Chongzhen's domineering

Chapter 135 The Rebels' Plot Leads to the Fall of Zhongdu (Part 2)

Rebels from all sides gathered in Xingyang, and the situation in the Central Plains quickly changed dramatically.

Old Ma Shouying actually led more than 50,000 men across the Yellow River and headed straight for Weihui Prefecture.

Prince Zhu Changfang of Lu was so frightened that he immediately sent a memorial to the emperor with urgent news, asking for help.

Zhu Jue seemed oblivious to the situation; his mind was still focused on developing industry.

These days he's been running around shipyards, machine factories, musket factories, artillery factories, spinning mills, and weaving mills non-stop, keeping himself extremely busy.

As for the rebels occupying nearly half of Kaifeng Prefecture, he simply ordered Hong Chengchou to lead his troops to reclaim it, and that was the end of it.

Anyway, ninety percent of the Central Plains belonged to the princes and corrupt officials. Even if the entire Kaifeng Prefecture was occupied by rebels, he wouldn't lose much tax revenue. He couldn't be bothered with those rebels; developing the Ming Dynasty's industry was the real priority.

That morning, around 9 a.m., he had just finished reviewing the memorials and then rode straight to the shipyard with Zheng Zhilong, Wang Chengen, Fang Zhenghua, and others.

At this time, the hulls of fifty ships in the shipyard had been assembled, and some had even been put into the sewers to test their sealing performance.

If the sealing is not a problem, then it can be shipped after installing the steam engine, boiler, water turbine and cabin.

In other words, these ships will be put into use gradually in about a month.

Zhu Jue was overjoyed.

Zheng Zhilong couldn't help but rub his hands together as he looked at it, saying, "Your Majesty, if this ship can be built to a capacity of over a thousand tons, it can carry cannons. With the loading speed of our cannons and the maneuverability of this ship, one such warship would be equivalent to several of theirs."

By now, he naturally already knew that ships could run very fast without sails or oars, and he had seen breech-loading muskets and cannons, as well as the speed at which they loaded bullets and shells.

Having been a pirate captain, he was naturally most interested in this kind of thing.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Jue suddenly realized that this guy had seen an extraordinary number of ships; he had even seen three different types of Dutch galleons.

In terms of warships from later generations, he had naturally seen far more than this guy, but warships from later generations simply couldn't be built in this era; and in terms of understanding of modern warships, he couldn't compare to this guy's knowledge.

He thought for a moment, then asked, "Have you ever been on a Dutch ship?"

Zheng Zhilong nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty, I have been on the Dutch warships, and I have carefully examined the interiors of their warships."

Don't the Dutch have any sense of secrecy?
Zhu Jue asked, somewhat puzzled, "Aren't they afraid that you'll discover all the secrets of their warships?"

They are different from us.

Zheng Zhilong shook his head repeatedly and said, "They can't keep a secret because there are very few real Dutchmen on the warship. There are people from all over Europe, and even Japanese and people from our Ming Dynasty."

"Back then, I served as their interpreter. If they wouldn't let me enter the warship to relay orders, the warship probably wouldn't even be able to move."

Oh, I see.

Although the Dutch are the dominant maritime powers today, their total population is less than one million, while they have more than ten thousand ocean-going ships.

In other words, even if all the men, women, and children in the Netherlands were to participate, it wouldn't be enough to control these ocean-going ships.

Moreover, most of them still have to build and repair ships and do business in their home country.

Therefore, the Dutch had to hire people from other countries to sail their ocean-going ships.

This is the fundamental reason why the Netherlands could not maintain its position as a maritime superpower: with too few people, having many ships was useless.

The Ming Dynasty was different. If we were to compare population directly, no country could rival the Ming Dynasty.

This is also one of the advantages of the Ming Dynasty.

If the Ming Dynasty could build enough ocean-going ships, dominating the seas would be no problem at all.

The key now is still shipbuilding.

Zhu Jue thought about it carefully, and then decisively said, "Zhilong, when you have time, come and talk to Liangfu about the internal structure of the Dutch warships. Next, we will develop ocean-going steamships and even tower ships and gunboats."

