Chapter 844 Discovery is Conquest
The history of artillery development is actually not short.
As early as the Yuan Dynasty, and even in the early Song Dynasty, the prototype of artillery existed.
The large-scale use of firearms similar to artillery was in the early Song Dynasty and the Yuan Dynasty.
Especially during the Mongol Yuan Dynasty, artillery played a huge role in the process of conquering the world.
As the Mongols conquered the world, many firearms gradually spread to all parts of the world.
The Westerners also knew that learning foreigners’ advanced technology could defeat foreigners, and the subsequent development of firearms spread from the East to the West. The general trend also changed accordingly.
In this era, when faced with a fortified city, the only means was to attack it like ants, that is, to fill it with human lives.
The emergence of artillery swept the idea of defending a city into the dustbin of history.
The Ming emperor and his ministers, as well as the people of the world, regarded the Great Wall defense line, that is, the Nine Frontier Defense Line, as their own amulet. As long as the Great Wall and the Nine Frontiers are there, we will be as safe as Mount Tai.
Jiang Qingzhi has been looking for an opportunity to shatter their beautiful dream.
Today is the right time.
The emperor and his ministers were still in shock. The artillery stopped roaring and the small valley was very quiet.
A voice broke the silence.
"Defending the city has been the defense method of the Central Plains for thousands of years. The Great Wall is very long. Can it prevent the invasion of foreign races? No."
Jiang Qingzhi walked to the side of the cannon and patted the cannon. "With the Great Wall protecting it, it is as safe as Mount Tai. When everyone in the Ming Dynasty has this idea, they will naturally choose to be conservative."
Xu Jie regained consciousness and took a deep breath. "What kind of fierce weapon is this?"
The roar of artillery still lingered in Lu Song's ears. He murmured, "Be conservative, be conservative... Chang Wei Bo is... With such a powerful weapon, can the city still be relied on? He is going to personally destroy the separatist peace of our Confucianism. Is it good... or bad?"
"The aliens have crossed the Great Wall time and time again, causing massacres in the Central Plains time and time again, and countless lessons have still failed to wake those people up."
Jiang Qingzhi's voice was like a hammer, striking the hearts of those officials.
"What good are those walls when the roar of artillery resounds across the battlefield?"
Jiang Qingzhi exaggerated the power of the artillery. "The Portuguese installed artillery on their warships. In the battle off the coast of Guangzhou, they made our Ming navy miserable. Later, the Ming imitated the Portuguese and defeated them. But that was just a small fleet of the Portuguese!"
Jiang Qingzhi turned around and looked at the emperor and his ministers. "In the West, there are five or six great countries like Portugal. The countries are fighting each other... Some people say that conquest is a powerful tool for the development of weapons, which is true. Firearms are developing rapidly in the West. Ten years later, twenty years later... When the power of artillery is constantly improved. When foreign warships come to the sea off the coast of Ming Dynasty again. What can Ming Dynasty use to resist?"
Some people say: "It can be copied."
What the hell!
This reminded Jiang Qingzhi of some later remarks: It is better to buy than to make!
"Imitation? The Ministry of War is here today, Minister Wang, may I ask if the Portuguese firearms imitated by the Ming Dynasty are as powerful as those of the Portuguese?"
Wang Yiqi sighed, "Not enough."
"When the foreign races come again, will they give the Ming Dynasty a chance to copy them?" Jiang Qingzhi was angry. "Copy them, copy them, and only learn when you get beaten. Why not take the initiative?"
"Preemptive strike?"
Xu Jie's body trembled, "This is... Jiang Qingzhi, this is..."
"He wants to turn the Ming Dynasty's attention from the country to foreign lands!" Lu Song said in a deep voice: "With flintlock rifles and artillery, why should the Ming Dynasty passively take the beating? Why can't it take the initiative to attack? Even..."
Xu Jie felt his scalp tingling. "He even took the initiative to attack other countries. Jiang Qingzhi could do this! He could definitely do this!"
Once the Ming Dynasty turned its attention to foreign countries, the flaws of Confucianism were exposed to the world.
Some people said: "With this weapon, the Ming Dynasty should be able to maintain peace for hundreds of years. In this case, why should we take the initiative to attack? Why not be friendly to our neighbors? You must know that forgetting war will lead to danger, and loving war will lead to destruction!"
"You've made progress. This time, at least you mentioned that forgetting to fight will lead to danger." Jiang Qingzhi said sarcastically, "What do you think the foreign races are doing now? Altan Khan in the north is licking his wounds, sleeping on straw and tasting gall, waiting for an opportunity to invade again.
Off the coast of the Ming Dynasty, the Japanese were watching covetously, waiting to rush in to burn, kill and loot.
Also in the sea off the coast of Daming, the Portuguese still did not give up after the last setback. They were entrenched outside Daming, staring at Daming. When the opportunity came, they would not hesitate to launch a massive attack. "
Jiang Qingzhi said: "You all still remember those small countries when Zheng He sailed to the West."
An official from the Ministry of Rites asked, "Is Chang Wei Bo talking about Malacca and other places?"
"Exactly."
"Those places all submitted to the Ming Dynasty." The official laughed.
Jiang Qingzhi sneered, "But now those places are in the hands of the Portuguese!"
The Portuguese actually occupied Malacca?
Since Zheng He, the Ming Dynasty's pace of external exploration has stopped.
The Portuguese invaded, and Malacca and other places were in danger. What could the Ming Dynasty do? With the current strength of the Ming navy, they had to rely on imitating the Portuguese firearms to protect themselves and rescue...
