Wind Rises in North America 1625

Chapter 510 A Hero Cuts Off His Own Arm?

On March 19, 1642, the sea breeze, carrying a chilly air, swept across the bay, while Kaiping Port was shrouded in sweltering heat.

More than twenty large, dedicated immigrant ships from the New Continent were pressing down on the heavy waves, their hulls appearing to be drafted quite deep. Clearly, the ships were already loaded with supplies destined for the New Continent, just waiting for the last batch of immigrants to board.

"The Bingzi team is boarding the 'Qiyun-4' ship!"

"The Dingzi team is queuing up at the east end for the 'Qiyun-7' ship!"

At the dock, a clerk dressed in a cotton military uniform stood by the dock, his words, which were being torn apart by the sea wind, as he spoke through a brass megaphone.

Several long lines of immigrants, guided by armed militiamen, slowly moved forward, their faces filled with eagerness and longing, their hands tightly clutching their immigration documents.

Finally, we're going to that new continent where we can eat our fill and have warm clothes!
At the edge of the stone steps on the harbor shore, several elderly people suddenly knelt down and kowtowed to the west.

They pressed their foreheads to the frozen ground and murmured prayers, their disheveled hair stained with mud, making them look somewhat disheveled.

The armed militiamen understood this action and did not rush forward to urge him on. They simply tapped their rifle butts on the ground and said, "There are only five inches left of the incense sticks. Hurry up!"

Seventeen-year-old blacksmith apprentice Chen Sanbao is looking up at the mast.

The mast of the Xinzhou boat was much taller than that of the Fujian bird boat, and the red five-star flag hanging on the mast fluttered in the wind.

He was suddenly pushed from behind and stumbled – a group of miners from Yanzhou were hurriedly climbing the gangway carrying a gilded statue of Guan Yu, the gold paint in the statue's eyes shining brightly in the gloom.

"Don't push! Don't push, there's room for everyone! Everyone wait, and once on board, you must follow the sailors' instructions and are not allowed to move around!" The immigration officer, wearing a lambskin coat, stood by the gangplank checking tickets, his brush leaving thick ink marks as it swept across the register: "After working for four years in Xinzhou, you will be allocated forty acres of land. No taxes will be levied for the first year, half tax for the second year, and taxes will begin to be levied after the third year!"

A woman carrying an infant was jostled and fell by the crowd. The baby in her arms started crying, but the militiamen immediately stuffed her mouth with candied plums.

Inside the port building, Qi Yongze turned his gaze back to several immigration officers and affairs officers from New Zealand.

"This is the first batch of immigrants, 6,500 people. It will probably take two days to pack them up. You might as well take a stroll around the city and experience the local customs and culture of Beiying Island."

"Thank you for your care, Commissioner!" Everyone bowed in gratitude.

"Zhou Ji, hand over all the intelligence data collected in the past six months to this intelligence liaison officer from the mainland." Qi Yongze waved his hand, signaling his political assistant Zhou Ji to transfer the documents and materials of the Beiying Island colony.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Ji immediately brought over a thick stack of documents.

"Lord Zhang, these are intelligence documents from Japan. There are copies of imperial edicts from the Edo Shogunate, grain price records from the Kanto region, information on famines in various parts of Japan, and even rice prices at Osaka Castle are included..."

"These are from North Korea: trade records between the Jingdong Governor-General's Office and Xinhua Suianbao, disaster reports from Hamgyong Province, and various measures taken by the Seoul North Korean government..."

"This thickest stack is from the Ming Dynasty... including their court reports, imperial edicts, and local military intelligence, livelihood information, and commercial information that we collected and compiled in Guangzhou, Songjiang, Dengzhou, and Liaodong..."

"There are also documents and materials here from Dongfan (present-day Taiwan Island), Annam, Champa, Siam, and Southeast Asia."

"Yes, to ensure that these documents are not damaged or lost during the journey and can be safely delivered to New Zealand, we have made two copies of each so that you can keep and carry them separately."

Zhang Zhongyi, Senior Assistant Secretary for Political Affairs at the Xinhua Cabinet, and several assistants signed for the documents while quickly glancing through them to make sure they were well-informed.

