Chongzhen's domineering

Chapter 198 The Celestial Master's Rebellion Sparks a Prairie Fire (Part 2)

The young celestial master Zhang Yun suddenly rose up in rebellion, proclaimed himself King of Hanzhong, and boasted that he had an army of 500,000 under his command!
This caused an uproar throughout the entire Ming Dynasty.

It is quite rare for a rebel group to grow to 500,000 in any dynasty. It is only possible for a dynasty to fall before a rebel group can grow to such a size.

In fact, this situation was not uncommon in the Ming Dynasty.

Historically, both Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong reached or even exceeded this scale. At his peak, Li Zicheng claimed to have a million men and horses under his command.

As for why such a large-scale rebellion occurred in the Ming Dynasty, the main reason can be attributed to the Little Ice Age.

Natural disasters that last for decades are rare in history, and droughts that last for more than ten or even several decades in the Northwest are even rarer.

If it weren't for this rare natural disaster in the Northwest, even if corrupt officials went to extremes, most ordinary people wouldn't have starved or frozen to death.

Ordinary people don't necessarily like to rebel. Under normal circumstances, most ordinary people only choose to rebel because they can't survive.

This terrible mini ice age disaster made it impossible for ordinary people throughout the Northwest and even the Central Plains to survive, and naturally, more people rebelled.

Nowadays, ordinary people in the Northwest are really struggling to survive, especially in the freezing cold. Even if they can endure hunger, they can't withstand the cold.

This was also the best time for various rebel kings to expand their forces.

If they just boast that following them guarantees you won't freeze or starve, then a large number of disaster victims who can't survive will follow them.

This year, in particular, an outlier emerged.

Zhang Yun, the King of Hanzhong, wasn't just bragging. He made sure that all the disaster victims who made it to Hanzhong were fed, given thick clothes, warm caves to stay in, and even provided with enough food along the way.

In addition, Hanzhong is not as cold as the Northwest. When the Northwest is covered in ice and snow, Hanzhong only has a thin layer of ice.

Under these circumstances, the disaster victims from the Northwest naturally flocked to Hanzhong in a frenzy.

Seeing this situation, the other rebel kings became even more restless.

If the King of Hanzhong were to seize the remaining refugees, what future would they have?
At that time, one person's forces will be greater than all of their dozens of combined forces!
Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong were extremely anxious, and they began to frantically recruit troops without regard for the consequences.

Seeing this, the other rebels also started looting; otherwise, their men would be wiped out.

As a result, rebel kings were frantically recruiting men all over the Northwest and even the Central Plains, and the disaster victims who could not survive also joined the ranks of various rebel kings.

The number of rebels doubled, growing rapidly like sparks slowly igniting the surrounding dry grass, threatening to spread like wildfire.

Upon seeing this, the prefectures and governors of various regions in the Northwest and Central Plains, as well as the governors and viceroys of all routes, immediately sent urgent reports to the capital.

They were all afraid that once the rebels grew too powerful, they would swallow them up in one fell swoop.

Zhu Jue, however, seemed unafraid at all.

He ignored all the urgent memorials from the Northwest and the Central Plains, showing no reaction whatsoever!
However, this time he did not truly abandon the matter; he entrusted the affairs of the rebels to the brothers Pan Guozhong and Pan Yunteng.

The two brothers did not disappoint him. At least, the start was quite good. Pan Yunteng recruited 500,000 men in one go.

As disaster victims flocked to Hanzhong Prefecture, Pan Yunteng's forces could easily reach a million.

With such a large force and ample supplies, unless Pan Yunteng was a clueless novice who knew nothing about military strategy, Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong would certainly not be his match.

Is Pan Yunteng a clueless hothead who doesn't understand any military strategy?

This kid is a martial arts champion, even more outstanding than the runner-up in the imperial examination. He is not only proficient in military strategy, but also has extremely high martial arts skills. What is there to worry about?

He was busy and didn't have time to deal with the rebels, so he planned to wait until the two brothers had finished dealing with their business.

He's really busy right now.

This is because he plans to complete the development of the entire capital city within the next year.

This is not something that can be done in a single sentence. He has to constantly check the progress and then arrange the subsequent development plan according to the actual progress. He also has to discuss with relevant personnel how to develop the project, what kind of factories to build, how many to build, and so on, so as to ensure that there are no problems.

