amaotonovel Chapter 628 How could you doubt my character?
Chapter 628 How could you doubt my character?
Yang Shaofeng couldn't help but feel a headache when Xu Da proposed the idea of having the artisan camp mass-produce firearms.
The prerequisite for mass production of muskets is high-quality coal and blast furnaces; only with these two things can good gun barrels be made.
If you just grab any old steel and use it to make gun barrels, the end result will be a barrel explosion.
A musket that's prone to exploding is no better than a fire poker.
As for the bullets and bayonets that come with the musket, these two items may seem easy to manufacture, but in reality, they are quite difficult to produce.
The bullet head of a fixed-load bullet is made of lead, which requires a lead mine.
Having lead ore is not enough; we also need to develop the necessary molds.
Having the molds, we still needed to figure out the gunpowder part.
Compared to all these messy problems, bayonets were actually the easiest to manufacture.
The problem is that the bayonet's effectiveness is greatly reduced when it is not used in conjunction with a musket.
It's impossible to send people with bayonets to engage in close combat with the Hu Yuan army, is it?
Therefore, if Lao Xu wanted the craftsmen to replicate muskets and bayonets, he first had to vigorously develop mining and build blast furnaces.
Currently, the only craftsmen who know how to build blast furnaces and manufacture firearms are from Dengzhou Prefecture and Ningyang County.
In other words, the same craftsmen that I swindled from Lao Deng and Lao Xu back then, I'll be swindled back by them in the same way now.
The key is to give them some more small flags and soldiers.
Add to that the various supplies that Xu Da, that old scoundrel, and Chang Heitan and his gang took away, and this is just a case of losing both the wife and the army!
Yang Shaofeng grew increasingly displeased and glanced at Xu Da sideways, saying, "If the Grand Commander intends to forcibly transfer people from Ningyang County and Dengzhou Prefecture, I have nothing to say."
Xu Da almost laughed out of anger.
It was a dog.
The Grand Commander forcibly transferred people, and the nephew had nothing to say.
Isn't this just the old man from the Yin-Yang sect bullying a junior because of his official position and seniority?
Xu Da said with a dark face, "I'll have the artisans from the craft camp come to your Ningyang County to learn from them, is that alright?"
Yang Shaofeng's eyes lit up, and Xu Da quickly added, "I sent ten men, so you have to return at least eight to me, or don't blame me for bullying the weak."
WTF?
If you send ten people over, at least eight will have to be sent back.
Xu Da, that old scoundrel, really has quite the appetite.
While inwardly cursing, Yang Shaofeng smiled and bowed, saying, "Uncle Xu, please rest assured, I will never take more than my share."
Xu Da glanced directly at Yang Shaofeng.
You won't overeat or take more than your share?
My God, how could you, Yang the Madman, have the nerve to say such a thing?
Back in the first year of the Hongwu reign, you used the pretext of establishing a paper mill to send some craftsmen to Ningyang County with the Emperor and the Crown Prince.
The workshop was eventually built.
But what about the craftsmen?
None of the craftsmen or imperial physicians sent to Ningyang County returned to the capital!
Okay, you can say that the situation was special at the time, but what about those officials sent by the Ministry of Works to Dengzhou Prefecture?
Those were legitimate government officials, but they, like the craftsmen sent to Ningyang County, never returned.
Now you're telling me you won't overeat or take more than your share?
Ha~te!
You fucking think I look like an idiot!
Just as Xu Da was secretly complaining, Yang Shaofeng said with a smile, "We can talk about the craftsmen later. I'll take the Grand Commander to see something good first."
Xu Da snorted and said, "No, let's clarify the matter of the craftsmen first, so as not to bring up old grievances later."
Ok?
No.
In the martial arts world, everyone knows that I, Yang, am a famously honest young man.
How could you doubt my character, Lao Xu?
Displeased, Yang Shaofeng simply snorted and said, "Since the Grand Commander doesn't care about the real good stuff that can beat Hu Yuan to a pulp, then I have nothing more to say."
Xu Da was slightly taken aback and asked, "A good thing that can beat Hu Yuan into a dog? What is it?"
Yang Shaofeng rolled his eyes. "Anyway, the Grand Commander doesn't care. Even if he does, he probably doesn't trust my character. Why should I bother?"
Before he could finish his sentence, Xu Da glared at Yang Shaofeng and said angrily, "Don't force me to complain to the Empress!"
Yang Shaofeng was furious.
Damn it, how can you, a dignified Duke, who is both the Right Chancellor of the Secretariat and the Grand Commander of the Military Governor's Office, act like a child and file a complaint?
Besides, if you want to complain, go complain to Old Deng! What kind of skill is it to complain to my mother-in-law?
I bother!
While inwardly cursing, Yang Shaofeng said with a dark face, "Does the Grand Commander really think that he can beat Hu Yuan to a pulp with just muskets and bayonets?"
Faced with Yang Shaofeng's question, Xu Da smiled smugly and asked in return, "Do you know the Tartars' fighting style?"
Yang Shaofeng curled his lip and said, "One is a frontal cavalry charge, another is cavalry fighting infantry, another is feigning defeat and flying kites, and yet another is using corpses to fight a plague war."
Ok?
Xu Da was completely stunned.
No.
Does he really know it?
Yang Shaofeng continued, "The so-called frontal cavalry charge is nothing special. The Tartars usually like to use the Goose Feather Formation or Crescent Moon Formation, with a small number of elite troops deployed in the front as a suicide squad, while the main force is distributed on both sides, with the commander-in-chief in the center to command."
"There are two situations when cavalry fights infantry. One is when facing infantry with weak defenses, in which case you can just charge straight in."
