After Ma Wen was promoted to the position of chief minister, Jiao Fang was the one who took over as the position of chief minister.

Xu Jin, Minister of War, became the second assistant, while Wang Hua, Minister of Revenue, was added to the cabinet, and Zhang Cai, Right Minister of Personnel, was promoted to the Minister of Personnel, and the internal affairs of the Ming Dynasty entered the Jiao Fang era.

Jiao Fang's methods were undoubtedly much tougher than Ma Wensheng. Once he was promoted to the chief minister, he immediately asked the central government's supervisors, the local governors, the inspectors and the commanders' departments to make year-end summary. If any government affairs have not been accumulated, they will be directly demoted or even exiled according to the examination law.

On the eve of the third year of Zhengde, more than 20 lazy officials were dismissed and more than ten corrupt officials were exiled!

Not only that, Jiao Fang also asked officials at all levels to formulate plans for next year and must submit them to the cabinet next year, three months before the third year of Zhengde!

For example, the Ministry of Revenue was asked to estimate how much income the treasury would increase next year and how much money and grain could be surplus.

Although the new examination law has been implemented for a long time, Ma Wensheng will not be too strict. At most, it will be dismissed from office. Jiao Fang not only dismissed from office but also punished the punishment, which made the entire Ming Dynasty's officialdom even more dangerous, but also made the Ming Dynasty's administrative efficiency much faster.

Zhu Houzhao was quite satisfied with this. All he wanted was a civil servant who dared to do things as the chief assistant.

Because Xia Yan discovered that Zeng Jian had made a contribution in his conspiracy in time, after the internship period, he was instructed by Zhu Houzhao to promote the Ministry of Personnel to the head of the Ministry of Works, responsible for the Ordnance Bureau, and directly responsible to Zhu Houzhao.

Zhang Cong, another first-year graduate from the Peking University, followed Ma Wensheng to the border town to help Ma Wensheng, Yang Yiqing and others rectify border preparations.

After taking over the Ordnance Bureau, Xia Yan began to recruit craftsmen according to Zhu Houzhao's instructions and implement employment reforms. He divided the Ordnance Bureau into a firearm factory, a gunpowder factory, a steel mill, a cast iron factory, a copper casting factory, an ordnance factory and a research and development institute.

Among them, as the name suggests, firearms are the places where muskets and guns are made, and gunpowder is the place where gunpowder is made.

And so on, there are exclusive institutions from iron and copper leaf rays to casting and firearm manufacturing, while the weapons factory is specialized in manufacturing cold weapons, especially bows and crossbows.

The R&D Institute is the place to develop and improve various weapons and equipment.

The employment of craftsmen is still the craftsmen who served the court in the past. Although these craftsmen were changed to nationality, their lives did not change much in a short period of time. There was no land to plant or business, and even Xu Jing, the head of the Royal Bank, was unwilling to lend them loans.

Therefore, the only difference between these craftsmen now is that they no longer have to work for the public for free, and they can only make a living by making iron tools or making up pots and iron, and their lives are still in a difficult situation.

When Xia Yan ordered people to post a notice to hire craftsmen to go to the Ordnance Bureau to make ordnance, and said that each craftsman's basic salary was one tael of silver per month and a certain share of the money was given, the craftsmen still flocked to the Ordnance Bureau to inquire about the situation.

"Official! After being hired by the Ordnance Bureau, you can really get a liang of silver and a minimum salary a month, and there are rewards. You can also apply for termination of the employment relationship at any time? My family can also choose their careers freely, and my son can also study and participate in the imperial examination?"

After listening to Xia Yan's explanation, a craftsman named Tong Laowu asked again in disbelief.

"How could the court deceive you! It says black and white, as long as you make more and more firearms and good, you can get a lot of income. You are now the people of His Majesty the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, not slaves. You are called labor cooperation with the Ordnance Bureau, so you can naturally apply for termination of cooperation at any time. Whatever your family wants to do, and your sons and grandchildren can naturally participate in the imperial examination!"

Xia Yan answered patiently, not only when Tong Laowu came to ask, but when other craftsmen came to ask, he answered seriously. For a moment, these craftsmen were more willing to be hired by the Ordnance Bureau after confirming.

