Although he has inherited the title of the Great Ming, if one were to look closely, it would be no different from fighting to win the world all over again.
The Late Emperor, that immoral wretch, not only left behind no inheritance, but also left behind a total mess.
Half of the credit for Zhu Ci's fearsome reputation belongs to the Late Emperor.
Zhu Ci himself did not like going out to war; no one wanted to smell the scent of gunpowder, no one liked scenes of flying flesh and blood.
When he first returned to Nanjing, he would occasionally wake up in the middle of the night in a daze, not knowing what time it was.
But the problem was, if no one could shoulder the responsibility and a defeat occurred, the losses would be significant, perhaps he would even need to lead the campaign personally.
Zhu Ci thought about these things and wanted to fire another shot, but unexpectedly, it misfired this time. Holding the gun, he carefully tilted the barrel toward the distant ground and asked, "What happened?"
The guard beside him wiped away a cold sweat and was about to step forward when he saw the Grand Secretary walking over.
Zhu Ci immediately said, "Stop! Don't come any closer!"
It was rare for him to speak to Fu with such severity, but Fu did not stop his pace. He walked over, looked down to inspect it, said, "Your Majesty need not worry, the match has simply gone out."
Zhu Ci's hand holding the gun was very steady as he asked, "Are you sure?"
“Confirmed. Men, unload the ammunition from the gun.”
Fu was clearly very knowledgeable about Birdlock Guns as well; seeing his relaxed expression, Zhu Ci knew there was no great danger.
The guard immediately came over to take the Birdlock Gun and unload the ammunition, reporting, "Reporting to Your Majesty, the ammunition failed to fire because the matchcord was soaked by snow water and could not be ignited."
Zhu Ci nodded and said, "I understand."
After he finished speaking, he turned and glared at Fu. "Didn't I tell you not to come? Do you realize that this is an act of defiance against an imperial decree?"
Fu looked at him calmly and said, "Your Majesty is in danger; I cannot turn a blind eye to it."
Zhu Ci snorted and turned to go back into the room.
Although he had previously said that it wasn't the snow that was cold, but the melting snow, he now found that the falling snow was quite cold as well.
To use the breech-loading gun just now, he had taken off his gloves, as a result, he now felt as if his hands were freezing solid.
After returning to the room, he wished he could press his entire body against the charcoal brazier.
Fu laughed and reached out to pull him back slightly, saying, "Your Majesty, be careful not to burn yourself."
After he finished speaking, he stuffed a hand warmer into Zhu Ci's hands.
Zhu Ci held the hand warmer and said, "Sigh, the weather is so cold, I wonder how ordinary people manage to live."
He remembered how, back at Xialiang, he was constantly worried about not having enough coal.
In fact, even at that time, he was not a commoner in the true sense of the word.
What commoner could have a savings of over a thousand taels of silver? He is struggling this much; it is clear that life is even harder for ordinary people.
Fu also did not know how ordinary people were supposed to survive this winter; in reality, people froze and starved to death every winter.
He couldn't help but ask, "This Little Ice Age Your Majesty mentioned.. when will it end?"
Zhu Ci looked at Fu and said with melancholy, "Probably another two hundred years or so."
Fu was not disappointed after hearing this. If Heaven intended for the world to grow colder, what could ordinary people do?
Seeing Zhu Ci looking somewhat troubled, he comforted him, saying, "Once Your Majesty unifies the realm in the future and the world stabilizes, the lives of the common people will improve."
Zhu Ci felt a surge of spirit upon hearing this and said, "True, there are probably about seventy-odd years left until this coldest period ends. If we live long enough, we might just catch the tail end of this cold era."
In fact, the coldest period of this Little Ice Age lasted until 1720, so one could only say that the decline of the Great Ming also had the hand of Heaven in it.
Fu looked at Zhu Ci and said softly, "Your Majesty will certainly be able to meet him."
Zhu Ci did not care much; whether he could meet him or not was a matter of fate. What he needed to do now was to bring stability to the world as soon as possible.
He had heard before that coal prices had been rising continuously, he was helpless against it.
There was no way around it; the coal mines were all in the north, the closest one to them was Sichuan, but Sichuan was currently in the hands of Zhang Xianzhong's Dashun Army.
It was just that Zhu Ci had no plans to attack Sichuan at the moment.
Even if he were to fight, he would have to wait until Xuzhou was taken, ideally after occupying Shandong.
Zhu Ci reined in his wandering thoughts, shrugged, said, "That is not important for the moment; what matters is how to improve the Birdlock Gun."
Fu immediately asked, "Does Your Majesty have a plan?"
Zhu Ci looked around. "Where are the paper and pen? Charcoal pencils would be best."
Drawing with charcoal was much more convenient; a brush could be used, but he didn't even want to look at the lines it produced.
Fu immediately had someone bring paper and charcoal pencils. Zhu Ci directly drew the shapes of three Birdlock Guns and said, "The development of Birdlock Guns doesn't necessarily have to be singular; we can develop them in multiple directions. First, we can develop them toward the direction of Short Guns; their positioning would be for close-quarters combat, they could also be equipped to cavalry and scouts, because this type of Short Gun is more flexible, focusing on being lightweight and having a quick response."
Zhu Ci pointed at the second drawing and said, "This is the Precision Aiming Gun. Its main features are high precision and long range, primarily used to replace bows and arrows, it can also be used for decapitation strikes when necessary. As for this third type, it is the Rapid-fire Gun, designed for continuous fire and suppressive fire."
Fu looked at the three types of blueprints arranged in descending order of size. He did not ask if this would work, but instead said thoughtfully, "Your Majesty intends to target the Tartars' cavalry?"
