When Chongzhen heard this, his eyelids lifted suddenly.

Tentatively asked, "What does Brother Qin mean?"

Qin Shuhuai put down his wine glass and said meaningfully, "Your Majesty, there are clouds in the books of soldiers, and those who fight are not allowed by the time, place, and people, although there is a victory." By next year, we will not lack any of the three, but on the other hand, Jiannu, there will be no one of the three. So, it's time. ”

Chongzhen's eyes emitted a hint of brilliance, and he couldn't wait to ask, "Brother Qin is really sure?"

Originally, he just wanted to fight a few local wars in Liaodong next year, on the one hand, to recover part of the country, and on the other hand, to further hit the economy and morale of Xia Jiannu, but he never thought about pacifying Jiannu in one fell swoop.

In his eyes, Jiannu is too strong, and Huangtaiji is too strong! Moreover, once the Ming Dynasty attacks Jiannu, the Mongolian Duoyan and other powerful tribes will definitely not sit idly by and ignore the reason for the cold lips and teeth, and if they unite, they will be stronger!

This can't be blamed for his inability to see the situation clearly, it can only be said that in recent decades, the Mongols and Jiannu have left a shadow in the hearts of everyone in the Ming Dynasty.

Qin Shuhuai poured Chongzhen a glass of wine and said, "Your Majesty, if the new policy is today, whether it is a soldier in the army, a local official or a pawn of a peddler, most of them are the profiteers. For them, the good life they have just lived for a few days is even more commendable, and if anyone wants to deprive them, they will definitely play with someone! Therefore, the determination of the people of the world to defend their homes and defend the imperial court is stronger than at any other time in history. As long as we tell them that Jiannu wants to invade the Central Plains again, whether it is the soldiers or the people, they must have the same hatred and hatred, and this is the so-called harmony. ”

After hearing this, Chongzhen nodded slowly, "What Brother Qin said is good. To put it mildly, throughout the ages, there is no dynasty that can be as benevolent as my Ming Dynasty! Moreover, as long as the treasury is full in the future, I will reduce the merchants' endowments, and I will practice more benevolent government! The people should support the imperial court. ”

Chongzhen thought that there would be no war in the future, and there was no need for the imperial court to collect 100 million taels of taxes a year. It's better to collect less, and make the people rich, so that the people can live a better life, and then it is better to support his Zhu family for thousands of generations.

Qin Shuhuai wanted to say that if the Ming Dynasty wants to be stronger, then it will have to concentrate the money to build infrastructure, such as road construction, bridge building, city construction, medical care, science and technology, education, and national defense, all of which require a large amount of capital investment, and even if 100 million taels of taxes a year is not enough.

But now is not the time to say this to Chongzhen, so he continued his original train of thought and said, "The emperor is right, in short, the people of the Ming Dynasty are united now. On the other hand, since the last failed raid on the customs, they have become more and more short of food, especially salt and iron tools. In addition, the successive setbacks also made them demoralized, and there were also many internal contradictions, the conflicts between the four Baylor groups became more and more intense, and the monarchs and ministers were separated from morality, so why should such an opponent be afraid?"

After a pause, he continued, "In addition, we have money and food, so we can naturally equip a better army. It is true that the Eight Banners are strong, but after the battles of our Ming Dynasty in the past few years, we have also trained an elite soldier, and there are many good generals. As long as we prepare for the war in the future, defeat Jiannu Shengjing in one fell swoop, and capture that Huang Taiji alive, it may not be impossible. ”

When Chongzhen heard this, he couldn't help but say in a loud voice, "Okay! Well said! Since Brother Qin is sure, then I have no doubts! Brother Qin, you go on, how should we prepare for war next." ”

Qin Shuhuai said without thinking, "One is to step up the training of the army, and the other is to purchase equipment on a large scale. The whole army can be done by Inspector Yuan, and one of the main forces attacking Jiannu in the future must also be his Guanning army. As for the procurement of equipment, this matter is up to the minister. ”

Chongzhen nodded, "I heard that the Jianghe Gang's equipment is better than that of the imperial court." The shields in your gang are light and stiff, and the armor is double-layered, and only slightly heavier than the single-layered ones. In addition, last time you transferred a lot of gunpowder talents to me, and it is said that you made a large number of thunderbolts with great power, right? When the time comes, I will give you money, and you will produce more, and you will equip as much as you can. ”

"The Emperor Mingjian. However, while these things are good, they are still not as good as one thing. ”

"Oh, then I'm going to hear it, Brother Qin. ”

"The emperor also knows this thing. ”

Chongzhen frowned and said, "I also know? Hehe, this is strange. Brother Qin, say it quickly, don't sell it. ”

Qin Shuhuai smiled slightly and said, "It's the red-clothed cannon equipped in Ningyuan City!"

Chongzhen was stunned for a moment, and then immediately slapped his thigh.

"It turns out that Brother Qin is right! The power of the red-clothed cannon is indeed amazing, it shoots far and accurately, and the thief chief Nurhachi died under this cannon. However, as far as I know, the cannon is too heavy, expensive to build, and the rate of fire is not too fast. ”

The Red Cannon, also known as the Hongyi Cannon, is a kind of giant cannon introduced from Portugal in the Ming Dynasty, although it is powerful, it weighs about 2 tons, causing it to move slowly. In addition, it has a big limitation, which is the low rate of fire, which can only be fired once every 2 minutes.

However, Qin Shuhuai believes that in the current environment, large-scale equipment manufacturing of redcoat cannons is an inevitable choice.

