Anti-Qing: Starting from the Reincarnation of the Ming Dynasty

As time passed, sleepiness gradually came over me.

Zhu Jing'an closed his eyes, held the sleeping beauty next to him in his arms, adjusted his posture, and prepared to sleep while climbing the peak.

But at this moment, a huge roar suddenly sounded outside the dormitory.

The fire that shot up into the sky illuminated most of the sky at once.

Zhu Jing'an was startled by the sudden explosion, and subconsciously shook his hand hard.

Immediately, He Yuxiu, who was pinched in pain, let out a cry of pain.

The expression on Zhu Jing'an's face changed rapidly, but he didn't have the intention to pay attention to whether He Yuxiu was pinched by him.

He just quickly put on his clothes and stood up, then strode towards the dormitory.

The sudden explosion made him wonder if someone was coming to assassinate him!

The person in charge of guarding outside his dormitory today is a young eunuch named Lin Xiang.

Zhu Jing'an opened the door of the dormitory, and Lin Xiang quickly stepped forward and saluted.

"This servant has met His Highness the Crown Prince, His Highness Jin An!"

The surrounding palace maids and chamberlains also bowed and saluted.

"This servant has met His Highness the Crown Prince, His Highness Jin An!"

When Zhu Jing'an heard this, he just nodded slightly.

"Guan!"

"After passing the order from the isolated army, the Imperial Guard Brigade immediately set out to blockade the Prince's Mansion to ensure the safety of the Prince's Mansion."

"Then we will mobilize the various garrison troops in Nanjing City and ask them to prepare to block all gates in Nanjing."

"Also, send someone immediately to ask where the explosion occurred. Was it an accident? Or was it done deliberately?!"

"We must check it out clearly!"

The explosion point was far away from Zhu Jing'an's dormitory, but when the sound was heard, it was still deafening.

It can be seen that the amount of gunpowder in this explosion was not small.

Zhu Jing'an was very curious. If there was really an assassination, where did so many explosives come from?

Upon hearing this, Lin Xiang and others trotted forward to deliver the order.

Zhu Jing'an was pacing outside the dormitory anxiously, waiting for the response from the people below.

In the sky, the stars and the moon hang high.

A round jade plate shines brightly, spreading light on the ground. The red walls and green tiles of the Prince's Mansion are clearly visible under the moonlight.

In this era without light pollution, moonlight and starlight are actually very bright.

A cold wind blew, and Zhu Jing'an couldn't bear it and trembled.

The Mid-Autumn Festival has passed for a long time, and winter is approaching, and the cold and humid climate in Nanjing is beginning to show its power.

After standing outside the dormitory for a short while, Zhu Jing'an felt chilly.

At this moment, Zhu Jing'an suddenly felt warm, and there was an extra fur on his body.

Turning her head subconsciously, Zhu Jing'an saw He Yuxiu, who was smiling like a flower. She was holding a fur and putting it on Zhu Jing'an.

Zhu Jing'an was not polite, took the fur, and put it on his body.

The raw material of this fur cloak is a bear skin from Liaodong. It was a trophy seized from the house of General Chongchun of Jiangning after the Ming Dynasty captured Nanjing.

The wind-resistant effect is particularly good. When Zhu Jing'an wore it, he felt much warmer instantly.

After patting He Yuxiu's shoulder, Zhu Jing'an said warmly.

"It's cold outside, please go back and rest!"

He Yuxiu shook his head and said.

"If Your Highness doesn't rest, how can I rest? I just need to wait with Your Highness!"

When Zhu Jing'an heard this, he said with a smile.

"Obey, go back and rest, don't freeze your body."

"I'm still waiting for you to give me a big fat boy!"

He Yuxiu blushed when he heard this, but still did not dare to disobey Zhu Jing'an's order and returned to the dormitory obediently.

Zhu Jing'an continued to stand outside the dormitory, waiting for news, his face as gloomy as ice.

Zhu Jing'an didn't have to wait long before he saw Secretary-General Zhang Jin beside him, Zhao Huaian, the brigade commander of the Imperial Guard Brigade responsible for the security of the Prince's Mansion, and Liu Mingyou, the chief officer of the Nanjing Garrison, who came to see him.

Zhang Jin walked a few steps quickly, came to Zhu Jing'an, and spoke.

"Your Highness, the cause of the explosion has been found out!"

When Zhu Jing'an heard this, his eyes moved slightly and he asked.

"what is going on?"

Zhang Jin saw Zhu Jing'an's expression was not good, so he didn't dare to hide anything, so he just spoke.

"Your Majesty, the explosion was caused by an accident at the arsenal. It was not a deliberate attempt to disturb public order in Nanjing or an assassination attempt."

After Zhu Jing'an heard this, his expression improved slightly, but he was still gloomy, and he asked.