The shipyard incident was a lesson learned. He rushed into the project without proper planning, and as a result, the dock and waterways were completed, but the raw materials couldn't keep up, and time was running out. He could only waste more than a month of his time.

This time, he naturally wouldn't rush things; he wanted to finalize the entire plan this year. Time flew by, and it was already December.

Despite the bitter cold, Zhu Juena continued to travel to the outer city every day without complaint.

Around 9 a.m. that day, when the sun was just beginning to warm him, he led Wang Chengen, Fang Zhenghua, and others on horseback straight to the northern outer city.

Normally, when he came to the outer city of the north, he would go to check on the progress of the residences and shops. This time, however, he turned right after leaving Desheng Gate and led his group directly to the southwest corner of the north city.

This is because the boiler rooms here have been built, the heating boilers have been installed, and the heating pipes have begun to be laid out.

They were still two or three miles away from the southwest corner of the outer city, and they could see a towering boiler room when they looked up.

This boiler room is more than twice as tall as the inner city wall of the north city. It looks like a huge arrow tower erected next to the city wall. There is actually a platform and arrow stomp on the boiler room, and there are also steps to go up.

He wasn't there to check on the exterior of the boiler room; he was mainly there to check on the installation of the heating pipes.

At this moment, Song Yingxing seemed to still be busy in the boiler room, and he didn't order anyone to call him out; he never put on airs like that.

He immediately dismounted and led his group into the boiler room.

The heating boilers were all lit up, and the room was steaming hot, just like the height of summer. The craftsmen were all working in light clothing, and Song Yingxing was wearing his summer official robes.

Everyone seemed to be busy working hard and sweating profusely, so he didn't bother them.

He glanced around briefly, then looked up to examine the installed heating boiler more closely.

This boiler is truly magnificent. Its height alone is over two zhang (approximately 6.6 meters), which is seven or eight meters. With the cast steel base, it's almost three stories high. On top of the boiler, as if hair has grown out, two large pipes as thick as thighs extend out, turning at right angles and plunging straight down into a ditch deeper than a person.

The reason why the boiler room was so hot was that the pipes below were only slightly sealed with iron plates and screws, without any rubber gaskets, and steam was spraying out wildly from the joints.

This is probably to test the steam pressure.

If the steam doesn't spray out at all, it certainly won't travel very far.

When he walked up to the ditch, he was shocked to see that the craftsmen who were laying the steam pipes were almost completely soaked, whether from sweat or steam. Their clothes were covered in mud and were filthy.

However, these craftsmen worked very hard. They arranged the rows of cast steel pipes neatly with steel, which looked quite pleasing.

As he was staring at the rows of cast steel pipes inside, Song Yingxing quickly approached, cupped his hands, and bowed, saying, "Your humble servant greets Your Majesty."

Zhu Jue nodded slightly, then pointed to the artisans who looked like clay figures and asked, "Chang Geng, how are they going to get back now?"

It's so dirty, and my clothes are soaked, so I definitely can't just put on my cotton-padded coat and go home.

Song Yingxing quickly explained, "Your Majesty, it's alright. It's very hot in here anyway, so it's easy to get hot water for a bath. After they finish their work, they just need to put a bucket of cold water next to the boiler and sit there to rest for a while until the water gets hot. Then they can wash themselves with hot water, change into clean clothes, and put on their cotton-padded coats to go home."

Oh, so you also brought a change of clothes.

Zhu Jue nodded slightly, then asked, "When will these two sets of heating pipes for the house be laid?"

Song Yingxing pondered, "Your Majesty, this place is almost finished. The boiler has been tested. When the time comes, we'll just turn off the fire and connect all the main pipes, and that will be it."

As for the official road leading to those residences, I have already ordered people to dig the ditch. It will be finished in the next few days. Once the steam pipes are laid there, it will be connected in about ten to fifteen days.

Your humble servant estimates that the construction should be completed before the 20th of the twelfth lunar month, allowing the local commoners and those who have purchased houses to move in and enjoy a warm and comfortable Lunar New Year.

Hmm, not bad, the progress is quite fast.

Zhu Jue nodded slightly, then couldn't help but look up at the snow-covered landscape outside.

The disaster victims in the Northwest must be freezing cold by now, otherwise they wouldn't have joined the rebels' ranks so quickly.

However, everything will be alright. They are now able to mass-produce heating boilers, and I believe that in a few years, the disaster victims will be able to experience warmth and comfort in the cold winter.

My people, you must hold on! These are the last few years.

(End of this chapter)