You're on your own!
Therefore, after the fall of Malacca and other places, the Ming Dynasty did not take it seriously.
The official was stunned and then laughed, "It's just a small place."
"That place is small, but it controls the passage for the Ming Dynasty to go out to sea. Whoever controls that passage controls that sea area!"
Jiang Qingzhi almost roared, "If the Ming ships want to go far, they have to ask the Portuguese for permission first. Is this a small place?" "The foreigners have come to the Ming, and you still turn a blind eye. Do you have to wait for them to come to your door and suffer heavy casualties before you learn from your mistakes?"
Zhu Xizhong sighed. He knew what his brother had said and the purpose of today's arrangements.
Jiang Qingzhi has said many times that if you want to change the Ming Dynasty, you must first change the vision of the Ming Dynasty's rulers and ministers.
If the emperor and his ministers have narrow vision, then the Ming Dynasty will inevitably be closed and conservative.
A group of conservative people, with a group of people who are ignorant of the outside world...where will this Ming Dynasty go?
A conservative person, even if you give him a nuclear weapon, he will still tremble when he takes it, and only thinks of using it to protect himself. As for preemptive strike...
Think about Ermao in later generations. When the family was divided, he got a lot of nuclear weapons, but what happened to him later?
A group of conservative people were fooled and gave up their own skills.
Then came war.
Jiang Qingzhi dared to bet that even if he developed the tanks, these officials would still cling to their old ways and hide behind the Great Wall to play the so-called prosperous game.
For fun, put the weapons into storage and release the horses into the mountains.
Even when the foreign army was at the gates of the city, they still had no regrets... When the Qing army marched south, the small court in Nanjing was still busy fighting for power.
Jiang Qingzhi must teach the Ming Dynasty's rulers and ministers a lesson.
"This world is huge, much bigger than we can imagine. The Portuguese did not come to the Ming sea on purpose. They burned, killed, looted, and seized territory along the way..."
Wang Yiqi was startled. "Seizing territory along the way?"
"That's right." Jiang Qingzhi secretly thought that Lao Wang was indeed a good supporting actor. "Along the way, they discovered many unowned lands. Those places are fertile and rich in minerals, with countless gold, silver and copper mines."
"This is to the east, and in all directions, the Western countries are constantly exploring. Their monarchs encourage their subjects to go to sea to find new continents. Their warships follow the footsteps of discoverers and continue to conquer the world. Those fertile lands continuously transport countless gold, silver, copper, and countless grains back to the West every year."
"Driven by interests, their external exploration and aggression are getting faster and faster. They are conquering India and they are eyeing the Ming Dynasty..."
"The whole world belongs to them, but the Ming Dynasty still holds on to its arrogance as the central country and persists in its shortcomings!"
"Long Wilbur!" An old civil servant couldn't help but speak up, "How could we ever cling to our old ways?"
"Haven't you?" Jiang Qingzhi laughed, "You know, the Western countries today have long abandoned the so-called teachings of the sages, and they are carrying out a movement called the Renaissance.
The purpose of this movement is to completely break the existing pattern and thinking of the past years. Let the entire West look at the whole world, instead of looking down at their feet and looking up at the sky above their heads. "
"He is mocking us for being ignorant!" Someone was angry. "Is there any evidence for what Long Wilbur said?"
"Empty words."
"This is slander!"
Jiang Qingzhi smiled and said, "Boer!"
His Western chief advisor, the former down-and-out sailor who had been competing with Sun Bu Tong for the position of the most loyal servant, stepped forward, first with a Western salute, and then with a bow.
"My name is Paul. I am originally from Portugal, which is what the Ming Dynasty calls the Portuguese."
Boll introduced himself first. Many people had seen him before. Seeing how polite he was, they couldn't help but feel that Westerners were also polite, which showed that they were of the same lineage as us.
"…In Portugal, the king encouraged his subjects to go out to sea and explore the New World. Once an unowned land was discovered, a generous reward would be given to the discoverer. So everyone was eager to go out to sea."
Xu Jie just thought about that scene and couldn't help but say: "Everyone is seeking profit, how can we rule?"
Jiang Qingzhi said calmly: "Everyone is after profit, so let's lure them with profit."
"But interests have an end," said Xu Jie.
it has started!
Jiang Qingzhi, the leader of the new policy, took the lead in attacking today, and Xu Jie fought back!
The show begins!
Everyone perked up, but Emperor Jiajing squinted his eyes, seeming unaware.
"There is no end to the benefits." Jiang Qingzhi said: "Boer."
Boll understood, "This world is huge. The new continents discovered by Western countries combined are countless times larger than the Ming Dynasty."
The ministers were all stunned.
"Those lands are mostly uninhabited, with only a few natives occasionally, but they are vulnerable. Western countries continue to immigrate to the New World, turning those places into their own mines and farmland..."
Just thinking about that scene, Lu Song's face changed. "With money and food, they will have countless warships and countless...armies!"
"The pace of exploration has never stopped, and new discoveries are constantly coming from all directions. And Western countries have a habit..."
Boll looked at the Ming emperor and his ministers and said, "To discover is to conquer!"
"They will spread the flames of war to the periphery of Ming Dynasty, and even to Ming Dynasty!" Jiang Qingzhi looked at the emperor and his ministers, "How should Ming Dynasty respond? The enemy is coming from the sea, so should we build a Great Wall along the coast of Ming Dynasty and deploy millions of troops for defense?"
Turtles!
you!
What choice?!
(End of this chapter)
