The next day, it was not yet dawn.

Zhu Ying got up from the bed, packed up, and rode out on horseback.

Yesterday afternoon, Zhu Gaochi sent someone to inform us that we could finally go to the Armory and Gunpowder Department today.

Zhu Ying didn't know that the reason for the two-day delay was entirely because Zhu Yuanzhang was manipulating it behind the scenes.

Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to see his eldest grandson, so how could he possibly show up in vain?

If they really ran away empty-handed, how would Jiang Li continue to serve as the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard?

Zhu Ying was very much looking forward to the Ming Dynasty's firearms.

The firearms in the early Ming Dynasty were 200 years ahead of the world. The most regrettable thing is that the firearms that had been developed in the early Ming Dynasty were affected by various factors.

Until the end of the Ming Dynasty, there was no rapid development.

The development of firearms entered a period of prosperity during the Song Dynasty.

Because the Song Dynasty often faced threats from the north and constant wars, it had to innovate in the research and production of weapons. Since the quality of the soldiers was not as good as that of the nomadic people, it was better to abuse those rough people with technology!

Therefore, at the beginning of the establishment of the Song Dynasty, departments such as the Military Equipment Inspectorate and the East and West Military Equipment Workshops were set up to manage the development of new firearms.

At the same time, in order to gather wisdom, the Song Dynasty also ordered "those in the world who know the advantages and disadvantages of military weapons" to go to the relevant departments to offer suggestions and proposals, and those whose suggestions are adopted would be rewarded.

As a result, talented people from all over the country came to the capital to offer suggestions.

Gunpowder, fireballs, rocket making methods, fire caltrops and other items all originated from the Song Dynasty.

In the third year of Baoyuan, Song Renzong ordered Zeng Gongliang and others to write a book to summarize the weapons of the Song Dynasty. This also allowed later generations to get a glimpse of the complexity and advancement of the Song Dynasty's military equipment. This book is the famous "Wujing Zongyao".

Among them was the earliest biological weapon: poison smoke balls.

Although the Mongols were mainly cavalry, they attached great importance to the power of firearms and developed metal controlled firearms, the copper fire control.

This type of musket looks roughly made and varies in size, but has the same shape: it has three parts: the muzzle, the chamber and the butt plug.

The barrel is long and thin, with a wooden handle at the end, indicating that the musket can be used by hand. At the same time, a real cannon also appeared.

Not to mention the early Ming Dynasty now.

In fact, the current development of Western firearms was brought over by the Mongols during their conquest of the Eurasian continent.

Zhu Ying rode alone towards Prince Yan's Palace.

It is now around five in the morning, and the officials attending the morning court have already gathered in front of the Fengtian Gate.

The streets were not deserted, but rather lively.

Those small vendors have already started to take up their positions and prepare for a day of business.

Although it was still dark, many houses had lights on.

Arriving at the gate of Prince Yan's Mansion,

Zhu Ying saw that the carriage was ready.

Zhu Gaochi was too fat to ride a horse and could only ride in a carriage.

"Brother Ying."

Zhu Ying had just arrived when Zhu Gaochi just came out of the gate. When he saw Zhu Ying, he shouted in surprise.

"My dear prince, I'll leave you here today." Zhu Ying said with a smile, then he dismounted and handed the reins to the servant beside him.

Zhu Ying pays more attention to these details.

Considering Zhu Gaochi's dignity, it would seem somewhat impolite if he rode a horse.

Obviously Zhu Gaochi was also quite sensitive. Seeing Zhu Ying like this, he smiled even happier.

"Don't worry, Ying Ge'er. I have made detailed inquiries and I can bring Ying Ge'er in."

Zhu Gaochi said this with a smile, but he felt a little emotional in his heart.

His decree was delivered personally by Liu He, the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department.

When Liu He gave the imperial edict, he specifically told Zhu Gaochi that he could bring one more person with him.

