Chongzhen's domineering

Chapter 213 The Ruthless Emperor's Heart of Stone (Part 2)

The rebel Gao Yingxiang led an army of over 300,000 to besiege Luoyang.

Huang Daozhou and local officials, including civil and military officials from the Henan Provincial Administration Commission, the Henan Provincial Judicial Commission, and the Henan Military Command, organized troops and young men in the city to resist fiercely and actually held on!

The rebel Zhang Xianzhong led an army of over 300,000 to besiege Nanyang.

Although Zhu Yujian, the heir apparent of the Tang Dynasty, had not yet ascended the throne, he still possessed some ability. He seized the opportunity to take control of the city's garrison and recruited a large number of guards, and managed to hold out!

It seems that even the traitor Zhang Yun can't sit still anymore.

This guy directly led an army of 500,000 from Baihe, taking Yunxi and Xichuan along the way, showing a strong momentum to occupy Yunyang Prefecture and advance into the Central Plains.

With the rebels so arrogant, it seems that even the court officials can no longer sit still.

As for Nanyang and Yunyang, no one cared about the Huguang Regional Military Commission or the Tang Prince who had not yet ascended the throne.

However, Huang Daozhou and hundreds of local officials were present in Luoyang.

Huang Daozhou was a renowned figure in the Donglin Party. The hundreds of local officials had some connection with the Donglin Party and the Qi-Chu-Zhe Party in the imperial court, and many of them were related by marriage.

If the rebels were to breach Luoyang, what would become of us?

The Donglin and Qi-Chu-Zhe factions in the court submitted memorials requesting the emperor to send troops to rescue Luoyang.

Early that morning, around 7 a.m., Zhu Jue arrived at the main hall of Yu Xi Palace and frowned slightly upon seeing it.

The memorials on the desk were noticeably thicker than usual. What were those guys in the outer court up to now?
He glanced through several memorials and understood.

What Prince Fu is actually the emperor's uncle?

Luoyang is one of the most important cities in the world.

The idea that the Central Plains should not be occupied by rebels is utter nonsense!

The fact that Huang Daozhou, the governor of Henan, and other local officials such as the Henan Provincial Administration Commissioner, the Henan Provincial Judicial Commissioner, and the Henan Military Commander were all in the city was the fundamental reason why Dong Lin and the Qi-Chu-Zhe faction in the court were so eager for him to send troops.

I wouldn't send out a single soldier!
Zhu Jue thought for a moment, then pretended to be worried and said, "Don't just talk about sending troops. Where will the troops come from? How many troops will be sent? How will the rescue be carried out? You all need to give us some suggestions."

That expression... are you trying to fool me again?

Liu Ruoyu glanced at the thick memorial, thought about it carefully, and then began to write furiously.

There are quite a few memorials today, and most of them are probably requests for troops to rescue Luoyang. He has to write them concisely, otherwise, just copying them will take a long time.

Their deception of the officials outside the court left them quite bewildered.

Does this young emperor want to send troops to rescue the emperor or not?
If troops are indeed sent to provide assistance, where will they come from, and how many will be deployed?
Most of the officials in the outer court were good at talking but not at leading troops in battle. If they were, the Ming Dynasty in history would not have fallen.

Zhu Jue has essentially presented them with a difficult problem.

There are now more than two million rebels. The rebels gathered in the Central Plains alone number more than a million. How many troops would it take to save Luoyang, and where would the troops come from?
Forget about the troops from the Beijing Garrison, the Liaodong Army, and even the troops from the three border regions of Shaanxi; the young emperor clearly didn't want to mobilize these three forces.

Where else could we find so many people?

Zhu Jue naturally wouldn't care about this issue; he just wanted to play around with these officials from the outer court.

After hastily finishing his memorials, he led Zheng Zhilong, Wang Chengen, Fang Zhenghua, and others on horseback to the shipyard in the eastern outer city.

By this time, the water and ice in the shipyard's waterways had long been cleared away, rows of vertical supports had been placed in the waterways, and scaffolding had been erected between the dock and the supports. The craftsmen were carrying materials onto the supports.

A few days ago, Wang Zheng seemed eager to develop new ships, but now he's not directing the craftsmen to build ships by the waterway; he's in the dock developing something new.

