Ming Dynasty entry: I am Chongzhen, the greatest emperor of all time!

Chapter 116 Emperor Chongzhen's Private Visit

Although the Ming army fought fiercely for a month and several weeks, and suffered heavy casualties.

Although the Ming army had traveled a long distance and its supplies were about to run out.

But it's still not something the rebel army can easily pull off.

Especially the Ming army now.

That was the Ming army that had experienced the battles of breaking a million strongholds in the capital, the great victory at Feihu Ridge, the siege at Chengde, and the bloody battle at Kharachin.

The emperor himself led the army, recorded the merits, and had a super-paid Ming army with a Pacification Commissioner in the army!
How could he possibly fight the newly defeated rebel army?
Even if it were Li Zicheng's old camp, they would only be able to flee.

Unfortunately, the Ming army simply lacked logistical supplies.

The last remaining grain was all stored at the Three Thousand Camp.

Zhang Shize and Zheng Chenggong are heading towards Liaodong.

Huang Degong could only try to prevent any troops from getting within a hundred miles of Zhu Youjian's return route.

He couldn't handle the rest either.

Zhu Youjian also got to experience the privileges of a feudal emperor.

Although there were no maids or flower boats along the way, there was nothing romantic or romantic.

But the remaining 40,000-plus troops were still able to serve him comfortably.

Without the pressure of war, Zhu Youjian could almost leave or stop whenever he wanted.

It took three days to pursue Dorgon from Zhangjiakou to Karachin, but it took a full five days to return.

The time was almost halved.

This was even though there were few cities along the way, and few officials or troops from various loyalist armies came to meet with him.

After entering Zhangjiakou, the speed dropped significantly.

Officials stationed at the border could only send messengers to offer their greetings, while officials in safer areas would not miss this opportunity to show their loyalty.

One by one, they led varying numbers of loyalist troops from within the city to Zhu Youjian's side.

They called it "protecting the emperor."

Zhu Youjian naturally accepted all comers, and in just two days, he received more than twenty groups of loyalist troops, totaling 15,000 people.

He was originally intended to fill a vacancy under Huang Degong.

However, most of these people were old soldiers who had served under Zhu Youjian in the military-to-civilian reform movement in the capital. They were novices in fighting but experts in making a living; to put it bluntly, they were seasoned veterans.

Zhu Youjian could only select the best among them, choosing a group of about four thousand able-bodied men to fill Huang Degong's positions, while the rest were sent to the front lines in Jizhou to provide logistical support for Zhang Shize and Zheng Chenggong.

The army continued its journey towards the capital.

Marching in this era was extremely tedious.

Previously, with the war pressing in, Zhu Youjian didn't even have enough time to rest, so he naturally didn't have this feeling.

Now that people have free time, this feeling of emptiness takes over their hearts.

Two days after entering the pass, the army finally arrived at the first major city besides Xuanfu.

Baoan Prefecture.

Zhu Youjian had never heard of this name before, but he was very familiar with the ancient name of Bao'an Prefecture.

It is Zhuolu County!
The Yellow Emperor and the Yan Emperor fought another great battle with Chi You, which laid the foundation for the descendants of the Yellow Emperor and the Yan Emperor in later generations.

Zhu Youjian, who had always found the place tedious, also developed an interest in traveling incognito.

Emperor Qianlong made seven trips to the south of the Yangtze River, while Emperor Kangxi traveled incognito. One of them was trying to show off, and the other was trying to woo a woman. However, Emperor Zhu Youjian's purpose was to check on the results of his land redistribution.

He had previously thought that the fall of the Ming Dynasty was partly due to the solidification of social classes.

In this era, the amount of land one owned determined one's social class.

With Li Zicheng eliminating the landlord class in advance, his first priority was naturally to distribute the land.

Now is the perfect time to check the results.

It was evening, and time to set up camp.

After making up his mind, Zhu Youjian immediately raised his hand to stop the army.

"That's all for today. The entire army should set up camp. Qi Yuan, you can arrange the camp defenses."

"Yes, sir!" Qi Yuan, who was standing right behind Zhu Youjian, immediately clasped his hands in a fist salute.

Then he took out several small flags from behind him and announced, "Today, the Zhejiang Army Division and the Sunite Division are on duty for a joint patrol. The Kharachin Division and the Chengen Thousand-Household Office of the Fifth Army Battalion are responsible for logistics. The rest of the units shall set up camp at the designated locations!"

