Guangzong Yaoming

Chapter 366: Singing and Dancing

The Yan Great Wall is hard to find. It originally extended northeast along the Nuru Erhu Mountain, and there was a vast grassland between it and the Xiliao River.

In the early Ming Dynasty, Taining and Fuyu, two of the three guards of Doyan, were stationed in this area. In the past few decades, this place was the pasture of Horqin, so it is now also called Horqin Grassland.

But times have changed.

At this moment, to the north of Chengde Prefecture, to the east of Qilaotu Mountain, to the north of Nuru Erhu Mountain, to the east of the lower reaches of the Laoha River, and where the Laoha River and the Xilamulun River converge to form the northwest bank of the Xiliao River, there are four military and civil prefectures: Daning, Hazhou, Linhuang, and Qingzhou.

The Liaoxi Town, which was changed from Jizhou Town, actually surrounded the Jurchens in Lingnan.

To the east of the Hazhou Military and Civilian Prefecture, which was reestablished with the Naiman tribe east of the Laoha River as its core area, is the Tongliao Military and Civilian Prefecture, which is under the jurisdiction of the newly arrived Liaodong Town.

There was no Tongliao in this world, but now it has the name Tongliao.

In later generations, Tongliao had a very impressive jurisdiction outline, extending straight into the Greater Khingan Range.

But today, its core area is only approximately to the north of the original Yan Great Wall and to the south of the Xiliao River.

Today, two cities along the Xiliao River are undergoing massive construction.

It is located at the confluence of the Xilamulun River and the Laoha River, on the north bank of the Xiliao River where they converge. This is Linhuang Prefecture, which will control the eastern route to Gyeongju and remotely control the Balin grassland on the north bank of the Xiliao River in the future.

The north bank is the military city, the south bank is the port city. The Aohan, Naiman and other tribes originally relied on the natural gift of the mountains to conduct wooden horse trade with the Ming Dynasty. At this moment, the rivers thawed, and a steady stream of large logs drifted here from the upper reaches of the Laoha River and the Xilamulun River.

Some were supplied by the Ming Dynasty's Hazhou Military and Civilian Government, while others were sold by the Lingnan Jurchens who arrived in the new territory in the autumn and winter of last year.

Buyangu's younger brother Burhangu presided over the ceremony.

"The prince said he got another 4,000 aha!" The leader of the Yehe tribe, who had already tasted the sweetness, looked at the busy construction site in the distance and said excitedly to Burhanggu, "The Ming Dynasty still has to build many cities! Even if we just sell wood, we don't know how much we can make. And there's also brick making..."

Burhangu looked at the city and felt a little worried.

To the south was Daning, the Liaoxi Town of the Ming Dynasty. To the west was a narrow road that allowed the Ming Dynasty to reach Qingzhou north of the Xilamulun River from the west. To the east were Linhuang and Hazhou. The Lingnan Jurchens were actually surrounded.

From now on, we can only look to the Ming Dynasty’s mood.

Hearing that Donggo was pregnant, Burhanggu was actually a little worried about the future of the Yehe tribe after their westward migration.

But he didn't say much. Anyway, all the important matters of the clan were decided by his brother and another Beile Jin Taiji.

"I heard that the emperor has arrived in Daning." Buerhanggu said, "You stay here to preside over the trade with Daming. I have to go back to prepare. We need to prepare gifts and goods for Tongliao, and select the candidates for the competition."

To the east of here is the city of Tongliao, located south of the Xiliao River.

Unlike Linhuang Prefecture City, Tongliao City did not seem to be planning to build city walls, but instead seven forts would serve as a defense line.

Three of the seven forts are located on the north bank, four are distributed on the south bank, and the center is the urban area on the south bank of the Xiliao River. The government offices and residential buildings that are being built now have walls, but they are not towering city walls. There are wide dirt streets between the government offices and residential buildings. If there is a war in the future, although the cavalry can rush into the city, they will actually face small residential buildings, soldiers in the government offices, and civilians in all directions on the streets, which is actually a street fight.

Of course, at this moment this design conveys a more confident meaning: the Ming Dynasty believes that although it has penetrated deep into this place, it does not need to rebuild the Great Wall, nor does it need to build a fortified city.

