Chongzhen's domineering

Chapter 224 Rebels' Melee for Control of the Central Plains (Part 2)

Zhang Yun, the King of Hanzhong, suddenly led an army of 500,000 men straight to Nanyang.

Zhang Xianzhong, the Eighth Prince, was defeated and retreated northward towards Kaifeng Prefecture.

The rebels suddenly started fighting amongst themselves, and it was a major battle involving hundreds of thousands of troops from two of the largest rebel groups!
When the news reached the capital, the Donglin Party and the Qi-Chu-Zhe Party were astonished. How could the rebels suddenly turn against each other?
They were not unaware that the rebels would fight each other.

The problem is, throughout history, rebellions only broke out when the previous dynasty had already suffered a decisive defeat.

The Ming Dynasty was still as stable as Mount Tai, yet the rebels started fighting amongst themselves. Weren't they courting death?
The Donglin and Qi-Chu-Zhe factions in the court were mostly impressed by this, because at this time few people knew about the shady dealings between the three powerful clans and eight imperial merchants of Puzhou and the rebels and Jurchens.

That is the historical fact. If it weren't for the fact that after Shunzhi entered the pass, he hosted a banquet for the eight imperial merchants in the Forbidden City and treated them as honored guests, very few people would know that the Ming Dynasty was betrayed by the three powerful families of Puzhou and the eight imperial merchants.

Therefore, most people in the court were still completely baffled.

The three powerful clans and eight imperial merchants of Puzhou were secretly anxious at this moment.

This is because they know very well that among the rebels, only Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong are under their control, or rather, will listen to them and cooperate with Huang Taiji in a feint attack. The other rebels will not listen to them.

Zhang Yun, the King of Hanzhong, had absolutely no connection with them. His rise to power was a fatal blow to their grand plan of changing dynasties.

Their plan was to have Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong annex the other rebels.

Now, Zhang Yun, the King of Hanzhong, has actually defeated Zhang Xianzhong in one fell swoop!

They were all a little confused.

How many losses did Zhang Xianzhong suffer in this battle? Just how strong was Zhang Yun, the King of Hanzhong? Could Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong defeat Zhang Yun, the King of Hanzhong?

They didn't know any of this!

They could only quickly send someone to inquire.

The exact number of men Zhang Xianzhong lost in this defeat is still unknown, but he did not manage to take much grain with him.

This was because he only had a few hundred horse-drawn carriages in total, which weren't even enough to transport the looted goods. He even left a lot of cloth, porcelain, and other items in Nanyang City. He also ordered each soldier to carry about twenty catties of grain.

There's no other way; if I carry any more, it won't be able to run.

At this moment, he only wished that his parents had given him two more legs, and he just wanted to lead the remaining troops back to Kaifeng as soon as possible.

If Zhang Yun were to lead his troops to catch up, his main force would likely be wiped out in one fell swoop.

At this point, he would naturally not risk losing his main force for the sake of food, as there was still plenty of food in Kaifeng and Runing.

Let's set aside for now what the Donglin and Qi-Chu-Zhe factions in the imperial court think, and what the three powerful clans and eight imperial merchants of Puzhou think.

The battle between the King of Hanzhong and the Eight Great Kings stirred up a storm in the Central Plains, and various rebel armies began preparing for war.

Everyone knows in their hearts that no matter how many rebel kings rise up, only one can become emperor. In the end, rebellions inevitably lead to wars of annexation. The great battles between Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhang Shicheng and Chen Youliang at the beginning of the Ming Dynasty serve as a prime example.

With the King of Hanzhong and the Eighth King fighting, who still thinks we're all one family? They'll just have to wait to be annexed!

While the Central Plains were in turmoil, the capital city seemed to remain peaceful and tranquil.

Zhu Jue has been going to the shipyard almost every day these days, and no one knows what he's up to.

That morning, around 9 a.m., he had just finished reviewing the memorials when he led Zheng Zhilong, Wang Chengen, Fang Zhenghua, and others straight to the shipyard in the eastern outer city.

At this time, all the docks and waterways in the shipyard were busy. The first eighty small Weiyuan warships and one small Zhenyuan warship under construction had finished their water tests and were now assembling steam engines, boilers and water turbines. The four hundred medium-sized Zhiyuan merchant ships and five hundred small Zhiyuan merchant ships were also beginning to assemble their hulls.

However, the five hundred small Zhiyuan merchant ships had significantly more craftsmen than other places, and the assembly speed of the hulls was also significantly faster than that of the four hundred medium-sized Zhiyuan merchant ships.

Wang Zheng even personally oversaw the operation here.

As soon as Zhu Juena entered the shipyard, he couldn't help but ask, "Liangfu, when can we test-fly these small Zhiyuan merchant ships?"

Why are you in such a hurry? Even counting the time when construction started gradually after the ice was frozen, it hasn't even been a month yet.

Wang Zheng cautiously replied, "I estimate it will take at least three more days."

Zhu Jue nodded slightly and then asked, "When will it be completed?"

Uh, how should I put this?

Wang Zheng thought for a moment and then asked directly, "Your Majesty, if I may be so bold, when would you like to know when these small Zhiyuan merchant ships to be completed?"

That depends on when the ice and snow in Liaodong melt.

Zhu Jue pondered, "Do you think it can be completed by early May?" It's a bit difficult, but not impossible.

