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

Chapter 4 The Cost-Effectiveness of Spears

Repeated failures in the examinations quickly depleted Wang Shun's family, which could only be considered well-to-do.

The suffering of life and the mental torture of failed attempts made Wang Shun full of resentment towards the Qing Dynasty and the entire world.

But grievances are grievances, and life still has to be lived.

In desperation, he had no choice but to take off his gown and figure, and came to Zhu's house to work as a housekeeper.

Then, Wang Shun, a talented scholar who was full of complaints and resentment against the Qing Dynasty, and Zhu Guochang, a remnant of the previous dynasty who was full of revolutionary thoughts, naturally colluded together.

After Zhu Guochang raised his flag to rebel, he used his banner as Prince Zhu Liu, and declared the restoration of the Ming Dynasty.

Immediately, Wang Shun was conferred the title of chief minister of the Ming Dynasty cabinet, the official position of bachelor of Wenhua Pavilion, which can be regarded as living up to this "veteran minister".

It satisfies Wang Shun’s official fans!

Of course, official positions belong to official positions, but the work is still the same as before.

After all, there is no country in Zhu Guochang that can be left to Wang Shun to govern.

For the time being, Wang Shun can only hold the title of bachelor and continue to work as a housekeeper.

When Zhu Jingan found Wang Shun on Zhuangzi, he was talking to the current Minister of Works of the Ming Dynasty.

Master Guo Dashan, the only blacksmith in Zhujiazhuang, was discussing the matter of making weapons.

After Zhu Guochang raised the flag, although he didn't have time to do anything else, he had already handed out a lot of official hats.

For example, the steward Wang Shun is the chief minister of the cabinet, the blacksmith Master Guo is the minister of the Ministry of Industry, the accountant Mr. Li Muli is the minister of the household department, and the village pig butcher Zhang Butcher is the commander of the Shenji Camp...

Although Zhu Laoliu could not give glory and wealth to these brothers who followed him in rebellion and risked their lives by wearing their heads in their belts, he was unambiguous about giving them official titles.

Be it a minister, a minister, a general, or a commander, as long as you dare to ask for it, he will give it to you.

"My Ming Dynasty King's Master still has about thirty spears and fifty swords."

"Guo Shangshu, you must hurry up and try to drive out the weapon gap within three days without any mistakes."

"If your delay delays His Highness's important event, you can't afford the punishment."

Wang Shun's words were full of official authority, and he gave instructions to Guo Dashan very unceremoniously, as if he really regarded himself as the chief assistant of the Ming Dynasty.

Suddenly I forgot that not long ago, I was just a housekeeper.

The actual control scope of the new Ming Dynasty was only a small Zhujiazhuang.

When Guo Dashan heard this, he grimaced and said helplessly.

"Master Chief Assistant, I am the only craftsman in our Ming Dynasty. Even if we include my few apprentices who are not yet able to become masters, there are only five of us in total."

"Even if we try our best, we won't be able to produce so many weapons in three days."

When blacksmiths want to make weapons these days, without the assistance of mechanized equipment of later generations, they have to rely purely on manpower to hammer out weapons one by one.

The efficiency cannot be higher!
As the saying goes, the three major hardships in life are to paddle a boat and grind the iron to grind the tofu, they are not just words.

When Wang Shun heard this, he just said coldly.

"When you encounter difficulties, you should find ways to overcome them instead of crying to me, the superior officer."

"If I have to go to Shangguan whenever I have trouble, then what's the use of you guys?"

Although Wang Shuncai had just become the chief minister of the Ming Dynasty cabinet, his official aura was already quite strong.

Guo Dashan was stupid and couldn't defeat Wang Shun, but the embarrassment on his face remained the same.

At this moment, Zhu Jingan strode over, glanced at the two of them, and then spoke.

"Mr. Wang, my father ordered you to immediately arrange for people to cook in pots and prepare for the departure of the army." "After lunch, we will set off, eastward along the Qianjiang River, and turn in the direction of Jintian Town."

When Wang Shun heard this, he immediately clasped his fists without saying a word.

"Wei Chen obeys! Let's make arrangements now."

Zhu Jingan nodded, then looked at Guo Dashan aside, and then spoke.

"The weapons production work on Guo Shangshu's side can be put on hold for now. It won't be too late to resume production after our army arrives at Jintian Town and settles down."

"Before this, Guo Shangshu can think about recruiting a few more apprentices to expand the scale of our Ministry of Industry in Ming Dynasty."

Now the Ming army is about to move towards Jintian Town. Time is tight, and there will definitely be no time for Guo Dashan and the others to stop and build weapons.

Therefore, Zhu Jingan asked Guo Dashan to focus more on cultivating talents recently.

However, as if he remembered something, Zhu Jingan added another arrangement.

"By the way, in the future, the weapons production of the Ministry of Industry will be mainly spears for the time being, and others can be put aside first."

Zhu Jingan made this arrangement mainly because in the cold weapon era, the spear was definitely the most cost-effective weapon on the battlefield.

none of them!

To make a good knife, at least three to five kilograms of good iron is needed.

But a spearhead only requires half a catty of iron.

In other words, the amount of iron required to make a good knife can make seven or eight spearheads.

And the spear shafts were cheaper to produce.

If you don't care about quality, you can just find a relatively straight wooden stick and attach the spearhead to it and you can make do with it.

But having said that, ordinary soldiers are actually not qualified to pursue the quality of weapons.

They can give you a spear instead of throwing a spearhead at you and asking you to find a stick to stick it on.

Or simply let you go to the battlefield with farm tools such as hoes and sickles.

This can already be regarded as the more conscientious one among the superiors.

After all, in the eyes of those superior rulers, the people at the bottom are nothing more than consumables that can be consumed almost unlimitedly and will continue to regenerate after death.

Very cheap!

Who really cares about the life and death of consumables?
Of course, the reason why Zhu Jingan asked Guo Dashan to focus on the production of spears was because the spears were cheap and easy to produce.

The more important reason is actually that on the battlefield, long weapons such as spears are much more practical than short weapons such as swords.

On the battlefield, everyone forms a military formation and fights head-on. The front row of the military formation is basically a place where people are crowded together and people are next to each other.

There is almost no room for maneuvering, and the flexibility of short weapons cannot be used at all.

But the advantage of a long weapon being one inch longer and one inch stronger can be fully utilized.

My weapon is longer than yours. I can hit you, but you can't hit me. This is the hardest truth in the world.

Moreover, spears are more lethal than swords.

Although it hurts when a person is stabbed, as long as the vital part is not injured, there is a high probability that nothing will happen to him. After the injury is healed, he will soon be a good man again.

But if you were stabbed by a spear and a hole was made in your body by the spear, that person would most likely die on the spot.

This is the reason why the ancients said, "It is better to be stabbed three times than to be shot once."

(End of this chapter)