In the age of firearms, the role of city walls became less and less important.

Some forts still need to be rebuilt, but this is just a transitional period, and we are only trying to divide the needs of the military and civilians as much as possible.

At this moment, the most lively place in Tongliao is the grassland in the south.

The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty is going to Tongliao to hold a meeting with the various tribes. How can the scene be small?
The first thing being built at this moment is the mobile hall, and there are also tents to be allocated to various departments.

But what is more eye-catching is the large wide grassland in the middle.

In the grassland which is more than two miles wide, officials from the Ming Dynasty's Ministry of Rites, Ministry of Works and Privy Council are now planting various small triangular flags.

And in the grassland, there were nearly a hundred other flags running around.

"My Lord, if we compete with the Tartars right away, won't we be at a disadvantage?"

In the middle of the grassland, Du Song, who had followed Ma Gui from the northwest to Liaodong, asked with some confusion.

He went out of the border wall to sweep the Liaohe area and conquered the four tribes of Chahar Lingnan. Ma Gui was promoted from Ninglu Earl to Ninglu Marquis.

Not as good as Liu Jing, and even less as good as Yu Zigao.

After all, Liu Jing fought thousands of miles away, and just happened to catch up with the opportunity to encircle the Chahar Khanate army, and even participated in the battle against the Jianzhou Jurchens. Yu Zigao, on the other hand, fought hard and achieved extraordinary success.

Ma Gui mainly relied on the power of the Ming Dynasty. When facing Du Song’s question, his answer was also the power of the Ming Dynasty.

"Why would we lose? We didn't lose before we got the Liaohe trap. In the future, with more good horses and more herdsmen who surrender, how can we be worse than now?" Ma Gui said casually, "Besides, it's just a comparison of horse speed and archery. The Ming army's experts are not necessarily inferior."

The alliance cannot just be a dry meeting, there must be a program.

This large grassland is now preparing for the program requested by the emperor: the Tongliao Grand Prix.

According to the emperor, this will happen more often in the future, at least once every two or three years.

The winner will naturally be rewarded, not just the individual, but also the foreign tribes can get additional border trade benefits based on their total scores.

Ma Gui came here not to watch them training, but for another important matter.

Not long after, a subordinate came on horseback to report: "Commander-in-chief, we are 20 miles away."

Ma Gui was shocked: "Let's go!"

Surrounded by Du Song and others, Ma Gui rode his horse south.

While riding, Du Song kept asking, "My Lord, what new gun is so important that you need to go and get it in person?"

"That's incredible." Ma Gui smiled. "If we didn't have to intensify the training to deter the foreign vassal states, and if the Tianshu Camp hadn't suffered heavy losses and needed urgent repairs, it wouldn't be our Liaodong Border Guard's turn to use this batch of new guns."

"Is it that good?"

"If what the Privy Council said is true, that's great. We'll see him soon! Besides, we're not just welcoming new guns, we're also welcoming the Duke of Dingguo! Go!"

Ma Gui was getting impatient.

Logically speaking, the large Mingwei cannons that had been transported here from Jinzhou, Yizhou, Shenyang and other places further south were more than enough to deter foreign vassals.

A single shot could reach as far as three or four miles away. Add to that the telescope sighting power coming from the east, who wouldn't be afraid?
But the Privy Council obviously had higher expectations for this new gun, and the secret order to Ma Gui clearly stated: This gun is not easy to make, especially the bullets, and we must find good hands to familiarize ourselves with the new gun before firing the bullets. Before the ceremony, even for training, each person could only fire three boxes of live ammunition, a total of 27 bullets.

In total, only one hundred new guns and nine thousand bullets were delivered to them.

After running for more than ten miles, they finally saw the team that was specifically transporting these new guns and bullets.

"Duke Dingguo, I'm sorry for not coming to greet you. Did you have a smooth journey?"

"I am so terrified that Marquis Ninglu has come here to welcome you. How can I say that I have failed to welcome you from afar?" Xu Xigao dismounted and greeted him, then looked to the north, "How far is it?"

"It's less than twenty miles. Young Master, if you work hard for a while, even if you walk slowly, it won't be far. Please!"

