I wield power with my innate talents, and forge the Heavenly Court.

Chapter 132 Yuan Chonghuan's reinstatement and Lin Dan Khan's actions
On the first day of the seventh lunar month, Venus appears, reddish-brown, flickering brightly and seemingly about to fall, an ominous sign.

On the same day, Emperor Chongzhen received news of the Ming army's crushing defeat in Shaanxi. Overwhelmed with anger and grief, he coughed up a mouthful of blood and fainted.

The emperor's coma plunged the entire palace into chaos.

Fortunately, Emperor Chongzhen was only so angry that he lost his temper, and he woke up in the afternoon.

However, as the saying goes, good fortune never comes in pairs, but misfortunes never come singly.

Before he could fully recover from the news of the Ming army's crushing defeat in Shaanxi, he received another piece of bad news.

On July 3, the Ningyuan Mutiny occurred.

Because of the prolonged lack of military pay, many soldiers became enraged, with the Sichuan and Hubei soldiers being the first to rise up in protest.

Seeing that the situation was not good, Zhang Shirong and Su Hanchun, who were on patrol, turned around and tried to escape.

However, they were quickly seized and tied up by angry soldiers.

At this moment, the soldiers' emotions were like dried-out firewood, which would ignite fiercely at the slightest spark.

Once the soldiers from Huguang and Sichuan made a commotion, the remaining 130,000 soldiers immediately rose up in response.

The crowd was instantly agitated, and almost everyone lost their temper.

The soldiers bound Governor Bi Zisu and Commander-in-Chief Zhu Mei, and tied them together with Zhang and Su on the city wall, where they were verbally abused and humiliated.

However, Guo Guangxian, the newly appointed deputy military commissioner, was not very familiar with the soldiers, so they did not arrest him.

Seeing that the incident had suddenly broken out and that the soldiers were too numerous and powerful to suppress, Guo Guang tried every means to collect 20,000 taels of silver and distributed it to the soldiers.

However, this amount of silver is rather small when distributed among hundreds of thousands of soldiers.

In the end, Guo Guang borrowed another 50,000 taels from wealthy merchants in the city.

Although many soldiers were still somewhat dissatisfied, it was better than not receiving any pay at all, and Guo Guang and others promised not to hold the mutinous soldiers accountable.

After receiving their fodder money, the soldiers slowly dispersed.

At this time, the newly appointed Governor-General of Jiliao, Yuan Chonghuan, had just entered the capital, Shuntian Prefecture.

Yuan Chonghuan, courtesy name Yuansu, also known as Ziru, was originally from Dongguan, Guangdong. His father, Yuan Zipeng, was an expert in geomancy and had many chivalrous followers, reminiscent of Lord Mengchang.

After entering officialdom, Yuan Chonghuan was known for his generosity, courage, and love of discussing military strategy, which was influenced by his father.

However, the Ming Dynasty's imperial examinations emphasized civil service over military service, and the number of candidates selected for the military examinations each year was less than one-third of that for the civil service examinations.

In order to serve his country, Yuan Chonghuan abandoned his military career and took the civil service exam. He succeeded in the exam and became a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examination) in the 47th year of the Wanli Emperor's reign, ranking 40th in the third class.

This department was a gathering place for talented people, producing a number of prominent figures, among whom Yuan Chonghuan was the most remarkable.

In the sixth year of the Tianqi reign, Nurhaci of the Later Jin attacked Ningyuan City.

Ultimately, he was defeated by Yuan Chonghuan, or rather, wounded by Yuan Chonghuan's artillery fire, and had no choice but to retreat.

Eight months later, Nurhaci's injuries worsened, and he died.
In May of the seventh year of the Tianqi reign, Yuan Chonghuan defeated Huang Taiji again.

In the end, however, he was dismissed from his post by Wei Zhongxian under a false imperial edict and sent back to his hometown in Guangdong to farm.

However, in April of this year, with the approval of the crowd, he was once again promoted by Emperor Chongzhen to Minister of War, Vice Censor-in-Chief, and Governor-General of Jiliao, in charge of Ningyuan, Jizhou, Denglai, Tianjin and other places.

However, before he even took office, having just arrived in the capital, a terrible mutiny occurred in Ningyuan.

He was summoned to the palace by Emperor Chongzhen almost immediately.

