "profound knowledge".

Galileo and Kepler watched the emperor and the minister draw on paper the direction of light refraction, the formula...

"First it's a math problem, then it's a process problem. This method will definitely work!"

The emperor's tone was unquestionable, and he pointed to the two irregular prisms. The light entered from the objective lens, refracted by the two irregular prisms, and then entered the two eyepieces. The inverted image would become upright, and the problem of needing a too long tube would be solved.

He was very sure that as long as the mathematical problems in the structure were solved first, the rest would be left to the craftsmen.

This was an emperor whose academic attainments and passion for learning far exceeded the imagination of Galileo and Kepler, although this passion seemed to be intended to satisfy his ambition to expand his territory.

But after Kepler arrived in the East, he was fascinated by the three laws of mechanics mentioned by the Eastern emperor.

Now, this learned emperor came up with more and more fantastic ideas, such as the steam engine mentioned a few days ago.

Zhu Changluo suddenly stepped up his efforts to improve the telescope because of the Tongliao League held on the Wanshou Saint Festival this year.

The Tianshu Camp paid such a huge price to keep Nurhaci in Hetuala City. Now that the Ming army has surrounded it, Zhu Changluo no longer has to worry about the outcome of the battle with the Jianzhou Jurchens.

By the time of the Tongliao League, Chahar, Inner Khalkha, Khorchin, and Jianzhou Jurchen to the north of the Ming Dynasty had all been beaten by the Ming Dynasty, while the Tumed and Yehe tribes had already surrendered.

What would prevent them from having any evil thoughts in the short term is nothing more than a continued display of force that is far beyond their imagination.

The Mingwei cannon, the flintlock rifle, the telescope, these all played a huge role.

Otherwise, why was Shu Boqing able to get to Tumed so smoothly? Wasn't it because the flintlock rifle he brought was really terrifying?
With the national strength of the Ming Dynasty, if there is one, there will be endless.

After a great victory, tell the enemy: I haven't used my full strength yet, that would be killing people and breaking their hearts.

Now, Yuan Keli was practicing with artillery while killing people in another way.

He had already thought of the simplest and most effective way to use the telescope.

Send a letter by flying arrow.

With his writing ability, he wrote down what he saw through the telescope, although he didn't mention any specific people, but...

Nurhaci's face sank as he looked at the cloth sent back from outside the city.

Due to the existence of the Suzi River, the Jianzhou Jurchen gentry did not have to retreat into the city. At least the river surface was the first line of defense.

So the Ming army just had to shoot this cloth across the Suzi River.

The content written on the cloth is plain and simple.

At a certain time, how many loads of grain were taken from the warehouse in the east of the city...

At a certain time, Huerhan secretly met with several leaders in the west of the city...

At a certain time, a certain general patrolled the north of the city and whipped many scholars...

It's just trivial news.

"…Who leaked the city's military secrets? Who!"

Nurhaci asked angrily.

He didn't know about the existence of telescopes, so he couldn't imagine that someone could see the movements in the city so clearly from such a long distance. So the only thing he could think of was that someone was secretly communicating with the Ming army.

If it weren't for Zhu Changluo, it would take more than ten years for the first telescope to appear in the Ming Dynasty. It was brought by Johann Adam Schall von Bell, who later translated the book "The Theory of Telescope", which introduced the method of making telescopes.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, Sun Yunqiu, a native of Wu County, Suzhou, made a "telescope" by himself. He looked at it and saw that "from afar, the towers and courtyards in the city seemed to be connected to each other, and the peaks of Tianping, Lingyan, and Wanlong were steep and green, and everything was visible."

The first place to use telescopes in military operations was Suzhou during the Chongzhen period. Governor Zhang Guowei ordered a telescope to be placed on a copper cannon to see the distance of the enemy, and then the cannon was used to bombard the enemy, "all those hit would be destroyed."

Now the Jianzhou Jurchens had been hit by the telescope so many years in advance, and the first wave was a mental shock.

There's a traitor among us!
This is obvious. Nurhaci already suspected that some people would rebel under pressure, but the news in the city had already leaked out before the Ming army started fighting?

Faced with Nurhaci's scrutinizing gaze, some people looked confused, some were extremely angry, and some were very frightened.

So Nurhaci's eyes naturally focused on the faces of those frightened people.

"Your Majesty, I didn't..." One of the people being stared at immediately knelt down, "General Tong can testify that I didn't even go out these past few days!"

"Except for the defenders, who can fight against the Ming army? Outside the north of the city is the Zhenglan Banner..."

"You are slandering me! Your Majesty, I guarantee it with my life! I have been patrolling the camp day and night, and not a single piece of paper or arrow has ever crossed the river!"

"What about the wooden walls built by the Han people who attacked us before?"

"How many days ago was that? The cloth says what happened yesterday!"

"Enough!" Nurhaci shouted, looking at the expressions of the people in front of him with a gloomy face.

A suffocating atmosphere filled the air in silence. After a while, Nurhaci said, "In the face of a major war, the traitors who are colluding with us from within must be found! Today, you will all stay in the Khan's Palace!"

He was not worried that someone would eventually collude with the Ming army. What he was worried about was that there were people among these rebels whom he truly trusted.

