Volume 3: Confrontation! The Run of Civilization Chapter 503 Military Naming Rules
"Tsk~ A weapon that can maneuver at high speed and specifically attack the enemy ship below the waterline, isn't that a torpedo? You want a torpedo when you don't even have an internal combustion engine? That's just wishful thinking."
That night, after the Privy Council urgently sorted out the minutes of the day's meeting, Ma Chengzhao sent them to the Qianqing Palace. After carefully reading the various requirements of the military, Zhu Youdong agreed with most of the opinions, but he directly marked the torpedo proposed by the navy: this thing is absolutely impossible in a short time. Before the invention of the internal combustion engine and the realization of engine miniaturization, there is no need to waste time.
"My Lord, I have no objection to most of the things here. After all, my knowledge of the study of things is not as good as that of the experts in Fangshan."
"Your Majesty is very busy, and he may not be as good as the experts in a certain field. But your Majesty has a far-sighted vision, which we respect very much. So when the finished product is ready, we will ask your Majesty to take charge."
"Hahaha, how come an honest person like you has also learned to flatter others ? Um, is the research and development funding enough? Do you want me to subsidize you?"
"Your Majesty, it is enough for now. We have already agreed at the coordination meeting today that for the army, the bank will transfer 300,000 from our Privy Council account to Fangshan, and for the navy, 500,000 will be transferred to the Binhai Shipyard in Tianjin."
"Okay, it's just preliminary research, and there are few finished products. This amount of funding should be enough. I have received this memorandum. Except for some overly radical ideas, I generally agree with it. Is there anything else?"
"Your Majesty, the military unanimously agrees that the weapons of our Ming Dynasty are being innovated at a very fast pace, and the naming of various weapons needs to be unified and standardized. Therefore, the Privy Council has formulated a set of weapon naming rules, please review it, Your Majesty."
In the draft of the naming rules for the weapons of the Ming Dynasty Navy and Army drafted by Ma Chengzhao, the Army determined that all tubes with a diameter of more than 20mm would be called guns, and all would be named after animals. For example, the current 75mm Tiger Roar of the Army, and the Jaguar scheduled for the mortar in the future. As for the naval guns, they also refer to this naming rule, but it is different from the widespread use of land beasts in the Army. The naval guns are named after fish in the water. For example, the 150mm naval gun on the Fengyang is named White Shark.
All tubes with a diameter of less than 20mm are called guns. However, according to different types, they are divided into machine guns, submachine guns (preliminary research), rifles, pistols, etc.
Machine guns are all named after the main researchers, such as the current "Shizhen" (Maxim), and the "Yuanhua" (Czech ZB26 light machine gun) that will be released soon according to the drawings and information provided by Ibrahim.
Submachine guns are all named after famous generals of the Ming Dynasty. (As time goes by, once assault rifles are introduced, submachine guns will be completely eliminated.)
Rifles are named after the emperor's reign. The first generation of breech-loading rifles was named Wanli. The rifle that is about to be improved is naturally the Apocalypse 1 rifle.
Pistols are named after the manufacturer and the year of the Ming Dynasty. For example, the revolver pistol widely used by Ming army officers is officially numbered Fangshan 252 (1620 was the 252nd anniversary of the founding of the Ming Dynasty).
As for the navy, it was determined that within this year (1622), the two major shipyards in Binhai and Changsha should use the existing wood to build a few more sailing warships, and then they would switch to the production of ironclad ships. In terms of the naming rules for ironclad ships, the navy stipulated that all ships with a displacement of less than 500 tons should be called boats, and they should be named directly using the base to which they belong plus a number.
Those weighing between 500 tons and 2,000 tons were named after counties in the Ming Dynasty.
Those between 2,000 and 5,000 tons are named after the capital of the state.
Those ranging from 5,000 tons to 10,000 tons are named after provinces or vassal states.
Those with a tonnage of more than 10,000 tons are named after famous generals throughout the dynasties of the Chinese Empire.
"Oh, the navy only has one ship, the Fengyang, which is about 2,000 tons, and they're already thinking about naming a 10,000-ton ship?"
"Uh." After an awkward laugh, Ma Chengzhao responded, "Your Majesty, in the Battle of Manila Bay, the big ships and big guns have penetrated into the navy's bones. At the daytime meeting today, His Royal Highness King Lai said that the ship design studio of Binhai Shipyard is currently working on the sketch creation of a 4,000-ton ironclad ship. I think 10,000 tons should not be far away, right?"