When questioned by Emperor Chongzhen, he boldly stated that he would recover Liaodong within five years, advocating "defense as the orthodox strategy, war as the unorthodox strategy, and appeasement as the secondary strategy."

"Using the people of Liaodong to defend the Liaodong land, and using the Liaodong land to support the people of Liaodong."

"To pacify the western barbarians (Mongols) and thus subdue the eastern barbarians (Later Jin)"

Yuan Chonghuan's opinions and propositions naturally pleased Emperor Chongzhen.

Upon assuming the throne, he always wanted to achieve results as quickly as possible to stabilize and restore the crumbling Ming Dynasty.

Yuan Chonghuan's five-year campaign to pacify Liaodong naturally won Emperor Chongzhen's favor.

Leaving aside Yuan Chonghuan's journey to Ningyuan to quell the Ningyuan mutiny, let's talk about Yang He, the governor of the three border regions of Shaanxi. After being defeated by the militia, he retreated all the way back to Xi'an Prefecture.

However, before he could even reorganize his army, Emperor Chongzhen issued an imperial edict ordering him to quickly reorganize his army and suppress the uprising in Shaanxi.

Looking at the imperial edict in his hand, Yang He's expression changed several times. The suppression of the uprising in Shaanxi must include the dynasty's People's Salvation Army.

However, after the previous battle, he really lacked the confidence to fight again.

He wasn't even confident in his ability to defend.

But what could he do after the imperial edict from Chongzhen had already been issued?
"Oh~!"

Yang He sighed, but could only force himself to rally and once again gather provisions for the army and recruit soldiers.

At the same time, he also submitted a memorial to Emperor Chongzhen, hoping to resign from his position as Governor-General of the Three Border Regions, as he felt he was not capable of doing so.

But then, something even more unfortunate happened.

Those rebel armies that had already been recruited to surrender regrouped and rebelled again after the defeat of the imperial army.

Faced with this, Yang He could only muster his strength once again to suppress and appease the enemy.

As for the militia in the west, all he could do was set up defensive lines and focus on defense.

While Yang He was once again suppressing the bandits and deploying a large army to guard against the eastward advance of the militia, the dynasty, which had already returned to Lintao Prefecture, had no intention of expanding its territory. Instead, it devoted itself entirely to the development of its domain.

As time passed, the Shaanxi Provincial Military Command, as well as the newly occupied Pingliang and Fengyang prefectures, were gradually covered by the bright yellow imperial aura.

As the endless national fortune converged, the golden sphere above the dynasty's head became even more solid and dazzling. It was now completely free of any impurities, pure gold, and had been transformed into a golden sphere.

A mysterious power was being nurtured and evolved within the golden sphere of light.

At this moment, the golden sphere of light was like a golden spiritual egg, nurturing a sacred life.

It'll be here soon, it'll be here soon.
Feeling the rhythm of the golden sphere above, Wang Chao felt a slight excitement. In about ten days to half a month, the golden sphere would undergo its final transformation and evolve into even greater power.

He was filled with anticipation.

Just then, Li Hei suddenly arrived in a hurry.

Upon seeing this, Wang Chao's expression turned serious.

For Li Hei to act this way, something major must have happened.

"Chief, General Wang Dahu of Gansu has sent a messenger to report that Ligdan Khan on the northern grasslands seems to be causing some trouble."

"Hmm~?" Wang Chao's expression darkened slightly, and he said with a cold smile, his eyes flashing with a chilling light:

"Does Lindan Khan, who was just beaten up by Huang Taiji, think that my militia is easy to bully and want to show off his strength and power here?"

Reply to Wang Dahu: If that Lindan Khan dares to approach the Great Wall even a fraction of an inch, give him a good beating!
Also, tell Wang Dahu that the territory's development is severely lacking in manpower.

"Yes!"

Wang Chao narrowed his eyes slightly and looked towards the northwest.

A bright yellow aura enveloped the nation's destiny, while on the edge of this aura, a small patch of dark cloud hung in the sky.

That's the area around the territory where spiritual energy radiates. If someone is in it and harbors hostility towards the Salvation Army, a large amount of black and gray energy will naturally be generated.

If a dark cloud can form, it must indicate a large number of people.

In fact, dark clouds exist in many places around the territory of the Salvation Army. These are spiritual forces generated by the Ming army and surrounding forces.