However, these craftsmen found that entering the Ordnance Bureau now is different from being requisitioned in the Ministry of Works, regardless of whether they are good or bad in the Ministry of Works. Now, if they want to be hired by the Ordnance Bureau, they have to participate in an interview, and the people from the Ordnance Bureau will test their technical level.

Tong Laowu was hired as a master of the Ordnance Bureau's firearm factory because he could quickly create a good quality mesh gun. Many other craftsmen were also hired by the Ordnance Bureau.

But some craftsmen who are used to stumble and have no mastery of skills are eliminated. Only now these craftsmen realize that having skills is still different.

After rehiring a group of craftsmen, Xia Yan began to reorganize the Ordnance Bureau to produce firearms and weapons, because these craftsmen are now paid and implement a system of more work and more income, which makes the ordnance production much faster than before. In addition, if the unqualification rate reaches a certain level, the fine will be imposed. If the passing rate reaches a 100%, there will be an additional reward system. The quality of the ordnance has also been improved a lot. Basically, almost every musket can pass.

Tong Laowu was hired into the Ordnance Bureau and became a master of the firearm factory for three months. Now he is very active. He basically came to the Ordnance Bureau to work early as dawn, and then went home so dark that he couldn't see his five fingers.

Despite this, he still worked very vigorously, especially when he saw the more and more smiling faces on his wife's face and when he heard the sound of his children's reading.

The craftsmen such as Tong Laowu are now very grateful to the Emperor Zhu Houzhao. After hearing that they all had the idea of ​​letting their children study, Zhu Houzhao directly issued an order to convert the old house of a perpetrator next to the Ordnance Bureau into a primary school for the children of the Ordnance Bureau. The Ordnance Bureau specially hired a teacher to be responsible for the enlightenment education of the children of these employees for the guidance.

Originally, scholars were unwilling to give up the nobles to the children of these craftsmen to teach. Although these craftsmen had the income from working in the Ordnance Bureau, they still seemed to have insufficient financial resources to ask their husbands to teach their children to study. Now Zhu Houzhao issued an order to come forward by the Ordnance Bureau to perfectly solve these problems. First, scholars taught the children of these craftsmen to read, and did not seem to give up the nobles. Secondly, these craftsmen did not have to bear the education costs of their children at home.

Because of this, the craftsmen are more active in their work. They also know that a good emperor has emerged in the Ming Dynasty, and even began to consciously bow to the Forbidden City during festivals. Now they think that even if the Ordnance Bureau does not give them a salary, it is fine.

On this day, Zhu Houzhao personally drove to the Ordnance Bureau. Not only the officials were excited, but these craftsmen were also sincerely excited. They looked at Zhu Houzhao with a look of reverence, and naturally they had to kowtow to salute. Zhu Houzhao always kept a warm smile and hurriedly called these people to be calm.

"I came here today to see if my Ming Arsenal Bureau has any pillars who can make great contributions to the court!"

Zhu Houzhao said that, and ordered someone to take out the drawings of a flintlock rifle.

At this time, Xia Yan also ordered: "The masters of the firearms factory who are making muskets come here!"

So Tong Laowu and others came to Xia Yan and Zhu Houzhao, and also knelt down to Zhu Houzhao from the bottom of their hearts and started kowtowing directly, just like seeing a Bodhisattva in a temple. For craftsmen such as Tong Laowu, only when they knelt down and kowtowed when they saw Zhu Houzhao, they could express their inner respect for the good emperor Zhu Houzhao.

Because this good emperor gave them a free life, gave their children the opportunity to study, and gave them hope to a better life.

What's more, these craftsmen have learned through the night classes and newspaper reading activities of the Ordnance Bureau that the good emperor in front of him faces what dangers he faces to save them, and how he fought wits and courage with the corrupt officials of the court.

"Get up! Take a look at this drawing carefully. This drawing was drawn after I expanded the scale. What is the ratio? Compared to Master Xia, he has told you that this musket is called a flintlock rifle. What is different from the musket we make now is that its firing location is different, and he does not use a fuse..."

After Zhu Houzhao finished speaking, he asked: "Who are you willing to take over the task of developing a flintlock rifle? If you are willing, I will ask Director Xia to transfer you to the R&D institute with a monthly salary of one tael, and he is specifically responsible for the development of such muskets. The first person who has successfully developed will receive a silver reward of 100 taels! He was also hired as an academician of the Central Academy of Research and treatment of a fourth-rank official, and can wear a red robe and black shiny!"

