During the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, China began to learn shipbuilding and artillery technology from today's Portugal. In particular, artillery technology, which lasted for a hundred years, the Ming Dynasty called Portugal Franco machine. Therefore, the Portuguese artillery technology is called the Flemish gun.
So, when was the Ming Dynasty first adopting the Flang machine cannon? This is related to the powerful pirate forces and overseas trading merchant forces of the Ming Dynasty from the founding of the country to the demise.
The first generation of pirate kings of the Ming Dynasty "Shun Tianwang"
There were three generations of pirate kings in the life of the Ming Dynasty, the first generation was the "Shun Tianwang" Huang Xiaoyang. Huang Xiaoyang, a native of Nanhai County, Guangzhou Province, met a Jiangxi maritime merchant (short for overseas trader) in prison. After their successful escape from prison, they began to flee and rebel in April 1449.
Flang machine
In 1450, more than 100,000 people of Huang Xiaoyang's pirate maritime merchant group were captured and killed under the joint attack of the official army and the armed forces of the twenty-two old militia groups in Foshan. Huang Xiaoyang's subordinate Huang San led 30,000 of his men to Fujian to resist the Ming court together with various pirates.
At that time, the pirate forces in the southeast coastal area were very powerful. Pirates traverse the seas and rob the merchants of the past. When the Portuguese came to Southeast Asia in 1509, they more or less interacted with them, and even cooperated with them, seeing the power of the Flemish cannon.
Volume 267 of the Fujian Tongzhi records that in the autumn and July of the fifth year of Zhengde (1510), when the pirate Yang Kunlun launched an attack on xianyou County, a seafarer repelled the pirates with more than 100 Flang machine cannons.
Did the maritime merchant Wei Sheng really buy more than a hundred Flang machine cannons?
In Fujian, there was a well-known maritime merchant named Wei Sheng, who had gone to Malacca (then called Manlaga) in early 1510 to do business, and saw the power of the Flang machine guns, or bought or exchanged more than a hundred guns for his own ship for self-defense. Fan Jue of Xianyou Zhi County invited Wei Sheng to help, and the official Chen Zhen used this weapon to defeat Yang Kunlun's pirate group while defending.
I think this local historical material is very unreliable.
First, without the specific shape of the Flang machine gun, is it the real Flang machine gun?
Second, with the ability of the Portuguese colonial army at that time, the possibility of selling more than a hundred Flemish machine guns was relatively small, too much, and the arms business would give you something good?
Third, the barrel firearm of xianglang machine gun has already appeared in China during the Yuan and Ming dynasties. Buying firearms in China is against the law to be charged with the army, but civilian maritime merchants are already illegal, so it is unlikely that they will be rich.
Then, more than a hundred Flang cannons are more likely to be "miscellaneous cannons", that is, there is a possibility of Flang cannons, but mixed with foreign-made "Chinese-style artillery". But foreign "Chinese-style artillery" often has its own improvements. Therefore, the possibility of unclear identification is relatively large. Moreover, Chen Shouqi, the author of the local chronicle, was a person of the Daoguang period of the Qing Dynasty, and it was even more impossible to identify whether it was a Furlong cannon.
A brief history of China's firearms from advanced to backward
At the same time, it reminds me of a misconception that China's firearms technology was already backward during the Zhu Di period. Therefore, Zhu Di learned from Vietnam and built the world's first professional firearms unit, the Shenji Battalion.
In fact, Vietnamese firearms are still "Chinese-style firearms", but when they are used in the Vietnamese region, they have adopted "improvements" suitable for their combat methods. For example, elephant warfare, mountain warfare, etc. Whether it is from the manufacture of firearms or the formulation of gunpowder, it is All Chinese. This advanced gap is particularly small, and the learning is also very fast.
Flang machine guns are completely different, both manufactured and formulated, and the scientific and technological knowledge behind them is more powerful than ours. In fact, firearms and gunpowder are the first scientific and technological achievements we invented. On the one hand, this advanced nature ensures that we are three or four hundred years ahead of the world, but on the other hand, it makes us lose the motivation to observe the scientific and technological progress of others.