They got back on their horses and walked in front. Ma Gui looked at the cars behind him and saw that the boxes were tightly sealed and the escort team was composed of Jinyiwei, the imperial guards in charge of ceremonial guards.

Of course, there was also another group of border troops who were being escorted from the vicinity of Shanhaiguan to the new border.

Duke Dingguo came here with a reduced version of the imperial procession, so the journey was of course smooth.

The fact that these new guns were accompanying the imperial procession was also a way of conveying their importance to Ma Gui.

After chatting all the way to the place, Xu Xigao looked surprised and said, "Is this the venue for the meeting?"

"Yes, we are still speeding up the construction." Ma Gui pointed to the front, "The new border is simple, and now we can only rest in the military tent. I hope you can bear with me."

"Your Majesty, what are you talking about? Although I grew up in the Duke's Mansion, now that I have been ordered by the Emperor, it is a grace from His Majesty, and I need more experience." Xu Xigao said solemnly, "First, collect the military supplies that the Privy Council wants to transport to Tongliao."

My grandfather has been mainly engaged in sacrifices all his life. Now Xu Xigao has inherited the title of Duke Dingguo. However, Duke Yingguo Zhang Weixian recommended him to the emperor to attend the grand ceremony of the alliance of all tribes.

After making great contributions and returning to Beijing to become the governor of the Beijing Camp, Zhang Weixian seemed to think that it was more important for him to take over from Li Chengliang and sort out the affairs of the Beijing Camp.

But at the same time, after actually going to the battlefield, Zhang Weixian was also trying to establish his prestige among the old meritorious officials. As for the young Duke Dingguo, Zhang Weixian also hoped that he could gain some experience and not just eat and wait for death in the capital.

Having been given so many instructions, Xu Xigao became so humble in his words when he came here.

Now that the first goal of arriving in Tongliao has been successfully completed, he will complete the second goal: to obtain the certificate of Liaodong Town to sign for this batch of military supplies. In fact, he didn't know what military supplies he was transporting, and he didn't take the usual way, but was carrying them with the imperial procession.

So when he saw Ma Gui nodding his head expectantly, he was also a little curious: "My Lord, what is this batch of military supplies? It was brought from Zunhua. The Privy Council has strictly ordered that the seal must not be damaged. If it is damaged, there will be severe punishment."

"New guns." Ma Gui said succinctly, "I also want to broaden my horizons. This time, if we want to intimidate the foreign vassal states, we should mainly rely on these."

"New guns?" Xu Xigao suddenly realized after hearing this. "I heard that the Zunhua Military Industrial Park has indeed been ordered to develop new guns. Your Majesty went there specially two years ago for these. Do you want to test-fire it later? I also want to broaden my horizons."

"Now that it has been sent to the border troops, it will naturally not be kept secret any longer. The young master will see it soon."

They first arrived at Dingliao Fort on the south bank, which was the first to be built to the north of the temporary palace, and many boxes were transported to the military warehouse.

After counting the number, Ma Gui signed for it and couldn't wait to open the box.

Then there was a pleasant surprise.

"Telescope?" He recognized it at a glance, and his eyes lit up immediately, "Yes! Since Governor Yuan has sent one, how can Tongliao not send a few to deter the foreign vassal states this time?"

He didn't expect that the Privy Council didn't tell him that there was such a thing this time.

This makes the new gun even more important.

After opening the second box, Ma Gui saw the new guns neatly arranged in the box.

He took a deep breath after just one look: "This gun barrel...isn't it made of ordinary steel?"

"I don't understand that." Xu Xigao was also very curious. "Since it's a new gun, it must be more than just the barrel that has new features."

Ma Gui nodded repeatedly, carefully picked it up and examined it, then he muttered in astonishment: "There is no medicine trough, what is this thing..."

He looked at the master craftsman who came with Duke Dingguo. He saw that he had been holding back all the way, and now he said proudly: "This gun, your majesty named it the Nine Thunder Gun. My Lord, open the ammunition box first. The border troops selected by your Lordship have arrived, and I will teach you how to use it."

"Jiusong, are all the people here?"

"We're all here, waiting anxiously."

While answering, he also stretched his head to look carefully.