"...On the 12th day of the ninth month of the 14th year of Chongzhen's reign, General Zuo Liangyu led his troops to intercept the bandit Zhang Xianzhong's forces in the Xinyang area. After three hours of fierce fighting, more than 10,000 were killed, and the false commander Sha Toumu was killed in battle. Countless horses, mules and supplies were captured. Zhang Xianzhong was wounded by an arrow and led his remaining followers to flee into the deep mountains. The government troops took advantage of the victory and pursued him for more than 200 miles. The bandits were routed and almost completely annihilated."

"...On the sixth day of the twelfth month, the rebel leaders Li Zicheng and Luo Rucai joined forces to capture Xiangcheng. Their momentum was unstoppable. In the following month, they successively captured eleven prefectures and counties, including Zhenping, Xinye, Tangxian, Ruzhou, Xuzhou, Yuzhou, Xinzheng, Yanling, Tongxu, and Chenliu. They then rampaged and attacked Kaifeng again."

"...The rebel army besieged Kaifeng for more than ten days, launching fierce attacks day and night. The city's defenses were once on the verge of collapse, and the city was about to fall."

"However, on December 27th, Governor-General Hong Chengchou led 20,000 elite Liaodong troops to reinforce the area, marching day and night. They arrived suddenly from Baoding in just three days, inflicting a crushing defeat on the rebel army. A bloody battle raged all day, resulting in the capture and killing of over 30,000, with weapons and provisions piling up like mountains. Li and Luo broke through the encirclement, intending to flee to Shaanxi." "...Hong Chengchou ordered Cao Bianjiao, the general of Yutian, to lead 4,000 elite cavalry in pursuit. On the 29th, they again defeated the rebel army at Xinzheng, beheading 6,000 and accepting the surrender of over 10,000. The remaining rebels fled to Nanyang, numbering only a few thousand."

"..."

"After seeing these, do you have any thoughts?" Qi Yongze walked up and asked with a smile.

"Reporting to the Commissioner..."

Zhang Zhongyi quickly put down the document in his hand, stood up and bowed, "This humble servant merely skimmed over it; how dare I presume to comment before Your Excellency?"

"Hehe..." Qi Yongze waved his hand, "What's wrong? Are all locally trained cadres this cautious? This isn't an exam, why are you so nervous?"

"..." Zhang Zhongyi glanced at this "regional official" from Xinhua and said cautiously, "This humble servant...this humble servant is not nervous, but afraid of saying something wrong."

"Then let's just chat casually." Qi Yongze glanced at the others present. "You can also tell me about the recent events, big and small, in our local area. The government reports alone are not very detailed or comprehensive."

“Commissioner,” Zhang Zhongyi said after carefully considering his words, “Judging from the intelligence data we have gathered, the situation in the Ming Dynasty is still not very optimistic.”

"Although the Ming army in Liaodong did not suffer heavy losses in the Battle of Songjin against the Qing invaders and the main force was still intact, it was still unable to reverse the passive situation in Liaodong. It could only rely on many strong fortresses and strongholds such as Jinzhou, Ningyuan, and Shanhaiguan to guard the Liaoxi Corridor and try to maintain the military presence of the Ming Dynasty in Liaodong so as not to let the whole situation collapse immediately."

"Within the pass, especially in Henan, Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Hubei, the situation became increasingly critical as the peasant uprisings intensified. It was impossible to completely quell the peasant rebellions, as one problem after another arose. Although the tens of thousands of elite troops from Liaodong who entered the pass managed to defeat several large peasant militias, they were unable to completely annihilate them. Not only did the leaders of the rebels escape into the mountains, but even the core elite troops were not completely wiped out."

"I believe that as the Ming army leaves, or the Liao army is exhausted and resting, the militia of the refugees may rise up again and wreak havoc on local prefectures, counties and cities. It is even possible that they may capture famous cities and important towns."

