Liu Zhaoji took the bird gun respectfully and examined it carefully.

The bird gun is five feet long and weighs more than ten pounds. Unlike other bird guns, this one has an extra iron spike near the muzzle.

He tried to bend it with his hands, but it didn't move. It was obviously made of steel.

There is a piece of iron pipe at the bottom of the long spike, which is put on the outside of the barrel, increasing the length of the bird gun by one foot, and also giving it the ability to kill enemies in close combat.

Schematic diagram of the sleeve-type bayonet (right)

Liu Zhaoji pointed at the long spike and asked Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, is this a bayonet?"

"Yes," Chongzhen nodded. "I originally wanted to make the long spike into the shape of a knife, but after the soldiers of the Yongwei Battalion used it, I found that it is easy to accidentally injure the user if it is made into a knife, and it will also reduce the reloading speed."

"So I changed the knife into a long spike."

Liu Zhaoji frowned and continued to ask: "There is one thing I don't understand. What is the purpose of adding a bayonet to the bird gun?"

"Increase the melee capability of the bird gun soldiers. With bayonets, they no longer need to carry waist knives or spears."

Liu Zhaoji took the bird gun in his hand and shook it, then shook his head and said: "With it, the infantry can indeed not carry waist knives, but this thing cannot replace the spear."

"Why?"

"Because they are too short, our army has roughly four types of spears. The longest spear is about 18 feet (5.6 meters) long, the slightly shorter spear is 17 feet (5.3 meters), the shorter spear is 16 feet (5 meters), and the shortest spear is 14 feet 8 inches (4.7 meters)."

"This bird gun plus the bayonet is only six feet long in total, so it can't replace the spear."

After hearing this, Chongzhen sighed and felt a little regretful.

Liu Zhaoji's words were exactly the same as Li Xianzhong's. It seemed that the bird gun plus the bayonet could only replace the infantry's waist knife, but could not replace the spear.

Seeing that Chongzhen was somewhat disappointed, Liu Zhaoji hurriedly advised: "Your Majesty, the combination of bird guns and bayonets not only reduces the burden of marching, but also saves the court the cost of waist knives. It is indeed a sharp weapon."

Chongzhen nodded and continued to ask: "Can this thing replace the cavalry's waist knife?"

"It's tough," Liu Zhaoji replied somewhat tactfully. "In close combat, cavalry must use light weapons and move quickly, so that they can gain the upper hand. This bird gun is long and heavy, and it is very troublesome for cavalry to use it."

"Since Admiral Liu has said so, I have given up." Chongzhen looked at Wang Chengen as he spoke and said, "Pass down the order to change all the weapons of the Brave Guard Battalion's bird gun soldiers to bird guns and bayonets. The other arms remain unchanged for the time being."

"If there are no problems with using it for a period of time, we will promote it to the entire army."

"I obey your order." Wang Chengen went down happily to convey the order.

After Wang Chengen left, Chongzhen looked at Liu Zhaoji again and asked, "Admiral Liu, don't you want to ask how many new soldiers there are in Baoding?"

Liu Zhaoji thought for a moment and said, "Five thousand?"

"No, guess again."

"Ten...ten thousand?" Liu Zhaoji was a little excited.

"Wrong, I have recruited 30,000 cavalrymen in Baoding with full pay and food! Fifteen thousand of them have been trained by Li Xingzhong for half a year. I plan to let him lead the troops south for actual combat."

"You will train the remaining 15,000 recruits. What do you think, Admiral Liu?"

Liu Zhaoji's heartbeat began to accelerate.

Full pay and food means the elite among the elite.

What is the concept?

The elite Liaodong cavalry that dominated Liaodong back then numbered only a mere ten thousand people.

"I am willing to go to Baoding to train new soldiers." Liu Zhaoji's eyes were filled with tears as he spoke.

Letting him train new soldiers shows that His Majesty trusts him, and this trust is evident in these turbulent times.

"Okay," Chongzhen patted Liu Zhaoji on the shoulder, "I will immediately appoint you as the deputy general of Baoding, and go to Baoding to train the new soldiers of the Yongwei Battalion."

"Yongwei Battalion?" Liu Zhaoji thought he had misheard. "Yongwei Battalion is your majesty's personal army. Shouldn't they be stationed in the capital? Why are they in Baoding?"

Chongzhen smiled faintly and said: "The Yongwei Battalion currently has four battalions, namely Wuxiang Left Guard Battalion, Wuxiang Right Guard Battalion, Tengxiang Left Guard Battalion and Tengxiang Right Guard Battalion. Li Xianzhong is the commander of the four battalions."

"In the battle of the capital, the Yongwei Battalion suffered heavy casualties. In order to restore the combat effectiveness of the Yongwei Battalion as soon as possible, I have Li Xianzhong recruit soldiers in the capital and Li Xingzhong recruit soldiers in Baoding. Do you understand?"

Liu Zhaoji suddenly realized and understood Chongzhen's intention.

Chongzhen ostensibly asked him to train troops for the imperial court, but in reality he was training troops for himself.

For Liu Zhaoji, it didn't matter who he trained the troops for, after all, the Ming Dynasty was named Zhu.

"I thank Your Majesty for your grace, but I have one more request, so please grant me that." Liu Zhaoji knelt on one knee.

"Go ahead."

Liu Zhaoji took a deep breath and said, "My family is far away in Nanjing, and I want to move them back to the capital. But the land in the capital is expensive, and I want to borrow some money from Your Majesty to buy a house."

Chongzhen was stunned at first, but then he understood Liu Zhaoji's idea.

On the surface, Liu Zhaoji was borrowing money from Chongzhen to buy a house, but in reality he wanted to leave his weak spot in the capital so that Chongzhen would feel at ease.

Military generals in every dynasty would leave their families with the emperor before going out to war so that the emperor would feel at ease.

As a military general, Liu Zhaoji had some self-awareness.

"How much?".

"Two hundred taels."

"Is two hundred taels enough?"

"Your Majesty, that is enough."

Housing prices in Beijing were not high during the Ming Dynasty.

Taking the 13th year of Chongzhen as an example, a small courtyard house (two southern rooms, two northern rooms, and one wing room) on Zhengyangmen Street in Beijing was sold for only 33 taels of silver.

After handing the silver to Liu Zhaoji, Chongzhen said earnestly: "My new soldiers all depend on you, I hope you will not let me down."

"Your Majesty, rest assured. I will live up to your grace."

After coming out of the imperial city, Liu Zhaoji did not go to Baoding to take up his post immediately, but stayed in the capital for two days.

During this period, one had to wait for the imperial edict from the court, and the other was to take the opportunity to visit the ministers in the court.

After all, if a military general in the Ming Dynasty wanted to live long, he had to show goodwill to the civil officials.

He couldn't go on a visit empty-handed, so he wandered around the streets.

After wandering around for a while, he came to a shop.

Zhou Shang...?

The father-in-law’s surname is Zhou. Could this be his business name?

Liu Zhaoji walked in nervously.

He was stunned when he walked into the house.

A room full of familiar faces.

Duke of England Zhang Shize, Jinyiwei Commander Li Ruolian, East Factory Admiral Wang Zhixin, Beijing Camp Governor Liu Wenyao...

He thought he had taken a wrong turn, so he took a few steps back, walked outside the door, and looked at the plaque above.

Zhou Shang!

That’s right, this is not the Palace of Heavenly Purity!

But why are these people here at the same time?

Liu Zhaoji had no time to think and hurried back into the house to greet them.

After the greetings, Liu Zhaoji came to Li Ruolian and asked in a low voice: "Commander Li, what are you doing...?"