First of all, the Navy needs redcoat cannons. Even though he is not an expert in naval warfare, he also knows that the requirements for artillery in naval warfare are still long enough, powerful enough, and accurate enough, and the redcoat cannon can fully meet these requirements. Judging from the current warship equipment of naval powers such as the Netherlands and Portugal, the redcoat cannon or the cannon of the same series is also their main gun type.

Secondly, the army also needs this artillery. In land battles, if it is an encounter in the field, then all the cannons are not very useful at present, you must know that the contact between the two sides in the encounter is extremely fast, and there is no time to fire a few shots. But in siege warfare, it is different, the powerful and long-range red-coated cannon can vent in places where the enemy can't reach, can perfectly suppress the enemy's firepower at the head of the city, and even directly smash the city gate to let the army enter the city.

After all, Qin Shuhuai is not an expert in firearms, or an expert in mechanical engineering, he only knows what guns are good to use, but he doesn't know how to modify cannons. He knew that the breech gun was more powerful than the breech run of the redcoat cannon, but the key was that he didn't know the specific structure at all, and even if he drew the drawings, the industrial conditions at that time might not be able to make it.

So, he can only choose the red-coat cannon.

Qin Shuhuai gave the reasons one by one, and Chongzhen immediately made a decision after hearing it, "Since Brother Qin thinks this cannon is very good, then let's build this cannon!" In this way, you go back and make a list, how much these armaments will be built, how much will be consumed, as long as I can afford it, all the funds will be allocated!"

"The emperor is wise! However, to build this cannon in batches, I am afraid that one more person is needed. ”

"Who?"

Qin Shuhuai smiled, "It's Xu Guangqi, the original secretary of the Ministry of Rites." By the way, after the last time this old man was locked up, is he still in prison?"

Xu Guangqi is the secretary of the Ministry of Rites who cried outside the Qianqing Palace because Qin Shuhuai was appointed as the governor of Dongchang. This guy is not a member of the Donglin Party, but he is too old-fashioned, so he was used by the Donglin Party at that time, and was finally taken down by Chongzhen and put in prison.

When Chongzhen heard this, he immediately smiled and said, "Are you talking about Xu Ge Lao? hehe, if this guy was still in prison, he would have died a long time ago." When I ordered him to be taken, he went on a hunger strike in prison. He is much more backbone than those Donglin Party members, and he will go on a hunger strike when he says he will go on a hunger strike, and he will not eat a bite if you break your teeth. Later, seeing that I was dying of starvation, the people from the Pacification Division came to ask me what to do. What else can I do? I reprimanded him by the Holy Decree, and after dismissing his officials, I invited him to Donglin Academy. ”

"Hehe, the emperor is merciful!"

"I know that he is not the Donglin Party, and when the Donglin Party impeached you, he still spoke up for you. At that time, it was just a last resort to take him down. By the way, what does Brother Qin mean is to let him come out and supervise the construction of cannons?"

Qin Shuhuai nodded and said, "Yes, didn't he get the first batch of red-clothed cannons? Later, when it was improved, he was also the leader, I don't think there is a more suitable person in the world than him." ”

Although Xu Guangqi was a bit conservative in the appointment of the governor of Dongchang, he was indeed a rare talent in the Ming Dynasty in the fields of mathematics, astronomy, calendar, water conservancy, and agriculture at that time. He translated many literatures, such as "Geometric Originals", "Taixi Water Conservancy", "The Complete Book of Agricultural Administration", etc., and was one of the first people in China to look at the world. He also compiled the "Meaning of Measurement", wrote mathematical works such as "Pythagorean Righteousness", and also wrote a large number of agricultural books such as "Yi Ken Order" and "Draft Agricultural Book", and even calculated that the solar eclipse he calculated was more accurate than that of Qin Tianjian.

In the same way, he also introduced the first cardinal cannons, and he also worked as a leading craftsman to improve them, making them longer range and more accurate.

Chongzhen said, "That's true. But this old guy is very depressed now, and he doesn't do it when he asks him to give lectures, and he closes the doors of the academy all day long, and I don't have a problem with him, for fear of forcing him to throw himself into the river again, so he will go. If Brother Qin wants to move him, I'm afraid he will have to take some words. ”

Qin Shuhuai shook his head and said, "The minister is a deviant in his eyes, so he doesn't bother to talk to the minister." Well, the minister thinks that the emperor still has to persuade him in person, so that he can regain his mind. ”

Chongzhen smiled bitterly, "Speaking of which, Brother Qin wants to throw the problem to me. Okay, then I had to run this trip with a shy face, and I had to be reprimanded by him if I couldn't keep it. ”

Chongzhen is naturally able to move Xu Guangqi, after all, Xu Guangqi is a traditional bureaucrat with deep loyalty to the monarch. It's just that Xu Guangqi's personality is really twisted, when Wei Zhongxian was in charge and asked him to be an official, he didn't go to death, no matter how terrifying the Dongchang under you Wei Zhongxian was.

The two chatted about national affairs while drinking in the imperial study, and one important decision after another in this huge empire was decided.

It's so unpleasant!

As usual, halfway through the drink, Chongzhen was drunk again.

Wang Dehua hurriedly helped Chongzhen to the harem, and Chongzhen pulled Qin Shuhuai's sleeve and asked him to go to the dormitory to sleep together, saying that there were still many things to talk about.

How dare Qin Shuhuai go, if this is spread out, will it be done? He, Qin Shuhuai, has now occupied Chongzhen's harem? Nima, can Chongzhen's face hang or does he look good on his face?

So he said a few words of comfort, and then quickly ran out.