The Ming Dynasty 1626 Enlightenment

Chapter 24 New and Improved Artillery - Divine Flying Cannon

The scene shifts back to Shen Yourong and Sun Chengzong chatting in their mansion.

After several rounds of tea, the conversation shifted from Southeast Asia to the imperial court, and then from the imperial court to the mistreatment they had suffered at the hands of civil officials over the years.

After all, those civil officials were indeed a bunch of tough guys!

"We've both witnessed the power of those eloquent officials and censors!" Sun Chengzong sighed, his tone filled with the helplessness accumulated over half a lifetime.

During his years in Liaodong, Sun Chengzong's greatest fear was not the Jurchen cavalry, but the treachery of those behind him.

If you win a battle today, they can impeach you tomorrow for "being greedy for credit and reckless".

If you remain inactive, they will say you are "afraid of the enemy like a tiger";

You build a castle, and they say it's a waste of money and resources;

When you lay off the old and weak, they say you are "heartless and ungrateful".

In short, no matter what you do, they will always have something to say.

"Brother Zhisheng is absolutely right. Whether you lose a battle or win, you'll be impeached. The charges are nothing more than the usual 'using troops for personal gain,' 'wasting resources,' and 'allowing troops to harass the people'—the usual tactic!" Shen Yourong had to admit that the Donglin Party intellectuals did have some substance, but not much.

"It's not easy being a military general; you're especially afraid of being hampered by civil officials," Sun Chengzong lamented.

Regarding Shen Yourong's statement about Gao Panlong and other members of the Donglin Party seeking him out, it must be admitted that the Donglin Party literati did possess some talent, but not much.

"No wonder the Emperor didn't send you back to Liaodong, but instead kept you in the court," Shen Yourong continued, her gaze darkening. "Otherwise, we military officers and generals stationed in the field would still be suffering from factional strife!"

"The Emperor is truly farsighted!" Sun Chengzong smiled slightly, picked up his teacup and gently blew away the foam, then changed the subject, "What do they plan to do next? There have been quite a few memorials from the cabinet impeaching the Great Ming Daily these past two days!"

"Sigh! It's a long story with Cunzhi and the others!" Shen Yourong put down her teacup and remained silent for a moment.

Donglin Party, once you enter the imperial court, it's like entering a deep sea; from then on, integrity becomes a thing of the past!

The Ming Daily, published by the Ming Dynasty's Tianqi Emperor Zhu Ming, was not funded by the national treasury. It was simply another channel for information dissemination in addition to the official imperial records.

For the people of the Ming Dynasty, newspapers were a completely new channel for obtaining information and a bridge for direct dialogue between the emperor and the people.

The newspapers these past few days have been packed with content and information, truly astonishing Shen Yourong. Beyond the astonishment, she felt even greater admiration for the Emperor's methods!

Not only did it allow news from all over the country to be presented on the page, enabling people to understand information from all sides, but it also made the imperial decrees clear and unambiguous, preventing them from being misused and distorted by those with ulterior motives during transmission, as was the case with official imperial records.

Moreover, the newspaper transformed the Ministry of Works into a truly practical and effective government office.

It publishes one issue almost every day, with each issue containing nearly 100,000 copies.

It is easy to imagine how advanced the new printing technology mastered by the Ministry of Industry was!

But what about the censors and supervising officials? They would report on rumors without any evidence, directly impeaching the newspapers as "seditious books and rumors" and "fabricating facts".

Some have even suggested that the Imperial College or the Hanlin Academy should send civil officials to form a "newspaper censorship team" to conduct daily censorship of newspapers.

They thought the emperor hadn't thought of such an important matter as review?

Shen Yourong was speechless when she heard this.

Even a military general like him knew the importance of newspapers. Without the emperor's approval, could those explosive contents from the first few issues have been published?

The Donglin Party members still want to seize the right to speak and express opinions; aren't they courting death?

Or was the emperor intentionally sending them to their deaths so he could take the opportunity to punish them?

Thinking of this, Shen Yourong made a special trip to see Sun Chengzong. The two chatted leisurely, and took the opportunity to probe the attitude of the cabinet, that is, the emperor's attitude.

"Brother Zhisheng, Cunzhi and the others... after all, they have spent half their lives teaching and educating people," Shen Yourong said, choosing her words carefully and softening her tone. "Although they have entered the court now and have done some things that are not very ethical, they are ultimately not such villains."

Sun Chengzong paused, holding the teacup, and glanced at him, saying, "You're quite sentimental."

"After all, it's a friendship that's lasted for many years," Shen Yourong sighed. "Besides, Cunzhi has been lecturing in the Southeast for many years, and his students are all over the world. If he really gets into trouble because of this, it won't look good for the court."

Sun Chengzong didn't answer immediately. He slowly sipped his tea before saying indifferently, "It's not like we haven't advised them to speak less and observe more. But listen to the impeachments these past few days; even phrases like 'the emperor is competing with the people for profit' have come out. What kind of mess is this?"

Shen Yourong smiled wryly: "So they're just walking into a trap."

"It's all for the best," Sun Chengzong said, putting down his teacup with a profound gaze. "In the past six months, what step has the Emperor taken that wasn't carefully considered? Sending troops to Southeast Asia, establishing a science and technology research institute, reforming the Ministry of Works, launching a newspaper..."

"Each and every one of these matters is interconnected, and the methods employed are truly extraordinary. If the officials who speak out are wise enough to turn a blind eye, that's fine; but if they insist on speaking out, they might just give the emperor an excuse to regulate the channels of communication."

He paused, offering neither a clear answer nor a definitive conclusion.

Shen Yourong, however, understood the underlying meaning. Zhu Ming was playing with them, the Donglin Party officials, otherwise he wouldn't have even asked the current students of the Imperial Academy and the compilers of the Hanlin Academy to do things like running a newspaper and writing articles.