It was indeed as Ma Gui said, there was no medicine groove, the bird beak like a bird gun was gone, and there were some other parts.

The most eye-catching thing is of course the square iron box in front of the trigger.

The ammunition box was also opened, and they were shocked to find that there were neither small packages of gunpowder nor individual bullets inside.

At first glance, the yellow color looks like gold or copper, and the bullets are actually strips with only one end that is pointed and round.

"My Lord." The master craftsman reached out and took the Nine Thunder Gun from Ma Gui, then said, "There is a mechanism here. Push it open and the magazine will be unloaded."

Ma Gui and others were stunned to see him push and press, and then they heard a light "click" sound, and the square box was indeed taken down by him.

After returning the Nine-Thunder Gun to Ma Gui, he walked to the ammunition box.

"Nine bullets can be put into one box, hence the name Nine Thunder Gun." The master craftsman sighed, "Although the gun body is exquisite, the most difficult part of the Nine Thunder Gun is the bullet. Currently, the military industrial park has only produced 13,000 bullets in total, and most of them are here. From the year before last to now, the silver spent on this new bullet is at least 400,000 or 500,000 taels."

"..." Ma Gui's eyes widened when he heard this number, "This bullet... is made of gold?"

"Of course it's not gold, it's copper." The master craftsman picked up nine bullets and pushed them in one by one skillfully. "In the future, if you can retrieve the shells, you'd better retrieve them. Although the shells are made of copper, they are far less valuable than the thunder and fire caps inside! If it weren't for the good news in February that the priests of the Academy of Scientific Research had finally made the thunder and fire caps, what we would have brought in this time would still be old guns and old bullets."

"...Isn't this old gun you're talking about never used in the army? The kind His Majesty used when he inspected it two years ago?"

"That's right. Even that old gun is much better than the Rumi gun and the bird gun." He had already loaded the bullets and asked for the Nine Thunder Gun back. "After the bullets are loaded into the magazine, first lock one side like this, then push it in. When you hear this sound, it means it's loaded."

Then he held the gun and said, "Please bring nine more bullets to this general. Lord, where is the shooting range?"

"this way please!"

"You can also bring a telescope."

The group arrived at the shooting range on the southwest side of Dingliao Fort with great anticipation. The training ground here was only three or four hundred steps in radius.

"How far is the target?"

"From here... two hundred and twenty-seven steps." Du Song said directly, "Does this Nine Thunder Gun have a close or long range effect?"

"The bird gun can reach a maximum of 300 steps, and the Rumi gun can reach a maximum of 400 steps. This Nine Thunder Gun is naturally much better. In previous tests, it could kill livestock at a maximum of 700 steps. The principles are completely different and cannot be compared." The master craftsman laughed, "But I am not a sharpshooter in the army. Let's get closer, to 50 steps."

Hearing him say that the range of the Nine Thunder Gun was so exaggerated, Ma Gui couldn't help but open his mouth wide and digest it for a long time.

Of course, he knew what double the range meant. It meant that he could cause at least twice the damage to the enemy before engaging the enemy in close range.

"The power of the Nine Thunder Gun is not that it can shoot far, nor that it is accurate and far-reaching, but that if you are proficient, you can fire all nine bullets within ten breaths. If you load several magazines in advance, generals, you know how to use it, right?"

"What did you say? Nine rounds in ten breaths? And... you only need to change the magazine?"

"Your Majesty has such a brilliant idea. Who could have thought that it could be made?" The master craftsman was full of admiration. "The gun pattern was drawn by your Majesty, but it is not easy to make it nowadays. If you want to make it like your Majesty said, that every soldier in the Ming Dynasty should have a Nine-Thunder Gun, I don't know how long it will take. Fine copper, fine steel, bullet steel..."

He muttered to himself, Ma Gui was still digesting the concept of "rapid fire".

When they were fifty steps away, the master craftsman leaned over and looked at them: "Look, generals, this is how it is used. Pull the bolt first and push the bullet into the chamber. This Nine Thunder Gun needs to be properly maintained. It is also your majesty's ingenuity that several important parts of the gun are cast separately and then assembled, so they can be disassembled normally. Otherwise, it will inevitably get stuck after using it for a long time. I will teach you how to disassemble and maintain it later..."