Therefore, the dynasty itself did not pay much attention to the surrounding dark clouds.

However, this is based on Li Hei's report.

The dark clouds in the northwest direction could be the army assembled by Ligdan Khan.

Without thinking, the dynasty's mind immediately turned to that area, where a cavalry column stretching for miles was slowly approaching the Great Wall.

Just the area covered by spiritual energy, which could be sensed by the dynasty, contained at least 20,000 people.

Not to mention, there must be even more cavalry outside the area covered by spiritual energy.

However, the dynasty was not particularly worried.

Through spiritual perception, the dynasty could clearly sense that these Mongol cavalrymen were no stronger than the Ming army, and that the militia's fighting strength was enough to crush them.

The only concern is that the militia might not be able to catch up.

With the withdrawal from the occupied Gansu town and Shaanxi Xingdusi, Wang Chao and his men naturally seized a considerable number of warhorses.

However, compared to those Mongol cavalry, they were still far inferior.

but
The dynasty suddenly turned its attention to the west. You can run away, but you can't run away from your land.
The northern Mongolian grasslands are indeed beyond the reach of the current dynasty.

However, to the west of East Khor, my country's largest inland lake, Qinghai Lake, now belongs to the Tümed Tatar tribe of Ligdan Khan.

Historically, Ligdan Khan even died at Qinghai Lake.

Moreover, there seems to be another salt lake to the southwest of Qinghai Lake.

It's called Chaka Salt Lake.

Moreover, the salt produced in abundance is the renowned Tibetan salt, also known as Tibetan salt.

The dynasty felt that they needed such a salt lake to save the militia.

However, all of this will have to wait until we repel Ligdan Khan's attack.

Just as Wang Chao was pondering these things, Jiang Bo suddenly strode in.

"Chief, Lord Zhou Tie, the Chief of the Weapons Manufacturing Division, requests an audience!"

"Hmm~?"

Upon hearing Jiang Bo's words, Wang Chao was first taken aback, then his spirits lifted, and a thought began to emerge.

"Quickly! Let Steward Zhou in."

"Yes!"

After Jiang Bo walked out, he gestured to Zhou Tie, who was waiting nearby.

"Lord Zhou, the chief requests your presence!"

"Yes, thank you, Guard Jiang!"

With a bow, Zhou Tie quickly entered the government office.

"Zhou Tie, head of the Weapons Manufacturing Division, greets the leader!"

Seeing Zhou Tie's subtly excited expression, it was clear that the dynasty had been basically established. This must be something the dynasty had entrusted them with, and they had already achieved results.

"What brings Chief Zhou Tie here this time?"

Sure enough, when the dynasty asked, Zhou Tie immediately gave an excited reply.

"Chief, it's a success! The blast furnace ironmaking is a success!"

"Oh! It really worked?"

Wang Chao suddenly stood up, a smile involuntarily appearing on his face.

"Yes, it really worked!"

"Very good, very good. Manager Zhou is indeed an expert in this field."
"Let's go, let's go, I'll go take a look later."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah"

Zhou Tie nodded repeatedly as he led the way, saying somewhat embarrassedly:

"The success of blast furnace ironmaking is truly thanks to my son."

"Oh? What happened? Tell me."

Wang Chao looked at Zhou Tie and asked with great interest.

"Hey! Ever since the leader told his subordinates and my father about using coke to smelt iron in a blast furnace and converter to smelt steel, my father and I have been studying it day and night."

However, although some progress has been made, it is still far, far away from the expected goals.
This significantly improved iron smelting efficiency, but there was still no progress in converter steelmaking.
Until a few days ago.”

It turned out that, based on his memories from his previous life, Wang Chao recounted to Zhou Tie and his son how he remembered using coke to smelt iron in blast furnaces and steel in converters, and then instructed them to study the matter of iron smelting.

However, Wang Chao only had a general idea of ​​what was going on, and he didn't know how to proceed.

Blast furnace iron smelting existed in China as early as the Eastern Han Dynasty, and by the Song Dynasty, it had become extremely sophisticated.

Of course, it cannot compare with later generations, but in any case, it was still able to produce molten iron.

Therefore, what the dynasty mainly wanted was blast furnace steelmaking.

(End of this chapter)