Chapter 61

"Your humble servant is willing to serve the master and be a good furnace master."

"That's excellent. In a few days, we'll make a trip to Lingqiu." Zhang Han patted Cai Jiu's shoulder and smiled in approval.

"Yes... good."

Cai Jiu did not expect Zhang Han to act so swiftly. They had just agreed, and he was already planning to go to Lingqiu!

The next steps would likely involve recruiting personnel, preparing materials, selecting a location, and then setting up the furnace!

In the Ming Dynasty, iron furnaces were generally between 17 and 18 feet high, with some large furnaces exceeding 20 feet. A large furnace could produce 4,000 pounds of iron per day, while a small one could produce 2,000 pounds. Setting up a furnace was a laborious task, requiring meticulous attention to detail. Any mistake could lead to failure, and the thousands of silver taels invested would be wasted... The responsibility was immense, and Cai Jiu felt a mountain of pressure on his shoulders.

"Do your best, but don't be too nervous."

Zhang Han patted Cai Jiu again, then walked away with his hands behind his back.

He enjoyed seeing his subordinates in such a cautious state, which was better than being lifeless. In the Ming Dynasty, merchants and their subordinates were all shrewd people who knew what they had to do and the responsibilities they had to bear. In contrast, the true rulers of the country, the literati, were a group of lazy pigs, no wonder they were brutally slaughtered.

After this delay, Zhang Chun and Liang Xing came out first. Both had firelocks attached to the sides of their horses. Wang Changfu also led his horse out, wearing a chainmail under his robe. He claimed it was a gift from his time as a servant, and Zhang Han allowed him to keep it. It was just a chainmail, not something he had made, so he let Wang Changfu keep it.

"Master, this firelock is really good." Wang Changfu took the firelock from Zhang Chun, satisfied with its weight and length, and gently pulled the trigger. Everyone heard the click as the hammer fell.

"Of course," Zhang Han smiled proudly. "Do they have them in the army?"

"No," Wang Changfu said. "In the early years, there were some good matchlocks made of Min iron. Qi Jiguang explicitly stated that 20 pounds of Min iron should be used to make one matchlock to prevent waste. But after Qi Jiguang left, only his old subordinates followed his instructions. Generals like Zhang Chen just led their servants into battle, unlike Qi Jiguang, who built an ironclad defense with carts, fire soldiers, and watchtowers along the Great Wall. For over a decade, the Tartars didn't dare to invade. Qi Jiguang was a great general; others fell far short."

Zhang Han noticed that whenever Wang Changfu mentioned Qi Jiguang, his eyes lit up, and he spoke with great admiration. He was indifferent to other famous border generals like Zhang Chen, Li Chengliang, and Ma Fang, and only showed some respect for Yu Dayou, but even that was limited. In Wang Changfu's view, Qi Jiguang was the only worthy general from the Jiajing to the Wanli era; others were not even fit to carry his shoes.

If it weren't for his age, Zhang Han would almost suspect that Wang Changfu had once served under Qi Jiguang.

However, Zhang Han agreed with Wang Changfu. He had spent a long time on the border and had seen many Ming generals. Generally, the current border army's tactics were as Wang Changfu described: based on their wealth and greed, generals would lead different numbers of private soldiers, all cavalry, with good equipment, and would lead them into battle when attacked.

Private soldiers were owned by the generals, and the court recognized this feudal relationship. During wartime, the court would pay the private soldiers, who received 2 taels of silver every four months, more than twice the pay of regular soldiers.

When a general was transferred, he could take his private soldiers with him, creating a typical personal dependency. Private soldiers would only follow the orders of their general.

Compared to the situation where generals did not know their soldiers and vice versa, the Ming system of generals and private soldiers maximized combat effectiveness. Generals would not retreat, and neither would their private soldiers. If a general died in battle, his private soldiers would often die with him, ensuring that they fought to the death and would not abandon their general in battle.

This system ensured that the northern defense line did not collapse. The Ming and the Mongols had been fighting for so long, but the border had never moved back, and this system seemed to work.

However, Zhang Han knew that the biggest flaw in this system was the small number of private soldiers. A general could only maintain a few hundred, and a commandant could only maintain a hundred or two. The total number of private soldiers in Datong did not exceed 3,000.

These 3,000 soldiers were not overwhelmed by the tens of thousands of Mongols, as the Mongols were also feudal lords with outdated and disorganized tactics.

But against the well-organized and highly skilled Jurchen forces led by Nurhaci, who had learned from Ming generals like Li Chengliang and surpassed them, Zhang Han chuckled.

"Here is the ammunition, Changfu, take good care of it."

Liang Xing took out several large leather boxes and handed them to Wang Changfu and Zhang Han.

