People in Zongwu: Starting with the Yin Gui Sect

Chapter 310

That's right, it's the magic stone.

Wu Yuke has not forgotten the magic stone, one of the four heaven-repairing stones, that he got from Yihua Palace.

In Wu Yu's opinion, it would be a waste of resources to use the magic stone to transform cold weapons. Since this thing can be transformed into various forms according to the owner's thoughts, why can't it be a hot weapon?

Of course, that's what he said, but in fact, Wu Yu didn't think it would really succeed at the beginning, so he just had a try.

But he didn't expect that with the transformation of his thoughts, this magic stone actually turned out the hot weapon he wanted.

As for why it was a flintlock and a howitzer instead of other more advanced weapons, it's actually not difficult to understand.

With the current industrial level of the Ming Dynasty, even if he really turned out more advanced weapons, it would be impossible to manufacture them.

So instead of turning into things that are impossible to make in this era, it would be more practical to directly turn into a rear-loading flintlock and a howitzer.

And things turned out just as he imagined. After more than a month of tinkering, he really copied what he had transformed one-to-one.

As for the other howitzers, their craftsmanship was simpler than that of flintlock rifles, so he didn't need to copy them himself. He just needed to hand them over to professionals.

As for the so-called professionals, there was no one more suitable than these two in the entire Ming Dynasty.

"Then His Majesty summoned us to the palace, probably for these two firearms."

At this moment, the two of them didn't understand the purpose of His Majesty summoning them to the palace.

Wu Yu nodded, "Yes, that's right. I plan to separate the Armament Bureau and the Arms Bureau from the Ministry of Works and the Eunuchs' Office and give them to you two to manage, specifically for the manufacture of artillery and guns.

As for the positions, Xu Aiqing will be the Minister of the Ministry of Works, and Bi Aiqing will be the Minister of the Ministry of War. Both enjoy the treatment of the third rank. I wonder if the two of you are willing to take on this heavy responsibility for our Ming Dynasty?"

"I am willing to die for your majesty!"

Hearing that your majesty was willing to hand over such an important department to them, how could the two refuse, not to mention the treatment of the third rank, so the two agreed without thinking.

"Okay, then the Military Equipment Bureau and the Arms Bureau will be handed over to the two of you. I will ask Wang Daban to allocate 1 million taels to each of you as funds. When it is not enough, tell me.

But there is one thing, that is, this matter must be kept strictly confidential. No one, from parents to wives and children, can reveal a word.

And the workers must also use the assembly line method to split the entire production process into small links, so that each worker is only responsible for a part of it.

In this way, even if the information of a certain link is leaked, outsiders can only get a small part of the information, and cannot piece together the complete product manufacturing process.

"Your Majesty, I understand, please rest assured! "

Wu Yu nodded, and while watching the two men leave, he was increasingly looking forward to the early deployment of these two new firearms in the entire Ming army.

He even imagined more than once in his mind: when the enemy and our armies met on the battlefield, the enemy generals looked at the new firearms in the hands of our soldiers with a confused look on their faces.

And our generals looked at the enemy generals as if they were country bumpkins, and then said indifferently: Sir, times have changed!

After calming down, after the two figures completely disappeared, Wu Yu continued to order: "Send Song Yingxing!"

After another round of greetings, Wu Yu went straight to the point and said: "Song Aiqing, I heard that there is a crop called sweet potato in Fujian, which was brought back from Luzon by a businessman named Chen Zhenlong in the 21st year of Wanli.

This thing can not only be used as a staple food, but its yield is surprisingly high, more than 20 times that of rice, and the most important thing is that it is not very picky about the environment, whether it is in the south or the north.

In addition to the sweet potatoes, even the stems and leaves are a rare delicacy. My dear Song, am I right? "

It is said that money and grain are the biggest problems in the late Ming Dynasty. In addition to poverty, the grain production was greatly reduced due to the Little Ice Age, which made the already difficult livelihood even more difficult.

The people lived in hunger and poverty and could not meet their basic survival needs. The court was also under great pressure and could not effectively solve the problem of food shortage, which further aggravated social unrest.

However, if sweet potatoes can be popularized throughout the country, the food crisis in the Ming Dynasty will be greatly alleviated.

The reason why the Qing Dynasty was able to quickly restore its population after entering the pass, even far exceeding the Ming Dynasty, was it not because of crops such as sweet potatoes and potatoes?

It's a pity that the Ming Dynasty at that timeThe ruling class didn't care much about it, so these things were not widely promoted, which led to the people having no food to eat and eventually the peasant uprising.

But now that Wu Yu is in charge, he naturally can't miss this opportunity in vain.

And his words also surprised Song Yingxing on the opposite side. He didn't expect that the young emperor in front of him would know about the crop of sweet potato. You know, although the yield of sweet potato is extremely high, because it is an alien species, almost no one grows it.

So even though this crop has been introduced to Fujian for decades, it still hasn't been widely promoted.

"Well, since the people don't believe in the benefits of sweet potatoes and are unwilling to plant them, let the court demonstrate to them.

Song Aiqing, I will now give you a task, that is, to plant this kind of sweet potatoes in all my imperial farms.

It doesn't matter if you can't sell them temporarily after the harvest. You can slice them and dry them or grind them into powder and save them. When there is a shortage of food or disaster relief is needed, these sweet potatoes can be taken to the people for consumption.

After the people discover the benefits of sweet potatoes, they will naturally gradually accept this crop from the foreign land, and it will be much easier to promote it on a large scale at that time."

As a contemporary agricultural giant in the Ming Dynasty, Wu Yu still thinks that it is most appropriate to let Song Yingxing do this.

I just don't know when the other party's "Heavenly Creations" will be published, but it should be soon. After the other party compiles this book, it will be immediately printed and promoted throughout the country.

"I am willing to die for your majesty!"

Hearing that his majesty is willing to try to plant sweet potatoes in all his imperial farms, Song Yingxing immediately admired him.

"Oh, there's one more thing!"

Seeing Song Yingxing about to leave, Wu Yu seemed to remember something and said to Song Yingxing: "Since this sweet potato comes from Fanwai, let's change its name to sweet potato from now on."

After seeing Song Yingxing off, Wu Yu finally had time to sit back on the dragon chair and quietly think about the next plan.

And everything he did was to prepare for the Jisi Change two years later. He didn't believe that he could lose to Huang Taiji when he had money, food, and firearms.

And as long as he could defeat Huang Taiji in this battle, he would have enough reputation to reform the Ming Dynasty.

As for the upcoming Ningjin Battle, there was no way. After all, time was too tight. There was nothing he could do except prepare more supplies for Yuan Chonghuan.