Sun Chengzong's proposition was supported by Xu Guangqi, Sun Yuanhua, Han Yi, Qian Qianyi and others, but Liu Zongzhou, who was originally on Wang Zaijin's side, hesitated a little, and he seemed to be convinced by Sun Chengzong's reasoning.

At this time, Ni Yuanlu and Lu Chengyuan stood up to support Wang Zaijin's proposition, they believed that there were now 80,000 soldiers outside the Guan, plus various auxiliary people, almost 140,000 people, and the annual cost was more than 6 million taels, if half of this money was saved to resettle the people of Liaodong, then what Sun Chengzong talked about would not be a problem.

As for the so-called aid to the Han Army, so that the Eastern Captives did not dare to defeat the Mongol Han Department in the east with all their might, and solve the trouble of the heart, this is because Sun Chengzong overestimated the role of the Liaodong Army.

In fact, at the beginning of this year, Amin led an army of 30,000 to invade Korea, and the king of Joseon, Li Liang, asked for help from our Ming Dynasty, and the first emperor issued an edict ordering the Liaodong Army and the Mao Wenlong Department of Phi Island to rescue the Korean vassals.

However, in addition to the Phi Island Mao Wenlong Department regardless of the shortage of food and wages, led troops into North Korea to support the North Korean army, after entering the DPRK, "three battles and three victories, trapped in the Ginkgo River", and then in Qianjiazhuang, ** Mountain and the main force of Houjin launched a decisive battle, "Wenlong led the troops out, the big battle, killed Gushan one, Niu Lu three people, and cut more than 2,000 levels. "Outside of the main force of the East Prisoner.

More than 9,000 people of the Liaodong Army returned 200 miles from Ningyuan, except for taking the opportunity to repair Jinzhou City, they did not put any pressure on Houjin at all. It can be seen that what Sun Chengzong said about the Ningyuan defense line can contain Hou Jin Yunyun is just a lie.

With the support of Ni Yuanlu, Lu Chengyuan and others, Liu Zongzhou once again strengthened his determination, believing that the land outside the customs could be abandoned, and the people of Liaodong could move to Shanhaiguan to enrich the defense around Shanhaiguan.

Regarding Ni Yuanlu and Lu Chengyuan's accusations, although Sun Chengzong was red-faced, he was still unwilling to give up his claims, and finally said negatively: "... If His Majesty supports the royal army, then please beg for bones. ”

Huang Liji, Guo Yunhou and other officials have been observing Chongzhen's expression, and they have no position on this issue, so they simply chose to take Chongzhen's meaning as the standard.

Looking at the two distinct factions in the court, Zhu Youzhen had been thinking silently, and after hearing Sun Chengzong's resignation, he finally couldn't sit still.

Zhu Youzhen comforted the old minister in a loud voice, and said tentatively: "First of all, you should have no opinion on this plan to build three Guanxi Yangtai to replace the important city of Shanhaiguan, right?" ”

Both Zaijin and Sun Chengzong, the kings of the court, acquiesced to this plan for building the city, and other officials did not speak out against it.

But Zhu Youzhen immediately spoke: "The Western Gun Platform may be good, but according to the descriptions of Xu Qing and Sun Qing, if the Western Gun Platform wants to play a role, it must be equipped with cannons and muskets. But my Daming artillery can't be cast, the big one is just a divine power, the tiger squat, and the small one is the so-called three-eyed fast gun.

These firearms have short barrels, small charges, and are not far away, and they are difficult to aim and hit. The gun pond is wide on the outside and narrow on the inside, not round and not clean, and the bullet is not closed, the bullet is not fast and straight, and there is no violent force. If the head is heavy and has no ears, it will not rotate, the tail is thin and light, and the charge is too tight, that is, it will be upside down and exploded, so the soldiers in the army are not willing to use it.

The Hongyi cannon purchased by the Ming Dynasty from the hands of the Yi people in Macao, although the length of the production is decent, the thickness is appropriate, the hit rate is high and far-reaching, and the power is huge. However, a cannon weighs more than 1,000 catties, which is inconvenient to move, and the body tube is too long, and the charge is inconvenient. After a shot, if the debris in the chamber is not cleaned up, it will cause an explosion and therefore slow fire. It can be seen that the Hongyi cannon is suitable for defending the city, but not for field battles.

I heard that in the first year of the Apocalypse, the Ming Dynasty purchased 4,000 pounds of artillery from the people of Macao, and the price was 1,000 taels each, which is said to be the price after the discount. If you want to completely build a Western gun platform in the style of a city as Sun Qing said, it will be equipped with about 30-45 guns, not to mention whether there are so many guns that can be sold, the purchase price of these guns alone, and the transportation costs, are already worth the cost of the gun.

And although the people of Macao are now obedient to my Ming Dynasty, this militaristic weapon cannot be controlled by foreign Yi in the end, right? ”

Liu Zongzhou was the first to stand up in support of Chongzhen and said: "What Your Majesty said is good, this strange skill is just a sideshow after all, and the minister thinks that if you want to fight against the Eastern Prisoners, you still have to teach the people to be virtuous after all." Today, the soldiers in the army do not know benevolence and righteousness, and the army passes everywhere, and the people are overwhelmed with trouble. On the other hand, lieutenant generals and officers in the army are shameless, blindly deducting military salaries, looting places, and only trying to extort property.

… The minister thought that if he didn't treat people and relied on his weapons, the prestige of the country would become more and more popular. Instead of spending money in vain to buy Hongyi cannons, it is better to preach the righteousness of the saints to the soldiers, stimulate the conscience of the soldiers, and protect the people of the Ming Dynasty. ”

Although Sun Yuanhua was not convinced by Liu Zongzhou's statement, the shortcomings in the army mentioned by this Mr. Morality are real. As a Western artillery expert, his specialty lies in the study of tool making, and this kind of arguing in the court with the teachings of the saints is his shortcoming.

