Chongzhen's domineering

Chapter 21: The Veteran General of the Beijing Garrison Shows His Prowess
The next morning, Zhu Jue slept in, which was unusual for him.

It was already past 7:30 AM when he leisurely walked towards the Imperial Study.

Several people were already standing at the entrance of the Imperial Study.

Lu Xiang-sheng, Sun Chuanting, and Liu Ruoyu were all waiting for him.

After everyone exchanged greetings, he took the lead and went into the Imperial Study to sit down. Only then did he calmly ask, "Jiandou, how is it? Have the ten thousand troops of the Capital Garrison been assembled?"

You said it yourself, everyone who comes will be fed, and those who are selected will even receive a bonus, so why bother collecting money?

Lu Xiang-sheng nodded repeatedly and said, "Yesterday, as many as 30,000 to 40,000 garrison troops from the capital came over. The 10,000 men we selected are all quite strong and capable. They can not only ride horses but also use some weapons."

The various guards of the capital also sent their warhorses. We selected about ten thousand rideable horses and equipped the soldiers with iron armor. Now, these ten thousand men can barely be considered armored cavalry.

Yes, Not Bad.

Zhu Jue nodded slightly and then asked, "What about the grain carts? How many did the various guards of the Beijing Garrison send?"

There aren't many left.

Lu Xiang-sheng cautiously said, "Your Majesty, the various guards of the capital have only sent five or six hundred grain carts. If we include the pay, they can barely carry ten thousand shi of grain."

This is too little.

If you hadn't all been equipped with warhorses, and the soldiers hadn't been able to carry their own rations, you probably would have eaten all 10,000 shi of grain on the way. What would have been the point of transporting any more grain?
Transporting grain is still a big problem.

Zhu Jue frowned slightly and said, "With so few grain carts, even if we transport them all the way to Liaodong where it's frozen, we probably won't be able to get much grain there. Have you thought about how to solve the grain transportation problem?"

We have certainly thought about this and discussed it.

Lu Xiang-sheng simply looked at Sun Chuan-ting.

This means that Sun Chuanting should speak.

He only helped with this one trip, mainly to escort the pay; transporting grain to Liaodong Town would no longer be under his responsibility.

Sun Chuanting quickly explained in detail: "Your Majesty, this large-scale transport of grain mainly relies on grain transport ships and canal boats, hence the name of the grain transport canal where Jizhou City is located."

Originally, Jizhou Town was equipped with one hundred warships and one hundred grain transport ships. There was also Liaodong Town, Gaizhou Guard, Haizhou Guard, Jinzhou Guard, and Shanhai Guard, which were all coastal guard posts. Originally, these four guard posts were also equipped with thirty warships and twenty grain transport ships.

The warships and grain transport ships were all over 400 shi. If these 400 warships and grain transport ships were still around, they could transport about 200,000 shi of grain in one trip. Before Liaodong was frozen, they should have been able to transport about one million shi of grain there.

However, the Ji and Liao regions are currently in chaos, and it's unclear how many warships and grain transport ships are left. If we can't gather enough to reach four hundred, we'll probably have to bring in some grain transport ships to make up the difference.

Yes, he truly deserves to be called a renowned commander. He's an expert in leading troops into battle, and he can even come up with solutions to troublesome matters like transporting supplies.

Zhu Jue nodded slightly, then decisively said, "Then you should quickly mobilize the warships and grain transport ships of Jizhou Town and Liaodong Town to transfer the grain. See how much you can mobilize. If it is not enough, you should submit a memorial, and I will order someone to mobilize grain transport ships for you."

Sun Chuanting repeatedly cupped his hands and said, "Your humble servant obeys the decree."

Zhu Jue nodded slightly and then asked, "Jian Dou, how many officers and soldiers did you recruit for the Beijing Garrison? Are there any skilled warriors among them?"

He vaguely remembered that the Beijing garrison had some famous generals, but he hadn't paid much attention to them in his previous life, basically just glancing at them and moving on without remembering them at all.

At this moment, he couldn't remember the name at all.

Lu Xiang-sheng, however, was quite pleased and said, "Your Majesty, yesterday I actually found a few skilled warriors."

Sun Yingyuan, the military commander of the Beijing garrison, is highly skilled in martial arts and proficient in military strategy; he is a rare talent. Zhou Yuji and Huang Degong, the guerrilla commanders of the Beijing garrison, are both incredibly strong and adept at military tactics; leading troops in charges and battles is no problem for them.

Sun Yingyuan, Zhou Yuji, Huang Degong?

Brave Guard Battalion!
Zhu Jue finally remembered that these three were all veteran generals of the Beijing Garrison, and the Yongwei Battalion they commanded was the most powerful fighting force besides the Guan Ning Iron Cavalry, the Tianxiong Army, and the Qin Army.

Unfortunately, the Yongwei Battalion was too small, at most only a little over ten thousand men, which was nothing compared to the Jurchens and the rebel army.

Sun Yingyuan, the first commander of the Yongwei Battalion, died in battle long ago.

Zhou Yuji led 5,000 soldiers to hold off Li Zicheng's hundreds of thousands of troops at Ningwu Pass for seven days, and ultimately died fighting to the death.

Huang Degong lived the longest, but he eventually died while protecting the Hongguang Emperor of the Southern Ming Dynasty.

These three men were not only veterans of the Beijing garrison, but also rare and loyal officials.

