Chongzhen's domineering

Chapter 211 The Ruthless Emperor's Heart of Stone (Part 1)

Zhu Jue treated the princes and members of the imperial family like cold-blooded animals, without a trace of emotion. No matter how urgently the princes pleaded for help, he simply refused to send troops to their aid!

Not only did he not help, he also told them to report it again.

With the rebels surrounding them, the vassal king naturally couldn't report it anymore.

This is deliberately letting them wait to die in their vassal state!

He was certainly not a cold-blooded animal. The reason he was so ruthless towards these princes and royals was because these guys were not worth saving.

These guys are rich but heartless, only knowing how to indulge in extravagance and debauchery, completely disregarding the lives of others, and even the survival of the Ming Dynasty.

Historically, if these feudal lords had been able to provide financial support to Emperor Chongzhen, the Ming Dynasty would not have fallen.

The Ming Dynasty did not perish because it lacked sufficient manpower, but because it lacked sufficient funds and provisions.

Even if each of these princes had contributed 10% of their wealth as provisions, Emperor Chongzhen would not have been able to maintain this for more than seventeen years.

If these vassal kings could contribute half of their money and grain as provisions, it would be possible for Chongzhen to mobilize a large army to wipe out the rebels and even defeat the Jurchens.

The problem is, these feudal lords are incredibly stingy!
Do they lack money and food?
That's a joke.

Leaving aside others, let's just talk about the Prince of Lu and the Prince of Fu who were enfeoffed during the Wanli reign.

When Prince Lu was enfeoffed, Empress Dowager Li and Emperor Wanli gave him gold and silver treasures that filled more than 500 ships. Even if each ship was worth 10,000 taels, that would still amount to more than 5 million taels. Moreover, Emperor Wanli also granted Prince Lu 40,000 hectares of land. One hectare is 100 mu, so 40,000 hectares is 4 million mu.

In other words, Prince Lu could harvest at least several million shi of grain from these fields every year, and that's after deducting all the grain that was consumed. Over ten years, that would amount to tens of millions of shi.

Prince Lu was enfeoffed in the seventeenth year of the Wanli reign, and by the first year of the Chongzhen reign, it had been almost forty years. If the grain of the Lu fiefdom had not been sold, there would be at least two or three hundred million shi of grain piled up. If most of the grain of the Lu fiefdom had been sold, even if the Lu prince's mansion spent most of it, it would still have tens of millions of taels of silver and tens of millions of shi of grain left!
Needless to say, the Prince of Fu was delayed until the 42nd year of the Wanli Emperor's reign before he was finally enfeoffed. The Wanli Emperor then gave him all the wealth he had amassed over the decades.

Historical records at the time state that Emperor Shenzong squandered the wealth of the entire nation to enrich Prince Fu. Luoyang was richer than the imperial palace, and by the time Prince Fu was enfeoffed, he was already as wealthy as a country. Emperor Wanli originally wanted to grant Prince Fu the same 40,000 hectares of land, but the area around Luoyang could only gather 20,000 hectares. As a result, Emperor Wanli even used the annual salt tax to supplement Prince Fu's wealth!

After taking up his fief, Prince Fu continued to seize land and opened salt shops, horse shops, charcoal shops, timber shops, bamboo ware shops, and other businesses to amass wealth. One can only imagine how rich he was.

It can be said that even if the other princes refused to contribute a single penny, as long as Prince Fu and Prince Lu fully supported Chongzhen, Chongzhen might still have a chance to turn the tide.

The problem is that these feudal lords don't understand the principle of "if the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold" at all; they are simply unwilling to give even a hair.

The Ming Dynasty is gone, do you vassal kings still want to live?
These feudal lords don't even understand such a simple principle, so what's the point of saving them?

Zhu Jue was so cold-blooded and ruthless towards the vassal kings. He wanted to use the rebels to deal with the vassal kings and thus reclaim the land that had been annexed by them.

As for the stipends for the princes and their families, let those princes and their relatives go to the King of Hell to collect them!
At this point, Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong were about to attack Luoyang and Nanyang, and it was time for Pan Yunteng to make his move.

