Chapter 140 Proposal to Review the Army
The year-end is already a busy time, but unfortunately, another major incident has occurred.
Princess Gulun Chaogui, who has been preparing for marriage since last year, has not left the Forbidden City for a year. The envoys sent by the Dzungar Khanate have set off to pick her up and will arrive in the capital in a few days.
Yinzhen's good mood of the past few days visibly worsened upon hearing this news. He silently rubbed his face and handed the memorial in his hand to Prince Yi beside him—"Take a look, this is a document sent from the Dzungar Khanate. What can you glean from it?"
Prince Yi took the memorial with a troubled expression. "Your Majesty has only recently dealt with Nian Gengyao, and the Dzungars have already come up with such thoughts. I'm afraid they are testing us."
"You've seen through it all." Yinzhen's voice was extremely deep—"They're just making empty promises, thinking that without Nian Gengyao, the Qing Dynasty would lose its deterrent power. They're truly delusional!"
The Dzungar Khanate has been eyeing the border with predatory intent, eager to take a bite out of this "fat sheep" at any moment. They are bound to come and test the waters at this time.
Prince Yi naturally handed the memorial to Hongzhao, who was standing to the side. Hongzhao took the memorial, his eyes darting around, and he immediately had an idea.
He stood up, holding the memorial, and took two steps forward—"Father, I have an idea, and I wonder if it can help you with your worries."
Seeing his serious expression, Yinzhen couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth and gestured with his chin to tell him what to say.
“Since the Dzungars want to test our strength, hiding it would be beneath our dignity as a great nation. We should lay it out in the open and let them see clearly.” Hongzhao’s expression was serious, not joking. Prince Yi nodded in agreement and looked at the Emperor.
Yinzhen looked down at the child standing in the hall, remaining silent for a moment. Hongzhao, however, didn't seem to mind the awkward silence and cupped his hands again, saying, "Father, please leave this matter to me. However, a few days is indeed a bit short, I wonder..."
“That’s easy.” Yinzhen gently patted the table. “The Forbidden City isn’t a place they can just walk into. Let them stay at the post station for now. I’ll summon them whenever you’re ready.”
Seeing that the Emperor had finally spoken, Hongzhao accepted the order with great enthusiasm and was about to carry it out. He had already bowed and taken his leave from the Imperial Study, but Yinzhen's gaze still followed him. After making the decision, looking at Hongzhao's confident little face, he couldn't say whether he was confident or not.
"How has Thirteenth Brother been feeling lately? Has his leg ailment flared up again?" He turned to look at Prince Yi beside him, his expression showing concern as well as something else.
Prince Yi waved his hand casually, his tone suggesting he didn't care much about his health—"It's an old ailment, nothing to worry about. I understand what Your Majesty means, and I will assist the Crown Prince."
Surprisingly, Yinzhen shook his head and said, "No, you should still prepare according to the previous banquet procedure. If, in any case, something goes wrong, there will be another way to explain it."
Although Yinzhen trusted his son, this was no small matter. If things went wrong, it could lead to another fierce battle. A war with the Dzungars was inevitable sooner or later, but it could not be caused by the Crown Prince's mistake.
This time, he was willing to let Hongzhao do whatever he wanted, and he was also willing to do his best to arrange every possible way out for him when he was able to.
——
Nowadays, the Qing Dynasty basically uses a mix of cold and hot weapons in its battles, with cold weapons being the most commonly used, mainly swords, spears, arrows, and lances. When Hongzhao arrived at the firearms manufacturing camp of the Imperial Workshop, he frowned when he saw that the things inside were piled up with dust. Among them, the most impressive one was the "Wucheng Yonggu General Cannon" which was personally supervised by Emperor Kangxi.
The head of the Imperial Workshop on duty today followed behind the master, bowing and looking completely bewildered. Watching this distinguished master holding a musket and studying the cannon with great interest, the head of the workshop was in a state of panic. "Master, Master, please be careful with this thing so it doesn't hurt you. I can't afford to lose several lives to pay for it!"
Seeing his pained expression, Hongzhao couldn't help but chuckle. He weighed the heavy musket in his hand and said, "Go and summon the best craftsman who makes muskets. I have some questions for him."
"This...Yes, Your Highness, please wait, this servant will go and fetch him right away." Although he felt that the Crown Prince was just being young and foolish, he was still the Crown Prince. Even if they were to rip off their heads and kick them like balls in front of the Emperor, the Emperor might still praise them for their strength. He dared not disobey.
Before long, a white-haired man in an official robe strode up to Hongzhao and said, "Your servant Sule greets Your Highness, may Your Highness live a thousand years!"
"No need for formalities." Hongzhao glanced at him a few times, raised his hand to gesture for him to rise, and then asked seriously, "I have a question for you: how many days does it normally take to manufacture a musket?"
Sule didn't know why the Crown Prince was asking this, but he answered almost without hesitation, "With someone to help, it won't take a day."
Hongzhao nodded without saying anything, and led Sule to the table, spread out the silk paper, picked up the brush and began to draw. He held the brush steadily, as if he already had a blueprint in his mind, and outlined the shape with just a few strokes.
Sule peered over and watched as Hongzhao added more and more strokes to his pen. His eyes widened and his body stiffened, until he even forgot to breathe and stood motionless to the side. The Crown Prince was drawing... musket blueprints!
Could it be that the Crown Prince could have memorized the entire structure after just one glance?
No...that's not right! These are musket blueprints, but they're not the musket the Crown Prince just looked at. He's never seen the design on the blueprints before.
Hongzhao roughly copied the blueprints given to him by the system, put down his pen, picked up the paper, and examined it with satisfaction for a moment. Then he shoved it into the arms of Sule, who was craning his neck and opening his mouth—"This is my improved version of the musket. Take a look and see if there's anything wrong with it?"
Hearing the Crown Prince's words, Su Le was even more dazed. He held the blueprints in his hands, examining them as if they were priceless treasures, almost pressing them against his face. He kept saying, "Wonderful, truly wonderful!"
The existing muskets are only effective at long range and are completely useless in close combat. The new blueprints add a thrust to the traditional musket, which greatly improves its practicality in close combat.
Furthermore, the muskets used by the Qing army today were mostly modified from the arquebuses passed down from the Ming Dynasty, and the barrels were too long. This made loading and firing quite inconvenient, and the blueprints have made significant improvements to this.
Seeing that he was completely engrossed in the blueprints, with his eyes practically glowing with golden light, Hongzhao shook his head helplessly and lightly touched the blueprints with his finger—"The other changes are just superficial. Focus on this."
Sule followed his hand and looked down, and tears welled up in his eyes.
"Our current muskets are ignited with matchlocks, which are too susceptible to weather conditions and too unreliable. This is a drawing of a percussion cap. When the time comes, simply pull the trigger to strike the percussion cap and it will fire. You just need to make it exactly as shown on this drawing, and I guarantee that this weapon will be successful."
Sule's hands trembled, and he could barely stand. He struggled to clear his numb tongue and stammered, "Yes, yes! This servant will... will definitely make it for the Crown Prince!"
Seeing his fervent demeanor, Hongzhao felt slightly relieved. He beckoned to Xiao Dezi, and the guards following behind him stepped forward in a row.
"I don't care how you arrange the manpower, I want to see one hundred of these muskets made within a month. You all have to work hard this month. The guards will protect you day and night, and your food will be delivered by special personnel. Once this is done, I will report to Father Emperor and reward you handsomely!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