"If it is a well-defended infantry, especially a battle formation like that of the Song Dynasty, which consists of wagons, spearmen, infantry armor, and crossbows, the Tartars will usually fire from a distance, using the range advantage of their bows to strike the infantry. Once the infantry is thrown into disarray due to heavy casualties, the cavalry can then use their superior speed to charge into the enemy formation."
"Feigning defeat and flying a kite can be divided into two situations. One is to lure the enemy into a well-defended infantry formation, thereby causing chaos in the formation. The other is to use light cavalry to feign defeat when facing an opponent of similar strength to lure the enemy deeper, and then use heavy cavalry to launch a close-quarters attack."
"As for using corpses to fight the plague, the Duke of E should be quite good at that as well."
As Yang Shaofeng finished speaking, Xu Da was completely stunned.
Xu Da scrutinized Yang Shaofeng from head to toe several times before asking suspiciously, "Judging from your appearance, you don't seem like someone who's been on the battlefield, yet you know all this?"
Yang Shaofeng curled his lip and said, "What's so difficult about that? Or rather, the Xiongnu and Turks have already used the same tricks that Hu Yuan can use. Does Hu Yuan have any new tricks up his sleeve?"
Xu Da smacked his lips and said, "Since you know all this, you should also know that I have plenty of ways to use fire and bayonets to fight Hu Yuan."
Hearing Xu Da say that, Yang Shaofeng couldn't help but purse his lips again.
I know how Hu Yuan plays because I've watched too many movies and read too many novels.
I am also aware of your method of using muskets and bayonets to fight the Hu Yuan, because historically you used cannons and firearms to fight the Hu Yuan.
After silently complaining to himself, Yang Shaofeng snorted and said, "The Grand Commander wants to use muskets and bayonets to deal with Hu Yuan, which is simply to use the advantage of artillery's longer range than bows and arrows to disrupt the Hu Yuan cavalry's battle formation first."
"When the Hu Yuan cavalry lost their speed advantage and their formation became chaotic, muskets became more advantageous in close combat."
"If we replaced them with firearms, which are more advanced than muskets, we could certainly deal with the Hu Yuan cavalry just as well."
Xu Da nodded with a smile and asked, "And then?"
Yang Shaofeng took a deep breath and said, "Then, I have something even better here."
Something better?
Xu Da's heart immediately began to pound wildly.
Seeing Xu Da's expectant look, Yang Shaofeng felt much more at ease.
Was it you, you old scoundrel, who just said you wanted to complain to my mother-in-law?
"I would like to trouble the Grand Commander to accompany me to the Thousand-Household Office."
Yang Shaofeng first kept everyone in suspense, then chuckled twice and said, "I heard that my brother-in-law is going to Beiping with the Grand Commander. I will have to trouble the Grand Commander to take good care of him then."
Xu Da was completely dumbfounded.
No.
All I said was that I would complain to the Empress, and Yang the Madman just made things difficult for me like this?
So, how exactly did the Emperor and the Crown Prince tolerate Yang the Madman?
Li Shanchang and Liu Qingtian, those two old scoundrels, are quite patient. Despite being tormented and annoyed by Yang Dianfeng so relentlessly, they still managed to hold back and not kill him.
……
Just as Yang Shaofeng was busy making things difficult for Xu Da, Emperor Zhu was studying the memorial that Zhu Biao had sent.
A major flood occurred in Xianyou County, Xinghua Prefecture, Fujian Province, resulting in the drowning of many residents.
The Dongman people of Lizhou rebelled and attacked and killed the soldiers and civilians of Anfu Pass. The garrison commander led troops to quell the rebellion.
Heavy rains in Nanping County, Yanping Prefecture, Fujian Province caused flooding, which swept away houses.
Wang Fuke and other soldiers from Guangdong refused to be arrested and became bandits, plundering Haifeng County in Huizhou. The Guangdong Guard sent troops to suppress them, beheading 120 people and capturing 23 horses, thus quelling the Wang Fuke rebellion.
"This is never going to end."
Emperor Zhu couldn't help but complain wildly: "Although our Great Ming Dynasty is indeed not short of horses, the more than 1,000 bandits in Chaozhou were able to get more than 200 horses, and now a hundred or so people in Guangdong have gotten more than 20 horses. What, does our Great Ming Dynasty have so many horses?"
Seeing that Empress Ma was still busy sewing children's clothes and completely ignored his complaints, Emperor Zhu simply snorted and changed the subject: "By the way, we have selected a full hundred guards for Biao'er, all of them young and strong lads."
"We figured that since the men were chosen from Ningyang County, we might as well avoid bothering two people and just put all one hundred young men in that bastard's hands for a period of training."
"That way, we can feel more at ease."
"What do you think, girl?"
Seeing that Emperor Zhu was trying to make conversation, Empress Ma simply put down her needlework.
"Things in Jiangnan are indeed not quite right in the end."
“Your recruitment of guards for the Eastern Palace for Biao’er does make people feel more at ease.”
"However, when you recruit able-bodied men from Ningyang County, Tiande and Boren will not only be moving things, but also taking some manpower with them. Do you think your good son-in-law can get away with that so easily?"
As Empress Ma finished speaking, Emperor Zhu's face immediately darkened.
"We're not worried about how much stuff Tiande and Boren will take, or how many people they can take with them."
"Our only concern right now is that this is the first time Tiande has dealt with that bastard on official business."
"Who knows what kind of trouble we might get into?"
Empress Ma glanced at Emperor Zhu and asked, "Then why didn't you come along?"
Emperor Zhu smacked his lips. "If we don't follow him, he'll cheat Tiande. If we do follow him, won't he cheat us too? Especially since we selected over a hundred young men for this trip to Ningyang County."
At this point, Emperor Zhu sighed and said, "Never mind, I hope he doesn't hurt Tiande too badly."