Zhang Tingyu's reinstatement made the central functions of the Qing court run well, and also made the Eighth Prince relax a lot.

As the chief minister of Shangshufang, Zhang Tingyu can be said to be a benchmark. He is not only an important official in the court, but also a leader in the eyes of Han officials.

Moreover, compared with Ma Qi, although Zhang Tingyu is not as honest as Ma Qi, Zhang Tingyu is second to none in terms of political means and ability. This is also the reason why he stood out and eventually was able to replace Ma Qi as the chief minister.

Zhang Tingyu is a smart person and a practical person. His reinstatement was a little bit of a reason for what the Eighth Prince said, and what ultimately prompted him to make this decision was the general trend of the world.

After all, Kangxi's position as emperor was still there, and the Eighth Prince did not take advantage of the world to replace him directly. In addition, the situation between the Qing Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty changed, the Qing Dynasty does need a more energetic, clear-headed, and capable person to lead.

As the crown prince and the crown prince of the country, there is no problem in governing the country from a legal perspective. This is also the reason why Zhang Tingyu finally chose to cooperate with the eighth prince. Moreover, because Kangxi's throne was not abolished, Zhang Tingyu also did not need to take into account the bad reputation of betrayal.

With the assistance of Zhang Tingyu, the imperial court in Xi'an was much smoother than before, and some government orders were implemented better. However, the major event before the Eighth Prince was still the enemy of the Qing Dynasty - the Ming Dynasty! The most important thing at the moment is to curb the pace of the Ming Dynasty's continued advance, mobilize the national military force to accumulate strength, and then counterattack, thereby recapturing the capital.

The Eighth Prince did these things before fleeing from Beijing, and he did not relax at all since he arrived in Xi'an.

At present, except for the Qing army in Zhili, Shandong, Jiangbei, Henan, Shanxi and other places, the Qing court also controls Shaanxi, Gansu, Guangxi, Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan and even outside the pass.

These forces are not small in total, and it can be said that the Qing army still has extremely strong military strength. However, for the Ming army, especially the Ming new army that captured Beijing, the Eighth Prince had no idea. The powerful firearms of the Ming army have broken the cavalry and shooting that the Qing Dynasty is proud of. If you want to change the situation, you not only need to mobilize troops, but also think of more ways to do it on the firearms.

Compared with other Qing nobles who had short-term vision, the Eighth Prince was still very sensible. In fact, he noticed the changes in the Ming army a long time ago. Since the Battle of Fujian, the Ming army began to equip a large number of firearms. As time goes by, the higher the proportion of firearms and equipment of the Ming army, the more advanced it is.

Until later, the emergence of that new army completely changed the original mode of war. The entire firearm unit was simply unimaginable before, but the Ming army did this, and the combat power of this unit made the world stunned.

The Qing court has always attached little importance to firearms, or the Qing court used Manchus to rule China with Manchus. Firearms, as a weapon with powerful lethality but does not require much training, were inherently a threat to the Han people who ruled several times their own.

This is also the reason why the Qing court tried not to use or use firearms as much as possible in a desperate situation. In the era of Nurhaci and Huang Taiji, the Qing Dynasty (Last Jin), who suffered from the Ming munitions during the Battle of Liaodong, began to learn to manufacture and use such weapons, and then relied on imitation cannons and muskets and luck to finally get the world.

But after taking over the world, firearms were sealed up, and the entire Qing Dynasty began to be proud of riding and shooting. During the Three Feudal Rebellion, in order to fight against the Three Feudals, Kangxi once again began to promote the use of firearms. After pacifying the Three Feudals, the firearms were once again neglected.

There were several desert expeditions, the Battle of Jaques and the Battle of Taiwan, etc. The use of firearms played a great role in these battlefields. However, after each battle, from the emperor to the ordinary generals, all firearms were all destroyed into the cold palace. Except for some elite Eight Banners who had a certain number of firearms, the ordinary green camp was at best just a few master cannons.

This is also the reason why the Qing Dynasty had the upper hand from the beginning, but later became increasingly unable to do so in the battle with the Ming army. The gap in equipment led to a change in the combat mode and combat effectiveness of both sides. Now, if you still fight with the Ming army with the idea of ​​being invincible in cavalry and shooting, the consequences can be imagined.

On the way to escape from Beijing, the Eighth Prince issued an order in the name of Kangxi that not only speed up training, but also pay attention to and develop firearms. Now, after the capital of Xi'an, large-scale manufacturing and equipment of firearms has also been put on the agenda.

Of course, if you want to be like the new army of the Ming army, it is impossible for the Qing army to do this for the time being. The Eighth Prince also knows this, so his focus is to cast more cannons and at the same time try to imitate the various types of firearms currently used by the Ming army to reduce the gap between the two sides.

Originally, the person in charge of this matter was the Fourth Prince, but since he left Beijing, the Fourth Prince has never had any responsibilities as a worker in the Ministry of Works. Now the person in charge of this matter is not someone else, but the eldest prince.