"Starting at 4:45 PM and ending at 3:45 PM, no delays are allowed!"

"Anyone who disobeys orders, disrupts formations, deserts without permission, delays, seizes advantageous terrain, robs supplies, or violates the Eight Disciplines shall be executed as follows: if a soldier commits a violation, his squad shall be executed; if a squad commits a violation, his platoon shall be executed; if a platoon commits a violation, his flag shall be cut off. The Pacification Commissioners, Patrol Commissioners, and Military Discipline Officers of all departments shall jointly investigate and punish such violations. All matters shall be decided by His Majesty!"

The orders seemed very complex and demanding, with even each small unit and thousand-household unit having a designated location for the main camp.

In the military of that era, it would probably take one or two hours just to find a place.

In fact, it did take two hours to finally set up camp at the beginning.

Qi Yuan even felt that His Majesty's demands were a bit too high and did not conform to the realities of military operations.

But Zhu Youjian insisted on doing so.

He knew that an army's discipline determined its basic combat effectiveness, and that to ensure an army had discipline, one had to start from the basics.

Setting up camp was just the most basic step. After returning to the capital and establishing a standing army, Zhu Youjian wanted to use all the military postures, formations, marching in step, and even the folded blankets from his previous life.

The current Pacification Commissioner and Military Judge are the prototypes of the military police.

If two people don't walk side by side, or three people don't form a line, they will be punished.

He still has a red entry for "modern infantry" that he hasn't used yet.

Once the regular army has undergone six months of training, received the necessary certifications, and maintained such strict military discipline, they can then provide disaster relief and stand with the people in various regions.

I refuse to believe that anything in this era can defeat such an army!

Of course, this is just a concept and a plan. In practice, the matching military pay alone would be enough to bankrupt the current Ming Dynasty's finances, not to mention the daily meals for soldiers.

The road ahead is long and arduous!
Fortunately, it was effective; at least in terms of campsites, the number of campsites was reduced after several days.

Qi Yuan has given less than an hour, and none of the departments are panicking.

Bathed in the glow of the setting sun, squads of cavalry and infantry moved across the land without appearing chaotic.

The banners and commands resounded in unison, yet the soldiers could distinguish which flag and command belonged to them.

This was beyond Zhu Youjian's imagination.

This even exceeded Huang Degong's expectations.

This valiant general, who rose through the ranks, knew better than anyone the difficulty of getting the undisciplined Mongol cavalry to understand and obey orders.

I couldn't help but admire Qi Yuan for doing all of this.

Riding up to Zhu Youjian's side, Huang Degong exclaimed in amazement, "Your Majesty, General Qi is truly a master of military strategy in this era. In just a few days, he has transformed the Mongol tribes into this state. This humble general is truly impressed..."

Before he could finish speaking, Zhu Youjian interrupted him.

"Alright, alright, Tiger Mountain, stop praising Qi Yuan to me. He can't hear you anyway."

"Go change your clothes, take twenty skilled men with you, and come with me on this trip."

Huang Degong was taken aback by the sudden order. "Ah? Oh, Your Majesty's command!"

"But Your Majesty, where are we going?"

As Zhu Youjian walked into the large tent that had been set up, he beckoned two eunuchs to help him change his clothes.

"It's nothing, I'm just a little tired, I'll go for a walk around."

“Okay…” Huang Degong nodded blankly, then turned to walk out.

Then, suddenly realizing something, she exclaimed, "What?! Go for a walk around?!" "Absolutely not, Your Majesty! The rebel soldiers are nearby! Your Majesty's precious life cannot be allowed to cause trouble!"

Zhu Youjian took off his armor on his own.

"I can't do anything you want. According to your ideas, I should stay in the palace to assist in governing the country. You can fight the wars, and the cabinet should approve the policies. That's what a wise ruler should do, right?"

“I have thought about it, and I have done it, but the more I do it, the worse the world becomes.”

"The court has been corrupt for too long; it is no longer the court."

"That's why I had to personally lead the expedition, why I conquered Tiger Mountain and appointed you as commander-in-chief in my place, and why I appointed Ni Yuanlu as prime minister to share my burdens!"

