Chongzhen's domineering

Chapter 221 Hong Cheng, the Strange Egg, and His Entire Family Executed (Part 2)

In early April, as the ice and snow in the Beijing area melted, the North Canal suddenly became bustling with boats racing and sails competing.

The ships were so densely packed that they were like a swarm of fish crossing a river, densely packed, in groups, and in an endless stream.

The North Canal is almost always this busy every spring, even before the Chongzhen era.

This is because most of the supplies needed by the capital could only be transported via the Grand Canal; it would have been impossible to transport such a large volume of supplies by land.

However, this year is somewhat different from previous years. In previous years, most of the boats coming from the south to the north were grain transport boats, but this year there seem to be far fewer grain transport boats on the North Canal than in previous years. Instead, they are replaced by wheeled steamboats.

In previous years, even 1,000-ton Fujian ships were rare on the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, with the largest being almost always 800-ton cargo ships. However, this year, there are hundreds of giant ships on the North Canal that are even larger than 1,000-ton Fujian ships.

This was because Xiong Wencan mobilized a large number of Zhiyuan merchant ships to bring over all the gold, silver, rubber, copper, and copper ore that Zheng Hongkui and Wang Laipin had brought back from the Americas.

The wealth was so abundant that "piled up like mountains" was an understatement. At the original Tongzhou canal wharf, the new canal wharf in the northern outer city, and the Yuhe Bridge wharf, the horse-drawn carriages were in droves, coming and going in an endless stream, as if they could never be finished.

This time, the gold alone is worth more than three million taels. If calculated according to the exchange rate of the Ming Dynasty, that is worth nearly fifty million taels!
However, Zhu Jue did not supervise the unloading of real gold and silver at the Yuhe Bridge dock.

Around 9 a.m. that day, after he had finished reviewing the memorials, he took Zheng Zhilong, Wang Chengen, Fang Zhenghua and others and boarded a small merchant ship called Zhiyuan, heading straight for the new canal wharf in the northern outer city.

Nowadays, the inner and outer moats of the capital are bustling with ships, just like the city of Nanjing.

The waterways in the capital were divided into several sections. One section was used by ships transporting raw materials such as iron ingots, coal, and clay, which went from the North Canal or the Yongding River to the southeast outer city wharf. Another section was used by ships transporting copper and rubber, which docked directly at the original Tongzhou canal wharf on the North Canal. A third section was used by ships transporting grain and daily necessities, which went via the North Canal and the Chaobai River, and then to the canal wharf east of the northern outer city. A fourth section was used by ships transporting various materials and raw materials within the city, which went via the moat of the western outer city, and then to the wharf west of the northern outer city.

Zhu Jue and his group were heading to the dock on the west side of the outer city of the north. Therefore, after passing through the Deshengmen water gate, they turned west and went directly through the inner city moat, then through the inner and outer moats of the western outer city, and finally reached the outer city moat of the north outer city.

This waterway was fast, only a little over ten or twenty li in total. In less than a quarter of an hour, they arrived at the new canal wharf in the northern outer city.

By this time, there were already more than two hundred medium-sized Zhiyuan merchant ships docked here, and Song Yingxing, Song Yingsheng, Wang Zheng, and others had all come to join in the fun.

Seeing the three of them standing on the dock, seemingly discussing something with great interest, Zhu Jue walked over and asked curiously, "Liangfu, why did you come here too? Isn't the shipyard busy?"

It's understandable that Song Yingxing and Song Yingsheng came over, since a copper smelter was being built in the outer city of the northwest, and the two brothers were in charge of this project. The copper ore had arrived, so naturally they wanted to come and take a look.

It's a bit hard to understand why Wang Zheng would also come over.

The ice and snow have just melted, and the eighty small Weiyuan warships and the prototype small Zhenyuan warship are about to be tested. After the rubber arrives, the five hundred small Zhiyuan merchant ships and four hundred medium-sized Zhiyuan merchant ships will also begin assembly. Logically speaking, Wang Zheng should be busy at the shipyard, but he actually has time to come here now, which is really hard to understand.

Upon hearing this, Wang Zheng quickly cupped his hands and bowed, then explained in detail: "Your Majesty, isn't a rubber factory being built here?"

The simultaneous production of nine hundred assembled Zhiyuan merchant ships requires an enormous amount of sealing strips and gaskets, and we have no stock. The equipment in the workshop in Tongzhou City simply cannot keep up with the demand.

Therefore, upon hearing that a large quantity of rubber had arrived, I came to see when the rubber factory here would be able to begin production.

The amount of sealing strips and gaskets needed for shipbuilding is truly staggering. If you count by weight, a few hundred or a thousand kilograms per ship might not seem like much, but when you consider the quantity or the length, it's quite frightening.

