Chongzhen's domineering

Chapter 190 Bizarre and Outlandish Rebellion Ordered by Imperial Decree (Part 1)

It's September, the harvest season. The rice and wheat in the Gyeonggi region are turning golden, and the weather is gradually getting cooler.

At this time, the capital of the Ming Dynasty was already a prosperous and flourishing city. The streets and alleys of the inner city were bustling with traffic every day, and the factories in the outer city were springing up like mushrooms after rain, so numerous that they were impossible to count.

The lives of the people in the capital were becoming increasingly prosperous, and laughter and joy filled the air.

Zhu Jue has been frowning these days, unable to relax.

The Ming Dynasty is not a true golden age now. There are not many prosperous places, and many ordinary people are still starving, especially in the disaster-stricken northwest, where countless people have starved to death.

In fact, the Ming Dynasty was still beset by internal and external troubles and natural disasters. The situation in the capital was only slightly better because he was in charge. The disaster-stricken areas in the northwest were like hell. Rebels also took advantage of the hellish natural disasters to expand rapidly.

The rebels in the Northwest will have to be dealt with sooner or later. He can't just let them run rampant and let a single rebel group grow to hundreds of thousands or even millions. That would be too much trouble to deal with.

He was thinking about how to suppress the rebels.

In the past two years, with his deliberate indulgence and that of the three powerful clans and eight imperial merchants of Puzhou, the number of rebels has increased more than tenfold.

When Wang Jiayin and Wang Ziyong were alive, there were only about 30,000 rebels. But in just two years, the number of rebels has skyrocketed to more than 400,000.

If the rebels are allowed to continue at this pace, their income this winter will most likely exceed one million.

Although these million rebels are divided into dozens of groups, Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong will launch a war of annexation.

By then, even if we don't say that the number of rebels Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong alone will reach millions, it's estimated that the combined number will reach millions within the next two years.

The problem is that he can only start to work on disaster relief in the next two years. Whether it's promoting the planting of sweet potatoes and potatoes or relocating people, those things cannot be accomplished in just two years.

If the momentum of the rebels is not curbed, they will most likely spread to Huguang, Southern Zhili, and even Sichuan. A million rebels is no joke; they will swarm like locusts wherever they go. It will be impossible to contain them without sending hundreds of thousands of Beijing garrison soldiers.

He had never imagined that the number of rebels would reach a million within a few years, because in history, it took more than a decade for the number of rebels during the Chongzhen reign to reach a million.

The course of history is progressing so fast it's unimaginable. In less than four years, the number of rebels has reached a million!

He has no choice but to consider curbing the rebels.

How can we contain the rebels without sending a large army to encircle and suppress them?
Should we try to make the rebels kill each other?

Emperor Chongzhen in history also tried this tactic, but it didn't work at all.

Back then, the infighting among rebels was mainly caused by Zhang Xianzhong and Li Zicheng annexing other rebels. These two guys never fought amongst themselves. As long as these two guys didn't fight each other, causing other rebels to fight amongst themselves would actually help these two guys.

As the sun set, Zhu Jue, who had spent half the day lounging among the nearly completed steam engine factory buildings, was preparing to return to the palace for his meal when Lu Xiang-sheng suddenly strode over, cupped his hands, and bowed, saying, "Your humble servant greets Your Majesty."

In the past few months, Lu Xiang-sheng has almost become a foreman. He's been busy all day long, leading the Beijing garrison soldiers to build docks, waterways, and factories. It seems like they haven't seen each other for a long time.

Zhu Jue nodded slightly, then asked, "Jian Dou, what's wrong? Is something the matter?"

Lu Xiang-sheng nodded repeatedly and said, "Yes, Your Majesty, the factories here are almost finished, and the rice and wheat in the capital region are almost ready for harvest. Shouldn't we send the soldiers of the Beijing Garrison back to harvest the rice and wheat in shifts?"

There really isn't much work left here. If we leave tens of thousands of people to work in shifts, we can still finish the project before November.

Zhu Jue nodded without hesitation and said, "Okay, you can arrange it as you see fit."

Lu Xiang-sheng hesitated for a moment, then cautiously asked, "Your Majesty, Pan Guozhong is actually quite good. Shouldn't we mention him? The Beijing Garrison has enough officers for other generals, but we are still short of several deputy commanders."

At this moment, there are 300,000 Beijing garrison infantrymen in the capital alone, 100,000 Beijing garrison infantrymen in Jizhou, and 50,000 Beijing garrison chariot soldiers, 30,000 Beijing garrison cavalrymen, and 10,000 Beijing garrison musketeers in Liaodong.

There were only four commanders-in-chief of the Beijing garrison: Cui Yingyuan, Zhou Yuji, Huang Degong, and Zheng Hongkui. This was still somewhat insufficient, and the number of deputy commanders-in-chief was even more severe.

Pan Guozhong was the second-place finisher in the military examination of the first year of the Chongzhen reign. Wang Laipin, who was the third-place finisher in the same examination, had already been promoted to deputy commander of the Beijing naval forces, while Pan Guozhong was still a deputy commander of the Beijing naval forces.

