Chongzhen's domineering

Chapter 217 You Play with Me, I Play with You (Part 1)

The cabinet proposed that the emperor issue an edict to repent, but the emperor actually pinned all the blame on Hong Chengchou, who had already resigned due to illness and returned to his hometown!
Is this possible?
They meticulously plotted to plunge the Central Plains into chaos, and the fact that the emperor didn't comply made them extremely resentful.

Zhu Jue actually wanted to pin the blame entirely on Hong Chengchou, whom they had been grooming!
This is no longer just a matter of feeling resentful; they're so angry they're about to go crazy.

Just kidding?
They intended to strike the emperor, but not only did they miss, the emperor then used the opportunity to execute their entire family!
Is it so infuriating?
Tolerable or unbearable.

It's impossible for an emperor to have his entire family executed.

The emperor must take the blame for this!
The cabinet quickly returned the memorial, along with a new draft proposal.

They tried their best to defend Hong Chengchou, and their words seemed quite reasonable.

There were over two million rebels, while Hong Chengchou only had thirty thousand troops under his command. He had already made a great contribution by protecting all the vassal states while he was in charge of the Central Plains.

It's utterly absurd that he has no connection whatsoever with the fact that he resigned due to illness and returned to his hometown, while rebels attacked and slaughtered the princes and royal family. Yet, his entire family is to be executed for this.

Therefore, these guys not only made Zhu Jue retract his order and let Hong Chengchou go, but also made the emperor issue an edict to repent!
So you deliberately withheld provisions from Hong Chengchou, preventing him from mobilizing troops to suppress the rebels. Now that things have gone wrong, you're trying to pin the blame on him. What kind of logic is that?

They stubbornly insist that the emperor should take the blame.

After reading the cabinet's draft proposal, Zhu Jue couldn't help but sneer.

These guys were so exasperated by him that they forgot all about pretending and actually started arguing with him, the emperor.

There were indeed people in the Donglin faction who liked to argue with the reigning emperor, but those were the nonsensical pronouncements of Huang Daozhou and Liu Zongzhou, not the two foxes, Han Kuang and Feng Quan, one old and one young.

Huang Daozhou and Liu Zongzhou were essentially pawns being used, while Han Kuang and Feng Quan were the players manipulating the game.

Han Kuang and Feng Quan actually started arguing with him, and the chess players even became pawns on the field, which proved that these two guys were completely out of their minds.

well.

Don't get angry yet, there's more to come.

Historically, this is exactly how these guys messed with Emperor Chongzhen: they dug up the ancestral graves of the Zhu family, led the rebels by the nose, made them surrender and then rebel again, slaughtered princes and members of the imperial family, and so on. One thing after another made Emperor Chongzhen furious and he acted recklessly.

Now, he's going to use this trick on these guys.

Zhu Jue thought for a moment, then handed the memorial to Liu Ruoyu and said coldly, "General Zhang Liwei's failure to suppress the bandits is unforgivable. He shall be dismissed from his post immediately and investigated. His entire family shall be escorted to the capital and executed!"

Well, they're trying to exonerate Hong Chengchou, and you're going to execute Zhang Liwei and his entire family too!
Are you deliberately trying to annoy them?

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

Upon seeing this, the Zheng brothers, Zhilong and Hongkui, shrank back in fear.

This kind of thing, where the whole family is executed so easily, who wouldn't be afraid? Their family was only enough for one execution, but the current emperor has already executed two families.

Zhu Jue understood immediately from the expressions on the two brothers' faces. The attempt to scare the monkey by killing the chicken hadn't frightened the real monkey, but it had frightened the two brothers.

He did not offer any further explanation.

Sometimes it's necessary to show your subordinates what they can and cannot do, what the consequences will be if they do something that their superiors deem unacceptable, and then reflect on your own actions.

The Zheng brothers were his right-hand men in his naval domination. If these naval admirals acted recklessly behind his back, he would suffer great losses.

He used this as a warning to make the two brothers understand how serious the consequences would be if they did something they shouldn't have.

Of course, this way of managing people cannot be done by force alone, nor can it be done by using threats and intimidation to make subordinates obey.

After intimidating them, we should also offer them some incentive. Otherwise, if it makes our subordinates feel uneasy or even disloyal, then we will lose more than we gain.

He thought about it carefully and then asked, "Zhilong, do you have any trustworthy people under your command, the kind who will obey your orders completely and will not leak secrets?"

What does this mean?
Zheng Zhilong pondered for a while before cautiously saying, "Your Majesty, the more than 50,000 men who originally followed me to make a living at sea were all very reliable. No matter how much cargo or gold and silver there was, they never tampered with it."

In my humble opinion, those who are so poor they risk their lives at sea to make a living, yet remain unmoved by a ship full of cargo, even gold and silver, must be trustworthy.

Yes, that makes sense. Everyone has greed, and those who can restrain their greed and not reach for hundreds of thousands or even millions of taels of silver year after year are already quite reliable.