Although the craftsmen were listening to Zhu Houzhao's object and looking at the musket without a fuse on the drawings very seriously, they still didn't understand how to make this musket.

But they have to admit that the bait given by His Majesty the Emperor is very attractive. Once they succeed, they can get a reward of 100 taels of silver. One hundred taels of silver is enough for five or six years of life, and they can also be treated as an official! It is still the fourth rank, and the county rank is only the seventh rank, which means that it is more noble than the county rank.

But these craftsmen also have scales in their hearts. Although the rewards after making this musket look very attractive, if they can't make it, they will only be able to get one or two taels a month. Compared with their current income, it will undoubtedly reduce a lot of income for a long time.

Because of this, many craftsmen were discouraged and were unwilling to try to develop this new musket.

Tong Laowu stood up boldly at this time: "Your Majesty! I am willing to give it a try!"

At this time, several interested craftsmen stood up and expressed their willingness.

Seeing this, Zhu Houzhao asked Xia Yan to record these people and asked them to be taken into the palace by eunuchs the next day, and Zhu Houzhao personally guided them.

...

In the end, Tong Laowu and several other craftsmen took on this task. Because these craftsmen knew that the first person they created would receive high rewards and high official positions, they all worked hard to develop flintlock rifles day and night.

Soon, in less than a month, Tong Laowu first made a flintlock rifle and successfully passed the test. Under Zhu Houzhao's instructions, Xia Yan was responsible for recording the technical information of Tong Laowu's flintlock rifle made. At the same time, the first flintlock rifle was grouped into parts, formulated standards, and prepared to be manufactured in groups according to parts composition.

Tong Laowu also became the first academician of the Central Academy of Ming Dynasty! He enjoyed the treatment of a fourth-rank official.

Several other craftsmen involved in the research and development were taught by Tong Laowu, respectively. Each craftsman only mastered one part manufacturing method and then divided it into several working groups.

At the same time, innocent people are hired by the Ordnance Bureau as apprentices. The craftsmen of these working groups lead a group of apprentices. Each apprentice in the church will receive a silver reward. At the same time, each working group will take these apprentices to produce a part, one working group is specifically responsible for assembly, and another working group is specialized in inspection.

After the number of apprentices in each working group reaches a certain scale, the master will select the skilled apprentice to be promoted to the master, and the master will lead the new apprentice to form a new working group. This will continuously expand the production scale of flintlock rifles in the Ordnance Bureau and continuously increase the daily production volume.

Tong Laowu, an academician of the Central Research Institute, continued to develop new firearms at the R&D Institute. Like R&D workers in other factories, he will also lead several apprentices who are willing to register to study at the R&D Institute to participate in the R&D work.

In this way, the entire Ordnance Bureau has become a place where there are both large-scale ordnance production and specialized institutions for the research and development of ordnance.

Not only the basic industries such as military ordnance, steelmaking, cast iron, and copper casting, Zhu Houzhao also asked Xia Yan to establish production and R&D institutions in this way.

Among them, some craftsmen who pursue stability will not only carry out steelmaking and other production activities in accordance with the existing technology of the Ming Dynasty, but also mobilize some craftsmen who are willing to explore new technologies and enterprising spirits to participate in the research and development activities of new steelmaking and iron smelting technology.

Finally, a craftsman named Tao Hei from the Ming Dynasty Ordnance Bureau mastered the crucible steelmaking method according to the information provided by Zhu Houzhao, so that the Ming Dynasty Ordnance Bureau could smel out the world's first cylinder of liquid steel, and thus realized the technology that high-carbon steel, namely tool steel can be used.

This makes it possible to manufacture a rifled gun.

At the same time, Xia Yan also successfully led a group of craftsmen from the gunpowder factory to granulate the black gunpowder, which greatly increased the explosive power of the gunpowder. This also prompted the firearm factory to further improve the thunder of the sky, enhancing the explosion power of the thunder of the sky.

At the end of the third year of Zhengde, the Guards began to replace all new firearms and new swords and guns, and began to practice new firearms.

Ma Wensheng has been inspecting the border town for a year, and Yu Zhengde returned to the capital at the beginning of the fourth year. Zhang Cong also entered Beijing and brought the latest military map of the Hetao area, and it was also the first map with contour markings and direction markings in the Ming Dynasty.