I didn't contact them!

In other words, Zhu Ming secretly supported a group of scholars?

By the way, when I was talking to Gao Panlong and the others about the newspaper, Li Yingsheng casually mentioned that the writing style of that article seemed to be the work of Yang Lian, Zuo Guangdou and others!

Was it intentional that Yang Lian and the others were imprisoned last year and there has been no follow-up since?

This was to sever the connection between those ministers and other members of the Donglin Party.

The Donglin Party cannot be eliminated; the only ones who can deal with the Donglin Party are the Donglin Party members.

Wow! Emperor Zhu Ming's schemes are too profound! Too far ahead of his time!

It seems the Emperor intends to corrupt the Donglin Party scholars, but he won't go too far with the killings!

So he was relieved; Gao Panlong and the others were just a few tools that Zhu Ming had brought back last year!

No problem!

Shen Yourong let out a long sigh, remained silent for a moment, and then suddenly thought of something: "Speaking of the Emperor's methods, I have indeed felt a different kind of change during my time in the capital!"

"Oh?"

"Putting everything else aside, just look at this sweltering heat!" Shen Yourong pointed to the bright sun in the courtyard. "In previous years, it was hard to even find something cold to drink on the street at this time. But now, there are iced drink stalls everywhere, selling plum juice, mung bean soup, and chilled fruit syrup for just a few coins. Even the servants in my household say that this summer is much better than in previous years."

Sun Chengzong smiled slightly: "Those shops you mentioned, are they those that use the 'Baohe Store' signboard?"

"Exactly!" Shen Yourong slapped her thigh. "At first, I was wondering which merchant had the ability to get so much ice at this time? But after inquiring, I found out it was... Old Dog Wei who was in charge!"

Wei Laogou, also known as Wei Zhongxian, and Shen Yourong and other friendly members of the Donglin Party had previously received a lot of care from the eunuch faction.

Even now, I still haven't caught my breath!

"It was the Emperor who ordered Eunuch Wei to do it," Sun Chengzong said, but he was not angry. After all, he was also a person favored by the eunuch faction.

However, now that he is the Grand Secretary, he is not as outspoken as Shen Yourong.

Then, she continued unhurriedly, "Not only iced drinks, but also a little gadget called the 'Apocalypse Music Box.' You can wind it up and it will play music. It's very ingenious."

"Noble families in the capital are scrambling to buy them, with each box selling for several thousand taels of silver, and the supply still can't keep up with demand. In the past half month, Baohe Store has made over two hundred thousand taels just from selling these boxes."

Shen Yourong's eyes widened: "This...isn't this competing with the people for profit?"

"You just said that the censors were criticizing 'competing with the people for profit'," Sun Chengzong chuckled, "but think about it, whose pockets did all that money end up in?"

Shen Yourong was taken aback, then suddenly realized: "The imperial treasury?"

"Exactly," Sun Chengzong nodded. "The *Da Ming Daily* prints nearly 100,000 copies daily, and all the expenses for paper, ink, and labor are covered by the imperial treasury, without touching a single penny of the Ministry of Revenue. The Emperor even decreed that all prefectures and counties should not impose any levies on newspaper subscriptions; it should be voluntary. How many of the high-ranking officials in the court can match this generosity?"

Shen Yourong remained silent for a long while, then sighed sincerely, "The Emperor... is indeed different now. He's no longer the carpenter emperor who hides in the palace playing with woodworking; now he truly has skill."

"That's not all," Sun Chengzong said, pointing to a newspaper spread out on the desk. "Look at this fifth issue; it publishes the latest achievements of the Ministry of Works and the Ming Dynasty Science and Technology Research Institute."

Shen Yourong leaned closer to take a look and saw a picture printed on the newspaper: two wheels, a frame, and a person sitting on it with their feet off the ground, looking like a person riding a horse but without a horse.

"What...is this object?"

"The Ministry of Works' newly manufactured 'Apocalypse Bicycle'," Sun Chengzong stroked his beard. "It's said that it doesn't need horses or oxen, nor human power to push or pull it; it can run on its own just by people pedaling with their feet."

"Traveling a hundred li a day is no problem. Although going uphill is strenuous, going downhill is as fast as a galloping horse."

"The Ministry of Works has truly undergone a complete transformation this year... now they've even produced this bicycle," Shen Yourong exclaimed in amazement. "By the way, if I may be so bold as to ask, are any of the artillery craftsmen from Portugal already working for the Ministry of Works?"

Sun Chengzong smiled noncommittally, without directly answering, "The Emperor has this intention!"

"I've lived in Dengzhou and Laizhou for many years, and I've dealt with both Portuguese and Portuguese people, so I know a bit about them," Shen Yourong said, rubbing her hands together. "To be honest, I've heard of someone... what was his name again, from Portugal, who's an expert in cannon casting. It seems the Ministry of Works' project to improve artillery won't be too far off!"

"The artillery! It's already been improved!" Sun Chengzong said, picking up his teacup, downing it in one gulp. "Does Bi Maokang of the Ministry of Works know about this?"

"Bi Maokang? It's him!"

"He improved a new type of cannon called the 'Divine Flying Cannon.' It is lighter than the existing barbarian cannons, but its range is almost the same. Most importantly, it can be mounted on a cart and pushed around. If it is successfully developed, we will not always have to passively defend the city when fighting against the Jurchens in the future."

"Really?" Shen Yourong's eyes lit up, immediately grasping the key point: "Even lighter than a bombardier cannon?"

If it's this light, wouldn't it reduce the weight of the ship? Or, with the same weight, more cannons could be mounted, wouldn't the Ming navy be able to take off!