"The large box contains gunpowder, and the small box contains priming powder. Don't mix them up."

Zhang Han opened the box, and the gunpowder and priming powder were wrapped in cloth, with different sizes. The gunpowder was granulated to increase kinetic energy and extend the effective range.

The granulation of gunpowder was described in Qi Jiguang's book and was easy to make.

The priming powder was not granulated. If it were, the success rate of firing would decrease by 10-20%, and the current success rate was about 80%. Using granulated priming powder would reduce it to 60% or even 50%, which was too high a price to pay.

Each person then fastened a special leather belt with hooks to hang the boxes on their waist.

"These are the bullets, each weighing three qian, polished by Wang Debang and others."

The bullets were lead balls, each polished into a sphere and stored in boxes, which were hung on the other side of the waist.

In addition, they each carried other equipment, such as ramrods, and stored them accordingly.

As they prepared, Yang Qiu, the Jiang brothers, Wen Zhongfa, and others arrived. More people were scheduled to meet them halfway, forming two teams, one in front and one behind, with a short distance between them. Zhang Han was willing to be the bait, but safety was the top priority. If the plan didn't work, it was better to be safe than sorry.

Zhang Han led the front team, and Wang Changfu was supposed to lead the rear team, but he followed Zhang Han with the firelock. The rear team was temporarily led by Yang Qiu. If a real battle broke out, Wang Changfu would take command... The command authority was envied by others, but Liang Xing was barely qualified and was still practicing with the firelock. Yang Qiu had shifted to secret operations and was not interested in command. Others lacked the experience, and even if they tried, they couldn't compete with Wang Changfu, who had served as a private soldier in the border army and had combat experience. Liang Xing couldn't compete with him either, and others were just dreaming.

As more people gathered, Wang Changfu scanned the group, and the former porters quickly formed a line, each placing their weapons in the saddlebags on the sides of their horses. Some carried both long and short weapons, with saddlebags on both sides and a saber hanging from their waist. Wang Changfu allowed them to do so.

The front team of about thirty people left through the north gate and headed north on the official road to Zhangjiakou. This road was one of the eleven important official roads in northern Ming, and it was well-maintained, though still uneven in places, but overall, it was passable.

Zhang Han was guarded in the center, and they rode northeast for about ten miles. The Daliang Mountains followed them, with high peaks stretching endlessly. The Great Wall was on their left, winding and rising, with some sections built directly on the mountains, indicating the immense human and financial resources required for its construction.

Bao Ping Fort was northeast of Xin Ping Fort. As they passed by, the soldiers guarding the fort looked at them curiously but did not interfere or question them.

Huamen Fort was in the eastern mountains, controlling a long section of the Great Wall. These forts and Xin Ping Fort were close to each other and supported each other in times of war. There were also smaller military platforms scattered among the villages, which were a mix of military and civilian households. These platforms were auxiliary facilities along the Great Wall, used for alerting, defense, and patrols, and stored military supplies such as beans, grain, and hay.

Every few miles, there was a small platform with a small courtyard. The platform was three stories high, and the soldiers lived inside. The top floor stored cow dung and hay. In case of an enemy attack, smoke was raised during the day, and fires were lit at night, with specific procedures for each.

The entire defense system was three-dimensional and strict, but in Zhang Han's eyes, the Ming soldiers were weak, with tattered clothes, listless spirits, and worn-out weapons. These were the elite soldiers of the border, and if they were the inner garrison soldiers, they would be even worse.

These forts, platforms, and watchtowers, along with the Great Wall, city walls, and town walls, were useless without strong soldiers to defend them. For example, the forts of Xin Ping, Bao Ping, and Huamen were close to each other, but if the soldiers did not dare to fight, how could they support each other?

Zhang Han shook his head on horseback, not wanting to dwell on these heavy and depressing thoughts.

As his mood changed, the scenery around him came alive.

The road was yellow, but the sides were lined with long green grass. To the north, large fields lay fallow, and the closer they got to the Great Wall, the fewer villages and cultivated lands there were... Before the mutual market, the Ming and the Mongols often fought, and those close to the Great Wall were often captured. Even if people survived, their land and property were destroyed. Over time, people naturally moved south. Even with fewer wars now, few people had returned. Near the Great Wall, the grass grew taller than a person, and the wind made the shrubs and grass sway, rustling.

To the right was a continuous mountain range, but only the peaks were green. Below the mountain waist, the shrubs and trees were sparse. Shanxi and northern Shaanxi were developed early, and the population growth had severely damaged the natural environment. Datong was still somewhat green, but in northern Shaanxi, the landscape was desolate, with little greenery except for crops.

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