Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 455 Why are there so many muskets?

January 10

Songjiangfu Pier

Zhu Cilang has not had a single day of leisure since returning to Yingtian. One imperial decree after another, some urgent and some slow, was issued from the warm room of the Qianqing Palace, and even Zhou Quan's legs became thinner from running too much.

But the reality is not always subject to human will. No matter how important these imperial orders are, their development must take time. So even though Zhu Cilang is busy and dizzy, there are actually only some unnoticed changes in various parts of the Ming Dynasty.

"Master, the Ministry of War sent us a letter saying that there is a batch of things for us to take back with us."

"Something? What?"

"The person who came didn't say that. The letter only mentioned that they were captured and brought back from overseas."

Huang Boduan immediately felt annoyed when he heard Liu Shuban's report.

They came out half a month ago with the purpose of escorting the wedding gifts sent by the vassal state back to Beijing.

Normally, these gifts were usually delivered by the various vassal states themselves, and there was no need for him, the head of the Ministry of Rites, to go to Songjiang in person. However, the current situation in the Ministry of Rites was really turbulent, and after a struggle, it led to this situation.

The cause of the incident was naturally Minister Liu.

Earlier, he had disobeyed His Majesty by preventing the eldest daughter of the Xu family from becoming the queen. On that day, someone reported that the Liu family had concealed their land.

They all work in the court, so who wouldn't understand the twists and turns here?

Your Majesty has always been kind and generous, and has never treated his subjects harshly. If you were not really irritated by Liu Zongzhou, why would you have sent him away?
According to what Huang Boduan had thought earlier, if Minister Liu was really a sensible person, he should have quietly stayed in Zhejiang for a while, and then deal with a few of his family members with bad behavior when His Majesty's anger had subsided.

By then, his duties will be half completed, and he can go back to being his reserve minister.

But the development of things ultimately far exceeded Huang Boduan's expectations.

Minister Liu usually looks serious, but unexpectedly he is also a ruthless character. As soon as he arrived in Hangzhou, he punished most of his relatives, and later he dealt with more than a dozen large families that had ties with his family.

Officials from the Zhejiang faction were ostracized by the eunuch party in the previous dynasty, but even though the centipede is dead, it is still alive. There are always some officials in the court who have close ties with these big families.

As Liu Zongzhou spent longer and longer time in Zhejiang, more and more people were involved. In the end, not only did the officials in Zhejiang distance themselves from him, but the censors also continued to impeach him on various charges.

Of course, with His Majesty's magnanimous character, those impeachments were suppressed one by one. But when things got to this point, his position as a candidate for cabinet minister was no longer secure, and the left and right assistant ministers of the Ministry of Rites began to get restless.

If it were in the past, they would have been ready to make some moves, and it had nothing to do with him, a leader with no one and no money. But Lord Qian only follows the orders of His Majesty, and His Majesty is a man who attaches great importance to practical matters. It is unknown who instructed those two to take any job that has a connection with the Ministry of Rites, and he, who is usually bored, was sent out.

"When will it arrive?"

"It's said that it will take another half day."

"Half a day?!"

Huang Boduan couldn't help but exclaimed when he heard Liu Shuban's reply. Then he showed hesitation on his face. After a long while, he finally said, "It won't take half a day, at most an hour."

As soon as he finished speaking, Huang Boduan turned around and boarded the cargo ship, while Liu Shuban bowed and walked out of the dock.

He knew that this official letter was one that could be cooperated with or not, otherwise he would not have brought the matter to Huang Boduan. Moreover, the government office in Yingtian already had a lot of tasks to do, and since his superior was unwilling to cooperate, he would not say much.

After about half an incense stick of time, Liu Shuban arrived at a small house near the pier. After entering the house, he saw a slightly fat middle-aged man and a soldier in light armor waiting inside.

"Half a day is too long, one hour at most."

As Liu Shuban was speaking, he had already stepped into the room. The slightly plump middle-aged man didn't care about his words at all and was busy greeting the nobles who came from the capital. However, the military general stood up after hearing his words.

"Why? You are going by water, so what harm will it do to wait another three or two hours?"

Hearing this, Secretary Liu, who was about to sit down on the chair just now, paused for a moment, as if he was quite surprised by the question.