All the heads were stretched out, and I saw him holding a small iron rod on the side with one hand, pressing, pulling, then pushing and returning it to its original position.

"When you hear that crisp sound, it means a bullet has entered the gun chamber. Now all you have to do is pull the trigger and it will fire."

After that, he pointed at the target in the distance and said, "Do you see the front of the barrel and here? This is called the crosshairs. According to the mathematics of the Institute of Research, as long as you aim at the three points on a straight line, it's time to shoot. Of course, if you want to shoot far, you have to look at the wind and estimate the drop of the bullet. These are simple for a good archer, and practice makes perfect."

With a "bang", he had already pulled the trigger. Although there was no movement from the target in the distance, a wisp of smoke rose from the parapet behind it.

In addition to the smoke coming out of the muzzle, there were also bullet casings that were pulled out when he pulled the bolt again.

"The target was shot through!" Du Song, who had good eyesight, had already seen the result over there. He looked back at the shell that had been brought out and fell on the ground, and his mouth opened wide again, "...The bullet didn't go out?"

"It's just a shell." Ma Gui saw it clearly. After picking it up, it was still hot. He couldn't help but mutter to himself, "How did you pull it out?"

"So it is extremely difficult to make! It is not easy to carve! Just like this, do it again, and another bullet will enter the chamber."

There was another bang, and this time he didn't continue explaining. Instead, he just kept pulling the bolt, loading the bullet, and firing repeatedly.

After firing all nine bullets in one breath, he put down the gun and said, "That's how it's used. Generals, you can see for yourself that someone like me can fire nine bullets just as quickly if we become skilled. There's really no limit to the art of firearms. I wonder if I can ever see the barbarian who can fire three thousand bullets in one breath and sing and dance with the Tianji gun as your majesty said."

"One breath... three thousand bullets?" Ma Gui felt that he had heard it wrongly, "Your Majesty said that?"

"Your Majesty said it can be done, then it can definitely be done!" The master craftsman seemed like a fanatic, but he pointed at the Nine Thunder Gun and said, "At first, we didn't believe it would work, but now it has worked, hasn't it?"

"This is already a treasure, a treasure! A divine gun!"

Ma Gui took it and stroked it lovingly, with a frightening look in his eyes.

Xu Xigao took a look and saw that the eyes of these soldiers were full of brilliance, as if Ma Gui was holding a beautiful woman who was about to be burned to death.

But he could understand. Although he was a young master who had been pampered since childhood, he was from a family of honor and military service after all, and he knew what this kind of fire gun that could fire continuously and was so simple to use meant.

You don't need to load the gunpowder on the spot. Once you become proficient, you can aim and load the gun, then shoot at will. If you have enough guns and enough bullets...

Ma Gui finally understood why this thing was more important than a telescope.

This is something that every soldier can use, and it can completely change the current war situation. If all the infantrymen of the Ming Dynasty use this Nine Thunder Gun, how many flesh and blood bodies can get close? It is not convenient to pull the cannon too far, but as long as there are more than a thousand Nine Thunder Gun soldiers with enough bullets... no matter how big the grassland is, they can walk sideways.

"What on earth is this magic gun... the gunpowder is in the bullet? How does it ignite without primer? And the flash cap..."

Ma Gui is now thirsty for knowledge.

"I heard that four Taoist boys were killed in the explosion, and a Taoist priest lost a leg. That's why we refined this thunder fire mercury!" The master craftsman sighed, "With this, we won't need primer in the future. First, the bullets for the Nine Thunder Guns, and then the Mingwei Cannon, all need to be greatly improved, and it will be easy to shoot ten miles away in the future. Add a telescope and a shooting range, and we can hit the target accurately. Generals, we are now in great need of copper!"

"It's hard to say if there's a shortage of copper!" Du Song's eyes turned red. "Wherever there is copper, I'll fight there! Lord, give me five hundred... not two hundred will be enough! Whether it's the Western Regions in the north of the desert or the East Ocean in southern Yunnan, wherever there is copper, I'll fight there!"

"It's just a trivial matter, just a trivial matter!" Ma Gui sighed to the sky, "I wish I was born 20 years later!"

(End of this chapter)