Humph, it's still too early. However, although taking big steps will lead to nonsense, it's not good to suppress the enthusiasm of the people below. Forget it, it's just research and development, after making it and using it, they will naturally know that science requires more than just courage.
Well, the construction of the navy does need to be accelerated. Zhu Youdong knew that after the Age of Exploration, the West had already surpassed the Ming Dynasty in terms of naval accumulation . Let's talk about the Spanish expedition. Such a large fleet was sent out at will. After this fleet joined the Philippine fleet, the Ming Dynasty's navy only won a narrow victory with all its strength.
There is no way. Forget about Spain, let's talk about the Netherlands in the historical plane. The population of the independent Netherlands was only two million at that time. How many ships did the Netherlands have on the ocean in the 17th century? More than 10,000! According to the general configuration of more than 200 people on sailing warships of this era, and more than 30 to 50 people on ordinary cargo ships, nearly a million Dutch people were floating on the sea! This is just the Netherlands. As for Spain, which has a population of tens of millions, its fleet size will only be larger in this era.
Therefore, it is a good thing that the Ming Dynasty’s navy has ideas at this time. Although some of them are completely delusional, we can only encourage them. It is wrong to suppress them excessively.
"Okay, I approve this draft. The Privy Council should print it and promulgate it for implementation."
"Yes, I accept your order."
"Hmm..." After a moment's silence, Zhu Youdong said, "What are the recent developments in the army? Are you dissatisfied with the court's treatment of the Spaniards?"
At the end of November last year, Manila opened the city and surrendered. Since the Spanish navy and army were quite powerful at that time, after accepting the surrender, many generals on the Ming side asked Cao Wenzhao, Li Guozhu and others to break their promise and directly kill all the surrendered guys.
Such a suggestion was first opposed by Li Guozhu: Shaodangjia had followed Li Dan on the sea for many years in his early years, and he still had the sense of brotherhood. In his opinion, since the Ming Dynasty had agreed with Count Alfonso that after the Spanish army gave up resistance, the Ming Dynasty would treat the prisoners well and allow the other party to decide whether to stay or leave after taking Manila, then they must fulfill the agreement. Otherwise, Shaodangjia's reputation would be ruined.
In the eyes of Cao Wenzhao, the commander-in-chief of this expedition, this battle fully proves that the Spaniards are not nomadic fishing and hunting nations like the Mongols and Jurchens that the Ming Dynasty encountered before, nor are they small countries like Siam and Japan. They are a great country in the world with advanced technology and a level of civilization that is not inferior to that of the Ming Dynasty. For such a country, on the one hand, the Ming Dynasty cannot guarantee its complete victory in future wars. If all the opponents are killed here, what if the Ming Dynasty loses the war in the future? In addition, if all of them are killed, wouldn't it stimulate the Spaniards to fight to the last moment no matter what the situation is in the future?
Therefore, Cao Wenzhao also supported Li Guozhu's opinion and gave the surrendered Spaniards a fairly lenient treatment: the Spaniards who came to help, as well as those in Manila and even the entire Luzon Island, all had to leave here and return to Europe. However, all the warships that were not sunk or only slightly damaged, and even all kinds of Spanish transport ships, were all handed over to the Spaniards. Cao Wenzhao even gave the Spaniards in Manila three days to pack their luggage, and sold part of his own military rations at a high price as supplies on the ships of the other fleet when it crossed the Pacific Ocean...
This way of treatment is completely different from the way Tian Ergeng dealt with Sha Lian when the Ming Dynasty captured him.
Zhu Youdong hadn't said anything about the treatment . The censors of the Ming Dynasty were fed up, and at the end of last year, there was another wave of impeachment. The Tongzheng Department received at least 500 impeachment documents of various kinds.
Zhu Youdong didn't care much about the criticism from these nerds, but he had to pay attention to the reaction within the army.
"Your Majesty, please rest assured. We warriors look at things differently from scholars. In our view, the Spanish in Thanlyin are drug dealers, so it is right to kill them or maim them. The Spanish in Luzon are opponents worthy of respect. To such an enemy, we should show proper respect and tolerance, which is generally understood and accepted by our Ming soldiers."
"Okay, I'm relieved. Let's stop here today. What's left is the rewards for the soldiers who are going on this expedition. After you return, please work overtime and submit the suggestions for rewards overnight and send them to the Imperial Stables as soon as possible. I'll tell you the bottom line, but don't go too far. Liu Shimin won't make things difficult for you."
"Thank you, Your Majesty. I will obey your order."