The eldest prince knew the soldiers and was good at fighting, and everyone in the court knew this. Before, the person responsible for defending Beijing was the eldest prince, and the eldest prince was able to be released by Kangxi to entrust the important task, and the eighth prince spent a lot of effort.

Although the eldest prince has completely lost the hope of fighting for the crown prince, the current emperor is still Kangxi. Even if the eighth prince had kindness to the eldest prince before, don't forget that they were still opponents. If the army continues to be in the hands of the eldest prince, the eighth prince will never be relieved. Therefore, after the Beijing coup, the eighth prince took back the military power in the hands of the eldest prince, and at the same time, in order to appease the Ministry of Works, he handed over the Ministry of Works to him.

As long as the military power is gone and the eighth prince is in charge of one, he will be at ease. After all, the eldest prince’s ability is here, and he has led troops many times, so he is very clear about the importance of firearms. It is the right person to use him to take charge of this matter.

"This cannon is good, but unfortunately it's too heavy." On this day, the eighth prince went to the Ministry of Works to inspect. The eldest prince took the eighth prince to see the few cannons that had just been cast. These cannons were cast according to the red-clothed cannons before the construction. The lightest one was more than 1,300 kilograms, and the cannons were not as heavy as the Ming army, only about three kilograms.

"Prince, this cannon was cast by craftsmen. It can be hit more than four miles at a distance, and a cannon cart is added to allow movement." The eldest prince explained from the side.

The eighth prince shook his head and asked back, "The Ming army has a six-pound cannon that can fire six-pound cannons. In addition, the cannon truck is only more than 700 kilograms, and it can also hit four or five miles at a distance. There is also a twelve-pound cannon, with a total weight of only about a thousand kilograms, and its power is even more powerful, do you know?"

How could the eldest prince not know that in Beijing, the three main artillery used by the Ming army were in addition to the Fran aircraft. Faced with these two types of artillery, the Qing army suffered a lot. These artillery not only had fierce firepower, fast firing speed, but also light weight and easy to move. The Qing army's red-clothed cannons were no match for them at all.

Seeing the embarrassment on the eldest prince's face, the eighth prince slowed down and said: "Brother, don't be discouraged. This cannon casting is not a one-day effort. It is very good to cast such cannons at the moment. But you know the current situation that the Ming army's firearms are really fierce, and their power is extremely comparable to ordinary swords. Such a powerful weapon, if I don't equip it as soon as possible in the Qing Dynasty, let alone fighting back to Beijing, I'm afraid the world will change hands."

"What the prince taught me is that I will ask the craftsmen to find more ways to build good cannons as soon as possible."

The eighth prince nodded and said, "It is certain to find a way. In addition, we need to recruit more skilled craftsmen among the people. The Qing Dynasty has a vast territory and a large population, and countless skilled craftsmen are countless. He can build the Ming army, but I can build the Qing Dynasty as well! As long as we can create a powerful weapon comparable to the Ming army, no matter what his origin is, I will definitely be rewarded!"

The Eighth Prince is not a corrupt scholar, and he knows very well which is more important. If someone can come up with the same method of manufacturing elite firearms as the Ming Dynasty, even if the other party is a beggar, he will give him a glory and wealth without hesitation. Compared with an official position, a little money, the foundation of the Qing Dynasty is the foundation of the ancestors.

On the side of the eldest prince, the eighth prince asked him to find a solution quickly, and at the same time, the eighth prince did not place all his hopes in the Ministry of Works.

As one of the chief ministers in the past, the current prince, the eighth prince knows very well about the people of the Ministry of Works. How about the fourth prince before? The Ministry of Works did not play much role in the hands of the fourth prince. You should know that among the princes, the fourth prince is called the rare prince who can do practical things.

Therefore, in addition to the Ministry of Works, the Eighth Prince also needs to find ways from other places. There are lack of skilled craftsmen, lack of manufacturing methods, etc., so the Eighth Prince has turned his attention to imitation. But if it is a general imitation, it can be done casually, but it is difficult to directly imitate the weapons of the Ming New Army. You must know that the Ming New Army has never lost the battle with the Qing army, and the Qing army has never seized the weapons of the Ming New Army. Not to mention cannons, even a musket is not caught. How can it be imitated?

However, the Eighth Prince naturally had his own way. As early as when he left Beijing City and entered Shanxi, the Eighth Prince had already made this idea, and the key figure in breaking the deadlock was the Fan Family, the most prominent of the eight imperial merchants in the Qing Dynasty.

The Fan family was a businessman in Zhangjiakou as early as the beginning of the Ming Dynasty. It was passed down to Fan Yongdou for seven generations. In order to make a profit, Fan Yongdou privately and met the Jurchen tribes at that time, smuggled grain, grass and iron tools outside the pass and sold plundered property on behalf of the Jurchens, making contributions to the Later Jinli Kingdom.

Later, it was also because the eight Shanxi merchants led by Fan Yongdou continued to affair with the Later Jin Dynasty, which led to the complete failure of the Ming Dynasty's blockade policy on the Later Jin Dynasty.
Chapter completed!