Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 294 Various Developments
For Brunden, it would be best if the cooperation between Governor Caron and the Qing people ended in failure. If he had not led the fleet himself, Brunden would even have hoped that there would be some minor losses.

As a result, Caron naturally could no longer keep his position as Governor-General of Taiwan, and he as the fleet commander had the opportunity to make further progress.

But the Governor-General of Taiwan is a lucrative job after all.

Due to its geographical location, this place covers almost all of Ming Dynasty's trade routes to the East, West and South Oceans. Whether it is legal or illegal means, there are always ways to make money here.

So even though Taiwan's level of development is slightly lower and living conditions are slightly worse, under the lure of silver coins, the competition for the position of Governor-General of Taiwan is quite fierce.

Of course, as a fleet commander with both experience and merit, Brunden can be considered to have some hope among many competitors.

As long as he doesn't make any mistakes in the future, even if he fails to become governor, he will still be able to get some compensation for his hard work over the years.

So, after hearing the Qing general's request, Brenden's first reaction was to throw him off his warship.

"Commander, this might give Karon an excuse."

"Ok?"

Just as he was about to order his soldiers to throw the barbarian with a pig tail directly into the sea, the first mate, who had been a little panicked a moment ago, whispered something, and after hearing this, Brenden couldn't help but be stunned.

He was stunned not because of the sudden change in the first mate's attitude, nor because of the extremely simple truth in his words, but because of other thoughts that arose from it.

Just as the first mate said, it is possible that Caron would directly blame the failure of the plan on them, the specific executors.

As for the reason
Failure to fully cooperate with the Qing army resulted in the failure of the plan to seize Guangzhou; arrogance caused major problems in the cooperation between the two sides, resulting in the failure of the plan to seize Guangzhou; because of XXXXX, the plan to seize Guangzhou failed.

Such excuses are too easy to find. Even Brendan can find ten thousand reasons to prove that this plan is a joke from the bottom of its heart. But once such a war of words starts, it will last for a long time.

Then
It was an oversight.

Thinking of this, Brenden couldn't help but frowned. Then he did not answer the Qing general's request, but turned around and looked at the Guangzhou city wall with a big hole in it.

When he received this task, he just thought it was a bit outrageous and didn't think too much about it. But when he met those brave Qing soldiers and connected this mission with various things that happened later, the hope that this plan would fail completely immediately prevailed in his mind, and even prompted him to do some small actions in secret.

But after hearing the rather simple words of the first mate, he couldn't help but think more deeply.

So far, Caron's plan has completely failed, what if Brenden's plan is added to it?

With this in mind, his eyes looking towards Guangzhou became more and more enthusiastic. In that instant, he even thought of what kind of evaluation he would get from the review council.

"Do you think you can take this city with our help?"

"can!"

Hearing the words translated by Liu Sanshun, Brenden couldn't help but raise his eyebrows. Then he thought about it for a while. When everyone was getting anxious, he finally sorted out all the thoughts in his mind.

"Order the fleet to get as close to Guangzhou as possible; order all soldiers to land; and be sure to capture Guangzhou before sunset!"

"As ordered!"
-
January 3

Yingtian
With the case of Ruan Dacheng's attack finally solved, the people of Jiangnan finally calmed down again.

Although at least a dozen large families with who knows how many years of inheritance were charged with treason because of this case, in the eyes of most people, His Majesty was still acting within the rules and had no intention of completely breaking off relations.

Of course, nothing is absolute. There are still some knowledgeable people who think that His Majesty has a lot of style like Taizu and does not seem to be the best candidate for emperor.

But in recent times, the Jinyiwei has gradually regained some of its former prestige, and the palace has become increasingly airtight. All forces, whether willingly or forced, have no choice but to lie dormant and lick their wounds.

Zhu Cilang could probably guess some of this.

In the final analysis, with a series of justifiable means, the central government's ability to control Jiangnan is far beyond what it was in the past.

As long as he doesn't openly cut off the lifeblood of the big families, it shouldn't be difficult to deal with the Tartars in this land of fish and rice.

