My father is Chongzhen? Then I have no choice but to rebel.

Chapter 308 Li Zicheng, surrender quickly! The Ming Dynasty has re-established the post stations!

Li Zicheng was originally a post station worker in Yinchuan, Shaanxi. After being dismissed and losing his job by Emperor Chongzhen, he rose up in rebellion, gradually growing his power and eventually becoming the core force that overthrew the Ming Dynasty.

Although Emperor Chongzhen now knew that even if the post stations had not been abolished, other rebel leaders might have emerged, he still blushed when he saw someone suggest restoring them, but he couldn't bring himself to get angry.

Because the memorial contained very comprehensive suggestions regarding post stations, if the court wanted to continue building roads throughout the Ming Dynasty, it would be necessary to establish a large number of post stations. From then on, the function of post stations would not be limited to transmitting intelligence, but would also need to take on the role of maintaining roads.

In addition, during road construction, the post stations also served as transit points for supplies, including temporary rest areas for craftsmen and production sites for sand and cement needed for road construction.

To put it simply, this is actually a combination of ancient post stations and later road administration, which is both practical and efficient.

When Zhu Cilang saw this memorial, he was somewhat surprised. He did not expect that the officials of the Ministry of Works would think of this.

And I must say, this suggestion is indeed excellent.

Because when the road was being built, the imperial court planned to set up similar post stations along the way and establish temporary cement plants there to produce large quantities of cement to ensure the speed of road construction.

After all, some roads are thousands of miles long to build, and it is impossible for all the cement to be supplied by the capital. It is necessary to set up factories locally.

This is where the relay station comes in, saving costs and improving efficiency.

Zhu Cilang told Chongzhen about this not to embarrass him, but simply because he felt it would be best to inform Chongzhen about it.

Emperor Chongzhen naturally understood the reasoning behind this, and therefore did not get angry.

After a moment of silence, Chongzhen finally spoke:
"I agree to this matter."

Zhu Cilang grinned when he heard this.

"Father, the Holy Ming."

Emperor Chongzhen moved his lips, but said nothing; he only felt a bitter taste in his mouth.

He knew that although his decision to abolish the post stations was made out of necessity, it had led to such serious consequences for Li Zicheng.

Now that the post stations are being redeveloped, although it is for the long-term interests of the country, I can't help but feel a little emotional.

And so, the Ming Dynasty was finally about to begin rebuilding its post stations.

And barring any unforeseen circumstances, a large number of post station workers will definitely be recruited.

At this moment, Zhu Cilang really wanted to shout a message to Li Zicheng, who was far away in Shaanxi:
"Li Zicheng, surrender now! The Ming Dynasty is starting to restore the post stations."

Time flies, and two days have passed in the blink of an eye.

That morning, Zhu Cilang sensed something was wrong as soon as he woke up.

Although the temperature inside was quite comfortable, he still felt a strange chill.

He quickly put on his clothes, opened the window, and saw that it was snowing heavily outside!
That's right, it finally snowed in Beijing!

At this moment, outside the window, goose feather snowflakes were falling heavily, and the world was a vast expanse of white. The palaces and trees in the distance were all covered in silver, and the heavy snow bent the branches. Occasionally, a soft "crack" could be heard, which was the sound of a branch breaking under the weight.

Not far away, several eunuchs were sweeping the snow with brooms, their breath quickly dissipating in the cold wind.

Their cheeks were red from the cold, and their fingers were stiff, but they dared not slacken in the slightest. They simply buried their heads in their brooms and cleared a narrow path through the thick snow.

Zhu Cilang's gaze fell on them, his brows furrowing slightly.

Just then, the cold air, mixed with snowflakes, rushed towards him, causing him to squint.

"Your Highness, be careful not to catch a cold."

A soft voice came from behind him, and then a pair of slender hands gently adjusted his coat.

Zheng Xiaomei stood beside him, her eyes reflecting the snow light outside the window, clear and gentle.

Zhu Cilang did not turn around, but whispered:
"It's finally snowing!"

Zheng Xiaomei followed his gaze and saw nothing but a vast expanse of white.

But she knew that Zhu Cilang was not thinking about the snow scene at this moment, but rather about how this heavy snow would affect ordinary people.

Or, to be more precise, will some people freeze to death in this heavy snow?

Thinking of this, she whispered:
"Your Highness, rest assured, all parts of the capital have already made preparations for the cold weather this year, and I'm sure no one will freeze to death this year!"