"Elaborate!"

Zhang Jin did not dare to hide anything and elaborated.

"Replying to Your Highness, it was the technicians at the Nanjing Arsenal who had an accident while doing the nitrification experiment, and the exploding test product ignited the laboratory."

"Because it was late at night, most workers had taken a rest, so the fire rescue was not timely. The warehouse where the arsenal's finished gunpowder was stored was affected by the fire."

"Nearly two hundred tons of gunpowder for finished cannons were ignited, and a large-scale explosion occurred!"

"The arsenal suffered heavy losses!"

When Zhu Jing'an heard this, he couldn't help but take a breath of air.

The veins on his forehead were beating constantly.

But he still suppressed his temper and asked.

"What are the specific casualties?"

If the gunpowder is gone, it can be re-produced, and if the factories and warehouses are gone, it can be rebuilt. But if too many core technicians die, it will not be easy to re-train them.

Hearing this, Zhang Jin shook his head and said.

"If we return to Your Highness, there will be many casualties."

"But the detailed data at the arsenal are still being counted, and the results haven't been calculated yet."

When Zhu Jing'an heard this, he gritted his teeth and said.

"Where's Song Quan?"

"Why doesn't he come to see Gu?"

If such a big accident occurred in the arsenal, the person in charge, Song Quan, must be the first person responsible.

If Zhu Jing'an wants to be held accountable, Song Quan can't escape no matter what.

That's why Zhu Jing'an asked this question.

When Zhang Jin heard this, he said with a somewhat ugly expression.

"Your Highness, Song Quan is dead!"

"According to reports from people below, when the fire was about to spread to the powder magazine, Song Quan personally led a team to put out the fire."

"After the gunpowder in the gunpowder magazine was ignited and exploded, Song Quan and the workers who put out the fire were all dead..."

When Zhu Jing'an heard this, the anger on his face softened slightly.

He still understands the principle that death is the most important thing.

Now that Song Quan has died, Zhu Jing'an can no longer pursue him no matter how serious his sins were during his lifetime.

Instead, he will be rewarded for his bravery.

Taking a deep breath, Zhu Jing'an opened his mouth and explained.

"Dispatch the garrison troops from Nanjing City to Tangshan to help fight the fire at the arsenal and rescue the wounded."

"Calculate the damage to the arsenal as soon as possible!"

When Liu Mingyou heard this, he clasped his fists and accepted the order to leave.

Immediately mobilize the troops and prepare to assist the arsenal in fighting the fire.

Seeing this, Zhu Jing'an ordered Zhang Jin again.

"Order people to post an announcement of peace of mind in Nanjing to appease the people."

"Restore order in Nanjing City as soon as possible!"    "The loss of the arsenal is already very heartbreaking. Nanjing City must not have any more problems."

Hearing this, everyone nodded in agreement.

Then they all went to do their own things.

After Zhu Jing'an finished his instructions, he turned back to the dormitory and prepared to rest.

As soon as he entered the dormitory, He Yuxiu came up to him and asked softly while helping Zhu Jing'an untie his bearskin cloak.

"Your Highness, what happened to the explosion just now?"

When Zhu Jing'an heard this, he didn't hide anything and said it directly.

"It's not a big deal!"

"Some accidents happened at the arsenal, and the gunpowder depot exploded. It's okay now. Rest peacefully!"

After saying this, he hugged He Yuxiu and returned to the bed to sleep.

Closing his eyes, Zhu Jing'an began to think about the accident at the arsenal in his mind.

Zhang Jin's words echoed in his mind. An accident occurred during the nitrification experiment, which led to a large-scale explosion.

Doesn't this mean that the arsenal's experiments on new gunpowder have already produced certain results?

Once the research and development of new gunpowder has achieved results, then the development of breech-loading guns, breech-loading cannons and other projects may be started...

Of course, R&D belongs to R&D, which does not mean equipment is required.

Ming Dynasty has not even been able to solve the mass production problem of rifled guns, let alone breech-loading guns.

Just make some technical reserves first!

As the saying goes, equipment is one generation, research and development is one generation, and pre-research is one generation.

For the current Ming army, the first generation of equipment is flintlock muskets and smoothbore cannons.

These are the weapons with the highest equipment rate of the Ming army at present.

So far, it's quite effective.

The research and development generation includes advanced weapons such as rifled guns and flintlock rifled guns. Due to the difficulty of mass production of these weapons, they are still under development, so they have not been equipped on a large scale.

Only a small number of products are equipped to the army for experiments and exploring their actual combat performance.

The pre-researched generation will undoubtedly be rear-loading firearms.

The research and development of new gunpowder is one of the sub-projects of the research and development of breech-loading firearms.