How could Zhu Gaochi not understand the meaning of this?

"Thank you, Prince. Should we go to the Armory Bureau or the Gunpowder Bureau first?" Zhu Ying asked.

The Armoury Bureau is located in the inner city of the capital, and the Gunpowder Bureau is located on the outskirts of the capital, and it takes nearly an hour to get there.

"Of course we should go directly to the Gunpowder Department. There is nothing interesting in the Armory Bureau," said Zhu Gaochi.

Hearing this, Zhu Ying felt relieved.

Currently, all firearms are manufactured in the Gunpowder Department.

After some greetings, the two of them wasted no time and headed straight for the city gate.

The predecessor of the Ming Dynasty Gunpowder Bureau was the Baoyuan Bureau.

In the 21st year of Zhizheng, Zhu Yuanzhang ordered the establishment of the Baoyuan Bureau, which was mainly responsible for minting Dazhong Tongbao coins.

Since the main raw material for casting Dazhong Tongbao coins and firearms at that time was copper, Zhu Yuanzhang assigned his firearms craftsmen to the Baoyuan Bureau, making the Baoyuan Bureau a department with functions such as casting coins and producing firearms.

As the demand for firearms increased dramatically during the war, Zhu Yuanzhang once ordered the Baoyuan Bureau to stop minting coins and focus on producing firearms.

This also led to the Ming Dynasty's shortage of copper, which led to the development of the Ming Baochao.

In the eighth year of Hongwu, large-scale wars gradually decreased, and the demand for firearms also decreased accordingly. Zhu Yuanzhang ordered the Baoyuan Bureau to resume minting coins.

In the 13th year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang separated the personnel in charge of producing firearms in the Baoyuan Bureau and merged them with the department responsible for producing swords, spears, crossbows, armor, uniforms, shields, saddles and bridles and other military equipment to form the Military Equipment Bureau.

Since gunpowder could easily cause explosions, a separate Gunpowder Department was established.

Firearms played an indispensable role in Zhu Yuanzhang's success in conquering the world. Whether it was naval warfare or land warfare, firearms played a decisive role. Zhu Yuanzhang can even be called the Firearms Emperor.

Zhu Yuanzhang also attached great importance to firearms, and the craftsmen who made firearms were all treated very highly.

The Gunpowder Department is located in an extremely remote area with few people visiting.

When they arrived at the Gunpowder Department, dozens of cavalrymen immediately came to investigate.

The leading commander came down to check Zhu Gaochi's edict, then bowed and withdrew.

After a few more miles, we arrived at the gate of the Gunpowder Department.

There were already eunuchs waiting ahead, and it was obvious that they had received the news long ago.

"Your Highness, please follow me this way."

Zhu Gaochi got off the carriage and the leading eunuch immediately came forward, bowed to Zhu Gaochi and Zhu Ying and said.

Zhu Ying had an extraordinary temperament. Although the eunuch did not know him, anyone who could come to the Gunpowder Department was definitely not an ordinary person.

The level of strictness here is on the same level as that of the Xiaoling Guard.

Apart from the emperor himself, other people coming here not only need imperial edicts, but also need palace instructions.

After passing the gate and walking a few miles, we could hear continuous knocking sounds.

"I wonder where Your Highness would like to start." The eunuch from the Gunpowder Department asked respectfully.

Zhu Gaochi turned his gaze to Zhu Ying and motioned for Zhu Ying to reply.

Zhu Ying said, "We are not familiar with the Gunpowder Department. Please introduce it to us, sir."

Upon hearing this, the eunuch began to tell the story.

The Gunpowder Department covers a large area, covering hundreds of acres.

The production of gunpowder and firearms is all separate.

The factory buildings in the Gunpowder Department were obviously very different from those in later generations. They were all separate houses with long distances between them.

Unlike ordinary houses, it is not made entirely of wood, but uses glutinous rice lime slurry like a city wall, apparently to prevent accidents.