"The battle is temporarily over now, and Li Zicheng is no longer a threat. I need to go and see how things are going in Zheng's country. I need to see if anyone dares to touch the land I allocated a month ago!"

The warning in these words was so obvious that it would be strange if Huang Degong didn't understand.

Ultimately, isn't it just about making Huang Degong a loyal subject of His Majesty?

Like Ni Yuanlu, everything she had was given by the emperor, and she had to obey the emperor in everything she did.

They are the emperor's hands and mouth, not stumbling blocks.

Huang Degong also planned to do the same.

However, he had one question: "Your Majesty, it's only the end of May, and there are still three months until the autumn harvest. How can you possibly know about the land?"

According to his experience, only at the autumn harvest can one see whether the land has been encroached upon, because at this time many encroached lands are not exposed.

Farmers continued to cultivate their fields as usual, but when it came time to harvest, the crops that grew in their fields were not their own.

Most of the grain had to be used to repay the landlord's loan, a small portion to pay taxes, and the remainder was only enough to feed the family. They would then have to borrow again the following year to plant the next crop.

That's why it's said that Zhu Youjian can't find anything when he goes to check now.

To everyone's surprise, Zhu Youjian shook his head and said something puzzling: "It will be too late if we wait until the autumn harvest."

Then he remained silent, and Huang Degong could not ask any more questions, so he had no choice but to go down and find the skilled men who accompanied him.

Zhu Youjian said that finding ten or twenty would be enough.

But how could Huang Degong have really only recruited such a small number of people?

In this era, it was considered very frugal for the emperor to have fewer than a thousand guards when he traveled.

Emperor Zhengde enjoyed traveling incognito, often only accompanied by three or five close ministers. However, the number of secret agents (Jinyiwei) who secretly followed him never fell below eight thousand.

The largest number of Imperial Guards ever deployed was in the Jiangnan region, with over 30,000 from the two regional garrisons in the north and south!
Although Zhu Youjian did not receive this treatment, Huang Degong still dispatched 500 elite troops to lie in ambush around the area, and also ordered 300 cavalrymen from Qi Jiguang's army to follow at a distance.

However, only twenty people accompanied Zhu Youjian.

Because if there were even one more, it would be considered that Huang Degong had disobeyed the imperial decree.

Before the sun set, Zhu Youjian, dressed in a silk robe, accompanied by Huang Degong and eunuchs, headed straight for Chengyi Village, which was forty miles away.

They traveled lightly and quickly, arriving at their destination in less than half an hour.

Huang Degong unconsciously tightened his grip on the reins.

At the end of the dirt road in the distance, more than ten children wrapped in rags were chasing after an oxcart.

The setting sun at the end of May cast long shadows of them, and their bare feet kicked up fine dust on the dirt road.

"Your Majesty, Chengyi Village is just ahead." The guide pointed to the half-collapsed rammed earth wall in the distance. "According to the regulations during the Hongwu era, every 110 households were organized into a village, with a village head in charge of tax collection and population registration. This system has been in place since the Wanli era."

Zhu Youjian raised his hand to stop the guide's rambling.

Horse hooves pounded across the cracked irrigation ditch, and farmers who had been bending over to work in the fields straightened up.

His dark face was splattered with mud, and his coarse brown blouse was soaked with sweat, leaving dark marks.

In the southernmost field, three skinny yellow oxen were dragging a wooden plow along, moving with difficulty.

Zhu Youjian casually approached an old man and struck up a conversation.

"Old man, may I ask if the wheat seedlings in your area are still green and healthy this year?"

The old farmer resting on the edge of the field jumped up in fright.

A naked boy was curled up in a bamboo basket at his feet, stuffing half a millet cake into his mouth.

The old man hurriedly hid the child behind his back, his cloudy eyes sweeping over Zhu Youjian's brocade robe. "Please don't laugh at this poor old man, sir."

"Don't panic, sir." Zhu Youjian dismounted, his boots sinking into the soft paddy field. "I am a silk merchant from the capital. I am on my way north to trade goods and I have found your land to be well-maintained, much better than other places."

The old man's relaxed eyes twitched slightly.

He hunched over and retreated to the edge of the ditch, mud seeping into his toes through his cracked straw sandals. “My lord, you may not know this, but last month the Holy Emperor defeated the rebel Li Zicheng and gave us all the land that Li Yanwang had seized.”