Sun Yuanhua was full of unconvinced, but he couldn't speak ill of Liu Zongzhou in front of His Majesty, and suddenly turned red.

Zhu Youzhen did not raise these questions to oppose the construction of Western platforms and to reject Western learning.

Therefore, he hurriedly intercepted Liu Zongzhou's words and said: "Mr. Qishan's words are very good, rectify military discipline, and preach the words of the saints, so that the sergeants know why they are fighting, which is indeed very important. Like Li Yongfang, a guerrilla general in Liaodong, the imperial court was entrusted with heavy responsibilities, and Fushun Jiancheng was in hand, but as soon as the eastern captives attacked, they surrendered. If the lieutenant generals and officers of the Ming Army are all such people, even if the Western Fortress is built in the Guannei, won't the Dongyu still open the city and surrender when they come?

However, Mr. Liu is also too biased in some places, after the Ming soldiers know the etiquette and benevolence, do we want to let these loyal soldiers go to defend the country with empty hands? Wouldn't this make the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty feel cold?

Whether there is a cannon or not, the sergeants of the Ming Dynasty must protect their families and defend the country, which is the duty of soldiers. However, what weapons the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty used to fight the enemy was the responsibility of the princes above the court. ”

Although Liu Zongzhou felt that what Zhu Youzhen said was not very reasonable, in his heart, the most important thing was to dismantle the Liaodong army and solve the Liaodong salary problem, so he no longer became entangled in the issue of Western firearms.

As for Xu Guangqi, Sun Yuanhua and others, since Chongzhen did not deny the proposal to use Western firearms to reform the Ming army, they naturally would not debate with Liu Zongzhou.

After watching the quarrel subside a little, Zhu Youzhen continued: "The reason why I raised the question just now is just to say three things: First, the method of building a Western platform is from Taixi, but whether it is suitable for the use of my Ming Dynasty still needs to be tested, so you can first try to repair a small platform near the left side of the capital to verify its pros and cons, and then improve the technology.

2. The method of building the Western platform is a military secret, and the construction of the platform in the future also requires professional manpower, so I think that the Ministry of War should set up a military engineering institute to specialize in the study of siege and defense equipment, and the technology of city construction methods.

3. Although Hongyi artillery and Western guns are sharp weapons of the military state, we have a territory under the jurisdiction of hundreds of millions of dollars, and we cannot rely on the purchase and sale of firearms to maintain national defense security. Therefore, Sun Langzhong and Xu Yibu can recruit manpower to try out the production of Hongyi cannons and Western guns. And Western firearms are not only for the art of manufacturing, Westerners have used firearms for many years, and there is a unique way to use firearms again, and the Xu Ministry can invite firearms operators from Macao to study the art of Western firearms training through the priests of Jinnige. ”

Xu Guangqi and Sun Yuanhua were very interested in Chongzhen's appointment and immediately agreed.

Later, Zhu Youzhen mentioned the second question, "Liaodong has a lot of soldiers but the combat strength is not high, although the DPRK and China originally expected to defend the Liao land with Liao people, but today there are 32 battalions of soldiers in Liaodong, more than half of which are guest soldiers, and the monthly salary of the guest soldiers is two taels, and the monthly salary of the main soldiers is one tael." They are all facing the same enemy, and there is only one life, if the East captives come to attack, will it be the main soldier or the guest soldier? This system must be changed, whether it is a northern soldier or a southern soldier, whether it is a main soldier or a guest soldier, they are all my Ming soldiers, and naturally they must be treated equally. ”

Wang Zaijin had a different opinion on Chongzhen's statement, and he hurriedly defended: "The main soldier is a local, and there is arable land to plant, so the monthly salary will be less." The guest soldiers are all outsiders, they can't farm, and they have to support their families, so they will be higher. This host-guest system has actually taken into account the fairness of local and foreign soldiers. ”

Zhu Youzhen did not agree with Wang Zaijin's explanation, he said strongly: "Whether it is a local or a foreigner, they are guarding the land of the Ming Dynasty, is it possible that the enemy army will not want Guannai if they capture Liaodong?" If you capture the Guannai, you won't want the Central Plains? If you capture the Central Plains, won't you want Jiangnan?

Every piece of land in my Ming Dynasty belongs to all the people of the Ming Dynasty, and there is no subject or object. It is not so much that the guest soldiers are to protect the land of the main soldiers, but that it is the Nine Sides that blocks the invasion from other places, and their families can live and work in peace and contentment in their hometown.

Even if you have to take care of the families of the guest soldiers, then you can give their families tax exemption and exemption from military service, so why bother to create inequality in the army? The Master also once said: Those who have a country and a family do not suffer from widowhood but inequality, and do not suffer from poverty but suffer from anxiety. There is no poverty, no widowhood, and no inclination. Isn't it? Wang Bingbu. ”

The civilian officials were largely uninterested in the treatment of such soldiers. The nobles on the other side did not care about the affairs of the Liaodong Army, because except for the two capitals, the civilian officials did not allow the nobles to meddle in the armies of other places, especially the border army with the strongest combat effectiveness.

And Wang Zaijin's opposition was because he was the secretary of the military department, and he just wanted to dismantle the army outside the customs and complete the Shanhaiguan defense line he envisioned, and he had no intention of doing such a thankless task as changing the military system.

From the Ming Dynasty to the present, there are many vested interests behind any kind of existing system. He had already offended many people by dismantling the Liaodong Army and retreating to Shanhaiguan, so he did not want to encounter greater resistance for this.