The Ming Dynasty’s Prodigal Son - Chapter 1372

[1372. Chapter 1304 Great Contribution to the Dynasty]

“Let me take a look.”

He took Fang Jifan’s hand and saw that the wound was quite deep.

Although the internal injuries were not visible, the external injuries were real.

“Young man, you should take good care of yourself.” Emperor Hongzhi couldn’t help but say.

Fang Jifan said: “My son…”

“Okay.” Emperor Hongzhi pressed his hand.

At this time, Zhu Houzhao came panting.

He first found Sir Francisco and heard that he was the leader. Naturally, he pinned him to the ground and beat him again.

Sir Francisco was beaten until he vomited blood and cursed a few times.

Unexpectedly…Zhu Houzhao actually understands Spanish.

At this time, Zhu Houzhao was so angry that he had a “communication” with him. It was not until Sir Francisco vomited a few mouthfuls of old blood that he ordered people to collect the prisoners, treat the wounded, and check the results of the battle.

After all this busy work, he came here sweating profusely and panting.

As soon as they arrived, they saw Fang Jifan on the bed, and his father was greeting him.

He was about to grin.

Emperor Hongzhi looked downcast: “Treason, what did I say?”

Zhu Houzhao looked confused: “What did the father say?”

“You still want to pretend that you don’t know my will, you still want to…”

“I didn’t receive the order.” Zhu Houzhao said with an innocent look on his face: “I heard the news at that time, and I came with my troops to save King Qin. Why, my father also gave me the order?”

Hongzhi Emperor: “…”

Soon, the anger on Emperor Hongzhi’s face dissipated.

He wasn’t really angry.

But he didn’t want Zhu Houzhao to treat it as papyrus next time he made a decree.

Zhu Houzhao was asked to return to Beijing, but he insisted on coming. How dangerous it must be.

But looking at Zhu Houzhao’s innocent look, and then thinking about it, if it weren’t for the prince and Fang Jifan, I’m afraid that the outcome of this battle may not be known. Although the Ming Dynasty had enough strength to mobilize troops and generals to trap and surround this group of Spaniards. Death, group fight to death… Emperor Hongzhi knew it all too well.

Things on the battlefield can happen by chance at any time.

Think about the original Tumubao Incident, wasn’t it the hundreds of thousands of troops, with all the elites coming out, and thousands of warriors. So what, an accident or a tactical mistake can leave eternal regrets.

Emperor Hongzhi’s expression softened a lot: “This Changping Guard’s combat power is really impressive. I remember that a few months ago, Changping Guard was just an ordinary guard post…”

As he spoke, Emperor Hongzhi looked at Ma Wensheng.

Ma Wensheng immediately said: “Your Majesty, it is true that the Changping Guard has been… performing poorly during the formation. If it were not stationed in the capital, I am afraid it would have been disbanded.”

“It’s not easy. The past two months have been really difficult for the Crown Prince .

“Come on, let’s talk about how you train as a soldier.”

Zhu

Houzhao suddenly beamed: “This is very easy. There are only three rules for leading soldiers. The first one is to share the joys and sorrows with the soldiers.”

After hearing this, the emperor nodded repeatedly.

Everyone knows the truth. During the Spring and Autumn Period, these lessons have long been left behind.

But to be able to share the joys and sorrows with the soldiers, especially the dignified prince, to be honest, this is not easy. How many people in the world… can do it?

Zhu Houzhao said: “The second thing is to relieve the soldiers from worries and let them serve their lives in a down-to-earth manner. If it is useful to serve the country and the people, who doesn’t want to be a real man for the country and the people? But …You still have to give money. If you don’t have money, how can you make people work hard? People’s lives are not just for the court. They have old people and young people. What should I do? Then, they must be settled well and the money is enough. Their hearts are relaxed. If they are asked to practice, they will practice. If they are asked to go up the mountain of swords, they will go up to the mountain of swords. If they are asked to go down to the sea of fire, they will go down to the sea of fire. “

“Why is this, because they are very good. Understand, even during ordinary training, my sons and ministers did not treat them badly. If they worked hard for the court, performed meritorious service, or died in battle, my sons and ministers would not treat them badly. Therefore, when the Changping Guards arrived at the battle, they gave the same orders. , advance and retreat in an orderly manner.”

Emperor Hongzhi exhaled: “Yes, it is absolutely impossible without money. A small family needs money to survive, a big family needs money to prosper; a court cannot have money. , it is even less possible to strengthen the army. Silver is a good thing.”

Zhu Houzhao said: “The third thing is to use your brain. What weapons do the soldiers use? What is the performance of the weapons? How can we find problems with the weapons through training? Only by taking the initiative to improve it, or developing matching training methods, can the weapon be more effective… This requires thinking. Otherwise, no matter how good the weapon is, it will only burn in the hands of the soldiers. It’s just a stick. If you are a general and don’t take the initiative to discover problems and don’t think about improving them, no matter how much you love your soldiers and have sophisticated weapons, it’s just empty talk.”

This doesn’t mean weapons are okay. Emperor Hongzhi thought of the spear.

Emperor Hongzhi saw clearly that he was killing the enemy a hundred steps away, and the gunfire couldn’t stop with the sound of gunshots.