This thing is quite simple. It's just a horn made of two copper sheets, with a thin copper sheet attached to the bottom. Then, a hole is made in the middle of the thin copper sheet, a wire is threaded through it, and the end of the wire is tied to a small copper wire that is close to the thin copper sheet. Both ends are the same. It's that simple.

As for the thread, cotton thread, silk thread, or copper wire are all acceptable.

This is actually just a simple communication device.

They've tried using cotton thread; it works fine for distances of two or three zhang (approximately 6.6-7 meters), but not any further. This is naturally not very meaningful.

Wang Zheng is testing copper wire right now.

These days, gold wire can be pulled out and used to make gold-threaded mosquito nets, so copper wire can naturally be pulled out as well.

He directly ordered people to pull a copper wire several tens of feet long, stretching it from the southernmost end of the dock to the outside of the northern dock.

This thing can even make calls, and the sound is very clear. Just put your ear close to the speaker, and it's like speaking right next to your ear.

Just as he was having a great time, Zhu Jue strode over and asked rather impatiently, "How did it go, Liangfu? Did you succeed?"

Wang Zheng nodded excitedly and said, "Your Majesty, it's a success! With a distance of over fifty zhang, even if people are standing outside the dock, they can still hear everything clearly from the other side, just like they're being spoken right next to your ear."

That's good.

The reason he had Wang Zheng develop this simple communication device was to facilitate the command of warships and gunboats.

This is because the warships they developed had three decks, plus the bottom deck, making it four decks. If communication still relied on shouting, then who knows how many messengers would have to be stationed at each stairwell.

This kind of communication, which relies on shouting, can only accurately transmit messages to each deck when there is no war. Once war breaks out, with the roar of cannons, the movement of supplies, and orders from officers at all levels, the ship's cabins are probably noisier than a vegetable market. Shouting will no longer be able to transmit orders, and messengers will have to run back and forth to relay them.

In land warfare, this kind of order transmission would be acceptable, but it certainly wouldn't work in naval warfare. This is because in those days, the accuracy of warships and cannons depended entirely on adjusting the ship's direction or controlling the distance. How to adjust the ship's position, when to fire, and even when to open and close the gun ports, all of these could not be delayed in the slightest.

For example, if the ship is not properly adjusted before firing, the shells will land in empty space.

For example, if the ship's position is adjusted while the enemy ship is still moving, and the cannons are fired only for a few blinks of an eye, the shells will fall into empty air.

For example, if enemy shells come whistling in, the gun doors must be closed quickly, otherwise the towering water jets will pour into the cabin like a torrential rain.

These communications cannot be delayed in the slightest; relying on messengers running back and forth or up and down the stairs is definitely not feasible.

That's why he came up with this simple communication device.

This thing isn't complicated to make. Even with cotton thread connecting the two, the communication distance can reach about ten meters, while with copper wire connecting the two, the communication distance can reach about ten miles.

The key is that there can be no interference in the process.

Zhu Jue thought for a moment, then raised his hand and pinched the connecting copper wire, then gestured, "Liangfu, try again."

Upon hearing this, Wang Zheng immediately shouted several times towards the bronze trumpet.

As a result, the other side didn't react at all.

Zhu Jue released his grip on the copper wire and gestured, "Liangfu, try again."

Upon hearing this, Wang Zheng quickly shouted a few more times towards the bronze trumpet.

As a result, the other side reacted again.

What is going on here?
Zhu Jue patiently explained, "Liangfu, the sound transmitted through the copper wire is just like the sound of ripples in water. It cannot be obstructed. Once someone grabs the copper wire, or something is pressed against it, the sound cannot be transmitted."

Therefore, you must protect the copper wire with cast steel tubing to prevent anything from contacting it, including the cast steel tubing itself, which must not come into contact with the copper wire.

Upon hearing this, Wang Zheng nodded with a look of sudden realization and said, "Your Majesty, I understand."

Zhu Jue thought for a moment and then asked, "Are there no problems with the warships and gunboats?"

Wang Zheng nodded repeatedly and said, "No problem. This warship is just two stories higher than the Weiyuan warship. Our hull is wide enough, so we don't need to worry about tilting. We only need to worry about reinforcement, which is a small matter."

It's good that there are no problems.

Once the warships and gunboats are built, the Ming Dynasty's dominance of the seas will be just around the corner.

(End of this chapter)