Wang Zheng nodded slowly and said, "If we bring over most of the craftsmen from those four hundred medium-sized Zhiyuan merchant ships, these five hundred small Zhiyuan merchant ships should be completed by early May. However, in that case, the four hundred medium-sized Zhiyuan merchant ships will probably not be completed until June."

It's not a big deal if the medium-sized Zhiyuan merchant ship is delayed until June.

The Spanish envoy won't arrive until July, and Zheng Hongkui and his men won't return until July either. Even if the medium-sized Zhiyuan merchant ship is built, it can only be used to haul timber for the time being.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Jue nodded slightly and said, "Then let's bring the craftsmen over and build these five hundred Zhiyuan merchant ships as soon as possible."

What exactly do you want to do?

Just as Wang Zheng was about to ask, Lu Xiang-sheng strode in, cupped his hands, and bowed, saying, "Your humble servant greets Your Majesty."

Zhu Jue nodded slightly, then asked, "Jiandou, how many muskets are the soldiers of the Beijing Garrison equipped with?"

There are many more.

Lu Xiang-sheng explained in detail: "The soldiers of the Beijing Garrison are equipped with nearly 200,000 muskets. Among them, the 100,000 garrison troops of Jizhou are equipped with 50,000 muskets, the 80,000 chariot soldiers and 10,000 musketeers of Liaodong Garrison are also equipped with 50,000 muskets, the naval soldiers brought by Hong Kui and his men are also equipped with 50,000 muskets, and the nearly 200,000 infantrymen in the capital are also equipped with nearly 50,000 muskets."

You've certainly been very impartial in your dealings with everyone.

Zhu Jue nodded slightly, then asked, "What about the chariots? How many do you have stored?"

You probably haven't visited the East Camp and the Northeast Camp in a long time.

Lu Xiang-sheng said with some helplessness, "Your Majesty, there are now nearly 10,000 war chariots stored. The drill grounds of the East Camp and the Northeast Camp are densely packed, making it impossible to conduct drills. The war chariot factory is also almost full."

He truly didn't understand why His Majesty was building so many war chariots, and why His Majesty wouldn't allow the chariot factories to stop, but kept building them.

The Wuhan Iron and Steel tank is indeed a good thing, but the problem is that someone has to operate it.

At this point, there are probably not enough soldiers in the Beijing garrison to operate the warships, so where would they get the manpower to operate so many Wuhan Iron and Steel war chariots?
Zhu Jue then asked, "Is the copper smelter almost finished?"

Lu Xiang-sheng nodded repeatedly and said, "Yes, Your Majesty, it will be completed in less than ten days."

Next up are residential buildings and civilian factories, but there's no need to rush.

Zhu Jue nodded slowly and said, "Then you can select 100,000 men who cannot swim and prepare to train them into chariot soldiers. Once the copper smelting plant is completed, start training them as soon as possible."

Are they going to drill chariot soldiers again?
And it was 100,000 at once!
Upon hearing this, Lu Xiang-sheng cautiously replied, "Your Majesty, I dare to say that selecting 100,000 chariot soldiers is not a problem, but the problem is that there is no place to train them. The East and Northeast training grounds are completely full."

This one is simple.

Zhu Jue pondered, “You should have people secretly push five thousand chariots to the shipyard in batches. After they are pushed over, cover them with ship planks so that people will think they are finished ship planks.”

Uh, is this preparation for a major war?
As they were discussing, Fang Zhenghua suddenly rushed over with a memorial in his hand, bowed, and said, "Your Majesty, General Pan has sent a secret report."

Has war broken out in the Central Plains?
Zhu Jue took the memorial and read it. Sure enough, Pan Guozhong had secretly reported that Pan Yunteng had led an army of 500,000 to attack Nanyang. He fought a great battle with Zhang Xianzhong outside the city and wiped out nearly 100,000 rebels. Zhang Xianzhong was no match for him and fled north. At least tens of millions of bushels of grain were left in the city.

Now that's great, Pan Yunteng has occupied a huge territory in Nanyang, making it very convenient for him to attack Kaifeng and Runing Prefectures to the east or Luoyang Prefecture to the west.

The great war in the Central Plains is about to begin. Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong are too busy to deal with their own problems, so they certainly don't have the time or the troops to cause trouble for him.

After reading the memorial, he immediately handed it to Lu Xiang-sheng.

When Lu Xiang-sheng took the memorial and looked at it, he couldn't help but show a hint of surprise.

Is Pan Yunteng really that fierce? He actually wiped out nearly 100,000 rebels in one fell swoop!

Even Zhang Xianzhong couldn't defeat Pan Yunteng, so how could Gao Yingxiang possibly defeat Pan Yunteng?

This is going to be a headache for both Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong.

Seeing that he had finished reading the memorial, Zhu Jue immediately asked, "Jiandou, do you think now is a good time to recover Liaodong?"

Oh, so His Majesty wanted Pan Yunteng to hold off Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong, and then focus all his efforts on attacking Liaodong.

Upon hearing this, Lu Xiang-sheng nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty is wise. The rebels are no longer a concern. It is the perfect time to recover Liaodong."

Yes, that's fine if you think so too.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Jue decisively said, "Zhenghua, send someone to Liaodong to deliver an imperial edict, summoning Sun Chuanting back to the capital for an audience immediately."

(End of this chapter)