It's just that he has been in the government office for so many years that he has acquired some ability to hide his emotions, but in a moment it was as if nothing had happened.

"Under normal circumstances, if we waited half a day, even if we waited three or two days longer, it wouldn't be a big deal, but this time we are transporting a gift from a vassal state, and no one can afford to take the consequences if something goes wrong."

"Just wait a little longer, what's there to delay?!"

It was obvious that the general did not agree with this explanation at all. After asking the question, he glared at me.

Seeing this, Secretary Liu was naturally dissatisfied, but there was really no need to offend others for official business. After organizing his thoughts in his mind, he smiled and spoke.

Your Majesty was quite nervous about this wedding, and the envoys from the vassal states only had time to submit the gift list.

Although the gift had been handed over to them at this time, it had not yet been transported to the inner treasury. If a noble in the palace felt guilty and wanted to take a look at it, the answer she would get in the end would inevitably be that the Ministry of Rites had not yet transported it back.

When the palace blames them, will the Ministry of War explain for them in front of the nobles?
Or in other words, are this general and the person who sent the official letter qualified to explain the whole story to you?

To be honest, this is just one of many reasons, and only a small part of the reasons, but everyone works in the government office, and naturally knows that when facing certain punishments, there is no chance to explain.

As a result, the military generals who were still aggressive just a moment ago immediately stopped their attacks, and Liu Shuban began to ease the atmosphere: "Mr. Shen has so many ships under his command, why did you send the official letter to us?"

"All of Shen Butang's boats have left."

"out?"

I asked out of curiosity, but the general seemed to be weighing the pros and cons and didn't respond.

Seeing this, Shuban Liu did not ask any more questions. He sat for another three or five breaths and then stood up.

"I have delivered the message. I will return to the dock first."

"Wait a moment. I'll go with you."

Receiving gifts from the vassal states was a big deal, and for safety reasons the entire Songjiang dock was sealed off. It was for this reason that the general passed the news to Liu Shuban through the steward at the dock, and he made such a request despite knowing this, and Liu Shuban immediately became alert.

"It's not appropriate."

Although his tone was flat, his eyes never left the other person's face.

The waterways at this time were not as infested with pirates as they were a few years ago, but the gifts from the vassal states were all priceless. Even though the general was also a member of the imperial court, he did not dare to determine whether the other party would take the risk.

According to common sense, things would have come to a stalemate at this point, but to Liu Shuban's surprise, while he was still gazing at the general's expression, the other party actually took off his weapon.

"I don't know what's going on, and I can't tell you, but Shen Butang's ship has already sailed out. I think it's no less than escorting gifts from the vassal state. Please take me to see your superior."

Since the other party had said so much, Liu Shuban also took it seriously. Then the two of them left the cabin and headed straight for the dock. They arrived on the boat in only half the time.

At this time, Huang Boduan was chatting with a group of envoys. When he saw Liu Shuban leading an army to look outside the cabin, although he guessed what had happened, he was still confused.

He was anxious to respond to Tian, ​​and Secretary Liu was also anxious to respond to Tian.

Unlike him who was here for official business, Secretary Liu was here for his own personal matters.

Although the examination of the Advisory Council was not compulsory and clerks were allowed to take part, those who took the examination would receive varying amounts of salary increases based on their performance.

Those who worked in Yingtian were naturally the first to get the news. Not only did they get the news first, but they also found out the general direction of the exam through various connections.

Therefore, Huang Boduan thought that Liu Shuban would be in a hurry to go back, so it would be safer to send him to deal with the person who delivered the official letter.

But now the other party actually brought him here. Could something have happened?
The doubts in his heart did not delay Huang Boduan's steps. In just three or two breaths, he had arrived in front of the two men. Afterwards, Liu Shuban repeated exactly what the general had said. After getting the general's confirmation, he realized that the matter was of no trivial matter, so he could only agree to wait for half a day.

The waiting time is always unbearable.

After about an hour, all the gifts from various countries were loaded onto the ship, but the thing the general mentioned had not been delivered yet, and even the general was beginning to get anxious.

"I really want to thank you two so much, otherwise I would have failed in this mission."

