Chongzhen's domineering

Chapter 193 The Boast of Claiming Kingship in Hanzhong (Part 1)

September and October are the harvest season for most areas.

This is also the busiest time for shipping on the Grand Canal and major waterways such as the Yangtze River, Yellow River, Huai River, and Han River.

When Pan Guozhong led over a hundred ships of various sizes to Xi'an Prefecture, it didn't attract much attention, because a hundred 800-ton steamships and over two hundred 1,600-ton giant ships were already running all over the major waterways, and everyone was used to it.

After receiving Zhu Jue's secret edict, Yang He did not hesitate to issue the governor's order, ordering the deputy commander of Shaanxi to transport tax grain to Huguang to provide relief to the disaster victims in Hanzhong Prefecture and Xi'an Prefecture.

There doesn't seem to be anything unusual about this. Last year, Zhu Jue issued an edict to use all the tax grain from Henan, Shandong, and even Shanxi for disaster relief. This year, no one would think it's abnormal to transfer more tax grain from Huguang.

However, things started to go wrong right after that.

This was all because Pan Guozhong kept hauling tax grain to Hanzhong Prefecture, but none of the prefectures and counties in Hanzhong Prefecture received a single grain of tax grain.

This is not a big deal.

Immediately afterwards, news spread in the Hanyin and Xing'an areas that the descendants of the Celestial Master had come out of the mountains. It was rumored that the descendants of the Celestial Master had come out of the mountains to save the common people, and that as long as they followed the descendants of the Celestial Master, they would be able to eat their fill.

If anyone else were to brag like that, no one would believe them.

What the descendants of the Celestial Master said was believed by everyone.

This is because during the Three Kingdoms period, Zhang Lu, a descendant of the Celestial Master, set up many charitable shelters in Hanzhong. Meals in these shelters were truly free; people could eat as much as they wanted, as long as they didn't waste food.

Upon hearing the news, starving refugees from Hanyin and Xing'an Prefecture flocked to the area in a frenzy. At this moment, they no longer cared whether the rumors were true or false; all they wanted was to have enough to eat.

Those who live nearby can arrive in a day or two. They might be starving on the way, but if they can get a full meal, they'll have made a fortune.

As it turned out, there really were charitable shelters, and one of them was located on the official road leading to Hanyin and Xing'an Prefecture.

Although the charity only provides porridge, several large pots are constantly being boiled, and you can drink as much porridge as you want for free, guaranteed to fill you up.

These charitable homes also had notices posted, and the descendants of the Celestial Master had established a Taoist temple on the site of the former Celestial Master Hall in Xicheng Mountain, recruiting disciples on a large scale. Anyone willing to follow the descendants of the Celestial Master to save the common people could go and accept the test and become an apprentice.

As for the test, it was generally a vow to save the people, or else be struck by lightning and die.

Whether anyone believes this or not is another matter, but there are quite a few people who go to become disciples of the Celestial Master's descendants, and those who have sworn an oath are all taken in by the Celestial Master's descendants and divided into priests and ghost soldiers according to their abilities.

The chief priest was responsible for setting up charitable shelters and transporting grain, while the ghost soldiers were responsible for leading people to collect firewood and cook porridge.

Zhang Yun, a descendant of the Celestial Master, gradually came into the sight of the disaster victims. Although he was young, he was dignified and solemn, with auspicious cloud patterns at the corners of his eyes, making him look like a legendary immortal.

Wherever he went, he would inquire about the well-being of the disaster victims and repeatedly instruct his disciples to ensure that the victims were well-fed and that no one went hungry.

Every time this guy goes on a tour, it's quite a spectacle. There are hundreds of disciples, banging gongs and drums, holding signs and flags, carrying ritual implements, and so on.

Although he called himself the Young Celestial Master, wherever he went, disaster victims would prostrate themselves on the ground, moved to tears of gratitude, calling him the Celestial Master and the Living Bodhisattva. Some even knelt down and followed him, begging him to take them as his disciples.

There are naturally extras leading the way here, making it incredibly easy to fool the disaster victims. As the saying goes, "He who eats another's food is bound to him, and he who takes another's money is bound to him." Moreover, after being hungry for so long, they are finally able to eat their fill, so they are bound to feel grateful.

