In the history of human warfare, the superiority or inferiority of weapons plays a crucial role in warfare. In the era of cold weapons, this gap has been very obvious. In the era of hot weapons, that is, firearms, the gap in weapon technology can often determine the outcome of war, and even the life and death of a country. However, not all parties that master advanced weapons manufacturing technology can fully exert their advantages, and the Ming Dynasty is one of the typical cases.
At the beginning of the founding of the Ming Dynasty, firearms were paid more attention to, and the firearms used by the Ming army at that time were also considered advanced in the world. Zhu Di, the third emperor of the Ming Dynasty, even specially formed a special unit for the use of firearms, the Shenji Battalion. However, for a hundred years after that, the development of firearms in the Ming Dynasty stagnated. In Europe, on the other side of the globe, firearms development has reached its peak. The gap between the two sides in weapons technology has gradually widened.
In the early years of Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty, an artillery called the Flang cannon was introduced to China from Portugal. Compared with the artillery equipped by the Ming army at that time, the Flang machine gun had an overwhelming advantage in all aspects. Therefore, the Ming Dynasty quickly mastered the production technology of the Flang cannon and applied it to the army.
However, the bureaucracy in the middle of the Ming Dynasty was heavily corrupted, which led to many serious problems in the production of firearms. For example, whether the quality of the materials for making firearms handed over throughout the country is up to standard is entirely determined by the personal will of the acceptance officer. Therefore, local officials did not focus on how to provide qualified materials, but tried to curry favor with the officials responsible for acceptance, and then with their "help" to pass the customs with inferior materials.
In the firearms production stage, due to the lack of strict manufacturing and auditing standards, the quality of the finished firearm depends largely on the mood of the craftsman. For example, if the craftsman happens to want to do something seriously, the quality of the muskets and cannons he produces will be better. And if you catch up with the bad mood, or want to be passive and sluggish, the quality of the finished product he makes is relatively poor. The last person responsible for the acceptance of finished products is the eunuch of the specialized agency, and like the official in charge of the acceptance of materials, as long as you get these eunuchs, then the quality of the firearm is not an important issue.
In such an environment where bad money expelled good money, although the Ming Dynasty mastered the relatively advanced firearm production technology, the muskets and artillery that were finally released into the hands of the Ming Army became high-risk products. The explosion of firearms has become a common phenomenon, and many Ming soldiers have inexplicably been killed and maimed by the weapons in their hands. Therefore, many Ming soldiers avoided the use of firearms as much as possible. In the case of having to use it, they also use the way to shoot as far away as possible, as to whether they can hit the target, it is not a problem for them to consider.
What is even more hateful is that some institutions and officials have even deliberately caused quality problems in firearms for their own benefit. When a safety incident occurs, it is used to strike at political opponents and exclude dissidents.
In this context, the Ming Dynasty missed the golden time for the development of firearms, which was not only reflected in weapons technology, but more importantly, in military tactics did not keep pace with the times.
In 1619 (the forty-seventh year of the Ming Dynasty), a decisive war broke out between the Ming Dynasty and the Later Jin Dynasty (later the Qing Dynasty), the Battle of Salhu. At that time, the Ming army rushed to the battlefield with a large number of muskets and artillery, and then the weapons of the Golden Eight Banner Army were still completely stuck in the era of cold weapons. Although the Ming Army's firearms have all kinds of problems mentioned above, firearms and cold weapons are after all the products of different eras, and compared with the two, the advantages of firearms are more than a star and a half.
However, the final outcome of the "Battle of Salhu" ended in a crushing defeat for the Ming army. Leaving aside the command mistakes on the battlefield, even in the use of firearms, the Ming Army also had major problems.
At that time, muskets and artillery needed a long time to load ammunition after firing, which led to inefficient combat. In order to solve this problem, the Method adopted by European armies was to replace multiple platoons of soldiers in turn to achieve the effect of non-stop shooting. However, due to the lack of attention paid to firearms on the Ming Side, it usually neglected training. As a result, the army using muskets and artillery on the battlefield was chaotic, and there was almost no tactic to speak of. When the first shot was completed, everyone was busy loading ammunition. But before the ammunition could be loaded, Hou Jin's cavalry was already in sight...
Because of this, the Ming Dynasty, while mastering advanced firearms production technology, was still repeatedly hanged by its opponents, and there was almost no ability to fight back. However, the ming dynasty's artillery was not useless. In 1626, Nurhaci, the King of later Jin, personally led an army of 60,000 to attack the city of Ningyuan, which had only 20,000 Ming defenders. The defender Yuan Chonghuan used the "Hongyi cannon" imported from Portugal to bombard the Houjin Eight Banner Army outside the city, and the Eight Banners soldiers suffered heavy casualties and had to order the withdrawal of the army. This was the first victory of the Ming Dynasty against the Later Jin Dynasty, and it was also the first time in Chinese history that artillery played a decisive role in the outcome of the war.
Judging from the results of the "Battle of Ningyuan", the important role played by firearms on the battlefield at that time was obviously unquestionable. Unfortunately, although the Ming Dynasty held a sharp weapon in his hand, he was still pressed to the ground and rubbed by his opponent. The reason is not that there is a problem with the sharp weapon itself, but that the group of people standing behind the sharp weapon have a problem.
Reference: "Myo history"