As for why Pan Guozhong was not promoted or given important positions, it was originally because of Pan Guozhong's place of origin. He was from Hanzhongwei in Shaanxi, and it was highly likely that he was involved with rebels, or possibly with the three powerful clans or even the eight imperial merchants of Puzhou.

However, Zhu Jue wasn't thinking about that at the moment. He was thinking about the rebels, or rather, the rebel king.

Most of the rebel kings came from the Yansui area. Although Yansui belongs to Guanzhong, Guanzhong and Hanzhong both belong to Shaanxi. If Guanzhong can produce rebel kings, why can't Hanzhong?

If Pan Guozhong, a martial arts scholar who ranked second in the imperial examination, were to raise a banner, recruit troops, and compete with Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong to annex other rebel kings, could Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong win?
Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong were absolutely no match for them!
The rise of Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong was solely due to the covert support of the three powerful clans and eight imperial merchants in Puzhou. In terms of actual military skills, they were not even worthy of carrying Pan Guozhong's shoes.

History has long proven that the rebels under Gao Yingxiang, Zhang Xianzhong, and even Li Zicheng were all a mess. Their hundreds of thousands or even millions of troops could not exert the fighting power of a normal army. They relied purely on their numbers and had no strategy in their battles.

If Gao Yingxiang, Zhang Xianzhong, and even Li Zicheng's troops could have displayed the fighting power of a normal army, the world would have been theirs long ago. What border troops, what Jurchens, what Wu Sangui, what Hong Chengchou, etc., were all nothing in front of a real million-strong army.

Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong's forces were nothing but a rabble. Let alone sending a second-place finisher in the martial arts imperial examination to fight them, even sending a second- or third-place martial arts scholar would likely result in these two being unable to defeat them.

As for the behind-the-scenes support from the three powerful clans and eight imperial merchants of Puzhou, it's nothing compared to the behind-the-scenes support from the emperor himself.

At this moment, he didn't have enough money and grain to relieve the tens of millions or even 20 or 30 million disaster victims in the entire Northwest, but he could still provide enough money and grain to relieve the millions of disaster victims. Could the three major clans and eight imperial merchants of Puzhou provide so much money and grain to support Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong?
Obviously, this is impossible. Providing relief to millions of disaster victims would cost at least tens of millions of taels of silver a year. There are very few merchants who can afford to spend that much money these days, and those who can certainly wouldn't give it away.

He could indeed contribute the funds, as he had intended to provide disaster relief, but he couldn't provide relief to all the victims yet. He needed to wait until sweet potatoes and potatoes were widely available and overseas trade was established before he would have enough money and supplies for disaster relief.

He didn't have enough money and food to provide disaster relief, but he could use some of it to secretly cultivate a group of rebels. This way, he could not only provide relief to some of the disaster victims, but also prevent the rebels from growing too powerful to be controlled.

why not?

Of course, this is conditional. The condition is that Pan Guozhong's men must be similar to those of Gao Yingxiang or Zhang Xianzhong.

In other words, if the number of rebels under Pan Guozhong, the second-ranked scholar, were roughly the same as the number under Gao Yingxiang or Zhang Xianzhong, then the rebels trained by Pan Guozhong alone could potentially defeat both Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong.

However, the matter is not that simple.

Pan Guozhong was the second-place finisher in the imperial military examination and had already risen to the rank of Assistant Commander of the Capital Garrison, a powerful general of the third rank. Why would he rebel?

This is a problem. Even if Pan Guozhong were to disguise himself, he could still very likely be recognized.

Another question is whether Pan Guozhong's power will actually lead to a rebellion.

If Pan Guozhong's forces grow to hundreds of thousands or even millions and his ambitions swell, turning the charade into a real rebellion, then things will get really messy.

The second-place finisher in the imperial examination was no joke; his military strategy, martial arts, and even tactics were all top-notch, surpassing even the average military commander.

He couldn't possibly cultivate a rebel more powerful than Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong.

Zhu Jue thought about it carefully, then asked, "Jiandou, do you think Pan Guozhong would betray me?"

Ah!
Why would you think that?

Lu Xiang-sheng slowly shook his head and solemnly said, "Your Majesty, after spending a long time with a person, you can still see their true nature. Some people are born rebellious, while others are willing to sacrifice themselves for the country."

Your Majesty, I believe Pan Guozhong belongs to the latter category. I have secretly observed him for a long time before daring to recommend him. Pan Guozhong is undoubtedly a loyal and devoted person, certainly not someone with ulterior motives.

Since you've already investigated secretly, there shouldn't be any problems.

Some people may indeed be two-faced, and nine times out of ten, such people have ulterior motives.

If someone is consistent in word and deed, both openly and secretly, then they are most likely a loyal and devoted person.

Zhu Jue thought about it carefully for a moment, then nodded slightly and said, "Alright, have him come to Yuxi Palace to pay his respects around 7:00 AM tomorrow."

This is no joke—it's no joke to cultivate a rebel king.

He still needs to conduct a personal investigation before deciding whether or not to train Pan Guozhong.

In terms of leading troops into battle, Lu Xiang-sheng might be better than him; but in terms of judging character, Lu Xiang-sheng is definitely no match for him.

(End of this chapter)