His performance caused an even bigger stir. Almost all the disaster victims from Hanzhong who could reach Hanyin and Xing'an Prefecture flocked to him, and countless people cried and begged to become his disciples.

The number of charitable shrines also increased, starting in the villages and along the roadsides near the city. Later, they were gradually built in the city itself, in Hanyin County, Xing'an Prefecture, Shiquan County, Pingli County, and so on, in every street and alley.

At the beginning of the Wanli era, Hanzhong Prefecture was estimated to have more than 350,000 households and more than 1.7 million people. Now, more than half of them have been affected by the disaster, with at least 200,000 households and nearly a million disaster victims flocking in. Several counties near Xing'an Prefecture are almost completely filled.

In any other year, who would dare to do this? Local officials would have stopped them long ago.

Are you kidding me? Gathering millions of people, are you trying to start a rebellion?
Nowadays, no local officials dare to step forward to stop it, because the disaster victims are not to be trifled with.

Why did the disaster victims rebel? It was because Zhang Douyao, the magistrate of Chengcheng County, saw that the disaster victims had no food and still bullied them.

At times like these, anyone who dares to prevent disaster victims from having enough to eat is courting death!

Local officials are not stupid; they are shrewd. If it weren't for Zhang Douyao's example, perhaps someone would have stepped forward. But with Zhang Douyao's example, who would dare to step forward?
They kept sending urgent memorials, requesting the current emperor to make a decision.

This means that if the current emperor wants to manage the situation, then he should send troops to disperse these disaster victims; they have no other choice.

At this moment, Zhu Jue was both happy and worried. He was happy that more than 600 assembled ships had finally been built, but he was worried that the ice would freeze in a little over a month, and the second batch of assembled giant ships would most likely not be built.

Around 9 a.m. that day, he stood in a dock at the shipyard, staring blankly at the giant ship that was slowly accelerating out of the waterway.

Wang Zheng, Zheng Zhilong, Lu Xiangsheng, and others were also standing beside him, lost in thought.

This situation is truly baffling; they don't know what to do.

Zhu Jue stood there for a long time before asking, "Liangfu, will there be no problem with those sixty warships being built by the end of this month?" Wang Zheng nodded repeatedly and said, "No problem, Your Majesty. Those warships have already been launched and have been fitted with steam engines, boilers, and water turbines for testing. Now all that's left is to assemble the decks, cabins, and gun carriages. In addition, most of the other shipbuilding craftsmen have come to help, so they will definitely be completed by the end of the month."

If it's completed by the end of this month, it definitely won't be frozen in the dock waterways.

The problem is that if another batch of cobbled-together giant ships were built, they would most likely be frozen in the dock waterways.

Zhu Jue thought for a moment and then asked, "Do we still have enough rubber left to build more than six hundred assembled giant ships?"

How do you say this?

Wang Zheng glanced at Song Yingxing before cautiously saying, "If we use all the rubber we have left, it should be barely enough to assemble over six hundred giant ships. However, this will cut off Chang Geng's raw materials, and we won't be able to build steam engines and boilers."

Well then, the steam engine and boiler can't be stopped.

They are no longer in dire need of ships.

Zhu Jue thought for a moment and then asked, "Liangfu, wouldn't it be simpler to assemble a wheeled boat of 800 liao by piecing it together?"

That couldn't be simpler.

Wang Zheng nodded repeatedly and said, "Yes, it's easier to assemble a wheeled boat or ship with a capacity of 800 liang, and the bow and stern are also much easier to process. I just need to order some machine tools to be made. The key is that we don't have enough rubber."

Zhu Jue pondered for a while, then solemnly said, "We rushed through the construction of our ships this year without proper planning."

We can't rush to build them next year. We need to plan these 300 dock waterways carefully. Next year, we need to build at least 1,200 1,600-ton modular merchant ships to bring the total number of such merchant ships to 2,000.

Furthermore, we need to build about 140 warships with a capacity of 1,600 units, bringing the total number of warships to 200. The rest of the warships should be built as many as we can, as these ships are very useful on inland waterways.

