Chongzhen's domineering

Chapter 163 The Transmission of the Court to Restore Liao: Taiji's Detour (Part 1)

Gao Yingxiang's troops were heading straight for Guangping Prefecture, which meant he was coming to provoke them.

This guy is like someone who's deliberately courting death, doing things that the emperor can't tolerate.

Historically, he was the one who led the army to capture Zhongdu Fengyang Prefecture, and he was also the one who led the army to Beizhili to provoke the emperor. Emperor Chongzhen's fiery temper was ignited by him several times.

Zhu Jue was naturally not fooled.

Gao Yingxiang is clearly not normal. Instead of attacking Zheng Fan, who is right next to him, he led his army to travel hundreds of miles to attack Beizhili!
Could it be that Northern Zhili was easier to conquer than Zheng's territory?

Or perhaps this guy thinks that the emperor has fewer subordinates than a vassal king?

That's all nonsense; this guy is clearly just provoking us.

The three powerful clans and eight imperial merchants of Puzhou hoped that he would mobilize all his troops to pursue and suppress the rebels.

What's the point of him chasing after them!
The current situation is obvious: without sufficient funds and supplies for disaster relief, the rebels cannot be eradicated.

If he were to mobilize a large army to pursue and annihilate them, it would be a waste of money, food, and manpower.

It would be better to use this money, grain, and military strength to deal with the Jurchens and recover Liaodong first.

The Jurchens may seem more capable than the rebels, but they are actually much easier to deal with because Liaodong is there and they have no choice but to go. If the Jurchens lose Liaodong, their fate is sealed.

Rebels can roam freely, traveling thousands or even tens of thousands of miles a year without any problem, making them impossible to eradicate.

Emperor Chongzhen simply didn't understand this principle, and thus, he was made a fool of like a monkey.

He resolutely refused to be fooled.

Now that he has the vulcanized rubber, he needs to hurry up and make the sealing ring.

Sealing rings are simpler than vulcanized rubber.

This thing is basically a copper mold sculpted like a box, then filled with vulcanized rubber, and then a pressing device that allows steam to pass through from both the top and bottom, which is then tightened by rotating a screw.

He had already ordered several sets of copper molds to be carved, including molds for sealing rings used in large and small steam engines.

The clamping device is also very simple; it can be made of cast steel. Basically, you just need to grind the two surfaces that come into contact with the copper mold flat.

As for the holes through which steam passes, these can be cast during the casting process.

Song Yingxing quickly made the clamping device.

Around 9 a.m. that day, after he had finished reviewing the memorials, he led Zheng Zhilong, Wang Chengen, and others straight to the machine factory in Tongzhou City.

At this time, a new thing appeared in the factory that was specializing in developing new machine tools.

The clamping device wasn't too strange; it consisted of two square steel blocks, roughly half a zhang in size and a foot thick, connected to a screw rod. The screw rod was connected to a large rotating turntable, and copper pipes for steam inlet and outlet were connected to the left and right. It was that simple.

Zhu Jue glanced at it briefly, then waved his hand and said, "Alright, bring the mold and the refurbished rubber, turn on the steam, and get ready to start."

This thing is really simple.

He didn't even need to teach him; Song Yingxing already knew what to do.

Song Yingxing beckoned to several craftsmen and ordered them to bring the mold and open it. He then took a piece of vulcanized rubber, cut out a long strip, and stuffed it around the inside of the mold. He then ordered someone to insert the mold between two pressure plates. After that, he had a strong craftsman turn the turntable hard to press down the upper pressure plate, pressing the copper mold inside tightly and squeezing out the excess rubber. That was about it.

Next, we just need to wait for the sealing ring to set at high temperature.

This sealing ring is just a small circle, and it takes about 45 minutes to set at high temperature. You just need to wait.

Zhu Jue was just about to go and check out the other machines developed by Song Yingxing when suddenly the sound of rapid hoofbeats rang out outside.

A moment later, Lü Zhi strode in, cupped her hands, and bowed, saying, "This servant greets Your Majesty." Zhu Jue nodded slightly, then asked, "How is the situation in Liaodong?"

Lu Zhi explained in detail: "The floating ice along the coast of Liaodong Inner Sea has melted by now, and I have led the fleet to Liaohai City to see Lord Sun."