In fact, such a map has been found in Shen Kuo's Mengxi Bishu in ancient China, so it is not difficult for people in the Ming Dynasty to accept it.

"Your Majesty! I have inspected all sides this year and believe that the first city we want to build should be in Yulin Guard when we recover Hetao!

To the west is Chier Mountain, to the south is Rabbit Maple River, to the north is Jiulonggou. From Datong Youwei, you can go north along the Rabbit Maple River, and you can go straight to Yulin after passing through the side wall. You can take it directly on Chier Mountain and Jiulonggou as a barrier. You can also return to Datong to rely on Tuan Mountain. The middle is Rabbit Maple River. The land is fertile. You can reclaim wasteland and farmland, and you can connect with Datong, so you can naturally do business and trade!"

Ma Wensheng pointed to Yulinwei on the newly drawn map and said.

Zhu Houzhao nodded: "In this way, the Guards have made the first goal of recovering the Yulin Guard. Now I will issue an order to change the Yulin Guard to Yulin County and to make Zhang Cong the magistrate of Yulin County. For specific military arrangements, Ma Aiqing, you will immediately join hands with the people of the General Staff to draw up a charter!"

"I obey the order!" Ma Wensheng replied.

Zhu Houzhao nodded and went to the cabinet and the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the cabinet. At this time, Jiao Fang, the chief assistant of the cabinet, handed Zhu Houzhao a memorial: "Your Majesty! Datong came to report that the little prince of the Great Khan of the Yuan Dynasty sent his son Urus Borot to ask for tribute, and he also specially brought 3,000 good horses to pay tribute. Do you think it is a ticket to grant tribute, or is it not allowed?"

Zhu Houzhao didn't expect that he was planning to regain Hetao. He was about to prepare to establish the first county town in the Dongshengwei area on the east side of Hetao, but the little prince suddenly came to pay tribute!

"Tell me, what is the purpose of this little prince asking for tribute at this time?" Zhu Houzhao asked.

"Your Majesty! These Tartars sometimes ask for tribute, sometimes they will directly plunder. In recent years, the Tartars have been strengthened, so they cannot deduct plunder, so they think of making benefits through tribute. After all, according to convention, all tributers will return and the court will gain a false reputation!"

The chief assistant Jiao Fang said.

"Even if they say so, since they come to pay tribute, there is no reason not to refuse. Otherwise, wouldn't it seem that our great country has no ambition!"

Xu Jin said.

"Since that's the case, I agree to him pay tribute. However, the rules for tribute this time have to be changed. Didn't they say they brought three thousand good horses? Then let me see if they were three thousand good horses."

After Zhu Houzhao said this, Jiao Fang planned to agree to the little prince's tribute to the Ming Dynasty according to Zhu Houzhao's intention.

At this time, the second auxiliary Minister of War Xu Jin asked: "Your Majesty, since this is the case, will the recovery of Hetao still be carried out? After all, since they are here to pay tribute, they are intentionally repairing it."

"Trade is one thing, and regaining Hetao is one thing. Your cabinet is only responsible for its tribute. Regaining Hetao is the matter of the Guards, so it is naturally to continue. Of course, if your cabinet can persuade the little prince to return Hetao when the little prince comes to pay tribute, it will naturally be possible to recover Hetao without force! This will not cause any rebellion and hurt the people on both sides!"

After Zhu Houzhao said this, Jiao Fang and Xu Jin couldn't help but shake their heads. It was impossible to ask the little prince to return the Hetao. They came to pay tribute to them to get benefits. How could they be willing to lose money? And they also paid the entire Hetao.

...

At this time, the little prince's second son Urus Borot was looking at the walls of Datong Mansion, and said depressedly to Gao Zehui, a Han aide who defected to him, and said, "Mr. Gao! You said that this Ming people can do besides hiding behind the high walls, and have the ability to come out and fight the Mongolian warriors of our Dayuan!"

"The Ming people can't be as brave as the Mongolian warriors. They are all cowardly and incompetent! If they had not been dragged down by these cowardly Han people back then, the Yuan Dynasty could still dominate the Central Plains. Now, Lord Jinong (a honorific title of Tatar) is on the Ming Dynasty. Even if you bring only three hundred inferior stallions, you say that you are three thousand good horses, and they have to believe it, and they will reward it at a double price! Because they are afraid of the swords and arrows in your hand!"
Chapter completed!