But at the moment, he didn't have much energy to care about these things.

After all, once the national treasury and the private money are replenished again, all the things that had to be postponed or affected due to lack of money will have to be started again.

Under such circumstances, he had to see this and that all day long, and after dealing with these, he had to deal with something else. Sometimes, he even had to let Zhou Quan read the questions beside him while he was eating. How could he possibly go back and look at those things?
"Let the workers vote on how to do the work. I only want guns and cannons that don't explode. You can decide on the rest."

"Your Majesty, take the order."

As soon as Zhu Cilang finished speaking, Li Yongmao bowed to the ground.

Afterwards, when he saw that His Majesty had no other instructions, he quietly left the warm room. Zhu Cilang flipped through his notebook and began to think again.

The technology tree is not easy to climb.

Although productivity determines production relations, production relations also have the ability to determine and influence the development of productivity.

Take this musket for example.

He knew very well that the age of firearms had arrived, and if he did not catch up and focus on development, sooner or later he would be reduced to a weakling who could be trampled upon by anyone under the bite of a pack of wolves while guarding this country that could generate the most wealth in the world.

But what he didn't expect was that after Li Yongmao took great pains to take back all the craftsmanship scattered everywhere, seemingly irreconcilable conflicts broke out among this group of working people.

If we say that this conflict is not a big deal, it is actually just a "factional dispute" about how to do the work.

Yes, that's right, factional fighting.

According to Zhu Cilang, everyone should use the same set of standards and the same method, and eventually achieve the point where parts can be interchangeable as much as possible.

There is no need to explain the benefits of this, but just as he was looking forward to the start of operation of a factory that worked according to this method, they actually started arguing over how heavy the hammer should be and how many inches of shears should be used.

When Zhu Cilang heard about this, it was natural that Li Yongmao came to receive instructions.

Originally, Zhu Cilang thought that this was not the real reason for the factional conflict. If he dug deeper, he might find some people who were dissatisfied with the court's recall of craftsmen. But when he understood that different guilds had preferences for their own reasons, and that changes in these preferences would lead to a decline in their skills, he felt powerless even though he was dissatisfied.

"A matter of a broken hammer."

After reading the question book in his hand, Zhu Cilang put it back on the table. Then he took out another question book and said something.

In this matter, he did not choose to intervene directly, but instead gave the workers a way to discuss what to do themselves.

After all, some trivial things may seem insignificant when taken individually, but if they happen to an individual, they are enough to completely overturn the pillar of a family.

When it comes to people, Zhu Cilang has the patience to wait for them to figure out a solution themselves.

"Is there a military department?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty, yes, it is said that General Chang's troops have already captured Raozhou and are heading straight for Fuzhou."

"Fuzhou?"

After listening to Zhou Quan's report, Zhu Cilang couldn't help but turn his gaze to the huge map hanging on the wall of the warm room.

A month ago, Yue Qijie and Chang Guanlin had reported their plan to Zhu Cilang. Zhu Cilang not only agreed with their idea, but also ordered the navy to assemble secretly at the first opportunity. After the Qing army in Jiangxi made some movements, they broke through the blockade on the river as quickly as possible and rushed into Poyang Lake.

Afterwards, Chang Guanlin led his troops to attack Raozhou from Quzhou ten days ago. Zhu Cilang calculated the days and thought that there would be a result in Raozhou, so he asked this question when reading the question book.

just
Just as Zhu Cilang was frowning and looking at the location of Fuzhou, Zhou Quan had already taken out the relevant battle reports from the pile of notebooks.

Then he carefully handed it to His Majesty, and then slowly withdrew the hand that was holding the question book.

At this point, although Zhu Cilang was still mostly concerned about why the troops advanced so quickly into Jiangxi, he also noticed that the question book had appeared in front of him.

When he opened the question book and read it carefully, his already frowned brows furrowed even more.