"The root cause of the armed uprisings by displaced people in the Ming Dynasty was the failure of local governance and the complete ineffectiveness of its disaster relief and appeasement measures. Even if Zhang Xianzhong were killed today and Li Zicheng were beheaded tomorrow, Sun Xianzhong, Wu Zicheng, and even more bandit leaders would emerge the day after. With disasters raging across the land, the government unable to provide relief, and corrupt officials and gentry oppressing the people without restraint, how could these uprisings by displaced people be stopped?"

"Hmm, that's a good analysis." Qi Yongze nodded. "The Ming Dynasty is only barely holding on in this situation. Without a good remedy, the collapse of the Ming Dynasty will only be a delaying tactic."

“My lord, I believe that if the Ming Dynasty has the determination and courage to make tough decisions, it may be able to hold on for a while and prolong its existence, waiting for the right time,” a young clerk from the Political Affairs Department said boldly.

"Oh, tell me about it." Qi Yongze turned his head and looked at him with great interest. "What kind of determination and courage does the Ming Dynasty need to continue to eke out a living?"

The young clerk blushed instantly when Qi Yongze's gaze swept over him, but he still straightened his back and said, "In my humble opinion, the Ming Dynasty should follow the example of the Han Dynasty abandoning Zhuyai and the Ming Dynasty abandoning Jiaozhi! In other words, we should cut off our own arm and withdraw all the forts in Ningyuan and Jinzhou, and have all the government troops in Liaodong retreat to Shanhaiguan."

"In this way, we can save millions of taels of silver in taxes every year, freeing up 50,000 to 60,000 elite troops..." He became more and more anxious as he spoke, and even took out a sketch of the Ming Dynasty that he had drawn himself and spread it on the table. "Your Excellency, if this money and grain were used to suppress and pacify Henan, and each person was given three shi of grain and two taels of silver to settle the refugees, it would be enough to quell the rebellion of 500,000 starving people!"

"Oh, it seems you've done some in-depth research on the situation in Liaodong, the capital of the Ming Dynasty." Qi Yongze nodded in praise. "Indeed, indeed. You need to broaden your horizons and not just limit yourselves to the local area of ​​Xinzhou. However, while your suggestion is good, it completely ignores the sentiments of the people in the Ming court, and I'm afraid it will be difficult to implement in the end."

"People's hearts?" The clerk paused for a moment, then bowed deeply. "Please enlighten me, Commissioner."

Qi Yongze smiled and raised his hand to offer a slight support: "It's not so much about giving pointers, but just a hint. The Ming Dynasty abandoned Jiaozhi during the Xuande era because it was an isolated land thousands of miles away, not part of Han territory, and it was constantly losing blood, making it difficult to assimilate. Therefore, they had no choice but to abandon it."

"Now, you have made Emperor Chongzhen abandon Liaoxi, a territory beyond the Great Wall that the Ming Dynasty had fought for over hundreds of years, spending countless amounts of money, grain, and lives. In other words, the Ming Dynasty has already paid a huge sunk cost for this. How can you be willing to accept this?"

"If we rashly abandon it, it would be politically equivalent to 'selling out the country.' Any official who raises this issue will be verbally attacked by the censors and upright officials in the court, bearing a bad name for all time. Given Emperor Chongzhen's extremely reputation-conscious and suspicious nature, there is absolutely no way he could bear this historical responsibility."

"Therefore, your suggestion is a strategic initiative of retreating to advance, exchanging a large concession for a chance to turn the tide, and it can alleviate the bleeding state of the Ming Dynasty a little. However, politically, it is an absolute death trap. No one dares to mention it, and no one dares to do it."

"Moreover, even if we ultimately abandon Liaoxi and retreat to Shanhaiguan, will the annual Liaodong tax of several million taels of silver stop being levied? Will the lives of the people of the Ming Dynasty become better? In my opinion, that may not be the case!"

"Your Excellency is right, I have spoken presumptuously." The clerk bowed and accepted the instruction.

"By the way, abandoning Liaodong was a disgrace, with no one in the Ming Dynasty willing to take responsibility. So, has Xinhua made a final decision regarding whether to fight or make peace with Spain?"

Qi Yongze turned to the crowd and suddenly asked.
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(End of this chapter)