Ancient firearms in China began to flourish in the Song Dynasty. Before and after the establishment of the Yuan Dynasty, with the battles against the Western Xia, the Jin Dynasty, and the Song Dynasty, the Mongols also began to master firearms technology. During the Mongol Empire's western conquest of Europe, Asia and Africa, with the Mongol Iron Horse, gunpowder and firearms were introduced to the Arab region and Europe.
At the beginning of the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, it attached great importance to firearms. In November of the 26th year of Zhizheng (1366), Xu Da and Chang Yuchun led an army of 200,000 men to besiege Zhang Shicheng's (eastern) Wu capital, Pingjiang, on the orders of Zhu Yuanzhang. When he attacked Pingjiang City, he used the fire hammer. Zhang Shicheng's troops also fought with fire bolts, and it can be said that the troops at this time have entered the era of "mixed use of hot and cold weapons".
Zhu Yuanzhang began to attach importance to firearms very early, for example, in the twenty-first year of Zhizheng (1361), Zhu Yuanzhang established the Baoyuan Bureau, whose main function was to produce copper coins, the Dazhongtong Baoqian. In addition to the main business, the Baoyuan Bureau also has a side business - fire and hammer production.
In the twentieth year of Hongwu (1377), Zhu Yuanzhang ordered that the capital of the world should be set up in each place to produce military weapons. It is also allowed to manufacture hot and cold weapons in the arms yards or bureaus set up by various administrative departments and local health centers.
The number and variety of firearms produced by the guardhouse are quite large, including handcuffs, bowl-mouth guns and large iron cannons. Some of the firearms made by the health center can not only be equipped with the main guard, but also can help other health centers. Some health centers in remote areas can also manufacture relatively advanced firearms, such as the Yongning Wei in Xuyong, Sichuan, which is located in Sichuan, and created a large bowl of 318 mm long mouthpieces, which were relatively advanced in the world at that time.
In the first month of the thirteenth year of Hongwu (1380), Zhu Yuanzhang ordered people to build an ordnance bureau to apply the problem of military weapons. Its fire bolt is an important weapon. In the twenty-sixth year of Hongwu (1393), the Bureau of Ordnance was divided into functions, specializing in the production of firearms and cold weapons. The uniforms and saddles were handed over to the Uniform Design Bureau, the Saddle Bureau, etc.
In the twenty-eighth year of Hongwu (1395), a special firearms production bureau was established, and in order to strengthen secrecy, the bureau was under the control of the inner government system. After Ming Chengzu moved the capital to Beijing, Zhu Di set up the Bureau of Ordnance, the Bureau of Saddles, and the Bureau of War in Beijing. One in Nanjing and one in Beijing.
The Bureau of War shall manufacture the following types of firearms: trains, fire umbrellas, generals, second generals, three generals, generals who seize the door, shen gongs, horse choppers, brass reams in hand, iron reams in hand, bowl mouth cannons, gun cannons, cannons, large samples, small samples of cannons, bowl cannons, cannons, whirlwind cannons, Xiangyang cannons, and so on.
Until Zhu Di, at the suggestion of Zhang Fu, vigorously carried out the research and development of firearms weapons and established a special firearms unit Shenji Battalion, the firearms of the Ming Dynasty were undoubtedly the most advanced in the world.
Why is our firearms technology lagging behind
Europe at the time of the Mongol Conquest was much worse in science and technology than China and Arabia. Therefore, in the face of these weapons, it is initially afraid, then it is accepted, learned, and gradually overtaken. And we still lie in the books of the past, living by the pride left to us by our ancestors.
Even during the Zhu Di period, our firearms and shipbuilding technology were world-leading. But why did we fall behind in the middle and late Ming Dynasty?
The reason for this is:
The introverted agricultural civilization and Confucianism have led to a lack of concern and attention to the outside;
Confucian thought has made science and technology no longer valued;
Because we have advanced for too long, we have lost the ability to fear the enemy and learn from the enemy.
Once strong is once, once backward has become history, how to always maintain "learning from the enemy, maintain self-esteem" is the most important content.
Not proud and think that our world is the best;
Without kneeling and licking, our moon is not as round as foreign;
In the midst of impartiality, acknowledging deficiencies, studying hard, and striving to catch up with and surpass opponents is the spirit we should always maintain.