With the eunuch's introduction and in-depth viewing.

Zhu Ying was shocked.

The firearms manufacturing capabilities of the early Ming Dynasty were completely beyond his imagination.

This place gave him the feeling of a scientific research institution in later generations.

Not only is the management in an orderly manner and the rules and regulations are extremely complete, there are also various firearms-related facilities, similar to the research and development center.

Zhu Ying's plan to hire the craftsman failed.

The Gunpowder Bureau sounds like a government office, but in fact it is equivalent to a small city.

All the food, clothing and daily necessities of the craftsmen are kept here and they are not allowed to go out.

Including their families, they all live here.

There are also exclusive educational institutions here, similar to schools, which allow the descendants of craftsmen to learn to read and write.

What shocked Zhu Ying the most was Zhu Yuanzhang's strict requirements on firearms.

Every craftsman has his own unique mark, which is registered with the Gunpowder Bureau.

This means that every firearm produced here can be traced back to the craftsman who made it.

If there was a misfire or explosion on the battlefield, they could find the marks and trace it directly back to a certain craftsman.

The punishment may be light or death, and those who make serious mistakes will have their entire family exterminated.

Wow, after hearing what the eunuch said, Zhu Ying immediately understood. No wonder they saw those craftsmen, all of them were so focused and not slacking off at all.

It turns out that the fundamental reason is this.

Only after taking a real tour of the Gunpowder Department can you understand.

What did it mean to have such sophisticated firearms in the early Ming Dynasty, in the 14th century?

This is a true dimensionality reduction attack.

Moreover, this was not a new idea. As early as the 13th year of the Hongwu reign, Zhu Yuanzhang issued an order stipulating that "for every 100 soldiers, there should be 10 guns, 20 swords and shields, 30 bows and arrows, and 40 spears."

In other words, even in the most basic standing army, there are ten fire-controlling soldiers out of a hundred people, and the minimum firearms equipment has reached 10%.

For some special elite troops, the ratio of firearms may have reached 30 to 40 percent.

Zhu Ying was even more amazed by the production of firearms.

The cluster rockets among them are called swarm firearms. From the three-shot Shenji Arrow to the hundred-shot Baihu Qiben, with a range of 300 meters, they are similar to the machine guns of later generations.

Such firearms have already been used on a large scale in the Ming army.

With only 5,000 cavalrymen under Zhu Ying's command, they could not cause any waves against the regular army of the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Ying made a sad discovery that even if he successfully founded Annan.

To reach the current scale of the Gunpowder Bureau, due to the limitation of population resources, the whole country must be mobilized, which would take at least ten years, or even longer.

The Ming Dynasty's firearms were ahead of the world for two hundred years. Only by seeing them with your own eyes can you understand their significance.

At present, the Ming Dynasty is relatively active in terms of firearms, whether in terms of technical level, innovative concepts, tactical thinking and practice, etc.

In later movies and TV series, the image of the Ming Dynasty army only having swords and spears to kill is completely misleading.

The diversification of the development of firearms in the Ming Dynasty is the ancestor of many hot weapons in later generations.

Ship-to-ship missiles (Fire Dragon Out of Water), rocket launchers (improvements on Portuguese European cannons), semi-automatic rifles (Ten-barreled Guns), automatic pistols (Crooked Guns), as well as ancient land and sea mines, and Molotov cocktails (Ten Thousand Enemies).

What’s even more powerful is that it combines the close combat of cold weapons and the long-range launch of hot weapons into one, becoming the standard equipment of the elite troops of the Ming Dynasty.

After coming out of the Gunpowder Department, Zhu Ying's head was still buzzing.

Even Zhu Gaochi was shocked and speechless. Having seldom come into contact with military affairs, he had never known that his own firearms were so powerful.

Only after returning to the capital did Zhu Ying come to his senses.

Suddenly, he became less enthusiastic about the idea of ​​establishing a kingdom in Annan.