Lord Sun said that the ice and snow on the Liao River would probably melt in about ten days, at which point he could build a pontoon bridge, lead his army across the river, capture Haizhouwei, and construct the Xiaohai River defense line.

Hmm, very good. Sun Chuanting is still very composed and not in a hurry to achieve results.

If someone were as eager for quick success as Yuan Chonghuan, they would probably have led their troops across the river long ago while it was still frozen.

Doing so would not only alert the enemy, but could also cause chaos in Liaodong.

This is because both the Jurchens and the Jurchens could cross the river on ice. Even if they had 80,000 chariots, if they were to form a square formation, they could only defend a few miles.

At that time, Huang Taiji could completely bypass the chariot formation, directly cross the Liao River, and launch a chaotic attack behind the Liao River defense line and even behind the Shuangtaizi River defense line. In the freezing cold, his 40,000 cavalry would most likely be no match for the Jurchen cavalry.

If things really turned out that way, it would be strange if Liaodong didn't descend into chaos.

Sun Chuanting was waiting for the ice and snow on the river to melt. This would not only lull the Jurchens into a false sense of security, preventing Huang Taiji from guessing that they wanted to cross the river to retake Liaodong, but also give the Liaodong River defense line a wide river surface as a barrier, making it impossible for the Jurchen cavalry to cross the river.

In this way, they only needed to build a pontoon bridge to cross the Liao River, and then spread their chariots and troops evenly on the south bank of the Xiaohai River. The Jurchen cavalry would not have time to assemble, and the Xiaohai River would be blocked.

Then they will be able to take Haizhou City at their leisure, gradually build the Xiaohai River defense line, and then gradually recover the southern part of Liaodong.

Zhu Jue thought for a moment, then asked, "What about Gaizhou Garrison City? What does Boya plan to do?"

Sun Chuanting actually said that.

Without hesitation, Lü Zhi said, "Your Majesty, Lord Sun said that Gaizhou Garrison City is not large, and it can only house a few thousand troops at most. He only needs to send ten thousand cavalry to guard the north side of Gaizhou Garrison City."

If the Jurchens in Gaizhou dare to come out, the cavalry can easily encircle and annihilate them; if the Jurchens in Gaizhou remain holed up and do not come out, he will finish building up the Xiaohai River defense line and then send in infantry to take it down.”

Hmm, not bad, stable enough.

He even promised to send naval fast ships to help them transport people and supplies.

Both Haizhou Garrison City and Gaizhou Garrison City are not far from the Liaohe River defense line. As long as the pontoon bridge is built, it will take infantrymen less than a day to run there. There is no rush to send the fast naval ships to transport troops.

Zhu Jue thought about it carefully, and then decisively said, "You take a hundred ships to help Boya transport supplies. If anything happens, bring ten or so ships back to report. Otherwise, you can stay there and help Boya."

While Boya and his men are building a pontoon bridge to cross the river, you can use one hundred steamships carrying ten thousand musketeers from the Beijing garrison to line up in a row on the Xiaohai River, preventing the Jurchens from building the pontoon bridge and giving Boya some time to disperse his formation.

Oh dear, I can still lead troops into battle!
Lu Zhi, somewhat excited, cupped his hands and bowed, saying, "This servant understands."

Zhu Jue thought about it carefully again before waving his hand and saying, "Go, remember, come back if anything happens, otherwise stay there."

Lu Zhi quickly cupped his hands, bowed, and took his leave.

Soon, he set off with a hundred wheeled boats and ships, heading straight for Liaohai City.

Liaohai City is a newly built port city located west of the mouth of the Liao River.

This city was built specifically for the restoration of Liaodong. Sun Chuanting ordered its construction to cover an area of ​​more than ten miles in circumference. Inside, there were densely packed military camps, stables, and granaries, where more than 100,000 troops could be hidden without any clue.

Huang Taiji never expected that Sun Chuanting would dare to lead his army across the Liao River to reclaim lost territory so soon after taking control of the area west of the Liao River, and that he would take advantage of the frozen river to lead his army across.

His thoughts were similar to Zhu Jue's guess. He felt that since Sun Chuanting hadn't led his troops across the river while it was frozen, it was unlikely that he would be able to cross the river to recover lost territory this year, at least not before the end of spring planting.

Who would have thought that Sun Chuanting had already been preparing his troops in Liaohai City, waiting for the ice and snow on the river to melt so he could lead his army across the river to reclaim the lost territory.

(End of this chapter)