17. The Ming Administration Did Little to Protect its Capital from Gunpowder Factories Inside the City
The Wanggongchang Armory was one of half a dozen factories in the Beijing area that produced weapons and ammunition for the armies of Ming Dynasty China. The armories, which were operated and overseen by the Ministry of Public Works, were vital to Beijing’s security, and to the defense and military readiness of China. Around 70 to 80 people worked in Wanggonchang, where they manufactured arrows, swords, spears, cannons, and gunpowder. The latter were especially important because the importance of gunpowder and cannons had grown in recent years.
Ming armies at the time were locked into a steadily escalating arms race with the Manchus of today’s Manchuria. Cannons and an ample supply of gunpowder were key to keeping the Manchus out of China. The factories were built in Beijing, protected by the capitals’ thick and powerful walls, to keep them from falling into enemy hands. While much thought went into using the city to protect the gunpowder factories, little thought seems to have gone into protecting the city from the gunpowder factories if something went wrong. Beijing paid a heavy price for the failure to take such precautions.