We are not in a hurry to expand overseas, therefore, we only need enough ocean-going ships to haul and escort cargo. The key right now lies in inland waterways, therefore, we need to build more 800-liter wheeled boats and steamships.

Upon hearing this, Wang Zheng slowly nodded and said, "Your Majesty, I understand. By the way, there are too many types of ships nowadays. Shouldn't we give them names? It's too troublesome to name them by their material composition or even their structure."

This should have been named a long time ago.

Zhu Jue thought about it carefully, and then decisively said: "From now on, cargo ships will be called Zhiyuan Merchant Ships, regardless of whether they are pieced together or whole. The 800-liao wheeled boats will be called Small Zhiyuan Merchant Ships, the 1600-liao cargo ships will be called Medium Zhiyuan Merchant Ships, and the 3600-liao cargo ships will be called Large Zhiyuan Merchant Ships."

From now on, we will call single-deck warships Weiyuan warships. A single-deck warship with 1,600 liang of cargo will be called a small Weiyuan warship, a single-deck warship with 3,600 liang of cargo will be called a medium-sized Weiyuan warship, and if it is larger, with more than 5,000 liang of cargo, it will be called a large Weiyuan warship.

There were also multi-story warships called Zhenyuan warships. A multi-story warship with a displacement of 1,600 liang (approximately 500 tons) was called a small Zhenyuan warship, a multi-story warship with a displacement of 3,600 liang (approximately 1,500 tons) was called a medium-sized Zhenyuan warship, and so on.

Zhiyuan, Weiyuan, Zhenyuan—these are really good names.

Upon hearing this, Wang Zheng nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty is wise, I understand."

Zhu Jue nodded slightly and then asked, "Chang Geng, are the ten thousand sets of steam engines, boilers, and water-cooled fans ready?"

Song Yingxing nodded repeatedly and said, "Yes, Your Majesty, everything is ready."

Zhu Jue thought about it carefully again, and then solemnly said: "Jian Dou, the medium-sized Zhiyuan merchant ships, including these newly built ones and the ones I have mobilized, total about eight hundred ships. And it is still early, so we can make another trip to Qiongzhou Prefecture."

You are here today to lead the officers and soldiers of the Beijing naval garrison to load those 10,000 steam engines, boilers and water-cooled fans onto the ships. Note that these items should be loaded onto the sides of the ship's hold as much as possible, leaving the middle for the disaster victims to sit and lie down.

Today you must load the ships up. Tomorrow you will order Lai Pin to lead the fleet to the Yellow River dock in Xi'an Prefecture to fetch the disaster victims. Make two trips and make sure to bring all the more than 100,000 disaster victims gathered there to Qiongzhou Prefecture.

The capital may freeze over next. I will organize ships to transport all the goods intended for the Spanish to the East. I will also have Hong Kui lead all the warships to the East.

"Then you will order Hongkui and Laipin to set sail with three hundred medium-sized Zhiyuan merchant ships and fifty small Zhiyuan warships to the Americas to haul goods—copper and rubber—bring back as much as they can."

Upon hearing this, Lu Xiang-sheng nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty, I understand."

As they were discussing, Fang Zhenghua suddenly rushed over with a memorial in his hand, bowed, and said, "Your Majesty, this is an urgent report from Hanzhong Prefecture, delivered by express messenger from 800 li away."

Has Pan Yunteng started a rebellion?

Isn't this kid being a bit too hasty?
Zhu Jue took the memorial, glanced at it, and surprisingly smiled slightly.

The prefect of Hanzhong reported that Zhang Yun of the Celestial Masters sect was luring disaster victims to join him by promising them food. Now, more than a million disaster victims have gathered in Xing'an Prefecture and several nearby counties. If this is not dealt with, trouble may break out.

Pan Yunteng, that guy, acted pretty well; he managed to attract so many disaster victims right away.

After reading it, Zhu Jue smiled slightly and said, "Ruoyu, give your instructions. Why should you interfere when others are providing relief to disaster victims? If you have the money and grain to provide relief to so many disaster victims, then you should go and take care of it."

That means we don't care!
(End of this chapter)