Emperor Hongzhi had witnessed the drills of the Three Thousand Battalion and the Shenji Battalion with his own eyes, and he knew that ordinary fire blunderbuss would never be able to exert such power, so… he felt shocked.

Emperor Hongzhi asked: “What is the blunderbuss in Changpingwei’s hand and what is its name?”

When Zhu Houzhao heard this, he was happy and grinned: “It is…”

Fang Jifan who was on the sick bed became anxious and immediately said: “Your Majesty, it is My surname is Fang, and I also have a very interesting name. He is my cousin’s nephew’s aunt’s uncle.”

Emperor Hongzhi: “…”

All the officials held their hands in their sleeves, clasped their fingers and began to calculate.

Emperor Hongzhi was too lazy to guess the riddle: “What on earth is it?”

“Call Uncle Fang…” Zhu Houzhao said dejectedly.

Emperor Hongzhi: “…” “

Who got the name?” Emperor Hongzhi coughed and his face turned slightly red.

Zhu Houzhao glanced at Fang Jifan secretly, and Fang Jifan began to hold his head and pretend to be dead on the hospital bed.

It seemed that only Zhu Houzhao could answer this question, so Zhu Houzhao had no choice but to say: “Father, my son got it, and he took it for fun.”

“Nonsense!” Emperor Hongzhi said with a gloomy face.

Fortunately, he did not pursue the matter further: “This musket is very rare. Take one and let me have a look.”

After a while, someone brought a Uncle Fang 1512 rifle to him. Emperor Hongzhi took it and held it. It’s heavy, and it’s indeed much more sophisticated than ordinary rifles. It’s a good thing at first glance.

Although Emperor Hongzhi didn’t know how powerful this thing was, today, with this, he defeated the Spaniards.

After Emperor Hongzhi played with it for a while, he sighed: “This thing is really sharp. Jifan, it was made by you Xishan

, right?” Fang Jifan said: “Your Majesty, it was made by Xishan. Originally, this It was also His Majesty who gave permission for the construction of firearms in Xishan. After receiving the order, I dared not neglect it, so I recruited a group of skilled craftsmen and spent countless efforts to build it.”

At this moment, Emperor Hongzhi’s blood couldn’t help but heat up.

He frowned: “It’s tolerable that Spain dares to invade the Ming Dynasty. What can’t be tolerated? It’s such a great humiliation, but… if I have a million-strong army of the Ming Dynasty, all of them are like the Changping Guards, and the weapons they use are all It’s this blunderbuss, how dare that Spanish boy offend my Ming Dynasty?”

He began to think.

If it is true as he said, an army of millions is equipped with such weapons and is as well-trained as the Changping Guards, then… how powerful will this Ming Dynasty be.

Fang Jifan couldn’t help but said: “Your Majesty, the Spaniards are attacking. In fact… although it can be seen that they are arrogant, it is not unreasonable.”

“Oh?”

Fang Jifan said: “Spain has been taking risks again and again for decades, and they are very lucky .

, every time they conduct military adventures, the profits are huge. Because of this, not only do they become arrogant, but also… Ordinary people no longer look down on petty profits, and everyone, both military and civilian, tries to conquer and rob them. The king of his country got huge wealth from taking risks, and they were even more enthusiastic about it. Although they knew the greatness of the Ming Dynasty, deep down in their hearts, they were all blinded by the benefits. Interested.”

Emperor Hongzhi nodded.

In fact, at first, he couldn’t understand why the Spaniards dared to come all the way with thousands of troops. This was very puzzling.

But if you think about it carefully, it doesn’t make sense.

Fang Jifan added: “As for your Majesty’s hope of training millions of military horses like the Chang Ping Guards, in my opinion, this is also the ultimate goal of our Ming Dynasty, because only in this way can the Ming Dynasty truly shine with the sun and the moon, within the four seas.” , all the territory of the Ming Dynasty. But… once it reaches such a huge scale, on the one hand, it will cost countless money and food, and the supplies needed in the future will be even more staggering. Therefore… the most important thing for the Ming Dynasty is to make the country rich before it can be strong. Soldiers.”

Emperor Hongzhi walked a few steps and nodded repeatedly. He knew that this thing cost a lot.

Otherwise… why would Shen Wentong remind himself every day that His Highness the Crown Prince still owes him money.

It has only been two months, and the expenses for a small guard are so high.

Emperor Hongzhi said, and smiled: “In any case, the prince, the successor, and King Qin have made great contributions in rescuing them. I must reward them no matter what.” “Prince…”

“My son is here,” Zhu Houzhao saluted.

Emperor Hongzhi sighed: “You are the prince, from now on…be a good prince.”

Zhu Houzhao: “…”

“Successor.”

Fang Jifan’s heart skipped a beat. Damn it, he should be a good Duke of Qi next.

“My son is here.”

Emperor Hongzhi said slowly and calmly: “The Duke of Qi has made great contributions, so let him open a mansion.”

“I…don’t dare.” Fang Jifan was like a bolt from the blue. Are you kidding me? Open a mansion. Jianya, how dare I? Our successor has a few lives. This is the qualification that only princes have. They can appoint their own officials. But in fact, even princes only get this right in name. Jing Nanzhi After the war, as the prince’s authority gradually weakened, almost all subordinate officials were designated by the imperial court.

(End of chapter)