The letter was concise. It took Chang Guanlin's troops only two days to attack Raozhou, and one day each to attack the two subsequent county towns. By the time this letter was sent out, they had not only conquered the third largest city on the road, but their forward scouts had even spread out to a place two or three hundred miles away from Fuzhou.

If it were any other time, Zhu Cilang might be happy to see such a report, but this battle in Jiangxi had been prepared for a long time, and even if the Tartars were stupid, they should be able to learn from various channels that the Ming army was about to launch a large-scale invasion.

Under such circumstances, how could Chang Guanlin and his troops be able to move forward so smoothly? Apart from the Tartars giving up voluntarily, how could there be any other reason?

So the question is, why did the Tatars voluntarily give up Raozhou and the following towns?
You should know that Raozhou is extraordinary. It is not only the main road from the mountainous area to the Poyang Lake Plain, but also has a strong control over Fujian.

If Zhu Cilang were in the position of the Qing army commander, he would definitely strengthen the defense of this place after sensing signs of a large-scale enemy attack. How could he give it up so easily?

The Qing army probably has other plans, but we can't see them clearly now.

"Send an order, have Chang Guanlin carefully monitor the food supply route and surrounding movements, and order Zhang Pengyi's navy to open up the Yangtze River waterway as soon as possible."

"Accept the decree."

After Zhou Quan read out the emperor's decree word for word, he went to the outer room to draft an imperial decree. Zhu Cilang's frown relaxed a little after he said this.

He knew that the Tartars must have been prepared for such a move, but as long as Zhang Pengyi's navy could successfully enter Poyang Lake, they would be able to reach all parts of the plain through this system of water veins.

By then, even if the Qing army could really defeat a hundred on the ground with one, Chang Guanlin would be invincible with the help of the navy.

Under such circumstances, they had no other choice but to be driven into a circle of encirclement by the navy.

Thinking of this, Zhu Cilang’s brows relaxed a little.

This is not because he is blindly confident.

The Ming navy was able to crush the Qing army, just like during the Battle of Jiangnan. Under the isolation of the warships, even though the Qing army was indeed at its peak, the final result was like a child provoking an adult.

Of course, the Qing army could use this time to build warships while occupying Lianghuai, but how could an army like this be considered successful simply by building a few ships?
If you equip a farmer who has just put down his hoe with weapons and armor, you are arming a soldier. If you equip an old soldier who has experienced many battles with weapons and armor, you are also arming a soldier.

But in the end, can the fighting power of these two soldiers be the same?

If the Qing army really wants to build a navy capable of competing with the Ming army, it will take at least a year and a half.

"Your Majesty, the decree has been drafted."

"Well, send it out quickly, eight hundred miles away."

"Yes."

After a while, Zhou Quan came in holding two bright yellow scrolls. After getting His Majesty's permission, he left the warm room again.

These days, Zhu Cilang was quite familiar with similar things, so he didn't find it strange that Zhou Quan withdrew again. But who would have thought that when he turned his head back to look at the question book on the table, his eyes noticed a feature on the map.

The southeastern sides of the Poyang Lake Plain are quite vast. Before the Qing army's navy entered the Poyang Lake water system, this area could be considered conducive to the Qing army's tactics to exert their power.

Under such circumstances, it would have been fine if they had almost given up several cities in Raozhou. What is most puzzling is where did these retreating troops go?
Did they all retreat to Fuzhou or Nanchang?

Thinking of this, Zhu Cilang's heart, which had already been relieved, was lifted up again. When he had been staring at the map for a long time and was already feeling a little anxious, he heard a deliberately subdued quarrel coming from outside.

"What's the matter?"

As soon as this voice was heard, the noise outside immediately died down. After about three or two breaths, a senior servant from the Qianqing Palace walked in cautiously.

Then he fell to his knees on the ground with a thud, and Zhu Cilang heard a crying voice entering his ears.

"Your Majesty, Wanyuanji from Ganzhou has come to report in an urgent manner, traveling 800 miles. On February 28, the Tartars colluded with the Dutch to attack Guangzhou. Ganzhou has now sent troops to rescue them."

(End of this chapter)