Zhu Cilang remained silent for a moment, then his gaze suddenly fell upon the eunuchs outside who were sweeping snow.

"Each eunuch who sweeps the snow today will be rewarded with ten taels of silver and a bowl of hot ginger soup."

Zheng Xiaomei paused slightly, then a gentle smile appeared on her lips, a hint of warmth flashed in her eyes, and she softly replied:

"Your Highness, rest assured, I will make the arrangements immediately."

Afterwards, Zheng Xiaomei dressed and hurriedly instructed the palace maids to prepare.

Zhu Cilang remained standing at the window, gazing at the heavy snow, but then something occurred to him, and he shook his head helplessly.

Because he knew that with this snow, someone was bound to suffer.

The reason was simple: today was the day designated by the Ministry of Rites for him to offer sacrifices to his ancestors after his great victory in Mongolia.

According to calculations by the Ministry of Rites and the Imperial Astronomical Bureau, today was an auspicious day, and the weather should have been excellent.

Unexpectedly, it started snowing.

It's obvious that the officials from the Ministry of Rites and the Imperial Observatory are probably terrified and on the verge of tears.

In fact, this kind of thing was quite common in the history of the Ming Dynasty. Sometimes, even though the Ministry of Rites and the Imperial Observatory had selected a so-called auspicious day, it would still rain or snow.

However, even with such unavoidable circumstances, the ceremonies must still be carried out, including this one.

After regaining his senses, Zhu Cilang summoned Ma Bao and several palace maids to help him tidy his clothes.

When he went out, he saw that the ceremonial guard was already waiting outside the palace.

Zhu Cilang had already gone through a similar process once before; this was simply a repetition.

The only difference is that the previous one was conducted in normal weather, while this one was conducted in snowy weather.

The snowflakes falling from the sky added a touch of solemnity and grandeur to the entire ceremony.

Such an important event was naturally not something Emperor Chongzhen could miss. Therefore, after Zhu Cilang and Chongzhen met, everyone braved the heavy snow to arrive at the Imperial Ancestral Temple.

By this time, the entire Imperial Ancestral Temple had already been covered in heavy snow.

At this moment, all the officials of the Ministry of Rites and the Imperial Observatory were ashen-faced, and some of them couldn't help but tremble.

However, they didn't really know what was going on. According to the celestial calculations, it shouldn't snow today, but it just happened to snow heavily.

Isn't this going to cost them their lives?

Emperor Chongzhen was quite dissatisfied at this moment, since this so-called auspicious day did not seem auspicious at all. However, he did not lose his temper because he knew that today was not the time to dwell on such matters.

After all, ancestral worship ceremonies are of great significance to the country, and we cannot be distracted by such a trivial matter.

Therefore, he patiently went through all the procedures with Zhu Cilang.

Emperor Chongzhen and Crown Prince Zhu Cilang, being the emperor and crown prince respectively, were protected by eunuchs holding umbrellas wherever they went, thus avoiding getting covered in snow. However, other officials fared much worse, covered in snow and looking utterly disheveled.

However, most of them were prepared and wore very thick clothes, so they were not affected.

However, the expressions on the faces of these people as they looked at the officials from the Ministry of Rites and the Imperial Observatory were not pleasant, clearly indicating their dissatisfaction with their ineffective work.

Officials from the Ministry of Rites and the Imperial Observatory dared not speak out, and could only silently endure the accusations and disdain of the crowd.

After finishing all their tasks, everyone dispersed.

But soon, Chongzhen's punishment came:

Officials from the Ministry of Rites and the Imperial Observatory were all fined a month's salary as punishment for their inadequate performance.

However, after receiving the imperial edict of punishment, these officials secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Because the punishment was much lighter than they had imagined.

They had expected the emperor to be furious and severely punish them because the snow had disrupted the ancestral worship ceremony.

They were incredibly relieved to find that it was only a one-month salary deduction.

In any case, with this heavy snowfall, Beijing has finally welcomed the arrival of winter.

Snowflakes fluttered down, draping the ancient city in a layer of pure white silver.

On the streets, people came out of their homes to enjoy the rare snow scene.

Children played and frolicked in the snow, their laughter echoing in every corner of the city.

The officials returned to their respective offices, sat around the stove, drank hot tea, and discussed the various effects of the snow.

Meanwhile, in Tongguan, Shaanxi.

Unlike the first snowfall in Beijing, Shaanxi was already embraced by a heavy snowfall ten days ago.