"It's okay. We are all working for the court. If it weren't for the rules, I wouldn't want to embarrass anyone."

Huang Boduan's explanation makes sense. Every large organization must have rules, either explicit or implicit, to govern the behavior of its internal staff. Even if these rules become obstacles that delay things at certain times, they are better than having no rules at all.

When he was young, he also felt that the people above him were all abiding by a series of rigid rules, which was simply like living in vain. But as he grew older and saw more, he realized that rules are just rules, and any follower of power could become an ant hole that breaks through the entire building.

It's like the three cents of every two taels of silver that are wasted.

In the eyes of some people, these rules were made by officials for the sake of money, but he knew clearly that the money allocated by the court to the local governments was just a drop in the bucket compared to the tasks that the local governments had to do. Without these gray incomes, the local government offices would have to close down.

At first, in order to handle the tasks that were handed down one after another, the local authorities would find various ways to get the money paid to the higher authorities. When the higher officials knew about it, they could only choose to turn a blind eye. This kind of manipulation naturally caused the revenue of the national treasury to decrease day by day.

On the other hand, at this time, the lack of fire consumption is criticized, but what would it be like if there were no two or three points of constant?
Thinking of this, Huang Boduan sighed in his heart. When he looked at the general, he saw that the other party was squinting his eyes and looking at the open sea. Then he was the same. Then he saw a black dot gradually approaching.

On land, the situation is even more exaggerated than this at sea.

It was a long time since they saw the black spot before the huge warship arrived at the dock.

Seeing this, the general got off the boat to meet them. After a while, a group of soldiers came onto the boat carrying several large boxes.

"Master Huang, this is Guerrilla Chen."

At first, Huang Boduan's attention was completely attracted by the boxes, and he did not notice that there was another person beside the general. Only when the introduction sounded did he shift his gaze back.

"Guerrilla Chen, I don't ask where you are from, but the things on board are all gifts from the vassal states. You must inspect these boxes before you can enter the cabin."

After the words were spoken, Chen the Guerrilla did not waste any time. He raised his hand to the soldiers under his command, and then the boxes were opened one by one.

According to common sense, since the other party was so cooperative, Huang Boduan should have sent someone to check. However, when they saw clearly what was inside the box, not only he and Liu Shuban, but also the general who came to contact them shouted in shock.

"Firegun!"

The three men were not making a fuss. In fact, the imperial court had always strictly controlled firearms, and all transportation was personally escorted by the Ministry of War.

At this time, Guerrilla Chen actually carried several large boxes onto the Ministry of Rites' boat, and they immediately noticed something unusual inside.

"Don't panic, these were all seized from the sea."

After these words were spoken, the three of them still looked alert. It was obvious that these words did not completely reassure them.

Seeing this, Chen Youji hesitated for a moment. After three or five breaths, he whispered, "If you hear this, you must not spread it. Otherwise, it will be a serious crime of leaking military information."

After hearing this, the three men's vigilance faded a little, but they all began to retreat in their hearts.

In the final analysis, I don't know if the three of them have the final say on whether to leak the information or not. If there is a mistake in other links, who knows if they will be implicated.

But now he had already seen the musket and heard half of the words. If he really left, not only would he not know the specific situation inside, but he would also not be able to get away with it if the secret was leaked.

So after weighing the pros and cons in their minds, the three of them could only grit their teeth and nodded, and then listened to Chen Youji's explanation.

He was under the command of Zhang Pengyi. When he went to Japan to show off his military power earlier, he had seen several merchant ships heading north. However, they still had military duties to attend to at that time, so they could only note down the characteristics of those merchant ships and settle accounts when they encountered them in the future.

But who would have thought that there was not too long a delay after that. This time they were going to Jianghu to transport firearms and armor according to the agreement with Japan, and they met those merchant ships again halfway.

According to common sense, these smuggling merchant ships would be fine as long as they paid the customs duties and fines, but these merchant ships had the courage to fire at the warships of the Ming Navy.

It is not difficult to imagine what happened next. The merchant ship was sunk and the items on the ship were seized. Guerrilla Chen wanted to transport the muskets to the Yingtian factory to identify their origins.

(End of this chapter)