Zhu Jue thought for a moment, then decisively said, "Zhenghua, order someone to convey my secret decree, instructing Pan Yunteng to quickly send troops to the Central Plains."

Upon hearing this, Fang Zhenghua quickly bowed and hurried away.

Zhu Jue glanced at his retreating figure before asking, "Liangfu, where were we?"

Uh, several vassal states have already been conquered, and you still have the mind to talk to me about this?

Upon hearing this, Wang Zheng paused for a moment before pointing to the ground beside the waterway and saying, "Your Majesty, you just mentioned digging a canal in the dock to drain the water from the waterway, and then placing separate support frames in the waterway to assemble the ships directly on the support frames."

"Oh, we've come this far." Zhu Jue nodded slightly, then asked, "Do you think this method is feasible?"

Wang Zheng nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty, this method is excellent. Why don't I order people to dig the irrigation canal right now?"

Start digging now?
Zhu Jue pondered and said, "This canal is only half a zhang wide, so digging a few zhang long will be enough. We can lay boat planks on top, which won't affect your work."

This waterway is equivalent to a moat several tens of feet long. If it were drained at the same rate as the moat in the northern outer city, it should be dry in two or three days.

I have ordered Jiandou to send men to dig irrigation ditches and release water for you. They are already skilled at this, so you don't need to worry about it. Can you build the scaffolding in two or three days?

The bracket doesn't have any sealing requirements.

Wang Zheng nodded repeatedly and said, "No problem, two or three days is enough to build the stent."

This means that assembly can begin before the end of the month.

If the lockdown is lifted in early April, then there will be about a month and a half left.

Zhu Jue estimated, "You should be able to build your small Zhiyuan merchant ship in about two months, and a little over a month should be enough to assemble the large hull, right?"

"If we mobilize manpower to start excavating now, wouldn't you be able to build almost all five hundred small Zhiyuan merchant ships before the ice freezes over? And wouldn't you also be able to assemble the hulls of the medium-sized Zhiyuan merchant ships and the small Weiyuan warships?"

Uh, this doesn't seem to work yet.

Wang Zheng shook his head helplessly and said, "Your Majesty, we don't have much rubber left. The remaining Chang Geng has been used to make steam engines and boilers. I have none left."

The five hundred small and four hundred medium-sized Zhiyuan merchant ships we ordered were all assembled from parts without rubber seals, so they couldn't be assembled at all.

"Your Majesty, I can only mobilize manpower to assemble the hulls of the smaller Weiyuan warships at present. The other eighty Weiyuan warships were all built from prefabricated parts, mostly using the hulls, so there shouldn't be any problem starting assembly now."

There's no more rubber?
When will the rubber be available again?
Their fleet set sail for the Americas in mid-November, and if we assume a four-month timeframe, they should be back by mid-March.

In other words, under normal circumstances, once the blockade is lifted, they will have enough rubber to use, at least enough for shipbuilding.

The question is, will Zheng Hongkui and Wang Laipin be able to return on time?

This is their first trip to the Americas, and also the first time in nearly two hundred years that the Ming Dynasty has sent a fleet on a long voyage. Will there be any problems?

Furthermore, the Spanish American colonies were extremely important to them, as they relied on them for copper, rubber, and saltpeter. Therefore, "cooperative development" was imperative.

Zhu Jue thought for a moment, then asked, "Liangfu, when will you be able to build these eighty Weiyuan warships?"

Wang Zheng pondered, "If we add the month and a half of freezing, I estimate that it should be completed before July."

Let's finalize this "cooperative development" agreement this year.

Zhu Jue thought for a moment, then decisively said, "Zhilong, have Zhibao send someone to Luzon to tell the Spanish that they should send an envoy over in July. I have important matters to discuss with them."

Important matter?

What are the important things to do in July?
Zheng Zhilong was taken aback for a moment before nodding repeatedly and saying, "Your Majesty, I understand."

(End of this chapter)