After all, some of the content on the cloth is really...

"If there are any more of these things, don't let the soldiers take them!"

He gave another order.

Although very few people can read, what if there is one?
This plan of the Ming Dynasty is extremely vicious. If the contents of the cloth are known to the nobles, morale will only become lower.

And they were completely unable to stop the Ming Dynasty from using this method.

Hu Erhan asked: "Your Majesty, if the Han people shouted, and drove the people of the three tribes to shout..."

Nurhaci's expression froze.

He looked at Huerhan, whose face was full of loyalty and worry.

Slightly dazed, Nurhaci found that he could not tell what Huerhan's true intentions were at this moment.

But the questions he raised cannot be avoided.

"I will personally inspect all the city walls!" Nurhaci could only say this. "If we believed the Han people, how could we Manchus be forced into such a situation?"

He had to wait until spring came and the snow melted.

But now is not the right time...

The "letter" across the river is poison. Nurhaci cannot completely ignore it, nor can he let too many people know about it.

Fortunately, the Ming army did not immediately start shouting across the river to show that they knew the strengths and weaknesses of the city very well.

After two or three days, Nurhaci discovered a pattern: most of what the Ming army knew were just movements seen from the outside, all of which happened outside the houses.

The extremely important account figures and the words and actions in the house do not seem to be involved.

This made him feel more at ease, as it showed that no one who actually had access to confidential information was involved. The only person who leaked the information was probably someone who could see some of the movements from afar.

These people were naturally the three tribes of surrendered dignitaries that Nurhaci had always been suspicious of.

After they surrendered, they had temporary wealth and status, but no real power.

However, he sent people to observe closely in secret these days, and indeed no one or any object crossed the Suzi River.

Could it be that there is some secret message that was already agreed upon long ago?
In the past few days, the sound of artillery fire was heard from the west from time to time.

The sound was far away, muffled, and not dense.

At first, the defenders in the city thought that reinforcements had crossed the mountains and reached the lower valley of the Suzi River in an attempt to cut off the Ming army's food supply.

Now it seems that this is obviously not the case.

The next day, Nurhaci got another piece of cloth that was shot across the Suzi River by the Ming army. After looking at it, he felt cold all over.

Today it's all about him.

That day, every detail, including where he went and how long he stayed there, from early morning to night, is recorded on it.

It was as if a pair of eyes were always watching his movements.

And the person who can see his entire day's journey...

Those in power are often suspicious, or in other words, they need to consider more in order to consolidate their power, and the more they consider, the more suspicious they are.

He began to waver in his next strategy of breaking out from the south.

If his whereabouts were always being watched, the Ming army would soon find out. Then would it be so easy to break through from the south?

But Nurhaci could never figure out who could know his every move and pass the information on under such strict security.

There are clues but no evidence. If we just attack people indiscriminately without any evidence, the morale of the army will collapse faster.

Small pieces of cloth were shot across the river by arrows and became a dark cloud covering the city of Hetuala.

At the center of this dark cloud is the ruler of Jianzhou who is in crisis. No one knows what kind of storm is brewing in his heart.

What were the informed dignitaries and generals thinking in the face of this situation?
Under pressure, some people would always take unnecessary actions, such as meeting with generals from their own tribe, preparing supplies and manpower for escape, or writing something in advance...

Nurhaci also had to find a source for the continued leakage of intelligence in the city in order to reassure others.

The butcher's knife was finally raised, and a letter of surrender written in advance was found in the home of a Huifa tribe member who surrendered. Although there was no evidence that he had colluded with the enemy, it was enough.

His death was not unjust, at least many people who were loyal to Nurhaci felt more relaxed and cursed him; and although other marginal dignitaries were terrified, they also felt that he brought it upon himself.

However, the cloth flew over the Suzi River again the next day and was nailed to the south bank by an arrow.

Nurhaci on the north city wall stared at that place intently, and his breathing was difficult.

Who were they? How many people were collaborating with the enemy? What method did they use to pass the message?
At the Ming army camp, Yuan Keli said to Qiao Yiqi, "No need to spy today. Go to the rear fort, and use the telescope to see the people, estimate their distance, height, and then report to the artillery team so that they can shoot more accurately. This requires more practice."

"Yes! I have some experience. People are always the same height. We can make a rough estimate by comparing their sizes." Qiao Yiqi was very excited. "Leave it to me!"

"Good!" Yuan Keli said with a smile, "If I can achieve success with one shot, it will be no worse than when you shot Dai Qing's brother dead with one arrow in the west of Daling River."

"It's the Mingwei cannon... two miles away, how powerful is it?" Qiao Yiqi was worried about this problem.

"Exploding projectiles." Yuan Keli was not worried. "The smallest Mingwei cannon can fire a mile away. It's very powerful. I practiced with the small one. I have ordered people to transport the huge cannon at Fushun Pass that can fire three miles away to the rear fort."

"That's enough!" Qiao Yiqi clasped his fists and saluted, "I'll go right away!"

Yuan Keli nodded, with anticipation on his face.

He was no longer obsessed with capturing Nurhaci alive, but was preparing to create an opportunity to destroy him and his trusted generals in one fell swoop.

Therefore, the Mingwei cannon must be fired more accurately!
(End of this chapter)