Lu Xiang-sheng has excellent judgment; he immediately selected the three most capable generals of the Beijing Garrison.

He thought about it carefully, and then decisively said, "Ruoyu, draft an imperial edict to promote Sun Yingyuan to the position of Commander-in-Chief of the Beijing Garrison, and Zhou Yuji and Huang Degong to the position of Deputy Commanders-in-Chief of the Beijing Garrison."

Ah!
This promotion is too fast!
I just praised them a few times, and you promoted them four or five levels directly!

Upon hearing this, Lu Xiang-sheng was dumbfounded.

Seeing this, Zhu Jue carefully instructed, "Jiandou, this is called recruiting talents without being bound by convention. The Beijing Garrison is almost useless. If you want to train tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of troops in a short period of time, you alone are not enough. The three generals you have recruited are all good. They will definitely have no problem helping you train troops."

Well, I certainly can't train over 100,000 troops by myself.

These three generals were indeed excellent helpers.

Upon hearing this, Lu Xiang-sheng nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty is wise." Now that we have men and horses, pay and supplies, and enough grain to make a single trip, it's time to consider when to set off.

Zhu Jue pondered, “Jian Dou, the situation in Liaodong is indeed quite critical. The resentment of tens of thousands of troops is probably already reaching the heavens. If it leads to a mutiny, it will be too late.”

The sooner you get there, the more morale you'll regain. Get these 10,000 men ready for training; they'll depart in three days. Any questions?

Three days is barely enough to practice a formation; they can't even form a proper battle formation.

Fortunately, cavalry is different from infantry; they don't have such high requirements for formation. As long as they can form ranks smoothly according to commands, they have a certain combat power.

Lu Xiang-sheng thought for a moment, then decisively said, "Your Majesty, setting off in three days shouldn't be a problem."

Time was of the essence, so these two renowned coaches didn't need to go into too much detail.

Zhu Jue nodded slightly, then waved his hand and said, "Then you should get ready to go. We'll depart in three days."

Lu Xiang-sheng and Sun Chuan-ting quickly bowed and took their leave.

Zhu Juena quickly began reviewing the memorials.

He got up a little late today, and if he doesn't hurry, he might not be able to finish reviewing the memorials by morning.

Unexpectedly, before he had even reviewed a few memorials, an announcement came from outside: "Zhou Kui and his family request an audience."

This family arrived quickly.

Zhu Jue put down the memorial in his hand and said loudly, "Summon it."

Soon, Zhou Kui, the future father-in-law of the emperor, entered with his wife, Madam Bu, and several sons.

They each carried one child and led the other by the hand. After entering, they quickly put the two little ones down and then taught their son to bow and say, "Greetings, Your Majesty."

This family was quite familiar with him; when Mrs. Bu and the little ones saw him, they didn't cower or hide in fear.

This was all because when he was Prince Xin, he lived in the Ten Princes' Mansion outside the palace, and there weren't so many rules for his interactions. Zhou Kui often brought his family to visit his daughter, and he didn't act like a prince at all. He got along very well with this family.

Zhu Jue nodded slightly, then asked, "Father-in-law, I've heard you also know medicine?"

I'm just trying to make a living.

Zhou Kui quickly replied modestly, "Your Majesty, I only have a little knowledge of medicine and cannot compare to those professional doctors."

He, a lowly official, also benefited from his daughter's position. After Zhou was made a princess, he got a sinecure as the deputy commander of the South City Military Command, where he only received a salary without having to be on duty or do anything.

Zhu Jue thought for a moment and then asked, "Father-in-law, do you know how to make medicine, the kind that you can buy and use immediately without having to decoct it?"

Over-the-counter drugs?

Zhou Kui's eyes darted around, then he asked cautiously, "Your Majesty, is dog-skin plaster considered a prepared medicine?"

Dog-skin plaster!

Upon hearing this, Zhu Jue's face darkened.

This father-in-law was not an honest man at all; he had done things like cheating and swindling.

There's no other way; supporting such a large family isn't easy, and most fortune tellers rely on their words to deceive people.

This temperament is actually quite suitable for doing business.

A so-called unscrupulous merchant is someone who is cunning and deceitful; it's better to deceive people than to be deceived yourself.

However, forget about using cheap, unreliable remedies; those are beneath you.

The pharmaceutical industry isn't something that can be built up overnight.

Zhu Jue thought for a moment, then instructed, "Father-in-law, you and your family can stay in the Yangxin Hall nearby. I will have the people from the Imperial Medical Academy come and teach you."

"Study hard, ask around, and see what medicines can be made into finished drugs. I'll give you a month. First, pick out at least ten kinds of drugs that can be made into finished drugs. Any questions?"

Is Your Majesty planning to turn this into medicine?
Doesn't this seem a bit absurd?
Can you make money with finished pharmaceutical products?

Nowadays, even ordinary people have trouble getting enough to eat.

Forget it, these are not my responsibility. I'll only focus on making the prepared medicines that I can produce.

Zhou Kui was taken aback for a moment before nodding repeatedly and saying, "No problem."

You're quite sharp and have some medical background, so this shouldn't be a big problem.

Zhu Jue nodded slightly and then instructed, "Ruoyu, have someone take them to the Hall of Mental Cultivation to stay. Also, send someone to the Imperial Hospital to convey my decree, ordering them to arrange for people to come and teach your father-in-law's family in shifts."

Upon hearing this, Liu Ruoyu immediately got up and went to make arrangements.

(End of this chapter)