Liangfu hasn't even seen the actual object yet. Trying to figure it out in isolation would take him ages. Talking to him about it will make things much easier.

At that moment, Wang Zheng also arrived after hearing the news.

Upon hearing Zhu Jue's words, he asked with great interest, "My lord, are you very familiar with the internal structure of the Dutch warships?"

This guy completely ignores me, the emperor, whenever he hears anything about warships!
Upon seeing this, Zhu Jue couldn't help but smile and shake his head.

Zheng Zhilong humbly replied, "Lord Wang, I wouldn't dare say I know everything, but I do know what's on the Dutch warships and what they generally look like." That's wonderful!
Upon hearing this, Wang Zheng started relentlessly questioning Zheng Zhilong, completely ignoring the emperor.

These are tech people!

Zhu Jue didn't seem to care.

Just as he was wondering where to go, a fast rider suddenly galloped towards him from the direction of the capital.

Soon, Fang Zhenghua came quickly with a memorial in his hand, bowed and said, "Your Majesty, His Highness Prince Lu has sent an urgent report from eight hundred li away."

Instead of attacking the nearby Zheng vassal state, these rebels went to the Lu vassal state, which was far away on the other side of the river.

Zhu Jue took the memorial and read it. Sure enough, tens of thousands of rebels had crossed the Yellow River and were heading straight for Weihui Prefecture. Prince Lu, Zhu Changfang, was so frightened that he almost wet himself.

These princes and royal family members, who told you to be rich and heartless?
If you could just give half of your old grain to disaster relief, the victims wouldn't be so hungry as to rebel.

You live a life of extravagance and debauchery, yet you refuse to contribute a single penny when natural disasters strike. You deserve it!

Zhu Jue pursed his lips slightly, then handed the memorial to Liu Ruoyu, pretending to be serious, and said: "Order Hong Chengchou to immediately send troops to rescue the Prince of Lu. If anything happens to the Prince of Lu, I will hold him accountable."

Liu Ruoyu took the memorial and was stunned for a moment.

This is your cousin, a blood relative within five degrees of kinship, and you didn't even send troops to rescue him!

However, he only hesitated for a moment before quickly ordering someone to bring over writing brush, ink, paper, inkstone, and a small table. He then knelt down and began to write rapidly.

This is not over yet.

The following morning, Prince Fu's memorial pleading for help, spanning eight hundred li, arrived again.

He Yilong, as if he had taken the wrong medicine, led tens of thousands of troops straight to Luoyang!
Prince Fu is the current emperor's uncle.

Zhu Jue still ordered Hong Chengchou to send troops to rescue them!

How many men did Hong Chengchou have?
This is not over yet.

Two days later, the Tang emperor sent another urgent memorial requesting help, delivered over 800 li (approximately 400 kilometers).

Cao Cao and Luo Rucai, as if they had taken the wrong medicine, led tens of thousands of troops straight to Nanyang Prefecture!

Zhu Jue still ordered Hong Chengchou to send troops to rescue them!

Hong Chengchou must have been dumbfounded after receiving these imperial edicts.

How could he possibly save so many rebels, especially since they were in three places hundreds of miles apart?
He only had 20,000 men under his command, while the three rebel groups combined had at least 100,000!

This is not over yet.

Two days later, another urgent report arrived from Guide Prefecture.

The rebels Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong suddenly led their troops out of Kaifeng and captured Tuocheng and Luyi in one fell swoop!

Zhu Jue finally remembered.

Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong were planning to attack Fengyang Prefecture and desecrate the ancestral graves of the Zhu family.

However, even though he remembered, it seemed too late.

Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong remained silent at first and did not launch any attack at all.

After the other three routes were launched, these two guys, as if they had been injected with chicken blood, rushed frantically towards Fengyang Prefecture.

The urgent reports, delivered over 800 li, continued to be sent to the capital.

Rebels have breached Taihe!

The rebels have captured Yingzhou!

The rebels have breached Yingshang!

Rebels have breached Shouzhou!

Zhongdu Fengyang Prefecture has fallen!
(End of this chapter)