Zhu Ci nodded and said, "Correct. Our current methods of attack are still too singular. Once the rockets fail to keep the enemy at bay, we will be placed in a very passive position if their cavalry manages to close the distance."
Until now, the Qing Army's forces have always been slightly greater than theirs, Zhu Ci only wanted to minimize casualties as much as possible.
Fu Cai asked, "How does Your Majesty wish to improve them?"
Zhu Ci already had ideas in mind. As he wrote and drew, he spoke, "First, let's talk about the short gun. The length of the short gun should be maintained between one foot five inches and one foot eight inches. The barrel should be between nine inches and one foot. The caliber.. oh, the barrel diameter should be four fen five li to four fen eight li. This way, the total weight should be controllable at around three to four jin."
“Then there's the barrel, which must be a double-layered composite barrel, thin at the front and thick at the back, with the rear thickened to prevent explosions. The stock should be shortened into a pistol grip design, made of hardwood, fitting the palm and suitable for one-handed shooting..”
Zhu Ci drew while writing, Fu stood beside him, surprised to find that when the Little Emperor used a charcoal pencil, the characters he wrote had a wonderful character; the font seemed to lean towards Song style, with lines that were vigorous and powerful, sharp and angular, possessing an inherent momentum.
However, Zhu Ci did not notice Fu admiring his calligraphy; instead, he was immersed in his own world, drawing maps and writing improvement plans with great seriousness and joy.
He spoke as he wrote, whenever he felt thirsty, tea was delivered to his side without him even having to look up.
After he finished writing, he looked up and realized that half the day had almost passed.
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Author's Note: Zhu Ci: Work is so overwhelming. Kitty is working hard to hold the pen and draw maps. jpg
Next update at 12:00 PM
Chapter 143
Zhu Ci stretched his neck and said, "Hey, why didn't you remind me?"
Fu Qingsheng noticed that his neck and shoulders seemed a bit stiff and reached out to massage them for him.
After all, to prevent information leaks and because Zhu Ci might say things that shouldn't be known by others, they never allowed anyone to stay in the room when the two of them had matters to discuss.
Naturally, he would have to handle such matters personally.
Zhu Ci did not stand on ceremony with him, leaning back as he said, "To the left, to the left, a bit harder."
The Grand Secretary did not mind, but simply asked, "Your Majesty, I fear these are more than just simple improvements."
It was more than just an improvement; it was essentially completely different from the original.
Not only had the design of the gun changed, but even the size of the ammunition had been altered.
Zhu Ci said with a satisfied squint, "More or less. Since we're modifying it, we might as well do it right in one go. This should be the limit of what can be achieved with current technology. Beyond this.. the current level of industry won't be able to manage it."
Fu asked, "If there were an opportunity, could it be improved further?"
Zhu Ci yawned: "Counting on me alone won't work."
He had returned almost all of his knowledge of physics, chemistry, biology to his teachers; he had exhausted all his mental energy just trying to come up with existing improvements.
Fu said soothingly, "Your Majesty, there is no need to be anxious."
Zhu Ci was very relaxed: "Of course I am not in a hurry. These things are sufficient for beating the Tartars for now, provided they can actually be made."
The improvement plan he wrote seemed highly feasible, but the problem was that various kinds of issues always arose during actual production.
Fu put those things away and said, "I will return and write a memorial."
Improving weapons and such would definitely have to be handled by the Ministry of Works, which meant following official procedures.
However, even if the proper procedures had to be followed, they would have to wait until after the New Year. Zhu Ci was in no hurry; the craftsmen were also on holiday for the New Year, after all. He couldn't exactly drag them in during the middle of the festivities to improve weapons, could he?
The New Year arrived amidst a heavy snowfall. On the day of the New Year banquet, Zhu Ci looked upon the assembled civil and military officials with a sense of profound emotion.
Back during the Hongguang Era, the Wuying Hall was packed to capacity.
Now things are quite different; the entire main hall is hardly any better than being empty.
Zhu Yousong has truly squandered such a great situation.
But on second thought, if all his subordinates loved engaging in factional struggles, he might as have fewer of them.
Zhu Ci shared a drink with the officials, looked toward the future, then began to listen to songs and enjoy the dances.
Although Zhu Ci did not particularly enjoy such scenes, on second thought, it seemed this was the only way.
He couldn't just have a group of grown men sitting in the main hall eating in silence, could he?
In fact, the food wasn't even that delicious.
After all, the current situation was unusual, Zhu Ci had repeatedly demanded frugality, so aside from a few fixed dishes dictated by protocol, everything else was home-style cooking.
He estimated that it wasn't even as good as what some officials ate at home on a regular basis.
In this situation, Zhu Ci could only instruct both the musicians and the dancers to dress more conservatively.
He truly had a psychological shadow regarding the silver party organized by Zhu Yousong.
As time passed, many officials also joined in and began to dance.
Of course, they certainly wouldn't dare harass the dancers; the Little Emperor was sitting up there watching, if you dared to harass a dancer, he would certainly make you pay.
It must be said that it is true that the Emperor's style can influence the entire atmosphere of the imperial court.
If anyone dared to make a move on him in public, Zhu Ci would have made a move on them.
Zhu Ci sat in the seat of honor, holding a wine cup and laughing uncontrollably.
The group of people under him was practically a chaotic dance of demons right now. As the alcohol took a stronger hold, more and more people joined in, the dancing grew more fervent, with some even starting to strip off their clothes.
Guards immediately moved to drag away the officials who were behaving improperly due to intoxication, but Zhu Ci waved them off and did not let them do so.