He held up five withered, twig-like fingers. "Fifty mu! A full fifty mu of farmland!"

Just as the old man reached out, Huang Degong's sword made a soft sound in its sheath, ready to be drawn at any moment should the old man make a strange movement.

Twenty disguised guards had quietly dispersed; three guarded the road, five disappeared into the willow grove, and the rest formed a fan shape around the field ridges.

Zhu Youjian seemed oblivious, bending down to pick up a clump of soil from the roots of the wheat seedlings. "This soil is grayish, is it lacking in nutrients?"

"Absolutely not!" The old farmer suddenly sprang to his feet, trying to stop Zhu Youjian's hand. "How could I dare to dirty the hands of such an important person!"

He had barely uttered the words when he withdrew his hand as if burned, and four sticks were already at his neck.

His legs went weak with fright, and his knees slammed heavily against the edge of the paddy field. "This old man deserves to die!"

Zhu Youjian waved for Huang Degong to sheathe his sword, then reached out to support the old man's trembling arm, feeling the rough calluses on his palm. "I was being presumptuous. May I ask your surname, sir? How many people in your family cultivate these fifty mu?"

"Thanks to my grandfather, I was born with the surname Zhang and am the third in my family."

The old man glanced furtively at Huang Degong's hand resting on the hilt of his sword. "Seven sons in my family, three died in battle in Xuanfu."

His Adam's apple bobbed twice, then he suddenly straightened his hunched back. "The remaining four have all gone with the Holy Emperor to fight the Tartars! The other day, the county government sent over an official document saying that those who have been beheaded three ranks will be granted land!"

The call of a cuckoo echoed from the willow grove; it was a safety signal from the guards.

Zhu Youjian squatted down, looking at the boy whose face was covered in crumbs from eating biscuits. "Was the oxen provided by the government?"

"How could that be?" Old Zhang wiped his grandson's face with his clothes. "It was borrowed from Zhou, the scholar in the county. He'll pay 15% of the cattle rent in the fall."

His deeply lined face suddenly broke into a smile, his missing front tooth letting out a whistling sound. "But the grain seeds were issued by the official granary! The official document was posted in front of the Three Emperors Temple, saying that the Holy Emperor himself said that for every peck borrowed, a peck must be returned!"

"Is anyone trying to take your land?"

The old man became even more proud upon hearing this, saying, "This land was allocated to us by the Emperor; who would dare to take it?"

"His Majesty said he would specifically stand up for us common soldiers!"

The setting sun dyed the rice paddies a golden-red hue, making it impossible to tell whether it was the light emanating from the old man's eyes or the sunlight itself.

Zhu Youjian looked at the farmers in the distance who were whipping their oxen and suddenly noticed that they all had wooden tags tied to their ankles with straw ropes.

Following his gaze, Zhang Laosan quickly explained, "That's a land deed. The county magistrate had it tied there to prevent thieves from replacing the boundary stones. The land was bestowed by the Holy Emperor, and the boundary stones are all carved with dragon patterns on bluestone!"

Huang Degong suddenly coughed lightly.

Zhu Youjian turned his head and saw smoke and dust rising in the southwest, which was the communication signal sent by Qi Jiguang's cavalry as usual.

It means it's time to go back.

He stood up and brushed the mud off the corner of his robe. "Have you heard of any remnants of the rebel army nearby?"

"They've long since disappeared!" Zhang Laosan exclaimed excitedly, waving his chipped hoe. "Last month, when the government troops passed through, I saw the dragon flag with my own eyes! Those ladder trucks were so tall, and their cannon barrels were thicker than water tanks!"

His grandson was so frightened that he cried loudly, but the old man was completely oblivious. "The Holy Emperor stood on his golden helmet and horse, and with just a point of his sword, the rebel Tartars were terrified!"

Ignoring his father-in-law's boasting, Zhu Youjian took out a piece of silver from his sleeve and stuffed it into the child's hand.

Huang Degong immediately led his horse over, and the twenty guards instantly returned to their positions as if by a machine.

As the sound of horses' hooves faded into the twilight, Zhang Laosan remained kneeling on the edge of the field, muttering to himself.

The evening breeze lifted his empty trouser legs, revealing the festering sores on his knees.

(End of this chapter)