The research and development projects of new gunpowder are mainly divided into two aspects: propellant and explosive.

Among them, the main research and development project of propellant is Legon, while the nitrification experiment is one of the key research and development projects of explosives.

At the same level, there is also the research and development of yellow gunpowder.

Thinking about these messy things, Zhu Jing'an fell into a deep sleep...

……

The next day, Zhu Jing'an got up early.

I still follow my usual habits of running in the morning, washing up, and having breakfast.

Just as he was eating breakfast, Zhang came to him with a pair of dark circles under his eyes.

"Your Highness, we have calculated the specific losses of the arsenal last night..."

When Zhang Jin said this, he presented a report in his hand to Zhu Jing'an.

Zhu Jing'an took the report and began to read it.

As he read through it, his expression gradually became serious.

In an accident last night, the death toll at the arsenal alone reached 233.

Among them, there are 17 management members including Song Quan, 22 core technicians, 69 craftsmen, and 125 ordinary workers.

In addition to this, there are numerous disabilities.

There are countless minor injuries!

In addition, the explosion also destroyed eleven factories and fifteen warehouses. Two hundred tons of gunpowder alone were destroyed at once, and the remaining material losses were incalculable.

Looking at this shocking loss figure, Zhu Jing'an was heartbroken.

After thinking for a while, Zhu Jing'an spoke.

"The relevant personnel who were killed must do a good job in providing compensation, and the disabled people should not be treated poorly."

"The wounded hospital must try its best to treat them, and I will personally visit the wounded in the future."

"The reconstruction of the arsenal must also be put on the agenda as soon as possible."

After saying this, Zhu Jing'an spoke.

"This incident can be regarded as a lesson. After the arsenal is rebuilt, safety work must be paid more attention to."

"Take care of the security issues for Gu Yan!"

Zhang Jin nodded to express his understanding.

"Your Majesty will arrange safety training and assessment for all employees of the arsenal. Your Highness can rest assured."

Zhu Jing'an took a deep breath and continued.

"By the way, after the arsenal is rebuilt, let's separate the production department and the R&D department."

"The R&D department needs an open and safe place to conduct experiments, especially when they are experimenting with new gunpowders. It is not appropriate to continue to stay together with the production department."

This accident at the arsenal was, to put it bluntly, a mess caused by the R&D department.

It has affected the production department!

Then this big explosion happened!

Now that he has learned a lesson, Zhu Jing'an will definitely make corrections.

Zhang Jin nodded again.

"Your Highness, don't worry, I understand!"

Seeing this, Zhu Jing'an stopped saying anything and just waved his hand.

"Okay, Zhang Jin, go down and rest first!"

"Didn't you stay up all night last night? I'll give you a day off today. Have a good rest!"

Seeing this, Zhang Jin bowed down again.

"Thank you, Your Highness the Crown Prince!"

After saying this, Zhang Jin resigned and left.

……

In the first month of the third year of Xuanwu in the Ming Dynasty, after the New Year's Day, the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty left Guangzhou and began to move to Nanjing.

Compared with the land route, Xing Zaifang chose to go to Nanjing by sea.

On the sixteenth day of the first lunar month, Zhu Jianzhuo and his party set out from Guangzhou Port, accompanied by the main force of the Ming Navy for protection.

On the 20th of the first lunar month, the line arrived at Quanzhou Port, repaired for two days, replenished supplies and fresh water, and then continued northward.

On the twenty-sixth day of the first lunar month, the line arrived at Fuzhou Port.

On the second day of February, we passed through Hangzhou Bay.

On the seventh day of February, we arrived at Shanghai Port, where we transferred to a river boat and headed upstream towards Nanjing.

Along the way, Zhu Jiazhuo docked several times and met with local officials and representatives of the gentry.

It was not until February 16th that the fleet finally arrived at the dock outside Nanjing.

Zhu Jing'an personally led the team to the dock outside Nanjing and ordered people to prepare for the emperor's arrival.

A well-known sergeant stood tall and tall on the dock with a musket on his back and a brand-new military uniform.

Beside Zhu Jing'an, officials with reserved expressions were quietly waiting for the emperor's arrival.

Finally, the fleet arrived at the dock outside Nanjing.

Several salute guns arranged on the pier were lit, and the roaring roar ignited the atmosphere on the pier.

Fireworks and firecrackers, gongs and drums, dragon and lion dances were all organized.

Zhu Jianzhuo's ship began to dock. After the ship docked, the gangway was set up.

With the support of two chamberlains, Zhu Jianzhuo slowly walked down the gangway and arrived at the pier.

Seeing this, Zhu Jing'an hurriedly took a few steps forward, bowed and saluted.

"My son, I pay my respects to my father. Long live my father, long live, long live!" (End of this chapter)