It just so happens that there isn't enough manpower to operate the ships, and the soldiers of the Beijing garrison can't be wasted on those merchant ships that have little combat capability, especially those merchant ships that run overseas trade, which can take several months to sail.

If all the soldiers of the Beijing Garrison are sent to run merchant ships, who will guard the capital region and how will Liaodong be recovered?
The reason he had to send the Beijing garrison to operate all the steamships was because the secret of the steam engine was too difficult to keep.

Now things are different. With the steam engine encased in a protective shell, it's much harder for others to uncover its secrets. As long as the shell remains intact, it's difficult for anyone to figure out how the steam engine actually works.

Furthermore, Zheng Zhilong's men were already engaged in overseas trade, so having them operate merchant ships was a perfect fit for their talents.

Zhu Jue nodded slightly, then said solemnly, "Zhilong, I believe you have also seen that our shipbuilding speed is getting faster and faster."

If construction continues at this pace, by next year, there won't be enough soldiers in the capital garrison. Therefore, I intend to have your men take over the operation of the Zhiyuan merchant ships.

From now on, the soldiers of the Beijing Garrison will only be responsible for operating the Weiyuan and Zhenyuan warships. You will be in charge of arranging personnel to operate the Zhiyuan merchant ships, including receiving and delivering goods for overseas trade.

Remember, the secret of the steam engine must be kept strictly confidential. No one must be allowed to discover it. Wherever there is a steam engine, you must assign trusted men to guard it day and night.

The Zhiyuan merchant ships are all under the command of my men?
Nowadays, the number of Zhiyuan merchant ships is not ordinary. There are four or five hundred small Zhiyuan merchant ships and more than eight hundred medium-sized Zhiyuan merchant ships. This year, the number of small and medium-sized Zhiyuan merchant ships will reach two thousand.

Entrusting him with the management of so many merchant ships is an incredible stroke of luck.

Unfortunately, he didn't have enough men under his command.

The manpower required to operate these ships is not small, especially for ocean-going giant ships with a capacity of over 1,000 tons. Even if each Zhiyuan merchant ship, regardless of size, only needs 50 people to operate, 4,000 Zhiyuan merchant ships would require 200,000 people to operate. Moreover, the standard manpower for a medium-sized Zhiyuan merchant ship is 150 people.

Upon hearing this, Zheng Zhilong cautiously replied, "Your Majesty, I only have about 50,000 men to operate the Zhiyuan merchant ships. The problem is that the Zhiyuan merchant ships now require more than 100,000 men to operate, and by the end of the year, even 200,000 men will not be enough. I simply do not have that many manpower."

I know you don't have enough manpower.

Zhu Jue nodded slowly and said, "Yes, manpower is indeed a problem. If there are not enough men, then we can recruit able-bodied men from the coastal garrisons."

Actually, the only place on the Zhiyuan merchant ship that requires trusted people to guard day and night is the location of the steam engine. The other areas aren't that important. You can have your trusted men specifically manage the steam engine's controls, and leave everything else to the able-bodied men of the garrison.

Give me back the power to conscript troops from coastal garrisons.
Wouldn't my forces then swell to hundreds of thousands?
No, we can't get carried away. These men don't belong to me; they belong to His Majesty.

Zheng Zhilong thought carefully for a moment, then cautiously asked, "Your Majesty, what should we do with my original thousand-plus ships of various sizes?"

You'll have to throw those old, broken ships away sooner or later.

Zhu Jue thought about it carefully, and then decisively said, "Give those small boats under your command that weigh less than 800 liang to Xiong Wencan, and let him recruit the garrison troops from Zhejiang, Zhili and Fujian to operate them."

Right now, the rebels are wreaking havoc in the Central Plains. Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong might attack Southern Zhili again at any time. It would be a good opportunity for him to conscript tens of thousands of able-bodied men to take control of your small boats and wander around the Luzhou area, so that the rebels would not dare to invade Southern Zhili easily.

As for ships costing 800 nautical miles or more, they will still be operated by your other subordinates. Once Hong Kui and the others return in July, you can begin to take over all the Zhiyuan merchant ships.

"For patrols in the southeastern seas, you can use small Zhiyuan merchant ships with musketeers. As for your existing ships of 800 liang or more, send them all to Qiongzhou Prefecture to guard against Liu Xiang's interference."

Oh, so you're giving all 800-ton boats to Xiong Wencan?

OK, no problem.

Those small boats are nothing compared to ships.

Upon hearing this, Zheng Zhilong nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty, I understand."

As they were discussing, Fang Zhenghua strode in, carrying a memorial, and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, the Cabinet has returned the memorial again."

These guys haven't had enough fun yet, have they?
Zhu Jue took the memorial and glanced at it; a slight smile crept onto his lips.

He really wanted to laugh.

He broke the defenses of Han Kuang and Feng Quan's gang.

(End of this chapter)