For example, even a small merchant ship like Zhiyuan needs sealing strips that are at least tens of thousands of meters long, and the number of sealing gaskets is also in the tens of thousands.

A steam engine only needs a few sealing rings, and a boiler only needs sealing strips that are at most a few dozen meters long.

Therefore, the sealing strips and gaskets used in shipbuilding are not on the same scale as the sealing rings and sealing strips used in steam engines and boilers.

The workshop in Tongzhou was just a rubber factory. It was more than capable of making sealing rings and sealing strips for steam engines and boilers, but it couldn't keep up with the demand for sealing strips and gaskets for shipbuilding.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Jue nodded slightly and said, "Yes, I have also considered this. Therefore, the rubber factory here has invested more manpower than the copper smelter. The Beijing garrison has invested over 100,000 soldiers, and there are also thousands of artisans helping out."

Fortunately, apart from the large boiler, the other equipment in this rubber factory is not large. The factory building only needs to be about ten feet high, which is not much taller than a residential building, so it can be built quickly.

The soldiers of the Beijing garrison have seen so many houses and shops, so building this kind of factory is a piece of cake for them. As for the boilers, it doesn't matter much if they're placed outside to burn for now; the boiler room can be built later after the factory is completed and in operation. I've been urging Jian Dou to start construction as soon as possible. The equipment and molds for rubber mixing and shaping have long been ready. Don't worry, the rubber factory will be gradually going into production these days.”

That would be great.

These days, the amount of sealing strips and gaskets produced in Tongzhou isn't even enough for a few shipyards a day, which is making me very anxious.

Upon hearing this, Wang Zheng nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty is wise. It seems that I have been worrying for nothing."

It's a good thing that you're so interested in shipbuilding.

Zhu Jue shook his head slightly and said, "You should pay more attention to the supply of raw materials when you are building ships. I saw that you were too busy, so I didn't tell you about the rubber factory. Actually, I should have told you earlier."

You mentioned this material; there are some issues with the supply of timber.

Upon hearing this, Wang Zheng cautiously said, "Your Majesty, the shipyard is also running low on timber."

Originally, we were building dozens of ships at a time, but last year the order was suddenly increased to hundreds or even thousands. Plus, with the ice covering the area for months, we've been sawing non-stop, and the shipyard's timber inventory is almost depleted. In another month at most, those sawing machines will probably have to stop operating.

This timber could actually be purchased from the Spanish; there are so many pristine forests in the Americas that it's practically inexhaustible.

The problem is that he can't discuss the "cooperative development" with the Spanish until July. Even if they reach an agreement, it will take another two or three months to send people and ships over. Add to that the time for logging and transporting the timber, and it's impossible to use timber from the Americas this year.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Jue thought for a moment and then decisively said, "Zhilong, you have someone tell Zhibao to buy up large quantities of timber in Southeast Asia. We will pay double the price for all timber used for shipbuilding. This will encourage the countries in Southeast Asia to gather more manpower to harvest timber."

You really don't feel bad about spending money. The timber used for shipbuilding is more expensive than ordinary timber. Even the timber used for a small Zhiyuan merchant ship with a capacity of 800 liang would cost at least 50 taels of silver if you bought it.

That's doubled to hundreds of taels, a hundred ships would be tens of thousands of taels, a few hundred ships would be tens of thousands of taels, and the medium-sized Zhiyuan merchant ships would be doubled again.

You probably think that timber from Southeast Asia costs as little as timber from the Ming Dynasty, because the land and rivers belong to you. When we purchase timber in the Ming Dynasty, we don't have to spend much money; we only need to pay for labor.

Forget it, I'd better not say anything more. Nowadays, spending hundreds of thousands or even millions of taels is nothing to His Majesty, and tens of thousands of taels is no big deal.

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

As they were talking, Fang Zhenghua suddenly strode over, cupped his hands and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, Hong Chengchou and his family have been escorted to the capital."

This guy has finally been brought over.

Zhu Jue nodded slightly, then asked, "Where is it?"

Where could someone escorted back by the Embroidered Uniform Guard be?

Without hesitation, Fang Zhenghua said, "Lord Wei has already ordered his men to imprison Hong Chengchou and his entire family."

Why did this guy throw him into prison?
Zhu Jue shook his head slightly and said, "Go and tell Wei Zhongxian to send Hong Chengchou's family to the Ministry of Justice prison so that the outer court can interrogate, convict, and execute them."

He wanted to let the three powerful clans of Puzhou kill each other, and see how they would explain it to Hong Chengchou.

The execution of the entire family would mean the end of all hope. Could Hong Chengchou bear that?
Hong Chengchou definitely couldn't stand it.

What should be done with the three powerful clans of Puzhou?

He doesn't have to worry about any of these things.

He can just wait and see what happens.

(End of this chapter)