And now, the snow continues to fall relentlessly, as if trying to dye the whole world a silvery white.

Looking out into the distance, the land of Shaanxi is covered with snow, a scene of desolation and vastness, outlining a lonely winter landscape.

Amidst the swirling snow, a group of about five thousand people was resolutely marching from Shanxi towards Tongguan, trudging through the thick snow.

Behind them were rows of horse-drawn carriages, each carrying a mysterious box.

As the team moved, only a series of footprints of varying depths were left winding across the snow.

Although such snowy weather undoubtedly posed a great challenge to their journey, the team showed no sign of backing down. Braving the wind and snow, they forged ahead, as if driven by an irresistible force.

Not long after, the news also reached Tongguan.

The garrison at Tongguan immediately sprang into action, with a force of over 10,000 men marching out of the city to meet them.

Although in theory Li Zicheng's army has always been under the close surveillance of the Tongguan garrison, and there has been no recent action.

Not to mention that this transport team came from the direction of Shanxi, so Li Zicheng's army would never have discovered it.

However, this matter was of great importance and could not be taken lightly, so Sun Chuanting still dispatched 10,000 elite troops out of the city to provide support.

At the same time, the garrison inside Tongguan was on high alert, keeping a close eye on every move of Li Zicheng's army.

Before long, the two teams met in the vast sea of ​​snow and then returned together to the city gate of Tongguan.

Immediately afterwards, the military officer in charge of transporting the goods met Sun Chuanting, led by the crowd.

"Your humble servant Zhang Zhaozhong greets Lord Sun!"

Upon seeing Sun Chuanting, Zhang Zhaozhong, the commander in charge of escorting military supplies, immediately knelt down on one knee.

Looking at the military officer in front of him, whose face and hands were covered with frostbite, Sun Chuanting couldn't help but feel a surge of pity.

He then quickly stepped forward to help Zhang Zhaozhong up, and said gently:
"You've traveled a long way, you must be exhausted. Go and rest for a bit, have something hot to warm up, we can talk about it later."

However, Zhang Zhaozhong did not agree upon hearing this, but hurriedly said:

"My lord, I am not tired! Before that, please inspect the military supplies first, so that I can feel at ease."

Hearing this, Sun Chuanting didn't know what else to say, so he nodded to show his understanding.

So, boxes of 'goods' were carried to Sun Chuanting's front.

As the boxes were opened one by one, they revealed flintlock pistols carefully wrapped in oiled paper, their barrels gleaming with a cold light.

Upon seeing these flintlock muskets, Sun Chuanting couldn't help but smile.

In fact, he had already learned a month earlier that the imperial court had sent 10,000 flintlock muskets to him.

When he heard the news, Sun Chuanting was extremely excited!
When he left the capital, Zhu Cilang had given him six hundred flintlock muskets, which played a vital role on the battlefield.

Unfortunately, there were too few flintlock muskets, so he could only select a group of sharpshooters to use them exclusively.

Moreover, during their spare time, these flintlock muskets would be used for training by some soldiers.

After this period of consumption, their original bullets have been used up, and now they are using mud balls that they make themselves.

These mud balls are only for practice, not for actual combat.

Fortunately, this situation is finally over.

With these 10,000 flintlock muskets, he could conduct large-scale training.

In addition to flintlock muskets, a million rounds of ammunition and corresponding gunpowder were also transported this time.

Upon seeing these items, Sun Chuanting couldn't help but pat Zhang Zhaozhong on the shoulder and say:

"Good, good, good! You've really worked hard. Don't worry, I will definitely recommend you for good credit."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Zhaozhong quickly clasped his hands in greeting and said:

"Thank you for your guidance, sir!"

Without saying a word, Sun Chuanting signed his name on the document brought by Zhang Zhaozhong, thus officially accepting the military supplies.

Only then did Zhang Zhaozhong feel relieved enough to go and rest.

As soon as Zhang Zhaozhong left, Sun Chuanting's men immediately surrounded him, shouting:

"Sir, could you give me a few more flintlock muskets?"

"Me too! Me too! Sir, you can't show favoritism!"

In an instant, these military officers, like hungry wolves eyeing meat, bared their fangs, wishing they could devour all the flintlock muskets on the spot.

There was no other way; they had all witnessed the power of the flintlock musket before and knew that it was far more effective than the muskets and matchlock guns they had. It was practically a divine weapon, so everyone wanted to get a larger share.

(End of this chapter)